Space Marine Vehicle Accessories, When to use em when to not use em?

Most people usually add accessories on their vehicles just for the sake of point sinks. Some are added more to improve a certain element of their vehicles.

However the best way to use it is to actually balance out the element of " Do i really need it" and " What actual unit i can modify to do the job better".

What " Do i really need it" means is like how does buying the item contribute to the army e.g Does buying an extra storm bolter for Space Marine Razorback helps? If it staying back far from enemy it aint doing much shooting. But one can argue that it helps when enemy are approaching the Razorback or improve Razorback suvivalbility as extra weapon can survive more weapon destroy results. Which lead to the next element which is "What actual unit i can modify to do the job" If the Razorback is constantly under attack maybe your assault unit isn't diverting enough attention or doing enough damage.

Let go though some of the common option that Vanila Space Marine codex you can buy for your vehicles.

Storm Bolter

Generally Rhino, Drop Pod and Vindicator have this by default and may opt to purchase an additional stormbolter. It great as it pretty cheap(10 pts), Str 4 2 shots and defensive weapon as it can be fired along with your main weapon. Sadly with only 2 dice at hand any damage this thing do is consider a bonus as u aint gonna kill MEQ or kill much hordes. However it good when laying on TOF( Torrent Of Fire). Torrent of fire mean is taking out enemies with quantity of weak str shots as oppose of few of high str and low ap shots. E.g Predator Destructor as it autocannon and heavy bolter is already dishing out 8 shot per tank so adding a storm bolter can add top it to 10 shots if range permit. If your army is generally aint into mid field combat then stormbolter may not be effective even as point sinks.

Hunter Killer Missile

For 10 pts you can have a single Str 8 Ap3 krak missile for your vehicles. The good thing about this is it grant almost any vehicle even a mere Rhino to knock out a tank or damage it. Another good thing it has infinite range so you can take out target that out of that 48". However the problem is that is a one shot weapon so any misses is consider a waste of 10 pts.

So the hunter killer issue is more on the do you have enough anti tank capabilities. If yes then getting it may just be extra redudancy , if no then it better to actually change your army list than to start spaming hunter killer missile fulfill that anti vehicle needs.

Dozer Blade

Is like a snow plow that allow the vehicle to re-roll any dangerous vehicle terrain test. Its pretty cheap (5 pts) which helps on moving though terrain so improve your odds when taking those terrain test. So you don't have to hesitate on take that shortcut route or have to work the long way around just to avoid the test. The question of getting it is more simply as are you constantly on the move, If yes then take it , if no then then dont bother..

Extra Armor

It turn vehicle stun result to shaken. Which mean that now the only thing that can stop the vehicle from moving is a immobilize result. The great thing as mention it help vehicle to keep moving especially transport since after all its priority is to send the passenger to their objective and not shooting so as long as it can keep moving it accomplish its goal. The problem is that extra armor is expensive (15 pts) which only cover a 1/6 possibility for any both penned and glance result. It can be debatable that it make a huge differences with melta weapons as a melta weapon at its worse outcome stun a vehicle so a extra armor can take advantage of the unlucky melta attack and escape. Hopefully getting out of melta range. On the contrary any contact with melta weapon is usually fatal and getting extra armor for such an occasion is just waste of pts. So extra armor is useful for Land Raiders that carrying assault terminator as the last thing you want is your deadly package is stuck in the middle of the battlefield. Also it can be useful for walkers like Dreadnought as extra armor means u can still continue to move and assault.

This article is more to cover on Vanila Space Marine codex as other space marine codex something that Vanila user take for granted have to be purchasable by other codex. As the measuring the pros and cons of the option before buying. So here a few example for non Vanila Space Marine codex.

Blood Angels searchlight: Are you going to attack something at midfield regardless of circumstances. If yes then just get a few to cheap unit so they can drive close and give searchlight for your important unit to see. So even if the enemy hit back they can only take out your cheap unit or risk rolling 2D6 x3 just to spot your important unit. If no then dont bother, use the night to cover your men at a distant instead of attempting to go close and risk getting spotted.

Black Templar smoke: Are you gonna move your vehicle out? If yes then take it , if No then use common terrain for cover safe.

Battle Tit Bits

Praetor Of Orpheus Armor Convoy which is almost fully painted 1st engagement was an Eldar player who wanted to test his Forge World unit in his army. Praetor Of Orpheus Armor Convoy manage to secure a win from some risky gambles like enduring 3 dangerous terrain test on the razorback in a row.

  Second game vs daemon army, Got totally obliterated as had totally as Daemons got some flamer weapon that can glance vec. So Praetor Of Orpheus Armor Convoy was compromise as it couldnt keep up with the amount of Daemon prince it can handle.

: had a game with a player that havent see for almost half a year. Last time Praetor Of Orpheus Armor Convoy was in sham as half of the army is proxy. Some unit are unpainted and certain tanks were not following the army painting scheme. So this time everyone is painted and well uniform to vs his Ravenwing army.

Only manage to secure a draw as Praetor Of Orpheus Armor Convoy rather overcommited on defending the objective. However the biker army was wither down from devastating fire before it could touch melta range. So if the Praetor Of Orpheus Armor Convoy diverted some forces to contest his objective i could secure a win could secure a win.

Praetor Of Orpheus Armor Convoy Got the liberty to versus someone raksasa list although totally got owned but got to learn some insight about those Nids. As now the Praetor Of Orpheus Armor Convoy have to prepare on some evasive manuver to escape those lumbering monster whose will is to shoot its rear armor with their pea shooters. Oh and Zoeys were psyhooded as We the Praetor hates melta weapon shooting at us....

Battle Tit Bits:

20110212: Purgation Lords encountered heavy Necron activity. The tactical heavy company was successful in phasing out the Xenos after all three Monolith's entrance was blocked while the last 20 strong Necron warriors were to come in from reserve.Chapter champion fell the Necron destroyer Lord with his thunder hammer. A few squad of battle brothers were asked to repent their weakness after they lost their nerve when tank shocked by the Monoliths.

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Practice drill between the Lords and Praetor chapter saw the entire half of Preator's battle company cut down by Lord's infiltrated Assault terminators and other elements. Commander Red blamed it on his lack of drill knowledge in running a rhino convoy.

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First company "Blink" battle formation under twin librarians engaged the Tau Empire in a first time combat against the enemy that the very formation was meant to deal with. The engagement proved disastrous, gunned down by the massive fire power, the Lords managed to score a tactical victory but loses all member of the strike force except Sergeant Vello in a contest for objectives. Member of the first company sacrificed themselves to purge all scoring units of the enemy, and now the future of the formation itself is in doubt.

Walking is for Grots!

 

 Conserving sphess... click for larger view.

Blood Angel Baal Predator

The Baal Predator is an anti infantry tank which can be use in the Blood Angel army on the Fast Attack slot. A brief version of the fluff is that apparently Blood Angel techmarine found the Baal Predator STC(Standard Template Construct).. and apparently they decide to be complete assholes and not share it to the Adeptus Mechanicus. Also the Baal Predator comes with the special Lucifer pattern engines which makes their tanks Fast. Which our poor Ultramarines and their chapter equivalents denied from this goodness of goodness.

So down the fluff and now with the tactics... Generally The Baal Predator has the same stats as a normal Space Marine Predator. Now it 5th ed they are given the special rule scout, this is a huge advantage as Baal Predator is a mid range - close range tank so scout grants them this ability to either flat out on their scout move or outflank. This helps them to get closer to the enemy earlier on.

The have the option of eitier using a Twin-linked Assault Cannon or the Flamestorm Cannon which both are equally devastating on their on right. You can add either heavy bolters or heavy flamer sponsons. You are free to tinker whatever combination feels right for your army but here a few combination i usually go for.

Twin-linked Assault Cannon turret with heavy bolter sponsons and pintle mounted Storm Bolter

The idea of this combination is actually to maximize the amount of shots you can dish out to Hordes in the open and even MEQ. You already getting 4 from the Assault Cannon + 6 from Heavy Bolter and 2 from storm bolter. That a total of 12 shots which 4 are twin-linked. It equivalent is the Predator Destructor which is cheaper than the Baal doing 2 autocannon + 6 heavy bolter and 2 storm bolter shots.. however the problem is you run the risk of missing alot unlike the Baal which has a twin-linked Assault Cannon which guarantee you 3-4 shots. Also it comes with rending so you can tear heavy armor or elite infantry which is rare but atleast u got a shot for it.

Flamestorm Cannon turret with Dozerblade.

This one is a more aggressive Baal Predator as it job is to storm into enemy infantry position and burn them with the S6 Ap3 flamer. You also have the option to eitier use the scout movement to quickly rush to a location or outflank to flush the enemy position. Dozer blade is important as most of the time you be taking out infantry well inside cover so you are gonna go though alot of dangerous test. As the last thing you want is to get immobilize in front a swarm of orks. You may add heavy flamer sponson if you like but in my opinion it difficult or rare to actually use the sponson as you be moving 12" all the time and you rarely get the chance to move 6 and use the sponson. Another thing u can add is a pintle mounted Storm Bolter which just add a bit of shots for each time u burn.

One key weakness when using Baal Predator is the weak side armor especially since Baal Predator is a mid to close range tank. It easy for your enemy to flank them and take them out. So you may want to eitier take advantage of terrain or have it side guarded by other less powerful tank/units.

Space Marine Vindicator

I know this is a really common unit to be fielded by Space Marine player in general. Almost every Space Marine player i know have at least field it once in per game. It is hard to not bring this tank along to the battlefield since by its first impression is an awesome and fearsome tank. It carries the devastating Demolisher Cannon. This cannon is a 24" Str 10 ap 2 pie template weapon.. a single hit can bring destruction to almost anything from elite terminators to ordinary guardsmen. Even AV14 land raiders and Monoliths has a good chance of going down since it is ordnance Str 10 + 2D6 roll pick the highest.

So in paper it sounds good.. matter of fact to good that some players goes to extend to getting a full compliment of 3. As people are encourage due to the Space Marine Vindicator Linebreaker Squadron box. In my opinion getting 3 Vindicator is a potential risk as you are still binded by scatter die, So in a good roll you can cost alot of mayhem and destruction however in a bad day.. you may be spending a whole turn doing absolute nothing.

Before i give you my take of all this, Here an interesting take on using the Space Marine Vindicator by Fritz40K

So my comment is that he generally placed the unit in extremely ideal environment that you will rarely will get to use in an actual game. Also his take this means to deny your enemy a specific area usually an objective. However it also means that you pay roughly 115 pts(Vanila Codex) doing relatively nothing if your enemy just simply ignore the Vindicator. If you do move him out alone he may get easily pick off due to weak side Av11 armor. So this approach is relatively a dead end that serve some purpose but no where else to go from there.

So my idea is that to send that thing in to generate Aggro, For those who didnt check out my previous entries. You should read it in order to understand what i mean http://w40knoob.blogspot.com/2011/01/aggro.html. A brief explanation is that aggro is the level of threat your enemy will perceive to your specific unit. So example would be a multi melta attack bike likely be taken down first than a heavy bolter land speeder agaisnt an enemy who has plenty of vehicles.

When you field a Space Marine Vindicator so you can divert your enemy attention to that one tank. So you can predict your enemy reaction to your army. Another e.g is if you know u are facing a massive Deep Striking army. With a regular list you are almost uncertain what your opponent may do since you are not sure how he respond. With a Space Marine Vindicator you know that one unit he will do his best to take it out.. so your respond can put him protected and there a high chance that he will come for the Vindicator.

So my suggestion is to place your Vindicator accompany your forces, Make sure you protect his side armor no mather what. So now you force your enemy into a situation. Either attempt to take out your castle up Vindicator or ignore it and risk leaving it alone where it can bite your enemy ass.

Vindicator got a variety choice of additional war gear you can add on.

Storm Bolter: Not bad, since by default it comes with a single stormbolter so you can actually be having 2 stormbolter. So in any case you lose the demolisher cannon you can still do some damage.

Extra Armor: Good addition if you got points to spare, Although you may not shoot but you can at least move to keep up with the army or escape from the danger.

Hunter Killer: Not my cup of tea, Although you can at least shoot something at Turn1-2 as by Turn 3 and onward you be awfully busy with your Demolisher cannon but in my experience it doesnt actually do anything.

Dozer Blade: Poor man siege shield.. Cheap and good addition for the tank as you can charge into dense terrain to get that shot in with better odds to pass that dangerous terrain test. However you are still binded by failing it if given some godly badluck.

Siege Shield: Its a better Dozer Blade.. with a cost of 5 pts extra. It automatically passes any dangerous terrain test. Also it make your Vindicator look more hardcore since u have to assemble the huge plow in the model kit.

Here are some useful types of Vindicator you can use for your army.

Blood Angels Vindi : Fast vehicle so you can move 12" and still fire the cannon.

Black Templar Vindi: 4ed machine spirit.. ignore stuns and shaken