# Tac. Squads...what weapons and tactics to use?



## Fenge (Dec 25, 2009)

So im in the process of making a Ultramarines army, and having mostly played SoB and space wolves, the heavy weapon/special weapon problem have never really been a problem for me.

So my question is. What weapon loadout and tactics would be the best to use?
currently im leaning towards ML, Flamer, Combi-flamer,PF. Combat squad and put the special weapon team in razorbacks. This however leaves me a little concerned as 5 marines, in my experience is all that difficult to remove.

Im also thinking about MM, Meltagun, Combi-Melta/Flamer, PF in Rhinos.

Any inputs are welcome.


----------



## Shaun_wi (Oct 8, 2008)

I tend to run 3 tac squads in my lists. 1 with flamer, missile launcher and sgt with combi-flamer and power fist. The other 2 I give meltagun, missile launcher, sgt with combi-melta and power fist, all in rhinos.
The melta teams tend to do better because of most of my opponents being mech armies so I nead that tank busting power but the flamer squads are there for the odd occasion I play a horde. The rhinos provide my tac squads both speed and protection in the early parts of the game.
Hope it helps


----------



## Fenge (Dec 25, 2009)

yeah it helps quite a bit, thanks.

How about that combat squading, how are they holding up in terms of survivability?


----------



## Shaun_wi (Oct 8, 2008)

Whether I combat squad depends on the mission and the army I am facing. In capture and control I usually combat squad two of my tac squads so I have 10 marines and two missile launchers on my objective, they have yet to fail at their job. In annialation I keep them together to reduce kill points. In sieze ground it really depends on number of objectives and how far away they are. If theres only 3 objectives I would maybe combat squad 1 squad and keep the rest together so I can concentrate on claiming two of the available objectives. If theres 5 objectives I tend to combat squad more to give me more chance of claiming more objectives.
Combat squads don't last as long as full squads but It does force your opponent to spread his fire to multiple units or concentrate on 1 combat squad thus leaving the rest unscathed


----------



## Fenge (Dec 25, 2009)

Awesome advise thanks. This helpes alot in my decision making.

I think i'll be fielding 3 tac Squads.

2x ML, Meltaguns,Combi-flamer,PF
1x MM,Flamer,Combi-melta,PF

Rhinos allaround 

thanks again =)


----------



## Jernmajoren (May 5, 2009)

How to equip you tactical squad depends a lot on what tactics you intend on using.
As for heavy weapons ML, MM or PC are all good choices, some pros/cons:

ML: 
Pros - Long range, good for damageing vehicles, and decent against horde, can instakill t4 or less. 
Cons - Weak vs TEq and not very effective in actually killing vehicles, Frag grenades are not much better than couple of bolter shot.

MM:
Pros - Excellent at killing vehicles (twice as effective as a ML at 24")and can kill TEq. Can instakill t4 or less.
Cons - short range, most effective at rapid fire range, lacks anti horde capability.

PC:
Pros - Medium range, good against TEq and horde, can instakill t3 or less.
Cons - Fairly weak against vehicles, overheats.

So depending on what role you want you tactical squad to fullfil your choice of heavy weapon should reflect that - if you want you squad to camp in your own deployment zone a ML is a great choice otherwise going for a MM will be a superior choice as it is more potent against vehicles and the rest of the squad can add its firepower when shooting against hordes - when using a flamer in most cases the heavy weapon will not be able to fire anyway negating one of the pros of the ML.
If you want a general anti-horde unit a PC is the best choice even with its inherit flaws as it have a greater chance on putting wounds on whatever it hits and can engage enemy units of all kinds at a good range.

As you are playing Ultra marines you will have combat tactics to get you out of losing ccs and given that I think that you dont need to take a PF in your tactical squads, they cost a lot of points that could have been used on something to boost the overall effectiveness of your army for example a Landspeeder with heavy flamer and MM or a unit of scouts.

Personally my prefered variations of tactical squads are (all in Rhinos):
10 man w MM, Flamer and Combi-flamer (anti-horde)
10 man w MM, meltagun and Combi-flamer (anti-vehicle)
10 man w PC, PG, and Combi-melta (anti-TEq/horde)

To avoid getting stuck in CC I generally tend to have other units equipped for dealing with CC helping them out instead of spending a lot of points on upgrading a poor CC unit to be a mediocre CC unit.


----------

