Tactica Assault Terminators
by Interrogator Chaplain Ignacio

This idea came to me after reading the WD articles on Tactica Assault and doing some thinking. Recently, I've discovered (I know, kinda late) that Terminators in a Terminator Assault Squad need not be armed with Lightning Claws or Thunder Hammers / Storm Shields exclusively but can be equipped with Storm Bolters / Powerfists for free. This led me to an idea that could increase the effectiveness of Terminator Assault Squads for all Space Marine Chapters in general and the Blood Angels in particular.

Starting with the basics, consider a 6-man Terminator Assault squad (6 x 42 = 252). Instead of arming the 5 squad members exclusively with Close Combat Weapons, use this configuration: 2 with Lightning Claws, 1 with Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield and 2 with Storm Bolters / Powerfists. The points cost do not change.

The tactical flexibility this lends you is fairly tremendous (quite an understatement). As most battles take place in the 1500 to 2000 point region, a squad like this should be fairly affordable, especially for games at 2000 points (it is in fact cheaper than a full-strength assault squad with upgrades). The method of employment is ideally via Deep Strike, as you aim to land this squad within shooting distance of an enemy squad or two on the turn you arrive (since you can't charge on the same turn you arrive - and don't Deep Strike right into the heart of the enemy army, however fluffy that may sound, all the 2+/5+ saves might not keep them from being eliminated in the next turn). You should also aim to arrange the squad in two (rough) rows, aligned towards the direction that future movement and charges would most likely take place. The front row should consist of the 3 Terminators with Strike-on-Initiative (SoI - 2 sets of Lightning Claws and Power Weapon) weapons and the back row those with Strike Last (SL - Powerfists and Thunder Hammer) weapons.

On your next and subsequent movement phases, as you're looking to get this squad into an assault (you ARE going to get this squad into an assault... if not, leave them at Baal), you should try moving them within 4 - 5 inches of the intended target squad (keeping the back "row" about an inch behind the front - never liked referring to them as rows, sounds too much like Fantasy). This means that ideally, the SoI Terminators would have no problems moving into Base-to-Base contact with enemy models while the back row might have some difficulty. Don't worry. This is the exact situation you're looking for. The assault movement priority then would be to move the SL Terminators to BtB with already-engaged models if there are no unengaged ones within 6". Thus, you've created a situation where you can employ all that nasty SL weapons without too much fear of getting killed before using them, as Lightning Claws tend to be very effective at clearing away models in BtB (Praise Sanguinius for Strength 5, Initiative 5, re-roll wounds!).

Take note, though, that a Terminator Assault squad composed in this fashion would never be as effective as one armed solely with Lightning Claws and Thunder Hammers / Storm Shields; nor be as shooty as the "standard" Terminators with Assault Cannons and Cyclones. What this composition gives is a shooting option for players looking to specifically Deep Strike their Terminators without taking away too much in both the Shooting and Close Combat departments. Nothing can be worse than missing the Teleport co-ordinates with a "purely" Close Combat equipped Terminator Assault squad and finding out that every enemy unit is outside of your unit's charge range in the next turn; while you're in the range of all their guns!

Another point to note is that the squad should ideally be composed of an even number of Terminators (6, 8 or 10!) as you're seeking to "pair-up" SL Terminators with SoI ones. If the need arises where odd numbers are taken, bias the selection to include more SoI Terminators than SL ones. In the same manner, Brothers that fall to the Black Rage should come from SL Terminators first. If you lose more than one model, the choice after the first (which should be an SL Terminator) is up to you.

In terms of squad upgrades, there aren't really too many if you're working on a tight points budget. Master-crafting the Sergeant's Power Weapon is an idea, although you could also replace his Power Weapon with a Lightning Claw instead if you intend to keep his Storm Bolter (one gives you a re-roll to hit for +15 points, the other to wound for +25 points - unless you want to Master-craft his single set of Lightning Claws for +40 points!). Since Terminators do not get +1A for using 2 Close Combat Weapons, you may also consider equipping the Sergeant with a combi-weapon to boost the squad's firepower. If you think you might come up against some tough armour, upgrading one of the squad's Powerfist to a Chainfist for just +5 points is also a viable option. But even without any upgrades, the squad is still fairly capable.

In really large battles (3000+ points) where you intend to load 8 Terminators on a Landraider Crusader, this tactic can be modified. Protected by the Crusader's weaponry and armour, the need for a half-and-half mix of Shooting and Close Combat Weapons is reduced (Praise Sanguinius for Hurricane Pattern Bolters!). I would recommend 4 with Lightning Claws, 1 with Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield, 1 with Storm Bolter / Powerfist (priority to the Death Company) and 1 with Storm Bolter / Chainfist (+5 points). But that's really up to you :) 

Hope this has given both Veteran and Novice players some food for thought at the very least :)  I hope to hear any comments from you all. Cheers!

by Interrogator Chaplain Ignacio