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I am just about to finish painting my very first WH40k Miniatures (SM Tactical Squad). Now I am trying to figure out what to get next, in order to get a little 500 point army for my first games. Here is what I came up with after a little bit of research:

Chapter Tactics: Salamanders (I love the Salamanders Fluff)

CAD:
HQ: Librarian - 65pts

Troops:
- Tactical Squad 10 SM, Flamer, Roket Launcher, Rhino, 2 Combat Squads (Sgt. & Flamer in one combat squad, rocket launcher in the other) - 195 pts
- Tactical Squad 5 SM, Meltagun, Combi-Melta, Drop Pod (the librarian joins this squad) - 125 pts

Option A:
Elites: Dreadnought ML, TLAC - 115 pts

Option B:
Support: Predator AC, LC - 115 pts

I am currently favoring the Dreadnought, though that is mainly for fluff reasons. I have no idea what I will be playing against, as my opponents will most likely be random people at my local GW.

[Edit] Forgot the Combi-Melta in the 5 SM Tactical Squad

First, Welcome to Dakka, and the Space Marines.

That’s not a bad setup for a 500 point list. I would have gone with a 5 man scout squad, rather then the extra tacs, but that’s just me.

You are not taking advantage of your chapter tactics as much as you could. If you go with the dread, I’d keep the powerfist, and give it the HF. Run him up with the rhino. If you can give your sarge’s fancy gear, they get to master craft a piece of it. Makes the one shot you get with a combi weapon a lot more efficient.

One question you need to ask is where you are going? At 500 points, you are basically paying your taxes with space for one fun unit. But as your army grows, what do you want to aim for? You have one drop pod, do you want to go full drop eventually? In that case, the dread is a clear winner over the pred, as he can take a pod when you have points for it. But if you have your sights on an armored task force, the pred take the lead, and you might consider taking a techmarine rather then a librarian.

You are just starting out, so don’t want to be getting stuff for your 500 point list that’s just going to collect dust later.

Thanks for the reply. I really like the idea of the Dreadnought with HF. This would also free up 10 points to give the Sgt of the 10 SM Squad a Combi-Flamer. But I think only Infantry can get into the Rhino, no Dreadnoughts allowed?

I could drop pod the Dreadnoght with HF close to the enemy lines, have the 5 SM Tac Squad and the Combat Squad with Sgt. & Flamer come in with the Rhino. That would leave the Librarian and the Combat Squad with the Rocket Launcher hanging back a little. Seems like a nice idea to me, or am I overlooking something?

Zelais wrote:
Thanks for the reply. I really like the idea of the Dreadnought with HF. This would also free up 10 points to give the Sgt of the 10 SM Squad a Combi-Flamer. But I think only Infantry can get into the Rhino, no Dreadnoughts allowed?

I could drop pod the Dreadnoght with HF close to the enemy lines, have the 5 SM Tac Squad and the Combat Squad with Sgt. & Flamer come in with the Rhino. That would leave the Librarian and the Combat Squad with the Rocket Launcher hanging back a little. Seems like a nice idea to me, or am I overlooking something?

You are correct, the dread can’t hitch a ride in the rhino. The only vehicles they can ride in (in the basic codex) is a drop pod or a storm raven.

Dreads in pods are a lot of fun. The HF is a good option (even for non-salamanders) as you are probably going to be in burning range the turn you drop. For the primary gun, you probably want to look into the Assault Cannon or Multi-Melta. If you are going to be in point blank range anyway, might as well stick the the short range guns. You can’t charge the turn you drop, so just shoot things up a little. Next turn (if still alive) pile and and put the giant fist of doom to work. Ironclads do this better, as they are tougher to kill so more likely to get into CC, but are more expensive.

Pairing the sarge’s combi weapon to the squads’ special is solid general advice. Salamanders already get to re-roll wound with flamers, so you aren’t getting a lot extra out of it, but it will work to thin out hordes.

In general, I’m not a huge fan of missile launchers. I still field them because of tradition, but in general you might be better served with a lascannon, points allowing. Nothing specifically bad about MLs, but they are mediocre at everything, and sometimes you are just better off with a good tool for a specific job, rather then an average one that does everything. YMMV.

I suspect the librarian will want to head forward with the combat squad in the rhino, but that might depend on what powers he rolls. Also, if you can get the points, consider a razorback. If you are planning on combat squadding anyway, might as well spring for the guns. At the very least, pick up the model; it’s only a little bit more expensive then the rhino, and can be swapped between them just by not glueing the top hatch down.

I'd say assault cannon for dread to go with the heavy flamer - with HF you will want to be attacking troops which would be wasted if going vehicle hunting with a multi melta. Plus you already have the pred for vehicle hunting.

Missile launcher isn't bad for the tactical heavy weapon - its cheap so you don't feel bad when you have to snapshoot it all the time when you are moving the tacticals. And its nice to use the blast template when you are shooting at troops (if you stood still). I find the lascannon and multimelta are wasted in a tactical squad since they are almost never standing still and usually aren't shooting at vehicles since all the bolters can't harm a vehicle.

Consider giving your libby in squad #2 a combi melta too for triple melta shots.

Also...you might want to split your first squad into 2 separate squads and then take a command squad for your libby in the drop pod - then you can give every guy in the command squad a meltagun (or combimelta) if you want.

The separated squad could then have the special weapon (flamer) to go in the rhino and move up the board, and give the other one a heavy weapon to sit on a backfield objective and shoot at stuff (turn them into a scout squad to save some points).



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, 2 drop pods isn't a good idea - take 1 - 3 - or 5 so that a majority of them will showup on turn 1.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, consider giving your libby an auspex to lower targets cover save by 1 (one of the best tools in the codex)

Jumping in here to provide some more feedback on the original list:

If you have a chance to look at the Siege Dreadnougth (a FW unit) you may find it's awesome... I'd think the twin-linked flamer that thing has is devastating!

That aside, some advice for just getting into the hobby... I'd say you don't want to acquire models and units that you won't use later once you build a larger army. I'd say shoot for a 750 point list instead, and invest some more points into good and fun units (like a better HQ) so that you can keep it in play for larger games. Take a look at Vulkan or even a Chapter Master (you can pretend he's a Captain in smaller games... and if you give him the Shield Eternal, you can pretend it's a Storm Shield at lesser point levels, etc.)

That being said, I'd also build troop units with a dedicated transports that fit the play style you're shooting for. If you like the style of a drop pod list, try to get 3 of them; if you like just the dreadnought fighting things ahead of your advance, just give him one and take some Rhinos.

As for their load-out, I'd stick to assault weapons that pair well with the bolters at 12" range. Melta guns and bombs are always a good choice (especially if you take Vulkan to twin-link them) because you'll likely be scrapping over an objective against min-sized units and another transport... so the ability to blow it up helps. Avoid heavy weapons and close combat weapons.

The Predator will probably disappoint you; it's not a fast vehicle so re-positioning it and firing to full effect is going to cause you headaches. I'd just drop it for something else. If you want long-range support, a TFC is a great option. Even a Stormtalon for the same points as your Predator is nice.

Another fun unit can be a small group of Sternguard in a pod with Vulkan and 2 heavy flamers... that's 3 heavy flamers firing at once.. pretty nice clean-up unit.