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A Look at Space Marine Units - Arthur Ma | |
This article is designed to help "vanilla" Space Marine players choose a
suitable army. Being Space Marines, there are plenty of units for a player
to control, and this article is meant to help players understand what each
unit can help in the destruction of the opposing army.HQThese guys are essential for your army. They have a wide range of wargear, which helps them a lot. Your HQ units should be tooled up for assaults, since they can't be armed with good shooting weapons. Even for shooty armies, your HQ should be the ones to countercharge opponents. Either give them a command squad, or a squad for joining otherwise they'll die on their own. Transport, jump packs or bikes are also essential since it gives them better mobility. They should be armed with armour save ignoring weapons such as power weapons or lightning claws. Don't use power fists or thunder hammers since that will just nullify their higher initiative. Good wargear are Iron Haloes and Terminator Honours. There are so many armour-ignoring models and weapons that Invulnerable saves are gods. Termie honours give them an extra attack, which make your HQ able to have 6 attacks on the charge!Space Marine Heroes: Don't use leaders. If you do take a Hero, take a commander, or a force commander if you have the extra points. The classic combination is a power weapon and bolt pistol. A plasma pistol isn't worth the high point cost, and two-handed weapons lose him an attack, which is not worth it either. Another combination would be to have a pair of lightning claws, which is great for assaults but new players might have trouble converting them. Librarian: Force weapons aren't worth it - there aren't enough multi-wound models for it to be put to any use, and also the psyker will be in danger of the Perils of the Warp. Smite is very useful, and demolishes small squads at close range, and it ignores all armour, so it is great against terminators, chaos, necrons, etc. Again, power weapon and bolt pistol is a good combi, but the twin lightning claws work better on a Librarian since he has the ranged attack of Smite. Chaplain: This is definitely my favourite HQ. He's dirt cheap for a character with a power weapon and a 4+ invulnerable, and he allows you to take an iron halo for someone else in your army. He is amazing in small games, and with a squad backing him up, he can tear through the opposing army in close combat. Command Squad: Unless you want any of the characters, such as an Apothecary, a Tech-Marine or a Standard Bearer, a command squad isn't too useful. Your HQ can simply join another squad to save his skin, and serious command squads cost quite a bit. Command squads should be good at close combat, and one way to do that is to arm your characters with power weapons/fists. Terminator honours for the whole squad aren't usually worth the points, unless you have a lot of power weapons/fists. Give the normal marines some special weapons like plasma guns or flamers. Apothecaries are not bad, but the narthecium is a bit overpriced, and the reductor doesn't give much VPs. Techmarines are useful if you put him in a Devastator squad with a signum, but the Servo Arm is again too overpriced. Stand Bearers are not too useful. Holy Relics and Chapter Banners are overpriced, but a Sacred Standard isn't bad if you can keep him alive. A transport for your command squad is essential. ElitesElites are great. They are mostly used to charging or countercharging since they have good weapons for assaults. They are very expensive though, and sometimes they are not worth it.Terminator Squad: These guys pack serious punch and don't die easily. 2+ save, 5+ invulnerable, and attacks that will even punch a hole through a tank. They are incredibly expensive though! If you do take one, try to take two assault cannons, since heavy flamers don't have good range, and cyclone missile launchers replace the power fists. Even though they have the best equipment of the Imperium, they are in fact very fragile. You can be sure that they will be fired upon as soon as they come into view. There are so many armour-ignoring weapons that terminators usually die very quickly. Shooting weapons such as plasma cannons, meltas, ordnance or anything else with AP 1 or 2 will turn your terminators into molten slag. Also, due to the terminator's low initiative, squads tooled up with power weapons such as Incubi, Banshees, or even tooled up command squads will kill your terminators before they get to strike back with their slow power fists. There are two ways to get past this problem. The first is to put a squad of five into a Land Raider and transport them across. This will stop most shooting weapons from touching the termies (unless during the unlikely time when the Land Raider is destroyed), but will not stop the power-tooled assault squads from tearing them apart. Another way is to deep strike, but that has a serious disadvantage in that they are very vulnerable to enemy fire the turn they land, and will probably be blown apart by rapid firing plasma weapons and such. Also, the reserves roll has never be friendly to me. Terminator Assault Squad: I prefer this to the Terminator Squads since they allow you to take I4 weapons (Lightning Claws) which can kill some men meanwhile the power fists or thunder hammers slowly clean up the rest of the combat. Although they can't have assault cannons, it's not a big loss since termies won't be shooting too much anyway. Dreadnought: I love Dreads. Their Strength 10 hits make them perfect for assaulting characters and HQs, while most attacks simply ping off the thick shell. Remember, melta bombs can't touch it unless it is immobilised. I always have a heavy flamer instead of a storm bolter on my Dread. The extra AP is great against Tau, Scouts, and the template can hit way more than two. The left arm should be equipped with either a TL Lascannon or a Plasma Cannon. Use the Lascannon if you're short on tankbusting weapons, since it can move and shoot. Use the Plasma Cannon if you're not, and the great thing is that they don't overheat on Dreads. They also make mincemeat out of other marines, necrons and terminators. Don't give them the missile launcher. Ranged Dreads don't work as well as assault Dreads. You can do much better with a predator if you want ranged weapons. Another great thing about the Dread is that it is fearless, so march it into a pricey unit such as a command squad, HQ, etc. and watch it slowly tear apart the unit while the squad watch as their comrades die one by one, since they can't do anything against the thick armour! Being a walker, a Dread isn't very fast, so don't use them for charging. Instead, use them for countercharging. Hide it behind cover, and wait until the enemy gets near and then move into them. You need the cover since although assault units won't damage it much, shooting weapons can blow it up very easily. Space Marine Veteran Squad: If you're gonna use one of these squads, make sure you use it for assaults, not firepower. They cost three points more that a tactical marine, and they get one more leadership. That's not worth the point cost. However, one thing they do have is the option to be outfitted with bolt pistols and close combat weapons. That gives them a great advantage in assaults. You can also give them terminator honours for 3 attacks each (even better than the assault squads!), but it's not really worth the extra 10 points each model. A veteran squad with bolt pistol and close combat weapon makes a great squad for your HQ to join. It is more powerful in assault than a normal command squad, usually. You should also have a Veteran Sergeant with a power fist/weapon. As like any other assault units, a transport is essential. I have my Chaplain join my 9 men Veteran Squad and they ride on a Rhino to countercharge enemy assaulting my army. TroopsBeing Space Marines, your troops are amazingly tough and versatile. They work great against almost anything. You should always have a lot of these.Space Marine Tactical Squad: Tactical Squads are the root of your entire army. They can fulfil so many roles. Some people use them as cannon fodder - meat shields to deflect shots at your pricier units, or take the brunt of the charge. Some people use them as mini-devastator squads, taking cheaper heavy weapons and plasma guns from the armoury. Others use them as assault troops, pack them in a rhino and charge as many as you can at the opponent. Whatever you do, one thing is essential - big squads. Taking the minimum five men squad is seriously a bad thing, since it means that if two men die, it'll have to take a morale check and possibly fall back. Even though marines auto-regroup, troops falling back all the time is NOT what you want in the midst of a battle. The minimum number you should have for a tactical squad is seven or eight. Assault tactical squads should always have ten men in a rhino. Scouts: Scouts are nowhere near as effective as tactical squads. Even though they can have bolt pistol and close combat weapons, they can't be shipped in a rhino, which slows them down immensely. Move Through Cover isn't as useful as it seems. Infiltrators are good, but some scenarios don't allow them, so it makes no difference. However, there are two good ways to use them. One is to put them as close as possible to the opponent while Infiltrating (obviously you need a right scenario). That way the opponent will be forced to divert firepower to your scouts, leaving your assault troops to get into position without being shot at much. If the opponent don't divert firepower to your scouts, then your scouts should charge into assault, which means that the other squads can't shoot at the assault squads moving into position, either because they are IN assault, or they are behind an assault and can't shoot through it. By the time the assault has finished, your army should've reached the opponent and be able to charge without too much loss. Another way to use them is to arm them with sniper rifles. These scouts stay back and shoot at the fast troops or models with high toughness and high armour saves (great daemons, avatars, etc.). Hopefully they are not fearless or stubborn, and you can try and pin them down. Still, there aren't too many models with high toughness and armour saves, and those that do will probably try and stay in cover, so sniper scouts aren't very useful. TransportsThroughout the article I kept mentioning transports. They really are great for the assault units without jump packs. They provide armour, and mobility and are great for both charging and countercharging. For every one of your transports you should ALWAYS have smoke launchers and extra armour. Smokers reduce the chance of it being blown up, and are possibly the best bargain in the game for a mere 3 points. Extra armour isn't as useful, but still it is a great investment and keep it moving.Rhino: This is the best vehicle ever made. 50 points only and the front armour is invulnerable to small arms fire except gauss flayers and pulse rifles/carbines. Add on the smokers and extra armour it is very tough and worth every point. You need one of these for every large assault unit you have. By the time it is blown up, the unit is probably within assault range and it is of no use anymore. Even if it is emptied or storm bolter damaged, it can still inflict tank shock and kill some unlucky death or glory units. Hunter Killers are not worth it, since your Rhino is not used for shooting. An extra storm bolter is also a waste of points for the same reason. Searchlight only costs 1 point, but there are so few night fighting scenarios that it is never of any use. Dozer Blades are also no use, since it is unlikely that your Rhino will be moving 6" or less. Razorback: Personally, I dislike the Razorback. I never have squads that are 6 models or less since they have to take too many leadership tests, and are outnumbered too easily. However, if you do have one of these, make it fill the slot that your army has. For example, if you have a Predator Annihilator and lots of tankbusting weapons, you'll want heavy bolters on your Razorback. If you have a Predator Destructor and lots of horde-killing weapons, you'll want lascannons on your Razorback. Unlike the Rhino, the Razorback is more likely to stay still so all the vehicle upgrades may be of use, but due to the fact that it is easily blown up, it would be a shame to have so many upgrades and be destroyed while it is staying still. Still, the Razorback is not as good as the Rhino. Fast AttackThese selections does exactly as it states. Mobility and speed. They are also the only time that a multimelta is ever useful, since they can negate the short range fairly quickly.Assault Squad: Marines on Jump Packs. A variant to marines in Rhinos. If you have a squad of these, make it a large one, and give it the 2 plaspistols that it is allowed to have. You should also have a veteran sergeant with a power fist/weapon. The arguments for assault squads over rhino squads are that they can jump over terrain and not be affected, and that it is less vulnerable to tankbusting shots. The arguments for rhino squads over assault squads are that rhino squads are invulnerable to most infantry fire, and are cheaper in point cost. Choose one to your liking. Bike Squadron: White Scars players will disagree with me, but I think bikes are overpriced and weak. The most models in a Bike Squadron possible is six (not counting ICs), and that squadron will be shot at, fall back, advance again only to be shot back again and when it reaches close combat it'll number three or less and will simply to trampled over by larger squads unless it is helped by other assault units. The +1 Toughness is not worth the extremely overpriced point cost. They can be used like the Scout squads to divert firepower, but they don't work as well due to the small squad sizes. Other than the fact that the models look really cool on the battlefield, Bike Squadrons are not worth the points. Attack Bike Squadron: Attack Bikes are very different to Bikes. Compare the two stat tables: for an extra 15 points, an attack bike get an extra attack, a higher armour save and a heavy bolter for gunning down hordes. Even though the max squad size is three, it can be very effective in gunning down hordes or even go tank hunting with multi-meltas since it won't be shot at as much by small arms fire, since most people think a 2+ save is too similar to a 1+ save. It can also handle itself in assaults if the opposing squad doesn't have any power weapons. On the other hand, it suffer similar problems as termies since AP 2 and 1 weapons and power weapons will destroy them very easily, especially Plasma Cannons. Scout Bike Squadron: Scout Bikes are similar to Marine Bikes, but weaker. Combat shotguns are so weak that they usually don't even dent armour. They can reroll Difficult Terrain tests, but it isn't too useful either. If they could infiltrate, they would be much better, but unfortunately they don't teach how to silence an engine at the scout academy, so nobody use their models. Land Speeder Squadron: Being a Skimmer and a Fast vehicle, you can move 12", shoot its one gun and be very hard to be hit. It must be moving constantly though. A single heavy bolter doesn't do much, but three Land Speeders would make a difference to hordes and possibly force them to take leadership tests. Still, I prefer to take multi-meltas on Land Speeders, and use them to hunt down tanks while the tanks keep missing or glancing trying to fight back. Just be careful, an Immobilised Skimmer is a dead Skimmer, so keep it moving. Land Speeder Tornado: The two guns means that it has to move slower in order to fire, which loses the strength of it being a Skimmer. I don't like the two Land Speeder variants as much as the normal Land Speeder due to this very reason. Also, you can only have one Tornado for each FA choice. The weapon options are similar to the original Land Speeder, but you should keep a multimelta, just in case your opponent has lots of tanks. Land Speeder Typhoon: I dislike the Typhoon even more than I dislike the Tornado. The Typhoon missile launcher is good only against hordes, and it is stronger than a frag missile only by a little bit. Also, like the Tornado, you have to move it 6" or less in order to fire all the weapons, and if you do that the penetrating hits don't count as glancing anymore. Heavy SupportBeing a shooty Marine army player myself, the Heavy Support is my main choice that I build my army around. All armies should have a firebase, even assault armies for counterfiring.Devastator Squads: I love these. These are the first Heavy Support models that I've bought, and I use them in all my battles. They are incredibly versatile against any army. My Devastator Squad is so important that I always have ten men in it to reduce the chance of it taking leadership tests. A good way to utilise Devastators is to add a Techmarine with a Signum so you can reroll your expensive shots. Here are some good ways to outfit your precious Devvie Squads: 4 Missile Launchers - This is possibly the most versatile, classic, and most used and seen in tourneys. It packs a punch against tanks and hordes alike and is very cheap too. Unfortunately, the blasphemous legions of Chaos utilise this better than the loyal chapters since they can have the Tank Hunters veteran skill, which make the missile launchers as good as lascannons against tanks, but we'll see about that when/if the new Space Marine Codex comes out.! 4 Heavy Bolters - This is the bane of any horde army, and it is dirt cheap. Firing 12 shots a turn, it rips into bugs and fungi, and often force them to take leadership tests. It actually works very well against marine and chaos armies too, due to the high numbers of armour saves they have to take. 4 Plasma Cannons - This is a very pricey unit but it annihilates any squad that is not behind cover and can even blow up fragile tanks. I have this setup since my main opponents are marines, necrons, and grey knights. This setup works wonders against pricey units with low armour saves and it'll make the opposing player cry in horror when he realises that 500 point terminator squad he had just painted has reduced down to nothing. But beware, they do overheat, but thankfully not too much, especially if you get an Apothecary with Narthecium or a Techmarine with Signum accompanying it. Try not to make a Devvie Squad specifically designed against tanks, since a Predator Annihilator can and will do much better while moving 6" too. Predator Annihilator: If you take one of these (and you should), you MUST give it two lascannon sponsons. This tank will move around and snipe at opposing tanks. This is the best thing in the Space Marine Army for tank hunting (the Vindi is too short ranged to take down most tanks). Hunter Killers are useful, but the extra storm bolter isn't. Extra Armour and Smokers are essential as always. Dozer blades are okay at only 5 points, but you shouldn't take it if you need the points. Predator Destructor: Take the heavy bolter sponsons. This is perfect for killing bugs and fungi since you can put it close up, and they can't do anything against it (careful of the big bugs). This does have the potential to destroy weak tanks, but it's designed against hordes and infantry. Hunter Killers are useful, but the extra storm bolter isn't. Extra Armour and Smokers are essential as always. Dozer blades are okay at only 5 points, but you shouldn't take it if you need the points. Vindicator: This is big. REALLY big. It is the most powerful gun/cannon in the entire game of 40K (not counting range). So why would you not use it? Well, because it has a very short range for a tank weapon, and it might scatter onto your own troops if you stand to close to it. Assault armies are advised NOT to use this, since the units will just charged forward and get into assault, while the tank gets left behind with nothing to shoot at. Shooty armies can use this far better. Hide it behind terrain or trees or something, and if anything tries to move forward you fire at it with everything you have. If it doesn't scatter the Demolisher shell should wipe it out completely. There are few things that won't be instant killed by a Str 10 ordnance blast ignoring all armour. Otherwise, move it forward into position, release the smokers and hope it won't be destroyed before it gets to unleash its fearful firepower. Land Raider: This is the toughest tank in the game, and it can survive anything but high strength ordnance blasts (like demolisher or earthshaker shells). Unfortunately, it doesn't come with any ordnance weaponry, but the two TL lascannons and TL heavy bolters are great at killing anything. It is best used for transporting very expensive marines across the battlefield, or terminators, get into position, and let rip with volleys of blasts. Whirlwind: This is an amazing piece of machinery if you're good at guessing range. Hide it behind scenery, and watch as hordes of infantry die from the payloads of death dropping from the skies, and the few survivors get pinned and have to take even more of this cruel punishment. If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to e-mail me at arthurmauk@hotmail.com . I'll be making a new version of this when the new Codex: Space Marines come out. See you then! | |
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