I don't play IG, but my friend who's starting Epic with me is going to be starting a Steel Legion army. He can't figure out why he'd use regular infantry over stormtroopers, and I don't know what to tell him. Is it just a numbers game? If I'm playing Space Marines, is there still a numbers problem with stormtroopers? He points to their armor save and assault capability and mere 50pt difference (same cost to mechanize them).

I might end up playing against a strange army based on artillery companies and stormtroopers... so what does infantry do that stormtroopers can't?

Infantry come in companies, Storm Troopers come in support formations, which is the most important distinction. Infantry Companies gives you access to other yummy support formations while Storm Troopers compete with them for slots. Artillery Companies and Tank Companies are problematic in that they are big, expensive formations, and the Artillery Company especially is very vulnerable to such Marine specialties as Air Assaults, Drop armies and teleporting Terminators.

In addition, that extra 50 points buys you 4 infantry stands and a command stand, and the infantry has 45cm range as opposed to the 15cm range of the storm troopers. They have almost identical AP attacks (7x AP5+ vs 8x AP5+), although the Storm Troopers have better AT attacks. And although it costs the same to mechanize the formations, the infantry gets 7 chimeras while the storm troopers only get 4 valkyries. Finally infantry companies have access to upgrades (but a quick glance at the Epic UK tournament lists shows only Hydras being taken).

Don't know what you are looking at - a quick glance show infantry co taking extra infantry, fire support + hydras, with the most common choice being fire support.

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Like I said, a quick glance - at lists with winning records. Went over it in more detail now, and of the infantry formations (reg hq, mech company and inf company) 21 took hydras or no upgrades and 8 took other upgrades, so I did miss a few formations. Only looked at lists who won more than they lost.

Well, we’re about ready to order figures from GW (and other sources), and my friend decided to go with…
Regimental HQ
Infantry Company (on foot) + fire support platoon
Tank Company
Stormtrooper Platoon in Valkyries
Stormtrooper Platoon in Valkyries
Stormtrooper Platoon in Valkyries
Stormtrooper Platoon in Valkyries
Sentinel Squadron

That’s going to be a lot of money in Valkyries. And strange to play against.

Wait for the exodus wars valk transport to be released next month

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I calculate the Forgeworld Valkyries as costing a tiny bit more than the GW models, based on the last currency conversion I paid and 15% FW shipping (compared to free GW shipping). My friend isn’t much of a modeler anyway, I think he’s safer with the metal figures. On the other hand, he likes the Valkyries for the way they look, so he’s not likely to use something completely different. But I think the cost is giving him second thoughts about the third and fourth Stormtrooper platoons.

Stormtroopers themselves, and fire support squads, can definitely be proxied. And the AOTs do seem awesome – I need to order some Sleepy Cows anyway, and a Manchurian just for the modeling awesomeness.

Just thought I’d provide an update. We’ve only played 2000pt “practice games” so far, but my friend has gone with a Stormtrooper-heavy list using Exodus Wars Valkyries (pretty much the same size as GW Valkyries). HQ, Inf. Co., a few upgrades (fire support and ogryns) and 3 mounted Stormtrooper platoons.

I’ve been using an Ork list, pretty standard stuff (a bit of everything) in small formations and relatively many activations. No luck, his Stormtrooper platoons slaughter me every which way. My formations are too small and early-game Valkyrie rocket pod fire breaks them (and due to their size they tend to stay broken). I then have trouble coordinating assaults against the Stormtrooper formations due to their mobility.

At this point we’re still figuring out the rules so it’s too early for me to really ask for help. We also need more terrain (real life is getting in the way of both more experience and more terrain). But I may come back for it…

Keep in mind that knocking out a few of those valkyries will limit his mobility great deal. Big guns have a TK upgrade available yes? Garrison a couple of those in cover and you could do some damage. Also, a big formation of fighter-bombers may be what the doctor ordered...

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Let us playtest like the Greeks of old... You know the ones I mean

A fighta bomma every day,
keeps the stormtroopers away ?