Based on the results of last week’s tournament, I am pondering the addition of a platoon that provides me with some much needed punch for dealing with vehicles. The core idea with this unit is to take the one troop choice and break it into three roles. The first role is to provide a squad that can swing up onto vehicles and terminators and drop them. The second role is to provide a unit that can just sit on an objective and provide the weight of numbers to keep it. The third role is to bring a solid amount of ranged fire that can deal with most types of vehicles.
Platoon command squad w/ 4 meltaguns and chimera (hb/hb) 125 pts
Infantry squad w/ commissar and vox. 90 pts
2 x Infantry squad 100 pts (50 pts each)
3 x Heavy weapons team w/ missile launchers 270 pts (90 pts)
Total 585 pts
I’ll be honest; I didn’t really like the idea of platoon units because of the amount of models that are required to just field one troop choice. After the weekend though, my opinion has changed as I explored the troop choice more and became comfortable with the realization that it can be a very multi-faceted choice. I now see this troop choice as being a strong foundation to my army, though I do fear that it blurs the theme.
As a reader of this blog, what do you think?
I'm entirely for the idea of utilizing more troops! If I may ask though, what restrictions do you have, model-wise? I suppose I'm asking because a single platoon can field many more models! And given the purposes you listed, I might suggest:
ReplyDelete1) Outfitting your infantry squads with a special weapon, heavy weapons team or both (I favour autocannons or missile launchers for their range and versatility)
2) Taking a Special Weapons Squad (6 models) with three plasma guns - 80 points total - to deal with Terminators
3) Taking a Special Weapons Squad with three meltaguns - note that your Platoon Command squad can only have one special weapon in it
4) Moving or taking a Commissar in one of your infantry squads - this is because if you play an annihilation mission, you can combine your infantry squads into a big squad of 20, and the commissar will give them Stubborn, allowing you to use them as a small tarpit if necessary.
If you can make room for the points, I would add a special weapon to the infantry squads and give the platoon leader, sergeants and commissar at least power weapons. If you go with meltaguns it will add 80 points (I think?) to the platoon but I think it will allow you a better chance against more armies and more options in more situations.
ReplyDeleteWell, looks decently solid. For my guard army, I'm going to be running two of the following:
ReplyDeletePlatoon cmd squad w/ 3 flamers, H. flamer, and BP/PW on the Lt.
Infantry squad w/ commisar, 'nade launcher and lascannon
2 x Infantry squad w/ 'nade launcher and lascannon
3 x mortars
My main experience with IG so far has been that combined squads are amazing - the sear volume of shots a 40 man squad can drop at close range is staggering...
Thanks for the feedback. I am not sure I am sold on placing heavy weapons/special weapons into the infantry squads. However, it is something to consider.
ReplyDeleteBrett - You are the first person to suggest that only one special weapon can be taken in a command platoon. The book states that any member of the unit not purchasing any of the above options may purchase a special weapon, so I am interested to understand how you came to the above conclusion.