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My friends are beginning to extend their armies into space, and as this is exciting I'm also stepping forward with trepidation as one is playing Eldar and the other Imperial Navy (they are Eldar and IG players, respectively). So, I'm a SW player, and from what I hear Space Marines do are have the best in terms of Ships. If this is untrue feel free to say so. So, I need to know a good beginners army list, probably around 1500 points, a good paint scheme for Space Wolves, and any tactics to help me drive them into the dirt!

Well, it depends on what you mean by "best." In BFG, the SM definitely have some good things going for them:

-Better than average leadership.
-Strong boarding capabilities
- Good armor, with their capital ships having 6+
- Higher than average speed
-Access to Thunderhawks

On the other hand, they have some drawbacks as well:
-Fewer ship types, leading to less flexibility/fewer options.
-Ships are more expensive than their IN/Chaos counterparts, due to the boosts mentioned above.
-Lack of access to 8 HP cruisers.
-Lack of effective long-range firepower
-Lack of easy access to lance weaponry.

Note that these weaknesses were designed into the fleet; in the fluff, space combat is not intended to be the main purpose of a SM fleet; rather, they are supposed to transport marines to a target and then successfully insert them onto a hostile planet.

As far as lists go, the absolute strongest SM lists will focus on taking as many battlebarges as possible (2 in 1500 points) and filling out the rest with escorts. Bringing in some Strike Cruisers is an option, but these really need to be squadroned in pairs in order to be effective, from my experience. As for escorts, the Gladius tends to be the most effective, and its weapons batteries will come in handy if you are going to be facing your friend's Eldar fleet regularly (the Eldar get a 2+ save on any weapon that does not use the gunnery table). Hunters aren't too bad of a choice, either, given that they have access to boarding torpedoes. There simply aren't that many terribly effective SM builds, given that they really only have 5 basic ship types (the barge, the strike cruiser, and the three escorts).

Just what I was looking for, thanks for the help!

No problem! For further reference, make sure you check out this thread:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/423771.page

There is some good discussion here, as well as a link to the updated SM rules.

As far as lists go, the absolute strongest SM lists will focus on taking as many battlebarges as possible (2 in 1500 points) and filling out the rest with escorts. Bringing in some Strike Cruisers is an option, but these really need to be squadroned in pairs in order to be effective, from my experience. As for escorts, the Gladius tends to be the most effective, and its weapons batteries will come in handy if you are going to be facing your friend's Eldar fleet regularly (the Eldar get a 2+ save on any weapon that does not use the gunnery table). Hunters aren't too bad of a choice, either, given that they have access to boarding torpedoes. There simply aren't that many terribly effective SM builds, given that they really only have 5 basic ship types (the barge, the strike cruiser, and the three escorts).

Wait I thought you could only bring 1 battlebarge per 1000 points....

It is 1 per 1000 points or part thereof. So, 1 barge for 1-1000 points, 2 for 1001-2000 points, etc.

Note that this is similar but different to the requirements for the Eldar Voidstalker battleship; for that ship, you can only have one for every full 1000 points. So, you can have 0 Voidstakers at 0-999 points, 1 at 1000-1,999 points, 2 for 2000-2,999 points, etc.

Ruckdog wrote:It is 1 per 1000 points or part thereof. So, 1 barge for 1-1000 points, 2 for 1001-2000 points, etc.

Note that this is similar but different to the requirements for the Eldar Voidstalker battleship; for that ship, you can only have one for every full 1000 points. So, you can have 0 Voidstakers at 0-999 points, 1 at 1000-1,999 points, 2 for 2000-2,999 points, etc.

HOLY

That means I might need to change the following two lists:

This is a 1500 Point List (1495)

Seditio Opprimere (MOTF - Master of the Fleet)

3 Strike Cruiser + Shield

2 Strike Cruiser + Bombardment Cannon

5 Gladius


or (only difference is that i dropped gladius' for extra shields on the bombardment strike cruisers, and replaced them for Swords)


Seditio Opprimere (MOTF - Master of the Fleet)

3 Strike Cruisers + extra shield

2 Bombard Strike Cruisers + extra shield

5 Swords

In refer to the starter:

If you use the original rules Space Marines are one of the lower end fleets. And thus on the weak side. Especially Strike Cruisers are poor.

If you use the FAQ/Compendium 2010 update they become more balanced.