Blackshields

[TheSauce]

Anyone have any experience with or love for Blackshield veterans?

 

Looking at their datasheet and they look crazy good (with a few drawbacks).

 

+5 points over a regular vet gives you +1 Attack, +1 WS, and if you take two melee weapons you get another attack.

 

I'm looking at a few possible loadouts (not counting the +1 attack in the first round of combat):

- Heavy thunder hammer (3 attacks hitting on 3+ natively)

- Two chainswords (6 attacks!)

- Two lightning claws (6 attacks with rerolls to wound, though we are already rerolling 1s to wound pretty easily)

- Chainsword and power fist (4 power first attacks on 3+, plus one extra with the chainsword).

 

The blackshield also opens up the heroic intervention strat for the unit, which is a nice situational buff.

 

Now for the drawbacks:

- RAW, no way to get a blackshield in a kill team.

- Can only be in units size 6+ (though you could make a 5-man combat unit by combat squadding a full 10-man)

- You give up shooting to be a melee beatstick

 

I think I'm leaning towards the power fist loadout in a min squad (6) of bolter + chainsword, with 1-2 shields. Probably to go in a razorback to sit and threaten a midfield objective.

 

You could also build a big melee blender squad of veterans, but I think mixed kill teams are probably better suited for that role, with thunder hammer terminators for tanking and more options for strats/specalisms.

[TheUnlikelyGamer84]

Don’t forget another attack for shock assault. So 7attacks on the charge for the black shield with dual Lightening claws. If fighting Xenos death to the alien strat gives an additional attack bringing him to 8. He’s a hidden character with a squad of bodies to protect him.