:what is your ideal point cost for a troop squad?

[MrBo]

Hello all,so how many points will you sink into your average troop squad? i'm not asking how many men/special weapons it contains,just the average point cost you are willing to pay before you consider a squad too bloated.If you are running very cheap troops, simply answer whether you min/max them
Also, what is your the percentage of points spent out of your list that is dedicated to troops?

thanks for participating!

[magickbk]

This is really going to vary by army and surviveability. For example, no one would max out a T3, 5+ save unit at 250 pts, because it will die very easily. On the other hand, a Grey Knights Terminator Squad with only a heavy weapon and a few minor upgrades will be 250, but is likely to live long enough to be worth the points.

[DarkLink]

I've been playing Draigowing a lot, and a properly decked out 10-man Paladin squad is 750pts, though you can run them as low as 630 in a pinch.

[s12demon]

Play marines myself, usually DA but that may change depending on how good/bad the new sm dex is: usually am around somewhere between 150 and 200 depending on the weapons. but Dw termies and ravenwing squads are easily 250 when using the appropriate special characters to make them troops

[Dave Mcturk]

500pts plus makes a decent orkznobzbikerzdeathstartroopunit...

[Mr Mystery]

As a Necron player, either 10 Immortals, or 20 Warriors in cost.

Usually 40 odd Immortals, and 20 Warriors. Because my troops are really genuinely excellent, and full of dakka!

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I feel a bit bad if my tactical squads go over 200, but you get what you pay for.

[Sly]

This is an inherently flawed post, because it has an implication that you only run one size of Troop squads.

That is generally the wrong way to build a good list. You use Troops to take Objectives, and in most cases there will be objectives that you can start near, often even that you take during Deployment, and objectives in the enemy's deployment zone, or near it. To advance to the enemy's objectives takes strong Troops, whether it's because they're tough like Termies or Plague Marines, or large/Fearless like Cultists with a Chaos Lord or like 30 Orc Boyz. But putting that many points into a Troop squad that is going to stay on your side of the field, shoot a bit, and go to ground when it's shot at, so that it survives to the end of the game to control your starting objectives, is usually a waste of points.

So, in most lists, you will have some cheap backfield objective-holding Troops, and some more-expensive advancing Troops that have to have the ability to survive a lot more firepower, for longer, and to get in or near assault range of the enemies. So you will generally have two different cost brackets for your Troops... cheap rear units, and expensive advance units.

[MrBo]

having said all that,.. how much are you willing to spend for a squad?

[DarkLink]

That is a question so vague as to be useless.

[mysterex]

Depends on what you want that want that unit to do. For example I play Dark Angels led by Belial and, at 1500 to 1750 points, play the following types of troop units:


5 Deathwing with Thunderhammer/storm sheild on four and cyclone/chain fist on one at 270 points
10 Tactical marines with plasma gun and missile launcher at 170 points
5 Scouts with sniper rifles and camo-cloaks at 70 points



IMO each one is optimal for it's purpose despite the spread in points values. If you start to apply that logic across different codexes then it becomes obvious that there is no right answer.

The only consistent thing I can say is that in 6th I think you need at least 4 scoring units and that I tend to spend between 35 to 45% of my points on troops. I don't set a particular points percentage for the troops, it just tends to work out that way.

[Wolfshade]

I think the question is how much do you spend on upgrades for a squad.

Back in 2nd when I started to get into it there were so many c ool upgrades that my mate and I used to completely bloat each squad with every possible upgrade we could, now-a-days it depends a lot on what the plan for the squad is.

If they are going tank hunting then meltas and the obligatory pfist are fine, hordes then we are looking at flamers, etc.

I think if you are paying more for upgrades than a new squad I think you really need to consider what the squad is doing.

Death Company are really easy to bloat out, give each guy a jump pack and power weapon and you are doubling the cost of the miniature, but under some circumstances they would be better, though I am not sure if mathhammer would prove it.

[Da Gargoyle]

I put a 12 being squad of Eldar together with a Warlock and fit them into a wave serpent with the idea of a squad based skirmish for 290 points. My son then used the same amount of points to field an IG platoon complete with command squad, that is four 10 man sections with missile launcher and a platoon command with commissar and special/assault weapons. Then, as the rules allow he fielded the platoon as a single unit which has its advantages and disadvantages. But it will be awfully hard to break and can generate concentrated heavy fire from those missiles.

[Learn2Eel]

This is an entirely contextually-based question and thus it won't really give us a weighted average across the armies that is accurate. Even between Marine armies there is often a great discrepancy; look at how Dark Angels run their Tacticals compared to how Space Wolves run their Grey Hunters.

For me, my average squad cost is either 160 or 320 at the moment, because I play wraithwall Eldar. When I'm using my bro's Tau it is usually closer to 90. Ideally, I like to keep my Troops units as cheap as possible so that I can take at least three-five of them. Troops win games and tournament results are continually proving that lots of cheap scoring bodies, even ones that do good damage (Fire Warriors/Daemonettes, etc) are what perform the best for most armies. In an edition with ignores cover S8 AP3 large blasts that won't scatter at all becoming so easy to obtain, investing points in larger and supposedly 'more durable' units tends not to work as well. Of course, there are some notable exceptions, i.e. scoring Nobz units or Wraithguard units as opposed to (for example) Dire Avengers in a footdar list. On that note, Reecius is my footdar hero!

[Aspire to Glory]

I've been playing Draigowing a lot, and a properly decked out 10-man Paladin squad is 750pts, though you can run them as low as 630 in a pinch.

Out of curiosity, how do you run your 630 and 750 squads, respectively?

[DarkLink]

Assuming 10 Paladins, 630 is nothing but 4 psycannons. That's the absolute minimum if you're taking 10. Never leave a psycannon slot unfilled.

I take the banner, then either the stave, or the apothecary, or both, points allowing. The Banner is pretty important for the bonus attacks. The apothecary is really nice but not necessary in all lists. The stave is also really nice, but also not strictly necessary because you always have Draigo to tank wounds. Take all three, and you're at 750, which is the most you should spend because none of the other upgrades are really worth it anymore.

I do also take 5-6 man squads sometimes with dual psycannons and maybe a stave and banner, but not the apothecary. I usually stick them in a Land Raider then.

[Aspire to Glory]

Assuming 10 Paladins, 630 is nothing but 4 psycannons. That's the absolute minimum if you're taking 10. Never leave a psycannon slot unfilled.

I take the banner, then either the stave, or the apothecary, or both, points allowing. The Banner is pretty important for the bonus attacks. The apothecary is really nice but not necessary in all lists. The stave is also really nice, but also not strictly necessary because you always have Draigo to tank wounds. Take all three, and you're at 750, which is the most you should spend because none of the other upgrades are really worth it anymore.

I do also take 5-6 man squads sometimes with dual psycannons and maybe a stave and banner, but not the apothecary. I usually stick them in a Land Raider then.

Have you found a sweet spot regarding the hammers in particular?

[dirkspair]

for my nids i usually take something like 2x 10 termagants with devourers at 100 a piece, a tervigon at about 200, some genestealers with brood lord at about 160 and maybe some termagants for 50.

for my blood angels a tac squad for about 200, death company for 240 and a scout squad for 100.

so this whole thread is moot. no real point to it IMO.