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Made in gb
Courageous Grand Master




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What to do with them?

They're fantastic models, have good stats and equipment

but I'm not sure how to use them properly...

When I first got into ME, I saw the Tempest Elites as being similar to Space Marine Terminators...

In 40K, I used to love teleporting Terminators straight into the action. Often they would get blown away, but mostly, they'd dish out a lot of damage.

Obviously, Tempest Elites can't teleport in, so I had to figure out another way to use them.

For me, there are two obstacles to overcome:

1) The price for a 4 man unit.

2) The 4 man limitation...


I tried using them as a fire support for my trooper squads, they were good at that, but I felt that was a waste of points that could be better spent on another trooper squad. My preferred tactic is to maneuver 2 trooper squads against a single enemy unit, and then blow them away with a concentrated dose of fire.

I also tried using them as a 'separate' unit in its own right, but often, when they slog across the table, even accounting for moving from cover to cover, 1 or two casualties can reduce their effectiveness, to say nothing if you decide to max out on energy mortars for them!

The Tempest Elites and the Scarecrows are my two favourite units in the game - fantastic models, but getting the most out of them seems awkward.

Utilizing elite units across various game systems has always been a problem for me over the years, so I was wondering if people had their own hints and tips on using Tempest Elites.

Thanks.






"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Sentient OverBear






Clearwater, FL

I'm a huge fan of Tempests!

For me, I've found the sweet spot to be three Tempests with Ravagers. The mortars are cool (and yes, you can shoot directly), but having the 9 shots is very nice, especially if you Focus Fire. That, coupled with Explosive, allows the squad to really do some damage every turn. I keep them towards the center of the board so that they have range to most of the enemy and have been looking to keeping a Kaddar Nova with the squad to soak up some of the incoming fire (granted, this is for a 150 point list).

I understand your point about price, but the extra range of the Tempests allows them to project their influence and gives you options for shooting that you may lack with Trooper squads. This is always something I key on in miniature wargames; what portions of the board can Squad X affect? The Tempests are my solution for this (at least for Karists).


DQ:70S++G+++M+B++I+Pw40k94+ID+++A++/sWD178R+++T(I)DM+++

Trust me, no matter what damage they have the potential to do, single-shot weapons always flatter to deceive in 40k.                                                                                                       Rule #1
- BBAP

 
   
Made in gb
[ADMIN]
Decrepit Dakkanaut






London, UK

My favourite by far has been 2 man squads with mortars. Forcing enemy units out of cover, or absolutely destroying them with those crazy powerful shots is completely worth the cost to me.

Check out our new, fully plastic tabletop wargame - Maelstrom's Edge, made by Dakka!
 
   
Made in gb
Courageous Grand Master




-

 legoburner wrote:
My favourite by far has been 2 man squads with mortars. Forcing enemy units out of cover, or absolutely destroying them with those crazy powerful shots is completely worth the cost to me.


That is a sound plan, but I worry about the effects 1 casualty will have. I'm somebody who prefers a lot of miniatures on the table.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Lorek wrote:
I'm a huge fan of Tempests!

For me, I've found the sweet spot to be three Tempests with Ravagers. The mortars are cool (and yes, you can shoot directly), but having the 9 shots is very nice, especially if you Focus Fire. That, coupled with Explosive, allows the squad to really do some damage every turn. I keep them towards the center of the board so that they have range to most of the enemy and have been looking to keeping a Kaddar Nova with the squad to soak up some of the incoming fire (granted, this is for a 150 point list).

I understand your point about price, but the extra range of the Tempests allows them to project their influence and gives you options for shooting that you may lack with Trooper squads. This is always something I key on in miniature wargames; what portions of the board can Squad X affect? The Tempests are my solution for this (at least for Karists).



Yeah, that's the idea I may start leaning towards - a fire support base that can tip the balance for another unit. I may try that, especially if they can pummel the enemy from a distance.

I have this dread fear of scarecrows sniping away at small units, though.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/08/24 11:42:52


"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd 
   
Made in gb
[ADMIN]
Decrepit Dakkanaut






London, UK

I usually keep them in an uninteresting segment of the battlefield and use indirect fire so that they are not worth my opponent expending a lot of effort to get them, but they are able to force a lot of choices in the game.

Check out our new, fully plastic tabletop wargame - Maelstrom's Edge, made by Dakka!
 
   
Made in nl
Sure Shot Scarecrow Sniper






I'm totally basing myself on untested theory here, but my plan for them is like Lego's: use them to remove the enemy from good positions and, haven't seen this mentioned specifically yet, to hopefully force the enemy to pivot with suppressive fire and thereby exposing them to a rear attack from another unit.

   
Made in gb
Courageous Grand Master




-

 Sgt. Oddball wrote:
I'm totally basing myself on untested theory here, but my plan for them is like Lego's: use them to remove the enemy from good positions and, haven't seen this mentioned specifically yet, to hopefully force the enemy to pivot with suppressive fire and thereby exposing them to a rear attack from another unit.


Damn it! I don't want untested theory, I want hard won, practical experience

"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd 
   
Made in nl
Sure Shot Scarecrow Sniper






Hehe, can't fault you for that. Give me a couple of weeks and I'll have some of that

   
Made in us
[ADMIN]
President of the Mat Ward Fan Club






Los Angeles, CA


If you take a 4-man Hellstorm mortar unit, although it is a TON of points, you'll want to make it the focal point of your army and your strategy. Under no circumstances should you fire indirectly with such a unit, as the enemy will simply elect to avoid the attacks, and even though you'll be moving that target 3" and putting 5 STs on them (1 for being the target and 4 more for each weapon fired that they avoid), you won't be doing enough damage commensurate to how many points you paid for your unit.

Instead you'd want to always try to fire directly, if possible using a Hold & Fire action to utilize Focused Fire. If you can fire directly at the enemy with Focused Fire, a 4-man Hellstorm unit should come close to destroying just about any unit in the game with a single round of shooting, even if they're in cover, have a field or a dodge. You'll just do too many hits that cause a ton of damage. This fact means that your opponent's goal in the game will have to shift to doing damage (or at least putting a ton of STs) onto your Hellstorm unit, and that gives you the upper hand because you know precisely what your opponent is trying to do. Alternatively, they can just try to stay out of the fairly hefty range of the Hellstorms, but if they take that approach, then you gain control of a significant portion of the table (allowing you to control all the objectives in that area).


The other options for the Tempests are pretty much what has already been said:

• Going with 2-man Hellstorm team (one or two of those). By splitting them up into 2-man teams you reduce the 'all eggs in one basket' issue, but you also obviously cut their damage potential quite a bit, so as Legoburner suggested, its then a better idea to leave those units out of line of sight and force your opponent to either avoid the attacks (and let you move them around) or suffer a fair amount of damage and/or STs from just sucking up the hits.

• A 3-4 man Ravager team (either with or without a Coriolis Launcher) is still quite cheaper than taking Hellstorms, but then it is just much more of a conventional powerhouse unit that has to move fairly close to the enemy and stay within line of sight to decimate them. If you take this route, putting the Kaddar Nova with them (and keeping his field on) ensures that any Scarecrows the enemy has can't really hurt your unit, and gives you the flexibility to leave them outside of cover when necessary to capture an objective out in the open.



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Made in gb
Courageous Grand Master




-

Thanks for the hints and tips. I shall give them a go, and when it all goes horribly wrong, I shall return to apportion blame to the guilty parties


"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd 
   
 
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