5 Things to Know About: Veteran Squads

As a follow-up to yesterday's post on Mech guard, and particularly the Chimera, here is an introduction to the key component of the list, the Veteran Squad:

1) Specialise: As with everything in the codex, specialisation is important, and doubly so for veterans. The ability to take 3 Special weapons is best utilised by making them all the same, so that when you hit your target of choice, you hit it hard. If you're shooting an AV14 tank, 3 meltaguns will be 3 times more effective than a melta, plasmagun and flamer. Against a horde target, the melta and plasma are useless, so the effect of the flamer is less effective.

2) Pick Your Targets: Veterans are very useful tools, but require careful use to get the most from them. Pick a target type for them when you deploy (or even when you build your list) and focus on that role. As an example, if you are facing a space marine army that uses terminators, and you are using a 3-plasma veteran squad, the terminators should be your primary target, as they are the best chance you have of doing damage, Similarly, a 3-melta squad can be effective against said terminators, but are going to be more useful bringing down a vehicle if possible.

3) Be Careful: A kitted-out veteran squad costs nearly twice as much as an infantry squad with similar weapons, and while you do gain a lot of utility from this, you will also have a lower model count, making every casualty matter more. As such, try and use cover and Line Of Sight blocking terrain to your advantage to keep them alive as long as possible.

4) Doctrines: If you have the points available, doctrines can improve the survivability of your squad, as well as helping them specialise, but the key here is not to take them unless they are guaranteed to help. If you are deploying in them in a Chimera, then Grenadiers is not going to help them much, but if they are on foot, it can potentially double their survivability against AP5 small arms.

5) Mech or Foot: While veteran squads will form the core of a mechanised list, they are equally useful to a foot list, with the ability to concentrate special weapons in a much smaller footprint than platoon infantry. They can be use as a counter-attacking unit with flamers, or for long-range support with plasma and a lascannon. In a foot list, they will benefit more from doctrines, as grenadiers keeps the upgraded models alive longer, and Forward Sentries combined with an Aegis Defence Line can be very useful for a 3+ cover save.