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ok so im just starting warhammer 40k now, ive never collected before but ive bn interested for a long time and ive read up on it quite a bit but only just started to collect my own army. i wanted to collect space marines as they are hard as nails and they can give out alot of beatings too.

im thinking of buying the space marine battleforce and building my army round that.
the list i got so far is:

HQ:
Master of sanctity leading a 5 man space marine hq all using BP/ CCW combo, all mounted in a rhino transport
This is my close combat unit, mounted in the rhino they can travel the field quickly and get into CC quicker.

Troops:

7 man tactical squad with a missile launcher

7 man tactical squad with a missile launcher

This comes up to 455 points, so ive got 45 points to play round with.
I was thinking of changing the tactical squads to 6 men each and getting a scout squad with 2 sniper rifles and 3 bolters, that way the scouts and tactical squads can pin the enemy down and lower the enemies numbers while the hq unit moves into tear em to shreds.

please post what you think of the list and any improvements you think i could make

thanks

Good start too a list. It will give you a good core to build around as you expand upwards in points. Are you using any traits?

i havent decided upon any traits yet no

Do you think there is anything i should change to improve the army?

At 500 points, I would drop the Master of Sanctity down to a regular Chaplain and use the points you have left to add a Veteran SGT with powerfist to the command squad and then add special weapons to the other squads. Possibly a meltagun with the command team and plasma guns to your support squads.

so do you think i should scrap the idea of an extra scout squad with 2 snipers and 3 bolters?

If you can properly shave off some points, like as was stated above by dumbing down the chaplain, and maybe dropping a marine out of each squad then you could probably swing 4 scouts with snipers and one with a missile launcher or HB. Or at least just 5 snipers. Some people don't really like sniper scouts, but I am a fan. I like how you are building it so far, my best advice would be to start deciding now which direction you plan on taking the army, play a few little skirmishes against varied opponents and see which aspect of the game you like most. Once you have done that you can begin looking into traits and what to spend your money on next.
Aztral

atm im looking for a good all rounder army, a couple shooting squads to pin the enemy down while a melee squad moves in to rip em up.
what special weapons do you think i shud take to combat any vehicles if im going to encounter any, im gna be playing imperial guard mostly to play with so he may be bringing along some sentinels....

Hmm, its hard to say. I personally like to focus on one type or another in an army. Go shooty, and back it up with enough counter charge to provide you with decent CC defense.... or Make your way as fast as possible to your enemy and tear him apart up close with enough big guns to pop his tanks and hurt his heavy infantry. Trying to succeed at both shooty and assaulty at the same time will spread your points too thin and you won't have enough focus in either direction to truly win consistently. Some armies can do them both better then others, but in general it is still better to focus your energies one way or another. As to the opponent you mention you will be facing. Sentinels can fall to bolter fire... you dont need your weapons to be too powerful to drop em. But guard can also bring out the big guns like battle tanks or bassies. In these cases you are best off bringing LasCans, if you can even see the bassies which would be hiding behind cover if he has any brains.
Aztral

i would prefer to focus on melee with like one tactical squad to back them up, but i cant really get alot of melee squads in the 500 point range, assault squads i think would cost to much for the point range, hence why i had 5 man CC hq in a rhino and the 2-3 squads to shoot.
i think i should focus on shooting for now with my hq CC unit, and when i expand the army build more towards more CC orientated troops

Mosine,

I am not a big fan of scout squads in general but they can be useful. I would probably stick with one assault oriented squad backed up by the two shooty squads. That provides a solid 500 point HQ/Troop core. Once those are painted to your liking, you can look at adding in scouts and heavy support or fast attack in a second 500 point block to increase your Army to 1000 points without having to worry about your compulsory slots.

Take care,
Mike K.

so keep it as i had it without the scout squad, so what should i do with the extra 45 points you think? shud i go 5 points over and get a landspeeder? or what

Mosine,

I would drop the Master down to a Chaplain. That gives you 60 points. I would then add a Veteran with a PF to the command section to complement the Chaplain. Thats 30 points. Adding a plasma to each Tac squad brings you 50 points. That gives you 10 points to put a melta or a flamer in the command squad. That is my suggestion for your start.

For the next 500 points, I would add another troop choice, a Predator and some speeders.

Hope this helps,
Mike K.

thank you, i will defenitely take that into consideration, sounds like a good start.
for the next 500 points i was going to add a devastator squad geared towards the destruction of vehicles. so las and ml.
a dreadnought
maybe a predator or a bike squadron
then possibly a squad of terminators, hows that sound for the next 500 points or so

Sounds pretty good. Adds another infantry unit and a counter assault piece. At 1000 points, I usually pass on a regular bike squadron in favor of the firepower found in attack bikes and landspeeders.

If that is what you are looking at adding, I would add a 6 man Devestator team with 3 MLs (150 points), a Dreadnought with Assault Cannon, Heavy Flamer, Extra Armor (120), a Predator Annihilator with Las sponsons (145), and a Landspeeder Tornado with Assault Cannon and HB (80) points. Total is 495.

That would add a dedicated AT piece (the Predator), a decent counter assault piece (the Dread), a good anti-infantry unit (the Tornado), and a strong safety that can shoot AT or AI as the tactical situation dictates (the Devs).

Take care,
Mike K.

Panzer has good suggestions all around. If you do look into expanding to more CC oriented that is when you can look into traits. For example there is one that allows you to exchange your bolter for pistol/cc. Give those Tac boys a rhino, flamer, and a fisty sarge and you are good to crump something good with some solid CC foot troops. Cheaper then getting assault marines, and goes nicely with a libby or chappy.

are there any other suggestions or does every1 agree with panzer?

ok i may have a slight change, if you used the scions of mars trait and upgrade the techmarine i currently have with an extra wound to a hq choice would i still be able to take my 5 man hq squad attached to the techmarine?

mosine wrote:ok i may have a slight change, if you used the scions of mars trait and upgrade the techmarine i currently have with an extra wound to a hq choice would i still be able to take my 5 man hq squad attached to the techmarine?

No, the techmarine does not have the option of a command squad. Best he can do is a retinue of servitors. Your original list looked good, but as was suggested, dropping the chaplain down to a reclusiarch is good. You can use the extra points to fill out the marine squads and give them a special weapon, or you can grab yourself a razorback for the HQ.