Marine codex 'review' (#10): jumpers

Assault marines: bad.

One of the cheapest 'assault units' in the game, but this is for a very good reason.
Much like tactical squads, assault squads are bound and chained by laws and rules older than time itself, forcing them to carry a big name, yet never be able to deliver, for they have a dark and terrible secret.

For 100 points, you get a sergeant and four dudes. In addition to all the standard equipment, everybody has a jump pack. Is this good or bad? It's actually very good. Cheap, fast marines are useful marines. Let's see what else they get.

Every fifth guy in the unit can buy a useless, now insanely overpriced plasmapistol, or a fairly costed flamer. Not impressed, really, an- wait.

Something's missing.
Where are all the lightningclaws, hammers, powerfists, rending chainswords, or even increased strength? Hah, no - they don't get any of that. No, no power weapons either.
Meltaguns? No way! The blood angels took all of them.

So as jumpers, what can they actually do? Well, they crush dire avengers, rangers, gretchin, small units of guardsmen, and that's it. You know, like every other unit you can field.
They get there fast, too, and bring flamers. So you can pay 200~ points for 10 assault marines, or the same for 5 terminators of either kind? Yeah, that's pretty much how it goes.

Horribly misnamed, the assault squad is not equipped for actual assault, but fear not. After two editions of being utterly useless, Mat Ward finally gave them something to do.
For the cost of nothing, you can exchange the squad's jump packs for a rhino. Because sternguard are a bit suicidal, tactical squads are always ten men or stuck in plasmabacks, command squads are right in the thick of it, and devastators aren't a realistic option, this is the best, safest, and absolutely smartest place to put any librarians and forgelords you bring.

For each of these two characters you field, take an assault squad with a single flamer.
What this gives you is a personal ride for your character, which he can flame out of, and the squad can do it, too.

Despite being horrible at combat, you're still a space marine, and if the librarian/forgelord joins in, you can clean up weakened infantry just fine. You know, in case your ride gets destroyed, and you have to kill an enemy unit standing between the squad and another empty transport.

Cleaning crew, and keeping librarians warm. Well, at least they're better and cheaper than ever before.
Give your army's five assault marines cool names, too, and pretend they're bouncers for the big shot they're protecting.

No, you don't want to take dual plasmapistols, plasmapistol on the sarge, attach two forgelords with combi-plasmas, and disembark from a land raider.
For the last time, jumper assault marines with a jumper chaplain is 300+ points of fail. Stop taking this. It can't even beat up a unit of boyz.

What makes it good: without jump packs, very cheap bodyguards for utility characters. With jump packs, fast disruption. Marine statlines allow you to lay the smackdown on other armies' troops - occasionally.

What makes it bad: not actually a combat unit, and most certainly not an 'assault squad.' Can't beat face on any serious combat units in the game. No, not even sisters' repentia. Disruption is of limited use, since opponents quickly figure out how bad assault squads are at killing things in general.

-

Vanguard: bad.

Rather than finally make assault marines good at assault, we got this mess of a squad.

Supposedly an upgrade over the lesser assault marines, and the last word in jump infantry warfare, vanguard squads are extremely bad value for the points, and don't even start out as jumpers.

At 10 extra points each, jump packs seem cheap, but they're not. You're paying 125 base points for the squad, and an additional 50 points minimum to even unlock their special abilities.
This is a very, very bad, dumb, and silly thing - criminally so.

With a 'pack, individual models cost 30 points each. That's as much as the legion of fail, and 10 more points get you terminator armor, a hammer and a shield, powerfist and stormbolter, or a pair of lightningclaws.
No, you don't want to pay almost the same for much less. No, no one has ever actually bought the vanguard box, and no one ever should. Hyperbole, but that's what happens when new units are this bad.

When the 5th edition book hit, a lot of us were left with tons of blinged sergeants, old command squad-dudes, characters, and similiar. That's why this unit exists - because marineplayers are not allowed to have spent money on models they cannot use.
And really, that's all there is to it.

You can go into great detail and depth, weighing the options versus each other, analyzing the fail, and saying 'but these guys get to assault after a deep strike, and are therefore better than hammernators!' Get out of here.
They're not.

Vanguard are an overpriced, unnecessary unit, thrown into the codex so people would have a use for all their old powerfist- and claw-sergeants. No more, no less.
Okay, so options. You have lots of weapons. You can take two per guy. They're all overpriced, and make the squad more costly than assault terminators, yet nowhere near as killy or durable.

In fact, this unit's more costly than the legion, but they're much, much better for one very important reason.
Like the legion, adding vanguard ups comp, but unlike the legion, taking large squads of vanguard make you WIN comp. Just straight up win.

And that, dear readers, is why vanguard are merely 'bad,' and not 'useless.'

What makes it good: makes you win comp. Are sometimes available from reserve on the right turn, at the right time, and score a hit on a vulnerable unit, without dying from deep strike mishaps.

What makes it bad: everything else.