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Greetings!

I have been sucked into world of the Horus Heresy and now I want to join the fray. After taking a quick look at the Forgeworld model range, I found myself quickly admiring the Siege Breacher squads. Mainly this:

Taken from A Galaxy in Flames blog

With the Imperial Fists rite of war to give +1 toughness for shield wielding units, I would assume they are the ideal legion for the breacher squads.

I'm trying to plan what models to buy from forgeworld but some advice from the more experience would be nice.

I know I want to get the:
MKIII Tactical Squad set
Boarding Assault upgrade

Which will give me 30 marines with boarding shields. But I have some questions:
-Which rule book do I need? My friend has the fluff books, but I just want the core rules.
-What special weapons should I get?
-How to I build the HQ unit? Praeto I believe?
-What other models should I be considering?

Cheers

that may work, but it looks like it would cost a lot more then just buying the MKIII breacher squads.

beyond that,
>you will need the 2 red books when they relaunch
>I like graviton guns, though they can also take flamers (good), and lascutters (they are "eh"
>however you want, that's the joy of 30k, there is no need to min-max. since you look to be going all shields, your praetor would be good with artificer armor, boarding shield, paragon blade, etc. don't forget to look into some of the other consoles as well since they are all pretty good force multipliers.
> I think it depends on what theme you wanna go with. If you want to stick with the shield theme and go more infantry heavy, take Storm shield terminators. if you wanted this to look more like a "traditional" ground force, look into a few landraiders. like I said above, there is no "best way"
> Both of the IF special units work will with a shield army (warders better then sword brethren, at least in context of the theme around shields)

One thing not to many people do: look into mechanicum or Auxillia allies (if your RoW allows allies)

Thanks for the pointers!

I do like the look of the larger boarding shields, but my wallet is having second thoughts.

Graviton guns sound cool, but with so much power armour running around are they worth the cost?

Took a look at the IF warders and I'm not sure what they offer compared to the breachers. Seems like access to power axes and +1 initiative if they get charged. But that's about it.

On thing to look at is Cataphractii Terminators with Stormshields, they also get the +1 Toughness from the rite of war. The Black Templar 40k shields would look nice for them and showcase some Templar (elite warrior) influence in the legion. The Warder would work a little weird with that Rite of War because the axes will always swing last so the +1 Initiative doesn't really affect them. you could combine that with the Rapier Batteries and Heavy support squads and go with an infantry themed army. for the Praetor, Termy armour, Paragon Blade, and StormShield. This does get expensive money and points wise though.

That's a good idea, I might try to make the whole army go for a templar theme.

Sitting on the fence with Cataphractii terminators though. Stormshields will make them super tough to kill, but if I use that rite of war they can't deepstrike anymore. Therefore they need a transport, but all the land raider variants don't appeal to me.

And Imperial fists are awesome as they open up storm shields and deepstrike, but only if I use a generic rite of war.

Will super tough footslogging terminators be useful? Or just a waste?

 taemu_touhi wrote:
That's a good idea, I might try to make the whole army go for a templar theme.

Sitting on the fence with Cataphractii terminators though. Stormshields will make them super tough to kill, but if I use that rite of war they can't deepstrike anymore. Therefore they need a transport, but all the land raider variants don't appeal to me.

And Imperial fists are awesome as they open up storm shields and deepstrike, but only if I use a generic rite of war.

Will super tough footslogging terminators be useful? Or just a waste?

I frequently foot slog my termiantors, use them almost like a second wave after the marines of doom.
the other option I use (mind you, these are their regular cataphractii, or 2-wound tartaros terminators) is the following:
1 20-man tactical squad on each flank, 2 10-man terminator squads in the center, backed by whatever tanks I want. if the enemy is wasting shots on the terminators, my marines close in. If the enemy focuses on the marines, my tanks and terminators close in. foot slogging terminators are not as bad as people make them out to be, so long as you don't solely rely on them.

I'm interested in this thread. I just started a imperial fists army for 30k as well using a calth box, breachers, and castellum. What shields are you guys using on the termies? I can only find the black templar ones on forge world.

 Rotary wrote:
I'm interested in this thread. I just started a imperial fists army for 30k as well using a calth box, breachers, and castellum. What shields are you guys using on the termies? I can only find the black templar ones on forge world.

The Black Templar shields from Forgeworld work really really well as the vigil Pattern storm shield from the book, because the Imperial Fists from the Horus Heresy era feature a lot of Templar iconography in there Elite sections, especially when you come to first company and the Templar brother in units.

Just checking, but does the +1 toughness from having 3 models in coherency with shields only apply to those models. So the whole unit will not benefit.

Therefore if I wanted the whole unit to benefit, I need at least 50% of the models to have shields?

 taemu_touhi wrote:
Just checking, but does the +1 toughness from having 3 models in coherency with shields only apply to those models. So the whole unit will not benefit.

Therefore if I wanted the whole unit to benefit, I need at least 50% of the models to have shields?

51% yeah, for majority toughness, command squads can take combat Shields so also get the buff, the +1 I has been changed to +1 WS As well, so WS 6 command squads are a thing, plop them on bikes or jetbikes and you have T6, pretty nasty.

 Rotary wrote:
I'm interested in this thread. I just started a imperial fists army for 30k as well using a calth box, breachers, and castellum. What shields are you guys using on the termies? I can only find the black templar ones on forge world.

Been looking around for alternate shields, or at least something different for sergeants and Praetors. This is what I'm planning to use.

 Formosa wrote:

51% yeah, for majority toughness, command squads can take combat Shields so also get the buff, the +1 I has been changed to +1 WS As well, so WS 6 command squads are a thing, plop them on bikes or jetbikes and you have T6, pretty nasty.

Dayum! That sounds like a beastly squad! Even though I feel bikes don't fit the Imperial Fists too well, I still want to try it out!

Ey up taemu, I had my first 30k game in the week with crimson fists (obviously using imperial fist rules). I really enjoyed it and they performed really well. Bs and t5 made them a really difficult force to shift. Having to have two breacher squads is painful on the wallet though, by coincidence (I was completely unaware of rites of war and limitations until the game) I already have one 10 man squad. Having to spend £68 for a second unit I hadn't intended buying for future games is a bit of a pain though.

When you have a 1k or 1.5k list give me a shout, we are long overdue for another game.

 JamesY wrote:
Ey up taemu, I had my first 30k game in the week with crimson fists (obviously using imperial fist rules). I really enjoyed it and they performed really well. Bs and t5 made them a really difficult force to shift. Having to have two breacher squads is painful on the wallet though, by coincidence (I was completely unaware of rites of war and limitations until the game) I already have one 10 man squad. Having to spend £68 for a second unit I hadn't intended buying for future games is a bit of a pain though.

When you have a 1k or 1.5k list give me a shout, we are long overdue for another game.

Hi!

Here is a 1.5k list which I think fully embodies the shield theme I like. The rapier weapon batteries and heavy support squad provide cover fire, while the rest of the troops move up the field and hopefully never die.

HQ
Praetor -Rite of war: Stone Gauntlet
-Cataphractii Terminator Armour
-Paragon Blade
-Stormshield
-Digital Lasers

Troops
15 man, Breacher Siege Squad
-Sergeant with artificer armour and power fist
-3 Graviton guns
-Legion Vexilla

15 man, Breacher Siege Squad
-Sergeant with artificer armour and power fist
-3 Graviton guns
-Legion Vexilla

Elites
5 man Cataphractii Terminator Squad
-Sergeant with stormshield and power fist
-1 with assault cannon and power axe
-3 with stormshields and power axes

2, Rapier Weapons Batteries
-Both swap to Laser Destroyer Weapons

Heavy Support
8 man, Heavy Support Squad
-Autocannons


Current debating with myself about the lack of normal tactical marines. The fury of the legion combined with the +1 BS is such a devastating attack. But if I include them, with the Breacher squad tax, that's a whole lot of bolters which might cause issues if I am faced with vehicle heavy lists.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't storm shields make Cataphractii armor unnecessary? I mean the only reason to take it, aside from aesthetics, is the invulnerable save. You could take Tartarus and a storm shield, have a 3++, and be able to run and sweeping advance. Am I missing something?

 CalgarsPimpHand wrote:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't storm shields make Cataphractii armor unnecessary? I mean the only reason to take it, aside from aesthetics, is the invulnerable save. You could take Tartarus and a storm shield, have a 3++, and be able to run and sweeping advance. Am I missing something?

you are correct, but 30k is a game about fluff rather then minmaxing

Don't the 30k Storm Shields only add +1 to your inv. save?
So you only get that 3++ in Cataphractii armour.

 Mr_Rose wrote:
Don't the 30k Storm Shields only add +1 to your inv. save?
So you only get that 3++ in Cataphractii armour.

No, the Imperial Fists Storm Shields give you a 3++ invulnerable save.

I think the Salamanders ones might be silly like that, though.

 CalgarsPimpHand wrote:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't storm shields make Cataphractii armor unnecessary? I mean the only reason to take it, aside from aesthetics, is the invulnerable save. You could take Tartarus and a storm shield, have a 3++, and be able to run and sweeping advance. Am I missing something?

Taking the stormshields with Caraphractii armour is slightly cheaper than with Tartaros armour. Other than that, it's just cool points.

Looks like a good list, and you've got a lot in there.

Mine is something like Polux, terminator squad, x2 10 man breacher squads, two contemptors and a missile launcher hvy support squad. Should be a good mash up!