Space Marine Scouts: A Three part Unit review and tactical walk through (Part 4??)

Part 4: Space Marine Landspeeder Storm

Originally for the WhiteScar's .Part 4: Space Part 4: Space Marine Landspeeder Storm

From CoolMiniOrNot:

Yes this is part four of a three part series… The more I wrote breakdowns for each of these subsets of the scouts the more I realized I would need to devote a separate post to the Storm.

Technically of course the Landspeeder Storm is not a Scout in any way besides the name. However It can be an essential part of a scout heavy strategy.

Strengths & Weakness:Cons:

Not a dedicated transport; Not available in squadrons; AV10; Open topped Vehicle. BS 3

Pros:

Fast Skimmer; Open Topped(Allowing assaults from the transport); Jamming Beacon; Cerberus Launcher; Scout.

Upgrades Breakdown:

Heavy Bolter: Stock, and I personally believe your best choice. With 3 STR 5 shots you have a good amount of shots to help put a couple wounds on the targets of your squads assault without making the storm a high threat target.

Heavy Flamer: 10 points of napalm goodness! With the lower BS this can offset that weakness. You will rarely get a 1st or 2nd turn shot, most especially if you have dropping the scouts. It does increase the chance of it taking early incoming fire.

Multi-Melta: 15 points , and unless you are running a Vulcan list this might be a waste of points.

Assault Cannon: 35 points… It’s not twin linked, it is 4 shots at STR 6 Rending… Unless you have a lot of extra points to spend I think this should be avoided.

Tactical Uses:

Simple right? Deliver the payload of scouts and your done…. Right?

Wrong..

The LS Storm is a swiss army knife of protective and defensive tools…

Objective Holder / Denier:

Regardless of Scout Moving them, Outflanking etc until you get the scouts out of the storm they are protected. Assuming you keep the storm stock your also not giving up a lot of fire power Turbo-Boosting the storm each turn, taking advantage of a constant 4++ cover save..

Screening:

The Scout can serve two critical roles when it comes to defensively screening your army

Deep-Strike Protection: With the Jamming beacon you not only prevent ANY anti-scatter equipment/rules from working. It additional will cause double the scatter distance. Since you cannot pre-measure it will often cause your foe to second guess his placement. Two or more Storms and some good deployment you can create a large defensive bubble.

Scout Move Protection: Between BA and IG etc there are a number of units considerably more dangerous then the Storm itself. Good Scout moves can block lanes of traffic and keep the opponent a turn delayed in exercising his strategy.

Scouting:

The main reason to buy a Storm is to deliver Close Combat Scouts! Please take a look at the previous post!

Advanced Tactics:

 

Deep Strike Shenanigans:

Vs Deepstrike Heavy armies one tactic I have employed more than once is to deny choice deep-strike targets by parking the Storm in the center of where they want to go instead of sheltering your forces. This works best vs Terminator heavy army but can still be useful when facing Daemons. At the Colonial vs Nick Navanti I shielded the sides of my forces and encouraged him to bunch up the majority of his incoming Daemons giving my TFC’s and Flamers the best possible effect with this tactic. Additionally If you leave the opponent only terrain to DS into you can almost count on racking up a couple wounds to dangerous terrain tests before the first shots are fired.

 

Objective Denier:

After the Storm is free of passengers, the Scouts have fallen in battle HIDE the storm, keep it moving every turn, keep it alive and a low priority threat until turn 5+ when you can use it contest the enemies objective. Try and plan ahead allowing for the a Turbo-Boost to give both the 4++ and the required 6 to hit in Close Combat.

Alpha Strike:

This can work regardless if you get first turn, but it must be understood sacrifices will be made.

You have first turn: Non-DOW deploy as close as possible to the enemy. Scout Turbo-Boost, move 12 disembark from the transport and assault choice targets…. VS Soft targets always consider a multi-assault vs 2+ targets. Hitting a Firewarriors Squad and a Hammerhead at the same time should end up locking you in combat for an extra phase and give you the bonus of hitting stationary vehicles. You will probably lose all of the scouts but with a little luck you can tie up the targets for several phases before they fall.

You have second turn: Depending on the target and your construction you can force the opponent on the defensive from the beginning. Scout move the Storm(s) towards the weakest point in his line, and watch the enemy move vehicles they would not otherwise (robbing them of firepower) and dump a tremendous amount of firepower trying to bring them down. With a little luck between both of defensive actions taken you might end up shielding the rest of your army from all incoming fire for a turn.

Bait:

In objective games I have drawn off several times the value of the Storm+Scouts into a distant, unimportant corner trying to bring down a “soft” target. Between the Turbo-Boosts and 6 up required to hit it in close combat. Often drawing Mephiston away from the rest of your army can end up paying you back in spades.

Rapid Response Unit:

Identical to the 3rd post, but out of a transport! Deployed on the board or in reserve the Storm can deliver the added CC punch your bikes need to pull themselves out of a endless combat. This has to be done intelligently however, as it can backfire and cause combat resolution against you.

Cerberus Launcher:

It may seem odd to put this stock wargear in the advanced tactics, but using it can be difficult to master. The Cerberus Launcher causes the leadership of unit(s) targeted by the scouts assaulting out of it by 2 for the duration of that assault phase. That included COUNTER CHARGE and Psychic Tests… Stack a pair of storms and scouts on a squad or two of Lonfangs and not only will you force them to make the counter charge on a 4 or less but your also subtracting 4 from their leadership when (if) you win the close combat! Thanks again Eric!

Conclusion:

The Storm is well worth it’s points when paired with Close Combat Scouts…. Two is better then one but as they cannot be purchased as a squadron each robs you of a FA slot that could be used for valuable squads of Attack Bikes or Landspeeders. I think the critical defense they provide are more than worth that sacrifice but each general will have to decide if will include them.

Feedback / Questions welcome..