Playwise, I find Sallies are pretty competitive in 5th ed. They also get plenty of flamers in an army, I take 2 in my Assault squad, and the sarge has a hammer/shield.
I’m happy to put both flamer and melta weaponry in Tactical squads, and you can kit out all of the dreads to make the most of Vulkan’s blessing. There are ways to get hammers into the hands of characters too, which is good, pity we can’t do this with sarges…..
I like to take Vulkan, and in larger games, I take Lysander, using him as Tu’shan, but without the orbital strike that Chapter masters are allowed. I think it’s only right that Tu’shan should have Eternal Warrior, and the Lysander stats are sweet since they also add a hammer/shield combo….
I’ve done very well versus Tyranids and Orks (my usual foes), and a twin-linked flamer is a nasty weapon indeed.
Last game I played, My assault squad mawled my Ork opponent, one flamer burning 11 to death, the other taking down 8…..
Even the Landspeeder option seem to take a passing nod to us Sallies players, the Heavy Flamer and Multimelta combo is a peach.
Nick Kyme’s writing some good stuff too now, with Salamander and Fireborn standing up well amidst the plethora of Black library titles. I only hope that Nick adds a Horus heresy book too, since it’d be brilliant to know more about pre-heresy sallies, and of course, Vulkan himself.

Into the fires of battle!!

Anyone who comments about your Salamanders being of African decent rather than onyx black demon-men hasn’t been playing long enough to have an opinion. Punch them in the face. Salamanders can’t really have their own Codex because if you boil it all down they’re not THAT far off Codex. It’d be a waste of your $20, and given how much we don’t like the changes we’d probably all hate it anyway.

Chyld, isn’t it about time you taught that janitor how to play warhammer? ‘Course he’d probably choose some lame Astartes chapter like one of the Angels.