Firstly, Happy Australia Day, everyone!
Having enjoyed a relaxing four-day weekend of eating, painting and binge-watching the Australian Open, it's now time to get back to reality. And what better way to spend my evening than to continue my thoughts and perspectives on the Horus Heresy and all of its wonders. Please keep in mind that these reviews (for lack of a better term) and from the perspectives of both a Salamander player and a player who has very little experience in 30k, so everything that I say is based upon what i have read and the very few games i have had the chance to play!
So, with my ignorance on the topic now being public knowledge, lets commence the next step of our Legion review. This week, we're going to look at Troops.
Troops are very often the first things I purchase alongside my warlord, being a base-level requirement of any list. And while I dont typically like to invest a fortune of points into Troops, 30k is an exception. Not only does the Salamander Rite of War (Covenant of Fire) demand that my Fast Attack and Heavy Support choices combined may not outnumber my Troops, but troops are the only unit type that can hold objectives, making them vital to victory. To top it off, you have certain units that count as non-compulsary troops, meaning that (to my limited knowledge) they can still hold objectives but may not count towards your minimum troops choices.
Lets kick off. First in the line are trusty Tactical Squads. Minimum size of ten, maximum size of twenty (TWENTY?!?), these are not the typical format that I think of, having come directly from the 41st Millenium. Every model carries a boltgun. There are no special weapons. There are no heavy weapons. These are your stock standard marines, and by far the most common. This irked me to begin with, having to pour points into a unit that wasn't all that effective against power armour in a game saturated in power armour. But as I play more games, I realise that these squads form a great backbone to the army. After the initial outlay of points, these boys are very cheap, being only 10 points a body after the first ten in the squad. The sergeant is spoilt for choice when it comes to wargear, even having access to Articifier armour, what with it being much more common back then. For Sallies, these squads are hard to shift off an objective with their bonus re-rolls for morale. Then, showing their true strength, they come with a nifty little special rule called Fury of the Legion. With FotL, if the squad stands still, they can fore double their usual shots, essentially pulling the trigger until the mag empties. Sure, they can't shoot in their following turn, but this ability can be truly brutal at flooding the enemy with so many saves, that inevitably, some will fail. To round it out, these guys can be equipped with Nuncio-Voxes, allowing your artillery to draw line of site from the squad, who play the role of spotter for the big guns These are my current picks for my two compulsary troops.
Tactical Support Squads are your go-to guys for special weapons. Following the trends of 30k, every man in the squad carries the same gun, allowing you do dedicate the squad to a specific role, but in turn making them a potentially very expensive unit! The most common I have seen fielded so far is just a five-man squad rocking plasma guns in a Rhino, but there are many uses for this particular slot! A ten-man squad carrying Volkite Calivers (30" S6 Heavy 2) can dish out a horrifying amount of firepower and can potentially cause more hits if unsaved wounds get through on the target squad. And all for an affordable 250 points! Meltaguns, Flamers and Volkite Chargers can also be handed to this squad. The one disappointing thing about these boys is that they can be equipped with very cool Rotor Cannons (essentially hand-held miniguns), but they only hit at a lackluster Strength 3...
Assault Squads are very much the same as their 40k counterparts, with access to several nasty pistols and Melta bombs all round, Not only that, but you can take twenty in the squad, making an assault from these guys quite undesirable. If I'm honest, I probably won't use these chaps much, mainly because of the debilitating drawbacks for Salamanders in combat. For my assaults to be effective, i really need a hard-hitting unit geared up to slay whatever they touch. I can't afford to get run down as easily as Salamanders have a habit of doing.
Breacher squads are tough as nails, carrying Boarding Shields and being encased in hardened armour. In my mind, these guys seem best suited for game types such as Zone Mortalis, but I'm yet to see these fine gentlemen in action on the open battlefield, so I shall hold my tongue lest I say something foolish.
Lastly we have the Recon Squad. As the name suggests, these guys are your first contact with the enemy. With Acute Senses, Outflank, Scout and ready access to Stealth thanks to Cameleoline, they can be a real thorn in your opponent's side. They are also particularly adept with the use of Sniper Rifles, and can come in real handy when trying to pick off that pesky character or silence a nuncio-vox! This squad particularly opens up some great potential for modelling.
So there you have it. Now, it should be noted that many legions and Rites of War allow for other units to be taken as Troops, but that's a topic for another day!
Hopefully, you enjoyed the read. What are your favourite choices when it comes to boots on the ground?
Thanks for reading,
Gabriel
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