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I purchased Dark Vengeance I few weeks back now, but the company has been having trouble with deliveries. When it arrives my friend will be taking the Chaos and I will be taking te Dark Angels. To help to improve my army once it finally arrives I have purchased a Space Marine Assault Squad and I'm in the process of creating a sergeant but I'm unsure whether to give him Power Fist or Power weapon? I need something to deal with his pesky Hellbrute, any suggestions? And also if anyone knows the point value of the sergeant and the point value of him with a Powerfist or Power weapon, that would be useful. Thanks.

I probably wouldn't give him a Power Fist or a Power Axe, but it depends on the size of the squad. If it's a small, 5 man squad, don't, if it's a larger squad, maybe.

The reason is that because he's only in Power Armour there is a good chance that he'll die before he has a chance to swing, whether that's because he was shot out of the squad or because your opponent can dig him out in close combat before he gets a chance to swing. If it's a larger squad you may be able to weather the shooting a little better due to the extra bodies and as he's at the back of the squad the guys in front will still be able to swing but also act as meatshields for the incoming power fist.

The Power Sword could be ok, as could the Maul, it really depends on what you're up against. Personally I would prefer the Maul for the S6 but it's a matter of personal preference.

In a jump pack squad, I'd go power weapon over power fist. Assault marines are already expensive for 1 wound, power armored guys.

As for points, sorry. We can't give out individual point costs like that here. That could get dakka dakka into trouble.

If you're going to play Dark Angels, I would recommend you get the codex before you buy anything else. Bike and terminators are their strongest units, not assault marines. Make yourself a few 1000 point lists and then build to that. Please recommend to your Chaos playing friend to do the same. Codex, then list, then buy new models.

Welcome to the forums!

 Rampage wrote:
I probably wouldn't give him a Power Fist or a Power Axe, but it depends on the size of the squad. If it's a small, 5 man squad, don't, if it's a larger squad, maybe.

The reason is that because he's only in Power Armour there is a good chance that he'll die before he has a chance to swing, whether that's because he was shot out of the squad or because your opponent can dig him out in close combat before he gets a chance to swing. If it's a larger squad you may be able to weather the shooting a little better due to the extra bodies and as he's at the back of the squad the guys in front will still be able to swing but also act as meatshields for the incoming power fist.

The Power Sword could be ok, as could the Maul, it really depends on what you're up against. Personally I would prefer the Maul for the S6 but it's a matter of personal preference.

. Could I not use my Tactical Squad as a shield for my Assault Squad? I mean I've used similar tactics before and it Worked out nicely.

You can, but your tactical squad is better used doing it's best job, claiming objectives.

You can shield them some with the Tactical Squad's rhino, though.

power sword and a melta bomb is probably your best bet.

Best of both worlds, and saves you 5 points over a fist.

You could, but you'd still have to take some hits and I can never see you pushing a tactical marine squad that far up the field to take some hits away from the assault marines, that's quite a few points for what that squad is doing. Tactical marines are for sitting back on your home objectives as deckchairs, occasionally firing off a single heavy weapon. Nothing more.

 Rampage wrote:
You could, but you'd still have to take some hits and I can never see you pushing a tactical marine squad that far up the field to take some hits away from the assault marines, that's quite a few points for what that squad is doing. Tactical marines are for sitting back on your home objectives as deckchairs, occasionally firing off a single heavy weapon. Nothing more.

Or running over to an objective in a rhino.

 kronk wrote:

 Rampage wrote:
You could, but you'd still have to take some hits and I can never see you pushing a tactical marine squad that far up the field to take some hits away from the assault marines, that's quite a few points for what that squad is doing. Tactical marines are for sitting back on your home objectives as deckchairs, occasionally firing off a single heavy weapon. Nothing more.

Or running over to an objective in a rhino.

Surprised I didn't think of that, sounds like a good idea!

 kronk wrote:

 Rampage wrote:
You could, but you'd still have to take some hits and I can never see you pushing a tactical marine squad that far up the field to take some hits away from the assault marines, that's quite a few points for what that squad is doing. Tactical marines are for sitting back on your home objectives as deckchairs, occasionally firing off a single heavy weapon. Nothing more.

Or running over to an objective in a rhino.

Good luck pushing your opponent off one of their objectives with your tactical squad and then managing to stay alive whilst preventing anything from contesting it until the end of the game . But even then, you're still not using it as a shield for your assault marines.

They mop up! It's your assault terminators that should clear the objective for them, of course!

True, I suppose all of your opponent's guns will be pointed at the Terminators. Not a bad idea.

Another question to ask is if you are attaching a character to the squad?

I love to stick a chaplain in my assault squad. As he will take any challenges, the sarge is free to get a fist and strike last.

That being said, his most frequent outfit is a power sword. I take a flamer on the squad, for what it's worth. This is from the C:SM perspective, Dark Angels might be a little different.

Running them upfield in the shadow of a rhino is sound tactics. It helps keep the fire off of them. When you get where you are going, the tacs double tap bolters into your target, softening them up for an assault.

Wil9037 wrote:

 Rampage wrote:
The Power Sword could be ok, as could the Maul, it really depends on what you're up against. Personally I would prefer the Maul for the S6 but it's a matter of personal preference.

. Could I not use my Tactical Squad as a shield for my Assault Squad? I mean I've used similar tactics before and it Worked out nicely.

Alternatively there's always deep striking too. Though doing means they wont get into CC till turn 3 at the earliest no one else has to help them except for maybe the turn they land.

Nevelon wrote:Another question to ask is if you are attaching a character to the squad?

I love to stick a chaplain in my assault squad. As he will take any challenges, the sarge is free to get a fist and strike last.

That being said, his most frequent outfit is a power sword. I take a flamer on the squad, for what it's worth. This is from the C:SM perspective, Dark Angels might be a little different.

Running them upfield in the shadow of a rhino is sound tactics. It helps keep the fire off of them. When you get where you are going, the tacs double tap bolters into your target, softening them up for an assault.

Yes thanks to the challenge system we can apparently use power weapons now. Against the Hellbrute I would probably prefer the fist because you have a larger margin for error but ultimately against anything else that can hit back/challenge the sword seems like it would have a better chance of hitting and you can always try to bomb it anyway. I would probably have the Deathwing go after that thing though, what with the Chainfist an all.

I have run a 5 man Assault squad in the last few games I've played and I think the Power Wep (sword) and Melta bombs are your best bet.

I run a hybrid C:SM w/ Vindis, Rhino chassis transports, Dreads, Speeders, Stern/Tac Terms, and Tacs/Scouts; so I put a lot of targets on the board. The Assault Marines are generally ignored until my opponent realizes they are in position to charge the next turn and throws a desperate salvo their way. Plan on 3-4 making it into melee, after overwatch and a round of shooting at them (so keep the sgt in the back of the unit).

For my codex, it's 120pts for a 5 man squad w/ PW and MB's.

I either run the Assault Marines up behind a vehicle, blocking LoS and letting them pounce on whatever gets too close, or I stick them in a far corner away from my main force, and use cover to try and bumrush them up a flank. The melta bombs have helped me gib at least one vehicle in each game (typhoon speeder and a Lasbacks) and the sword has helped me wipe weaker 5 man combat squads of Devs or Tac Marines. They have also whiffed 7 straight PW attacks in two assault phases; which is another reason to eschew expensive melee weps (hitting on 4's is weak sauce).

Marines in general really aren't impressive in melee so put as few points into them as possible while still giving them the ability to take on infantry or armor threats (a la power sword and melta bombs). They are more than good enough if in a multi-tool roll if you, like me, already own Assault Marines and want to find a way to use the models you already own.