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So up 'til now I have mainly followed the concensus on stomies - deepstriking small squads of melta behind the rear armour of tanks and forcing them to concentrate some serious firepower, i.e. a lot of the AP4 high strength stuff, which would otherwise be glancing my mech.

However, I don't like it. The one-shot can pay off, and it has done for me many times. But it's too unreliable. They can and do scatter, even a re-roll doesn't gaurentee you'll get them spot on or in melta range. And BS4 doesn't guarentee hits.

So, I got thinking of alternatives. A squad of 10 with plasma guns outflanking in a chimera would be 245 points (iirc). This could do some insane damage to MEQ on the turn it arrived and, unlike everything else I have in a box, after it's been wrecked the guys inside will have staying power. It'd ease the pressure off my gunline in a fairly reliable way, though it is rather costly.

Is there anything else I'm missing here? Infiltrating them seems pointless, and they're too soft and slow to really make enough use of their short range, if effective, weaponry.

OT- I think stormtroopers would be made a lot more flexible if they made hot-shot lasguns 30" range. Then you'd have a unit that was fairly soft but still capable of being a serious shooty threat.

245 points for something that throws down 3 plasma hits per turn? You can get a plasma cannon executioner that puts down the same number of hits, but they're plasma CANNONS, and they're on a much more durable frame.

Furthermore, it's really the mobility that makes the stormtroopers. Lots of stuff can ride in chimeras or vendettas, and lots of stuff can take special weapons. If you're taking stormies to fill this role, then you can fill it with other stuff that's better or cheaper (or both), and often scores.

In order for stormtroopers to stand out, they really need to be deepstriking. Outflanking is pretty easy to counter. Deepstriking requires castling or you're screwed. Stormies showing up somewhere and giving an opponent cover saves is very, very different from popping up behind cover and blasting stuff, especially when the Ap3 small arms are considered.

Stormies in a chimera are just more guardsmen in a chimera, and can be countered accordingly. Deepstriking stormtroopers are both a great strategic and a tactical asset. You have LOTS of flexibility (which is good, because those guys are expensive), and your opponent has to actually do things a little bit screwy.

Yeah, deepstriking isn't 100% reliable, but it's a risk worth taking for the big rewards you get out of it.

For 225 you can get a Plasmavet squad with Harker in a Chimera to outflank with 3 plasma and a heavy bolter. That's 20 points less for a scoring unit, losing only hot-shot lasguns.

Point for point, Stormies get trumped by Veterans almost every time. The one thing they alone can do is deep strike. It's unfortunate, because I'd like Stormtroopers to fill a more practical role. I don't bother with them personally; I'd rather use a Vendetta or artillery to put anti-vehicle shots into my opponent's deployment zone.

If you want an upfield distraction unit, Infiltrate Harker with Camo Cloaks and Plasma.

Stormies are only cost-justified because they can deep strike.

30" range for Hot-Shot would be ridiculously (perhaps over-powerfully) good. Be happy that they are AP3 in this codex. In the last codex they were AP 5!

I agree with what other posters have said. With all our other options, the only way to justify the points cost for Stormies is deepstriking small units with melta. If you want a "distraction" unit, take Vets w/ Harker, 3x plasma, AC or HB, and sentries. They'll have more firepower with significantly more special weapons, they'll be more survivable with their 2++ cover save from Stealth/Camo, AND they'll be 45 points cheaper!

< Taken by the void dragon. >