List Building: 1,000 Point Salamanders Army

As I mentioned in my previous List Building Post with Raven Guard, my next favorite Chapter when reading through the fluff is the Salamanders. As I may have mentioned, if I make a Space Marine army, I want to customize each model, giving them character and unique aspects to their armor, weapons, and equipment. This customization would work well for Salamanders, portraying their own artistry and artifice when it comes to their equipment.

Again, I started with an HQ choice, and opted to start with a Captain. Considering the artisan/craftsman theme, I felt it almost mandatory that he have artificer armor. I also gave him a combi-flamer, which could be master crafted thanks to the second part of the Salamanders Chapter Tactic. I also wanted to add a Librarian (obviously taking Pyromancy nine times out of ten) and will upgrade him to level two if I have the points.

Next up was troops. Again, I opted for the smaller squads considering the low point level and my initial desire to get as many flamers as I could to benefit from the chapter tactic. I started with three because that's about the bare minimum scoring units I would ever want to take in 6th. I decided to give one unit a Multi-melta so I could have a little bit of high strength/anti-armor fire.

Moving on to the Heavy Support, this is where I really went to town, adding what I felt was an obligatory Land Raider Redeemer (AP3? yes please!). I also added in a devastator squad with four multi-meltas for more anti-tank. The short range is a problem, but Lascannons were more expensive and just didn't feel right.

With my remaining points, I went to the one squad I could give a heavy flamer - Sternguard. Five of them in a drop pod with 2 heavy flamers should do nicely.

Toying with my few remaining points, I opted to give the Libby level 2 and put one of the flamer tacticals in a drop pod, which gives me the below list:

Captain: Artificer Armor, Master-Crafted Combi-flamer (120pts)
Librarian: Mastery Level 2, Master-Crafted Force Weapon (90pts)
5 Sternguard Veterans: 2 Heavy Flamers, Sergeant w/MC Bolter, Drop Pod (175pts)
5 Tactical Marines: Flamer, Sergeant w/MC Bolter, Drop Pod (110pts)
5 Tactical Marines: Flamer, Sergeant w/MC Bolter (75pts)
5 Tactical Marines: Multi-melta, Sergeant w/MC Bolter (80pts)
5 Devastators: 4 Multi-Meltas. Sergeant w/MC Bolter (110pts)
Land Raider Redeemer (240pts)

I will freely admit that this army is probably more thematic than it is competitive. It lacks in both ranged weaponry and close combat (though that's a little less important in 6th). The short range is mitigated somewhat by the drop pods and Land Raider. The Sternguard would almost always be the first turn pod, with Captain and/or Librarian accompanying. Depending on the situation, the devastators could begin in the Land Raider for protection and a slightly increased first turn move to close the gap to enemy armor. If I think they'll be ok as deployed, then the flamer tac squad would mount up, possibly with HQ support and jump out to roast something, though the Redeemer should be quite capable in that regard.

I did notice when flipping back through the book that, with 2 HQs and 3 troops, adding an allied detachment with another chapter tactic could be viable. In particular, making one tac squad, an HQ (probably the Captain), and the Devastators an Imperial Fist based chapter would make the Devastators all the more deadly to armor and buildings, not that I've seen many buildings in my local tourney. Arguably, that could be a nice push to upgrade to Lascannons as well, though Plasma is tempting, freeing them slightly from the Salamanders theme. Points for that might have to come from the tac drop pod or mastery level on the Libby.

While the idea is cool, I'm thinking that at this point value, adding in allied detachments with Space Marines can make it a little hard to have a cohesive force and really take advantage of the benefits of multiple Chapter Tactics.