ASSAULT MARINES

ASSAULT SQUADS.

In an Ultramarine army, Assault Marines add extra oomph (bringing twice the number of attacks) and can leap over you squads (who will be to an extent be static because they are shooting) and lock up the enemy.

This is not so for Templars and using them the way that they do will not bring much benefit to your army.

They are not assault troops per se.

Firstly, they are over priced by 4 points or 122%. You will never get the same amount of kills in close combat from them as you would from Crusaders.

See this scenario versus Ork Boyz.

9 Assault Marines. = 243 pts.

All with Melta bombs, 2 Flamers, Power fist.

7 bolt pistol shots. 4.62 h, 2.31 dead

2 flames. 12 h, 6 dead.

22  A. 16.5 h, 8.25 w, 6.85 dead

2 PF A. 1.5 h, 1.245 dead

16.4 dead Orks. (8.3 from shooting = 50%)

10 Initiates + 6 Neophytes = 245 pts.

Power fist, Melta gun.

9 bs4 + 6 bs 3 bolt pistol shots. 9 h, 4.5 dead

Melta. 0.66 h, 0.55 dead

27 AAC + 18 ws3 A. 29.25 h, 14.625 w, 12.14 dead

2 PF A. 1.5 h, 1.245 dead

18.435 dead Orks. (5.05 from shooting = 27.4%)

Hang on a minute! I had thought the Crusaders would have seriously out performed the Assault squad. But they weren’t.... or were they?

The Assault squad scores 89% kills compared to the Crusaders. The two flamers actually go a long way in compensating for lack of numbers and the shooting phase is what keeps the Assault squad competitive. Which is kind of ironic....

I will say this though. Scoring 89% is a decent sized drop in effectiveness. If that happens over a few turns, you will really notice the difference. If the Assault squad can’t kill a squad in the turn it assaults (or even by the end of the enemies turn) they will not be able to bring the kills of the flamers into play.

But who plays Foot anyway?

10 Initiates + Rhino = 243 pts.

Power fist, Melta gun.

9 bolt pistol shots, 6 h, 3 dead.

Melta shot, 0.66 h, 0.55 dead.

27 A, 20.25 h, 10.125 w, 8.4 dead.

2 PF A. 1.5 h, 1.245 dead

13.2 dead Orks. (3.55 from shooting = 26.9%)

Now the Assault squad are scoring 124% of the Mech Crusaders! That is interesting. With the flamers used, the Assault squad does a serious amount of killing on the charge. Without that, the would drop down to the same output as the Mech Crusaders.

This shows that Assault squads can be used effectively, it’s just that they need to crush small squads, or attack in combination with another squad, to make sure they can rip through it in one or two close combat phases.

+++

Survivability.

This is one very obvious flaw with them. Whilst Foot Crusaders have very large squads to absorb shooting and Mech Crusaders have AV 11 to get them out of harms reach of even Tau pulse rifles, Assault Marines have no such defence. Even using cover well can mean you lose effective progress of the table top. I am not saying don’t use cover. I am saying unless you have built a terrain bridge across the table for just that purpose, you’ll not likely be able to do that.

What Assault squads can do in follow in the wake of your Rhinos and Land Raiders. Cashing in on the Italian saying that “The best form of armour is to be out of sight” is the idea here. You don’t have to face your Rhinos straight at where you are going, you can pivot them at the end of the move so they are ‘wider’ and provide superior blocking of TLOS than had you not been so creative.

On the turn before the charge, bring the Assault squad more alongside the Rhino. This will give you more depth for effective 18” charge. This could mean you have exposed your squad to shooting, but you will have to gauge the Risk versus Reward of that yourself on the day of the game.

Once they have made it into close combat against smaller squads, they avoid being shot. It becomes important to pick a squad that will not hurt you badly, but at the same time last your assault phase so you end up killing them in their next assault phase. Then you are free to attack something else within 18”. This use of mêlée will reduce the amount of firepower suffered and also block up TLOS to other parts of your force.

If you do not micro-manage your Assault squad and keep them out of sight and/or overwhelm the foe with other more urgent options to shoot at, you will regret bringing them along.

They may kill as well as a larger squad, but they will die much quicker.

+++

Tank hunters.

8 Melta bombs and 2 PF attacks on the charge will likely end badly even for Walkers and cruising Tanks. 

Multiple Melta bombs mean even Land Raiders must be wary. Against AV 14;

15/36 won’t damage.

6/36 will glance.

15/36 will penetrate.

AV 10;

1/36 will glance.

35/36 will penetrate.

That is ridiculous! If you can charge multiple Tanks with one assault (or charge a squadron) you will rack up damage very quickly.

+++

Who they compete with?

3 Land speeders with MM and HF = 225 pts.

These can deepstrike, shoot their MELTA weapons and still remain out of reach of much of the enemy force, whilst the Assault squad have only fired their bolt pistols and flamers (if they have landed close enough). The Speeders can also land just as close as the Assault squad and fire the more effective HF, something that will hammer Medium infantry with save 4+.

But the Speeders can’t stay out of TLOS behind a Rhino, can’t help out another squad that is already in cc (though they can HF a squad just before another squad charges ~ like the Assault squad can) and can be taken out with a single shot, although they are mostly impervious to bolter fire and can come in neat single choices, meaning you can spread those three Speeders across the board, too.

Assault Marines can lock up a Devastator squad in close combat (which means they get to kill in the shooting and assault phase, the Speeder only in shooting), or leap to the aid of another unit already in close combat. These can be turn-winning strengths in themselves.

If you are playing competitively, Speeders win. If you are playing something less cut throat, Assault squads can do well and if you can overcome their flaws, you will probably enjoy using them.

+++

Squad load outs.

10 Assault Marines = 267 pts

2 Flamers, Power fist. Melta bombs.

5 Assault Marines = 122 pts

2 Flamers.

5 Assault Marines = 120 pts

Melta bombs.

+++

Even the dreaded Templar Initiates need a helping hand in mêlée, and the less hard hitting Assault Marines even more so.

It turns out we have just the character for the job.

The Reclusiarch.

4 i5 power weapon attacks, re-rolling all to hit rolls (not just versus ws, which is what AAC brings) is just the extra power they need.

Boltpistol, Frag grenades, Jump pack and Melta bombs ups his cost to 122 pts.

1] Terminator honours ~ more attacks

2] Plasma pistol and Artificer armour (need to stop him hurting himself as much as anything else) ~ for a useful s7 ap2 shot, always handy against rear armour and TEq.

3] Powerfist/Thunder hammer (perhaps swapped for melta bombs) ~ 4 s8 attacks on the charge (of more use than 1 melta bomb attack against AV10-12)

The cheaper you can keep him the better.

Sometimes you’ll have spare points that cannot be spent elsewhere and so these are the better options.

+++

Plasma pistols and Storm shields.

I don’t like either of these choices for Assault Marines.

Plasma pistols seem reasonable for these anti-Mech warriors. However, when you’ve spent so many points on one, is the Risk versus Reward worth it? I don’t think so. A s7 shot is not a game winner nor that likely to open a transport up for you to assault the passengers but losing an Assault Marine will make you sad.

When compared with Flamers they compete with (the weapons that actually do a lot of the infantry killing that keeps them somewhat competitive) they seem counter productive.

Storm shields cannot be used to keep them alive against shooting (their biggest weakness) and in order to get the reasonable 4++ save in mêlée, you’ll be killing less ~ which in turn means you’ll be taking more hits.

Anything that reduces the kills and increases the cost of an already marginal choice seems unwise to me.

+++ 

Deep striking?

No. Most of the time they will not cause enough shooting damage, even with flamers, to reduce incoming fire. They are then in a neat huddle for an Ordnance shot.

A safer bet is to scurry across the board behind Rhinos.

+++

Assault Marines are not “competitive”, nor are they Assaulty. However, with some care you can get something worthwhile from them. 

I think of them as somewhat like Cuirassiers employing the Caracole tactic.

KILL POWER

KILL POWER.

Kill power is the effectiveness of your forces at eradicating your foe in close combat. There are different ways of achieving this end. When described in terms of shooting this might be described as torrent of fire, which would be in contrast to armour penetration.

Kill power is made up of two main things; Kill quantity and Kill quality.

Kill quantity ~ the amount of wounding hits you can get verses your foe.
Kill quality ~ the amount of wounding hits that ignore armour saves.

Kill quality has a higher aspiration within itself, not only to ignore saves but to wound easily and to cause inta-kills. Examples without Mathhammer:
Quantity; Crusader squads. These guys can pump out a good amount of accurate (75 to 89% to hit) attacks that wound often (50 to 66%). They don’t ignore armour saves.
These guys will reap a good tally against Ork boyz.

Point for point, Crusaders will put out even more damage than our feared Assault Terminators (with Furious Charge!) on the charge.

I think it was a Russian Military leader who said “Quantity has a quality all of it’s own” Quality A; Assault Terminators with Pairs of Lightning claws. These guys can pump out a good amount of accurate (75 to 89% to hit) attacks that wound often (75 to 89%). They ignore armour saves.
These guys will reap a good tally against Marines. Quality B; Dreadnought with Dreadnought close combat weapon. This guy can puts out a few accurate (75 to 89% to hit) attacks that wound often (83%). They ignore armour saves and cause instant death.
He will reap a good tally against Mega Nobz, other multi wound units and Independent characters.
Yet he will kill only as many grotz as he would Mega Nobz....

+++ Examples with Mathhammer.
Quantity; Crusader squads. These guys can pump out a good amount of accurate (75 to 89% to hit) attacks that wound often (50 to 66%). They don’t ignore armour saves.
These guys will reap a good tally against Ork boyz.

Point for point, Crusaders will put out even more damage than our feared Assault Terminators (with Furious Charge!) on the charge.

I think it was a Russian Military leader who said “Quantity has a quality all of it’s own”

*This scenario shows the Kill Quantity that cost effective Crusaders bring to the table top.

CRUSADER SQUAD ~ 10 Inititates (8 bp&cs, PF, Mg) + 7 Neophytes. = 255 pts.

Crusaders volley and assault.

9 bs 4 shots, 7 bs 3 shots. 5.94 + 3.5 = 9.44 hits
4.72 wounds.

1 Mg shot, 0.66 hit, 0.55 wounds.

Shooting total = 5.27 wounds.

26 AAC A, 19.5 H.
21 ws3 A, 10.5 H.
= 30 hits.
15 wounds.
12.5 failed saves.

TALLY = 17.77 dead Orks.

2 Choppa boyz attack.
6 A, 3 H, 1.5 wound, 0.5 dead Initiates.

2 PF AAC A, 1.5 H, 1.25 dead Orks.

Crusaders win combat by 12. They killed 19 Orks and lost 1 Initiate.

20 Choppa boyz volley and assault.
20 shots. 6.6 H, 3.3 W, 1 failed PA save.

15 AAC A, 14 ws 3 A, = 11.25 + 7.5 = 18.75 H
9.38 W, 7.8 failed saves.
8 dead Orks

48 A, 24 H, 12 W, over 16 BT. 8 PA saves = 2.64 dead PA. 4 SA saves = 2 dead Neos.
Tally = 3 dead Initiates, 2 dead Neos.

1 AAC PF A, 0.75 H, 0.63 W, 1 more dead Ork

The Orks killed 4 Initiates + 2 Neos and scored 5 combat res. BT killed 8 Orks.
*3 Fearless armour saves on the Orks.

SUMMARY:
Crusaders charge; 19 v 1 - ratio = 19
Boyz charge; 8 v 6 - ratio = 1.33

Assault Terms charge; 14 v 1 - ratio = 14
Boyz charge; 8 v 2 - ratio = 4

Sword Brethren PA charge; 17 v 1 - ratio = 17
Boyz charge; 7 v 4 - ratio = 1.75

That means Crusaders kill the most on the charge but suffer the most when charged. Assault Terms take the charge very well.

*** Quality A; Assault Terminators with Pairs of Lightning claws. These guys can pump out a good amount of accurate (75 to 89% to hit) attacks that wound often (75 to 89%). They ignore armour saves.
These guys will reap a good tally against Marines. *This scenario shows the Kill Quality that power weapon equivalents bring to the table top.

5 Assault Terminators with Furious Charge ~ 4 LC pairs, 1 TH & SS: 215 pts
8 PA Sword Brethren with Furious Charge ~ Lightning claws & THons. Power weapon & THons: 212 pts.
10 Initiates ~ Power fist, Melta gun + 3 Neophytes: 215 pts.

*whoever can, has taken Bp&Cs. All BT have AAC vow.

I have chosen Eavy armour and FNP as it grants an effective 75% saving throw. The Nobz are all equipped the same for convenience.
NOBZ MOB; 6 Nobz, 1 Painboy (grants Feel No Pain): 205 pts.
Eavy armour.

ASSAULT TERMS ASSAULT NOBZ.

16 LC A. 12 H. 10.68 W; 5 dead Nobz + 1 wounded.
2 Nobz Attack. 8 A. 4 H. 2 W. 0.334 failed saves; probably none failed.
3 TH A. 2.25 H. 1.87 W ~ which happens to be 2 insta-kills

*** Wipe-out!
13 v 0.

NOBZ VOLLEY AND ASSAULT THE TERMS.

7 shots, 2.31 hits, 1.15 wounds, 0.19 failed saves; probably none failed.
Nobz get Furious Charge bonus. Simultaneous hits at i4.
35 A, 17.5 H, 11.55 W, 1.92 failed saves; 2 dead LC Terms
12 LC A. 9 H, 6.75 W, 3 dead Nobz + 1 wounded.
2 TH A, 1.5 H, 1.25 W ~ 1 insta-kill.

*** 2 dead BT v 4 dead Nobz ~ Morale check at 2 - 8 = -6 on Ld 7....
8 v 2.

SWORD BRETHREN VOLLEY AND ASSAULT NOBZ.

7 bp shots. 4.62 h. 2.31 w. 0.58 failed 4+4+ saves; 1 wound.

18 A, 13.5 H, 8.91 W. Saveable. 2.23 failed saves.
4 PW A, 3 H. 2 W. No saves.
4 LC A. 3 H. 2.67 W. No saves.
6.9 wounds inflicted
3 dead Nobz + 1 wound on the wounded Nob = 4 dead Nobz.
3 Nobz attack. 12 A. 6 H. 3 W. 1 failed save.

***1 dead BT v 4 dead Nobz ~ Morale check at 1 - 7 = -6 on Ld 7....
8 v 1.


NOBZ VOLLEY AND ASSAULT SWORD BRETHREN.

7 shots, 2.31 h, 1.15 w, 0.38 failed saves; probably none failed.
Nobz get Furious Charge bonus. Simultaneous hits at i4.
35 A, 17.5 H, 11.55 W, 3.81 failed saves; 4 dead SB.

12 bp&cs A, 9 H. 4.5 W. 1.125 failed saves.
3 PW A, 2.25 H. 1.125 W.
3 LC A, 2.25 H. 1.69 W.
4 wounds inflicted.
2 dead Nobz.

***4 dead BT v 2 dead Nobz ~ Combat drawn.
4 v 4.

CRUSADERS VOLLEY AND ASSAULT NOBZ.

9 bs4 bp shots = 6 hits, 3 bs 3 bp shots = 1.5 hits
7.5 hits. 3.75 wounds. 0.93 failed 4+4+ saves; 1 wounded Nob
1 Mg shot, 0.66 h, 0.55 w; 1 insta-killed Nob.

9 ws 3 A, 4.5 h
26 AAC A, 19.5 h
24 H, 12 W, 3 failed saves; 1 dead Nob and 1 wound on the wounded Nob = 2 dead Nobz.

4 Nobz A, 16 A, 8 A, 4 W, 1.33 failed saves; 1 dead Initiate.

2 AAC PF A, 1.5 H, 1.25 W, 1 insta-killed Nob

*** 1 dead BT v 4 dead Nobz ~ Morale check at 1 - 4 = -3 on Ld 7....
6 v 1.

NOBZ VOLLEY AND ASSAULT CRUSADERS.

7 shots, 2.31 h, 1.15 w, 0.38 failed saves; probably no failed saves.

Nobz get Furious Charge bonus. Simultaneous hits at i4.
35 A, 17.5 H, 11.55 W - [9 saves v Initiates and 3 v Neophyte] 3 failed and 1.5 failed; 3 dead Is + 2 dead N.

6 ws 3 A, 3 H
17 AAC A, 12.75 H
15.75 H, 7.88 W, 1.97 failed saves; 1 dead Nob.

1 AAC PF A, 0.75 H, 0.62 W; 1 insta-killed Nob.

*** 5 dead BT v 2 dead Nobz ~ Combat lost by BT 3-5 - 2 fearless saving throws.
3 v 5.

Charging:
Terminators 13 v 0
Sword Brethren 8 v 1
Crusaders 6 v 1

Charged:
Terminators 8 v 2 (killed 205 pts & lost 86 pts of BT = 238.4%)
Sword Brethren 4 v 4 (killed 100 pts & lost 76 pts of BT = 131.6%)
Crusaders 3 v 5 (killed 75 pts & lost 68 pts of BT = 110.3%)

I think this post is a good counterpart to the versus boyz one. It demonstrates the kill-quality Terminators have. I don't think SB are exactly in between the two but can fit in a Rhino and get to Sweeping Advance and you can fit more quality into 10 SB than 10 Crusaders.

Horses for courses I think.

Sword Brethren, with this Codex, won't be chosen by me. I don't think they have enough power to justify dropping a TROOPS choice. Also running an IC or Dread with Crusaders masks their lower kill-quality enough that it offsets it, IMO.

HQ

Due to AAC being pretty much automatic as the choice of vows, the Chaplain loses something.
However AAC does not work on Neophytes but Litanies of hate does.  Also LoH does allow re-rolls for any to hit rolls.  AAC only works against targets with a WS characteristic.


Due to RZ being optional, the Chaplains Unmatched zeal steering of units also loses something.


The Chaplain comes pre-made.  The Rosarius is good as it is not taking up the single Iron Halo choice.  However, he comes with a PW.  I don't like them as much as a PF or PoLC.  So you get stuck with a second tier weapon....


The Commander blesses all the army with his Ld because of Litanies of Battle.


My choice is the Commander with a PoLC.  Army wide benefits and better in cc.


+++

HQ

Tool up versus bare bones.

The age old temptation of the wargamer. I am my HQ, therefore he must be super-awesome because I am super-awesome. My identity is in the model, for the duration of the game at least.

What does an IC bring to the game?
Fighting prowess, army and/or unit buffs, special weapons and equipment. All of this is concentrated into one (or two) transport slot. Highly concentrated power!

The problem is though that they can be killed with a single shot due to instant death. Even if you have Eternal Warrior, he only has (at best) three or four wounds.

A 170 pt Marshal has 3 wounds and 6 attacks on the charge.The equivalent Assault Terminators have 4 wounds and 16 attacks on the charge!
But the Terminators cannot join a unit (which offsets the ICs lack of wounds), or fit in a Rhino. They remain at i4 if charged and should the Marshal (with adamantine mantle) suffer a Vindicator shot, at worst he will loose 1 wound. All Terminators could die. The Marshal can be used to catch crack missiles, because if he does fail his 2+ save, he’ll loose 1 w. You’ll lose a Terminator for doing that!

So it’s all swings and round-a-bouts. But at least you know the pros and cons for tooling up against bare bones.

+++

Power weapons versus Lightning claws.
I don’t like power weapons. Your IC has all this potential to carve through men and needs the safety that re-rolled wounds brings. For the price of an Initiate, you’ll be killing an extra Marine or two each turn. A good investment in my eyes. Combined with AAC and you will rip though MEq with ease.

Thunder hammers and Power fists.
I don’t like them. They look cool and they hit hard. However, none of our ICs can pull off what Arjac or Lysander can ~ 3++ save. That means striking last is terrible as you can’t reliably weather the storm. Also remember my point about IC bringing i5 to the assault? That has just been wasted and the kills that reduce the number of hits you squad takes is gone. Boo! If you want worthwhile s10 attacks (at i4!), bring a Dreadnought.

Terminator armour.
Why is it good value? 2+ 5++ saves and Terminator honours for free.
Artificer armour, combat shield and Terminator honours (all the same stuff) is 20 more points and the only real benefit you get is being able to fit into a Rhino.

+++

Some of the following are all tooled up. The eggs are in one basket, but due to joining a squad they won’t be so easy to break, and will offer much in the way of offsetting the damage the squad will suffer in cc, even to other i4 warriors.
When you go tooled up, I recommend the Marshal over the Castellan. That one wound could keep him in the game for (at least) one more turn and you’ve already gone so far, you might as well take that last step 

Marshal. The Biggest Boy. 170 pts
PoLC, Terminator armour (includes T honours free), Adamantine mantle.
*Terminator armour restricts him by not being able to Rhino into battle.
5 A, 2+ 5++, Eternal warrior

Marshal. The Big Boy. 170 pts
PoLC, Artificer armour, Iron halo, Terminator honours
5 A, 2+ 4++.

A slight variation that allows for Rhino/ Razorback transportation and lets you run people down in cc.

Marshal. The Dasher. 180 pts
PoLC, Bike, Iron halo, Terminator honours

Marshal. The Bounder. 170 pts
PoLC, Jump pack, Iron halo, Terminator honours.

Marshal. 135 pts
PoLC, Iron halo

A slight variation between the two, different kinds of mobility.

Castellan. 120 pts
PoLC, Iron halo

Castellan. 106 pts
Power weapon, Iron halo, Bolt pistol

Reclusiarch. 111 pts
Terminator honours. Bolt pistol
5 A, 3+ 4++

Reclusiarch. The Bargain. 96 pts
Bolt pistol.
4 A, 3+ 4++

Reclusiarch. 136 pts
Terminator honours, Boltpistol, Jump pack, Melta bombs

Reclusiarch. 171 pts
Terminator honours, Plasma pistol, Artificer armour, Jump pack, Melta bombs

Holy Orb of Antioch, Melta bombs and other garnishes all have their uses (and will serve you well) but these are on the periphery compared to what is the guts of the IC, imo.

+++

Commander v Chaplain

These two IC both have strengths and weaknesses that contrast with each others.

The Commander:
Able to be custom build and tooled up with a far more optimal fit-out than the Chaplain. The Chaplain is stuck with a Power weapon (inferior to a Lightning claw) and the Rosarius (which makes Terminator armour ~ which is a good value combo pack, less of a good deal)

Rites of Battle
A quality army buff, especially useful for Foot, but still worthwhile in getting the best value out of Righteous Zeal.
Ld 8 = 26/36 or 72.2%
Ld 9 = 30/36 or 83.3%
Ld 10 = 33/36 or 91.6%

The more men you bring, the better RoB becomes. Naturally, the less you bring decreases RoB effect.

The Commander comes into his own in battles around 1500+ pts (say from >1000 pts)

The Chaplain:
Good value combo built in (even though not optimal)
A Castellan with power weapon and Iron Halo costs 10 more points for the same thing.
Unmatched Zeal
Adds Fearless to his unit and more control to his Righteous Zeal moves.
Litanies of Hate
Re-rolls in cc, works against things without WS, which is good for Assault squads with meltabombs, and on Neos

The Chaplain works well in < 1000 pt games as the 1st HQ because he is good value and you have less units (which means Rites of Battle is benefiting less units)
In games > 1000 pts, he loses effectiveness to the Commander (and his army wide buff) and becomes 2nd choice.

+++

Reclusiarch v Master of Sanctity

As I have hopefully shown, Chaplains are an excellent bang for buck IC when not built for cc, and a good portion of their value is buffing their unit’s to hit rolls
For this reason I believe the Master of Sanctity (with his extra wound and leadership ~ which is near useless for a fearless IC) is a less effective choice because the Chaplain’s main strength is being cheap and nasty.

However in some builds the MoS will work (such as in a low points cost game) but on the whole, the Reclusiarch is where it’s at.

+++

Marshal v Castellan

This one is much more of a horses for courses choice.
You want the incredible hulk to burst out from your LRC? - well both of them a pretty much even. But what makes the Marshal the better choice for the extreme end is his extra wound. You’ve poured so many points into him anyway, so a bit more to keep him alive seems worthwhile. This is especially true when you’ve forked out for an Adamantine Mantle (which actually works well for catching crack missiles)
Then you get his excellent 91% Leadership thrown in for RZ tests.

Now if you want a cheap vehicle for RoB, then the Castellan offers a strong 11% increase to leadership, whilst the Marshal only brings 8.5% on top of that.
The Castellan offers good bang for buck, especially when you don’t go overboard on the upgrade sauce. The Castellan is a good choice for those wanting best value for money.

.... but you could always show self restraint and not go crazy on the Marshal and have that extra point of Ld....

Righteous Zeal; how it works.

C:BT pg 23. "If an Infantry unit (including attached characters) is called upon to make a Morale check and passes it, then the unit must move towards the nearest visible enemy unit.  This is identical to a Consolidate move that has been achieved through a "Massacre" result and follows all the normal rules given in the 40K Rulebook.

BBB pg 40. ".... this means that they may move up to d6" in any direction."

SUMMARY:  The move must be made towards the nearest visible enemy unit.  So that is clear.
  May move up to d6".  0.01" is up to d6".  This renders the move as practically 0.  You don't have to take it, in effect.

Neophytes; worth taking?

Number crunching alert. 

Pure numbers disclaimer. That means it is theory and you, dear reader, have to make it work on your nearest table top 

Neophytes v Initiates with AAC. pitched against Ork boyz.

Shooting Scenario.
10 I: 10 bp shots / 6.6 hit / 3.3 wounds
16 N: 16 bp shots / 8 hit / 4 wounds.

I only score 82.5% = that is a big drop!

Charging Scenario.
10 I: 30 A / 22.5 hit / 11.25 wounds
16 N: 48 A / 24 hit / 12 wounds.

I score 93.75% = significant drop.

Being shot Scenario.
18 Shoota boyz; 36 shots / 12 h / 6 w = 2 dead I (32 pts) or 3 dead (30 pts)

I score 106.67% = significant drop.

Being charged (lets assume BT have already struck) 
18 Shoota boyz v Initiates; 48 A / 24 h / 12 w / 4 dead I (64 pts)

18 Shoota boyz v Neophites; 48 A / 31.68 h / 16 w / 8 dead N (80 pts)

N score 125% = They get absolutely belted. 

*Numbers-wise 5% is a reasonable difference. I know it might look small but when you add this up a few times over six turns it in fact makes a good sized difference.  

So Neos manage to surpass Initiates in quite a number of things, even with the fearsome AAC buff.
However, Neos really come apart in cc versus a superior ws foe.



I didn't want to give the actual results of Neophytes being in the minority for using WS (BBB: pg 37) to give the worst case scenario, so people are not surprised.  The Neos will get the protection of being in the minority AND give the benefit of being able to dish out slightly more damage and take the nasty hits. 
It is worth swapping a few Neos in. 

So where you have the room it is worth trading 2 I for 3 N. Then when Rokkits and armour ignoring hits come in your foe is really not getting his moneys worth from hit big hits.

Neophytes; Bolt pistol & sword versus Shotgun.

Shotguns v BP&S.
10 Neos v 10 Neos against Shoota boyz.
Shotguns; 20 shots, 10 hit, 3.3 w. 2 dead.
Boltpistols; 10 shots, 5 hits, 2.5 dead.
Charging shotguns. 20 A. 10 h. 5 w
Charging BP&S. 30 A. 15 h. 7.5 w.

BP&S do more shooting damage and more cc damage.
*Don't take shotguns, even if they look cool. At s3 they are not good enough. Somethings from 4th ed. are better, somethings are worse. Also even if shotguns had s4, you don't really want to do massive amounts of shooting damage. This gives your foe a chance to fail morale and flee from being charged, which was what you really wanted to do in the first place.

Predator Annihilator with Las Cannon sponsons.

3-las-Pred.
*LC v MM is a valid debate. My vote is both. Being able to hit a range is crucial for BT. Each crusader squad will probably be taking a meltagun. Giving the foe incentive to come close because of being poked by LCs, is gold for a cc army.
*Because of 4th ed pricing we get a smoke & ea 3-las-Pred for 153; UM pay 180.
combi-pred BT pay 133; UM pay 135.
dakka-pred BT pay 118; UM pay 100.
They are giving away 3-las-preds for us, and I argue we need them more than a UM does.