"That" Salamanders Captain

[Riddlesworth]

I got a Twitch stream notification over the weekend of a GT over in the US.

 

Of the Salamander/Successor chapter lists (there were 6 in the field), every single one ran:

 

Captain on bike - thunder hammer, storm shield, forge master, salamander's mantle, never give up.

 

 

Many of the marine players in my area are focused on the super damage from the hammer relic and +2S warlord trait, but I look at this captain, who cannot be wounded by S3, wounded by S4-6 on 6s, S7 on 5s and S8-13 on 4s. with a 3+ save against anything that gets through. and he or his escort get obsec in a game where holding objectives is now key. and still has 5 S8, ap-3 3D attacks on the charge.

 

What are the tactics using him, as he seems like more than just a fire and forget missile like traditional smash captains?

[BluejayJunior]

He's not invulnerable to S3 weapons. Unmodified wound rolls of 6 always wound, so the -1 to wound doesn't do anything against S3 attacks as they only wound on 6s anyway. Still a tough beast though. 

[Riddlesworth]

He's not invulnerable to S3 weapons. Unmodified wound rolls of 6 always wound, so the -1 to wound doesn't do anything against S3 attacks as they only wound on 6s anyway. Still a tough beast though. 

 

Ah I thought that, but have seen mixed things.

 

Its still like, 216 bs4 S3 shots for the kill

[Minsc]

 

He's not invulnerable to S3 weapons. Unmodified wound rolls of 6 always wound, so the -1 to wound doesn't do anything against S3 attacks as they only wound on 6s anyway. Still a tough beast though. 

 

Ah I thought that, but have seen mixed things.

 

Its still like, 216 bs4 S3 shots for the kill

 

Doesn't really say much, a Rhino is 270 BS4 S3 shots for a killl :P

[Riddlesworth]

 

 

He's not invulnerable to S3 weapons. Unmodified wound rolls of 6 always wound, so the -1 to wound doesn't do anything against S3 attacks as they only wound on 6s anyway. Still a tough beast though.

 

 

Ah I thought that, but have seen mixed things.

 

Its still like, 216 bs4 S3 shots for the kill

Doesn't really say much, a Rhino is 270 BS4 S3 shots for a killl :P

Also true.

 

Back on topic. Who is using this build and how are you using it differently to regular smash captains

[Medicinal Carrots]

I haven't had a chance to really play 9th yet, so my thoughts are all theory.

 

Movement is also an important factor, as being able to get into the right position is very useful as well. I see this Captain choice as being an objective stealer. His job is to get to a place where obsec can take an objective from the opponent, and then be very hard to remove. As a bonus, he's still pretty killy, so you can help clear the objective and let another squad then hold it while he advances to steal a different objective.

[Minsc]

I've used him a few times (or similar build) and he is very tanky and pretty hitty, but he's not immortal.
There are some things he wants to stay away from (and he usually has the speed to do so), i.e. high strength high damage attacks (Swarmlord) and he can't really sustain continuous anti-tank fire even with that 3++, because even a single damage D6 getting trough can ruin his day.
He's a prime candidate for the Rise from the Ashes-stratagem however, if that should happen.

With that said, I do expect him to get a 4++ from the Stormshield when the new codex drops which will severely reduce his tankyness against high AP-attacks. Getting a 2+ however, as well as being Salamanders (ignoring AP1) will make him much more resilient to AP- and AP1 attacks though.

 

[Gothical]

+Edit+

 

My thoughts were a little off topic, and probably worth a post of their own.

 

As to the topic, as others have said the Captain can weather a lot of damage whilst still dishing out a respectful amount in return. The idea is to use him to really hold an area, either making an objective relatively unclaimable by the enemy (the only units that can really kill him won't be ObSec so he automatically holds it, anything else loses combat) or by holding up their advance by threatening critical units as a more traditional "smash-Captain" role, or by engaging enemy units and stopping them in their tracks.

Edited August 24, 2020 by Gothical