Recent back and forth email on Salamanders and their current place at the end of 5th edition- still "good" or better passed over for a more auto-win type army like Grey Knights?
Salamanders can definitely be very competitive in a variety of tournament formats- I still see them regularly placing very high and even winning events. Of course when we say Salamanders we are talking about Vulcan and his ability to unlock and twin link melta guns and flamers. You could just as easy make up your own space marine chapter and call them “salamanders”- fire drakes or something like that.
Melta is a huge deal in the game beyond just busting open and killing tanks- many player tend to focus on killing vehicles since they play an important role in 5th edition and are very powerful in the rules set- mainly in protecting your infantry inside so they can later be alive to score and complete mission goals, and in that vehicles can mount a variety of heavy weapons for a very cheap price.
Melta weapons also need to be taken a step further in that they deal with many other aspects of the game- killing monstrous creatures, putting AP 1 wounds on space marines denying their armor save, bypassing terminator armor saves, instant killing T 4 models like bikes, paladins, etc.
The only drawback to melta (if you can really call it that) is “hitting” when you shoot- needing that 3+ to hit. Most of the time you will be wounding on a 2+, and then have the AP 1. Vulkan twin linking them means you are bypassing the hit as much as you can.
So the first part of thinking about running a Salamander themed list is cramming as much melta in there as you can, and then a few flamers also to twin link them so you have something for scarabs and other horde armies or non 3+ save units like Imperial Guard, etc.
The second part is in application and building you list…
Generally you want to have a combined arms approach of delivery for your melta and you are going to have to think about this based on the points and the models you have or intend to buy and use.
The first is usually an ironclad dread in a drop pod as your turn one alpha strike like unit. It is completely expendable- using the guidance of the pod to land next to a key target in your opponents army and take it out, and then attract return fire on your players turn- which means they are shooting at it and not your other units for that turn. If the ironclad actually lives the turn then even better- it continues shooting and rampaging. Using a unit like this is not a waste of points if it blows up turn 1 on your opponent’s turn as long as it accomplishes its task. Key targets are what your opponent intends to throw at you as a spearhead- a land raider with termies, BA furioso dreads in storm ravens, Grey Knight storm raven bombs, etc.
The second layer is usually three land speeders- one in each force org slot which move the 24” boost on your first turn to get a cover save and be in range next turn to take out your opponent’s secondary assets next turn with their melta shots on turn one dealing with the dread landing PLUS three models with cover saves can be a difficult thing.
Behind the speeders is usually a land raider with a melta gun and inferno flamers (all twin linked) with Vulkan and some termies- what the dread and speeders destroy and break open on your next turn the terminators then hit.
Finally behind them are rhinos with marines with a melta gun and usually a combi-melta on the sarge, moving mid field to then get out and rapid fire with bolters and melta shots cleaning up the chaos that your dread, speeders, land raider, etc. have caused. When a tactical squad takes some losses and gets down to four or five models, they then get back in a rhino and zoom off for objectives depending on the game.
That should give you some ideas for the pattern of attack behind using Salamanders- think of it as a guideline to evolve and mold with where you are in the game right now.
-Fritz
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