Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I'm just getting back into the hobby after about 15 years and remember almost nothing from playing it as a 12 year old.

I've enjoyed building and painting 4 units and I'm considering buying the Strike Force Ultima box set which includes:

1 x tac squad
1 x terminator squad
1 x sternguard vets
1 x terminator captain
1 x rhino
1 x land raider
1 x drop pod
1 x storm hawk interceptor

As I haven't played the current edition, can anybody advise whether any of these units are a bit pointless when it comes to using them on the table? Are any just a waste of points?

Thanks in advance.

Nothing there is a straight-up waste of points. You may be told that the Terminators and the Land Raider are; I'd say both are usable, if not competitive.

It's a great box and the formation it comes with is awesome go for it!

 AnomanderRake wrote:
Nothing there is a straight-up waste of points. You may be told that the Terminators and the Land Raider are; I'd say both are usable, if not competitive.

I’ll echo this. With the exception of the Stormhawk, I own and use all of the units in the box on a semi-regular basis. (And I fly a stormtalon, which is close to the hawk and can probably be build from the box). That said, I play in a moderately casual, non tournament setting.

1 x rhino
1 x tac squad
1 x drop pod

You can never have enough transports, and unless playing some niche list (all bikes/scouts/etc) you need some power armored bodies.

1 x sternguard vets

Sternguard are one of the best units in our codex, and a great kit in general to build. I’d probably fluff them out to a full 10 man squad by adding in tac squad bits. Extra parts can spice up your sergeants, or even make a captain on foot.

1 x storm hawk interceptor

On paper the hawk look nice, but it comes from the new flyer book which a lot of people dislike. Can be built as a talon though (I think) which is a scrappy little bird that does a decent job keeping the skies clear.

1 x terminator captain
1 x terminator squad
1 x land raider

This is where the “bad” stuff in the box is. Part of that is that they don’t want to work together. A squad of assault terminators in a LR can still be effective, but you get shooty ones. And the LR can only hold 5, so where would the captain go? The captain’s gear is also very jack-of-all-trades, where most people prefer specialization. So even if the parts are useable, they don’t really mesh in the formation.

Which bring up the question to ask about every GW box: How much do you want to use? The more you like, the better the deal will be. Even if you think one unit is hot garbage, you still might save money buying the box, rather then getting everything ala carte.

 Nevelon wrote:
...Even if you think one unit is hot garbage, you still might save money buying the box, rather then getting everything ala carte.

Seconding this point. There was a Grey Knight megaforce box at one point that was 1x LR, 5x Terminators, 15x PAGK, and 1x Dreadknight; I got one on clearance for under $100 (around the price of just buying the Terminators and the Dreadknight). The relative wimpiness of GK Land Raiders and most PAGK units under this Codex wasn't enough to outweigh getting them functionally for free.

Thanks for it all the comments.

I have just ordered the box set and it should be waiting for me when I get home in a few weeks.

My mind has immediately turned to how I'm going to build the units.

Tac squad - my other tac squad has a sgt. with power fist as well as marines with plasma, grav, flamer, melta, missile launcher and a plasma pistol. It's my understanding that I can't include all these weapons in one squad so my new squad I'll give everyone bolters and upgrade the sgt. to a power fist and maybe give one Marine the missile launcher. I'll paint them all the same as my first squad so I can mix and match the two squads.

Terminators - I understand these are assault Terminators, of which I already have a squad. So I'll try and source the kit needed to make them close combat Terminators. I might have some bits left over from Vanguard and Sternguard vets I could use.

Razorback - as I build my army is like to be able to field multiples of each tank type in a game. i.e. 3 predators one game, 3 razorbacks the next. To minimise costs I've seen some with interchangeable turrets and sponsons although I've no idea where I would source the required bits or how to put the models together in a way that allows the interchanging of parts. Any advice would be appreciated.

Land Raider - I'm unsure which type of LR I get or of the merits of each type so any advice here is also appreciated. If possible I'd like to be able to the same as above and change its weapons from game to game.

Drop pod/storm hawk - I've no experience with any of the drop pod or flyer models so any advice on weaponry and customisation would be great.

Does the above seem reasonable? Anything I've overlooked or misunderstood?

Blain87 wrote:
Tac squad - my other tac squad has a sgt. with power fist as well as marines with plasma, grav, flamer, melta, missile launcher and a plasma pistol. It's my understanding that I can't include all these weapons in one squad so my new squad I'll give everyone bolters and upgrade the sgt. to a power fist and maybe give one Marine the missile launcher. I'll paint them all the same as my first squad so I can mix and match the two squads.

A Tactical squad can only take a single special weapon (plasma gun, meltagun, grav gun, flamer) or a single heavy weapon (missile launcher, lascannon, heavy bolter, multi-melta, plasma cannon) unless it is 10 models strong, in which case it can take one heavy and one special. So making the new ones as bolters will still leave you with some you can't use immediately, but you'll be able to swap between them game to game, so still useful. Only sergeants are allowed to take plasma pistols in tactical squads, so that might need changing.

Blain87 wrote:
Terminators - I understand these are assault Terminators, of which I already have a squad. So I'll try and source the kit needed to make them close combat Terminators. I might have some bits left over from Vanguard and Sternguard vets I could use.

Vanguard and Sternguard arms will be noticeably smaller than terminators, but it might work. Alternatively you could try picking up the arms online.

Blain87 wrote:
Razorback - as I build my army is like to be able to field multiples of each tank type in a game. i.e. 3 predators one game, 3 razorbacks the next. To minimise costs I've seen some with interchangeable turrets and sponsons although I've no idea where I would source the required bits or how to put the models together in a way that allows the interchanging of parts. Any advice would be appreciated.

Land Raider - I'm unsure which type of LR I get or of the merits of each type so any advice here is also appreciated. If possible I'd like to be able to the same as above and change its weapons from game to game.

A Razorback / Rhino is easy enough to do - just don't glue down the top hatch. For Predators / Land Raiders you'll need something trickier - magnets! By adding magnets to the model you'll be able to swap configurations between games. There should be plenty of tutorials for it online (here's a random example). You should also be able to pick up the alternative Land Raider parts online.

Thanks for the advice.

With regard to my Marine with the plasma pistol....can I just use him as my sgt. in my new squad if I equip the 10 new marines with bolters?

The sgt. with a power fist has a banner but that's the only way to distinguish between him and the other marines as I didn't paint his helmet red or anything.