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I just traded some Eldar for 10 Tactical Terminators.
Yes, I know they suck in tournaments, but I go to a GW store.

What is the best way to use them?
My only other SM models are a 5 man tac squad with plasma pistol and plasma gun, and a Land Raider.

Get them into HTH somehow. I guess use the land raider.

Verviedi wrote:
I just traded some Eldar for 10 Tactical Terminators.
Yes, I know they suck in tournaments, but I go to a GW store.

What is the best way to use them?
My only other SM models are a 5 man tac squad with plasma pistol and plasma gun, and a Land Raider.

It depends on how they are armed.
Assault Cannons: Good for Med Ranged Combat and Tank/MC Hunting.
Heavy Flamers: For getting in close and taking on Large Units. Also good in Tight Terrain.
Cyclone Missile Launchers: This is your only Long Range option, but can be used for dealing with Vehicles and MCs. They are also good for dealing Multi-Wound T4 Models.

The one thing to remember is that they are not Unbillable Murder Machines, they are more like a Surgical Strike Special Forces Unit. Go after Specific Units like HQs/MCs or to remove Infantry Units from Objectives.

They're best used as shelf decorations.

On the table? I guess try to land raider them across and charge something.

put them in the land raider. designate one as a captain, and make the other nine his body guard unit. use the 5 man Tac squad with plasma as a troop and you have a relatively cheap SM allied detachment.

tac terminators aren't terrible.

they just aren't great is the problem.

Most of that comes from their inability to customize their assault phase weapons, powerfists are great but its nice to have some other options that strike at initiative.

I think the best load out is to take a squad of 10 and combat squad them.

that way you can get 2 heavy weapons.

put the two heavy weapons in a combat squad together, and the sgt in the other squad. sgt squad you focus on assaulting with, the other you focus on shooting with. I prefer cyclones/heavy flamer to assault cannons even though the assault cannon is so iconic. Simply because heavy flamer has ignores cover, and can hit a lot of models, and cyclone lets you threaten armor/high toughness things or still focus on infantry by firing frag+stormbolterx2 + 3 stormbolters making them decent at taking out light infantry (hordes) without cover.

taking locater beacons or teleport homers here and there helps too.

I sometimes field a 5 man squad with an assault cannon and a chain fist. They work as a troubleshooter squad. They can put some fire downrange, and put a decent amount of pain on in CC, but not really enough of either to justify their costs. Plus there are a number of hard counters out there that will just remove them from the table, so you need to be careful where you place them.

But they are still 2+ 5++, so can take a reasonable amount of (the right kind of) fire, and the massed powerfists can crush things. They are just very concentrated, overpriced tactical squads. Don’t expect miracles, but they can pull out some surprises.

blaktoof wrote:
Most of that comes from their inability to customize their assault phase weapons, powerfists are great but its nice to have some other options that strike at initiative.

I think the best load out is to take a squad of 10 and combat squad them.

Surely this means you end up with LESS models striking at iniative compared to taking two five man squads?

blaktoof wrote:
that way you can get 2 heavy weapons.

put the two heavy weapons in a combat squad together, and the sgt in the other squad. sgt squad you focus on assaulting with, the other you focus on shooting with.

Ah! You sly dog!!!

If I'm not playing nerf or don't need to fill points with models I have I'd rather leave them on the shelf. Otherwise I'd go with the Cyclone and stick them in ruins or behind other hard cover

They're meant to harass weaker units, and pulp anything that gets too close in CC. Deep strike them on a weak flank and proceed to annoy (distract) your opponent.

The CML is almost always the best choice, but the AssCan may be better if you only expect them to fight infantry.

A few tips:

- Choose a target, before the game begins, that makes best use of their abilities. With all those Power Fists, you've basically got a scale of effectiveness with AV14 boxes at the top and IG Conscripts at the bottom; Ideally, you want to hit something that the rest of your army would have a hard time handling as fast.

- Support them. 5 Termies DSing or charging in is not scary. That same squad with a couple more Assault threats (Assault Marines or Honour Guard) and some close-range shooting (Sternguard, Tacticals in pods) and the enemy now has to choose. With the PF on everyone, even a couple of Termies can smoke a tank with ease, so one way or another your Termies are going to soak some fire.

- Think about where you put them. Use LoS blockers and cover to try and minimise the degree to which the enemy can shoot them, and at the very least go for a flank to reduce the number of enemies in range.

The best way to use them is for bitz. They really aren't worth anything. TH/SS Terminators have better durability and offensive output, so you might as well splurge those 25 points on that compared to a Heavy Weapon. If they could get 2 Heavy Weapons at 5 man squads they'd be at least a mediocre option, but they can't.
Storm Bolters aren't great firepower which means you want to get into melee to kill things, which the other variant does better.

Tactical Terminators are too expensive for their durability and for their guns; if you can improve either of those (running DA for FNP bubbles and power fields, for instance) they're a bit more useful. They do shine in melee, volume of power fist attacks can wreck a lot of targets; it's best to figure out a delivery trick (I personally like Stormravens and Storm Eagles because they also mitigate the mobility problems of trying to get a Land Raider to get into assault ramp range without dying).

If you must use them, you can drop pod deep strike in a tac sarge with a teleport homer and then teleport them in. For that config, I like the heavy flamer. Plus, I'm cheap and hate giving my marines anything that costs points

So what are they armed with right now?

 Anpu42 wrote:
So what are they armed with right now?

1 Assault Cannon
2 Chainfists
1 Power Sword
1 Heavy Flamer

My opponent plays GK and Tau.

That doesn't look legal.

Yeah, it's legal. He's just listing the non-default weapons.

Oh, he's got TEN tactical terminators. Yeesh. I'd definitely try to beam those guys in real close.

They make pretty good titans in epic 40K.

-Matt

Unless you play very large games, I’d not field a full 10 man squad. While you can get some use out of small squads, big ones are facing an uphill battle to return their points. I can’t honestly say in my years of play that I’ve ever fielded more then a 5 man squad.

Larger footprint makes deep striking risky. You need a homer to land safely anywhere that’s not planet bowling ball. And those are going to boost the cost even higher.

The cost gets prohibitive, fast. They are already overpriced. Unless you are playing in a very competitive meta, there can be a little slack in your list; you just need to make sure the rest of your army is tight to compensate. Making up for a 400+ point block of “meh” can be rough though. Because they are going to be a significant part of your points, they are going to take a proportional amount of fire, and probably not fare well.

Diminishing returns. While more bolter fire is better, how many times do you need to punch something with a powerfist before it’s scrap?

Verviedi wrote:

 Anpu42 wrote:
So what are they armed with right now?

1 Assault Cannon
2 Chainfists
1 Power Sword
1 Heavy Flamer

My opponent plays GK and Tau.

Well it is a little unfocused.

As you have it I would see about exchanging.
If you wanted to go with 2 Squads get another Sword for the Second Sargent.
If you were going to go for one large squad get a second of each weapon and Magnetize.

I assume you are asking about generic marine termies?

I know with SW ones, a terminator with combi melta and storm sheild is 38 pts,

I find those to be quite usefull actually as deep strike, blow something up, then harrass other stuff or tank things with their 3++.

not sure if generic marine terminators have that option though.

 easysauce wrote:
I assume you are asking about generic marine termies?

I know with SW ones, a terminator with combi melta and storm sheild is 38 pts,

I find those to be quite usefull actually as deep strike, blow something up, then harrass other stuff or tank things with their 3++.

not sure if generic marine terminators have that option though.

Only Space wolves can pull that off.

Though looking at Space Wolves might be an option, also Dark Angels.

Do you know what kind of Land Raider you have?

Honestly, I've found the best way to use them is in fun games, because that's what they are, a fun unit.

They're a unit that can moderately shoot and work well in assault, but oddly enough they're fragile for their points, especially when you consider how common AP2 is.

My favorite use for them is as escorts for my TH/Shield Eternal Terminator Chapter Master, then slowly moving up the field defending my gunline from assault units or at least drawing fire.

I think they're alright, they just need more thought. They're a scalpel, compared to the skull-crushing hammer that is Assault Termies (don't get me wrong, AT are great when played right).

Depending on points and what else you're expecting on the board, I'd probably only take 5 in any given game, choosing the models with the weapons that you think will work best. Get in close, using either the LR or going for a DS (I'd be tempted to go with DS if you can get a homer upfield) and bring them in behind some cover. As mentioned, they can take a hit or two, provided you're smart about what you let them be exposed to-take a ton of bolter shots if it lets you hide from AP2.

Open up a tank, then kill the squishy insides-one of those chainfists and the heavy flamer will do nicely. They're tactical termies, not ATs; you have to actually pick the right target for them to work, not just point and kill. Treat them right and they'll get the job done.

Basically, think of them as heavier Tac marines-they're 'meh' at just about anything except what you've given them equipment to specifically handle. Pick their task based on their kit, give them some support with other units, and they'll do alright. Once they've carried out task A, either get them out of there for task B, or just let them go out in a blaze of glory.

I have had a lot of use with them in my Sentinels of Terra army.

I often deepstrike them with Lysander in the front to tank wounds. When in 12 inches the bolters are twin linked and the cyclone adds some hitting power.

I'll spare you the whole they are best on the shelf bit. Tac termies are generalists and pay for it so might as well give them an assault cannon to maximise their 24" threat zone. They are mid to close range bullies so don't waste time walking them or investing in a land raider. Prepare your list to deepstrike them or ally in SW or BA to get a fast attack drop pod. Dont't leave them unsupported and i think of them as acceptable beta strike units.

Take a block of 10 with weaonry, combatsquad them.
Take a bunker with an escape hatch.
Catapult your 2 combatsquadded guyz 18' towards the place you need them the most while simultaniously keeping them out of enemy's source of ap2.
Support them with other fast stuff.

They could probably be oki this way. I'm not sure if you are allowed to combatsquad in a building as it's not a dedicated transport.

Make a space hulk gameboard and play killteam with a friend who owns some 'stealers. (taking them despite the no 2+ limitation).