Not So Heroic

This post stems from a conversation I had yesterday with some friends that took some odd twists and turns and at a few points became rather unfriendly. What we were talking about was Vanguard Veterans and the Heroic Intervention special rule. I am going to climb on Blood Angel soap box and talk about this in the most even way possible and attempt to see the picture from all angles, wish me luck!

My biggest issue with this unit is that I actually have to buy jump packs for the guys! These are Vanguard Veterans the guys that are supposed to be some of the best close combat warriors out there, eager to get into the fight...but they don’t come with jump packs? Oh, and heroic intervention that rule only matters if you deep strike the unit so you MUST buy the packs if you want to take advantage of this rule. Other issues are points cost for the unit as a whole, as well as how much it costs for each weapons upgrade. To give you a something to base it off 5 Vets with packs with 2 power swords (1 bought, and 1 comes with the SGT) and a Storm shield is the same cost of 5 terminators. Understand though that Terminators and V Vets do not occupy the same role on the battle field, but the second that I see 5 guys costing the same as 5 very survivable terminators I have to question that role on the battle field and how well they will perform that role.

Let’s look at the survivability of this unit, they have the standard 3+ armor save which makes them as resilient as another Space Marine and they have higher leadership so they are less likely to fail a morale test. Five guys jumping into the midst of the enemy need to be rather robust which to be honest this unit is not. This problem can be solved by adding 2 more vets to the unit to take some wounds but then you run into the problem of having too much combat power. I have found that with this unit that wiping an enemy unit in the first round of combat is bad because then they get obliterated in the following shooting phase. There is a very delicate balance that you need enough combat power to win a combat but leave enough alive to finish that combat in your opponents next turn. The only way to make this unit more robust is to add storm shields or equally expensive extra vets.

Here you are with a rather expensive unit that is not exactly survivable, what the hell are you supposed to do with it? One of my friends suggested giving them melta bombs and making them a tank hunter unit. I really like that idea especially against squadrons of tanks BUT good luck getting there. With more and more armies taking the Aegis Defense lines making that charge difficult terrain you better get a hit on where you want to deep strike which isn’t that big of a deal for Blood Angels but anyone else, that is just too much to risk. Personal story: At the only tournament I went to my V Vets landed right on a guy’s Aegis line, misshaped, and I rolled a 1...bye bye vets. Yes these are always the risks with a deep striking unit; trust me I know better than most because I love deep striking. They can engage another elite unit tying them up for a turn or two which is what I used mine for. Find that pesky HQ that’s casting all sorts of crazy things and tie him up in combat. That is the closest I have ever gotten to getting my points back with them, not from straight up killing, but if you factor in the amount of damage that is not being sent at the rest of your army because it is focused on them, you may come out on top...unless you’re playing an army with lots of models with low armor saves and weapon skill in which these guys will cut through like a hot knife through already melted butter.

In the end there any role you ask this unit to take there is another one that can probably do it better. For me I would rather take Death Company than these guys, even if they die the second they deep strike I am okay with that because people have such a knee jerk reaction the Death Co that they will use everything they have to get them off the table, not so with V Vets. Stern guard is better at being tank hunters. One role I found that was rather annoying for my opponents was giving them all hand flamers and laying out templates on their troop choices. 40k is a psychological game, flame his guys with STR 3 flamers 5 times in one sitting and you may get the reaction you are hoping for. If you do use that little tactic however you are paying a premium for a rule you aren’t going to use and Stern guard can do the same thing.

I believe that the way to fix the unit is in a special character that can jump and assault with them. Having a multiple wound model with an invulnerable save will make these guys soooo much more survivable. Yes this character will be expensive, so you run into the problem of using an expensive fix to repair an expensive unit making it super expensive! To fix that make V Vets less expensive or give them weapon skill 5 and for the love of the Emperor give them jump packs standard. Currently with jump packs on everyone Vets are 12 points more than an assault marine and 5 points less than Death Co that should be reversed or Vets need a serious upgrade. Heroic Intervention is a premium rule for a cool unit, but no premium character to carry the day. That being said I am not looking for an insane character for this role. Guy will probably be 1st company CPT so WS 6, BS 5 (I'll take 4 to keep his cost down), S/T 4, 3 wounds, I 5/6, A 3, LD 10, and a 3+ followed by a 4++. Special rules, Heroic Intervention and furious charge and you have a guy I would take with Vets that would make them more survivable and efficient. A source of inspiration for a possible fix for this unit resides in the most unlikely place imaginable, the Ork codex. Boss Zagstruck allows Stormboyz the ability to charge after deep striking and really boosts their combat ability giving the Boyz fleet and furious charge allowing them to increase their chances of making the charge and delivering a decisive blow against any unit. Perhaps the Vets do not need a fancy Captain to lead them into glorious battle; a simple SGT upgrade character could easily solve the problem just as well and for a fraction of the cost of a dedicated HQ choice.

On a side note I love the models, they are beautiful and all that, but I would love to see them in a plastic kit with all sorts of weapons upgrades and all those goodies. I would buy lots of those kits :)