The following army has really been my pride and joy since the end of 4th edition, though I’ve owned the models considerably longer than that. I started up a Salamanders list back in 3rd edition for a number of reasons, first and foremost being that I thought it would be fun to play with 3 Vindicators, and the chapter’s background support brutal, “up close and personal” combat tactics.

At some point during 4th edition I modified the list and made it fully mechanized because, hey, tanks are cool. Fully mechanized marines were garbage in 4th edition, so it became my non-competitive, “fun” army. Of course, that didn’t stop people from crying cheese the moment they saw me plunk 3 Vindicators down on the table. And yet no one ever complained about the retardedly overpowered combos I had in my Alpha Legion tournament list. Go figure.

I eventually took a long hiatus from Warhammer and returned after the new Chaos codex had been released and completely raped my favorite army. I didn’t find playing Lash all that interesting, so I made the conscious decision to make my Salamanders a competitive army, and to continue with the “in your face” play style.

5th edition came along and my already mechanized army got a huge boost, but I got a taste for using Drop Pods in the ‘Ard Boys semi-finals and decided to stick with them at the 1750 point level. I really liked the tactical advantage of being able to accurately drop pretty much anywhere I wanted and not having to rely on AV11 Rhinos to get across the board. That, and I liked the models (still do).

Here’s what I currently use as my all-comers (and tournament) list:

---

HQ
190 – Vulkan He’stan

ELITES
240 – 6 Assault Terminators (Thunder hammer + storm shield)

TROOPS
255 – 10 Tactical Space Marines (Drop Pod w/ locator beacon, power fist, meltagun, combi-melta, missile launcher)
255 – 10 Tactical Space Marines (Drop Pod w/ locator beacon, power fist, meltagun, combi-melta, missile launcher)
230 – 10 Tactical Space Marines (Drop Pod w/ locator beacon, meltagun, combi-melta, missile launcher)

FAST ATTACK
140 – 2 Land Speeders (Multi-melta, heavy flamer)
140 – 2 Land Speeders (Multi-melta, heavy flamer)
70 – 1 Land Speeder (Multi-melta, heavy flamer)

HEAVY SUPPORT
115 – Vindicator
115 – Vindicator

---

Crafting an effective Salamanders list

With Vulkan leading my army it’s difficult to pass up on MM/HF Land Speeders. For only 70 points, this vehicle provides the biggest bang for your buck in a Salamanders list by far. With their heavy flamer re-rolls they simply annihilate anything not in power armor, and the multi-melta is the best anti-tank weapon around. Their mobility not only allows you to position weapons for maximum effect, but also to block enemy movement. Sure, they can still charge you, but if you did it right your opponent will need 6’s to hit. The skimmer wall is the single best way to protect infantry, hands-down. This tactic works especially well with squadrons. These models are game-winners, pure and simple.

Assault Terminators also get a massive boost from Vulkan due to the master-crafted bonus. Many people question taking these guys without a Land Raider, but they honestly don’t need it. I’ll get to that in a minute.

I realize that Drop Pods are not the optimal delivery method for Tactical Squads, but I’ve decided to build my list around them knowing this. This army plays extremely aggressively and has performed very well (top 3) for me locally in a number (8) of large (40-person) tournaments over the past year.

That being said, this is not a power list. It does, however, stomp most people who fail to understand how it works.

How it works

Since I’m forced to send two of my pods in first turn, I always choose to go second when given the opportunity. Smart opponents will start in reserve, which sucks for me, but some armies can’t afford to. I deep strike aggressively to maximize damage (especially with Vulkan’s heavy flamer) and to draw the enemy in.

Most people see 20 Tactical Marines unsupported in the middle of their army and think, “Hey, free Troop kills!” and proceed to throw the kitchen sink at them. Have fun. Shooty armies get in rapid fire range while assault troops move in to charge, which is exactly what I want you to do. If you can kill 20 Tactical Marines that’s fine because that leaves you right by my Drop Pods.

With their locator beacons, the Drop Pods are the linchpins of the army. These beacons act as force multiplers, allowing me to deep strike precisely with 5 Land Speeders and 6 Assault Terminators, maximizing the amount of damage they can cause. You might have killed 2/3 of my scoring units (if you’re lucky), but now you’re going to take a much more brutal counter-attack. If you haven’t escaped the kill zone by now, you probably won’t.

This strategy is enhanced in objective-based missions because my opponent will be forced to split his army, allowing the bulk of my offensive to concentrate on a fraction of his units, crushing them. My offensive units are then quick enough to engage the remaining enemy units on the other side of the board on later turns. The Vindicators straddle the No Man’s Land area in between, hanging back far enough to mount a solid defense.

My third Drop Pod is what I use to take objectives. I’ll either drop the unit on top of a mid-field objective and combat squad or simply walk on from the board edge and drop the pod to contest. My first wave is essentially an expendable decoy, despite its heavy price tag. They form the anchor for my reserves, which are there to hit the enemy when most vulnerable and then to contest objectives in later turns.

That’s about it. It has weaknesses and is certainly not unbeatable, but it works.