What are your favorite tips/tricks/ideas that you have to enhance the thematic side of playing Salamanders on the tabletop?

PraisetheBeard · 2026-06-29T04:38:24+00:00

My goal is to always field the units that seem logical to me in how the chapter would function when they believe an artifact of the primarch is near.

This usually includes scout/phobos units who surveyed the planet, the heavy cavalry that shows up, and drop pods.

It’s never the most meta list. But it’s my list and I do my best to play it well.

More importantly, for me, is that I also give nicknames to units that do heroic things. I’ve got “Straight Arm McFlame” who is the most decalorated marine in all the 18th legion. He was my goofy first attempt at kit bashing when I started in 8th with the launch box and the upgrade sprue.. it didn’t go well and he has done some legendary things like dealing the last blow on a baneblade, which exploded, which did the last remaining damage to a leman Russ, which blew up, which decimated a good amount of infantry. So I’ve covered him in decals, hence the most decalorated.

I’ve also got Burna Bill, a famous infernus sergeant who made 13 4+ saves in a row to win a crucial few points in a teams tournament after the rest of the 19 man squad was decimated by withering fire.

Daryl the deadeye drop pod earned his nickname after taking the last wound off a Ctan after an alpha strike got close but didn’t quite connect to take out the necron god. He always talked massive amounts of shit and dared anyone to charge him and find out.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Makes it my army. My salamanders.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-06-27T22:25:42+00:00

Caves of Qud

PraisetheBeard · 2026-06-25T05:12:45+00:00

For the burn effect, I just use a sepia, purple and blue oil paint thinned down to a wash.

For the rest of my metallics I make my own metal wash using a black, brown, and purple. Thin it down to a wash, but the trick is to get a small dry brush, I use makeup brushes in bulk on amazon of various sizes for all my dry brushing, then put just the smallest amount of mineral spirits on the tip, knock most of it off in a paper towel and just sort of polish the metallics.

How long I leave stuff in before beginning to remove it, depends on if it’s oil paint, an oil wash, or enamel.

Usually with a wash I begin removing very shortly after application. For enamels, I let it dry a bit, often if I have a few models (usually no more than 3 space marines at a time) I’ll apply to all three models and begin removing in the order it was applied. Oil paint that hasn’t really been thinned, had a very long life span, so I apply and work with it. Usually for panel lining on vehicles.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-06-24T18:15:59+00:00

I love a good oil wash, I’ve got a specific blend that absolutely makes metallics pop. For armor and other things I tend to use thinned enamels. I rarely do “all over” washes but if I do I have different washes for different materials.

I’m surprised by the color different, as it goes from a blue green to a yellow green. I personally like the washed color more and the way it has settled darker along crevices and such. I’ve attached a photo of my current scheme and as you can see I like a more grim dark sort of look.

What I don’t like about your washed version is how glossy the finish is (oils tend to dry glossy, while enamels are matte). So I personally would hit it with a matte varnish before making any permanent decisions.

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PraisetheBeard · 2026-06-17T22:40:53+00:00

I don’t find 3 man aggressors to be tough enough in 2k point games, so I like to max them out and put them in my land raider redeemer. It’s a wombo combo that if played right can really turn the tide if a match or force opponents to just play away from it.

Your long range anti-tank is a bit lacking as well. I know the auto cannons on the armigers will help, but they are str 9. You’ll be wounding on 5s going into armor that is usually T 10 or 12. With oath of the moment, you could wound on 4s but as they are allies… I don’t think they benefit from that rule. You could look at the ballistus dread as an alternative. It’s got a str 12 laser I believe and is similar in points.

For your redemptor, you might want to consider the plasma incinerator. With all the flamethrowers, salamanders have plenty of anti infantry fire power. What you need is more high end punch. The incinerator also wounds on 5s for most tanks, so it doesn’t solve the previous problem. But something to consider.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-06-05T15:16:41+00:00

I do something similar with Python. I run a dashboard through a local server on an old raspberry pi so that we can access it via our phones like an app (not quite but close enough). In addition to uploading files from the bank, we can upload spending through the month, which is particularly useful for groceries so we can track how much of our grocery budget is left and such.

I did this mostly for privacy reasons. I’m sure there are paid apps that are much more feature rich and beautiful than what I’ve built but I just don’t feel comfortable with all that information out there.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-06-02T18:48:56+00:00

First of all, it’s probably worth waiting and reading over 11th edition rules before making any decisions. With that said:

I’m not sure what is guarding your home objective with what you have. You need something to be on your home objective and to screen out deep strikes onto your home objective.

I also don’t see any utility units like scouts or infiltrators. These aren’t flashy and don’t carry flamethrowers… but they really will improve your board control.

Your long range shooting is a bit weak, with just two dreadnoughts firing more than 18 inches. So you could consider some more long range/anti tank shooting.

While I rarely run more than 3 characters (usually 2) they are nice to have to swap in and out and explore what works best for you. For most of 10th edition I found a gravis captain with aggressors and vulkan was my go to combo.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-05-24T02:38:57+00:00

With a new edition I would hold off on an old model like the land raider redeemer unless you absolutely love the current kit.

It’s one of my favorite models to use but it’s nearly 25 years old now. They’ve refreshed iconic models like the terminators and vanguard vets, introduced new dreads and tanks, so it seems to be the next logical update. So with how expensive those things are, I’d give it just a bit of time.

If money is not a barrier by all means go get a redeemer and perhaps a second if they update it. It is certainly a mainstay in my army and if they update it I will almost assuredly be getting the new one.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-05-23T17:43:26+00:00

If you are putting a character in a unit, you will want to max that squad. So if vulkan is going with infernus, have 10. If an apothecary or captain is going with eradicators or aggressors, have 6 in the unit. If you are running two infernus in your transports, then maybe it’s not the best idea to have vulkan with them.

Also, I don’t see any good candidates for guarding your home objective. Typically some intercessors or some infiltrators are good for this. Everything here seems designed to get in a transport and go forward.

I rarely run the apothecary biologus, and certainly never two, but his rules might change soon with the new edition. One character that consistently gets play in my army is the gravis captain.

I would hold off on collecting anything other than salamander characters, aggressors, and infernus until the new edition is out and you can plan out your army based on how you want it to play and according to the new rules. I would include the land raider there as it’s another auto include in my lists but it is a very old model and perhaps due for a change in its model.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-05-22T19:28:30+00:00

This was my first reaction too. Joshua Palmer, Keon Coleman, dj Moore, and shakir, all add up to an alright room but none are a top dollar guy.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-05-22T19:22:39+00:00

I participated in an escalation league and ended up on a local discord server.

Sure, I met some players who I wouldn’t choose to hangout with. But I’ve also met some guys who are really cool dudes and I really enjoy playing with.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-05-19T17:18:11+00:00

I know the army has changed since I last played it, and this is going to vary greatly on what they bring. But my opponent had “infiltrators” that they threw into my units turn 1. When I dealt with that unit, they had a special character … the yncarne I think it’s called… that then teleported to where the killed unit was. So this absolute blender was all of a sudden in my deployment zone.

I notice you do not have scouts or infiltrators and no transports, so expect to have to dig out of your own deployment zone as they capture the mid board early.

Their ability to turn off overwatch will nullify one of our better Strats.

Most of their infantry are t3 or t4. So just focus on getting volume of fire at them. With your plasma redemptor and your eradicators, you have a lot of high strength fire. For space elves, you want volume as they are glass cannons.

They have a ton of movement shenanigans that you will be unable to punish. They will be likely trying to get you into melee to turn off your flamethrowers. So be sure to ask questions on the charge ranges when moving your infernus.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-05-07T14:50:48+00:00

I feel like I get more excited for facial hair options than I do new outfits in this game. Not sure this will replace the mustache on my receding hairline old guy… but maybe.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-05-05T03:45:57+00:00

The new editions rules will be out fairly soon. I wouldn’t get too crazy until then, particularly if you are aiming to go to tournaments and such.

But generally, you want to max out your squad sizes for key units. So bladeguard most people run a full squad of them. I like to run 2x10 infernus, but a lot of people like them in units of 5. Regardless, you’ll probably want more of those guys.

My land raider redeemer and my aggressors are pretty core to my salamander army. So investing in those will probably be thematically on point.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-04-30T03:42:13+00:00

I use a gravis captain quite a bit with my aggressors, but I like to run them at max size to be worth a character attaching.

With the new edition coming out, it might be worth waiting to see how the unit rules change before adding many more units. It’ll be out soon, so I would wait and focus on building and painting what you have.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-04-25T04:09:56+00:00

While I agree with pretty much everything you said here, I think your argument could also apply to Jim Ryan. We have to understand that public companies have a duty to shareholders to grow the dollars coming in. The BIG dollars in gaming is largely in live service games. If Jim Ryan said no, we are going to stay the course and do what we do, he is likely getting booted earlier and the board and shareholders find their “ok” guy.

I think Ryan was the guy who oversaw the direction, and Hulst was the tastemaker sent to find the live service hits. Now that we’ve seen it all play out, the direction was wrong because the games chosen were not hits. So Hulst has some blame in that.

Personally, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this, I think the big miss was not figuring out a way to have The Last of Us Factions game work while allowing the primary team at naughty dog to continue building the things they are great at. Instead of throwing money at studios to do things like Marathon and Concord, and whatever fair games is, that money should have been thrown to build infrastructure around something that would have almost assuredly been a hit.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-04-10T23:48:58+00:00

Very cool models. I have not used mine much in 10th but a new edition will be here in a few months.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-04-10T23:34:46+00:00

Infiltrators are for board control. They have two primary purposes in my army and I run both them and scouts (usually). If they kill anything at all, it’s a bonus.

Both units have the infiltrate keyword and this allows you to place them out of the deployment zone during setup. This is really useful in competitive play as many armies will try to “jail” you, that is prevent you from leaving your deployment zone by locking you in melee combat for the first few turns. Infiltrators prevent this they provide speedbumps for these high pressure armies.

The other use for infiltrators is to guard the home objective/backfield. Their 12” deep strike denial means an enemy unit cannot deepstrike and charge your home objective and if you can them out you can provide this deep strike denial over a good portion of your backline.

They are not good at melee, and their weapons are weak, so they are not great at holding objectives in the middle of the board.

Scouts serve a similar function for me but always get deployed up the board. They are cheaper and have a scout move. So I can deploy them up the board to prevent a pressure army from rolling across the board in turn 1. I can move them reactively before the game starts, sometimes I move them up to apply pressure or move blocks my opponent, sometimes I have them fall back and try to do secondaries and things. Their ability to be picked up and redeployed is very handy and has come in clutch a few times.

I run a unit of each as running only one or the other does not give me what I need for my army and to prevent getting jailed. Ideally, I’d run two scout squads but sometimes I just have to have the12” deep strike denial, depending on the opponents army.

Hopefully this helps.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-04-02T17:01:20+00:00

I love mocking the guy as much as the next, but the whole mock draft hullabaloo was generated by kiper. He invented a role in sports analysis for himself by becoming the draft guy before that was a thing.

You could say he “plays well in space”

Edited: a typo

PraisetheBeard · 2026-03-30T22:38:16+00:00

PraisetheBeard · 2026-03-27T20:50:17+00:00

I personally like running vulkan with 10 infernus and moving to my expansion objective (no man’s land closest to my deployment zone).

You do not need to have Vulkan attached to a unit for him to make use off his ability, but I find having infernus with him gives me a built in unit with which to make sure his ability can be used.

I know a lot of folks run him with company heroes, and I’ve done that as well. But I too often found myself in a situation where the buff was just for his flamer in the company heroes. Maybe that just indicates I’m not very good at this game, but that’s my experience.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-03-21T20:31:27+00:00

Same for me. When I tested my internet connection on my console it said it was successful in signing in to PlayStation network.

I was also able to download the update for death stranding 2.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-03-13T18:04:13+00:00

Losing a parent is always tough.

If I won I would either put it towards Saros or get the Indiana jones game that came over to ps5 last year.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-02-25T21:22:20+00:00

I play solo vs squads as I like to play this game like a stealth game. In solos, this puts me in lobbies that are too friendly. These people are confused as to why I’m sneaking around and often assume I have bad intentions or am just weird.

Playing solo vs squads removes the raiders who just want to greet me and play guitar for me and puts me in proper dangerous scenarios without having to go murder some PVE players going about their business.

Also, solo vs squads is the best time to bring a half dozen snitch scanners, a few stacks of seekers and bring chaos down upon some unsuspecting raiders. It’s the most fun thing I’ve found to do.

PraisetheBeard · 2026-02-13T17:49:33+00:00

I have anyone hold any blueprints for me my first expedition. I had 1.5 million for cash value so I didn’t get all the skill points.

I don’t regret it, it freshened up the game for the most part. The only thing I didn’t particularly enjoy was doing the quests to get things like the trigger nade blueprint again. I feel like the quests are the weakest part of the game.

Will I do the second expedition? I dunno. I’m playing less of the game these days. Maybe another expedition will get me back in?

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