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Have the Age of Darkness box to unwrap in a few days, and the box with the terminator and chaplain characters

whilst I do have a Thousand Sons force made of Mk III models which is nice I'm not planning to make these part of it, largely as that means setting up the airbrush, so will instead be going for Death Guard.

so far the "plan" is

- make the chaplain as the first HQ
- make two squads of 10 MK VI, with vox (as there will be teleporting terminators and missiles at some point), Vexelia (as its proven well worth it on the Thousand sons) and likely a hand flamer conversion for the sergeants (warcrimes ahoy)

not too sure on the rest though, don't have the special weapons or heavy weapons as yet, the dreadnaught will get magnets so no issues there and the tank is what the tank is.

questions on the rest though:

- how worthwhile are larger infantry squads? pondering 1x20 and 1x10, the larger as an assault force, give then chainbayonets for whatever evil they can do (not bothered on saving models for later, will get more marines for other weapons - more is it worth making 4x10 man, 2x 20 man or a 1x20 + 2x10 mix?)
- for terminators, if they have power fists and chainfists anyway how useful is the grenade harness (given you fight last anyway essentially), ok its not many points but doesn't seem all that useful? again is one larger squad better or two smaller ones? (have used the 40k death guard terminators reasonably well for "teleport on or near objective, clear it and hold it", but found five wasn't really enough. an option being a group of seven and a group of three as a command squad if I can find a suitable banner

there will be more stuff added later, just curious on thoughts for how best to go about the initial box?

no need to split it to two forces as likely opponents have their own armies

I've seen conflicting advice on small versus large Tactical squads. It seems to depend on the Legion you've chosen, and the makeup of your list. These units function principally as objective holders, so a larger unit will last longer until it's assaulted by a dedicated CC unit. I guess, having invested that much in the unit, you'd want to attach an Apocethary. But the other side of the coin is that big units are hard to hide, and (given they don't have a transport) are less versatile. I've decided that 10-man squads in Rhinos is the way to go.

On the termies, I am also wondering about unit size. I am looking at a maximum of 6 or 7.

BTW - the plastic Chaplain isn't a very good model. It's okay if you paint it up well, but it's less detailed than the (newer) MkVI models, and looks unimpressive next to them. I would suggest trying to get hold of Fafnir Rann, and converting him into a Chaplain - he's more imposing and better detailed, and it's an easy model to convert. He is rather hard to find at present, however. The Praetor in Cataphracti armour is also better than the Chaplain model, but still a bit 'flat' looking. Perhaps (with a bit of converting) he could be your Chaplain?

Well the chaplain bit was as much as "this is the model I have" as anything else, but will see how he turns out with a bit of paint.

my 40k Death Guard enjoy playing with the three Rhino they have so may give it a whirl, at least the metal box is something to hide behind

cheers for the tip on the alternative to convert though worth a try

Tacticals are one of the few units, along with despoilers, that don't pay a "squad tax" meaning they're base starting size doesn't have any additional points on top for the sergeant/purchasing of the unit. This means that if you've got the troop slots you can experiment with running then In units of 2x10 or 1x20 and just go with what you like more. Obviously there's still a points saving when you factor in vexillas, apothecaries, techmarines, and reactions.

With death guard. I would probably go with units of 15-20 with an apothecary, vexilla, and artificer/powerfist or artificer/manreaper sergeant. Because of the death guard trait, you can fury of the legion even after you move, so your tactical squads can lay down a lot of firepower on the move. If you've got large units with a vexilla and an apoth, they'll be stubborn with a 4+ feel no pain on objectives. Combine with chanin bayonettes and the unit is very hard to shift short of assaulting it with Elie assault unit units like terminators. They'll stand firm against things like assault marines, despoilers etc. And have enough Krak grenades to detail with contemptor dreads or mechanicum automata.

I think either way is a valid way to use them though. Tacticals are very flexible and pretty good on most roles. They're mainly down to how they're used and player skill.

"mainly down to player skill"

I may have spotted a potential flaw here

:-o

leopard wrote:
"mainly down to player skill"

I may have spotted a potential flaw here

:-o

you literally play DG, you are BUILT for attritional warfare and tac blocks.

Basically where Tacs for other legions are the backfield security and objective defender, in rare cases fire support, for you they are the equivalent of a ceramite clad tidal wave. March forward throw as many bolt shells in the general enemy direction and if in charge range fix bajonetts and watch the show.
(granted as mentioned, in such a build you require a decent ammount of apothecaries, and fire support for things boltguns can't wound.)

they do sound fun to play, have enjoyed the 40k version who have a somewhat mixed record on the table but have always been fun.

the whole "slow moving cancer that never stops" does appeal, sitting back and shooting is not a game I want to play, in the face, gas the swine then club them to death with chainsaws has an appeal

I suspect the appeal is something I get from having been dragged round shopping centres

regardless looking forwards to painting them

 Snord wrote:

BTW - the plastic Chaplain isn't a very good model. It's okay if you paint it up well, but it's less detailed than the (newer) MkVI models, and looks unimpressive next to them. I would suggest trying to get hold of Fafnir Rann, and converting him into a Chaplain - he's more imposing and better detailed, and it's an easy model to convert. He is rather hard to find at present, however. The Praetor in Cataphracti armour is also better than the Chaplain model, but still a bit 'flat' looking. Perhaps (with a bit of converting) he could be your Chaplain?

The Black Templar Castellan is also a great base for a Chaplain but it is a very chonky model.

Keel wrote:

 Snord wrote:

BTW - the plastic Chaplain isn't a very good model. It's okay if you paint it up well, but it's less detailed than the (newer) MkVI models, and looks unimpressive next to them. I would suggest trying to get hold of Fafnir Rann, and converting him into a Chaplain - he's more imposing and better detailed, and it's an easy model to convert. He is rather hard to find at present, however. The Praetor in Cataphracti armour is also better than the Chaplain model, but still a bit 'flat' looking. Perhaps (with a bit of converting) he could be your Chaplain?

The Black Templar Castellan is also a great base for a Chaplain but it is a very chonky model.

a slightly more "robust" figure helps when trying to move them using paws