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I am currently in the market for buying some elites. I am projecting to have
2 tactical squads (missile launcher and melta/plasmagun)
1 assault squad (plasma pistols)
Cato Sicarius, who will probably be thrown in a rhino with my elites.

What do I pick for my elites?

Thanks,
David

Command squads. No question.

You have a squad of five guys that can all take special weapons and optionally have an apothecary. Plus, if taken in a demi-company or battle company, they are objective secured.

You can tool them for one purpose and pod them in or, what I do, is give them 2 meltaguns and 2 flamers, put them in a (free) rhino, and have them troubleshoot unexpected things out of the top hatch.

Moving them to the elite slot in this book was a huge change. Being part of a demi-company for objective secured status is just icing.

If you're looking for a unit that can ride in a rhino I'd go with either sternguards for a shooting unit or honour guards for an assault one, you will lose a turn of assaulting since the rhino is not an assault transport, but a least they have bolters they can use when they get out.

Sternguard absolutely.

Legion of the damned are easy to convert up from tactical marine bits and are quite good imo. No rhino for them.

A five man squad with a combi grav, meltagun and multi melta gets work done

 Bryan01 wrote:
Legion of the damned are easy to convert up from tactical marine bits and are quite good imo. No rhino for them.

A five man squad with a combi grav, meltagun and multi melta gets work done

I would rate LotD the second best infantry unit right after Grav Centurions. They have very good survivability by their 3++, and great offensive fire power through Slow and Purposeful, and Ignore cover.

Sternguard are one of the better units in the codex. Special ammo is amazing.

Command squads are nice. They can be built a number of ways, and can do well at all of them. Nice and fluffy as well.

Honor guard and Vanguard vets both have their place. Mostly in someone’s face stabbing them.

LotD have some powerful tricks up their sleeves.

Terminators are fluffy and iconic, but a little sub-par

Dreads are fun, and can work in the right list. Some better then others.

Do you intend to build towards a demi-company, and from there a gladius? Are there other formations that appeal to you? The big question to ask in this day and age is how you are building your army. While the CAD is still a valid choice, there is a lot of free power to be had in formations. And different units slot into different ones. The command squad can be included in the demi-co, no muss, no fuss. But if you are looking to take the company to a full gladius, sternguard can be used for a 1st company taskforce. And you probably won’t have the points for both.

 Nevelon wrote:
Sternguard are one of the better units in the codex. Special ammo is amazing.

Command squads are nice. They can be built a number of ways, and can do well at all of them. Nice and fluffy as well.

Honor guard and Vanguard vets both have their place. Mostly in someone’s face stabbing them.

LotD have some powerful tricks up their sleeves.

Terminators are fluffy and iconic, but a little sub-par

Dreads are fun, and can work in the right list. Some better then others.

Do you intend to build towards a demi-company, and from there a gladius? Are there other formations that appeal to you? The big question to ask in this day and age is how you are building your army. While the CAD is still a valid choice, there is a lot of free power to be had in formations. And different units slot into different ones. The command squad can be included in the demi-co, no muss, no fuss. But if you are looking to take the company to a full gladius, sternguard can be used for a 1st company taskforce. And you probably won’t have the points for both.

I'm not quite sure here. I do want to have a functional 1000ish pt army, and I think that the Demi-company definitely looks nice. Can you give me a run-down of any viable ways to move my demi-company into a gladius strike force?

I would be interested in picking up LoTD because they seem super cool fluff-wise and would fit with the flames on my ultramarines.
Thanks,
David

(also, where are the formations listed?)

A large chunk of the formations are in the codex. If your book includes the battle demi-company and galadius, they should be right in the same area (pg. 174-185). There are a number of other formations scattered around, including the new campaign book and a few WD/web exclusives.

Which ones to include depend a lot on your collection, what kind of army you want to play, and points. As an older player, I am biased by the ones I could make out of my collection when the new codex dropped. For someone building up new, you might choose a different path. But the 1st and 10th are my go-tos.

The 10th company formation is a solid one. All you need is 3 scout squads (normal or bikes) This makes it one of the cheeper ones, both from a points and cash standpoint. I field a 250 point one, with a small bike squad, 5 snipers, and 5 in a LSS. Good to cram a gladius into a smaller game.

The 1st company formation is another really good one. Sternguard are strong on their own, and this gives them some boost. VVs are also not bad, and I still fondly field terminators. Downside is the point cost. Vets aren’t cheep.

If you are going mechanized, things like the suppression force or the AA one aren’t bad. AA is very situational, but it and the suppression force are more low cost options. Armored spearhead is an investment, but keeps your inner tread-head happy.

Stormwing gets some air cover, but is on the expensive side

When I build a demi-co, I generally go with full tac squads and half dev/AMs. Makes for about a 1k list by themselves. What formations to use depends a lot of the point value I’m aiming for. Scouts for small games, vets for larger, or trim a little off the company and do both. Splashing in the optionals (command squad, dreads) from the company also helps get to the right point value

 Nevelon wrote:
A large chunk of the formations are in the codex. If your book includes the battle demi-company and galadius, they should be right in the same area (pg. 174-185). There are a number of other formations scattered around, including the new campaign book and a few WD/web exclusives.

Which ones to include depend a lot on your collection, what kind of army you want to play, and points. As an older player, I am biased by the ones I could make out of my collection when the new codex dropped. For someone building up new, you might choose a different path. But the 1st and 10th are my go-tos.

The 10th company formation is a solid one. All you need is 3 scout squads (normal or bikes) This makes it one of the cheeper ones, both from a points and cash standpoint. I field a 250 point one, with a small bike squad, 5 snipers, and 5 in a LSS. Good to cram a gladius into a smaller game.

The 1st company formation is another really good one. Sternguard are strong on their own, and this gives them some boost. VVs are also not bad, and I still fondly field terminators. Downside is the point cost. Vets aren’t cheep.

If you are going mechanized, things like the suppression force or the AA one aren’t bad. AA is very situational, but it and the suppression force are more low cost options. Armored spearhead is an investment, but keeps your inner tread-head happy.

Stormwing gets some air cover, but is on the expensive side

When I build a demi-co, I generally go with full tac squads and half dev/AMs. Makes for about a 1k list by themselves. What formations to use depends a lot of the point value I’m aiming for. Scouts for small games, vets for larger, or trim a little off the company and do both. Splashing in the optionals (command squad, dreads) from the company also helps get to the right point value

Are the formations a 7th edition thing, since I haven't bought the new codex, and am still on my 6th edition codex.

SirSertile wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:
A large chunk of the formations are in the codex. If your book includes the battle demi-company and galadius, they should be right in the same area (pg. 174-185). There are a number of other formations scattered around, including the new campaign book and a few WD/web exclusives.

Which ones to include depend a lot on your collection, what kind of army you want to play, and points. As an older player, I am biased by the ones I could make out of my collection when the new codex dropped. For someone building up new, you might choose a different path. But the 1st and 10th are my go-tos.

The 10th company formation is a solid one. All you need is 3 scout squads (normal or bikes) This makes it one of the cheeper ones, both from a points and cash standpoint. I field a 250 point one, with a small bike squad, 5 snipers, and 5 in a LSS. Good to cram a gladius into a smaller game.

The 1st company formation is another really good one. Sternguard are strong on their own, and this gives them some boost. VVs are also not bad, and I still fondly field terminators. Downside is the point cost. Vets aren’t cheep.

If you are going mechanized, things like the suppression force or the AA one aren’t bad. AA is very situational, but it and the suppression force are more low cost options. Armored spearhead is an investment, but keeps your inner tread-head happy.

Stormwing gets some air cover, but is on the expensive side

When I build a demi-co, I generally go with full tac squads and half dev/AMs. Makes for about a 1k list by themselves. What formations to use depends a lot of the point value I’m aiming for. Scouts for small games, vets for larger, or trim a little off the company and do both. Splashing in the optionals (command squad, dreads) from the company also helps get to the right point value

Are the formations a 7th edition thing, since I haven't bought the new codex, and am still on my 6th edition codex.

Buy the new one. It is beyond worth it

 Nevelon wrote:
Sternguard are one of the better units in the codex. Special ammo is amazing.

Command squads are nice. They can be built a number of ways, and can do well at all of them. Nice and fluffy as well.

Honor guard and Vanguard vets both have their place. Mostly in someone’s face stabbing them.

LotD have some powerful tricks up their sleeves.

Terminators are fluffy and iconic, but a little sub-par

Dreads are fun, and can work in the right list. Some better then others.

Do you intend to build towards a demi-company, and from there a gladius? Are there other formations that appeal to you? The big question to ask in this day and age is how you are building your army. While the CAD is still a valid choice, there is a lot of free power to be had in formations. And different units slot into different ones. The command squad can be included in the demi-co, no muss, no fuss. But if you are looking to take the company to a full gladius, sternguard can be used for a 1st company taskforce. And you probably won’t have the points for both.

dont take a regular dreadnaught though, youll come to thank us later

SirSertile wrote:
Are the formations a 7th edition thing, since I haven't bought the new codex, and am still on my 6th edition codex.

Yup. They are the major change between the codexes. There were a few other minor tweaks (some quite nice) but formations are the new wave in 7th.