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The Basic Chaos Space Marine: A Breakdown of Role and Tactics

Submitted By: Date: August 22, 2004, 03:08:30 PM Views: 3559
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The Basic Chaos Space Marine: An Overview of Roles and Tactics by Michael Harbison (aka Samdan)


In my experience with the Chaos Space Marines, I have found that your basic troop can be divided into five categories, each of which I will explore and explain.

Basic Marines Tooled For Shooting:

Basic Stand-Alone Shooting Unit:

The basic stand-alone shooting unit is used in almost any non-cult legion.  They vary in size, but generally number around 10-15 marines in a unit.  Unlike a close combat unit, an Aspiring Champion is not necessary, but can be taken if you feel like it.  The thing to remember about Aspiring Champions is that the only bonuses they have over your basic marine are +1 leadership and +1 attack.  These attributes are really most useful in close combat, and not as useful in a ranged unit, unless you wish to take some armory upgrades for him.

Your basic stand-alone shooting unit will generally only use Bolters.  This is an easy way to save points, and simply using basic marines without many upgrades can yield a high model-count army, but will lack your more powerful firepower.  The 'power' shooting will, therefore, be left to the more advanced shooting units.  The role of the basic stand-alone shooting unit is to provide a mobile firebase of sorts.  They are considered to be 'stand-alone' because of the fact that even if the unit they are trying to assist gets destroyed, they can still perform their function to their fullest potential.  They do best to move to where the most support is needed, and attempt to weaken the enemy, however slightly, so that the opposition is more easily destroyed in the assault phase when your close combat oriented troops take over and move in.

A good thing to remember is that no army can survive entirely with firepower, but still needs at least a small fire base, and this is where your basic stand-alone shooting unit can really shine.  For only 140 points, you can have a ten-man-strong unit of basic shooting marines, which is only 35 points more than the cheapest chaos dreadnought, which, while having superior armor and range, has far fewer shots, and can go berserk and be unable to shoot its guns.  In summary, the basic stand-alone shooting unit is a cheap way to add a small firebase to your army.

Advanced Shooting Units:

The advanced shooting unit falls roughly into two categories: troop killing or tank busting.  First, we will take a look at the troop killer shooting unit.

There are a few variations to the troop killer unit, but generally they utilize at least one Plasma Gun.  The Plasma Gun is a very useful weapon when it comes to troop killing, with about a 2/3 chance of killing a troop every turn, which turns into a 4/9 chances of killing two troops when it is in rapid-fire range.  Many troop killer units will use two Plasma Guns for the sole purpose of having a weapon that can bypass even a terminator’s armor save.  A few troop killer units will utilize a Missile Launcher for firing it as a blast weapon, which can at times be devastating, while also offering the versatility of being fired as a single, high strength shot for either high toughness opponents, or the occasional stray vehicle.  The troop killer unit will often be near the front lines, in the best position to shoot the most troops.

The tank busting shooting unit is generally the same no matter which army you look at, excluding the cult armies.  They will often have fewer numbers than a troop killing squad, and will take either a Missile Launcher, or more commonly, a Lascannon.  If they are few enough in number, then sometimes it is beneficial to take the tank hunting veteran skill on the unit for the added armor penetration bonus.  There are some people however, that will take a tank-busting unit that is also used for close combat, but I will go into this type of tank busting unit at a later point.  The tank-busting unit is generally held near the rear lines of an army, as it usually has a much longer range than a basic shooting unit.


Basic Marines Tooled For Close Combat:

Basic Back-up Close Combat Unit:

Unlike the shooting marines, it is very hard for a close combat unit to be stand-alone.  This is mainly because, while a basic close combat squad can hold its own in an assault, a specialized close combat unit will tear them apart eventually, unless the dice roll in your favor.  They will generally number between 10-15 marines, and will be equipped with Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons.  A basic close combat unit will probably include an Aspiring Champion, but will opt to leave out the upgrades.  This is mainly because these guys go where they are needed.  Let's say that your unit of Possessed has just been charged by another unit, making it two units fighting them in close combat.  The basic back-up close combat unit will be able to come over, and maybe cause some damage, making it easier for the Possessed, or whichever unit they have come to back up, to win the assault.

The pros of the basic back-up close combat unit are mostly the same of the basic shooting unit.  They have the potential to have high model counts at a cheaper cost than some of the expensive specialist close combat units.  For example, a basic ten-man unit of close combat Marines with an Aspiring Champion will cost you only 153 points.  This unit, if it gets to charge into a close combat will, on average, slay around 3 loyalist marines in a round of combat.  Every subsequent round, they will kill 1-2 more Marines.  This can be powerful backup for another unit.

Advanced Close Combat Units:

The advanced close combat unit, like the advanced shooting unit, is modeled in a very similar way to the basic close combat unit.  The main difference will be that there will be upgrades in this unit.  Most commonly, people will take two Plasma Pistols in an attempt to weaken the enemy before you charge them.  Also, you will generally want to upgrade your Aspiring Champion.  Many people will take a combination of a Powerfist, Daemonic Mutation, and maybe even Daemonic Strength.  This will yield a powerful close combat monster that will, on the charge, kill 3 marines on its own in a close combat.  This can also be very advantageous because it is very good at wounding high toughness models, or even the wayward vehicle.  Unlike the advanced shooting unit, there isn’t much you can do in an advanced close combat unit to make it vary too much, unless you make it a close range shooting unit, which doubles as an assault unit, or a Rhino-rushing tank buster unit.

An example of a close range shooting unit, which doubles as an assault unit, would be a unit that takes two Flamers, and uses them to take down more enemy models than can be taken down with simple Plasma Pistols.  This may kill more enemies in the short run, but with the new trial assault rules, you lose your charging bonus if you shoot.

The Rhino-rushing tank buster unit is a very simple one, and isn’t really a true close combat unit.  The only reason that there would be a close combat element to it is because the unit generally takes two Meltaguns, which have great armor piercing if within 6” of a vehicle.  The Rhino is generally used to get them in close with minimal casualties to the unit, and the close combat part is so that they stand some chance if they get charged by the enemy after they blow up their super expensive, troop slaughtering, monster tank, or their lowly transport.


A NOTE TO ALL WHO READ THIS: This tactics guide only covers marines that are either unmarked or who bear the Mark of Chaos Undivided.  Any marines bearing a different mark will have very different tactics, and such units are covered in other tactics articles covered on this site.

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