Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Militarum Tempestus(7E)

This is not a codex supplement. This is its own Codex. It would have been nice if it were a supplement, but no, instead you are stuck with your five unit choices, no relics, no named characters and not even any Forgeworld goodies. (Actually, according to FW emails, they consider MT to be the same as AM, so they do get the goodies, kinda, maybe....)

What you'll find here is a mini-force of Storm Troopers, because that's what they are. In a (somewhat) surprising show of laziness, there are no special relics for this force, forcing you to use what you have, but lose the use of anything else besides the Troopers, Commissars, Tauroxes, and Valkyries.

Also curious is that, unlike the aforementioned other e-codices, this one lacks the ability to be a unique detachment, meaning you're wasting your allies slot if you take them. Just make sure you actually need these stormies before placing them as allies. As you can now have an unlimited amount of Allied Detachments (if you so desire), you can bring them alongside whatever else you want.

Why Play Militarum Tempestus

Storm troopers/ Scions are one of the most powerful infantry units in the game, able to take on MEQs in a shoot out. Also you are sick of humans being nothing more than cannon fodder and want to prove that we can be awesome too, plus you like the saying "this will be our moment of glory" and telling space marines off! Not to mention that despite what some people may think, you can create a competitive list and are able of taking on marine armies of the same size.

Warlord Traits

1: Dauntless Commander - Warlord gets Fearless. With your limited numbers, the ability to remain in the fight becomes even more valuable.
2: Grenadier - Any frag and krak grenades the Warlord throws get twin-linked. Meltabombs and krak genades used in combat get Tank Hunters. If you're willing to throw down for meltabombs, you might as well see how much luck you'll get out of them. Twin-linked Kraks also sound rather nice against light armor. And yet another retrospective look into something that makes us question the new "one greneade per phase" F̶u̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶b̶u̶l̶l̶s̶h̶i̶t̶ rule. Doesn't matter, Twin-Linked doesn't affect Melee attacks, and that's what the one 'nade per phase rule makes happen.
3: Intrepid Leader - All Tempestus units within 12" of Warlord gain Stubborn. Alright for a trait.
4: Grav-Chute Commandos - All deep-striking units can re-roll reserves. Also, the warlord and his detatchment only roll d6" when deep-striking. If playing deep strike heavy, you want this.
5: Drill Chief - Any Tempestus units firing Hot-Shot Lasguns/Laspistols within 6" of the Warlord gain 6" extra range provided they didn't move in the last movement phase. If using an army smothered with deep striking and transports it's utterly useless.
6: Inspired Commander - Warlord gets +1 Leadership. Um....yay? (It's utterly wasted if you use a Lord Commissar, actually not bad considering it adds to the Clarion vox array rule, 18" LD10 bubble is nothing to sniff at)

Equipment

Ranged

Tempestors, Tempestor Primes, and Commissars can take from these.

Bolt Pistol: Tried and true. 1 Shot at S4 AP5. However, the Hot shot laspistol's AP3. Weigh carefully: better AP and less range, or better strength and more range? At least it's a free option this time around. Commissars start out with this by default.
Boltgun: Commissar (Lord) only. While you lose the extra attack in CC, you get 2 S4 AP5 shots at BS4-5. Adding to a unit's ranged dakka is never a bad idea, especially when it's free!
Plasma Pistol: Sure a 4+ will save better against Gets Hot! But is it worth the risk paying the full price of a Plasma Gun for 1 shot at 12"? No. This thing is badly overcosted for what it does. Skip, unless you're in a suicide melta squad: the extra shot will be useful then, the range will not be a problem, and you'll probably die before overheating becomes a problem.

Special Weapons

Your Scions can take 2 of these and the Command Squad can take up to 4 of these.

Flamer: S4 AP5 template. It's only 5 points, so if you expect to see lots of hordes it's okay. Against anything with 4+ or better, though, Hotshot Volley Guns are probably more attractive.
Grenade Launcher: Either a Frag Grenade blast or a single-shot Krak Grenade. BS 4 makes the Krak Grenade option decent-ish... But then, why not just take 4 meltaguns in your Command Squad and ninja Deep Strike behind a tank?
Hotshot Volley Gun: Salvo 2/4. Good for a defensive fire base. Actually quite awesome when you make a command squad with 4 of these guys throwing out 16 S4 AP 3 shots each turn if they stand still. Giving these to your Ground Assault Formation can be quite funny against medium and heavy infantry armies. Kill a bunch of them and Pin the rest!
Meltagun: Same old dedicated anti-tank. Take 2 five-man Suicide Scions squads with 2 of these each and watch that Landraider or Baneblade weep bloody tears.
Plasma Gun: With 4+ armor, you'll save better against Gets hot! Gets even better with the Twin-linking or Preferred Enemy orders. Former because re-roll all to hit rolls while the latter not only works around Gets Hot! but also makes up for rolling 1s to wound.

Melee Weapons

Please just skip this section. Yes, your Tempestor has decent melee stats. But like Dark Eldar, your melee trappings are not nearly as important as your shooting power. Unlike the standard Guardsmen who can combine these with weight of numbers, your tiny MSU army of Scions don't have that kind of staying power so the Assault phase is usually not recommended. Still, if you think it's worth it, take a look.

Power Weapons: Comes in standard Sword, Maul, Axe and Lance forms. Honestly, if you're looking here, you should probably grab an axe. At I3, you're probably striking last already (Except against Tau, Non-Mark of Slaanesh Cultists, Imperial Guard or Sisters of Battle) and having S4 and AP2 will serve you well. Power Mauls on Tempestor Primes work decently for finishing off a tank if the Meltas can't get it--but then, a Plasma Pistol for the same cost may serve you better.
Power Fist: 25 points. Skip the fuck out of this, you can afford a full Plasma Gun and Melta Gun instead.

Special Issue Wargear

Only available to Lord Commissars. Really limited options that challenge the Commissar's abilities.

Meltabombs: S8 AP1 Unwieldy close combat grenades that have armorbane. Works surprisingly well on overconfident vehicle commanders.
Carapace Armor: A step up from the Lord Commissar's shitty 5+ save. Puts you in line with your Glory Boys with a 4+. Even if it's expensive, you need this on your Lord Commissar.
Platoon Standard: Counts as special issue wargear, but is limited to the Tempestus Command Squad. All it does is add +1 to Combat Res.
Medi-pack: Also limited to the Command Squad. 5+ Feel No Pain. Would be great...if you weren't doubled out by S6 or higher (Insta-Death ignores FnP). Perhaps the 1 use for it is a max plasma holding squad (3 Plasma Guns, Tempestor Prime with Plasma Pistol, and Commissar with Plasma Pistol and 1 guy holding the medi-pack) with the Directed Firestorm (Twin-linked) or Autonomous Fire (Preferred Enemy) orders so you can rain TEQ-killing hell on your opponents. It is however considered mandatory if a command squad is your warlord, to avoid giving a Kill the Warlord victory point too easily and to protect your valuable source of orders.

Vehicle Equipment

Your stormies get access to the same vehicle equipment their fellow guardsmen get, alongside the Extra Armor, Stormbolter, Hunter-Killer, Searchlight, and Smoke Launcher options.

Recovery gear: If your vehicle gets immobilized, roll a D6 at the end of your movement phase. On a 6, your vehicle is no longer immobilized which is amazing. Interestingly it doesn't restore a hull point but who can complain about a slight chance to get your Taurox Prime moving again?
Relic Plating: Gives the vehicle Adamantium Will. Thanks to the addition of the Technomancy Psychic Table, this equipment gets a new lease on life.
Fire Barrels: The first unit charging your GLAHSS BAWKSES take D6 S4 AP5 auto-hits. Pretty much a 1-use flamer for your Tauroxes.
Augur Array: No scatter for friendly Deepstriking units within 6" of the vehicle equipped with this. Useful if you have scions without metal boxes or have a deepstrike heavy allied detachment (Grey Knights, Dark Angels, Blood Angels, Drop Pods). Now if only we could get these on Valkyries...
Camo-netting: Gives the vehicle +1 to Cover saves, or a 6+ Cover save in the open. Extremely useful on the Taurox Prime.

Unit Analysis

HQ

Commissar/Lord Commissar - You've dealt with these guys before in the standard AM, they won't be too different here. Just remember that his effectiveness will seriously be put to the test since the Scions lack the raw manpower of the rank-and-file. This means that *BLAM*ming a goon costs much more than it normally would. The fact that the Command-Vox Net provides excellent morale to most of the Scion army means that these guys' morale-boosting abilities are not really needed, and the fact that they cannot give orders means that they are a very inferior choice to Tempestus Command Squads: take them only if you really have to because of formation rules, or are masochhistic and insane.

Tempestus Command Squad - They run like a basic command squad, with the need to buy stuff in exchange for their ability to shoot. However, their power is marred by the lack of advisers for use, though the ones that can fire gain the good stuff.
- A good option for them is to run them with the Hot-shot volley guns, the 2/4 salvo gun allows the squad to punch above what its number alone would suggest, and allow the squad a decent amount of fire power even if you go with a vox caster and medi-pack (the squad is too small to benefit from a banner). 4 Hot-Shot volley guns hidden in a fortification are an excellent warlord option and will statistically kill entire squads of marines each turn, usually making their points back by turn 2, 3 at the latest.
- The fact that these guys can run 4 meltaguns and twin-link them reliably makes them an excellent unit for murdering those large super-heavy vehicles that will mow through your puny 4+ saves en masse. This loadout usually also comes with a Tempestor with a plasma pistol, because if you're doing this kind of suicidally risky attack Gets Hot is no longer your main problem - return fire is. MOAR FIREPOWER!!!
- Another good option is to take the med-pack and outfit the 3 special weapons as plasma guns. The feel no pain means these men are more likely to survive a gets hot than another squad of scions.

Troops

Tempestus Scions - Unlike the basic Militarum Codex, these guys are incapable of platooning it up, making each one a LOT more valuable. They are equipped with Hotshot Lasguns which are AP3 but at only S3, you are better off getting your special weapons guy do the talking. They still get to run the options they normally do though.
- With orders, these guys can pretty much deal with anything. Have a problem with the lasguns wounding on 5's or 6's? "Suppression Doctrine Sanctioned!", now they wound on 4's. One squad with this order and plasma guns have a really solid chance at killing an avatar of khaine at 12" away. Need just 1 more glance after your meltas to take this vehicle down? "Elimination Protocol Sanctioned!" Now you actually have a solid chance at making that happen without having to resort to another squad firing. Get the idea?
- These guys can hit way above their size if you have careful placement and keep their command squads alive. The codex may be small, but the synergy between the units is absolutely key.

Dedicated Transports

Taurox Prime - The Troopers gain the neater Taurox, with a lighter form of battlecannon/ TL punisher gatling minus a strength and with only ten shots OR a two-shot missile launcher in standard frag and krak. Also, don't forget the twin-linked side Hotshot Volleygun which can be swapped with a TL Autocannon for free. Its great weakness still stands, as it's still as flimsy as papier mache. Note that if it's not taken as a Dedicated Transport, it counts as Fast Attack - ~~allied battle brothers may utilize.~~ new FAQ, allies can't start in each others transports. Note: That doesn't mean they can't use them at all though.
- This thing is usually shit on for being rather overcosted for what it does and it's durability, but if you compare it to the Blood Angels razorback it's honestly not all that bad. For 15 more points than the fast razorback you get twin-linked autocannons/hot-shot volley guns (both of which are better than a twin linked heavy bolter, most of the time) and an autocannon blast template. On top of that you get another 4 transport capacity, what is essentially a free dozer blade, and 4 fire points rather than zero. All of this at the cost of 1 side AV. It's not really bad for its points, just fair.

Fast Attack

Valkyrie Squadron - Because of the decreased volume of troops, transport becomes more valuable. TAKE ONE NOW. Non-dedicated transport, ~~so allied battle brothers may utilize.~~ new FAQ, allies can't start in each others transports.

Tactics

Hey, do you like Dark Eldar but would rather go for the Imperium? Then the Militarium Tempestus is for you, son!

On paper, the Militarium Tempestus has the ability to strike hard and fast, and with AP3 shooting at BS4, anything short of Space Marine Terminators need to beware them, and their ability to Deep Strike is just icing on the cake. However, Tempestus armies depend upon having a plan and executing it successfully, and if the plan works, you'll have cut the enemy off at the head. If it fails, then a 4+ Armour save and Toughness of 3 will mean the enemy's retaliation will seriously cripple you - and you do not have the numbers of the IG or the reliable saving throws of the Space Marines to balance this out.

Playing these guys in short is like playing as Dark Eldar - if you can strike hard and fast enough, you will cripple your opponent. However, if you screw up anywhere, it is you who will screw yourself over, so be careful.

On a side note, team up with Inquisition or Grey Knights for Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, or Sisters of Battle and Inquisition if you remember Witch Hunters.

Also consider since they have move through cover, scattering out of a Valkyrie means jack to them. They can still mishap, but any dangerous terrain test the Scions are called on to make is a joke.

Orders

Unlike the ordinary Astra Militarum, the Tempestus forces have their own unique orders.

Directed Firestorm Sanctioned! - When shooting, the ordered unit gets twin-linked.
Autonomous Fire Sanctioned! - Ordered Unit gets Preferred Enemy when shooting a target.
Close Assault Doctrine Sanctioned! - Ordered unit gets Crusader for the rest of the turn.
Advance on Target! - Ordered unit gets Fleet for the rest of the turn.
Suppression Doctrine Sanctioned! - Ordered units firing Hot-Shot Laspistols/Lasguns can only fire one shot, but that shot gets Sniper and Pinning. Also, the scions cannot charge in the assault phase.
Elimination Protocol Sanctioned! - Ordered unit gets Rending against an enemy MC/Vehicle.

You may have noticed these orders are not as clear-cut as standard Guard orders; a lot of them seem like they're trying to do the same thing. But generally you can split them into two categories: 'Move' orders and 'Shoot' orders (unlike Guard, there is no 'Forwards, For the Emperor!' equivalent so you can't run and shoot at the same time). Let's talk about each in turn:

'Move' Orders - 'Advance on Target!' and 'Close Assault Doctrine Sanctioned!' fall here. If you're just trying to move across the battlefield, ironically CAD is the better order, since it gets you 2D6-take-the-highest instead of a simple reroll. If you're trying to get into an assault, AoT is the better order since it affects charge distances, while CAD does not. However, if you're about to charge some Tau, or similarly weaker-than-Guard troops, and you're certain you can make the charge, CAD can help you sweep a big blob.
'Shoot' Orders - These are more complicated. The desireable order depends on what you're shooting (obviously), with the big differences being between shooting at Infantry, Vehicles, and MC's:
- Shooting at Infantry: For most enemies your best order is 'Autonomous Fire Sanctioned!'; Preferred enemy is slightly better than Twin-Linking (about 0.5% better, if you run the math). However, if you have lots of Hot-Shot Lasguns and you're outside 12", 'Suppression Doctrine Sanctioned!' becomes the best order. It's also the best order within 12" if you have lots of HSL's and your target is toughness 5 and above, or if your target has a 2+ save, because Sniper shots get Rending on a to-wound roll of 6.
- Shooting at MC's: This one's a bit all over the place. You now have access to 'Elimination Protocol Sanctioned!'. This is best against MC's with a 2+ save, if you're not using melta/plasma. if you ARE using melta/plasma, AFS is the best order instead; if you're not using melta/plasma and the target doesn't have a 2+ save, you'll get the most mileage out of SDS, since that 4+ to wound is godly (unless you're fighting a Gargantuan Monstrous Creature - sniper doesn't work on them).
- Shooting at Vehicles: For meltas, 'Directed Firestorm Sanctioned!' finally gets some use, since you don't need Rending and Preferred Enemy doesn't work on penetration rolls. For plasma, volley guns, and everything else, EPS can get you a lucky pen on weaker vehicles (and in the case of Plasma you can pen Land Raiders).
Note that Blast weapons are not affected by Preferred Enemy, so DFS gets some additional use if you have lots of Grenade Launchers or are manning a Macro-Cannon emplacement.

Allies

Battle Brothers As a rule, either through mass number like the Militarum, or good saves like marines or sisters have, the battle brothers of the Tempestus are the "anvil" to the hammer of the small numbers of Scions.

Astra Militarum - ~~If you run AM as your primary detachment and aren't taking other allies, a good way to get Scions as scoring troops (as opposed to their elite role within the AM codex)~~ NOT ANYMORE, 7th EDITION. Now that you don't need Troops to hold your Objectives, the only need for Scion Troops is for them to have Objective Secured, or because you have filled out your Elite slots with Scions and want even more of them. If Scions are your main detachment, the AM can provide the numbers and heavy artillery that the Scions lack.
Adepta Sororitas - They don't have anything better than you besides their AoF and power armor, so if you're expecting something effective out of this, don't waste your breath. If you want Power Armored infantry anchoring your force, Space Marines are stronger and faster for a little bit more points, they can bring flamers too, just not effectively. As for ranged shooting? Say hello to Grav-cannons and Legion of the Damned. Seriously.
Blood Angels - More Deep Strike with your Deep Strike. Supplements the Blood Angels' Assaults with AP3 mid-range shooting and MOAR special weapons.
Dark Angels - Amazing allies. ~~Ravenwing have Teleport Homers out the ass, so your deepstrike is more reliable.~~ Except for the part where Teleport Homers only work on Terminators? Are your Scions THAT heavily armored? Vise versa, MT as allies brings them the fliers they need, and cheap scoring units (When put aside with Deathwing) makes their job easier in hunting ~~the Fallen Angels of the chapter~~ ~~Cypher~~THE ENEMY OF THE EMPEROR THAT HAS NO RELATIONS WITH THE DARK ANGELS!! (Or Cypher...)
Deathwatch - Imagine Space Marine Sternguard as an army unto itself. These guys bring more deep striking along with the chance to hit enemies very hard with Heavy Thunderhammers, Powerfists with Auxiliary Meltaguns, and various other tricks.
Imperial Knights - Taking these things can take a fuckton of heat from you. Just make sure the Knight can actually survive whatever you throw it at.
Inquisition - These guys are excellent. Even a barebones inquisitor with servo skulls allows your deep strikes to become far more precise. Not only that, they can take flexible amounts something you lack sorely: HIGH STRENGTH SHOOTING. Throw 5 Jokaero in a Chimera to powerwash hordes with Heavy Flamer templates, or stick them in the backfield to pop off lascannon shots from within their metal box. Give your Malleus Inquisitor a hellrifle for an S6 version of your lasgun, or hand that Xenos guy a conversion beamer to blast dudes from across the table. Melee units are relatively lackluster because of T3, but you can get cheap Razorbacks and Chimeras with psybolts (+1 S to all bolters) and fairly cheap bodies and firepower with Acolytes (taking either normal bolters or storm bolters). Psykers are good too with prescience, or even psychic shriek (and praying for invisibility).
- Officio Assassinorum - Not an official army, but you can take one of the 4 assassins for a specialized killer in your army. The Vindicare takes care of ranged threats, the Callidus pops out and kills the HVI of the enemy, the Culexus for anti-psyker killing, and the Eversor for just plain killing. If that's not enough, take the Execution Force Formation to get all 4. It's a big points sink, but each Assassin is a huge threat on its own.
Grey Knights - "I never created anything called Grey Knights." Emperor Text to Speech jokes aside, they are similar to the Inquisition. They make up their lack of ability to be a free allies detachment and being the Warlord with lots of psykers and being great in close combat with close range dakka.
Legion of the Damned - They might have some good armor, but don't trust on them to be there for you unless you made them warlord and rolled Never Too Late, Never Too Early. Don't forget to nab another ally, though.
Space Marines - Can take quite a few locator beacons to drop your guys where you want. A few drop pods and a scout bike squad can keep the enemy penned up and ready for the scions to drop in.
Space Wolves - Grey Hunters, Thunderwolf Cavalry, Long Fangs and Wolf Guards? Oh my, the Wolf chapter have a lot of options to take indeed. Their flyers are a really helpful way to deliver more forces to the field with the massive capacity of the Stormwolf or the devastating power of the Stormfang. They're also capable of bringing some big firepower if you opt to take all the free Lone Wolves you can get.

Allies of Convenience

Eldar - A Psyker-heavy army. There's nothing the Eldar can bring in this respect that the Inquisition can't do better while being able to make the most of Allied Transports and ally at the Battle Brothers level. (Powerful jetbikes? or even any bikes for that matter?)

Desperate Allies

Dark Eldar - Why not? Tactically, the Scions play very like dark eldar: get go fast, hit hard and die easily. The Dark eldar could either be used to bring some punch to a deep striking army (with webway portal and/or deep striking vehicles), or to give some more mobile firepower to your army (ravagers are better than Tauroxes). The thing is, a lot of good Dark Eldar builds these days revolve around Haemonculi who don't go that well with Scions except as bullet-soakers and psychic defence (with the new artefact).
Tau - If all else fails, you can mix the heavier and longer ranged weapons of the Tau to take on Vehicles and heavy targets while the scions would take the lighter targets that are coming at the gun lines. Definitely a pretty nice combination if you deep strike scions before an oncoming horde.

Come the Apocalypse

Necrons - Pretty good: with your special formation and AirCron tactics, you can totally overload the board in Flyers. Could be fun!
Chaos Space Marines - Well... I'm sure there is some reason to do this. Maybe to provide a distraction while Maulerfiends run up the field?
Chaos Daemons - More deepstriking units to a deepstriking army, no thanks. Although some Khorne units for assaults. Or some nurgle units to soak up the heavy fire. (Cough, Beasts of ~~Nurgle~~ Hugs and magic!)

Orks - Because Orks
Tyranids - Nope. They bring nothing to MT that someone else wouldn't do better, and MT doesn't bring anything that Tyranids coulnd't do better(AP3?).

Formations

This is the first book to have formations with regular detachments and unit stats in the same book. It is how these guys can be a full army at any point level.

Airborne Assault Squadron - A Commissar, a Command Squad, and 3 Scions take 4 Valkyries as transport (And the Commissar must join one of the squads). Aside from the normal counts-as-one-unit Reserves rule, the formation also allows re-rolls for Grav-Chute Insertions and all disembarking units (Even by Grav-Chute) gain Split Fire and Twin-Linked. Just don't go thinking that you're gonna impress those Deffwing boys there.

Ground Assault Formation - The troops are the same as above, but now replace their Valkyries with Taurox Primes. This allows the them to begin on-field, but doing so forces them all to be on-field or force them all to be in Reserves (Which counts them all as one unit). Now any disembarking units gain Pinning and Twin-Linked for spam-happy asses to get shot at.

Also take note that the Ground Assault Formation says when they disembark, not the first time they disembark. So feel free to load your boys up, unload them, get twin-linked, rinse and repeat.

Hellrain Brigade (Start Collecting! Militarum Tempestus) - So that's where Commander Chenkov went. 1 Commissar, 1 Tempestus Scions Command Squad, 1 unit of Tempestus Scions, and 1 Taurox Prime. When ever the unit of Tempestus Scions is completely destroyed, and if the Commissar is still alive, they instead go into Ongoing Reserves and must arrive by Deep Strike. Much like the aforementioned commander's respawning conscripts, this gives you an inexaustible source of men, as well as whatever gear they're carrying (deep striking infinite melta/plasma works, anyone?). Hope you're not playing Kill Point missions...