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Despite being a $20 "codex" for 1 unit, they have very attractive stats: 3++, feel no pain with upgrade, ignore cover, and if you take lascannon/heavy weapon on one of them they have Slow and purposeful. But are they actually good? What army are they best aligned with?

I've used a detachment of 10 of them, plasmagun/cannon, an axe, and the FnP skull as part of my chaos army (because frankly, crunch-wise, they seem to be the most chaotic of all marines). Though expensive, they are hard as nails against quality attacks, so throw them against powerful dealthstars or MCs. Their damage output isnt spectacular, its more the fact that they just live forever, always wandering around harassing stuff.

Two units of 5 with melta or plasma (including combis) is probably a much more efficient use for them, and I wouldnt bother putting the skull on anything less than a 10man squad.

The guy above me hit it correctly. It is also good to make note of what armies can benefit most from them. A Vulkan list for better Meltas, Lias who can infiltrate himself with a Locator Beacon, harassment squads for an Iron Hands force, which doesn't ordinarily like regular ol' Tacticals, and Sevrin to make them more invincible with buffs.

They're generally better than Sternguard depending on the list really.

Don’t forget you can still play them out of the vanilla SM codex, you don’t need to buy their own (overpriced) codex.

I've had huge amounts of success with 2 units of 5 with melta, multimelta, combigrav. Very flexible beta-strike unit who often then distract a lot of attention to get rid of afterwards. The grav over melta on the combi is basically an attempt at being able to engage a wider range of targets - usually I am happy with the decision, though occasionally I lament the lack of the 3rd melta.

I saw over on BnC that a good loadout is MM and PG because the ranges of the weapons synergizes well. Seems like something I would try out one of these days. At that point the question is, do you spend the points on extra dudes to protect the special weapons or do you keep it at 5men? Is the investment worth it?

Another thing to consider when talking about unit size is their footprint. As a deep strike unit you need to be wary of scatter and mishaps. Keeping them at 5 men means you don’t need to complete the first ring around the primary model on DS. Useful if you scatter up against something, but not quite on it.

I'm a fan of number of shots versus quality of shots.

I usually run my squads C-Grav, Plasmagun, and Multimelta. The range synergy is what I like the most. I can't stand deepstriking with 5-6" of the enemy to make sure my meltas are in range. Even if I scatter the full 12", all of my weapons will be in range with my loadout. Obviously this is worst case scenario. The 12" for 'maximum' results is a lot more comfortable for me. (MM pen, Plas dbl tap, and 18" Grav).

Also note that you can swap both the pistol and the boltgun on the Sergeant and use TWO combi-gravs. You can't shoot both in one turn, but you can shoot them one turn after the next. Just food for thought.

The big thing with LotD is that they ignore cover and are Slow and Purposeful, which means they ignore jink and can shoot a Multi-Melta on arrival from Deep Strike. LotD is what you need versus filthy Wave Serpent spam.

SJ

while I understand the "range synergy" arguments, I find that they perform much more consistently with a single focus (i.e, all melta or all plasma). sure, you maybe get a little more flexibility in what you shoot at with a mix of weapons, but you're not going to be as effective at it.

I run a vulkan/salamanders list and use two 5-man squads with melta, MM and combi-melta. they have a small footprint and your odds of getting into melta range are fair, since they can re-roll scatter for deep strike. if you have the misfortune to end up more than 6" from your target even after a re-roll, the unit's durable enough to run instead of shoot since they don't have to hug cover. obviously, these are dedicated tank hunter units in my list. mixing weapon types here would work against me in that regard.

They can't run. Theyre slow and purposeful.

 McGibs wrote:
I've used a detachment of 10 of them, plasmagun/cannon, an axe, and the FnP skull as part of my chaos army (because frankly, crunch-wise, they seem to be the most chaotic of all marines). Though expensive, they are hard as nails against quality attacks, so throw them against powerful dealthstars or MCs. Their damage output isnt spectacular, its more the fact that they just live forever, always wandering around harassing stuff.

Two units of 5 with melta or plasma (including combis) is probably a much more efficient use for them, and I wouldnt bother putting the skull on anything less than a 10man squad.

I am adding LotD to my Imperial Fist and the one Chaos player said to me that he wished they were apart of the Chaos codex for similar reasons. I just turned to him and said that Chaos shouldn't of slaughtered all them on Isstavan to create these vengeful spirits of the Imperium.

But yeah, the LotD are definitely the Ghost Rider of Warhammer 40k and they do their job effectively. I think the cost is what prevents them from being taken a lot but honestly, everyone fears them once they hit the board especially units that can jink. I go back and forth about which I like to include more, my Sternguard in a drop pod or LotD.

What does everyone think of the Feel No Pain upgrade? Worthwhile? I'm never sure, I run two squads of five, but they're pretty hardcore already...

 Sledgio wrote:
What does everyone think of the Feel No Pain upgrade? Worthwhile? I'm never sure, I run two squads of five, but they're pretty hardcore already...

If you want a squad of 10, I say FNP is a steal for 35 points.

How many LotD is good to take? I wouldn't do a 10 man squad but possibly two squads of 5 but I feel if I do this then taking a Sternguard squad is almost pointless.

Unlike LoTD sternguard can arrive turn 1, get more meltas/plasma and are way more accurate at landing as they got a droppod + disembark for proper positioning.

 koooaei wrote:
Unlike LoTD sternguard can arrive turn 1, get more meltas/plasma and are way more accurate at landing as they got a droppod + disembark for proper positioning.

So then would it be good to have a 5 man Sternguard in a Drop Pod along with a 5 man LotD to give some versatility to a list? I mean the one thing that is attractve of the LotD vs. the Sternguard is that the LotD turn out to be cheaper and don't need a drop pod.

Edit: misread

Slayer-Fan123 wrote: A Vulkan list for better Meltas.

The issue you would face is that Vulkan only affects your primary detachment. LotD would lose their FNP upgrade if they wanted that.

Over all, I love them for what they are.
I held up two C'tan shards for the entire game with a 5-man squad because of their 3++.
The guy was pissed.

 Ond Angel wrote:

Slayer-Fan123 wrote: A Vulkan list for better Meltas.

The issue you would face is that Vulkan only affects your primary detachment. LotD would lose their FNP upgrade if they wanted that.

Over all, I love them for what they are.
I held up two C'tan shards for the entire game with a 5-man squad because of their 3++.
The guy was pissed.

A lot of people have told me that all you need is a 5-man squad of LotD and that 10 is almost overkill.

 Envihon wrote:

 Ond Angel wrote:

Slayer-Fan123 wrote: A Vulkan list for better Meltas.

The issue you would face is that Vulkan only affects your primary detachment. LotD would lose their FNP upgrade if they wanted that.

Over all, I love them for what they are.
I held up two C'tan shards for the entire game with a 5-man squad because of their 3++.
The guy was pissed.

A lot of people have told me that all you need is a 5-man squad of LotD and that 10 is almost overkill.

I've never ran 10 (that I recall, anyway). 7 is the most I went for, because I had nothing I could buy for 50pts.
5 man squads do the job nicely, and they're relatively cheap, considering that they can take a heavy + Special.

 Ond Angel wrote:

 Envihon wrote:

 Ond Angel wrote:

Slayer-Fan123 wrote: A Vulkan list for better Meltas.

The issue you would face is that Vulkan only affects your primary detachment. LotD would lose their FNP upgrade if they wanted that.

Over all, I love them for what they are.
I held up two C'tan shards for the entire game with a 5-man squad because of their 3++.
The guy was pissed.

A lot of people have told me that all you need is a 5-man squad of LotD and that 10 is almost overkill.

I've never ran 10 (that I recall, anyway). 7 is the most I went for, because I had nothing I could buy for 50pts.
5 man squads do the job nicely, and they're relatively cheap, considering that they can take a heavy + Special.

Do you only run one squad or multiple?

I don't use them now, but I've been considering it.
But when I did, I always took a minimal of 1 squad, and I'd add a squad for every multiple of 500pts we played, starting at 1000.
I found they worked well.

Hmm...see I have been going back and forth about whether I just want one squad plus my Sternguard or if I want to not buy the second Thunderfire Cannon to add a second squad of LotD.

 Envihon wrote:
Hmm...see I have been going back and forth about whether I just want one squad plus my Sternguard or if I want to not buy the second Thunderfire Cannon to add a second squad of LotD.

Save yourself the money, get a Tactical squad and do this.

 Ond Angel wrote:

 Envihon wrote:
Hmm...see I have been going back and forth about whether I just want one squad plus my Sternguard or if I want to not buy the second Thunderfire Cannon to add a second squad of LotD.

Save yourself the money, get a Tactical squad and do this.

This is... fantastic. I know what I'm doing for my next project.