Space Marine Scouts

and now for my first post in awhile, and for that matter my first post on the Adeptus Asartes.

Scouts:

Ok so for me i would have to say that my favorite unit for the standard SM codex would be the scouts. i love scouts i think they look cool and all and all add some nice flavor to a space amrine army. now these are the first 5 scouts i have offically done ( i did make some inquisitorial storm troopers with shot gun once but i never really finished all five and i dont think i am going to) and i do like how they came out. now if you look back there is a pic of them from months ago but if you notice there are only four of them because i hadn't finished Tellion yet but i finally based him yesturday so now they are now finished, because i model is never truly done until you base it. so now that the into is done lets talk about these dudes

So what are Scouts?

Well Scouts are basically your new recruit marines fresh from train cutting their teeth on combat for the first time. so of course they are not as experiance as a full battle brother which is shown by their lower BS and WS but other wise their stats are the same as a standard marine. they also don't wear power armor, and this is for several fluffy reasons. first power armor is reserved for full fledge members of the chapter (which scouts do not count as) whom are fully trained and capable of being entrusted with these holy relics. and second scouts are supose to learn the arts of tactics, tracking the enemy, recon, and stealth (and well power armor is not very stealthy i hate to say). as well as learn to not rely on their equpiment to get them through conflicts but rather their strength of will, ferocity, intellect, or strength or blah blah blah whatever.

the point is these guys are suppose to be your first line troopers finding the enemy and reporting back to hq as well as support troopers helping the primary troops in any way they can... so they are basically the interns of the far flung future.

What can they do?
well for starters they have the same basic equipment as normal SM except they have carapace armor so only a 4+ save and all the same special rules plus move through cover, infiltrate and scout. these rules make them very versitile basically allowing you to start them anywhere on the board or just outflank the enemy with them. with scout or infiltrate you can basically set your scouts up for a possible turn one assault if you do it just right (though this is risky).
Scouts also get some fun add on. first they can get camo cloaks which gives them all stealth which greatly increases their survvability. and they can also take sniper rifles which as you can see my scouts have both of. i feel that scouts make wonderful support snipers and are very well suited for this roll.

i mean setting up anywhere on the board with a +1 cover save and a sniper rifle is just a good idea in my opinion. they can aslo all take shot guns (for some fun quick shooting) or comabt blades for a more melee orientated squad. they can also take eithe a standard missle launcher or a Hvy Bolter. the nice thing about the M launcher is the versitily it allows by being a good anti tank and anti infantry weapon. the Hvy Bolter also is killer because of its option to also shoot hellfire shells (HVY 1 blast, 4+ posion) which is another fun horde killer. though they dont have the best bs or ws (both being 3) they still excel at either roll as long as you remeber they are a support unit so use them as such. don't spear head an attack with them unless you want them to die. have them float on the flanks wiping up weaken squads or sniping enemy troops from a safe distance.

Tellion

Probably my favorite part of the new scout entry is their special character upgrade. the guy can make your scouts better at any of their rolls but you know with his load out that he is meant to be in a sniper squad. the guy is almost a vindicar assassin but with a squad of dudes to back him up. first off the tellion model is awesome.
i love it, the grizzled old sarge look is great and once you get rid of all those ultramarine U's he'll fit in any SM army. the really nice thing about him though is his BS6 and the fact that he can give that to any squad member for a turn if he choses not to shoot (like say that missle launcher dude who you might be depending on to pop that enemy rhino so your assaulters can get at the juicy infantry center). If you do choose to shoot with him though he may declare who he is shooting at (much like the vindicar) so he can kill sargents or Hvy Wpn guys while the rest of your squad just massacre things.

All in all i think Scouts are great. they start off 3 points cheaper than standard marines and only have really two draw backs from that. 1) +4 instead of +3 save, 2) can't take a dedicated transport. i really dont see their ws3 bs3 as that mush of a disadvantage honestly i mean if they are equiped with sniper rifles A. they technically still have the same chance to hit as they did in 4th ed (+4 to hit) and B. if they have rifles they shouldn't get into assault unless things go sour and even then ws isnt as important as S, T, I which are all 4 or armor which is their real week spot in CC.


Well Until next time...
May the Emperor Protect

(up next.... Sentinels...... i think)