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View Full Version : Black Templars Techmarine vs Assault Terminators in the Elites slot



Paul
06-29-2011, 02:29 PM
I have been playing a list with three Black Templars techmarines in it for some time now, and have many thoughts on their capabilities vis a vis Assault Terminators

Assault Terminators: 200 pts w/ TH/SS

Each Techmarine costs 170 points, and is kitted out thusly:
Servo-Harness, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bionics, Terminator Honors.

Major Differences:

Charge Attacks (Techmarine): 4 Thunder Hammer, 2 Power Fist
Charge Attacks (Terminators): 15 Thunder Hammer

Wounds Difference: 2 Techmarine, 5 Terminators

No save difference.

So far, it looks like the Terminators have the upper hand.

...BUT...

The techmarine has some tricks up his sleeve: here are some major ones:

Takes up only one slot in a transport! This means he can ride with two of his buddies and a thirteen-man assault Initiate squad in a crusader. NICE! Perhaps more importantly, one can fit a Chaplain, Command Squad, Marshal, and three Techmarines in a Land Raider, and more in a Crusader. Deathstar! Woo!

Comes with a Signum! Ballistic skill 5 meltagun from that Initiate, WOO!

Comes with two guns and can fire both! Add a twin-linked plasma pistol and a flamer to your squad!

Comes with a roughly 30% chance to repair the Land Raider if it is damaged while inside of it. With his two buddies, that's a lot of repair attempts!

And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, space on the table. A five man terminator squad can hardly disembark well from a Land Raider, and takes up a lot of space even when in base to base. However, the Techmarine is no larger than an initiate as far as table space is concerned.


That's all; I hope you all see how taking a Techmarine or two can really buff some units in transports without having to buy a full Terminator squad!

Coming up on request, a (what I consider) much harder challenge: Shooty Terminators

sirhuma
06-29-2011, 08:05 PM
I think I'm going to try your tech idea out and see what I think!

Moros
06-30-2011, 08:00 PM
Are BT Techmarines independent characters? If not, this won't work... you can't transport more than one unit and ICs have to join the unit to embark with them

Paul
07-01-2011, 10:10 AM
Are BT Techmarines independent characters? If not, this won't work... you can't transport more than one unit and ICs have to join the unit to embark with them

Yes, they are, although you lose it if you buy them servitors.

Tynskel
07-01-2011, 12:07 PM
The techmarine in the BT codex is pretty rockin'. They really make great support characters.