There seems to be a split right now in the 40k community over taking jump packs or terminator armor for Space Marines. Which do you think is better?

Comparing terminator characters and units against their jump pack (near) equivalents, we’ll be exploring the trade-offs and benefits/weaknesses of each unit. Be sure to tell us which unit you prefer in your games of Warhammer 40k.

Jump Packs Vs. Terminator Armor: Characters

In terms of characters, it’s a pretty close match. A Terminator Chaplain gets a 2+ sv and an extra wound (5 wounds) sitting right at 90 pts. For the same cost, you can have a 4-wound Chaplain and a 12″ movement. Seeing as the Chaplain is meant for melee, it’s probably better to give him a jump pack. Melee units have a tendency to get shot at if they’re on the table because they can’t fight back from range. That being said, most melee units are geared toward speed or deepstrike.

However, with the ever-increasing “no deepstrike within 12 inches” rule, things like Terminator Assault squads really got hemmed. Ultimately giving your Chaplain a jump pack makes it more likely for him to get into combat as well as help out other melees across the board.

For Captains, the same thing goes. You get a 2+ sv and an extra wound barebones for 95 pts. However, a Captain with a jump pack is cheaper at 93 pts, but does have one less wound just like the Chaplain. Again, the jump pack variant is usually the more sought after choice. Captains can be given just about any melee weapon in the book and are much more potent with speed. (There’s a reason why we never really see any Terminator Smash Captains).

For characters, you also have to think… There are not that many units out there (aside from Raven Guard) that can target characters. Really, a 2+ sv just means you’re immune to small-arms fire. Because 9 times out of 10, you’ll have your characters behind other units, you don’t ever have to worry about that kind of firepower anyways. Having the ability to spring forward 12″ and get a charge off with a thunder hammer is much more explosive than deepstriking a Terminator 9″ away, failing a charge, and watching him get kited.

Jump Packs Vs. Terminator Armor: Melee Units

For melee units on almost the same playing field, we’ll be looking at Terminator Assault Squads with thunder hammers and storm shields as well as a Vanguard Vet squad with thunder hammers and storm shields and jump packs.

Points-wise, this is what everything levels out to be:

5-man Termie Assault Squad 205 pts.

5-man Vanguard Vet Squad 175 pts.

That’s a 30-point deficit between the two squads. And while the Terminators are over twice as slow to the Vanguard Vets with jump packs, they also have double the wound-count. Essentially, for that extra wound Terminators are paying 7″ of movement and 6pts a pop.

Again, because of the Terminators 5″ movement, you’re also either forced to pay points for a mode of transport. Or you could always just have them come in 9″ away. The deepstrike method is always scary because you could always fail your charge, get Auspex Scanned, or even have your enemy run away from you. (Yes, Eliminators can do that). Ultimately it’s a coin toss that’s never in your favor by deepstriking.

Doctrines Have Made Terminator Saves Much Worse

Because of the innate -1 AP tacked onto any other AP a gun might have, Terminators have an even harder time going up against other Space Marine lists. Even the standard Intercessor boltgun can bring their sv to a 4+ by the time turn 2 rolls around. By that point, you just have to say, “if I’m going to get shot, it might as well only be for one shooting phase instead of two”. Taking Jump Packs will significantly decrease your time out of combat and you won’t have to sit and watch your overcosted turtle unit take a beating and never make their points back.

With all of these points made, what do you think about the two-unit variants? How do you have your characters armored?

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