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Alright, Im thinking about making a 3rd army with a bunch of spare MEQ units I have and whatnot, and I cant decide on which army I want.

I either want to play BT, BA, or a 5th edition dex army.

As much as I enjoy assault-y armies, Im thinking about fielding a disgusting army with 5th ed marines.

And yet, Im still somewhat torn.

CSMs actually got the assault phase love with their last codex, since a pretty solid portion of them actually thought to bring their chainswords and pistols with them this time out... and some even remembered to bring their 41st millennium edition swiss army knives... you know, the big ones with a teleporter, powerfist, and enough versatile firepower to make even the most hardcore NRA member think that they're just piddling newbies....

Just saying...

The Emperor calls you to duty. Will you answer?

CC MEQs have always been an awesome force to play.
BAs really aren't a good choice anymore sadly. The dex got FUBARed and its a shame.
Go for the BTs, they are very strong with a lot of cool special abilities and units.

You might want to wait awhile. BA might get a codex and the new SW codex will be out later this year.

If you want an army geared for assaults then your choices will boil down to BA, BT or SW (if you are willing to wait that long). If you want a more balanced list then vanilla SM is the way to go. My advice on building a vanilla list if you choose to do so is as follows:

Limit yourself to only one SC. Two SCs are too many points tied up in two units. Sure all the special rules are neat but often you can use only one set. Vanilla SC are not close combat monsters with the exception of Calgar. They are good in an assault but they not going to win you a large share of wins with their assaults.

I think a vanilla list should have two very solid assault units. Most people I see fielding vanilla lists have at the most one strong assault unit at most. The assault phase wins games hands down now and there are just too many other units that can mow right through tactical Marines if they get stuck in an assault. If it were me I would probably field one unit of ten terminators with two cyclone missile launchers plus another assault unit. I know assault terminators are all the rage but their inability to shoot hampers their effectiveness... if you take five they ate really only good in assaults while standard terminators can shoot well and are still good in assaults. I would probably field a captain more my HQ on a bike with a mounted command squad. You now have a hammer and an anvil with these combined units. This is what I would field but I'm not saying this is how it must be done... My point here being that the lack of emphasis on the assault really hurts SM players in competitive games versus other armies.

Stay away from static shooty units except for scouts. The plethora of 4+ cover saves has nerfed gunline armies. Even if you could still field six man tactical las/plas squads they would be a waste of points. You have a lot of options with full tactical squads mounted in transports. Here is one I like:

10 tactical Marines broken into two combat squads,
5x Marine/lascannon
5x Marine/meltagun, power fist - razorback/TL HB

You have one squad that can deploy on an objective and shoot plus another that can tank hunt (meltagun), is decent in close combat and can lay down a fair share of anti troop dakka. There are other combinations as well that are very synergistic for a SM army. I like shooty scouts with a heavy bolter plus sniper rifles/bolters and camp cloaks. This type of scout squad is great for sitting on an objective in cover and shooting plus they are cheap... There are not a lot of cheap units to choose from now when building just about any SM list.

Like I said earlier gun line type units fielded en masse just don't cut it anymore. Attack bikes with a multi-melta are great tank hunters plus they are cheap for what you get. I think landspeeders are also a great choice for shooting. You can kit them to shoot a lot plus they are very mobile... they do cost more than attack bike and are generally easier to kill but the truth is they are often not shot at if you have other units up in your opponent's grille.

To recap If it were me I would mostly focus on a balanced list with a lot of Marines. Mech is better than drop pods top and with all the advantages that come with a mechanized list you would probably be hindering yourself not to go full mech.

G