Space Marines
- Beginner's Guide (5th Edition Update) -
scribed by Wuestenfux
"And They Shall Know No Fear"Space Marines are the most powerful and dreaded of all the human warriors in the 40k universe. Space Marines are genetically modified, psycho-conditioned and well trained warriors. Their task is to protect mankind from perfidious aliens, degenerate traitors, and treacherous rebels. The Space Marines are few in numbers and are organized into small independent armies called Chapters. A Chapter is made of one-thousand Space Marines and is further divided into ten companies each of which one-hundred Marines strong.
When building a Space Marines army, the best place to begin is the respective Codex. It describes all Space Marine units and their special rules. However the Codex does not teach how to efficiently configure Space Marine units. Moreover, it does not teach how to synthesize units to generate a successful Space Marine army. This article deals with building a Space Marine army from basic units. It shows ways to configure units and how to use them on the battle field. Based on the configuration of units, several sample army lists are given. Feel free to play test these lists. Have fun playing 40k.
Table of Contents1. Frequently Asked Questions
2. Head Quarters
3. Troops
4. Elites
5. Fast Attack
6. Heavy Support
7. Sample Space Marine Armies
Link to 4th ed. guide:
http://www.40konline.com/index.php?topic=77888.01.FAQ’s --Frequently Asked Questions1. What Space Marine army should I choose?There are about 1000 Space Marine chapters in the Warhammer 40000 universe. Ultramarines form the basis of all Chapters. A few Chapters have their own Codex: Black Templars, Blood Angels. Dark Angels, Space Wolves, and 13th Space Wolves Company. Other Chapters diverged less from the Ultramarines and benefit from special rules like Crimson Fists, Imperial Fists, Raven Guard, Salamanders, and White Scars. The Ultramarines chapter is a good starting point. I suggest to collect an Ultramarines army in the first place and then to specialize to a specific Codex-based Chapter later on.
2. What is the best squad size of a Space Marine unit?
There are three missions in the 5th edition, two of them require troops as scoring units and one necessitates to accumulate kill points. In all missions, larger squads are better than smaller ones, since they are more durable and have a larger impact.
3. How should I generally equip a Space Marine unit?Each unit should be given a role and it should stick to this role (close combat, hold a mission object, etc.). As a general rule, keep the unit upgrades low (10-20%).
2. Head QuartersSpace Marine leaders have high leadership and high weapon skill. Therefore, a Space Marine leader should generally fill a close combat role rather than a shooting role. A lone Independent Character is a dead independent character. Therefore, a Space Marine leader should generally join a unit. A leader in power armor on foot should be accompanied by a Tactical or Elite (Sternguard) unit, a leader on bike should join a larger Bike squad, and a leader with jump pack should lead an Assault squad.
2.1 Chapter MasterThe Chapter Master is a good all-round leader of an army. He should definitely benefit from his higher initiative. There are two basic ways to configure him:
Chapter Master w/ relic blade, combi-melta – 175 pts
Chapter Master w/ terminator armor, lightning claw, combi-melta – 175 pts
2.2 Honour GuardA Chapter Master can lead a Honor Guard consisting of 3 to 10 high-ranked Marine officers. Each Honor Guard wears artificer armor and is equipped with a power weapon. This makes the unit an anti-MEQ unit that excels against Necrons and Tactical squads. The squad should be mounted in a Drop Pod, Razorback or Rhino with extra armor. Here is the basic configuration of a Honor Guard:
Honour Guard squad: Champion w/ thunder hammer, 5 Veterans – 200 pts
2
.3 CaptainA Space Marine Captain is the leader of a Company. He has the same stats as a Chapter Master but the latter can additionally order an orbital bombardment once per battle. There are generally three ways to field a Captain at the battlefield:
Captain w/ relic blade, combi-melta – 140 pts
Captain w/ terminator armor, lightning claw, combi-melta – 150 pts
Captain w/ bike, relic blade, combi-melta, melta bombs – 175 pts
2.4 Command SquadThe Captain of a Company can lead a squad of high-ranking Space Marine officers in the form of a Command squad. A Command squad is fluffy unit that always consists of five Veterans including an Apothecary. The Apothecary fields a narthecium so that the squad will benefit from
Feel No Pain. Notice there are only a few units in the game that can make use of this rule, like Nobz with a Painboy, Plague Marines, and Nurgle Daemons. Although a Command squad can be transported, the best way to benefit from
Feel No Pain is to mount the squad onto bikes. They can act (1) as a counter-strike unit if an enemy unit threatens the front ranks or (2) approach the enemy via turbo booster at a flank. Such a Command squad should look as follows:
Command squad: 4 Veterans w/ bike, power fist (x1), 1 Apothecarius w/ bike – 230 pts
2.5 Master of the ForgeThe Master of the Forge (MotF) is the leading Tech Marine of a Chapter. Tech Marines possess a repair ability that is more a gimmick and thoughts in this direction should be dropped.
An army led by a MotF can field more Dreadnoughts than normal. He has access to an arcane weapon, the conversion beamer, an awesome long range anti-tank weapon. But the conversion beamer is a heavy weapon and so it is quite tricky to utilize. First, a MotF with conversion beamer on foot should join a shooty long-range anti-tank Marine unit (Devastor squad). Second, a MotF on bike is highly mobile and able to fire a heavy weapon during movement; since a lone MotF is dead early in the game, he should lead a small Biker squad. Such a squad could zoom around and reposition for sniping during the opening and mid-game, and it could close in and charge in the end-game.
2.6 LibrarianA Librarian provides psychic support to a Space Marine army that can bolster the abilities of an army. Each Librarian can field two psychic powers per battle. Additionally, he is equipped with a force weapon that allows to slay a wounded multi-wound enemy model outright. While a Codicier can cast one power per turn, an Epistolary can cast two. A Librarian can field shooting, close-combat oriented, and defensive powers. A Librarian is not a close-combat monster and so should be equipped with shooting or defensive powers.
Avenger is similar to the doom siren, one of the best weapons in the game and thus should be considered. The defensive powers (
null zone and
gate of infinity) are also worth considering. While
null zone is awesome against Daemons and Seer Councils,
gate of infinity allows to pull the Librarian and the unit he joined out of trouble by teleportation. The best unit to join for a Librarian with one of these defensive powers is a Sternguard Veteran or Terminator squad. Here are two decent configurations:
Codicier w/
null zone, gate of infinity – 100 pts
Codicier w/ terminator armor, storm shield,
avenger, gate of infinity - 140 pts.
2.7 ChaplainA Chaplain provides spiritual support to an army able to bolster the charge of a Space Marine unit thanks to his
Rites of Battle. Remember that a unit transported by a Rhino, Razorback, or Drop Pod cannot charge when the transport has moved during the same turn. Those transported units will hardly get the charge bonus. Therefore, it is advisable to attach the Chaplain to a fast unit that can easily get the charge bonus, like a Biker squadron, an Assault squad, or a Terminator Assault squad riding a Land Raider. Here are the basic configurations:
Chaplain w/ bike,combi-melta, melta bombs – 155 pts
Chaplain w/ jump pack, melta bombs – 120 pts
Chaplain w/ terminator armor, combi-melta – 135 pts
3. TroopsIn the 5th edition two of the three missions require troops as scoring units. This makes troops more important than they were in previous editions.
3.1 Tactical squadsThe Tactical squads form the backbone of a Space Marine fighting force. These units are highly flexible due to their equipment so that they can fulfill various roles at the battle field.
First, Rhino squads can perform two roles, either bolstering an assault or occupying a mission objective that was eventually cleared before. The squad should be led by a Sergeant with a power fist and a combi-weapon and the squad should carry two special weapons; meltas and multi-meltas are favorable against MEQ, while flamers and heavy bolters or missile launchers are advisable against hordes.
Second, drop podded Tactical squads can fulfill the same role as Rhino squads at the battle field. Drop pods have the advantage over other transports that they can land on top of an objective.
Third, Razorback squads are defensive units that can considerably contribute to the main line of defense. The squad may be led a Sergeant with power fist and combi-weapon and the squad should carry two special weapons. Against MEQ, the best choice are plasma weapons, while against hordes the best choice are flamers and heavy bolters or missile launchers. The squad may be combat squadded with the heavy weapon in one combat unit and the Sergeant and plasma gun (or flamer) in the other unit. The latter combat unit may be transported in the Razorback to intercept an enemy unit threatening the front ranks; for larger impact, several Razorback squads should work in concert.
Rhino squad: 9 Marines w/ melta, multimelta, Sergeant w/ combi-melta, power fist, Rhino w/ extra armor – 260 pts
Drop Pod squad: 9 Marines w/ melta, multimelta, Sergeant w/ combi-melta, power fist, Drop Pod w/ deathwind – 265 pts
Razorback squad: 9 Marines w/ plasma gun, plasma cannon, Sergeant w/ combi-plasma, power fist, Razorback – 260 pts
3.2 Scout squadsScouts form the 10th Company of a Space Marine Chapter. They are ideal for securing objectives or dealing with tougher enemy units. Using their
Infiltrate ability they can be deployed right on top an objective or in cover with good line of sight to enemy units. Moreover,
Infiltrate is useful to keep away enemy infiltrators from deploying too close to the own front ranks.
A Sniper squad is a special purpose unit. First, sniper rifles can pin troops with low leadership like IG Troopers, Eldar Guardians, or Dark Eldar Warriors; pinning is valuable to silence enemy guns. Second, sniper rifles would on 4+ with rending bonus and so are able to wound Tyranid monstrous creatures, high-toughness models like Wraithlords or Taloi, and tougher models with invulnerable saves like Greater Daemons and C'tans. A Sniper squad should be deployed in the back field wearing camo cloaks for increased survivability and thereby occupying a mission objective if possible. Such a unit should consist of at least six to eight Scouts since they hit with their ballistic skill and no longer at 2+; a heavy bolter with hellfire shells is a nice add-on.
Other configurations of Scout units are possible but not really effective at the battle field. Examples are Scout squads transported by a Storm-pattern Land Speeder or assault based Scout squads. Storm Scout units eventually disrupt enemy plans, but are generally too small for serious impact. Assault based Scout squad can enter play from a flank and use
Move Through Cover to threaten enemy units, but coming from reserve is too unpredictable to be of great use when the unit is merely footslogging. Here are the basic configurations:
Sniper squad: 5 Scouts w/ sniper rifle (x4), heavy bolter, camo cloak (x5), Sergeant w/ sniper rifle, camo cloak – 116 pts
Storm Scout squad: 4 Scouts w/ shot gun (x3), heavy bolter, Sergeant w/ power fist, combi-flamer, Landspeeder Storm – 170 pts
Close Combat Scout squad: 9 Scouts w/ heavy bolter, Sergeant w/ power fist, combi-flamer – 175 pts
4. ElitesElite units fulfill a supporting role in a Space Marine force. One of their main tasks is to clear or contest objectives. This kind of task can only be achieved by larger squads, while smaller units generally do not cut it.
4.1 Sternguard SquadsThe Sternguard Veterans form a new Elite type unit. They carry bolters with special ammunition that can be perfectly adapted to various situations at the battle field. The ammunition is effective against units with low armor saves deployed in cover (dragon fire), high toughness creatures (hell fire), units in carapace armor (kraken), and MEQ (retributor). Additionally, the bolters can be upgraded to combi-weapons; combi-plasma vs heavily armored units or monstrous creatures, combi-meltas vs tanks, and combi-flamers vs hordes.
A Sternguard Veteran squad should be transported similar to a Tactical squad. However, its favorable transport is a Drop Pod since the unit can immediately unleash fire upon landing. Moreover, the unit can be combat squadded after arriving at the battle field and thus can target two enemy squads if necessary.
Drop Pod Sternguard squad: 10 Sternguard w/ combi-melta (x10), power fist (x1), Drop Pod w/ deathwind – 375 pts
A particularly nasty tactics is to let a Librarian with gate of infinity lead a drop podded Sternguard Veteran squad. For this, some Drop Pods should be equipped with locator beacons for safe landing of the Librarian's squad.
4.2 Terminator SquadsTerminators are amongst the greatest heroes of Mankind. These bold warriors wear tactical dreadnought armor and are equipped with terrifying weaponry. A large Terminator squad is certainly a shock and awe unit for the enemy. Whenever possible field a full Terminator squad as one of your main supporting units. Deploy them where the fight is bloodiest and use teleport homers or locator beacons for their safe landing. A maxed-out Terminator squad can field to heavy weapons; cyclone missile launchers are anti-light-tank and anti-horde, assault cannons got nerfed but are still a viable option vs light tanks and MEQs, and heavy flamers are mainly anti-horde.
Terminator squad: 10 Terminators w/ heavy flamer (x2) – 410 pts
4.3 Assault Terminator SquadsIn battle Terminators are deployed where the fighting is certain to be at its bloodiest. For this, larger Terminator squads are preferable. There are two ways to field a Terminator Assault squad, either as a shock and awe unit that deep strikes via a teleport homer or a locator beacon, or as a transported squad that should be led by a Chaplain for increased impact.
Terminator Assault squad: 10 Assault Terminators w/ thunder hammer (x7), twin lightning claws (x3) – 400 pts
LR Terminator Assault squad: 6 Assault Terminators w/ thunder hammer (x4), twin lightning claws (x2), Land Raider Crusader w/ armor – 505 pts
4.4 DreadnoughtsDreadnoughts are powerful war machines that can be as lethal at range as in close combat. Dreadnoughts are more durable in the new edition thanks to the new armor penetration table. Moreover, they are faster than they were before thanks to the universal special rule of
Running. Besides the normal and venerable Dreads, the new edition allows to field a new type of Dread, the Ironclad. The normal Dread is particularly useful in a shooting role or as a cheap walker to fill a gap in the combat line. A venerable Dread is harder to destroy and should be mainly used in a close combat role. Moreover, due to its higher ballistic skill it can easily take on tanks when mounted in a Drop Pod and equipped with a multimelta. An Ironclad is the toughest of all Dreads and is purely close combat oriented; it should be sent as fast as possible into the melee. Here are the basic configurations:
Dreadnought w/ lascannon, missile launcher – 100 pts
Venerable Dreadnought – 165 pts
Ironclad Dreadnought w/ heavy flamer, twin linked heavy flamer – 145 pts