Least played Marines units in your local meta?

[templargdt]

One unit that I loved that was long under-used was the Land Speeder Storm.  The thing was amazing.  Cheap as heck, dropping off troops on objectives, deep strike, and it handed out the Blind USR to bad initiative units that liked shooting (like the IG, and especially necrons.)  I would own entire necron armies with 3 land speeder storms.  

There used to be a guy on here, Greatcrusade08, who ran whole scout armies.  I loved reading his lists and batreps.  Great stuff.

[Firepower]

Vindis were always hit or miss units (yes, that was intentional wordplay and I regret nothing) but there were chances for high reward with that risk.  Cover mechanics were already playing hell with my lovable berzerkers on treads before 8th (and their decline was something of a slope rather than a cliff that ended with 7th), but at least even then they could still potentially wipe a full squad of guard off the table, and only the bravest horde would put four big blob units right out in the open, shoulder to shoulder.  Now, instead of leaving a big smoldering crater in the middle of the table, at most, a shot can drop 6 baddies from a single squad.  La-dee-friggin-da.   

 

The removal of templates was one thing, but I've no idea why they decided d3/d6 was an appropriate replacement on Vindicators.  Even if the cannon gets buffed, you're still looking at a 24" gun in a rule-set where tanks can be effectively taken out of the game by charging with any unit you like.  Even if you wallpaper the fronts of the bloody things in grenades :P

[Jacques Corbin]

They should make the Vindicator's Demolisher Cannon a scary gun, literally. Like your unit gets hit by it, it takes a Ld penalty equal to the number of unsaved wounds. That would be cool. But then you you could stack that with the Ld debuff from the relic standard, etc.

[Prot]

If you think TFCs suck, you are under a terrible misapprehension.

You know now that I think about it there was that tournament that this guy used three of them... oh wait a minute... that was 2 years ago. No I’m still the only one I know who uses them.

 

I don’t play a lot of beer and pretzel games I’m afraid. I’m simply answering the op but yes that is exactly my experience with TFCs. They are an indirect Heavy Bolter that is incredibly susceptible to RNG. I can find a lot better uses for those points within the codex.

[Medjugorje]

Stalker/Hunter. Never ever seen one.

 

played them. Stalker is nice. Nothing special but not as bad as other marines. Hunter only one shot!

[Firepower]

 

If you think TFCs suck, you are under a terrible misapprehension.

You know now that I think about it there was that tournament that this guy used three of them... oh wait a minute... that was 2 years ago. No I’m still the only one I know who uses them.

 

I don’t play a lot of beer and pretzel games I’m afraid. I’m simply answering the op but yes that is exactly my experience with TFCs. They are an indirect Heavy Bolter that is incredibly susceptible to RNG. I can find a lot better uses for those points within the codex.

 

 

Well there's also Tremor Shells and they come with Techmarines, which are pretty handy in a scrap.  Or you're taxed for taking a Techmarine, potato/potato.  Either way, they're neat, but still steadily within the borders of Space Marine mediocrity.  

[Prot]

 

 

If you think TFCs suck, you are under a terrible misapprehension.

You know now that I think about it there was that tournament that this guy used three of them... oh wait a minute... that was 2 years ago. No I’m still the only one I know who uses them.

 

I don’t play a lot of beer and pretzel games I’m afraid. I’m simply answering the op but yes that is exactly my experience with TFCs. They are an indirect Heavy Bolter that is incredibly susceptible to RNG. I can find a lot better uses for those points within the codex.

 

 

Well there's also Tremor Shells and they come with Techmarines, which are pretty handy in a scrap.  Or you're taxed for taking a Techmarine, potato/potato.  Either way, they're neat, but still steadily within the borders of Space Marine mediocrity.  

 

 

My last 5-6 games with my Ultra's I have used one or two TFC's in each of those games. I probably put TFC's away for about 2-3 months, and pulled them out again. I feel really fair in saying they are underwhelming, but more importantly answering the OP's question... and I reiterate this: I am the only person I've seen (that includes tournaments) in 2 different playgroups that fields a TFC. I think that makes them pretty darn rare.

 

On the other hand, I personally think they are just over pointed, and I'd like to see a change to all the random shots. (But this is why I dislike the Macro Redemptor weapon). I want to be guaranteed 6 shots minimum out of the tank. I would reduce the points, and make the TFC 2 x D6 shots with a minimum of 6 shots total.

 

I recently tried making the unit more useful by getting more out of the 'tax' as you put it. So I started using a Relic Sicaran and/or a Dread with Wisdom for some extra juice back there. I just found I was digging a deeper hole.

 

Right now (and this is just my personal feeling) I believe in shooting from infantry far more than tanks in general. Once I start getting into that mode of thinking I tend to find my lists soften up a lot more. The TFC is just in an oddball spot for me right now. But by all means if it's working for someone... go for it.

 

You'll notice I -rarely- comment in this type of thread. I always use playtest to determine these things for myself and never opinion.But I thought it was interesting to note just how many dead or nearly dead units there are in the current codex. (tacticals being one of them is just... really sad).

 

Case and point on Tacticals: at our store they are flogging the collector's sets of those press fit marines really hard. I don't think anyone is really buying into them (at least for gaming purposes). Eventually the store manager said to me that they found they were getting some sales from guys playing Kill Team that don't want to invest in actual tactical marines.

 

That kind of bugged me. I've been playing this game a long time and I still thoroughly enjoy it and really don't like where marines sit in the scheme of things right now. I'm finding I am putting a LOT of pressure on Chapter Approved to help correct this in a meaningful way but this thread has kind of given me a reality check. It's "Chapter Approved", not 'Fix bad Codexes'. And with that reality I keep trying to temper my own expectations.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I use a pair of TFCs in just about every IH list I build. They are fantastic at killing light infantry thanks to volume of S5, and AP-1. They have great range - 66% longer range than the heavy bolters it is most commonly compared to - and do not require LOS, which combined with their small foot print is great for keeping them alive.

 

You know what doesn't like getting bombed by TFCs? Guard squads. Fire Warriors. Shield Drones (they're perfect for peeling drones out of Savior Protocol range of Riptides before you unleash the lascannons). Dark Reapers (who tend to hide out of LOS to avoid getting shot). Cultists (big blobs generally have Fearless protection from an HQ, so killing them all quickly is important). Ork Boyz. Gaunts. Genestealers.

 

And here is where we get to the Tremor Shells, one of the best yet least appreciated stratagems in the codex. For the cost a single CP, you halve the movement, Advance, and charge rolls of a unit. 20 man mob of boyz running pell mell across the board? More time to shoot them. That Troop unit about to make a run for an objective? Not anymore. Blood for the Blood God? Maybe in another turn or two, sorry.

 

Are they perhaps a little overpriced? I would agree to that, yes. They could stand a slight drop in points for sure.

 

Now, I may be biased. I've been using these since they dropped in 5th edition and I can admit that I've used them pretty religiously for years now, so there's definitely some rose-tinted glasses involved. That being said, like all Space Marine models, the guns are even better when supported by reroll bubbles. Specifically, I use a Captain boosted to a chapter master with the Storm of Fire warlord trait and a lieutenant. Rerolling all misses, rerolling as to wound, and 6s are AP-2 is enough to grind through even Space Marines in relatively short order.

[MajorNese]

To be honest, I'm the kind of player who experiments with unused units a lot, but TFC is an auto-include if I ever field backfield firepower in vehicle form.

 

Ignoring LoS is useful (in case of few hiding models), the shots have a nice enough profile to kill things, and the techmarine is a swiss army knife. Parked next to other vehicles, those can be repaired, just like the TFC. If an enemy closes in, plasma cutter and flamer are nice. Servo arms in a heroic intervention. All of that while the TFC still fires, nothing excludes the other as long as the techmarine remains in range. If the TFC dies, the techmarine remains the local repairman/CC deterrent. So yes, a lot of people here play TFCs.

 

As for unused units, I've had huge success with scout bikes. Storm bolter on the sarge, and they'll dish out 24 S4/S5 shots in a squad of 3, with an effective threat range of 26", for not a lot of points. People ignore them entirely, until they zip across the board and shred bubblewrap or squishy units to smithereens. Once even killed Tigurius through a gap in his bubblewrap - drove directly into that guy, so that he's the closest model, and that was that.

 

Grav cannon devs and sternguard were my tournament favorite too, but that was back when there was no deep strike restriction, and only in combination with Issodon. But damn, that was effective. Tarantulas are great too - cheap firepower, large footprint, excellent bubblewrap (whatever is in CC with them can still be shot, and they shoot on).

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Thunderfire Cannons is one of the best units because it can detriment the movement of super fast units like genestealers and Orks.