Space Marine Tactics

Space Marines are capable of being the best army in 40k. The individual marine is superior to any other troops choice in the game. Marines provide a balanced force which seems capable of destroying nearly any opponent with ease. However this is simply not true, because of the increasing popularity of marines it is becoming more and more apparent that players of other races need to specialise to kill marines. This leaves the marines in a very harsh position. As nearly any army you come across is designed to kill you, tactics are paramount. In the following I will explain how I design and use Marine armies.

Designing A Space Marine Army

It wise to spend much time on the planning of your army. Arguably the game is won here. It is far more common for a bad player with a good army to win than a good player with a bad army. An army must be versatile, embracing of extremes can only lead to disaster. One trick armies can be potent but a well-designed army will easily counter it. An army has to offer the player many ways of using it, otherwise it is predictable, which means your enemy can easily cut it down. The army you want to make is the one where you hand your opponent your army list and he has no idea how you are going to use it. This hands you the initiative even before the battle starts. Here is a list of all the Space Marine units.

Force Commander: Here is a choice who can take down nearly any opposing character in close-combat. However this comes at a price, they require a large amount of wargear to function properly. I would advise either Lightning Claws or a ThunderHammer. These are excellent weapons. When taking these guys, spare no expense which will keep them alive.

Commander: Not as powerful as the Force Commander. Use the same but Lightning Claws or a Power Weapon and a Plasma Pistol are your best bets. It is best not to go overboard with these guys. These are best used in much the same role as a veteran seargant, supporting a squad in close sombat.

Leader: An interesting choice, very fragile. I'd use this guy as an improved Veteran Seargant for an assault squad. You definetly want a Power Weapon for this guy. A stormshield would be appropriate here too. As I said before, use this guy in large assaults to give you an edge. He won't cut it though against an opposing HQ choice.

Chaplain: An excellent choice. He is best left with his original equipment with some honors and a pistol for the extra attacks. Use this guy in a similiar role to the Commander. These guys stand as the best all-around HQ choice because of their value for what you pay and the fact they leave your iron halo for someone else.

Librarian: These guys are specialists. Smite may look cool but it is nearly worthless. When used they should be equipped with a force weapon and sent off to kill bad guys with multiple wounds. However they will need to be lucky to put down most of the big uglies. Not a very good choice, all things considered.

Command Squad: Here's an interesting idea. These squads are strong in close combat and shooting but are pricey. This makes throwing them into the fray a risky proposition. However having your commander tied down in a shooting squad is not much fun. Here is how I'd use them. Take a 5-strong squad, equip it with 2 heavy weapons or plasma guns, place it in a razorback with a Lascannon and upgrade one to a Techmarine. Have this squad accompany a leader. This leaves you with a squad with excellent shooting abilities, mobility and can be used to support your marines in close combat. Perfection.

Dreadnoughts: These are an excellent choice for an army. They provide good firepower and near invulnerability in close combat. I equip these guys with either a Plasma Cannon or a Lascannon and Missile Launcher depending on how I want my army to work. Dreadnoughts are used as support in armies rather than the spearhead of an assault. Many people think that these guys will get shot up badly in games. Fortunately in tounaments there is quite a bit of terrain and you are quite close to your enemy if you choose to be. If equipped with a Plasma Cannon use them to advance with your assault, come in with them on the second turn of combat to tip the balance in your favor. If they are made for shooting use them to hold your lines. Remember that even without the close combat weapon they are still very hard to kill and can give you time to deal with a threat.

Terminators: These guys are no longer much use on the battlefields of the 41st. Millenium. They are so feared (rightly) that every army is eqipped to handle these guys with ease. If used try 5-strong squads to provide a powerful backbone to your army if you intend to hold a position. Assault Cannons work well here. Countercharge an enemy with these. Taking an assault role with your terminators doesn't pay off often.

Veteran Squads: Perhaps the best unit in your army in terms of value. These units should always be equipped with chainswords and bolt-pistols . Otherwise there is no point to them. However here is where you can throw a curve. Try putting them in a rhino with a Missile Launcher and Plasma Gun. Also upgrade one of them to a vet. sarge and issue him a power weapon. Your enemy won't know what to think! You would now have a unit that can shoot 80% as well as the equivalent Tactical Squad, is tougher, faster and more than twice as good in close-combat. All for another 30 points than a Tac squad with the same equipment. Terminator honors are not worth it.

Tactical Squads: These guys win you games, Ideally all your squads should be large (8-10). Weapons of choice would be the Missile Launcher and Plasma Gun. Here's where you can make a choice, you can leave the squads as is or you can go versatile. Simply add a Veteran Seargant with a power something or another and add a Rhino. You then have a squad proficient at shooting and effective in close combat. Not to mention tough. The great thing is you can use these squads for anything at all. Also, don't be afraid to get stuck in with a few squads, marines en masse with a few power weapons/fists are a match for nearly anything.

Scout Squads: Very useful in a tournament situation. Due to their ability to infiltrate you can set up where you please in Dawn Assaults. Although it may be tempting, close combat is not what they should be used for, shooting is where their abilities lie. If you put up 2 10 strong squads with Autocannons and Bolters behind the enemy you will not only inflict a substantial amount of casualties but throw them sufficiently off balance to make winning a very real possibility.

Razorbacks: I consider these to be only really useful for the aforementioned command squad.

Assault Squads: If you decide to play an aggressive army one of these units will be desirable. Here you should choose between the two optimum unit sizes, 5-strong and 10-strong. A 5 strong squad should be used for special work, targeting light vehicles or small squads with their plasma pistols and melta-bombs while grabbing an objective at the end of the game. These should not be used as amin assault units as only a few casualties will severely hurt their morale and performance. A 10 strong squad should be used as a main assault squad. Two Plasma pistols is a good idea but Melta-Bombs should be left at home.This squad is designed for large assaults, counting on strength of numbers to carry it through, it is also a good idea to use on of these as a de facto retinue for an independent character. Any assault marine squad should have a well equipped veteran seargant, these will secure the edge in close combats. Powerfists and Power weapons are both equally viable but Powerfists would seem to be more useful to serve the function of the 5 man squad while a power weapon would be more valuable in a large swirling assault.

Bikes: These guys don't seem to serve a real purpose to me. They are not outstandingly fast, only marginally tougher and much more expensive than a normal marine. Hit and Run may seem like a good idea but it's actually hopeless.

Attack Bikes: Now these things could have a real use, they are most useful when you have 3 of them with Heavy Bolters, that's a lot of firepower and it will take anti-tank weapons to put them down. Also you can use them to stall an enemy assault, without power weapons it will take a long time to put these guys down. They are also effective against the dreaded banshees. These are an all around good choice for any marine army no matter the orientation.

Landspeeders: Pretty nifty, these are similiar in use to Attack Bikes but are faster and more resistant to anti-tank weapons and standard weapons, however they are more vulnerable to mid-strength high AP weapons. Because of their speed they lend themselves more to the tank-hunting role. Their speed allows them to easily get in 12" inches to open fire with a potentially devastating Multi-Melta shot.

Landspeeder Tornado: I tend to not like these as much as the normal landspeeder. To stay alive with Armor 10 it is imperative that you move more than 6" however you then can only fire one weapon. When taking these I would equip it with two very different weapons, preferably a Multi Melta and an Assault Cannon. This would provide a well-balanced vehicle.

Land speeder Typhoon: These can offer a good alternative to the Tornado versions. They are well equipped to handle large amounts of light infantry, when equipped with an assault cannon you can work yourself into a position where you can unleash your firepower into light squads, potentially crippling them with one salvo. However they would be nearly useless against marines.

Predator Annihilator: When compared to its near identical twin these seem to lack the same value. While very useful against horde armies they aren't very capable against even light vehicles and worthless against marines on the whole unless you get some flukes with your auto cannon. If you do take it give it extra armor and smoke launchers so it can be used to grab or contest an objective at the end of the game or make a mid-game move.

Predator Destructor: Now this is what I call a tank. Three Lascannons, 1 twin-linked will cause any vehicle to think twice about entering it's field of fire. It will also reek destruction on usually very tough units and is nice to have around for those big ugly monsters. As with any tank armor and smoke launchers are an excellent choice.

Whirlwind: Excellent!!! Use these to pin squads and hit hiding transports.

Land Raider: I am altogether not sure of how this behemoth is best used. It has excellent armor, a transport capability and impressive shooting capabilities. However it doesn't function as a tank and a transport efficiently, it tends to have to be used in one form or the other, although the machine spirit does allow it limited fire while advancing. It seems to me that the best way to use these would be to use it as an all around tank. Possibly moving forth into a good position, unloading it's troops and then going it's own seperate way as a tank. The usual extra armor and smoke launchers are necessary even with the heavy armor.

Land Raider Crusader: These things are much simpler to use than the normal Land Raider. I would definitely include one of these in an aggressive army. Unlike normal Land-Raiders these things have a very defined purpose, assault. It is wise to put a kitted out veteran squad in one of these things accompanied by an Independent character (ideally a Force Commander) and push forward into the heart of their army. These things can move and still have an impressive firing ability, standing still and within 12" they are capable of causing horrendous casualties to nearly anything, including marines!! My advise would be to give them smoke launchers and extra armor and even add on a Hunter Killer missile for that extra effect.

There you have it, I have named every unit available to a Codex: Space Marines commander and how I would select them now I will detail how I put together an army and what combinations I try to achieve.

First of all I'm of the opinion that there are three types of army that can be chosen using the codex. These would be aggressive, firepower and versatile. Each of these armies have different strengths and weaknesses and will shine in different situations. Here is how I design and use each army.

Aggressive Armies

Aggressive armies take the fight to the enemy by exploiting weaknesses in the enemy's deployment. Aggressive armies should be designed for close-quarters combat, investing in specialists for hard work but still using tactical squads for assault and limited fire support. Most fire support should be mobile, either land speeders or attack bikes. It is sometimes wise to take two Command choices ( commonly a chaplain and a commander), to this I would advise forming two de facto retinues, one an assault squad and a veteran squad in a Crusader. However this can be expensive and I would advise removing one of your commanders if you feel you have insufficient points for your normal marines, but keep the vets and assault marines. The rest of the army should be fitted out with Tactical squads in rhinos kitted for close combat ( a melta-gun/flamer and a vet. sarge with a special weapon). These should provide the bulk of your assault force as marines are quite proficient in hand-to-hand when equipped properly. Another valuable addition to your army could be a few 5-man scout squads which you deploy to harass your opponent and throw them off balance. Here is a sample list I'd take to a tournament.

Force Commander with Honors/Bolt Pistol/ Power Fist/ Iron Halo

10-man Veteran Squad with flamer and Vet Sarge with Power Fist

2x10-man Tactical Squads with melta-gun and Vet Sarge with Power Fist

2x10-man Tactical Squads with flamers and Vet Sarge with Power Weapon

4 Rhinos with smoke launchers and extra armor

1x10-man Assault Squad w/ Vet sarge with Power Weapon

3 Attack Bikes with Heavy Bolters

3 Land speeders with Multi-Meltas

1 Land Raider Crusader with smoke launchers and extra armor

This army is about 2000 points and works well when taking the fight to the enemy. The main assault force consists of the Rhinos and the Crusader advancing towards the enemy’s lines. Each squad should pursue the target they are best equipped to deal with, armor should be dealt with by melta-guns and power fists while the other squads are more tailored to infantry. While your main assault force moves up you should seek special targets. Attack Bikes should advance up a flank and harass the enemy, entering combat if their added force is needed. The Land speeders should seek out the enemy tanks or heavily armoured units e.g. terminators and battle suits, remember that going for a long range shot on the first turn is not always the best idea. It is a far better idea to use your speed and get to a good source of cover where you can safely put 3 close range shots in the next turn. The assault squad needs to be used carefully; they are far more fragile than the transported squads and are easier targets. They should serve as a second wave to your assault, targeting reinforcements or lending their skills to where they are most needed. In order to play an aggressive army properly you have to understand that anything other than short range combat is not to your advantage, you lack the heavy weapons to shoot effectively against most armies, however it is necessary to know when you should shoot. This army is formidable in Close Combat but there are other much more effective armies out there. You should be watching out for World Eaters, Blood Angels, Space Wolves and Tyranids. Here it is best to hold back and employ harassing moves with your units capable of it. Attack Bikes and Land speeders should be used to hurt light transports and weaken squads, your Tactical marines should deploy form their Rhinos and use their bolters until the enemy is too close. The important part is for you to be in control of where the initial combat takes place and which units are involved. Consider using a Tactical Squad or the Attack Bikes as bait allowing you to throw your forces at him. The most important thing is that you should still be the one charging in numbers instead of getting charged.

Firepower Armies

Firepower armies rely upon massive amounts of firepower to wipe the enemy out before close combat ensues. In close combat they tend to rely upon numbers and strong units such as characters and dreadnoughts to see them through. A firepower army must present assault as the only viable option to an enemy army. It needs to be made clear that anything in the field of fire will die. Let's start off with HQ, this need’s to be cheap but efficient, in my opinion that means a chaplain, equipped with a jump pack so he can quickly counter an enemy assault. That should finish that section off as extensive close combat is not what I'm looking for. On to elites, here I see my choices being Dreadnoughts or Terminators. Although Terminators would provide a good flexible unit with a good punch in close combat I'd rather spend the points elsewhere. Dreadnoughts are where I spend those points I'd say two are a good choice, although it is tempting to replace that power fist with a missile launcher these guys are the strength of our army in close combat. Use these to keep enemies in close combat while you fall back and start shooting new squads. My advice would be Lascannons or Plasma cannons, Heavy Flamers ain't quite worth it. Tactical squads are where the bulk of your points should be spent. All squads should be full sized to provide the rapid fire and numbers in assault, plasma guns are a must for every squad. Your Heavy Weapon is a much more difficult decision, anything you can kill with a heavy bolter you can with bolters so not much point there, which leaves us with Lascannons or Missile Launchers. They are similar in abilities but Lascannons are relatively cheaper and launchers can be picked up easily in devastator Squads. I'd take a 2:1 ratio of Lascannons. Fast Attack, no need for it. Heavy Support should consist of devastator squads, end of story. I say take two, one with 4 Plasma Cannons and one with 4 missile Launchers, both squads should be full sized as they will definitely be targeted. Any extra points should be spent on more marines, hence more heavy weapons. Here's a sample list.

Chaplain w/Terminator Honors/Jump Pack/ Bolt Pistol/Crozius Arcanum/Rosarius

Dreadnought w/Lascannon/ Storm Bolter extra armor

Dreadnought w/Plasma Cannon/ Storm Bolter extra armor

Dreadnought w/Autocannon/ Storm Bolter extra armor /smoke launchers

6x10 man Tactical Squads, 4 w/ Lascannons/Plasma Guns, 2 w/Missile Launchers /Plasma Guns

1x10 man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Plasma Cannons

1x10 man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers

This army is 2000 points and can be employed easily to great success. It is unmatched in firepower (offering 17 heavy weapons and 6 special weapons) All weapons will cut through armor with ease and most have the strength to kill nearly any tank or creature, should you come across a horde army you have enough bolters to stop anything in it’s tracks. Even though you have superb shooting abilities you will realize you have lost little in the way of close combat abilities, after all, you are marines. The Chaplain and Dreadnoughts are excellent for protecting your army in close combat and if worst comes to worst you should win through sheer weight of numbers. This army typically wins by annihilating the opponent, rendering him incapable of capturing objectives If this doesn’t happen though you could be in trouble, this army is slow and has a hard time getting table quarters and objectives. If you see that you need to move to win the game do so immediately in the first few turns, advance with your tactical squads, dreadnoughts and chaplain while your devastators guard your approach. Another tactic that works well is leapfrogging. This is when you partner 2 squads who advance simultaneously. One squad lays down fire while the other squad moves through the other and so on, each squad covering the other until they reach their objective. This works well and lets you keep a constant rate of fire up. If a large target presents itself just stop and fire with both squads, likewise if there are no targets just move with both squads.

Versatile Armies

These represent the bulk of Space Marine armies, specializing in nothing, but not especially weak to anything. It must be said that these armies are probably harder to use than the afore-mentioned ones. Specialist armies will have an immense edge on you which makes your versatility seem useless. The trick to these armies is making it so you always have the edge somehow., be it shooting, close combat, mobility or survivability. It is always necessary to press these advantages. Force the enemy to fight on your ground. These armies need a good solid HQ choice which can serve many purposes, hence I like to take the Force Commander with a Power Fist and some other goodies. I have to say I like everything I see here but I’ll have to pick one of each. How about some terminators, a dreadnought and a veteran squad. All of these units are the epitome of versatile, capable of fulfilling multiple roles. On to troops where the core of our army is. First off let’s take some scouts, their infiltrating ability is priceless. Tactical Squads are a necessity of course and all should be mounted in a Rhino with the correct modifications made for close-combat. Moving onto Fast-Attack I’d say the good choices here are either Attack Bikes or Land speeders, theoretically you should choose which type and take three of them, 1 in each slot. Heavy Support brings some choices to light, I’d say a Whirlwind or two is a good choice, they are very useful once you master guessing ranges. Finish it off with a tank if you feel like it. Here’s a sample army list.

Chaplain w/ Bolt Pistol/Honors

5-man Terminator Squad w/ 2 Missile Launchers

Dreadnought w/ Assault Cannons /Storm Bolter/

10-man Veteran Squad w/ Missile Launcher/Melta Gun/ and Vet .Sarge with Power Fist

2x10 man Tactical Squads w/ Lascannon /Plasma Gun and Vet Sarge with Power Weapon

1x9 man Tactical Squad w/Missile Launcher/Flamer/ and Vet Sarge with Power Sword

2x5 man Scout Squads w/ Missile Launchers and Vet. Sarge with Power Weapon

3 Attack Bikes w/Heavy Bolters

2 Whirlwinds

4 Rhinos

This army hovers around 2000 points and as you would expect is quite versatile. With about 9 heavy weapons it represents a considerable threat in the shooting phase, enough to keep anyone’s head down at least. With quite a bit of speed and well equipped squads it can hurt most anything in close combat. Everything in this army has a double purpose with the exceptions of the Whirlwinds and Chaplain and should be used in as many ways as possible. The most interesting thing about this army is the scouts. They are the 2 most versatile units in this army. Initially you can deploy them 18” from the enemy, and then begins the real choices. They are equipped with a missile launcher so have some serious firepower. On the other hand though they each have two attacks base and the sergeants have power weapons, making them relatively deadly in close combat. Either way you use them they are guaranteed to throw the enemy off balance and hand you the initiative on a silver platter. The terminators are also a quite good example of versatility. They are blessed with very heavy mobile firepower, excellent close combat abilities and are very tough to boot!! This squad should move every turn to wherever the richest targets are, they should also aim to advance towards the objectives because of their special abilities. Finally we come to the Whirlwinds. I hope 2 doesn’t sound excessive since these guys are good!! No line of sight is needed, decent strength and counts as ordnance barrage. What more could you ask for? Yeah I thought that too, decent armor, these guys have got to be placed behind something very solid or they won’t stay around for long. Use these to hunt light vehicles and pin down troops vital to the enemy, don’t be afraid to throw a shell or two at light enemy units in close combat either, it’s very effective but a bit cheesy. All in all this is probably the best type of army to bring to a tournament where you don't know what to expect.

Playing the Game

Well the best army in the world won’t do much under an incompetent commander and that’s where tactics come in. This is a hard thing to explain because of the vast variety of conflicts which can occur between two armies in the 40k universe. Truly the best way to gain a true feel for the actual small unit tactics is to simply play. A pound of training isn’t worth an ounce of experience. Because of this I’m not going to attempt to tell you how to move every unit during every turn, that’s impossible. Instead I’m going try and show you the strategical side of 40k, or how to think on a big scale.

Deployment

Deployment is a critical part of the game, whilst there is no fighting in this phase the game is most often won here by one player seizing the initiative. When I say initiative I mean that he forces his opponent to respond to his actions while he’s the one who makes the important decisions. This is how games are won (and lost!!) Before you set up a unit think about its capabilities and its effective ranges. For example a Devastator squad placed on a hill can see 360* meaning that the enemy is wary of putting anything out in the open and will compromise his position to avoid you. Try to deploy your heavy weapons so that your opponent tends to deploy in spots where he is out of L.O.S. Then deploy assault type troops to force him out of there. Put your opponent between a rock and a hard place. When deploying don’t think so much about getting a good shot or being close to the objective, rather, attempt to influence your opponent’s deployment favourably. This is the key to deploying and is where a good player takes his victory. At the same time remember to not let your opponent do the same to you. It can be a nasty shock when your opponent puts a Land Raider across from your Dreadnought but you’re opponent will throw a tantrum when you deploy a Devastator Squad full of Lascannons!!! Leman Russes are another good example, many guard players will place their tanks in a position they don’t intend to keep them in merely to change your deployment. If you refuse to change you can often turn the trick on him when he finds himself in a bad position.

Bluffing It

Ahh the ancient art of bluffing……. While it may seem basic bluffing does have its place in 40k. Bluffing is when you make it look like you are going to do something you have no intention of doing. This could be moving a Rhino towards the enemies flank only to move it backwards the next turn. Or it could be moving a Devastator squad into a good position merely to force him out of you L.O.S. into charge range of an assault squad. The key to bluffing is to really act like you’re gonna do it. Many times I pretend I’m gonna do something really stupid and then hit the enemy somewhere else. In a standard tournament game against someone you just met you can usually bluff twice before your enemy calls it. If you’re called you’re usually in a bit of trouble. Of course you can do what I like to do in tournaments, bluff once or twice and then follow through. This can throw a player off if you do it correctly. When I play with my Fleshtearers (yeah I know they’re not codex but it’s just an example) I like to use this tactic; I’ll make a dry run with my assault squads during turn 1 & 2. I move forward very fast and then use my overcharge to duck back and behind cover instead of maybe just assaulting then and there, I then move back again the next turn. I’ll do this once or twice while my few tactical squads put down just enough fire to keep their heads down a bit. Then on the 3rd turn I put about 40 of the emperor’s finest into their confused lines (And they thought I was too worried to enter close combat!!)

Capturing an Objective

There’s much to be said about capturing an objective. Is it better to hold it or assault it?? I’d have to say this varies from army to army and there is no real clear cut answer. For example with the Aggressive army I’d want to assault it, the Firepower defend and with the Versatile army I would want to occupy the area around it with one unit on it. Of course it’s not always our choice is it?? For example if my opponent captured it first and all I had was heavy weapons I’d be in a predicament wouldn’t I ?? Lacking the real speed I’d be forced to gun them down as they came onto the objective while my Dreadnoughts and Chaplain prepared to assault it on the final turn. If my Aggressive army was near the objective but knew they’d be out gunned if they took it I’d hold the majority of the army back while skirmishers went forward to engage the enemy when their L.O.S. was blocked by assaults I’d move to take the objective and hope for the best while sending one unit at a time to their lines. With my Versatile army I’d seek to put all the approaches to the objective under my field of fire while one unit held the objective, mean while the rest of my army would be poised to countercharge anyone who attempted to take the objective.

It’s All in Your Head

An important part of 40k is keeping your head clear, in this way it is much like a chess. It is very important to maintain a calm detached attitude to your game if you desire to win. Intimidation and taunts are the most common means of distracting you while you play, you must learn to dismiss these as soon as possible. Considering what they’re saying can only lead to disaster. A friend of mine (and an excellent player) has a saying,”Respect no gamer, they’re idiots so play em’ like it, especially ones with cool conversoins and good painting.” As radical as this sounds he’s right, this should be your mindset when you’re playing to win. Don’t second guess, don’t panic, be confident, be arrogant by silence and win. It’s as simple as that, someone who shows no emotion while playing is more intimidating than any other type of player. If you’re wondering if this guy really is any good let’s just say that the only reason he hasn’t taken first in every tournament he’s entered is that the gaming community in this little country dislikes him and he’s all thumbs when it comes to painting and converting.

P.S. I live in New Zealand

Conclusion

Well that wraps up my article on how to build and fight with a marine force. I hope you learned something from my ideas, However feel free to experiment as you wish. Personally I think the most important section in this article was the last one. For The Emperor!!!

** Thank you FleshTearerUlysses for sharing this insightful essay with us! ~ Brother Edward