Why do we not see more units of Noise Marines on the table? Possibly because Plague Marines and Bezerkers are the "obvious choices" in the book. The interwebz tells us that old codexes only have one way to play competitively, and all other choices are suck. Now while based in truth, this generalization can really keep people from finding out that some units are exactly what their army needed.
All the fellers can switch from the regular ol' bolter to the Sonic Blaster, essentially making their bolter either Assault 2 or Heavy 3. Doesnt sound like much but being able to double tap a bolter then charge in at I5 with 3 attacks a piece is sweet.
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| I like to think that they rock out to Poison and White Snake while they flay the skin from Your Bones |
Then one dude can get the almighty Blastmaster. This may be my favorite gun in the effin game. It has two different settings, an assault and a heavy, that both cause pinning. The assault is basically a heavy bolter with one less shot. Okay, not too bad. The heavy is where it gets fun. Imagine a krak missile with a small blast. Yeah, buh bye MEQs. This thing is awesome. It can pop tanks, kill infantry, take out heavy infantry, I mean it can do it all.
The last cool thing is the Doom Siren. It is a champion upgrade, and it packs a wallop. It is a heavy flamer that is ap3. Let me repeat that. It is an AP 3 Flamer. Basically you roll up to your opponent and say, "Lets play pick up your marines on a 3+". This unit now has a crapton of killin power.
Now comes the question, "Well how do we use these guys?". Well glad you asked. This unit can't take a beating like plague marines, Nor can it charge into battle like Bezerkers. The Noise Marines are more of a thinking man's unit. I tend to run Chaos squads in their sacred number, as I think it brings good luck, and it also tends to put the unit at the right point cost, not too high nor too low.
Therefore I run them in squads of 6 in a rhino. I start them out as fire support, sitting on my objective in C&C, anchoring the back line and using their blastmasters to take out high priority targets, while the rest of the army surges forward. This gives your army a solid choice for objective sitting, while giving you a few more shots.
The great thing about these guys is their ability to protect your objectives. I am currently running two squads. Now to the untrained opponent, 12 guys in rhinos on an objective doesn't seem like much. This is where the unit excels. These puppies. can pop out and dump 8 Bolter shots, 2 Heavy Bolter shots, and a AP 3 flamer shot per unit. Then you charge in and wipe out whats left. Very little can take that many shots and the subsequent charge.
For an example, here is the list that I am currently runnin.
Abaddon
7x Plague Marines
...2x Melta, Fisty Champ w/ combimelta
Land Raider - EA, Dozer Blade
Kharn the Betrayer
8x Zerkers
...Fisty Champ
Land Raider - EA, Dozer Blade
2x6 Noise Marines
...4x Sonic Blasters, Blastmaster, Champ w/ Doom Siren
Rhino
2x Oblits
1999pts.
In this list, the 2 Raiders are free to go and rock face and such, while my Noise Marines hang back and hold my objective (or the closest ones to my side of the board). With pure 'Zerker and Nurgle armies, it sucks leaving one of those squads back, with Noise Marines, you won't have to.They excel at this fire support role, but are no slouch when the enemy closes in.
Well thats all for today, I have been having a blast pulling the Chaos out and giving them a whirl. It is fun to watch a list out of an outdated codex play well, and if you've got your chaos on the shelf, I encourage you to pull 'em out and let the most characterful army in 40k march the fields of battle once again for the Dark Pantheon. Until next time, Grizz Out!
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