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My local escalation league starts at 500 points normally, and I always have trouble figuring out a Salamanders list that can hold up at that level. Part of that is I don't own a wide variety of models yet, but I am working on fixing that. I would like to know what more experienced SM players use at 500 points use so I can be a bit more competitive as well as figuring out what I need to buy next.

Bikes thrive at 500pts. But salamanders? Tough.

Some quick number crunches spit out something like this:

Captain
-AA, PW

5x Tac Marines
-Pod, Combi-Weapon, Flamer

5x Tac Marines
-Pod, Combi-Weapon, Flamer

Then either a third squad of these or a stock Dreadnaught in a pod.

Thanks for the swift reply obsidiankatana. I noticed that I wouldn't have enough models deployed at start for that list, but does give me a good place to start. Still need to get my dreadnought painted and assembled though...

 DmUra91 wrote:
Thanks for the swift reply obsidiankatana. I noticed that I wouldn't have enough models deployed at start for that list, but does give me a good place to start. Still need to get my dreadnought painted and assembled though...

Drop pods ignore the deployment requirements. Half of them rounded up hit the dirt on your first turn. You only lose the game if you have no models on the board at the end of a game turn not a player turn.

This doesn't really take advantage of the chapter tactics, but it's kinda tough at that points level... what about this:

Librarian - lvl 1, force weapon, pistol

Tactical Squad (8) - melta, combi-melta, rhino
Scout Squad (10) - 5 bolters outflank, 4 bolters & 1 combi-flamer in land speeder storm w/heavy flamer deep strike

Thunderfire Cannon

First, Welcome to Dakka.

The general structure of my 500 points lists is:

Cheap HQ
Full tac squad
5 man scout squad
<Fun unit>

To be honest, I’ve not built any 500 point lists with the new codex. The overall lower point costs should let you shoehorn more stuff in. The fun unit was always something around 100 points. I’d add or cut gear on the other stuff depending on what is was.

You mentioned you are part of an escalation league. Any special rules? Do you need to keep the same units as points go up? Same gear on those units? You don’t want to lock in with something now that’s going to be useless later.

Is there a style of play you are aiming for? Drop pod armies play to your strengths. What models do you have to work with, and what kind of budget to expand? Anything you love/hate?

Grav bike troops and a bike captain are your best bet if you want to win. Boring advice, but it works.

It's kind of hard to make a coherent flamer/melta list, since you're going to be hard pressed to fit multiple drop pods and Vulkan into 500 points. So you're basically falling back on buff flamers (which are so-so), and master crafted weapons (which is pretty good on a melee-focused HQ character).

What sort of games are you playing for this? If the games usually have multiple objectives, then you could probably do well enough using tac squads and/or scouts to camp objectives, and then use a bike captain to drive around tar-pitting or killing enemy squads. I did that at a 500 point mini-tournament a few months ago, and it worked pretty well. I ran this list:

Captain
Bike, Artificer Armour, Power Fist, Storm Shield

Scout Squad (5)
Camo Cloaks, Bolters

Tactical Squad (10)
Rhino, Multi-Melta, Flamer

Land Speeder Typhoon

obsidiankatana wrote:Drop pods ignore the deployment requirements. Half of them rounded up hit the dirt on your first turn. You only lose the game if you have no models on the board at the end of a game turn not a player turn.

Didn't notice that it let me start with more than 50% set in reserve.

Nevelon wrote:First, Welcome to Dakka.

The general structure of my 500 points lists is:

Cheap HQ
Full tac squad
5 man scout squad
<Fun unit>

To be honest, I’ve not built any 500 point lists with the new codex. The overall lower point costs should let you shoehorn more stuff in. The fun unit was always something around 100 points. I’d add or cut gear on the other stuff depending on what is was.

You mentioned you are part of an escalation league. Any special rules? Do you need to keep the same units as points go up? Same gear on those units? You don’t want to lock in with something now that’s going to be useless later.

Is there a style of play you are aiming for? Drop pod armies play to your strengths. What models do you have to work with, and what kind of budget to expand? Anything you love/hate?

Our league's rules are simple: Follow the chart for points, mission, and deployment (At 500 points, it's usually Purge the Alien and Dawn of War) and stick with your codex. I can change models and gear within the same round, so locking in models is not a concern. Not sure if changing SM chapters counts as changing codexes, but all the SM players have stuck with the same chapter each time.

For models, most of my army came from the SM Battleforce, with some added rhino-frame vehicles. My gem piece currently is a Stormraven, but can't use that with so little points. Budget wise, I have some room to expand, but I can't just drop everything and buy a bunch of models. I found that a MotF with servoharness, Shield Eternal, and a combi-melta is brutal in melee and dealing with all sorts of armor.; I end up putting him in the Raven in later rounds.

DanielBeaver wrote:Grav bike troops and a bike captain are your best bet if you want to win. Boring advice, but it works.

It's kind of hard to make a coherent flamer/melta list, since you're going to be hard pressed to fit multiple drop pods and Vulkan into 500 points. So you're basically falling back on buff flamers (which are so-so), and master crafted weapons (which is pretty good on a melee-focused HQ character).

What sort of games are you playing for this? If the games usually have multiple objectives, then you could probably do well enough using tac squads and/or scouts to camp objectives, and then use a bike captain to drive around tar-pitting or killing enemy squads. I did that at a 500 point mini-tournament a few months ago, and it worked pretty well. I ran this list:

Captain
Bike, Artificer Armour, Power Fist, Storm Shield

Scout Squad (5)
Camo Cloaks, Bolters

Tactical Squad (10)
Rhino, Multi-Melta, Flamer

Land Speeder Typhoon

As indicated above, with where I usually play weak games is just a kill everything game. I am leaning towards getting a captain or MotF on a bike since I've seen it work well.

 DmUra91 wrote:

As indicated above, with where I usually play weak games is just a kill everything game. I am leaning towards getting a captain or MotF on a bike since I've seen it work well.

Then the 2 troop requirement is going to be a real impediment, as tactical squads are bad at killing things. MotF is kind of a weak choice in small games, IMO - better to go all out with a bike captain. Here's an idea for a list which uses some of the SM battle force box units:

Captain
Bike, Artificer Armour, Power Fist, Storm Shield

Tactical Squad (5)
Plasma Gun, Razorback /w Lascanon and twin-linked Plasma Gun, Storm Bolter

Tactical Squad (5)
Plasma Gun, Razorback /w Assault Cannon, Storm Bolter

Not a whole lot of models, but a fairly dense amount of firepower. Bikes are still clearly a better option, if you have access to those.

 DanielBeaver wrote:

 DmUra91 wrote:

As indicated above, with where I usually play weak games is just a kill everything game. I am leaning towards getting a captain or MotF on a bike since I've seen it work well.

Then the 2 troop requirement is going to be a real impediment, as tactical squads are bad at killing things. MotF is kind of a weak choice in small games, IMO - better to go all out with a bike captain. Here's an idea for a list which uses some of the SM battle force box units:

Captain
Bike, Artificer Armour, Power Fist, Storm Shield

Tactical Squad (5)
Plasma Gun, Razorback /w Lascanon and twin-linked Plasma Gun, Storm Bolter

Tactical Squad (5)
Plasma Gun, Razorback /w Assault Cannon, Storm Bolter

Not a whole lot of models, but a fairly dense amount of firepower. Bikes are still clearly a better option, if you have access to those.

I can make a list like that with what I've got, especially since our league doesn't force WYSIWYG for gear choices.

Thanks again for all the help everyone, I should do better next league with all this advice.

Chapter Master/Captain on a bike with artificer armor and PF

at least two 5-man bike squads combi weapons or flamers and gravs
(since you're using salamanders all of your characters can upgrade their weapon to master crafted so id recommend giving your sgts some sort of upgrade and you can mix up your combis)