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Howdy folks,

What would be the best layout (equipment and weapons) for a 5 man Scout squad? How about a 10 man? Or is there some other optimal layout?

I'm looking to add one scout squad to my army, for both looks and usage, so I want to get the best bang for the buck in configuration.

John

sniper rifles and a heavy bolter or Missile launcher, with the a Vet sgt with power weapon/bolt pistol, for either Five or ten man squads are very effective
.

Plus sniper rifles can take out lite armor, and there very effective again MC with high toughness.

I have to go with the snipers, but as far as what heavy to take, I lean more towards the missile launcher.

The ML suits the snipers role better at high toughness things and light armor. The heavy bolter is just a couple extra "meh" shots.

Depends what you need them to do.

In Blood Angels a 6 man squad with CCWs and naked Vet Sarge is pretty optimal.

For a more shooty list Sniper Rifles give you a shooting option for dealing with high Toughness models.

It really does depend on what the rest of your army composition is and what void you are looking to fill or area you are looking to strengthen.

For shooty, as already mentioned bolters, snipers + missile launcher is best (I pine for the days of the autocannon...). Just don't count on the snipers "pinning" as there are too many armies immune to it.

My preference is using them as cheap assault squads, 8-10 in size with BP/CCW, a vet with a power fist & bolt pistol, and a heavy bolter (for cheap emergency firepower). If you're running teleporting termies too, add in a teleport homer and also possibly make the squad smaller and take two (instead of one) to ensure they go where you want.

Can someone explain veteran sgts with power weapons in sniper squads. What am I missing?

Sounds like a waste of points to me. In 3rd ed I used to run a Vet Scout Sgt. with power sword/plasma pistol in a ccw/bp scout squad, but that was because power fists = certain death in those days. Now, I have no idea.

I guess it would depend on what the job was.

For a 5 man team, load up with long range and camp.
For a 10 man team, get ready to charge.

At least, thats the "in general" from my books.

To me, it depends on the army i'm going against. Guard or Tau, I'd like a CC squad with a PF or PW Sarge. Against things like Eldar and Nids, I want Snipers and ML, to nail the big ugly wraithlord or Fex. I'll take the Heavy Bolter if I decide to field straight Bolters, simply for the mass of fire they can lay down real quick. They all have their uses in my opinion. Some better then others for certain situations. Just gotta hope you end up with the right one.

i thnik people are also missing the army factor. what army you have makes alot of difference in what you field.

 

 

blood angels for example use CCW/BP scouts effectively because they have the black rage/furious charge rules which works counter to using heavy weapons.

 

the dark angels on the otherhand utalizing the long running intractable rule(which is apparently no more with the new dex ) benefited more from snipers/missle laucner loadout because they never moved if they didn't want to.

Thats for the advice guys. Right now my SM army is a vanilla one, and I have 4x10 tac squads with a combo of ML, LC, a LC dread, 2 MM LS and a standard cmdr. Bike squad with chaplain on the bench. I got the scout squad box, and maybe will get another to bump it up to 8-10, and wanted once because of a) variety, b) looks. Ideas seem to be to go with the ML and at least one sniper (I think I'll go two), and I think I'll do the rest with bolters. I love the look of the shotgun, though I know its crap, so maybe I'll just have one or two.

Thanks for the assists.
John

Think I can give some good input on this as My current SM Army happens to have 36 Scouts in it.

Bear in mind that my army is set up to be a very fast, mobile and assualting force.

I basically use my vehicles such as tanks and Dreads to sit at the back and release hell each turn. My troops are mostly Jump pack troops and also a large HQ command squad full of assualt and pistol weapons.

When I used to field my scouts I had two teams of 10scouts with vet scout with powerfist, 1 heavy bolter, all others had pistols. And also a large team of 8 to 10scouts with a missile, snipers, and a few boltguns to make up numbers.
What I found in my own games was that my large squad of snipers etc had few targets for most of the game and didn't get off many shots per turn.

The 10man assualting scouts however, no matter where they were placed or what they chose as targets were completely destroyed sometimes in the first round of close combat or from the enemies first turn of shooting. They were simply to big a squad to hide.

THE FIX
What I have done now is to put my scouts into 6man teams with a missile launcher, 2sniper and 3pistol/boltguns. and I have also dcreased my assualting scouts into a 6 to 8man squad. I now find my games play a lot better and give your opponent more targets. Also you have enough fire power to take on vehicles, tough troops and also lotsa light troops as well. all for about 98 points I think. when you then add the infiltrate rule to put them into fortifications forests etc then you have a good mix of weapons for nearly all occasions.


What I guess I'm saying is that I agree with nyarlathotep667, if you trying to get more fire power, then go for a 6man squad with 1missile, 2snipers and 3scouts with a mix of either boltguns and/or pistols, (depending how far forward or back they are being placed)

Alternatively if your wanting to get blood on your hands, go with a 8man squad MAX with pistols all round, a vet sergeant with powerfist and if you feel its needed then add a heavy bolter into that squad to give a few more options if your stuck during battle.

Personally I feel a 5man squad is just one man short!
Hope it helps, its tried and tested

I've done eighty point units with boltguns and a missile launcher. They do all right.

If you want to sit with a missile launcher take tacticals instead. I dont have much time for scouts.

Its a fair point Orlanth, however the advantage scouts have over normal marines is that you can infiltrate then into forward positions where they will have better or more targets per turn. Placing them in forests etc helps them to last a bit longer and also delays the enemy attacking your main force.

Though marines are tougher and generally better, they have to either sit at their startup location or spend turns moving into better positions.

Thats why theres only 2pt difference between the two types, each has a good advantage over the other depending on how you wish to use them in your army.

Me personally ... I use scouts to get into forward position and harass the enemy with lots of missiles whilst my marines get into assualt/shooting positions. Generally I find that the scouts are left mostly alone as the enemy are more worried about my tanks and assualt marines.

I think scouts are extremely useful.

Whenever you have to take on any type of unit that ignores armor saves ie. MC's, Banshees, etc, scouts are better than tacitcal marines as they have the same combat ability and are cheaper.

My favorite use for them is when I decide to go shooty with my marines. I take a 10 man squad of assault equiped scouts, give them a vet with a fist, a heavy bolter and sit them in cover to screen my guns. If i am facing an assault army they take pot shots with their heavy bolter and then absorb the charge and tie up the enemy unit allowing my counterchargers to come in.

If I am facing a shooty army, they infiltrate and either sit on an objective or advance on the enemy gunline. Either way they force your opponant to deal with them.

If i am playing a mechanized army i am pissed that i brought them as they are fairly worthless in that situation outside of camping on an objective and trying to draw fire away from my guns.

5 Sniper scouts with a ML are a good 95 point troop slot filler. The range and ML make them fairly effective against most targets but still less effective than a 5 man las plas.