Assault Marines Forward!

So I’ve been revisiting assault marines in my Black Templar list and am kind of wondering where they have gone from the rest of the chapters, other then maybe Blood Angels- although around here I have yet to see descent of angels- BA is still razorback mech, only painted red.

Playing in a tournament heavy environment I know assault marines aren’t “optimized” for two reasons- cost and transport. At around ~22 points for a basic marine before wargear they are expensive and still only have a 3+ save. Also, with no way to transport them up (other than BA) they are jumping across the table exposed to fire. This kind of limits their role to two functions- counter attack, and insertion. That said is this really a bad thing? On the plus side assault marines take up a fast attack slot which isn’t always used so they are easy to fit into a list, not that marines are challenged from slots like Tyranids, or even Grey Knights to some degree.

Counter Attack

The idea behind this is easy- take a ten marine strong squad and camp behind vehicles or terrain, and when the opponent come close, jump out, shoot, and assault them. I personally argue that plasma pistols are a must in assault squads since they allow you to pop vehicles followed by assaulting the dudes inside. Ideally I’d like to pop said vehicle up front with shots from another unit so I can 100% get the assault with the marines, but that extra chance with the plasma pistols are key. PP’s are also nice for some last minute shots before you charge in.

Playing Black Templars means all my dudes have preferred enemy which is nice when you are throwing out three attacks on the charge plus power weapons. Vanilla marines can get around this with a chaplain for litanies. True it burns up an HQ and is more points, but then you can also break him off as needed and take wounds on him first depending on the hit and armor. Fearless is nice also if you have to take some shots on the way in. ‘Templars have that hidden surprise of also being able to take melta-bombs so you can counter attack land raider in a pinch or even dreads, and of course vehicles.

Insertion

Second option has me breaking them down into five man squads with plasma pistols and deep striking them in. Think thunderhawk insertion. If I’m desperate they will drop in for rear shots to key vehicles like predators and the like. Down side to this is for the points I get one shot, if I blow up said key vehicle it’s ok, I don’t mind trading the points, If I fail, well then it sucks, because either way the assault marines are dead wither way.

What I prefer is deep striking them in near key terrain pieces so they can then run, and being five in number effectively hide and camp out till I need them to jump out and assault. Think of using them to project a 12” + 6” assault threat bubble of high mobility. I use them to either speed bump incoming units, or take advantage of vehicles I’ve blown up mid field, but can’t get to with other units yet.

Of course in deep striking there are many layers of risk- actually coming in when needed/optinally, scatter, dangerous terrain, etc. but I put my faith in the emperor for this, and randomness is a two way street- sometimes some cheap units (in comparison to the entire army) can keep my opponent guessing or at least occupied for a bit, is always a good thing.

So who here is using assault marines, and are they on the table in tournaments in your area?