Fire Warrior Team Archetypes

Ahh... the compulsory Fire Warriors. Light weight and reasonably versatile they make up the core of our armies. But what good are they other than footslogging and objective controlling? Let's take a look at some common team configurations and their potential uses.

Gunline
The Fire Warrior Gunline is a set of Fire Warriors that set up around an objective or critical area, hunker down, and open fire on anything that comes in range. Pulse Rifles are most common in this unit due to their longer range and multiple shots at shorter range. Unit size depends on play style but for those serious about their firepower will often be a twelve-warrior team.

A team leader is not uncommon, and has many options that benefit his team including a marker light to bring in a seeker missile against enemy armor. A target lock allows the same action while the rest the team lays down fire on an opposing unit. Drone controllers are also popular to bring a few extra guns and wounds to the table. Marker Drones would be nice here, but if the gunline is under attack that 30 points is going to go to waste a lot faster than the twenty from the TLs markerlight.

Transport for the Gunline is optional. I find a gunline is best used on objectives close to your deployment zone, so if you can put your troops on it early you may not need a dedicated transport - at the worst hitch a ride from another unit's Devilfish.

When you do get them on the table, spread them in line to avoid blasts and templates stacking them at worst two-rows deep. An alternate spread is to spread them so that each model is contesting the objective at all times, hopefully denying any space to contest.

EMP Commandos
One of my personal favorites the EMP Commando Team can be quickly & cheaply put together with Fire Warriors (though they can be done quite well with pathfinders). Team size is up to the player and can work well with six going all the way up to twelve units. Its best to equip them with Pulse Carbines so they can lay down some fire on a vehicle before going in to try and kill it in assault with EMP Grenades. The only reason to take a TL for the EMP Commando unit is the Bonding Knife. The EMP Commandos are too mobile to sit still and paint a target with a markerlight and drones would be better spent on more commandos.

Because of their need for speed, I recommend attaching them to a well equipped Devilfish.

Objective Tag
Vehicles cannot control an objective - but the team of fire warriors mounted inside of it can. The "60 point Devilfish Upgrade" of Fire Warriors mounted in a Devilfish. The Devilfish should be upgraded as much as you need, and is mandatory for this unit. It's important to note that unless something happens to the Devilfish these warriors should never disembark from the vehicle.