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Hey guys, new player here!

Just bought my first squad of Terminators which I intend to field, currently awaiting for a codex to arrive but I'm a bit eager and want to get round to constructing my Terminators right away!

But I'm a little lost on how to equip them.

How many heavy weapons can you equip per 5 man squad? 1 Heavy Weapon per 5 man squad? I know it all depends on your style of play, i.e HF for antihorde, CML for long range, and I've heard AC are a good balance. I've also heard you can equip up to 2 heavy weapons per squad - is this possible for 5 man squads?

Can I just throw a chainfist onto anyone? Even a Terminator with a heavy weapon?

Are there any significant differences between a powerfist and a chainfist?

Thanks guys!

1. 1 heavy weapon per 5 men if you're running vanilla marines
2. Chainfists can go on everyone except the sergeant who *must* have a powersword, and may not take a heavy weapon
3. Chainfist is Fun Times against Knights and other big scary _vehicles_, but you have to get them in close combat first.

Emprah's blessing attend your efforts

You don't use them, that's how.

If you want a more serious answer, take ten and equip two CML and one Chainfist. Combat Squad the two CML together with the Sergeant, and keep all the Power Fists and Chainfist together.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Prepare to be disappointed with their performance no matter what though.

Fist, welcome to Dakka and the Space Marines.

(as a general reminder, Dakka is not a substitute for your codex, but if you want to get right in, I can give some generic advice)

I’m not sure is any of the other marine codexes have different numbers, but generally it’s one heavy per 5 guys. Last time it was 2/5th was back in 4th edition IIRC. At least for the vanilla codex. I think Black Templars got to keep that for a little bit longer, but mostly due to being out of date. BT play by the same rules as the basic codex these days.

I’m a big fan of the assault cannon, but they all have their pros/cons. The only time I’d go with the HF is if I had ways to mitigate DS scatter. They need to land exactly in the right spot to work well. CML works best if you plan on just footslogging them.

The sarge is stuck with his power sword, but everyone else can swap to a chainfist if you have the points. I like to run at least one in my squad. They do a better job then a normal powerfist at carving open tanks.

My general build for tactical terminators is 5 men, one assault cannon, one chain fist (on a different guy) sarge with his power sword. They work OK as general troubleshooters.

One heavy weapon per 5 terminators. What you equip them with depends on what you want them to do, but keep in mind that most of the unit is armed with glorified bolters and power fists. Assault Cannons or Typhoons are usually your best bet so that you can effectively focus on the same targets, but heavy flamers can have their place. Well, unless you're going assault termies (Which you should, termies aren't great but assaults are way better than dakka).

A chainfist is slightly better at destroying vehicles than a regular power fist, but the difference really isn't worth it on a slow and already high-cost unit.

Aside from Sarge, anyone and everyone can have a chain fist if you so choose.

 morganfreeman wrote:
A chainfist is slightly better at destroying vehicles than a regular power fist, but the difference really isn't worth it on a slow and already high-cost unit..

I view them like melta bombs. Most of the time, It’s not going to make a difference, but when it does, you will be glad you spent the 5 points. S8 powerfists against the rear armor of vehicles will do the job on most things. But against walkers, where you are going to be hammering on AV12-13, buildings, or AV14 bricks like LRs,the armorbane the chainfist gives with change a HP or two damage into a pile of rubble.

So don’t spam them. Cut them if you need points elsewhere. but when you are doling out the last 5-10 points to finish off your list, it’s a good place to invest them.

It might be worth considering taking them through Deathwatch.