Land speeder storm

[mysterex]

I've just completed a tournament recently and have been thinking I might alter my standard list by including a land speeder storm with a multimelta and 5 scouts, perhaps upgraded with a power fist (for tank hunting) and combi flamer for cleaning guard/tau/eldar out of terrain.

My only concern is that they may be a fragile one trick pony that looks better on paper than in practice and isn't worth the points.

I'm curious to hear the opinions of anyone who uses a storm, particularly in competitive environment where you're forced to use the same list against a range of opponents.

Thanks in advance.

[deadmanwade]

I ran a LS Storm with multimelta along with a 5 man squad with a Powerfist/Combimelta sarge at a tournament. They didnt achieve a lot in terms of actual damage but they did redirect a lot of enemy firepower and so allow me to gain ground elsewhere. In all three games I played, they managed to kill a grand total of 2 terminators, 8 Chaos Marines and a Vindicator. However, they caused my opponents a lot of grief in trying to get rid of them because A) they were a scoring unit entering near to objectives, B) they could potentially hurt tanks and C) the could tie up support units for a turn or two.

They arent a hammer unit but they are a great distraction that has a lot of benefits for a small outlay.

[mstingray]

I've found that they are a great distraction unit, but don't bother upgrading them, except for a melta gun, as they don't do much damage

[ggg]

I dropped 5 sniper scouts with telion, missile launcher and camo cloaks for a speeder storm, 5 man scout squad with Multi melta and combi melta and melta bomb.

The speeder storm is great for dropping off a scoring unit late on in the game or moving flat out in turn 5 to steal an objective.

When I use them aggressively, they do tend to die very quickly. If you have first turn they tend to reliably kill one land raider / leman russ before being killed. A one trick pony that makes back its own weight in points.

I have used magnets to allow me to use either a heavy flamer or a multi melta on the speeder as the BS 3 is not really reliable enough for me and I have an eye on the new Tyranid armies out there.

I agree with the earlier poster - they do attract a lot of fire and I tend to reserve and avoid action or use them like a 155 point missile.

I originally thought that the -2 leadership modifier from the cerebrus lnchr would be useful but due to the small size of the squad they so far have not won any significant combats.

I tried the drive by with bolters and heavy flamer and flamer but the vehicle was too vulnerable to small arms for this to be viable.

Importantly, however- the model looks really cool.

[DarkLink]

A BS 3 multimelta isn't exactly reliable, especially for taking out LR's and such. You need Vulcan for that to even have a decent chance of working.

Two BS4 meltaguns within 6" have about a 45% of destroying a Land Raider. One BS3 multimelta in 12"... more like a 17% chance.

Just saying...

[Chumbalaya]

BS3, open-topped AV10, and carrying 5 WS/BS3 T4 4+ saves.

Pass.

[Atrotos]

One squad is not enough - it's only when you begin to consider multiple squads working together that it becomes viable. Remember that the effects from the Cerberus launcher are cumulative.

[MarshalAdamar]

I think people underestimate this unit sometimes. Not everything in the space marine codex is designed to be the hammer of the gods.

Think about the unit and its delivery system.

Scouts are WS:3 BS:3 S:4 T:4 I:4 4+
Tau are WS:2 BS:3 S:3 T:3 I:2 4+
Guard are WS:3 BS:3 S:3 T:3 I:3 5+

Looks like win to me in those cases.
Just don't put them up against dedicated assault units Scounts VS Death company = fail.

Take two units of 5 with CCW and BP for assault OR bolters for camping.

Flank; zoom in and roast an objective free of opposition, drop off the holding unit and fly away to harass someone else.

Scouts are not that bad in H2H even against marines if you soften them up first. And they are very distracting your opponent can’t take the chance and leave an objective close to the board edge unprotected because you can zoom in and take it.

So use that and if you get to place objectives put them in hard to reach places with in turbo boosting distance and stress out your opponent waiting for the Storms to arrive.

[Chumbalaya]

Nobody gets worried about a couple AV10 open-topped vehicles :P

You're paying a lot of points for the most fragile vehicle carrying 5 sub-par models, I'd much rather have another Tactical Squad or 2 real Land Speeders.

[pgarfunkle]

I think they have their uses, if you can assault with another unit at the same time you're more likely to get the benefit of that -2 ld. Or you can use the storm to make deep striking risky around objectives with its jammer.

[Lerra]

Depends on the local metagame. Around here we have a lot of shooty armies with vulnerable targets (Long Fang/Devastator Squads, shooty tactical squads, land speeder squadrons, Eldar Guardians, any Tau or Necron infantry, etc.) Those 5 scouts can really do a number on the right target, especially if you go first and can get the 1st turn assault.

[Jay Biga]

I think people underestimate this unit sometimes. Not everything in the space marine codex is designed to be the hammer of the gods.

Think about the unit and its delivery system.

Scouts are WS:3 BS:3 S:4 T:4 I:4 4+
Tau are WS:2 BS:3 S:3 T:3 I:2 4+
Guard are WS:3 BS:3 S:3 T:3 I:3 5+

Looks like win to me in those cases.
Just don't put them up against dedicated assault units Scounts VS Death company = fail.

Take two units of 5 with CCW and BP for assault OR bolters for camping.

Flank; zoom in and roast an objective free of opposition, drop off the holding unit and fly away to harass someone else.

Scouts are not that bad in H2H even against marines if you soften them up first. And they are very distracting your opponent can’t take the chance and leave an objective close to the board edge unprotected because you can zoom in and take it.

So use that and if you get to place objectives put them in hard to reach places with in turbo boosting distance and stress out your opponent waiting for the Storms to arrive.

Exactly!

Also, I often use my Scouts in the LS Storm to work with another unit. Very few things make your opponent's heart sink as much as seeing a Storm zoom across the table, deploy the Scouts on a forward objective (if possible with loads of cover, or even out of sight), only to find out that they carry a teleport homer as well. Which often means that the turn after, Terminators appear to tear the other guy a new one.

And great fun was had by all. ;)

Just don't expect a LS Storm to be a gamebreaker on its own. It's one of the more subtle units Marines can take and takes some getting used to if you want to use it well. Most other Marine units do pretty much what it says on the box: Terminators terminate things, Devastators blow things up, Assault squads get in your face and kill you. The Storm doesn't do any of that as well as the above, but can make it so much easier for the above squads to do their jobs.
Imagine having your Assault Squad charge, having the Storm and Scouts attack the same unit, that's pretty much the end of that unit, even if it's normally hard to shift, given the extra modifier from the Cerberus. And if the Scouts carry a teleport homer, next turn will be even more fun! :D

[sketchesofpayne]

Yes, best use of the storm is to drop off an outflanking troop choice to capture a late-game objective.

[Lindargo]

Personally scouts are one of my favorite things in the codex. With Telion, the new bikes, AND the Storm.
I haven't tried it myself but using two could yield pretty nice results.
Lindargo,