Tactical Terminators in 6th Ed.

So last night I had a 1500 point game against Black Templars. We played "The Big Guns" with a Vanguard Deployment, and I must say it was a fun game. I was running my Celestial Lions Space Marines and decided to try out a Terminator heavy list to check out how good they were now with the recent changes to weapon AP values. I ended up taking 16 Terminators in this game, 10x TH/SS, 5x Tactical Termiantors (1 CML), and my Librarian.


I have to say I was extremely impressed with the Tactical Terminators. Not only were they able to assist in taking out a couple Vindicators with shooting, but also most of the work against a unit of 8 Assault Terminators, and a unit of Crusaders with a Chaplain. Now that a 2+ armor is able to save against most "Power Weapons" the survival of the long discounted Standard Terminator is coming back. The Lightning Claw Assault Terminators that would normally tear the standard Terminators apart ended up hitting like a couple kittens while my Power Fists were just turning them into mush. 



I think that Assault Terminators will become a very focused unit, by that I mean they will either be equipped with all Lightning Claws to take care of MEQ and lower or you will see them with all TH/SS. Now that you can run away from units that you can't hurt you will not be able to tie up a unit of Lightning Claw Terminators with a Dreadnought. In fact you won't want even a single TH/SS Terminator in your Claw unit because if you are charged by a Dreadnought you will not be able to fall back until you lose the TH/SS. Sure you may still have Combat Tactics if you are not using someones Chapter Tactics, but that still requires that you lose combat.


Back to Tactical Terminators...
We have seen that they can handle the Lightning Claw Terminators, but they will still get destroyed from TH/SS Terminators in a strait up fight, and rightly so. The TH/SS Terminators are designed to kill them while the Tactical Terminators are well rounded. The Tactical Terminators will have a major advantage in fights with your standard MEQ and lower infantry then the TH/SS do. This is due to their ability to shoot before they charge and the ability to Overwatch if they are charged.


The Tactical Terminators I think have really become a key filler unit in an army now. If you need weight of fire they can provide it. If you need to take out a tank, their Power Fists, Chain Fists, CML, Assault Cannon and do that. They will be able to make quick work of most infantry units and even the ones with Power Weapons will not have much success against them.


Now I am not saying that the Tactical Terminator is the "end all be all" unit, what I am saying is that if you find a crack in your defenses or a gap in your offensive front, the Tactical Terminator should be able to fill that crack and plug that gap without too much trouble.


I can see myself taking a unit of 10 Terminators with 2 CMLs or Assault Cannons quite a bit this edition. Of course I may have to combat squad them to have the 2 Special Weapon in the same unit with the Sgt. :-)


Till Next Time! Happy Wargaming!