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So I've just grabbed a box of neophyte hybrids, and was hoping for a bit of wisdom, please.

What is a strong build for the first squad?
As well-versed as I (think) I am in the armory of the imperium, I'm a bit lost when it comes to starting a new army. For Neophyte squads is there any 'reliably okay' build, like the space marine 5-man-tac-squad-with-plasma?

At the moment I'm thinking flamer and heavy stubber, and maybe pure shotguns? Is this alright?
Cheers for your help!

It's generally 2x flamers + shotguns when played aggressively or 2x mining lasers + 2x grenade launchers + lasguns

Would recommend against the flamers, as neophytes is the unit least likely to move in an ambush. I like em cheap with 2 grenade launchers, they are nice objective holders

Mortar, autoguns. Stand on objectives and get in the way.

Did you get the mining set or the cadian set?

Cadians: Grenade launchers and mortar
Mining: Only comes with one of each heavy/special :/ I like GL/mininglaser

Sneggy wrote:Mortar, autoguns. Stand on objectives and get in the way.

Why autoguns? I only ask as most people here have said shotguns.

C4790M wrote:Did you get the mining set or the cadian set?

I got the mining set.

Gremmer wrote:I like em cheap with 2 grenade launchers, they are nice objective holders

I'm not sure if this is old 7th-ed-fu, but iirc, aren't grenade launchers mostly panned by guard players? What would I be using them for?

Cheers for the responses guys! I feel like I'm learning a fair bit about how this unit works!

 posermcbogus wrote:

Sneggy wrote:Mortar, autoguns. Stand on objectives and get in the way.

Why autoguns? I only ask as most people here have said shotguns.

C4790M wrote:Did you get the mining set or the cadian set?

I got the mining set.

Gremmer wrote:I like em cheap with 2 grenade launchers, they are nice objective holders

I'm not sure if this is old 7th-ed-fu, but iirc, aren't grenade launchers mostly panned by guard players? What would I be using them for?

Cheers for the responses guys! I feel like I'm learning a fair bit about how this unit works!

Neophyted in my book are objective holders and should be cheap. I think the aversion to grenade launchers in IG is the availability of plasma. We don’t have that, and the second best is the gl

 posermcbogus wrote:

Sneggy wrote:Mortar, autoguns. Stand on objectives and get in the way.

Why autoguns? I only ask as most people here have said shotguns.

C4790M wrote:Did you get the mining set or the cadian set?

I got the mining set.

Gremmer wrote:I like em cheap with 2 grenade launchers, they are nice objective holders

I'm not sure if this is old 7th-ed-fu, but iirc, aren't grenade launchers mostly panned by guard players? What would I be using them for?

Cheers for the responses guys! I feel like I'm learning a fair bit about how this unit works!

problem with shotguns is you need to be 6 inches away for +1 str. All but one ambush roll mean you are effectively 9-12 inches away from the opponent via ambush, which is still rf range if you choose autogun/lasgun. The shorter range means that they are inferior for camping objectives compared to autoguns and if your getting that close you might as well just shove a bunch of acolytes, genestealers, or abberants into the unit and delete them in melee.

as for grenade launchers the key is range and versatility. as mentioned above if your close enough to use shotguns/flamers it would be more cost effective to use your melee units. the grenade launcher gives you increased range and versatility by giving the squad both an anti horde shot (less damage but more range then flamer) or an anti meq shot for less points then the flamer.

Neophytes are basically standard guardsman squads with a couple extra toys and the option for more bodies and should be used as such (inexpensive mid to long range shooting and bubblewrap)

Pure shotgun squads are best suited as dedicated screening units, since they can advance to stay ahead of whatever they are screening while retaining the ability to shoot and don't really need any further upgrades beyond extra bodies. Autogun and Lasgun equipped units in contrast will generally want to be kept in 10-strong units to maximize their special and heavy weapon allotments and generally provide a bit of fire support and objective securing duties.

I personally like 2x Grenade Launcher and 2x Seismic Cannon squads. Chapter Approved made them fairly inexpensive (70-ish points) and they are capable of outshooting their Imperial counterparts at 24'' plus have the option of some S6 shots if they need to take on a light vehicle or small monster. Mining Lasers are also a fairly reasonable option for supplemental anti-armor firepower and are good at taking down multi-wound infantry (basically use like overcharged plasma), with their main drawback being their single shot and cost. Heavy Stubbers are cheap for a backfield squad but can be gotten on GSC vehicles so are probably better left there.

I have not had much experience with the weapon teams but in theory a mortar or las-cannon has some utility for a backfield objective sitting squad.

Also avoid Webbers outside of Necromunda or Shadow War: Armageddon. They took a rather bad hit with the edition change over and are sadly inferior to Grenade Launchers outside of extremely niche circumstances. In the specialist games they are fairly useful (they can take fighters out of commission by tying them up without having to wound) but their rules don't really work well in the main 40k currently. The Web Pistol isn't too bad since it offers improved rate of fire for the Neophyte leader, but isn't a must have option.

 posermcbogus wrote:

I'm not sure if this is old 7th-ed-fu, but iirc, aren't grenade launchers mostly panned by guard players? What would I be using them for?

They are, but it isn't so much the Grenade Launcher's fault as the 1 special weapon limit on infantry squads combined with First Rank Fire! Second Rank Fire!. The order will almost always provide more S3 shots than a single Grenade Launcher can, leaving the S6 shot as the only real benefit which is completely overshadowed by Plasma. For Neophytes they actually do provide a fairly significant firepower boost and since they can take two the variance isn't quite as bad.

 posermcbogus wrote:

Sneggy wrote:Mortar, autoguns. Stand on objectives and get in the way.

Why autoguns? I only ask as most people here have said shotguns.

The mortar and autoguns version of this unit is a backfield objective camper/deep strike blocker. It doesnt want to be close to the enemy so the shotguns and their 12" range (and bonus at 6") are wasted. If your not planning on being close the 24" range is better.

You have much better units to ambush (genestealers, aberrants, acolytes) use these guys are your on board presence since you need half your army to start deployed.

So the box has finally arrived.

Thanks for all your feedback everyone! It's been super interesting, and I feel that (at least with regards to neophytes) I have a good idea of how to go forward, beyond merely 'those are neat, I'd like some of those someday'.

I will say however...
,,,there only seems to be one grenade launcher.

Sneggy wrote:

 posermcbogus wrote:

Sneggy wrote:Mortar, autoguns. Stand on objectives and get in the way.

Why autoguns? I only ask as most people here have said shotguns.

The mortar and autoguns version of this unit is a backfield objective camper/deep strike blocker. It doesnt want to be close to the enemy so the shotguns and their 12" range (and bonus at 6") are wasted. If your not planning on being close the 24" range is better.

You have much better units to ambush (genestealers, aberrants, acolytes) use these guys are your on board presence since you need half your army to start deployed.

I'm actually kind of torn on this opinion. Yes the melee stuff can be far more effective in ambush but if you whiff your ambush and/or charge roll roll they're going to get shredded by the enemy before they can get anything done. GSC ambush is the epitome of high risk high reward right now. If you roll well the enemies important units are going to get hammered by the melee options but if you roll poorly your stuck putting a very fragile squad squarly in the enemies sights to focus down unless you position them so far back that footslogging would have been a better option. I find that a 20 man neophyte squad with autoguns/shotguns with grenade launchers and seismic cannons/mining lasers supported by a magus or iconward can be devastating to ambush on an exposed enemy position with the added bonus of being far less gimped then the melee units for rolling poorly for cult ambush. it also has the added bonus of not sucking up a primus to ensure a better ambush roll which you can put with acolytes, genestealers, or abberants (in transports for even more firepower/overwatch shield) who really need the better roll.

This is just my tactic but usually i'll start most of my melee units on the board in chimaeras (melee acolytes or genestealers w patriarch in smaller games, goliaths (4 demo charge acolytes), or ambush them in chimaeras or rockgrinders alongside a couple min neophyte squads with mortars or missile launchers and make at least 1 or 2 neophyte blobs for ambush.

 posermcbogus wrote:
So the box has finally arrived.

Thanks for all your feedback everyone! It's been super interesting, and I feel that (at least with regards to neophytes) I have a good idea of how to go forward, beyond merely 'those are neat, I'd like some of those someday'.

I will say however...
,,,there only seems to be one grenade launcher.

the IG cultists have 2 grenade launchers and 2 flamers. it's essentially a cadian ig squad with a single heavy weapon team sprue and i think the genestealer cult ungrade sprue (don't quote me on that one) so it lacks the repurposed mining tools, has lasguns instead of autoguns and has no melee weapons aside from the chainsword

So I've started building. I'm going for autoguns and a grenade launcher. Is it worth filling my 2nd heavy/special weapons slot with anything from the box?
Cheers!

All 3 can be pretty good. Depends what your after. Heavy stubber is nice long range anti infantry (36 range). Mining laser is 24 range d3 lascannon. Seismic cannon is anti infantry/anti meq, more versatile and geared towards neophytes intended targets but not able to do much to tanks compared to the laser. I'd personally choose between the cannon or laser for ambush/ truck squads and a weapon team or 2 stubbers for backline objective squatters.