Fighting
Tiger Tactics (pg 4)
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Elite Units (Revised
12/2005)
When I'm putting
together an army for a game, I usually pick Elite units last. It's not
that I don't like them, it's just that I follow the axiom of don't
sweat the big guns, sweat the little guys. Many players put
all their eggs in one basket and depend on their Elite units to accomplish
their mission: they are often mortified to find their small, expensive
Elite units drawing all kinds of unwanted attention from the enemy. I depend
on one or more of my larger, less expensive units to carry out the mission
while my Elites draw attention away from them. When a Terminator Squad
teleports down near their main force, most gamers can't help but
ignore a Tactical Squad (which is moving to secure the objective) and go
after the Termies.
Tigers of Indra:
Tactical Terminators
I call my
regular Terminators "Tactical Terminators" because to me they seem like
a smaller, more heavily armed and armored Tactical Squad:
Tactical Squads
have bolters: Terminator Squads have storm bolters.
Each Tactical
Squad can have a special weapon and a heavy weapon: each Terminator Squad
can have two heavy weapons.
Can Tactical Squads
ever match the firepower of Devastator Squads or the hand-to-hand ability
of Assault Squads? No--and neither will Terminator Squads. That's an important
thing to remember.
Above: Members
of "Shiva's Guard," painted by Daniel Sellars
Here's what
I take--and why:
In my army,
I have two five-member squads. The first ("Shiva's Guard") is 250 points
and is equipped as follows:
-
Terminator
Sergeant w/ storm bolter and power sword;
-
Two
Terminators w/ storm bolters and chainfists;
-
Two
Terminators w/ assault cannons and power fists
The second squad
is 230 points or 250 points, depending on how it is equipped:
-
Terminator
Sergeant w/ storm bolter and power sword;
-
Two
Terminators w/ storm bolters and power fists;
-
One
Terminator w/ assault cannon and power fist and one Terminator
w/ heavy flamer and power fist, OR
-
Two
Terminators w/ storm bolters and Cyclone missile launchers
For this squad,
I take heavy weapons depending on what range I want them to fight. If they're
fighting up-close, they use the assault cannon and the heavy flamer. If
they're further off, they use two Cyclone missile launchers.
Here's what
I don't take--and why:
I could take
up to 10 Terminators in each unit, but the point cost (somewhere over 400
points) keeps me from doing so. Given how I like to pick my armies for
a battle, when in God's name am I ever going to play in a game so big I'd
have a spare 400+ points?
Furious
Charge would add 1 to teach member's Initiative and Strength, which
wouldn't really help out the fellows with power fists (no change to Initiative
1, Strength 9 on the charge). For an extra 15 points, is it really worth
it? I tend to think not.
Unless this
squad can use their power fists, they're not a huge threat to vehicles,
and giving them the Tank Hunter ability wouldn't do much to change
that.

Left: Tactical
Terminator Right: Fighting Tiger Assault Terminator
Tigers of Indra:
Assault Terminators
Man, you just
have not lived until you tear into some hapless enemy unit with a Terminator
Assault Squad. It is truly a beautiful thing, but doing it is not easy
or cheap. Unless the enemy is foolish enough to come to you, it is a big
hassle to get your Assault Terminators into close combat without being
shot apart by heavy weaponry or jumped by power weapon-wielding freaks.
Aside from marching up the field (which will take forever and expose you
to enemy fire), there are two ways of getting your Assault Terminators
into the melee: Deep Strike and Land Raider.
First the hard
way. I'm not a big fan of Deep Strike, which allows you to shoot
but not assault on the same turn as you arrive. So, unless my Terminators
have deviated badly, there they are standing around for a turn, doing nothing,
well within shooting/assault range of the enemy. Remember, No
Space Marine is expendable: I'm not going to teleport
my Assault Terminators into certain death. If I am going to Deep Strike
them, I teleport them near (but not TOO near) the enemy, behind some cover.
Then the Terminators can move and assault the next turn.
Now the expensive
way (which is the way I prefer). I load the Terminators in a Land Raider
or Land Raider Crusader and move 12" toward the enemy, not stopping to
shoot, move behind cover, whatever. I'm relying on the Land Raider's Armor
Value of 14 all around to get my Terminators into action. Once the Tigers
hop out and begin carving through the enemy, the Land Raider can hang around,
firing at counterattacking units. If the Terminators need to, they can
consolidate back into the Land Raider and drive off in search of new victims.
Here's what
I take--and why:
I take a five-strong
squad of a Terminator Sergeant and four Terminators with lightning claws
(215 points). Why all lightning claws? Wouldn't it be prudent to have a
thunder hammer or two so this unit would do more than scratch the paint
off a tank? Definitely. But can you think of a more appropriate weapon
than 'claws for Tigers? Friends, this unit is all about style.
Because this
squad goes after infantry, I gave them the Furious Charge ability.
So when they barrel into close combat, they go on Initiative 5, with 20
attacks at Strength 5, re-rolling failed "to wound" rolls. Howzaboutdat?
Here's what
I don't take--and why:
If I really
wanted to, I could take more Terminators (up to 10) in this unit, but like
with the Tactical Terminators, when would I have the spare points? The
bigger concern with more than five Assault Terminators is not points but
transportation: Land Raiders and LR Crusaders are the only vehicles that
can carry Termies and they only hold five and eight, respectively, meaning
I'd have to rely on Deep Strike to get my 10 Assault Terminators
into the enemy.
Tigers of Indra:
Veteran Fighting Tigers
In any Space
Marine army, it's important to have at least one unit dedicated to close
combat. Why? Think about it: in a six turn game you get to shoot
six times, but you fight in hand-to-hand combat up to twelve times. Close
combat kills a lot of people really quickly, what with bonus attacks for
charging and extra weapons, not to mention sweeping advances that wipe
out whole units.
If your Marine
Chapter isn't the Blood Angels or Space Wolves, you need all the close
combat help you can get. Veteran Squads can help out nicely.

Left: Female
Fighting Tiger Veterans. Right: Male Fighting Tiger Veterans
Here's what
I take--and why:
Yeah, you
can outfit your Veterans like a Tactical Squad: bolters, one special weapon,
one heavy weapon. But they still are no better shots (Ballistic Skill 4)
than the Tacticals. Leave shooting to Troop units, grab your close combat
weapons and bolt pistols and CHARGE! I can configure this squad in a number
of ways to accomodate accompanying Independent
Characters who might want to tag along.
10-member version
(211 points):
-
Veteran
Sergeant w/ plasma pistol and close combat weapon (may
upgrade to power weapon for +10 points)
-
Eight
Veterans w/ bolt pistols and close combat weapons; and
-
One
Veteran w/ flamer
-
All
have Furious Charge or Infiltrate
9-member version
(168 points):
-
Sergeant
and seven Veterans w/ bolt pistols and close combat weapons;
and
-
One
Veteran w/ flamer
-
All
have Furious Charge or Infiltrate
5-member version
(96 points):
-
Sergeant
and three Veterans w/ bolt pistols and close combat weapons;
and
-
One
Veteran w/ flamer
-
All
have Furious Charge or Infiltrate
Like old-time
football, there's nothing fancy here: just line up and smash the enemy
right in the mouth. When this squad charges they chew through lightly armored
foes (Orks, Eldar, rebel Guard) but don't fare as well against Chaos Space
Marines or Necrons. To get them into combat quickly, I either Infiltrate
them or put them in a Rhino ("Man-eater III") equipped with extra armor,
searchlight, smoke launchers, and an optional pintle-mounted storm bolter.
Here's what
I don't take--and why:
This squad
eschews heavy weapons in favor of mobility and hand-to-hand combat. I used
to give this unit Terminator honors, but lately I've decided that doing
so costs too many points and is just overkill. I could give one of them
a set of lightning claws or a power fist, but I'd have to convert a model.
Gray
Tigers: Harijan
Gray Tigers
(or
harijan) are disgraced Fighting Tigers who try to redeem themselves
through battlefield heroics. You can find out more about them in the Codex:
Fighting Tigers of Veda and in the Fighting
Tiger Gallery. There's also a story about
one of them.

Left: Gray
Tiger with plasma gun. Right: Gray Tiger with bolter
Because they're
so determined to make up for what they've done, Gray Tigers are treated
as Space Marine Veterans. I already have a large unit of Veterans in my
army, so I put together this unit a little differently.
Here's what
I take--and why:
For "fluff"
reasons, I usually limit my Fighting Tiger squads to either 5 or 10 members
each. Because each Gray Tiger has broken at least one of the Chapter's
many rules, I let them break this "5 or 10" rule too: my squad has 6 members.
-
Five
Gray Tigers w/ bolters; and
-
One
Gray Tiger w/ plasma gun
This squad is
dirt cheap: 118 points. As I mention in the Gallery
entry for Gray Tigers, I received some free miniatures from what
was then i-Kore Games and used the Tactical Androsynth models they
gave me for Gray Tigers. As the figures had what looked like bolters and
a plasma gun, I equipped my squad accordingly. Because harijan are not
allowed transports, I give them the Infiltrate ability.

Here's what
I don't take--and why:
A lot of what
I don't equip this squad with is fluff-driven. In developing the idea of
the Gray Tigers (first suggested to me by my friend Thom White,
by the way), I decided that all the harijan are shunned by the Fighting
Tigers and as far as equipment goes, each of them gets a suit of armor
and a weapon: that's it. No grenades, no Rhino or Razorback, nada.
In addition,
I also decided that no Fighting Tiger Veteran Sergeant would ever break
a sacred Vedic vow and become a Gray Tiger. Because my Gray Tiger squad
cannot have a Veteran Sergeant, that rules out a lot of wonderful toys
like plasma pistols, power weapons, and Terminator honors (of course).
With so little
going for them, why use them? Just to be "fluffy." They get chewed up on
the battlefield, but that's okay. In keeping with the background I've developed
for them, I'll throw them into suicide situations, trusting in their armor
and their ability to move and shoot to see them through. And if they don't,
no biggie. Yes, yes, I know I said that there is no
such thing as an expendable Marine--but harijan are the exception.
Tigers Eternal:
Dreadnoughts
I admit to
being a sick puppy: I have three Dreadnoughts, or Tigers Eternal. Two of
them are the smaller, "Rogue Trader" size and the other, Shiva,
(below) is the hulking monster we've all come to know and
love.
Above: Tiger
Eternal Shiva the Destroyer
Dreadnoughts
are really at their best in assaults, not so much for the damage they do
(although that's nothing to complain about) so much as for their resilience
and their ability to tie up huge squads in hand-to-hand fighting. Let me
explain if you've never watched a squad get slowly dismembered by a Dreadnought.

Left: Tiger
Eternal Surya Ashoka Right: Tiger Eternal Shrendi
Vashtar
Like a fat,
sweaty Baltimore Orioles fan waddling to the table to enjoy a dozen Chesapeake
Bay blue crabs, the Dreadnought trundles into the enemy and begins
to pull them apart. Dreads don't have a lot of attacks, but they're usually
Strength 10, ignore armor saves, and strike with Initiative 4. The enemy
usually doesn't have anything that can hurt the Dreadnought unless they've
had the foresight to purchase grenades or power fists.
Best of all,
the enemy unit can't leave combat with the Dread unless they fail a morale
check. If the enemy squad does fail a morale check, the Dreadnought can
sprint after them and wipe them out like regular troops. Close your eyes
and imagine a sprinting Dreadnought; that must be like the T. Rex chasing
the jeep in Jurassic Park. Nasty. Wall-to-wall nasty.
See why I have
three of them?
Here's what
I take--and why:
These are
my three Tigers Eternal, all equipped with extra armor and smoke launchers
to protect them from heavy weapons as they advance on the enemy:
-
Vernerable
Dreadnought Shiva the Destroyer,
w/ assault cannon, close combat weapon, built-in heavy flamer, extra armor,
and smoke launchers (143 points);
-
Surya
Ashoka, w/ twin-linked lascannons,
missile launcher, extra armor, and smoke launchers (143 points); and
-
Shrendi
Vashtar, w/ multi-melta, close
combat weapon, built-in heavy flamer, extra armor, and smoke launchers
(133 points)
No big surprises
here. Each Dread is the reincarnation of a mighty Fighting Tiger Commander,
not some grunt who bought the farm because an Ork got in a lucky shot with
a slugga.
Shiva and Vashtar
are definitely infantry killers. Heavy flamers work great against Orks
and Bugs and even against tough troops like Chaos Marines, softening up
the bad guys right before the Dread plows into them like a linebacker.
I use Surya
to gun down tanks and heavily armored troops, but I don't just let him
stand in the back and shoot. He's not as tough as a Predator or Land Raider
and can't take sustained heavy weapons fire. Besides, standing still negates
one of the Dread's big strengths: being able to move 6" and fire more than
one weapon. I advance Surya toward the enemy, guns blazing, then let him
assault a nearby enemy squad. Even though he doesn't have Strength 10 or
a close combat weapon, he can still smack the enemy around and tie up lots
of opponents.
Here's what
I don't take--and why:
I've never
been a fan of storm bolters on Dreads: you'd think a walking mountain of
metal would have a bigger gun that that. I made Shiva a Venerable Dreadnought
just because it seemed "fluffy" and because it made him tough to kill,
but I didn't give him any skills. I don't see the value of Furious Charge:
he already has Strength 10 and paying 10 points to boost his Initiative
up one when he charges doesn't seem worth it. I considered Tank Hunter,
but Shiva's built to go after infantry, so I don't know how helpful that
would be. Besides, he's already 143 points.
Cost was the
main factor in not making Surya and Vashtar Venerable Dreads with skills;
the fact that I like to use them together in a detachment was another.
Yeah, it would be wicked cool to give Surya the Tank Hunter skill,
but then he'd be 173 points--ouch!
Tigers of Tvashtri:
Techmarines
I don't know
about you, but when I first saw the new and improved Techmarine on page
33 of Codex: Good Guys in Power Armor, I thought, Good
googly-moogly! I gotta field one of those with a heap of Gun Servitors
and I gotta field another one with some Combat Servitors. I had gone
so far as to start figuring out which combination of heavy weapons I wanted
for the Gun 'bots when I had second thoughts.

Here's what
I take--and why:
I take the
basic, 65-point version with no extra gear or Servitors. Why dat? Keep
reading.
As part of
my army's fire support, I like to use a 5-strong Tactical Squad with a
plasma gun, a heavy weapon, and a Razorback toting twin lascannons. The
basic Techmarine can nicely support a squad like this. His auspex can sniff
out nearby infiltrators (and allow the squad to fire on them), his signum
will make the plasma gun and the heavy weapon more accurate, his servo-arm
and Blessing of the Omnissiah will benefit the Razorback, and the
servo-arm and power weapon will make tend to make attackers think twice
about rushing the squad he's attached to. What's not to like?
Here's what
I don't take--and why:
Taking a Techmarine
for your army is like buying a new automobile in real life: you can get
it with some standard features at a reasonable price, or you can order
some sweet options and pay through the nose. In fact, you can pay more
for a Techmarine and some flunkies as you would for a whole squad of Tactical
Marines.
The full servo-harness
slices, dices, and makes julienne fries, but slap one on your Techmarine
and you have a 100-point character that can't lead your army--you're still
going to spend at least another 60 points just to get an unarmed Commander
to serve as your HQ. No thank ye.
Servitors?
I already have plenty of firepower in my army, so I don't need fragile
Gun Servitors (T 3, 4+ Sv). I already have plenty of close-combat ability
in my army, so I don't need dead-slow Combat Servitors. And I think I have
enough vehicles that I don't need the benefits of Technical Servitors.
Besides, if your Techmarine has Servitors, you can't attach him to another
squad and use him to support them, as I intend to. Maybe if my collection
of Marines was a lot smaller, I'd use a Tech with Servitors to flesh it
out, but as it is, I don't need a "Cadillac" Techmarine.
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Related Pages
Fighting Tiger
Elites
Gallery:
Fighting Tiger Elites
Gallery: Gray
Tigers
© Copyright Kenton
Kilgore, January 2000. Revised December 2005
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