Help w/ Sternguard

[Noel]

Hey all,

I'm just putting together a full squad of Salamander Stermguard and I was hoping to get some advice on weapon choices. How many combi-metas is adequate? 5 out of 10? Should I have any full meltaguns? What about other options like combi-flamers.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Noel

[Fueldrop]

stick Lysander with them, put them in a drop pod, and have fun! i'd be skeptical about throwing in too many combi-weapons, as sternguard are primarily an anti-personnel squad. leave anti armor work to devastators/long fangs/pred annihilators.

take this advice with a grain of salt, though. i play eldar, so these are just tactics i've seen work well.

[Image]

Hey all,

I'm just putting together a full squad of Salamander Stermguard and I was hoping to get some advice on weapon choices. How many combi-metas is adequate? 5 out of 10? Should I have any full meltaguns? What about other options like combi-flamers.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Noel

It depends on how you'll be delivering them. If you're combat squadding, I'd say take ten combi-meltas in a drop pod. Fire off three from each combat squad and still have two more remaining for other vehicle threats. This makes them scary against everything!

[eagleboy7259]

Combi-weapons are a matter of choice, its not like you're loinsg your special bolters if you give them a single shot of melta. Combi-melta seems to be a pretty good choice for them if you're podding, it lets you pop a tank or transport on the turn you drop if you might not have a shot at killing anything else. I wouldn't take too much of them tho, it is premarily an anti-troop unit.

[SotonShades]

I tend to run mine with a combi-melta and a melta gun, all packaged up with a drop pod. Often I'll even go so far as to pop my captain/chapter master in their with them depending on who i'm playing and what deployment is like. I also tend to give the sergeant a powerfist.

When they get out of the pod i split them in to the two squads, with the melta and four bolters going one way (usually with any characters), and the serg w powerfist, the combi melta and the rest going the other. Both squads have a good chance of taking out a vehicle up close on arrival and every turn there after if they can assault, without losing too much anti-personnel firepower. occasionally I'll split the squads and fire them at the same target anyway on the turn they deploy, but only if i really want it dead and nothing else is in range/has LOS

[Legoklods]

A friend of mine does this devastating thing.
10 guys, 5 combi-meltas 5 combi-flamers.
combat-squad them when they touch-down with their drop pod.
first half open a transport, second half burn the cargo.

Or like he did against my orks:
go down, kill about 25 boys with flamers, and destroy a dread:eek:

[DCompanyChris]

I don't use them very often, favoring terminators and dreads, but the absolutely best sallie squad I've found after much experimentation is

SGT Powerfist/Combi Flamer
2x Combi Flamer
2xheavy Flamer
4xCombi Melta
1x bolter
Drop Pod

The unit lands and combat squads into the two obvious groups. One squads burns through a batch of infantry, the other brings down a tank/MC etc with the melta guns. That squad then hangs back to use their bolters while the first unit fights, and moves to burn through another crew of infantry.

This is a classic "tradeout" unit, and I usally only get two or three turns out of them before they are destroyed, but I've never seen them not get their points+ back, and even though they are basically blowing their wad the turn they land, the damage they inflict almost ensures that they'll draw attention away from your other units until they are destroyed.

You have to remember that this unit design in for Salamanders with Vulkan. I wouldn't run a unit like this without the rerolls to hit with the meltaguns (which gives you a great chance to blow up something big-like a land raider or battlefortress) and the rerolls to wound with the stacking flamer shots, which will stack up even on power armor or the like. Anything else just burns like the candles on a birthday cake.

To be fair, I play against lots of orks, chaos, and IG here, and people have grown to fear that pod. Against Gaurd I have dropped whole squadrons of Leman Russ tanks with the first round of fire, while burning through ranks of infantry. The record for one turn of fire though was a full unit of meganobs with warboss, and a stompa. (Which also went boom and took out several other nearby units).