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Hi all, I am new to 40k. Had bought bunch of sets few years back to assemble and paint. Need some advise to customize a 1750pts force.

1) Command Squad (5units)
2) Veterans (5)
3) Dreadnought
4) Assault Squad (5)
5) Land speeder (2)
6) Tactical Squad (3)
7) Scout Squad with pistol+sword (5) & snipers (3)
8) Predator (1)
9) Whirlwind (2)
10) Chaplain Grimaldus & Retinue (bought this just for painting purpose, can it be use to form the list?)

My play style? Well, haven't got that figured out. Any suggesting is welcomed. Going to field my army in FLGS soon, expecting all factions of opponents. Thanks.

First, Welcome to Dakka.

What codex do you plan on using? Chaplain Grimaldus says Black Templars, but if you just picked him up to paint, you might be doing something else.

Are the numbers in parenthesis the number of boxes or guys you have? Makes a difference if you have 5 boxes of assault marines, or a 5 man squad. Also, what Veterans do you have? Vanguard, sternguard, or one of the mixed boxes?

How much assembly have you already done? And is there any flexibility via magnets? I suspect your list could use a pair of rhinos more then a pair of whirlwinds. Luckily just by not glueing the top hatch on you can switch between the two. Assuming you haven't already glued them down.

Are you restricted to just what you have? Or are you willing to pick up one or two other things to help with the list?

Thanks for the reply Nevelon,

1) I have 4th ed. SM Codex. Don't plan to buy the new 5th ed. at the moment, saving up for necessary minis.
2) Can I use my Chaplain Grimaldus as normal chaplain (and not to restrict my army to be Black Templar), that if a chaplain is usefull in the army.
3) The numbers in parenthesis is the Quantity of 'man':

Command Squad (5men)
Veterans (5men)
Dreadnought (1)
Assault Squad (5men)
Land speeder (2unit)
Tactical Squad (30men)
Scout Squad with pistol+sword (5men) & snipers (3men)
Predator (1)
Whirlwind (2)
Chaplain Grimaldus & Retinue

4) The Veterans are from the mixed box.
5) All predator,whirlwind,dreadnought and speeders' weapon gears (main gun and side sponsons) are detachable, used "blue tack" to secure so far, for interchanging purpose. Haven't figure out any better way to secure them without gluing. How do you 'magnet'?
6) Yes, I am open to getting more units, not too many though. Also, won't know what is allowed in the new Force Org Chart?? Had a feeling that the list above will fall short of 1750.

Any suggestion from others are welcomed too :-) Thanks guys

Well, first of all we have Ed. 6 nowadays

And you need a HQ. Chaplain isn't a bad choice but another option you have is Librarian.

Those Tac squads are the easiest and most flexible of troop choices so use at least 2 squads of them. Scouts also have their uses and are a cheap unit to keep objectives.

For Fast Attack Assault squad is a good choice. With Land Speeders you need to decide. Give them Multi-Meltas or Typhoon Missile launchers to make them quick tankhunters, or go with HB's and/or HF's to harass light infantry. Just block line of sight and use Jink to keep them alive.

For support I'd take AT-predator over Whirlwinds.

Does your FLGS have codexes you can borrow? Does the local crowd care that you are using an old book? You might want to see if you can get a used copy, it's been out for a while. But is pretty critical to play.

Blue tack is a good option for swapping stuff around. You can buy rare earth magnets (not the kind you put on the fridge) and drill small holes in your mini to get them set flush. This makes swapping stuff a breeze, but does take a small investment and some work. There are frequently posts about it over in the painting and modeling section.

My rough math makes it look like you would be stretching to get to 1,500 points with what you have. You need a captain to field a command squad. Vets are split up these days into shooty (sternguard) and close combat (vanguard) so the old mixed boxes don't work as a whole squad. They can be used as vet sarges though. In your case, one might need to be promoted to captain.

The FOC at it's core hasn't changed much. They added allies, a slot for fortifications, and the option to use two in 2,000 point games. But besides that it remains the same HQ + 2 troops minimum, with another HQ and 3 elite/FA/HS and 4more troops optional.

As an army, what you have is a gunline. Almost no mobility, but a lot of shooting. Just put as many big guns as you have on and slap everything on the table. You have a good force mix, but without you having a codex or me knowing what every mini is equipped with, there is a limit to how much help I can be.

Any comment on this list? referred to 5th codex:

HQ-Captain (power fist+pistol)
Company Champion(power sword+combat shield)
Apothecary
Veteran x3 (Company Standard+Meltagun+Storm bolter)

Troop-Tac Squad x9 (1flamer,1heavy bolter)
Sarge (plasma pistol)
Rhino

Troop-Tac Squad x9 (1flamer,1multi melta)
Sarge (combi melta)
Rhino

Troop- Telion
Scout x7 (1missile, 3sniper, all camo cloak)

Elite Vanguard - Sarge (both hands lightning claw)
veteranx1 (thunderhammer+pistol)
veteran x7 (sword+pistol) [built from assault squad]
entire squad jump packs

Elite - Dreadnought (close combat & multi melta + extra armour)

FA - Land speeder (assault cannon+heavy flamer)
Land speeder (multi melta+multi melta)

Support - Predator (twin link lascannon+ heavy bolter sponsons+extra armour)

Who should take krak/frag?

I'll do you a solid, through my vanilla space marine collecting I have two codexes (sp?), Whatever, if you want, ill sell it to you for ten bucks, you pay shipping. PM me and let me know. I also have a ton of space marines im looking to get rid of if you are trying to collect more.

Looking at your list, I have some advice:

1) if you can, have the tac first tac squad use a flamer + ML (not HB). ML's ability to multitask on tanks is more helpful, I find, than the HB.

2) Too many scouts. I find that running them in 5 (when snipers) is a good bet. Using Telion I'd recommend: Telion, 1 ML, 3 Snipers, all with cloaks. That's...147 points? Saves up some room.

3) Keep the vanguards Assault troops. Vanguards are NOT worth the points in almost all instances. regular assault troops, run pretty cheap (with a Melta-bomb) is gonna be a much better bet

4) If you have a drop pod for the dread, I'd throw him in it and rain him down. If not, just remember that the dread is fairly fragile with HP in the current ed. of the rules, so be sure to give him cover as he moves up.

5) Predator: I'd recommend proxy-ing the lascannon as an autocannon. The main sponsoon LC is just too many points (esp. considering that the LC Sponsoons w/Autocannon outperforms the TLLC main barrel).

6) The captain: Personally I'd run the captain with a relic blade, artificer armor, and that's about it. If you're running him with his vanguards, etc., they need transport. Rhino, razorback, they need a metalbox to keep them save. Foot slogging them will make them die earlier.

Overall: The overall issue I see with this list is that it's got a lot of room for really cool lists, but is inflated at the moment. Units have too many points invested in them (the scouts, for example).

That being said, if it fits your fluff, play it! These suggestions are too help make the list more competitive, but if you like the feel of the force, use it. Even if a list is super competitive, if you don't enjoy playing with it then what's the point?

SS91171 wrote:
Any comment on this list? referred to 5th codex:

HQ-Captain (power fist+pistol)
Company Champion(power sword+combat shield)
Apothecary
Veteran x3 (Company Standard+Meltagun+Storm bolter)

Troop-Tac Squad x9 (1flamer,1heavy bolter)
Sarge (plasma pistol)
Rhino

Troop-Tac Squad x9 (1flamer,1multi melta)
Sarge (combi melta)
Rhino

Troop- Telion
Scout x7 (1missile, 3sniper, all camo cloak)

Elite Vanguard - Sarge (both hands lightning claw)
veteranx1 (thunderhammer+pistol)
veteran x7 (sword+pistol) [built from assault squad]
entire squad jump packs

Elite - Dreadnought (close combat & multi melta + extra armour)

FA - Land speeder (assault cannon+heavy flamer)
Land speeder (multi melta+multi melta)

Support - Predator (twin link lascannon+ heavy bolter sponsons+extra armour)

Who should take krak/frag?

I'm not a huge fan of fists on captains. You have a good initiative, seems a shame to waste it. Your command squad is not focused. Which it makes it good as a troubleshooter, help where needed squad, but a little overpriced. It should work though. Might be worth getting them a razorback so they can get to where they are needed.

I think plasma pistols are overpriced. Personally I'd just run BP/CCW, or a combi weapon to match the squad's special. I'd go full melta on the second squad. Otherwise they are fine.

Scouts are good. If you need points elsewhere you can drop down to a 5 man.

Vanguard are FA, not elites. Not an issue for you list, as you have the spare slots, but just an FYI. Large squads also are VERY pricy. If you want to run them, I'd keep it down to a 5 man squad. Alternatively, take one of the guys with the war gear and use him as a sarge in a normal assault squad.

Your dread really wants a drop pod, and I think extra armor is a waste of points in 6th. If you don't have a pod, he can still work against aggressive armies. His short range will be a problems vs. armies that just want to stand back and shoot you though.

MM/MM speeder does one thing, but does it really well. I prefer a MM/HF, but that's my TAC nature. Double melta is a safe bet for popping tanks. I'm not a fan of ACs on speeders. You are paying a lot of points for something that needs to be in small arms range to work, and you can be brought down by bolter fire. If I'm paying 90 points for a speeder, I run typhoon ML/HB speeders. Nice, reliable, firepower, delivered from the safety of backfield.

I prefer an auto/las pred myself, but the TLLC/HB does work. Once again, extra armor is a waste of points IMHO.

Grenades are standard issue these days, don't need to buy them as upgrades. All your sergeants are vets as well, which is good, because the whole army isn't using your captain's leadership anymore.

Overall you list looks good. You have a nice mix of weapons, and should fare well vs. most armies. Not a whole lot vs. flyers, which might be an issue. As you get some games under your belt you will figure out what style works for you and refine your list.

Thankyou all for the advise. I'll make some tweaks and try them out. Btw, anywhere to buy reasonable priced upgrade bits? Otherthan eBay , warstore. International order.

SS91171 wrote:
Thankyou all for the advise. I'll make some tweaks and try them out. Btw, anywhere to buy reasonable priced upgrade bits? Otherthan eBay , warstore. International order.

My first suggestion would to be to ask around your FLGS. You'd be surprised what people have tucked away in their bits boxes that thy may be willing to trade/give away.

My next suggestion would be to head over to either the swap shop or painting and modeling sections of the forums here. You are not alone in wanting to find bits, and those are a better place to ask then here in the army list section. I think there is a sticky at the top of the P&M section with a list of 3rd party bits sellers.

SS91171 wrote:
Thankyou all for the advise. I'll make some tweaks and try them out. Btw, anywhere to buy reasonable priced upgrade bits? Otherthan eBay , warstore. International order.

It depends on the bits. If you're working on a combi-weapon, for example, they're actually really easy to make with a little bit of green stuff. They're not super fancy, but cutting a bolter barrel, lowering it, and making a small cylinder to paint isn't that hard (if I can do it, anyone can. I'm terrible at stuff like that). There are lots of little things you can do to try and help stuff out (and if you have extra tac marines, for example, it's not too hard to give them a tube for an ML, for instance).

I highly recommend that, before you buy parts, you test out the suggestions and proxy the wargear/models. Most people are willing to help you proxy, esp. to help figure out a list. It saves a bunch of time and money, and can help you figure out what you like or don't.

What is the current SM codex?
I have the one published in 2008 (I assume is 5th ed). It looks quite similar to the codex cover in GW page.
Are they the same?

We're still on 5th, though a rumored sixth could appear in october. Or not.