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Hello folks, I'd like to know something more about tactical squads loadout and their purpose on the field. I guess some parts of this discussion heavily depend on points value: I'm going to play small games for now, but I'd like to discuss all options.

Thinking about it, I came up with some ideas:

1) 5 men with special weapon and a combi-weapon on the same type on the sergeant, putting them on objectives as fast as possible (is a transport really needed for this, even in 500-700 pts games?).

2) 10 men with special and heavy weapon, defending an objective (going on foot but giving up some turns of heavy fire).

3) 10 men, splitted in combat squads.

I think having several small units on the table is better than having just some bigger units, but I don't have much experience. In particular, I'd like to know the pros and cons of the three choices and the main differences between 1 and 3. What's your take on this?

TL;DR: how do you use your tac squads?

The ways I've seen Tacts used effectively is...

Like your number 1, with as many special weapons of a certain type as possible (melta or grav usually) all in a drop pod.

Or.

5 man unit with nothing but bolters in either a drop pod, rhino or razerback in the Gladius Detachment. These units are spammed with free transports and are meant to overwhelm the opponent with targets and take objectives.

In casual games some people like to use a 10man with combat squads. They place a heavy weapon with 4 basic bolter marines in cover somewhere. The other special weapons go together in a transport to get into short range or capture objectives. But generally it's more cost effective to take heavy weapons with other units.

For lower point games, I would go with option 1. Get your heavy weapons on other platforms. Attack bike/Landspeeder squadrons for fast MMs, Stormtalon with AC and Skyhammer and Tri-Las Predator should cover all your needs for support in low point games.

Razorback, Gravcannon, in a battle company.

(Full discloser: How I field them and the best way to field them aren’t necessarily the same thing)

I’m a big fan of the full 10 man squad with both the special and heavy weapon, normally a combi on the sarge matching the special. Best if the heavy wants to shoot the same kind of thing as the special. Transports are a must, but the type can vary.

Common squads I field are
MM/M, c-melta sarge
HB/F, c-flamer sarge
ML/F, basic sarge (due entirely to tradition)
LC/P, c-plas sarge

Pod or Rhino depending on the list. Things like full grav should work, but is expensive and I’ve not personally tested it. The heavy is very optional these days, even on 10 man squads. It will be snap fireing on the move (which tac squads often are) and most of the time is not good shooting the same sort of things the bolters want to. But I’m an old fashioned Ultramarine, and the Codex tells me to take them. There have been enough times having a heavy downfield was useful, even it it’s not the most optimal use of points.

5 guys in power armor are not as survivable as the fluff would have you believe. The transport is not only there to give them mobility, but also keeps them safe until cracked open. Obviously not drop pods, but those let you get your squad exactly where you want them without getting shot up on the way over, and get the first round of fire off before taking casualties.

5 man MSU spam is effective at getting special weapons downrange, more razorbacks on the field (especially in full company lists) and more bodies on the table for objectives. Lots of individually weak units, but enough that they can’t all be killed by game’s end. If you just need some bodies to camp a home objective, 5 tacs with a heavy is not a terrible option (although I like scouts for that job). You do offer up a lot of kill points when that’s the mission.

10 man squads take longer to shoot off the table. You have more wounds protecting the relevant guns. Massed bolter fire is effective against a number of targets. They are traditional, fluffly, and look good. Suck up a lot of points for guys who are jack-of-all-trades in a game that favors specialists. More competitive lists are going to stay away from spamming 10 man tac squads.

Combat squadding is the middle road. It tends to maximize the special/heavy at the cost of making the bolter fire pretty ignorable. And you can’t go double special and only get one combi. It does have some advantages though. A full tac squad in a pod, CSing out on the drop, puts 3 ObSec units on the objective. That can be hard to budge.

One thing to consider when looking at large and small squads is what else is going on? Generally more small squads is better. Unless you play for kill points. Or have a librarian a/o other source of unit-wide buffs. It also takes fewer wounds to make them check Ld, less guys firing on overwatch, and a number of other little corner cases that can show up. But they all have to be targeted separately, can choose their own targets, move their own way, etc.

Also army format. In a list with a single demi-company, you only have 3 squads of tacs. But in a full company list, you need 6, and they get free transports. Totally different cases for how to gear and use them.

I have traditionally used tact squads in a none gladius form as objective focused units. I like them in drop pods and armed with a combi melta and normal melta and dropping them where they are needed to secure or contest objectives. I don't expect them to live long, but they usually earn their points worth back. I also just LOVE it when a single drop pod holds down an objective for me or gets line breaker for me at the end of the game.

5 man with a special and razorback (added combi if points allow) plasma is still the best option here IMO.

5 man with grav cannon in rhino

These are the best options in the battle company. IMO.

In 500-750 point games I've found that option 1 works the best for me, keeping the point commitment to troops small so I have enough left over to do something meaningful with the other slots, keeping them small and specialized with a special and matching sergeant combi-weapon if points allow.

I would recommend taking a rhino to transport them, at low points value you won't have many units and want to maximize mobility, even if you shrink the board to 4'x4' like I see many people do at less tha 1000 points. With fewer units you're going to want the ability to redeploy and capture objectives, which is generally why I like rhinos over drop pods in this situation. On top of mobility, at low points values where a lot of the high power units in the game aren't quite so prevalent the armor of a rhino can help shield your marines and add more durability than they would at higher points values. I would leave the razorbacks at home in 500 point games, the minimum 20 point increase over the rhino makes a huge difference in such a small game, although at 750 a razorback with the right turret can really shine against certain armies.

Yeah! Five-man, bare-bones squad in a free Razorback, because that's bloody tactics, mate!

A lot of people think of Tactical Squads as a mandatory tax that you have to pay to get the more 'juicy' units like maximum squads of Grav Centurions and Librarius Conclaves.

I consider them to be bread-and-butter, game-winning units that you should always keep at the centre of you army list. A ten-man squad in a Rhino will always be useful, whether for taking Objectives or just engaging your opponent's line units.

I'm not totally opposed to sensible army-composition, though, and I would always say that it's best to focus your units on a particular task. Leave your Power Weapons at home, for instance, as that's 15pts you will seldom get back in a game.

Your Tactical Squad should be engaging at a range of 12"-24", so take weapons which will perform well there; my favourite loadout is just a Plasma Gun, Missile Launcher and a Veteran Sergeant without any extras, all riding in a Rhino. That'll give you a nice, reliable, mobile unit with embedded Special Weapons and a cheap vehicle which'll be good for screening, and it'll cost you no more than 200pts. Other reliable builds include a Mobile Melta Squad, a static defense unit with Flamers and Heavy Bolters, and the ever-popular 'Grav-Bunker', which is excellent against other Mechanised armies.

Just experiment and see what fits your play-style in terms of mobility and threat-range.

I agree with them as bread and butter units.

I generally take 4-6 of them in 10-man squads as follows:

2x 10 man 1 plasma cannon & 1 plasma gun, then combi plas sgt, bare sgt(either bolter or chainsword), combi-plas and fist sgt, or power weapon sgt(all depends on point spent elswhere and sgts do not have to be the same for both squads). These squads are combat squaded with both plasmas in one and the sgt in the other(unless combi-plas, he sticks with the weapons) and they camp an objective while the other half goes light infantry hunting.

2x 10 man w/Heavy bolter and flamer with a cc-kitted sgt(either pistol and power weapon w/melta bombs, or a combi-melta/flamer and fist). These guys stay as a solud unit and move for objectives down-field.

5 dudes, Plasma Gun or Grav Cannon in a Razorback in a Battle Demi-Company
Carcharodons CT, 10 dudes sporting Grav Cannon, Melta Gun, and Combi-Melta. Pod them and Squad them immediately after coming into play. The Melta/Combi-Melta half will sport three CCW's that you grabbed instead of Bolters, whereas the Melta and Combi-Melta dudes need to pay for an extra weapon.

That's about the only way to do it. Tactical Marines are a tax otherwise for the free OS tanks in a Gladius. They aren't a "bread and butter" unit because Bikers and Scouts exist.

Your chapter tactic can help define their role if you do run Tac squads. For example, White Scars and Raptors either have scout or easy access to it, so a 5 man squad with a Grav cannon in a Rhino makes sense for them. I'm sure Imperial fists/sentinels of terra make good drop pod squads.

Not allot of people seem to like them outside of battle companies, but imo, they do a job as objective secure troops. They aren't too exciting, but they hardly rate as the worst troops in the game.

Putting ten tacs in a single rhino is not a good plan. With two five man squads you are twice as hard to immobilize.

Without the gladius formation, tacs have no good use i think.

I sometimes like to take a 5-man squad with meltagun and combimelta in a drop pod as a suicide unit. Twice I've had that unit kill Pask! Of course I like to run the Lion's Blade detachment with only a single demi company (so no free transports), which is hardly a competitive option, but it's fun. For other tac squads in said demi companies, I sometimes go plasma/combiplasma in a Laserback, and sometimes I just take a 5-man squad with either a Plasma Cannon or Missile Launcher for the third squad.

Personally, my favorite load out for the tactical squad is special weapon + sgt with something else. Power sword and melta bomb. I don't really see why you want to put a heavy weapon in the tactical squad unless you are going to combat squad and create a fire team and assault team system.

Always five man squads because you want as many Objective Secured 35 point transports as you can get. That's the real value of Tactical Marines and the only reason to use them instead of Scouts (which are superior).

 Tibs Ironblood wrote:
... I also just LOVE it when a single drop pod holds down an objective for me or gets line breaker for me at the end of the game.

This! I actually take 3 pods usually. All of them set up to beat up on typical back-field units. So either Meltas or Flamers to kill things that hide out back there. I will always try and put them in line-breaker position unless there's something else very specific that they need to kill. 3 HP and AV12 is harder to shift than some people realize, and I'll usually have better targets for my opponents to shoot at. Not going to say that they're free Line-breaker points ... but it's close