Image Courtesy of
http://collegiatitanica.blogspot.com/Brother C here,
So I've found myself contemplating my terminators alot lately. I think I have made every mistake in the book of tactics for them so here are just my own thoughts on how they can and should be used.There of course will be exceptions to all of these rules and strategies should be considered on actual game context, but these are just some general thoughts on use and tactics.
Deepstrike. sounds great right? appearing right next to your opponent at some point during the game. surprise! here I am! plow plow plow. this would be great if it actually ever panned out like that. However, your opponent isn't dumb, he knows it is coming, and he is preparing himself for it. As soon as you come down, he will have a trap and blast you off the board. Even if you've loaded out your terms with a cyclone, storm bolters, flamers, combis, you name it, do not fall for the trap of shooting the first turn you come down. You need to get into cover if you have not deepstruck into cover. If you have deepstruck into cover, hell, fire away. Terms can take alot of punches, but you will eventually roll 1s on those armor saves, and it would be nice to avoid those plasma shots. My recommendation, if you are going to deepstrike. play smart. either deepstrike far away, and get into cover, and wait for your opportunity to strike. OR do the complete opposite, deepstrike directly onto that objective surrounded by your enemy, go somewhere he is not expecting you to go, because its crazy. fortune favors the bold.
Landraider. sounds great right? massive tank rolling up, assaulting out of it decked out in all claws, ripping to pieces that little gaunt squad. bad idea. for one, your opponent knows you just want to rip that trash squad to bits and he will use it to lure you out of that tin can. be careful, there will be a counter attack coming, it was bait, and you fell for it. and for 250 points (+) points. forget it. I'll take an entire second term squad plus upgrades for that price. plus, with all the new codexs coming out, there are meltas everywhere. you will be lucky to even get your raider across the board before it explodes, leaving your models to foot it. might as well just have deepstruck. in my opinion the raider is just not worth its weight anymore. its too big of a point sink, and you need bodies on the field, not empty hulls.
Escorts. Is my new favorite tactic for terms. Operation human shield in full effect. space the term squad out in front of your forces. (its 5th edition, you are castling like everyone else aren't you?) Give your priority targets that cover save. (my new favorite is a squad of terms in front of 3 vindis with a techmarine and 3 servo arm servitors behind) Walk them across the field. Your opponent will be firing at the priority targets and not your terms. And you will have the added bonus of decent melee protection if your opponent decides he's going to roll a walker or a fist to try and punk your armor. You of course will need the added support of the rest of your forces in order to pull this escort service off properly. Layers of offense and defense is the key here people.
Anyways, just checking in for now and throwing these ideas up for discussion. I would advise people to at least try out the term escort service. It may not be for everyone. Put an assault cannon, and cyclone on that group (or an apothecary if you are DA and using Belial)and you have a real threat.
has anyone else been using this tactic to their advantage? or tried it and failed miserably? Would love to know your experiences and thoughts.
