4/5 stars. Criminally under-rated by most - or perhaps very over rated by me. Same thing really. I could almost give them 5 stars. That is, if I ever saw an entire army based on maximum Tarantulas. I'm still waiting.
Background.
Do you remember the movie "Aliens"? The special edition? They deployed some of these beasts and they stopped so many aliens it was embarrassing. Then they ran out of ammo. And things got more interesting. There's no real difference here except that they don't run out of ammo!
Strengths.
They are cheap heavy bolt guns, or las cannons, or hyperios missiles. Take your pick. I genuinely love them all. And I'm really not sorry about my love for tarantulas.
I regard them alongside Vindicators as being the most criminally under-used in 30k by everyone able to take them.
Critically they have both Fearless, and Firing Protocols in the FAQ - remember these rules!
Weaknesses.
BS=2 is not great. But this is where your BS+1 gift from other parts of the Tercio come in to play. The fact that you have to target the nearest thing is also a little sad, but they are automated. You just have to get used to positioning them appropriately. But more than this - hear me out - they can actively control lanes on the battlefield. This (as an Alpha Legion player) never gets old for me. They are a denial unit that doesn't really strike that much fear, but what it gives you is board control when you need it. Don't overlook this. I've won games because of tactical positioning of these things. I've forced heavy tanks to take other routes rather than be exposed to las cannons that they don't want to waste fire power on. I've then taken care of those tanks by other means whilst holding where I needed to elsewhere. They're insanely good once you start thinking of them as board denial units, rather than stupid non-moving low-BS lascannons.
Builds.
5 Tarantulas, Lascannons, Searchlights (205 points).
I know you're going to look at the price tag and think otherwise. But 10 las cannon shots per turn for this amount of points is solid enough to consider. The search lights will help and all you need to do is figure out which "lanes" on the board you want to control with them. Or maybe just put them on top of buildings. They're really good.
5 Hyperios Tarantulas, Searchlights (130 points).
Insanely cheap. They have heavy 3 each, and skyfire. You control the skies with these. Make no mistake. This is a force to be reckoned with. Expand to 9 Sentry guns if you're playing a larger game and this will be such a serious counter to other armies that you will end up laughing even if you have no friends left.
9 Tarantulas, Searchlights, Augury Scanners (205 points).
Maximum heavy bolter action. This unit really discourages troops in a board controlling way. Each is shooting out 8 shots at S=5 every turn. That makes 72 shots per turn. Simply disgusting. Do you see why I like tarantulas yet? They are really under the radar for almost every player, but could actually be an entire tactic in and of themselves. Please don't overlook tarantulas any longer!
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