Elysian Tactics - Command Squads and Special weapon squads

Elysian Tactics - Command Squads and Special Weapon squads

I will cover these two squads together as in an Elysian army they commonly fulfil a very similar role in many armies, that is to take as many special weapons as possible and drop in close to the enemy.

With the recent FAQ limiting the 1st turn drop to only within your own deployment zone, these are now effectively limited to a turn 2 or 3 drop. This is not as much of a hit as it is on other armies, as against an opponent with decent screens a turn 1 drop will not be very effective anyway.

Command Squads

The command squad is one of the most versatile units in the army and has a large range of options. A very popular use for them is 4 plasma guns as they can deepstrike into rapid for range, and if they have an officer nearby for the take aim order they can supercharge with relative safety. This will do heavy damage to most targets, with the best targets being high toughness, multi wound models without an invulnerable save. Even flyers can be a good target despite the -1 to hit , but you have to expect some overheating casualties. This was extremely effective effective at the beginning of 8th edition, but since them there has been an increase in price for plasma guns on BS3 models, and most recently the FAQ now limits 1st turn drops to only happening within the owning players deployment zone.

This means Plasma command squads are now a lot of points for a unit that is not always going to be useful,  and unlikely to survive for a second shot.

The intended purpose of a command squad however is to support an officer, and as such has a lot of other options. This is why command squads are also limited to one squad per regimental officer in the detachment.

Vox: the command squad can have a vox operator, allowing a nearby office to extend his order range to 18"as long as the ordered squad also has a vox. This seems good, but in practise it is usually much more efficient to just have additional officers where you need the orders to be. This may change with the FAQ limiting officers but I don't think so. In general if you want a vox network, take the vox on a regular drop trooper squad as the officer can use any vox to issue orders.

Regimental Standard: I really like standards, they really make an army look a lot better. Unfortunately they are not very useful, especially in an Elysian army with their better morale. And while they are cheap, they limit the utility of a command squad. In 8th edition if someone can see the tip of the banner, the command squad is a viable target, so in a command squad to support an officer you usually want to to be hidden, and the banner makes it hard to do that.

Med Kit: On the surface a medic looks very useful, and is certain situations one could be. But given that you elect which models to remove as casualties, often your only option is to bring back a standard trooper. And given the higher cost for a medic this makes it hard for him to be cost effective. Likewise if a commander gets targeted he is often dead. One use I do see for the medic is bringing back plasma troopers who die to overloading plasma guns. Might also be useful for heavy weapon teams too.

Heavy Weapon Team: Veteran heavy weapon teams are good, especially that heavy weapons don't cost any extra for having BS3. However the limited selection of Heavy weapons for Elysians means you can really take either a Heavy Bolter or a Missile launcher. These are far cheaper to buy in Heavy weapon squads. If you want veteran Heavy Weapons, Veteran squads are probably the best place to purchase them. A mortar may be a good choice for a backfield squad that stays out of line of sight.

Another use for Command squads is to give them 4 melta guns, and deploy from a Valkyrie. You can get 3 command squads into a Valkyrie, or 2 squads and an officer. Provided the Valkyrie starts the game on the table this allows you to get within melta range turn 1, deploying via grav shute insertion and moving into melta range. Close range melta is even more devastating the super-charge plasma. You do have a chance of losing some on the disembark, but guardsmen lives are cheap, and you have your command point reroll to try and save one. With the limiting of turn 1 deepstriking, armies are less likely to have large screens so this could be viable. The main limitation is that it is a lot of points.

Special weapon squads

With the price increases to melta and plasma for BS3 models, the BS4 special weapon squad represents a significant saving for a squad with similar abilities. 3 special weapon squads with plasma cost about the same, and have about the same damage output as 2 plasma command squads, but with more than twice the bodies. And as you can remove the standard troopers first the enemy will have to dedicate a lot more firepower to prevent a second round of shooting. Special weapon squads can also take breacher charges, but at 25pts each and melee only I see these as not worth it.
Triple flamer squads also have some utility, especially as flamers are assault weapons so you can advance and still fire them.
Also with the new FAQ rule of three, special weapon squads are your next best option once you have 3 command squads.

Post any additional tactics or concerns in the comments below as this is as much to help ma as it is it to help others.

And next time I will cover Drop Sentinel tactics.