Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Something like a five man Flamer Command Squad?

They're great for a distraction. Especially against armies like Tau or Guard.

Essentially, it boils down to: "do you see an important infantry unit outside a vehicle on turn 1"?

With Guard, Tau, Nids or Orks, probably. With marines, probably not.

Most armies probably have something worth using a flamer squad on - for Eldar, being able to torch a squad and not worry about them getting jink may be worth it. Equally, if there's trukks or raiders, remember that there's the No Escape rule.

I love throwing in an assault squad with two Flamers in a pod. (Under 100 pts.)

As long as you bring more than one pod, you can always drop the anti infantry one later, if the targets all start in vehicles.

Yeah, I do this with Salamanders armies. Half my drop pods have melta stuff, half have anti-infantry or objective camping units. If I'm facing huge blobs of guardsmen or boyz on foot, I'll drop the flamer units first and get those multiple overlapping flamer templates to generate tons of hits.

Ironclad dreadnoughts and Sternguard /w Heavy Flamers are a great choice for drop anti-infantry. Drop assault squads /w flamers used to be a good choice, but they're more expensive than they used to be. Command squads with all flamers is overkill IMO - they're better as a plasma or melta squad.

 DanielBeaver wrote:
Yeah, I do this with Salamanders armies. Half my drop pods have melta stuff, half have anti-infantry or objective camping units. If I'm facing huge blobs of guardsmen or boyz on foot, I'll drop the flamer units first and get those multiple overlapping flamer templates to generate tons of hits.

Ironclad dreadnoughts and Sternguard /w Heavy Flamers are a great choice for drop anti-infantry. Drop assault squads /w flamers used to be a good choice, but they're more expensive than they used to be. Command squads with all flamers is overkill IMO - they're better as a plasma or melta squad.

For the Sternguard, would you bother with combi flamers or just let the heavy flamers and special ammo do the work?

 minigun762 wrote:
For the Sternguard, would you bother with combi flamers or just let the heavy flamers and special ammo do the work?

I feel like I do more damage withe Heavy Flamers + Special Ammo. You can only kill what's in range of the templates, so you want to avoid overkilling with your flamers and having to throw away a bunch of potential wounds.

A good portion of your games will have you fighting MEQ, and here the you can use your AP3 special ammo to wreck havok (and the Heavy Flamers aren't too shabby either). Combiflamers are very limited by their AP5, whereas with sternguard ammo you can dial in the AP you need.

Or don't bother with the Heavy Flamers. Give everyone combi-grav/melta for the flexibility of shooing at tanks, monsters, or special ammo for hordes in cover.

 kronk wrote:
Or don't bother with the Heavy Flamers. Give everyone combi-grav/melta for the flexibility of shooing at tanks, monsters, or special ammo for hordes in cover.

For non-salamanders armies, that's what I would recommend as well. People get a little hung up on the two special/heavy weapon options - you don't have to take those. Bikes and Command Squads are better special weapon squads... Sternguard's main gimmick is their Super Bolters.

Food for thought:
A command squad with two plasma guns is 120pts, and will cause an average of 2.89 wounds shooting at enemy MEQ.
A sternguard squad with stock wargear is 110pts, and will cause an average of 3.33 wounds shooting at enemy MEQ using the AP3 profile.

Stock Sternguard are a solid buy, especially with IF chapter tactics which improve killing power by 11% and make flux rounds safer.

Plasma does solve one of SG's few weaknesses, a lack of AP2.

As with the dual heavy flamers, I'm tempted to believe that a standard or ironclad dreadnought might be superior.

Or even cheap dual heavy flamer speeders.

Im doing it with a 30k support squad but oh hell yeah its useful. My simple 5 man 135 point flamer support squad in a drop pod has never not made its points back and almost always kills something useful. Last time I used them I flamed a large shurican cannon jet bike squad with an attached farseer. On or two bikes got away but he eventually failed his look out sir rolls enough for the farseer to die. Another game in the not too distant past(note I only play once a month or so) netted me a full Death Wing Terminator squad. I never play a drop pod list without them.

Sisters of battle can get 4 Heavy Flamers and give them rending for a turn for 100 points. Need an allied pod though.

I've always wanted to try it, but I haven't got around to painting the allied pods (now that there's so many colors to choose from).

Can you get by using something simple like a full sized Tactical squad with a single flamer? Nothing fancy at all but focused on putting wounds on light infantry.

For my tac squads, I generally run one combat squad with a flamer, and the other with a multi-melta. The sarge will have a combi-variant of one of those, and go with the appropriate side. That way either one squad can pop vehicles while the other barbecues passengers, or one squad pops bubblewrap so the other can pop the tank.

I love my 4 flamer Platoon command Squad for my Guard. They fit inside a Vendetta so they come in later turns, after i have hopefully de meched my opponent. They are also Obj Secured so can be useful even when not shooting all for a measly 55 pts.

 minigun762 wrote:
Can you get by using something simple like a full sized Tactical squad with a single flamer? Nothing fancy at all but focused on putting wounds on light infantry.

I have used squads like this and done very well. Ten tacs and a special weapon in a rhino can do work for you if you use them properly.