Elysian Tactics - Elysian Drop Sentinels
I have always liked Elysian Drop Sentinels, and have purchased 6 of them to use in my army. However I feel that as Elysian specific units go the Drop Sentinels fall in the lower end of cost effectiveness.
They have the same stats and are 5 points more that a standard Scout Sentinel, and for that you get the aerial drop ability, and can take either a Heavy flamer, Heavy Bolter or Multi-Melta. They also miss out on the CC chainsaw and the scout move.
The main downsides of the drop sentinel is that it has too much competition from other units that do the same job, and suffers from being a Elite choice which is already a very crowded slot in the detachment.
In the standard guard codex, Sentinels, especially Scout Sentinels, are used as cheap Fast attack slot fillers and give your army some deep strike denial. For this role the Assault Tauros does far better as it is cheaper, faster and can get a 5+ invul save. While it doesn't get the scout move that is less of an issue now that turn 1 deepstrikes have been limited.
Another use that immediately comes to mind is Multi-Melta drop Sentinels as they can aerial drop into melta range of a target. However you are only hitting on 5s the turn you drop in, and they are unlikely to survive till the next round. With three Sentinels you can expect one to hit, and this could be done far cheaper with deepstriking command squads, special weapon squads or scions.
Two can also be transported by a Sky Talon, and while this is very thematic it is hard to see any use for this on the table given that they already have the aerial drop rule.
The main use I can see for these guys is arming them with Heavy Bolters to keep them cheap, and dropping them in turn 2 or 3 to grab an objective They will be harder to shift than infantry, while able to lay down some decent firepower, especially if they survive till the following round. Maybe give them Heavy Flamers if they are likely to be charged. But even this could probably be done cheaper with a Heavy Bolter Tarantula which has twice the firepower.
So in conclusion, Drop Sentinels are a neat concept, and a nice looking model. But there is very little reason to include one in your army beyond narrative and fluff reasons.
Next time I will cover both variants of the Tauros, in my opinion of one the best looking models in the game.
They have the same stats and are 5 points more that a standard Scout Sentinel, and for that you get the aerial drop ability, and can take either a Heavy flamer, Heavy Bolter or Multi-Melta. They also miss out on the CC chainsaw and the scout move.
The main downsides of the drop sentinel is that it has too much competition from other units that do the same job, and suffers from being a Elite choice which is already a very crowded slot in the detachment.
In the standard guard codex, Sentinels, especially Scout Sentinels, are used as cheap Fast attack slot fillers and give your army some deep strike denial. For this role the Assault Tauros does far better as it is cheaper, faster and can get a 5+ invul save. While it doesn't get the scout move that is less of an issue now that turn 1 deepstrikes have been limited.
Another use that immediately comes to mind is Multi-Melta drop Sentinels as they can aerial drop into melta range of a target. However you are only hitting on 5s the turn you drop in, and they are unlikely to survive till the next round. With three Sentinels you can expect one to hit, and this could be done far cheaper with deepstriking command squads, special weapon squads or scions.
Two can also be transported by a Sky Talon, and while this is very thematic it is hard to see any use for this on the table given that they already have the aerial drop rule.
The main use I can see for these guys is arming them with Heavy Bolters to keep them cheap, and dropping them in turn 2 or 3 to grab an objective They will be harder to shift than infantry, while able to lay down some decent firepower, especially if they survive till the following round. Maybe give them Heavy Flamers if they are likely to be charged. But even this could probably be done cheaper with a Heavy Bolter Tarantula which has twice the firepower.
So in conclusion, Drop Sentinels are a neat concept, and a nice looking model. But there is very little reason to include one in your army beyond narrative and fluff reasons.
Next time I will cover both variants of the Tauros, in my opinion of one the best looking models in the game.
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