@@Hearesy Just got around to building the new box set as I never considered the system before. Busy building Sons of Horus and equipping my Marks 6s in squads of 10 with Flamers, Meltaguns, Umbra Pattern Bolters and with Missile Launchers. Is that good? Any advice?
RG player here. Due to the TSS not being heavy, that means you can infiltrate to pretty close to exposed enemy armor. Melta gun being able to pop a vehicle turn 1 is pretty neat if expensive
I like Volkite Calivers. Wounding MEQ on 2’s from outside bolter range with a chance to do extra wounds (Deflagrate). Can also pop Rhinos without wasting bigger guns. As you reinforce, for a *Troops* unit that’s pretty good…especially when it seems like the 3x Heavy Support slots go so fast. I also love Volkite Chargers on stabby armies since you get 2+ (Deflagrate) shots AND can charge in with chainswords. Not bad for a Troops unit, especially for their cost.
Your videos have been awesome. Great analysis of these units greatly demystifying them. Would love it if you gave us brief reminders of what special rules do during your rundowns. It would make your videos even clearer to new players as there are so many special rules to remember. Not having to pause your videos to look stuff up would make them even better. That being said, your content is easily some of the best I've seen on breaking down the new Heresy rules and I look forward to more of them.
Super impressed with your content. Clear, concise, to the point, and always knowledgeable and well-reasoned. I appreciate, also, that you take considerations into account *other* than pure utility on the tabletop -- a refreshing and mature outlook.
I think ruling out the ability to run (which HSS lack) and taking chain swords is doing the unit disservice. 10 with volkite and chainswords is usually solid at taking out tacs/scoring units. It's also worth noting that they're a very, VERY good/fun option for fists and BA, because 'aint nothing like shooting 10 assault cannons at a problem, but that's legion specific, to be fair.
How can you equip the squad with assault cannons as Fists? In the entry for the Iliastus assault cannon it says that only a heavy Flamer may be exchanged for an assault cannon, which TSS cannot take, or am I missing something?
I kit out my Tac Support Squads with Volkite and Chainaxes and they do pretty well. But then again, that’s the beauty of playing World Eaters. Every unit can be a melee unit if you want it hard enough.
XD. I JUST built 10 melta and 10 plasma and 10 missile launchers last night. Where was this video before yesterday ? this is good information thank you.
Fun video. I was looking for help understanding how many guns could go in each squad and sgt load outs to help magnetize before my rule book is delivered.
I run a 5 man with rotor cannons to hide my Vigilator. His sniper basically guarantees a dead sergeant. Mine are also White Scars so his bird gives them reroll 1’s to hit which is nice.
Thanks for this. Was thinking of a squad of meltas but I've changed my mind. Definitely going with the rota cannons though. Pinning down a squad before my assault marines crash in sounds good to me.
I hadn't done the math on the volkite options that price differential is wild. I wouldn't look at anything less than the culverin anyway - if you're going to run a gambler's loadout hoping for deflagrate jackpot, might as well pay the premium for better odds.
Been looking forward to this one! Ive built a 5 man rotor squad for my alpha legion for the reasons you gave so as a newbie im pleased! Thanks for the heads up on the volkite culverin, though rule of cool is tempting me!
Theyre definitely worth using for cool factor if you want to; dont let the maths dissuade you, just maybe make up for it by using some awesome units somewhere else in your army :)
I feel like the support squad benefits from legions very strongly Hitting on 2s with rotors or +1 to wound with tonnes of fear or warpfire to pin or straight up destroy terminators is huge. Generally i don't dig them base but legion specific wargear and synergy makes them shine
Keep em coming, good video's! Speaking of which, is there a chance you will do vids on all the legions at some point in the same vein as your Night Lords vid?
5 TSS dudes in a rhino with plasma repeaters (First Legion babyyyyy) is quickly becoming a core component of my army, they've always performed great and rolling that many dice for such a small squad is great fun. For my next squad I'm torn between 5/6 with flamers or 10 with volkite chargers and a joined Herald to represent a Unification-era veteran Tactical Squad (back when Legions could afford volkites for everyone)
Your assessment of them didn't consider the alépha-strike potential they have when drop podded. This is a big edge iver the heavy support squad, who would only be snap-shotting from such an approach (assuming we are talking about a drop-pod RoW). Otherwise I'd say spot on! Appreciate the content :)
I definitely did consider that, it’s just an alternate and better way of getting them close. Downside, they are a very easy and juicy target for interceptor and are probably going to be the first thing to die.
Thank you for doing this. I was really torn about the value of these guys. Seems like I will probably take a squad for my Word Bearers. But based on your other video Heavy Weapons support squads are the best way to go.
awesome content man, have watched about 15 of your videos in the last few days and quality of the material is great, very well thought out ideas and reasoning. so a topic I would like for you to handle is the idea of having a core of 1-of-each of every single major infantry units i.e. 1 of every troops choice infantry squad, 1 terminator squad and 1 heavy weapons squad. How would you go about this, how big would you make each squad, how would you balance your weapon loadouts? I know it's very Codex Astartes, but it seems like a natural choice to start your army with 1 of every different squad type to that you have the flexibility to face every kind of threat.
Interesting idea! I think just standard application of list building would be fine - take all the units, and then make sure you have some anti elite, some anti inf, and some anti tank. Sounds fun!
I've canabalised my 40k fallen for heresy. Therefore I have a decent amount of Plasma guns, and will definitely run at least 1 5 man squad for added variety. Plus I really enjoy painting Plasma.
Great video! I do wish these guys were a hint less pricey, but I’m still excited to give some Achanean Rotor guns and Corvidae Aetherfire blasters some play In my thousand sons.
Awesome video mate, subbed. I was thinking about plasma guns as they are just classic but I might go with plasma Cannons instead, the shoulder mounted ones are OG.
@@Hearesy oh yeah I've got some of those knocking around somewhere too, I'm so pleased they went with the old school shoulder mounted plasma Cannons, they're ace.
Welp, I made a 10 man Volkite Caliver squad for my Raven Guard as thought them getting Infiltrate (heavy support doesn't get Infiltrate) and sticking my Master of Signals in there also to sit on an objective around 30" away from most targets would be pretty decent. 2+ to hit, ignore Night Fighting debuffs (master of sigs), 2+ to wound, deflagerate on top. Plus they can intercept any deepstrikers still that are in that 30" range but protected from deepstrikers thanks to the 18" denial. I'll be trying it out in a few weeks....
You mean armistos right? Good way to make them better than their raw stats would suggest - Infiltrate makes a lot of otherwise poor things work a lot better!
@@Hearesy nah Armistos is the heavy type dude with a heavy weapon. He would take away the unit's infiltrate also as Heavy don't get infiltrate in RG. Master of Signals gets his Augury Scanner, cognis-signum, nuncio-vox and disruptor array to make deepstrikers disordered. Would be hilarious placing an enemy unit in range to be intercepted by the volkite xD
I was going to argue with you on the nuncio-vox but this video made me realize I'd confused the cognis-signum and the vox command relay... I've got two finished squads that I have to pretend have broken nucio voxes but at least I'm not building more. I might not kitbash that master of signals now. Hard agree on everything though I'm tempted to say flamer squads are an auto-avoid - the logic is, if you're getting close enough to get a good template down to justify it, you've had to do some maneuvering likely with another more dangerous unit in which case you might as well have made them an assault squad since they'll be close enough to charge anyway. Nevermind the fact that heavy flamers exist as you mentioned. The flamer template bubble feels like an inattention tax. just stay out of the tiny range and you'll be fine. same goes for the meltas.
As someone with word bearers I think warpfire blasters & melta guns are my go to in support squad. Heavy support would be my heavy flamer squad with hellfire cannons & melta cannons. That’s my thoughts for word bearers anyway warpfire & other flame 🔥 type guns for my legion. Probably not the most efficient guns but thematically think if fits the word bearers 😈
So I plan on using a bunch of volkite calivers in my death guard army because strength 6 is huge for removing tacticals and maybe terminators, having the ignoring penalties to move and fire heavy weapons makes them a lot more useful to me. I think that it is overpriced but it is still viable for my death guard with the ignore heavy weapon penalty with moving
Im not underestimating it, I mention it for a number of units. Its just countered so hard by their expense and low survivability, ie, the value of their mobility is questionable.
I think your Legion matters a lot when considering the TSS. For example, playing Raven Guard with Decapitation Strike, my single Heavy Support slot is at a premium, and HSS don't get really any benefit from my Legion's special rules. TSS get to take advantage of all of my special rules, which is pretty great. Being able to Infiltrate and then Scout move (if Corax is leading), or Outflank with a Rhino full of Meltas is pretty great. To each their own, though, I suppose.
Looking forward to trying out my Word Bearers upgraded plasma gun squad. Very expensive per wound but word bearers need something to kill and/or pin terminators and they are probably it
a friend of mine uses a 10 man squad of volkite calivers. At first i looked at the weapon profile and was like "the fuck, why would you use that" then he played them against me 2 wounds off my contemptor in 1 turn because stationary shoot back reaction and the amount of shots it still gets through on normal marines even while moving is not bad either. snap shots because of heavy and moving, but 30 shots is still 6 hits on average and that is 5 wounds on average because S6 vs. T4 (and then deflagrate stuff) I was thorowly impressed by their performance, but to mention it that was a test game with ~1200 points becuase thats what we could build in 1 weekend ^^
I'm working on a UM list and will have a beefy squad of 10 preatorian or Invictus, and 10 Fulmentarus Cataphracti, filling out with tactical blobs and for support thinking 10 plasmas in a rhino and possible 10 rotors elsewhere. Working heavily from the new darkness box so would love advice. Not sure if the fulmentarus Terminators need the full kit out with some chargers and if they or a 20 blob of tacticals should go in the spartan
I’d refuse to play vs fulmentarus terminators. Theyre bonkers. That whole PDF needs to be set on fire. I’d avoid them. The rest of it seems good if you avoid the other pdf unit - maybe rotors in 5s not 10s as 10 is overkill for a pin.
My Emperor's Children have a squad of 10 rotor cannons and a Rhino with a havoc launcher. They are used as counter infantry. Slightly longer range than a bolter, and use the havoc as an opening salvo before rolling for the squad.
I have been using a squad of 5-8 volkite chargers escorting Kharn out of a dread claw for 6 years now and plan to continue this tradition. There’s really no downside.
If youre going to make use of the assault to charge as well as the extra guns, for sure yep! id be more tempted by despoilers in the “cheap escort” role in world eaters personally, as you also get line and more benefit from the legion trait.
Trying to build a Raven Guard army; now that I know how inefficient Melta Tac Support Squads are, I'm trying to find things to replace them with. I feel like I should take a Lascannon Heavy Support Squad, but I really want to take a Fire Raptor, but without something with high-strength and AP1, I feel vulnerable to Terminators and Vehicles. Not sure what to do...
I think Ravenguard do change the maths on Meltaguns for sure, it makes them a lot more worth it, and you dont need the rhino of course too. The problem is if you infiltrate them and go second… eww.
Legion veterans with combi meltas? They take an elites spot, but they're only 1 point more, twice as hard to kill and can scrap with tactical marines on a midfield objective.
Building a Salamanders army with Covenant of Fire so I can use support squads and Pyroclasts as line troops. Their flamers get an extra strength point but with all the fire weaponry coming out of the Pyroclasts I'm thinking Plasma might be a better choice for the support squads. What do you think? Would leaning into the flames be a better idea?
If i was building salamanders id be spamming flamers everywhere for sure. Im not sure thats a better idea than mixing in some plasma but i think it’d be decent for your midfield men as they’re line, and on theme! Back them up with some lascannons etc and you have a good plan thats pretty unique, I think.
Yeh theyre pretty pointless when yiu have interemptors. The only time youd use that option is maybe like a vet squad getting 1 plasma burner or something, which is obviously more at the cool end of the spectrum than the powerful end.
I'm building a large Traitor Salamanders force atm. Il have a squad of each option when done. Just curious is it worth Vexilia and/ or vox in each squad. Plus is it worth artificer armour or just in my Dragons breath flamer squad and Melta squad
I was thinking about a cheap flamer TSS for my Salamanders but Pyroclasts and heavy flamer HSSs seem to be a better route to go. Pyroclasts also beat out meltagun TSSs since the costs aren't too different and the Pyros have artificer armor, 2W, and IWND 5+. One idea I do have is running The Awakening Fire with rotor cannons. Paying 20 points per unit for Fear(1) is meh but this could work.
I built a squad of ten with Calivers for my Imperial Fists for rule of cool (along with another squad of ten plasma). I’m running ten h. Bolters and ten lascannon in the HSS slots, and want to keep the third slot free for some armour, but sad to hear the state of play for calivers vs. culverins. Do you think GW will lower the points cost or make them assault weapons?
5 shredders in a rhino for anti-vehicle is what I’m going for. Pretty similar use case to the melta squad discussed in the video. Having to stay still to fire a graviton gun puts me right off.
I'm seriously considering a 10 man Plasma squad upgraded for my word bearers, +5 points to gain pinning but lose gets hot and a point of strength really feels like a steal for marine killing.
expensive, but tanky, infantry that give up the ability to run for functional immunity to low AP template weapons, more special weapon options in squad, and a 5++.
A quick question, given the math, if I am planning on taking Rotor Cannons primarily for pinning and not damage, do you think its worth it to take a squad of 10 or two squads of 5?
With how the worded it, it sounds a little more expensive to have 2 squads of 5 but you can have them both shoot at different units... Or the same unit. There is a little more flexibility there. I was planning on making a squad of 5 and another 5 plasma rifles.
The only use for Volkite Calivers is to make your army less competitive by choosing them instead of the HSS with Culverins, or if GW hasn't released the Culverin sprue yet and you want 30" volkite right now!
Yes but not at the start of the game, as dedicated transport rules stop you (need to double confirm this but fairly sure im correct). Not really an effective strategy as such, as youd have to mount and then dismount on a later turn.
Nice discussion, interesting opinions. I find that tac support squads are a trap, I'd rather take any line unit (tac, despoiler, recon) for the same points cost. More bodies, better rules. Heavy support squads are just too points effective to allow tac support squads to be worth it. Volkite culverins are better than any volkite special weapons, and meltaguns at that price are a joke compared to multimeltas or lascannons. Even the plasma guns are expensive and will hurt themselves. I agree, they're a pinata to pop. That's without considering the vehicle to transport them. It's a bit of a pity, I hope they FAQ the points cost to usefulness, even if they become "too cheap", they'll still be a prime target, aren't line, aren't a compulsory troops choice and are competing for a place in a list that has so many fun things you could take instead.
id like to see a "fix" video on the PDF that got released by GW on the missing units. what could be changed and what needs to change on many units *ahem* ( RYLANOR)
I'm putting 2 squads of 5 with graviton shredders in Rhinos on Head of the Gorgon, keeping it off the board for a couple of turns and then out flanking with it, and because the shredders are assault I can just jump them out 12 inches from a dreadnought or Spartan and glance it to death
So I'm running NL with Terror Assault. Essentially they are using similar weapons to TSS, but have infiltrate. I'm not sure how infiltrate and scout work, but I wonder if I'd still need a transport for my squad?
I love the warpfire weapons, they’re fantastic. Assault (longer range) and pinning in return for -1s that rarely matters. Theyre very expensive though so youd have to be careful with the unit. You can also consider not upgrading *all* of them; just 2-3 should be enough to force a pinning test, even though you wouldnt get the full benefit of the longer range.
Considering using Alpharius to deep strike one 10 man melta unit to nuke a tank or two before they die but they'd probably have to kill 2 tanks to be worth
so plasma gun is good thats good to know i been working on a mixed 40k +heresy space marine army having them be a loyalist ofbranch of the iron warriors that like plasdma + laser weapons and vehicles wanting fill them up with some plasma armed heresy marines to show they have outdated armor and weapons on their tactical marines
@@Hearesy personaly i only colect the models but i like to listen to these sort weapon talks to learn the cannon lore behind what each gun is and does currently their history i designed is they split off from the iron warriors during the heresy and after the primarchs vanished they split off from the imperium going renegade but not chaos only to return again during the indominus campaign. i been marking some metal parts on tanks with a copper color to make look like they had to do some patch work using what ever metals they have acess to. they very much the industrialism seige warfare of the iron warriors but more loyal to the emperor just not loyal to the imperiams church but they believe in the primarchs so they reluctantly returned when hearing news of guilimens return their also allied to some freeblade knights im new to it so not got even half the models im going for but its a nice long term project goal for myself to spend spare money on
So I'm looking at the SoH Reaver & Reaver Aggressor squads(jump pack varient pdf) I'm leaning between the plasmagun or meltagun for the 1 in 5. Would this be a viable option or would the flamer be better. I'm thinking meltagun. Open to ideas
I think they over priced Melta. Ultimately, for me, I like the Plasma Gun and Rotator Cannon. the Volkite and Melta are cool but over priced. I will probably build those two. I may eventually do a few Volkite weapons for rule of cool. But plasma and the Rotator cannons are the only really good options, given Heavy weapon options. I think I will usually actually run 2x10 Plasma if I run Support Squads.
I was gonna go for some but 5 with meltguns in a rhino is about the same cost as a contemptor with 2 gravis multi meltas.... other than them being line.... i just cant see the point.
@@Hearesy wow missed that! Yea they are a weird unit, all the other ones around them seem to do what they do better in whatever role you pick. Could you do reconnaissance squads as a video? i think they are a real standout decent unit in the book.
Can you just equip 3 or 4 marines a squad with a special weapon. I am so sick of this 8 year old 40k 30k shit. You use to have a heavy weapon and special weapon a squad and could take 2 special weapons and drop the heavy so you had a squad that could do something but it wasn't 8 year old stupid, all having a special weapon. Its just something a child would want. No military unit does that. Its squad weapons with a couple of special weapons.
You have as much as you want as long as you have the points 🙂 the reason people will often take at least 5 or as many as they can is to fill a role. It's better to have units meant for one or two things than a unit that tries to do everything but doesn't have the fire power to deal with things since they are spread out. There are weapons you can take that need at least 5 guys per unit so of you have a unit of 20 marines you can take up to 4 of said weapon. In my opinion I look at theme with HH so look at your legion what they do plus look at what you would like to do. For me I am building a Word Bearers list so far it's two 20 tac marines one of them is going to be very much more melee focused all will have chain swords (I am putting axes on some just because it looks cool but still using the chain swords rules) have a guy upgraded to a diabloist with better armour. My idea is that these are the fanatics who fear nothing. The other guys will be well smarter 🤣 will have 4 special weapons that I can take something that is good against some armour the rest will have the slighter better than standard bolter (can't remember the name of it at the top of my head) a dreadnought with a chainfist and maybe an auto cannon still not sure on that part. Just have a quick look over things yesterday still nowhere nearly done. But again all about theme for me
Wrong. No MODERN military unit, but in ages past this sort of thing happened frequently, and Warhammer 30K and 40K have always been anachronistic in multiple respects.
Im still coming back to these videos regularly - thanks man!
Glad they’re still helpful!
I've got a 10 man plasma squad for my Alpha Legion, because the pink glow looks nice against the armour : )
This is as great a reason to use them as anything in my video!
that's one of the best reason
s to choose that load up!😀 respect Tom.
Yeah, that's a solid reason, plus if you ever wanted to, you could run them as Interemptors(?) for Rewards of Treachery.
@@Hearesy Just got around to building the new box set as I never considered the system before. Busy building Sons of Horus and equipping my Marks 6s in squads of 10 with Flamers, Meltaguns, Umbra Pattern Bolters and with Missile Launchers. Is that good? Any advice?
Its all good! I’d maybe consider switching up meltas for 10 more tacs - sons of horus do great with them.
Its kinda sad that videos as well planned, presented and informative as this don’t get more views. Great content!
Thanks Oli! Sure they will over time, the channel is doing incredibly well, and very happy that people love the content!
RG player here. Due to the TSS not being heavy, that means you can infiltrate to pretty close to exposed enemy armor.
Melta gun being able to pop a vehicle turn 1 is pretty neat if expensive
The more I hear about them, the more tabletop 30k Raven guard terrifies me
I like Volkite Calivers. Wounding MEQ on 2’s from outside bolter range with a chance to do extra wounds (Deflagrate). Can also pop Rhinos without wasting bigger guns.
As you reinforce, for a *Troops* unit that’s pretty good…especially when it seems like the 3x Heavy Support slots go so fast.
I also love Volkite Chargers on stabby armies since you get 2+ (Deflagrate) shots AND can charge in with chainswords. Not bad for a Troops unit, especially for their cost.
Been waiting for this one. :).
Welcome, gentle commenter
Your videos have been awesome. Great analysis of these units greatly demystifying them.
Would love it if you gave us brief reminders of what special rules do during your rundowns. It would make your videos even clearer to new players as there are so many special rules to remember.
Not having to pause your videos to look stuff up would make them even better.
That being said, your content is easily some of the best I've seen on breaking down the new Heresy rules and I look forward to more of them.
Thank you very much! Its an eternal balancing act of keeping it succinct with going into detail!
Super impressed with your content. Clear, concise, to the point, and always knowledgeable and well-reasoned. I appreciate, also, that you take considerations into account *other* than pure utility on the tabletop -- a refreshing and mature outlook.
Thank you Charlie!
I think ruling out the ability to run (which HSS lack) and taking chain swords is doing the unit disservice. 10 with volkite and chainswords is usually solid at taking out tacs/scoring units.
It's also worth noting that they're a very, VERY good/fun option for fists and BA, because 'aint nothing like shooting 10 assault cannons at a problem, but that's legion specific, to be fair.
How can you equip the squad with assault cannons as Fists?
In the entry for the Iliastus assault cannon it says that only a heavy Flamer may be exchanged for an assault cannon, which TSS cannot take, or am I missing something?
@@JohnnyCoyote I think he means Heavy weapon squads.
I kit out my Tac Support Squads with Volkite and Chainaxes and they do pretty well. But then again, that’s the beauty of playing World Eaters. Every unit can be a melee unit if you want it hard enough.
Where can I buy Assault Cannons for my Fists squads? I’m trying to build an army but I need some help :/
@@LordCrate-du8zm the best bet is to just use rotor cannons. Visually, they're identical on infantry.
XD. I JUST built 10 melta and 10 plasma and 10 missile launchers last night. Where was this video before yesterday ? this is good information thank you.
Use them! Theyre not bad, theyre just a bit expensive. You’ll have fun with them, just be careful with them!
Fun video. I was looking for help understanding how many guns could go in each squad and sgt load outs to help magnetize before my rule book is delivered.
Most informative content I’ve seen, please keep this up chum 👍
Thank you muchly!
Please do a video on Legion Veterans Squad.
i realllly wanted to run the rotor cannons so this was exactly what I wanted to hear xD
I run a 5 man with rotor cannons to hide my Vigilator. His sniper basically guarantees a dead sergeant. Mine are also White Scars so his bird gives them reroll 1’s to hit which is nice.
10 guys with the Thousand sons plasma gun replacement really put in work.
Yeh good shout, even better plasma guns!
Thanks for this. Was thinking of a squad of meltas but I've changed my mind. Definitely going with the rota cannons though. Pinning down a squad before my assault marines crash in sounds good to me.
Also, I've seen it mentioned elsewhere rota cannons make good proxies for iliastus assault cannons should you want to do that.
You wanna checkout a reconnaissance squad with nemesis bolters dude.
I hadn't done the math on the volkite options that price differential is wild. I wouldn't look at anything less than the culverin anyway - if you're going to run a gambler's loadout hoping for deflagrate jackpot, might as well pay the premium for better odds.
Been looking forward to this one! Ive built a 5 man rotor squad for my alpha legion for the reasons you gave so as a newbie im pleased! Thanks for the heads up on the volkite culverin, though rule of cool is tempting me!
Theyre definitely worth using for cool factor if you want to; dont let the maths dissuade you, just maybe make up for it by using some awesome units somewhere else in your army :)
I feel like the support squad benefits from legions very strongly
Hitting on 2s with rotors or +1 to wound with tonnes of fear or warpfire to pin or straight up destroy terminators is huge.
Generally i don't dig them base but legion specific wargear and synergy makes them shine
Keep em coming, good video's! Speaking of which, is there a chance you will do vids on all the legions at some point in the same vein as your Night Lords vid?
Absolutely, although I might change the format up a bit!
Sons of horus
Plasma and vexilla
Drop pods
It's so nice, and a pain in the ass
5 TSS dudes in a rhino with plasma repeaters (First Legion babyyyyy) is quickly becoming a core component of my army, they've always performed great and rolling that many dice for such a small squad is great fun. For my next squad I'm torn between 5/6 with flamers or 10 with volkite chargers and a joined Herald to represent a Unification-era veteran Tactical Squad (back when Legions could afford volkites for everyone)
Thanks for these videos. i've been using the Iliatus assault cannons for my Blood Angels 10pts each but i've been enjoying them.
Your assessment of them didn't consider the alépha-strike potential they have when drop podded. This is a big edge iver the heavy support squad, who would only be snap-shotting from such an approach (assuming we are talking about a drop-pod RoW).
Otherwise I'd say spot on! Appreciate the content :)
I definitely did consider that, it’s just an alternate and better way of getting them close. Downside, they are a very easy and juicy target for interceptor and are probably going to be the first thing to die.
Loving the videos, still waiting for my starter set but these are a great insight.
Word Bearers can update their plasma guns to fire warpfire that is basically better plasma that does not get hot.
Thank you for doing this. I was really torn about the value of these guys. Seems like I will probably take a squad for my Word Bearers. But based on your other video Heavy Weapons support squads are the best way to go.
Warpfire plasmas maybe. I think I'll try those but not sure if Ill go just with 5
awesome content man, have watched about 15 of your videos in the last few days and quality of the material is great, very well thought out ideas and reasoning.
so a topic I would like for you to handle is the idea of having a core of 1-of-each of every single major infantry units i.e. 1 of every troops choice infantry squad, 1 terminator squad and 1 heavy weapons squad. How would you go about this, how big would you make each squad, how would you balance your weapon loadouts?
I know it's very Codex Astartes, but it seems like a natural choice to start your army with 1 of every different squad type to that you have the flexibility to face every kind of threat.
Interesting idea! I think just standard application of list building would be fine - take all the units, and then make sure you have some anti elite, some anti inf, and some anti tank. Sounds fun!
I've canabalised my 40k fallen for heresy. Therefore I have a decent amount of Plasma guns, and will definitely run at least 1 5 man squad for added variety. Plus I really enjoy painting Plasma.
Great video! I do wish these guys were a hint less pricey, but I’m still excited to give some Achanean Rotor guns and Corvidae Aetherfire blasters some play In my thousand sons.
Both sound awesome! Achaean rotor cannons i like particularly
Awesome video mate, subbed.
I was thinking about plasma guns as they are just classic but I might go with plasma Cannons instead, the shoulder mounted ones are OG.
Thanks Neil! Im quite looking forward to some shoulder mounts to go with my underslung volkites
@@Hearesy oh yeah I've got some of those knocking around somewhere too, I'm so pleased they went with the old school shoulder mounted plasma Cannons, they're ace.
Welp, I made a 10 man Volkite Caliver squad for my Raven Guard as thought them getting Infiltrate (heavy support doesn't get Infiltrate) and sticking my Master of Signals in there also to sit on an objective around 30" away from most targets would be pretty decent. 2+ to hit, ignore Night Fighting debuffs (master of sigs), 2+ to wound, deflagerate on top. Plus they can intercept any deepstrikers still that are in that 30" range but protected from deepstrikers thanks to the 18" denial. I'll be trying it out in a few weeks....
You mean armistos right? Good way to make them better than their raw stats would suggest - Infiltrate makes a lot of otherwise poor things work a lot better!
@@Hearesy nah Armistos is the heavy type dude with a heavy weapon. He would take away the unit's infiltrate also as Heavy don't get infiltrate in RG. Master of Signals gets his Augury Scanner, cognis-signum, nuncio-vox and disruptor array to make deepstrikers disordered. Would be hilarious placing an enemy unit in range to be intercepted by the volkite xD
Oof Id not noticed that he had a cognis signum too!
I was going to argue with you on the nuncio-vox but this video made me realize I'd confused the cognis-signum and the vox command relay... I've got two finished squads that I have to pretend have broken nucio voxes but at least I'm not building more. I might not kitbash that master of signals now. Hard agree on everything though I'm tempted to say flamer squads are an auto-avoid - the logic is, if you're getting close enough to get a good template down to justify it, you've had to do some maneuvering likely with another more dangerous unit in which case you might as well have made them an assault squad since they'll be close enough to charge anyway. Nevermind the fact that heavy flamers exist as you mentioned. The flamer template bubble feels like an inattention tax. just stay out of the tiny range and you'll be fine. same goes for the meltas.
Also movement reactions too to dodge them, yeh. But i think if you want interesting stuff or army variety, they are plenty good enough!
As someone with word bearers I think warpfire blasters & melta guns are my go to in support squad. Heavy support would be my heavy flamer squad with hellfire cannons & melta cannons. That’s my thoughts for word bearers anyway warpfire & other flame 🔥 type guns for my legion. Probably not the most efficient guns but thematically think if fits the word bearers 😈
Thank you!
So I plan on using a bunch of volkite calivers in my death guard army because strength 6 is huge for removing tacticals and maybe terminators, having the ignoring penalties to move and fire heavy weapons makes them a lot more useful to me. I think that it is overpriced but it is still viable for my death guard with the ignore heavy weapon penalty with moving
Definitely!
Dropped a like and subscribed because of the Merseyside accent ;)
Its my USP!
I think you might be underestimating the value of the mobility of the tss over the hss. Being able to move and shoot is a big benefit.
Im not underestimating it, I mention it for a number of units. Its just countered so hard by their expense and low survivability, ie, the value of their mobility is questionable.
I've got a 6-man roto-cannon squad and a 5-man graviton squad with apothecaries in rhinos. They are my two control units.
I think your Legion matters a lot when considering the TSS. For example, playing Raven Guard with Decapitation Strike, my single Heavy Support slot is at a premium, and HSS don't get really any benefit from my Legion's special rules. TSS get to take advantage of all of my special rules, which is pretty great. Being able to Infiltrate and then Scout move (if Corax is leading), or Outflank with a Rhino full of Meltas is pretty great. To each their own, though, I suppose.
Looking forward to trying out my Word Bearers upgraded plasma gun squad. Very expensive per wound but word bearers need something to kill and/or pin terminators and they are probably it
You could also use regular plasma guns but I agree, they are great!
a friend of mine uses a 10 man squad of volkite calivers.
At first i looked at the weapon profile and was like "the fuck, why would you use that"
then he played them against me
2 wounds off my contemptor in 1 turn because stationary shoot back reaction
and the amount of shots it still gets through on normal marines even while moving is not bad either. snap shots because of heavy and moving, but 30 shots is still 6 hits on average and that is 5 wounds on average because S6 vs. T4 (and then deflagrate stuff)
I was thorowly impressed by their performance, but to mention it that was a test game with ~1200 points becuase thats what we could build in 1 weekend ^^
I'm working on a UM list and will have a beefy squad of 10 preatorian or Invictus, and 10 Fulmentarus Cataphracti, filling out with tactical blobs and for support thinking 10 plasmas in a rhino and possible 10 rotors elsewhere. Working heavily from the new darkness box so would love advice. Not sure if the fulmentarus Terminators need the full kit out with some chargers and if they or a 20 blob of tacticals should go in the spartan
I’d refuse to play vs fulmentarus terminators. Theyre bonkers. That whole PDF needs to be set on fire. I’d avoid them.
The rest of it seems good if you avoid the other pdf unit - maybe rotors in 5s not 10s as 10 is overkill for a pin.
And have you read the Ultramarines specific dread? Absoluuutely bonkers :D I don't know what they were thinking with these two units...
@@miguelgilcasas3560 sorry 6 months late. But which UM dread is that?
My Emperor's Children have a squad of 10 rotor cannons and a Rhino with a havoc launcher. They are used as counter infantry. Slightly longer range than a bolter, and use the havoc as an opening salvo before rolling for the squad.
Better having two squads of 5, as you can then pin two enemy squads instead of one. Pinning is the best reason to take these.
I have been using a squad of 5-8 volkite chargers escorting Kharn out of a dread claw for 6 years now and plan to continue this tradition. There’s really no downside.
If youre going to make use of the assault to charge as well as the extra guns, for sure yep! id be more tempted by despoilers in the “cheap escort” role in world eaters personally, as you also get line and more benefit from the legion trait.
Trying to build a Raven Guard army; now that I know how inefficient Melta Tac Support Squads are, I'm trying to find things to replace them with. I feel like I should take a Lascannon Heavy Support Squad, but I really want to take a Fire Raptor, but without something with high-strength and AP1, I feel vulnerable to Terminators and Vehicles. Not sure what to do...
I think Ravenguard do change the maths on Meltaguns for sure, it makes them a lot more worth it, and you dont need the rhino of course too. The problem is if you infiltrate them and go second… eww.
Legion veterans with combi meltas? They take an elites spot, but they're only 1 point more, twice as hard to kill and can scrap with tactical marines on a midfield objective.
Building a Salamanders army with Covenant of Fire so I can use support squads and Pyroclasts as line troops. Their flamers get an extra strength point but with all the fire weaponry coming out of the Pyroclasts I'm thinking Plasma might be a better choice for the support squads. What do you think? Would leaning into the flames be a better idea?
If i was building salamanders id be spamming flamers everywhere for sure. Im not sure thats a better idea than mixing in some plasma but i think it’d be decent for your midfield men as they’re line, and on theme!
Back them up with some lascannons etc and you have a good plan thats pretty unique, I think.
How do you feel about a DA squad with plasma repeaters? I think swapping the plasma guns for burners is way overpriced when Interemptors exist.
Don't bother is my tip. Its over 200 pts for the squad with repeaters, for 5 marines.
Yeh theyre pretty pointless when yiu have interemptors. The only time youd use that option is maybe like a vet squad getting 1 plasma burner or something, which is obviously more at the cool end of the spectrum than the powerful end.
@@Hearesy Yeah I agree, if they stayed at 24" range, I could see a point for them, but I wouldn't bother as long as interemptors remain so dirt cheap
Perhaps show examples of models you are discussing during the discussion. Still, a very good video, 👍
I'm building a large Traitor Salamanders force atm. Il have a squad of each option when done. Just curious is it worth Vexilia and/ or vox in each squad. Plus is it worth artificer armour or just in my Dragons breath flamer squad and Melta squad
On Plasma, you get an armour save re-roll, not an invulnerable re-roll. So breaching on terminators thry can't re-roll 4+ saves.
I made 5 with volkite calivers because they look cool
But yes,the cost on those guns especially is bonkers. Should be cheaper or assault
Originally i assumed they were assault which made their cost make a BIT more sense. When i saw they were heavy I did WTF a bit!
@@Hearesy exactly same for me.
Hopefully it gets a change. I love volkite.
I was thinking about a cheap flamer TSS for my Salamanders but Pyroclasts and heavy flamer HSSs seem to be a better route to go. Pyroclasts also beat out meltagun TSSs since the costs aren't too different and the Pyros have artificer armor, 2W, and IWND 5+. One idea I do have is running The Awakening Fire with rotor cannons. Paying 20 points per unit for Fear(1) is meh but this could work.
I had a similar thought! Not top end powerful, but a really interesting way to play them and get use out of that fear
Wonder if the Volkite calivers would make sense if you wanted some more ranged punch but didn’t have a slot available for a heavy support squad?
On their own merits theyre a fine weapon. A bit on the expensive side and probably shouldnt be heavy, but fine.
I built a squad of ten with Calivers for my Imperial Fists for rule of cool (along with another squad of ten plasma). I’m running ten h. Bolters and ten lascannon in the HSS slots, and want to keep the third slot free for some armour, but sad to hear the state of play for calivers vs. culverins. Do you think GW will lower the points cost or make them assault weapons?
I doubt we’ll get balance changes but we can hope! There are a LOT of faqs needed to fix basic rules like outflank so maybe we get lucky?
What is the best Option for Imperial Fists?
Any thoughts on running them as Graviton guns or Graviton Shredders?
Many for a future video!
5 shredders in a rhino for anti-vehicle is what I’m going for. Pretty similar use case to the melta squad discussed in the video. Having to stay still to fire a graviton gun puts me right off.
I'm seriously considering a 10 man Plasma squad upgraded for my word bearers, +5 points to gain pinning but lose gets hot and a point of strength really feels like a steal for marine killing.
Yes!
Can you talk about breachers
expensive, but tanky, infantry that give up the ability to run for functional immunity to low AP template weapons, more special weapon options in squad, and a 5++.
I've just built a 5 man tac support squad with plasma, purely because it was more interesting than building another 5 tactical marines! 😄
Feels like these are better in Alpha Legion? The ability to give things Infiltrate, Scout, or Deep Strike makes getting into range a lot more viable.
Anyone who has a way to get them there generally makes them better yep.
A quick question, given the math, if I am planning on taking Rotor Cannons primarily for pinning and not damage, do you think its worth it to take a squad of 10 or two squads of 5?
With how the worded it, it sounds a little more expensive to have 2 squads of 5 but you can have them both shoot at different units... Or the same unit. There is a little more flexibility there. I was planning on making a squad of 5 and another 5 plasma rifles.
Id stick to 5s, yeh. Theyre not very good at killing marines, so you just want to force the test.
@@Hearesy thanks! I was leaning that way too.
The only use for Volkite Calivers is to make your army less competitive by choosing them instead of the HSS with Culverins, or if GW hasn't released the Culverin sprue yet and you want 30" volkite right now!
Or if your HS slot is full (still expensive, but maybe!)
If I put say 5 melta's in a rhino can I also put five flamers in as well.
Yes but not at the start of the game, as dedicated transport rules stop you (need to double confirm this but fairly sure im correct). Not really an effective strategy as such, as youd have to mount and then dismount on a later turn.
@@Hearesy cheers!
What about Word bearers warpfire plasma guns and cannons ?
Theyre excellent but expensive!
What do the little chain sword attachments on bolters do?
Chain Bayonets. Theyre awesome.
Nice discussion, interesting opinions. I find that tac support squads are a trap, I'd rather take any line unit (tac, despoiler, recon) for the same points cost. More bodies, better rules.
Heavy support squads are just too points effective to allow tac support squads to be worth it. Volkite culverins are better than any volkite special weapons, and meltaguns at that price are a joke compared to multimeltas or lascannons.
Even the plasma guns are expensive and will hurt themselves. I agree, they're a pinata to pop.
That's without considering the vehicle to transport them.
It's a bit of a pity, I hope they FAQ the points cost to usefulness, even if they become "too cheap", they'll still be a prime target, aren't line, aren't a compulsory troops choice and are competing for a place in a list that has so many fun things you could take instead.
I built two squad before getting the 2.0 rules. I built volkite calivers and meltaguns, I am in pain.
Oh man. Definitely both usable but if you prefer the more optimal options, I feel your pain. Worth selling them and rebuying maybe?
Do you think the DA repeaters are a good upgrade over regular plasma guns or are they a trap?
id like to see a "fix" video on the PDF that got released by GW on the missing units. what could be changed and what needs to change on many units
*ahem* ( RYLANOR)
Have been considering this but I think its a lot of work!
@@Hearesy maybe GW sees this and considers your changes. Who knows? Every opinion matters
I'm putting 2 squads of 5 with graviton shredders in Rhinos on Head of the Gorgon, keeping it off the board for a couple of turns and then out flanking with it, and because the shredders are assault I can just jump them out 12 inches from a dreadnought or Spartan and glance it to death
Yep. Theyre very pricy, and outflank needs to be FAQd so it doesnt auto lose you the game, but I’ll be doing that too when its fixed!
Melta TSS squad make a bit more sense in Thousand Sons where you can give it Deep Strike for no points?
For sure yes - just bear in mind if its just one squad it will probably get interceptored to death!
What do you think about Kakophoni comparing with Support Squads?
Ive done a video on emperor’s children specifically - TLDR, a little expensive but decent.
So I'm running NL with Terror Assault. Essentially they are using similar weapons to TSS, but have infiltrate. I'm not sure how infiltrate and scout work, but I wonder if I'd still need a transport for my squad?
No you can definitely skip the transport!
No Grav guns?
Since tactical support squad can take chainswords, lets go making world eater squad with chainaxe and volite charger
Thoughts on a 10 man strong plasma squad upgraded to Warp Fire plasmas?
I love the warpfire weapons, they’re fantastic. Assault (longer range) and pinning in return for -1s that rarely matters. Theyre very expensive though so youd have to be careful with the unit. You can also consider not upgrading *all* of them; just 2-3 should be enough to force a pinning test, even though you wouldnt get the full benefit of the longer range.
Coz I've got spare models and bits I am going to make a small thousand sons force.
10x flamers
10x plasma
5x meltagun
Considering using Alpharius to deep strike one 10 man melta unit to nuke a tank or two before they die but they'd probably have to kill 2 tanks to be worth
so plasma gun is good thats good to know i been working on a mixed 40k +heresy space marine army having them be a loyalist ofbranch of the iron warriors that like plasdma + laser weapons and vehicles wanting fill them up with some plasma armed heresy marines to show they have outdated armor and weapons on their tactical marines
Sounds like a fun project!
@@Hearesy personaly i only colect the models but i like to listen to these sort weapon talks to learn the cannon lore behind what each gun is and does
currently their history i designed is they split off from the iron warriors during the heresy and after the primarchs vanished they split off from the imperium going renegade but not chaos only to return again during the indominus campaign. i been marking some metal parts on tanks with a copper color to make look like they had to do some patch work using what ever metals they have acess to. they very much the industrialism seige warfare of the iron warriors but more loyal to the emperor just not loyal to the imperiams church but they believe in the primarchs so they reluctantly returned when hearing news of guilimens return
their also allied to some freeblade knights
im new to it so not got even half the models im going for but its a nice long term project goal for myself to spend spare money on
So I'm looking at the SoH Reaver & Reaver Aggressor squads(jump pack varient pdf) I'm leaning between the plasmagun or meltagun for the 1 in 5. Would this be a viable option or would the flamer be better. I'm thinking meltagun. Open to ideas
Flamer or Melta depending on what they want to do, yeh. None is also fine!
@@Hearesy I was looking at doing a nice hit before the charge
Flamers are great - melta also fine! Plasma wouldnt let you charge though so best avoid that.
@@Hearesy reavers have relentless so they can
Ooh yeh! Then any of them are fine!
All Volkite, bc CHOOOOM
I think they over priced Melta. Ultimately, for me, I like the Plasma Gun and Rotator Cannon. the Volkite and Melta are cool but over priced. I will probably build those two. I may eventually do a few Volkite weapons for rule of cool. But plasma and the Rotator cannons are the only really good options, given Heavy weapon options.
I think I will usually actually run 2x10 Plasma if I run Support Squads.
I was gonna go for some but 5 with meltguns in a rhino is about the same cost as a contemptor with 2 gravis multi meltas.... other than them being line.... i just cant see the point.
Theyre not even line :/
@@Hearesy wow missed that! Yea they are a weird unit, all the other ones around them seem to do what they do better in whatever role you pick. Could you do reconnaissance squads as a video? i think they are a real standout decent unit in the book.
They are, one of the best!
It is super silly that the Caliver is more expensive than the Culverin HS squad. If it was 5 points, I would run a unit just because they're cool.
Ended up making a 10 man melta squad for firewing dark angels the question for me is how to arm my 10 cataphractii terminators
Chainfists are too good not to take. 👍
@@combatwombat2134 honestly what I’m thinking for a 5 man squad
@@user-rv5gk3vr7c go big or go home, buddy. 😂 Remember, there's no kill like overkill.
You made a rules error mr Hearesy. Heavy only grants rerolls for failed armour saves from blast or template weapons, not failed saves.
This is an ooooold one but yes, it happens to us all :)
10 man rotor teams because they look cool
Go for two 5 man squads. They are crap at killing marines, but with two squads instead of one you pin two squads, rather than just one.
@@batteredwarrior I run a 10 man team on my scars they're great because they're assault weapons so I can keep em on the move
Can you just equip 3 or 4 marines a squad with a special weapon. I am so sick of this 8 year old 40k 30k shit. You use to have a heavy weapon and special weapon a squad and could take 2 special weapons and drop the heavy so you had a squad that could do something but it wasn't 8 year old stupid, all having a special weapon. Its just something a child would want. No military unit does that. Its squad weapons with a couple of special weapons.
You have as much as you want as long as you have the points 🙂 the reason people will often take at least 5 or as many as they can is to fill a role. It's better to have units meant for one or two things than a unit that tries to do everything but doesn't have the fire power to deal with things since they are spread out. There are weapons you can take that need at least 5 guys per unit so of you have a unit of 20 marines you can take up to 4 of said weapon. In my opinion I look at theme with HH so look at your legion what they do plus look at what you would like to do. For me I am building a Word Bearers list so far it's two 20 tac marines one of them is going to be very much more melee focused all will have chain swords (I am putting axes on some just because it looks cool but still using the chain swords rules) have a guy upgraded to a diabloist with better armour. My idea is that these are the fanatics who fear nothing. The other guys will be well smarter 🤣 will have 4 special weapons that I can take something that is good against some armour the rest will have the slighter better than standard bolter (can't remember the name of it at the top of my head) a dreadnought with a chainfist and maybe an auto cannon still not sure on that part. Just have a quick look over things yesterday still nowhere nearly done. But again all about theme for me
Wrong. No MODERN military unit, but in ages past this sort of thing happened frequently, and Warhammer 30K and 40K have always been anachronistic in multiple respects.