MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR TERMINATORS

A lot of people don't rate Terminators, they say they're too expensive and die too easy, these people question if there is actually any use for them. These people are VERY wrong. The fault lies in their use of them. Like everything in 40k success is based upon the application of a unit, but the right way to use some units is more obvious than others. It must be noted I use Dark Angels and therefore use Deathwing squads, they are slightly more flexible than normal Terminators, but essentially the principles are the same.

+++UNDERSTANDING TERMINATORS+++

Terminators are:
- Your Elite and should be treated as such.
- Powerfull in close combat against almost any opponent.
- Excellent at shooting, especially against light to medium infantry and vehicles.
- Extremely well armoured.
- Able to take very varied weaponry.
- Scary.
- At risk to power weapons and low AP guns.

Terminators are not:
- Invincible, like any infantry they will fall to massed light arms fire.
- Able to march across the battlefield ignoring cover.
- Cheap, but nor are they over priced.
- To be sacrificed.

What this all adds up to is units that are lethal when used clinically. You should be protective of your Terminators, use them to make surgical strikes, being sure to avoid situations where your enemy can pour a lot of gunfire upon them or combat them with units that are designed to defeat heavy armour.

As mentioned before success with Terminators is based upon their application, which is made up of these five things:
(1) Deployment.
(2) Terrain.
(3) Right tools for the job.
(4) Controlling where and who you fight.
(5) Timing.

Taking note of these points, I have several tactics that I employ for my Deathwing Terminators.

+++TACTICS+++

THE BATTERING RAM
Mounted in a Land Raider they motor up a flank or centrally depending on the enemy deployment, mission objectives and most importantly terrain. They then disembark, shoot like crazy and smash into the enemy lines with an assault, carving a hole through their army. This requries carefull use of terrain and deployment to avoid the Land Raider getting shot to bits beforehand, plus you must make sure you are not going to leave your Terminators open to a counter attack they can not handle.

The most important factors in this attack are (2) Terrain and (5) Timing. Without terrain to shield your Land Raider you won't get there, and after disembarking you need terrain to shield your Terminators from the wrath of an entire army. You have to be prepared for situations where your Terminators are unable to assault and will therefore get shot at, try and make sure they can't get shot by too much. This is where timing comes in. Ideally your Terminators assault will coincide with another major threat from your army, be it a Vindicator in a firing position, an Assault Squad within charge range or other potentially disatrous event for your enemy. We're talking about two pronged attacks, the classic pincer movement, etc.

If performed carefully this one move can crush armies like Tau, Necrons and Imperial Guard, and if used ever so carefully, Eldar, though caution is advised, their ability to rapidly respond to attacks in unmatched.

DENIED FLANK / THE SHEPHERD
Depending on game size, supported by a Tactical Squad and/or Dreadnought/Vindicator, their weapons cover a desired movement channel. If the enemy moves there they will have to suffer a torrent of fire and the Terminators fearsome assault. This can be risky, as you in some ways are being reactive rather than directly choosing who you fight. I wouldn't use this Tactic against Eldar, they can move a lot of heavy firepower into position quickly and fire in the same turn, it will be hard for your Terminators to withstand that sort of pressure.

However it works extremely well against Tyranids, Chaos, Orks and Imperial Guard. If the enemy moves there then fine, shoot them dead, if they don't you can then swing your attack into a flanking punch into the enemies side or make an advance the enemy can not ignore. What this will also be doing is forcing the enemy away from that part of the battlefield and onto your other heavy weapons you've position for that very purpose! I use this a lot with a Deathwing squad and Vindicator, particularly against Tyranids and Chaos. It's great for bunching up swarms of nids into ordnance friendly formations!

The most important points for this attack are (1) Deployment, (2) Terrain and (3) Right tools for the job. You must make sure you're denying an area that is desirable for your opponent, that you can not just be shot to pieces and that your weapons will be able to react quickly and efficiently against whatever enemy it is you face.

THE COUNTER CHARGERS
Standing behind your firebase of Tactical and Devestator squads, lending their fire to your volleys as the enemy closes and then when the enemy makes it's assault, you charge in. This is fairly simple. You use a Tactical squad (who must be behind cover themselves, they will need the save) as a meatshield protecting your more valuable Terminators and simply keep firing until the enemy gets to your battle line. It's a very defensive tactic and will not work against shooty armies like Imperial Guard or Necrons. It will work well against Eldar, especially those that favour Aspect Warrior squads.

The most important factors in this are (1) Deployment and (3) Right tools for the job. Good deployment is essential as this is a very static strategy and as your Terminators will have little control of what attacks them it is imperative you can deal with what you face. Deathwing absolutely excell at this because they can mix their weapons. A squad of Deathwing with Sergeant, 2 Cyclone Missile Launchers and Lightning Claws is a nasty prospect for any Chaos, Necron, Tau or Imperial Guard army. Against Eldar take the classic Powerfist & Stormbolter squad with either Assault Cannons or Cyclones depending on how much your enemy favours vehicles or infantry. There is no point taking Lightning claws against Eldar. The squads that can hurt you have a higher Initiative ative anyway, so you'll hit last, therefore it might aswell be at Strength 8!

TELEPORT ATTACK
The most difficult attack to master, but potentially the most devestating. This is all about (2) Terrain, (4) Controlling where and who you fight and (5) Timing. You're going to be deepstriking either near or amongst the enemy and you will not be able to assault on the turn you teleport in. You MUST make sure you will appear somewhere that you can survive the enemies counter attack and be able to attack your target after they've responded to your Terminators arrival. You must select a point to deepstrike where terrain (or units in close combat) will shield you from return fire, but where your target will not be able to escape. And, of course, you have to allow for scatter...

Timing is the difficult bit, because you can not control when your reserves come in. So every turn you have to plan ahead for if they Terminators arrive, BUT you must not dedicate your battle plan around it, otherwise if they don't turn up till later you will be let down or the rest of your army will not draw away those nasty Firedragons, Plasmacannons, etc. The key to success with this tactic is always planning ahead and using the rest of your army to draw enemy units out, spreading the enemy thin so that your Terminators can deliver a crushing blow.

For this sort of attack I would always take shooty Terminators, you need to be able to deal with threats that you may scatter near, so Storm Bolters, Assault Cannons, Heavy Flamers and Cyclones are the key here.

+++WEAPON OPTIONS+++

Even though I use Deathwing, regardless of opponent 90% of the time I use a squad consisting of:
Sergeant - Powersword & Stormbolter
3x Powerfist & Stormbolter
1x Assault Cannon

This isn't that wise, ideally you should take 2 Heavy weapons and as Deathwing mix in some Lightning Claws and/or Thunderhammers. But this was the Terminator squad I bought when they first came out and I'm loathe to change them after all that combat history! Plus they still kick arse on a regular basis. However, not being an ego monkey, but I've had a lot of practice with them, so really I would advise varying what you use more. Here's some rough guidelines against the different races for Deathwing or normal Codex: Spacemarine Terminators based on 5 marine squads.

CHAOS or SPACEMARINES
With all that power armour and equal Initiative you want some Lightning Claws, but also Thunderhammers would be good for dealing with Daemon Princes and Greater Daemons. Cyclones are good dealing with anything.
-Deathwing = 2 Lightning Claws, 2 Cyclone Missile Launchers, Sergeant.
-Terminator Assault Squad = 2 Lightning Claws, 2 Thunderhammers, Sergeant.

ELDAR
Against most stuff you will hit last, so take Powerfists for the Strength 8 hits.
- Deathwing/Terminator Squad = 2 Stormbolter & Powerfist, 2 Assault Cannons, Sergeant.

DARK ELDAR
Same as Eldar...
- Deathwing/Terminator Squad = 2 Stormbolter & Powerfist, 2 Assault Cannons, Sergeant.

ORKS
Make the most of your superior shooting ability and Orks poor armour, avoid melee and their Choppas.
- Deathwing/Terminator Squad = 2 Stormbolter & Powerfist, 2 Assault Cannons, Sergeant.

TYRANIDS
Shoot them silly, it's best to deal with these hordes at range.
- Deathwing/Terminator Squad = 2 Stormbolter & Powerfist, 2 Assault Cannons, Sergeant.

TAU
Make the most of their awfull close combat ability
- Deathing/Terminator Assault Squad = 4 Lightning Claws, Sergeant

NECRONS
Again, make the most of their poor close combat ability and weakness to power weapons. Keep a thunderhammer or 2 for dealing with C'tan.
- Deathing/Terminator Assault Squad = 2 Lightning Claws, 2 Thunderhammers, Sergeant

IMPERIAL GUARD
Cyclones for popping tanks and laying blast markers, Storm Bolters for reaping down infantry, you're much better in close combat anyway. - Deathwing/Terminator Squad = 2 Stormbolter & Powerfist, 2 Cyclones, Sergeant.

Anyway, that's me done, hope it helps you maybe get a bit more out of your Terminators, or at least amused you :)