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Hey guys, I was wandering about the usefulness of Sternguard. They seem quite nice and I was considering using some units with the special issue boltguns and some heavy bolters. But then I considered Stormbolters and I'm not sure which comes out on top. Are Sternguard good in 8th, and what's the best loadout for them?

Sticking with the special-issue boltguns (especially with the +1-to-wound stratagem) works fine. I like using them with Issodon; he lets you Deepstrike three non-Primaris units with him, bring twenty Sternguard and a Lieutenant and you get a pretty nasty bomb that'll threaten anything up to and including T7 vehicles.

I would probably lean towards Storm bolters. They actually have the same statistical odds of killing MEQs as special-issue bolters but come out ahead against anything with weaker armour. Even against MEQs they have the potential to cause twice as many casualties if the opponent rolls badly for their saves.

The problem with special-issue bolters is that Intercessors are cheaper, have 2 wounds and are Troops (for CPs and ObjSec). The only downside is that they are AP-1 rather than AP-2.

Yeah, I would rock nothing but Storm Bolters. 40 shots from 10 guys is pretty sweet, and even has a good chance of finishing off most Marine vehicles that have 1 or 2 wounds left.

I don't have my codex with me, may the sternguard be given chainswords in addition to the stormbolters ?

No, only Wolf Guard have the option to Storm Bolter and Chainsword.

Is there other than fluff reason to take company vets instead IF you are not taking the special issue boltguns?

2x 5man company vets in a rhino with chainswords and storm bolters are a point-wise nasty. Power swords for sergeants if you have the points..

This company vets suggestion comes only into option if you are dropping the special issue boltguns anyways..

Xirax wrote:
Is there other than fluff reason to take company vets instead IF you are not taking the special issue boltguns?

2x 5man company vets in a rhino with chainswords and storm bolters are a point-wise nasty. Power swords for sergeants if you have the points..

This company vets suggestion comes only into option if you are dropping the special issue boltguns anyways..

Sternguard can take a squad of 10, so if you want a big squad to use with a stratagem, Sternguard are good for that.

I thought company vets only came in max size of 3?

bananathug wrote:
I thought company vets only came in max size of 3?

Sergeant and 1-4 vets.

If you only look at the damage output:
Company vets at 90 points are equal to an intercessor squad.

20 storm bolter shots at 12".
15 basic attacks and as BA wounds on +1.

Vs.

10 -1 ap shots and 10 basic attacks on intercessors...

A double 3man with a power sword on the sergent in a twin assault cannon razorback with a storm bolter clocks at 420 and is a good filler in a BA vanguard if you want to play a non-common route, imho.

 meleti wrote:

Xirax wrote:
Is there other than fluff reason to take company vets instead IF you are not taking the special issue boltguns?

2x 5man company vets in a rhino with chainswords and storm bolters are a point-wise nasty. Power swords for sergeants if you have the points..

This company vets suggestion comes only into option if you are dropping the special issue boltguns anyways..

Sternguard can take a squad of 10, so if you want a big squad to use with a stratagem, Sternguard are good for that.

Also that they can take Heavy Weapons. This only matters with the Grav Cannon though.

It's also worth noting that the stratagem only works on the special issue bolters, and that it makes them just about as good as storm-bolters at killing guardsmen, and considerably better at killing anything else.

They don't seem likely to live long since the first turn they shoot, so 1 squad + Lias + stratagem seems like the obvious way to run them to me. After that, all of the options seem pretty meh to me, so idk that i'd run more of them.

Thanks for all the replies guys!

This is almost definitely a bad way to run them, but I'm considering running them like tacticals to capture objectives. In this case, would a squad of 10 with special boltguns and a couple of heavy bolters be a viable choice to sit back and shoot 30-36"? Or would Stormbolters still come out on top?

I think they are wasted just holding objectives. You typically want something cheap, or something with reach to sit in your back line. Devastators, tacticals, scouts, intercessors, and allied guardsmen all do the job better.

Having only 24" range mostly rapid fire or special weapon options, you really want them to be close if you expect them to do anything. Their durability is as poor as normal marines, so they really need a delivery system (Lias, pod, rhino) to get them close to nuke something. After that one turn of decent damage, they are likely to die horribly.

If you just leave them randomly midfield, I don't think you'll notice them doing much more than tactical marines, at a premium price.

Ah that's a shame, I was thinking of running a full first Company army and go the Blood Angels Archangels and take Sternguard and Vanguard and such

 meleti wrote:

Xirax wrote:
Is there other than fluff reason to take company vets instead IF you are not taking the special issue boltguns?

2x 5man company vets in a rhino with chainswords and storm bolters are a point-wise nasty. Power swords for sergeants if you have the points..

This company vets suggestion comes only into option if you are dropping the special issue boltguns anyways..

Sternguard can take a squad of 10, so if you want a big squad to use with a stratagem, Sternguard are good for that.

The stratagem only works for their special issue boltguns.

If you are not using their special issue boltguns, or giving them heavy weapons, Company Veterans will better suit you in all instances.