Topic: 'pimping out' your veteran sgts?

[Catachan Devil Sniper]

i got a list going for a tourment and the veteran sgts have terminator honors and some type of weapon like a storm bolter or something like that. i was thinking should i just drop their weapons and just give them a bolt pistol and close combat weapon? i do have a commander so all of their leaderships would be 10 anyway...hmmm...

[eldrasidar]

I tend to avoid pimping out my sgts with the exception of powerfists, which much like a good knife, are invaluable at times. obviously not every squad needs these. but a few scattered out give people second thoughts about assaulting you, and give you extra options for assaulting things such as daemons, wraithlords, dreads etc.

[ppTevrast]

Almost any time I field a marine squad larger than 8 men, they get a vet sergeant with a powerfist.
Surprisingly enough, vet sergeants tend to do very little in close combat. With 3 attacks at WS 4,
it is not uncommon to fluff all your attacks with low rolling, especially against enemy IC's and close
combat specialists.

However, they are the BEST deterrent against anything but the hardest close combat units in the
game. Armies with T4 IC's avoid them because of the (albeit remote) possibility that the sergeant
could insta-kill them. Hidden Powerfists mean death to anything like a dread, meaning the squad as
a whole can withstand a lot more punishment, and fears a lot less on the board.

In short, don't expect a sergeant with a PF to be a one man killing machine like a Chaplain. But he will
make a noticeable impact in both your opponents play, and in close combat. The one or two wounds
he causes may very well tip the balance.


As an aside, I plan on equiping my Power Fist Sergeants with combat shields. Its a very cheap
upgrade, and I think it will turn out to be a worthy investment. I have encountered too many situations where
the sergeant can be targetted, and for such a small cost, it at least gives you a chance of saving a 50 point model.


-Tevrast

[Sybarite24]

melta bombs are also nice.  Typically my sarges get either a power fist or powerweapon/melta bombs.

[Lacunae]

I always include Pfists with sergeants in a squad with an independent character the extra attacks at the end of an assault are like pudding at the end of a pot roast dinner.  And of course I have had a lowly Sergeant and assault squad with krak grenades luckily take down 2 carnifexi.  But as said before not every squad needs one, choose judicially.

[Sybarite24]

is that legal?  I thought only Tyranid Hunters could do that.....

[Shaznat]

If you're playing in a tournament, have all your sergeants with Power Fists and Bolt Pistols. That's it, unless you have some strange plan. Also, if the squad is under 8 men, don't bother with a sergeant at all.

[Platypuss_Red]

If you're playing in a tournament, have all your sergeants with Power Fists and Bolt Pistols. That's it, unless you have some strange plan. Also, if the squad is under 8 men, don't bother with a sergeant at all.

Exactly. this gives them 3 attacks normally, and 4 attacks on the charge...  For the guy that said that they are not killing machines, I have to politely disagree....  They are INVALUABLE, especially against monstrous creatures, like hive tyrants (not once has my powerfisted tac squad lost to a hive tyrant in close combat), or a tripped out daemon prince for that matter.  They are versatile, allow you take on high toughness units that you would be screwed against otherwise, and disallow those oh so annoying 2, 3 + armor saves---- this in itself makes them especially useful; the fact that they instakill anything toughness 4 and lower, is a big bonus as well....  and the fact that they wound anything with toughness 6 on a 2+ is also worthy of merit.

[Alexander's Son]

 I pimp out my sgts... they look nice and act nice on the battlefield... One with the Storm bolter and Chainsword along with his team took out 3 squads of Tau Pathfinders, I think, one after another!

 For more anti-vehicle playing I choose the PF and bolt pistol... if you think of that there are many things to take down an enemy armor besides your Tactical Squads!

[InquisitorMorrow]

My thoughts on it are thus:

Small and stationary shooting squads should not have the veteran upgrade.

Larger stationary shooting squads should have the vet with the fist.  He's likely to be a deterrent to assault, and, likewise, if they are getting charged, you're last against a lot of things already.

With squads I expect to move around in transports, I vary it.  If it's a squad that is built to bust vehicles, I tend to go with the fist sergeant.  If it's a troop slayer, I tend to go with the power weapon or, if I know I'm playing an army without heavy armor, sometimes just go chainsword.

[Minorboy]

I pimp out my V. sargents with a p. fist and sometimes a combi-weapon, depending on what kind of role it's playing, a stationary squad, or a rhino assault squad, either way, I go with either a p. fist or a pair of L.C.'s