# Space Marine Wargear and Upgrades Tactica



## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

My army usually centers around killing the opposition to the last man, which works well, but I sometimes have to use tactics.

Commander
-Take the Admantine Mantle if facing a lot of AP1 or 2 or 3 weapons. Command staff soak up lots of fire. The Iron Halo or Atificier Armor is also a good combo.
-Weapon choice should reflect on the battle at hand. If facing gribbly hordes(Tyranids, Orks, IG) use a storm bolter or combi-flamer. If facing armored enemies(Iron Warriors, IG armored companies, etc) take a combi-melta. If fighting armored infantry(Chaos, SM, SOB, Grey Knights) take a combi-plasma. 

Librarian
-Choose your pysker abilities CAREFULLY. You cannot change them in the middle of a battle.
-Use Vortex of Doom for low iniative armies like Guard or Necrons. Storm of the Emperor's Wrath also makes a good choice for IG or Nids'
-Fear of the Darkness is good for armies like Nids'(Only if they're out of synapse range) and Guard w/o vox-casters, or Orks.
-Always take a Familiar. If fighting a assault-oriented Army like World Eater or DE or Nids', this could save his life.

Chaplin
-Use him to his full potential. The Litinies of Hate rule is useful for front-line units. 
-The Crozius Arcanum is a POWER WEAPON. That means, do not let your Chaplin sit at the back of your army. Use him to smite powerful units like Termies, Heavy infantry, and pesky characters.
-Arm hyim with Melta Bombs. If he's going to fight, might as well fight everything eh?
-If you do use him as the focal commander for your army, give him a command sqaud with a Sacred Standard or Holy Relic. The benefits of these banners should not be denied.
-NEVER EVER FORGET ABOUT HIS 4+ INVUL SAVE. EVER.

Command Squads
-First of all, make it more than the box. Use a Combat squad to beef it up in large games. Too many people have lost good abilities by having to take wounds on Veterans or Apotecaries.
-Always take a Banner or Holy Relic. These are good upgrades for assault-oriented units, because the give the Command Squad the _Counterattack_ rule. This is an invaluable asset for facing armies like World Eaters, Grey Knights, and Tyranids or Orks.
-Use a heavy weapon for every situation. Use at your decresion. If you see armor, deploy a lascannon. Keep in mind that if you want your CS to be mobile, use an assault weapon instead.
-Terminator Command Squads have never made sense to me. I've seen Termies get cut down like wheat under Choppas or Chainaxes. Only use Termie CS if fighting an army without assault capabiliteis (Tau, IG)

Dreadnoughts
-Always take the Venerable rule, if points allow. Making your opponent reroll the _ Your Dread had just exploded_ result is fun and a good insurance policy for Dreads.
-Use a heavy weapon for every army. Use the Assault Cannon for taking down swaths of infantry and light vehicles. Use the Plasma cannon for the same tactic, but it has a splash. Use the Las for heavy infantry and vehicle units. Heavy bolters are a good alternatice to the Plasma Cannon. 
-Only use the Power fist if you are planning to assault or be assaulted. IT's useless in large-table games or against IG or Tau unless you plan on assaulting them.
-Take the Extra Armor upgrade if you want him to live longer. Take Smoke launchers for open terrain games. Take both if you have the points.

Terminators
-Take smaller units. They're easier to hide in Cityfight or dense brush, and can fit inside a Land Raider.
-Use the Heavy flamer if you're going to deploy then in an offensive situation. For defense or static fire, choose the assault cannon instead.
-Always take the power weapon for the Sergeant. It's invaluable for the Iniative 1 terminator Power Fist.
-Only teleport if you have a frontline unit with a Teleport Homer. If not, it's a pretty good chance they'll scatter into terrain or a unit.

Veterans
-Take some of the upgrades allowed if you are to use them as an assault unit (ex, Lightning Claws, Power fist, etc). If not, take some heavy weapons.
-Deploy them in a covered position. People see Elites and come running with lots of guns. 
-Take a Veteran Sergeant with the Terminator Honors and give him a Power Weapon and Plasma Pistol. If you're not sure about your dice rolling skills stick to a bolt pistol.

Techmarines
-Always take the Servo-Harness if points allow. It's a useful tool and give him more shooting power and extra power weapon attacks.
-Take four servitors. I usually take a Combat Servitor, a Technical Servitor, and two Heavy Bolter Servitors. 
-If you're fighting an army with lots of infantry, take Heavy Bolters, if you're fighting an army with lots of tanks, take multi-meltas, for both, take the Plasma Cannon.
-For Iron Hands, upgrade him to an Iron Father and take a Thunder Hammer.

Tactical Squads
-Take Veteran Sergeants, if points allow. They can take good stuff rom the armory that might give you an edge.
-These squads are really flexible and can be armed with a multitude of weapons tailored to fight different armies. 
-Rhinos and Razorbacks are good for large tables, or extra mobility. 
-Use purity seals for squads when fighting assault armies. Space Marines are brave. Not stupid.
-Drop Pods are only useful in large games, or against IG or Tau. Low assault capabilites. (This applies to every Drop-Pod unit)
-Do not fire Rapid Fire weapons if you want to charge (Bolters and Plasma Guns)

Scout Squads
-Take a Veteran Sergeant. He allows extra punch for the normally light and speedy Scouts.
-If you're going to use the Infiltrate rule, then arm them with a missile launcher or Heavy Bolter. This will allow for maximum enemy casualties.
-From afar, Scouts make excellent snipers. Put them high, away from the main fight, to pick off units.

Rhinos
-Always take the Extra Armor rule. You do not want an AV 11 vehicle out in the middle of a battle, not moving.
-Take smoke launchers for open battles. It'll increase your life expectancy.
-Don't forget about the storm bolter as you close to the enemy.

Razorbacks
-Use a Heavy Bolter turret for infantry and a Lascannon for armor-heavy armies. Always take a Heavy Bolter in Cityfight. With so many cover saves, it's better to have a couple mid-strength shots than one high-strength shot.

Drop Pods
-Do not forget about them. The are armed, and can shoot when they land. 
-Use the Storm bolter for clearing the landing zone
-Take the Deathwind Launcher for lightly armored, infantry armies like IG, Orks, and Tyranids.

Bike Squads
-Don't forget about the Turbo-Boost rule. It's good for open games.
-The riders can carry special weapons. Use one for every occasion.
-The +1 Toughness is NOT used for calculating instant death. 
-Take an Attack Bike with a Mulit-Melta for tanks, or a Heavy Bolter for Infantry.

Scout Bike Squads
-All applicable rules for scouts apply, except for the snipers and Heavy weapons.
-Use the Scouts rule to get ahead of the main force and into a good location for attacking.
-For defensive missions, never use Scout Bikes, it's not worth it.
-Arm your Sergeant with a good cc weapon. A Thunder Hammer or a Power Weapon works well.

Attack Bikes
-Take them in Squads of Three. 
-Use Multi-Meltas for tanks, and Heavy Bolters for Infantry.
-They do in fact have two wounds, no matter what the guy across the table says. 

Land Speeder Squadrons
-Take them as rapid respnse units, not defense.
-Use land Speeders to plug holes in you line, or exploit a weak point in the enemy's.
-The Tornado is very versitile, use the Multi-Melta/Flamer combo for Guard, World Eaters, Orks, etc, while the Heavy Bolter/Assault Cannon combo is good for IG, Tyranids, Orks, Space Marines, and Cityfight.
-The Typhoon is best deployed to take down infantry with it's blast templates.
-You cannot have a Land Speeder Typhoon Tornado. It's one or the other.

Assault Squads
-Take a Veteran Sergeant. These units will be in the thick of fighting and will need the punch of a power fist or weapon to get throught hings like Terminators, Wraithguard, or Heavy Infantry.
-Melta Bombs. Tanks can be destroyed by Assault Teams with the proper amount of firepower.
-Never forget about their Deep Strike Rule.

Whirlwinds
-Use Castellan rockets to deny enemy access points. It's a good deterrent if he can't move without losing troops.
-Vengeance Missiles are best employed by killing light infantry (IG, Orks, Eldar, DE, Tyranids and Tau). They're not very useful for much else, because of the Strength 5 and AP 4
-Always deploy Whirlwinds behind something. AV12/11/10 does not stand up well to Shooty armies.
-Power of the Machine Spirit can turn this into a player. It allows you to continue to fire (At BS 2) if the crew is Shaken/Stunned. A tremendous advantage if you have Orks bearing down on you.

Predators
-Use your intellect. Guardsmen do not make good Lascannon targets. Use the Destructor for light armies. Save the Anhialator-Pattern for heavy tanks and units. Dreads, War Walkers, Sentinals, Wraithlords, multi-wound charactors, and pesky 2+ saves all fall down with the S9 of the Anhialator.
The Heavy Bolter sponsons are good for Cityfight, to keep infantry from giving you a bad day, while the Lascanons take out armor.
-The Dozer Blade is good for the mobile army. Use it to blast through terrain to strike in an area that's unexpected.

Devastators
-Use the proper heavy weapon for the job. Heavy Bolters and Plasma Cannons for swathes of infantry. Use Multi-Meltas for up-close armor smiting. Use Lascannons and thier cheaper cousin, the Missile Launcher, for far-away armor.
-It should be noted the Missile Launcher is the most versitile of the weapons, able to fire both Frag and Krak rounds.
-The dquad should always be ten, so when incoming fire hits, you don't have to take out heavy firepower or the Sergeant.

Land Raiders
-The Land Raider's armor is tough, but by no means invulnerable. Don't trust it to hold against Railguns or Earthshaker shells for very long.
-The Power of the Machine Spirit Upgrade is free. Don't buy it again.
-Extra armor also comes standard. 
-Always get smoke launchers. It helps when the enemy gets a shot at the 250 point crate.
-250 points is a lot. Take some care when selecting deployment. Try to keep it safe.
-The Crusader pattern is best utilized when facing a large infantry-based army, (Guard, Eldar, Orks, DE, Nids') pretty much anything without power armor. The hurricane bolters can pump out an amazing voilume of fire, and the Rending assault cannons and Multi-melta add to the carnage.

Vindicator
-Take extra armor and smoke launchers.
-The Demolisher Cannon is an extrodinary weapon, but you have to be 24" away to use it. Keep some infantry close to protect it.
-Use it in Cityfights, Jungles, or dense terrain. It's easier to sneak up on an enemy. 
-It's a rather expensive investment, but worth it in larger, dense games.


----------



## cccp (Dec 15, 2006)

looks pretty good so far, nice work


----------



## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Thanks. I'm all done for now, but I might put up weapons stats at some point. I saw the "good oneswill be stickied" thing and came running.

-Dirge


----------



## cccp (Dec 15, 2006)

i think (but dont quote me) that weapon stats may breach copyright of GW.


----------



## nightmarine (Mar 30, 2007)

yeah just give people tactics for the weapons. (like 'dont put a lascannon in an assault squad' and 'dont fire bolters and try to charge') those are both mistakes i made (but the lascannon i had in a rhino so it was semi-useful) but looks good keep up the good work.


----------



## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

I was using a more loose tactica idea. I just told you what to do with units, not what was legal. But I will add the "Do not fire Rapid Fire weapons if you want to charge" rule into the Tactical Squad entry.

-Dirge


----------



## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

hhm also consider with the librarian there is an article in GW US about librarian tactica, read it and use it in thise, it has the best option for him. belive me it works!!


----------



## Viscount Vash (Jan 3, 2007)

Whirlwinds with Castellan can do any vehicle (apart from 14 armour on rear types) its always STR 6 on the rear armour (yummy) the only thing it is naff for is highly armoured infantry.

cccp_one is correct about quoting stat lines, mentioning one or two stats is OK but never quote all. Also give the total points when doing lists rather than list the cost of every item.


----------



## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Vengeance are in fact Strentgh 5, I found my Codex, but they are AP 4. I'm going to adjust the list.

And I will also adjust the Castellan ideas. Thanks Vash.

And I will read up on the GW ideas, thanks to Ordo Xeno
-Dirge


----------



## Anphicar (Dec 31, 2006)

Very concise, ill have a more focused look later. Thanks!


----------



## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

No problem. I'm open to suggestions about what I should add.

-Dirge


----------



## warmaster3 (Sep 2, 2007)

I like it its reall good. Its also very helpful for my space marine army!!


----------



## nightmarine (Mar 30, 2007)

out of recent experience, i have learned it is best NOT to give your commender/librarian/chaplain artificer armor. This makes it impossible to take a wound on him instead of removing a model due to the mixed armor rule. Isntead (as you posted) i would suggest the adamantine mantle and the Iron halo.

also, with the dred against armor happy armies make sure you get tank hunters. that turns that twin linked lascannon into a strangt 10 weapon! death for tanks around the world (although slightly expensive)


----------



## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Dreads can get Tank Hunters?

Lemme check my Codex.

Cool. I'll add that on.

-Dirge


----------



## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

Although if you want to split hairs, an assault cannon is better than a twin-liked lascannon at opening armor, so it'd seem logical that an assault cannon with Tank Hunters would still be better than a twin-linked lascannon with Tank Hunters.

Honestly, the only reason to take the twin-linked lascannons now is if you're going to have the dreadnought babysitting a devastator squad and have equipped it with a missile launcher. That way, you've got 48'' range with both weapons. I think I'd still go with the assault cannon, though.


----------



## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Yes, My dread (whom I affectionately refer to as Romulus) is a Assault Cannon and cc weapon dread.

-Dirge


----------



## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

I think part of why the newer rules for Space Marine armies (namely, Dark Angels and Blood Angels) allow dreadnoughts the 3rd edition codex's weapon options (i.e. plasma cannon, dual autocannon, dual heavy bolters) is because the assault cannon is so much better than the dual lascannons at opening tanks. The plasma cannon, on the other hand, is superior at slagging Space Marines, and I suppose the other weapons are there for the sake of completeness. And for some reason, the twin-linked heavy bolter just looks cool, despite being quite possibly the worst thing you could mount on a dreadnought next to perhaps the multi-melta.


----------



## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

Well, the dred with a multi-melta is arguably the best for drop-podding, smack it down next to the Chaos Land Raider, and open up. I would say that the dreds for DA and BT are the best right now, as they have the most weapons options. The new SM codex, the revamp, will be along those lines.

-Dirge


----------



## Engelus (Jul 26, 2007)

Im pretty sure you mean Blood Angels, The Black Templar Dreads only have CCW, melta, Missle, TLLascannon and heavy flamer as options.


----------

