The Land Speeder Storm

I can literally cound on one hand how many times people have actually deployed a Storm against me or anywhere near me.  It isn't that no one does.  It's just that nearly no one does.

My style of play favors such units, so naturally I gravitated to it immediately when a friend unexpectedly handed me 4,000 points in Space Marines and told me to have fun.

At first I wanted fluff so that I could choose a color scheme.  I decided I loved the idea of a Normandy Invasion led by Navy Seals.  Then I started painting them up to match the Emperors Spear theme.  I'm even ordering tridents for them.

Here's the crux of the matter:   Two LandSpeeder Storms have been loaded up with a 5 scout unit, wearing powerfists.  One unit with shotguns, the other with combat blades, and...

If going first, their scout move takes these open topped death dealers to within 12" of any enemy the Scouts want to stop from shooting.  Their small size hardly matters against their chosen targets because shutting down the guns of Navarone is what they do, giving the rest of the army the ability to surge up the beachhead.  If going second, a pair of them can outflank.  That makes them incredibly useful for cramming the enemy into a smaller space pr deploying badly to deal with it.

Not only the obvious tactical stuff:  You can use the Storm to protect against first turn pod drops and when you assault, the Cerebrus Launcher gimpps Psyker leadership and that of anyone you lose!  Even against a Grey Knight unit, the Scouts have a shot with that Cerebrus Launcher going for them.

60 points?  Heavy Flamer?  Heck yeah.  All kinds of win.  Open topped so that I can fire the scouts from within it.  Hides you from tank shocks (which is a pretty important point) and being able to dash at objectives later in game?  It's a great platform.

I haven't played a game yet where the Scouts haven't gotten their points back and they have often survived the game. 

I highly recommend this fantastic unit.  It seems like a must for a Codex:  Space Marine armies.  Have you used them, how did you use them and what were their merits for you?