Astra Militarum Tactics: Veteran Squad

[Arnathos]

For 2 editions now, this has unit has been the mainstay of imperial guard armies, much to my chagrin, but I digress.

Veterans are cheaper now, and so are their doctrines(mostly), but the Chimera they ride in has gone up in points. Changes to the fire points in the chimera also force us to rethink the age old 3 Plasma/melta load out for our veterans.

One theoretical new loadout would be 2 Plasma/melta and 1 heavy flamer, to protect the chimera from potential assault. Although this might be a moot point, seeing as how assault is hardly done in this edition.

Grenadiers got downright cheaper, and demolitions stayed the same(as it is a fair price, 20 points for a demo charge and 1ppm for meltabombs). Forward sentries got a whopping 66% cheaper, but with the loss of actual defensive grenades and infiltrate, I wonder if it is even worth it anymore.


I have to admit that I haven't really used veteran squads at all, only as a unit with forward sentries and demolitions, but that build is no longer viable I feel.

Have you changed how you load out your veterans? What units do you support them with, or do they do ok with relatively little support? Do you attach independent characters or commissars to your veterans? What is their general role in your army?

Comment! Vote!

[DracoAvian]

Veterans continue to be the only troops I use. I continue to use use them in the exact same way, rolling up to their target in the chimera, hopping out, murdering the faces off the offending enemies with their 3 special weps. I used to only give them flamers and grenade launchers, delegating the removal of 3+ and 2+ armor saves to stormtroopers with plasma guns, and finally leaving the tanks for the Vendettas to feast upon. Veterans were more of a swarm/horde control unit and objective unit for me.

Now I'm branching out a bit and using meltas quite a bit more. I'm also using the firing ports quite a bit more, as well. (However I dislike it, it just seems cheesy to me.) Partly because the Vendetta/Stormtrooper combo isn't as powerful, and partly because any amount of wyverns makes life outside a chimera utterly inimical.

All in all, they don't seemed to have changed in their, power level, I guess. Tactics have changed a bit. There's new stuff to watch out for, but still a good choice IMO.

[coldsteel]

There's no need to change the loadout of the Vet squad based on the fire points on the Chimera. Once you dismount, you can shoot all three.

[Captain-Shawn]

Forward sentries didn't bestow infiltrate before I thought. Either way though, the grenades are basically the same as defensive grenades, minus the Stealth for shots originating 8" away. For the price, they're almost a better defensive option that the Carapace, as getting a 4+ cover save wouldn't be hard to find, and Carapace armor is often ignored. I like to take both, expensive but makes it so basic firepower can be shrugged off with good cover, while all the AP5 ignore cover weapons (like Pulse Rifles with Markerlights, flamers, etc) don't shred them. And the veterans still remain 5 points cheaper than they did with only one of the two before. I still stick with three weapons, because if one plasma gun overheats and the guy dies, I still have two more. Compensating for the reduction of firepoints just means I'd lose out on firepower when I pile out/special weapon dies. They hold true to the mechanized use as they've always had, but being cheaper, cheaper doctrines and maintaining three special weapons, they can help hold a gunline pretty well too. A bunch of Veterans with Snipers behind an Aegis would be hard to uproot. Sadly, they still make Special Weapon Teams nearly useless, as a 6 man team without some sort of extra protection is stupid easy to kill. Was really hoping SWTs would make a bounce back.

[Andhil]

My Veterans get air-dropped. They're my most mobile units, capable of striking exactly where I need them, with a minimum amount of risk.
I use 2 units. One equipped with Melta's and Demolitions, the other with Flamers and Grenadiers.
I use these setups because unlike most meta's, in my group, assault is still very much alive, with Orks, Daemons and Tyranids being my main opponents.
So I'll always face horde Infantry and Monsterous Creatures/Tanks, and my Veterans have proven more than capable of, respectively, killing MC's and whittling down Hordes.

Plus I like the idea of Air Cav. It's a good tactic, and works well on the table too.