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I bought the AoBR box mainly for the rules and the templates (but I'd rather spend the extra money on models than pretty pictures.)

My preferred army is my IG, but then I saw those pretty looking marines which started me thinking about a "fluffy" Imperial Fist marine army, a small model count, compact for say 1000-1500 for a quicker game.

The fluff in my head goes along the line that;
The force is comprised mainly from the reserve companies 6-9th and were on the way to bolster a larger engagment, however a distress call was heard and being the closest availiable aid, the force takes a detour and now faces it enemy across the battle field. (nothing amaising, but they could be detouring to fight anyone.)

so far I have the following models;

a captain 120 ish
5 terminators 200
1 full tac squad with flamer and missile launcher 170
and a dreadnaught. 105

=595

this is just a "fun" army (I loose quite alot anyway, but it doesnt bother me its a game to spend a few hours away from a computer)
I dont really want to be spending too much more, but what should I add to make it up to a legal 1000points, what about to 1500?
razorbacks? predators? (whats the load out on a "dakka pred" I keep reading about and why is it superior?)

thank you muchly for any advice.

The best advice I can give is to play with some friends with what you have now. After a couple of games and you find yourself sayinf "I wish I could do that" identifiy the that and get something that will fill that role. For example - "I wish I could shoot at his tank from farther away" can lead into getting a Predator with lascannon sponsons or a Devastator squad. This way you are only adding what you need and not spending to much cash.

(the dakka pred has the capability to put out lots of shots due to the heavy bolter sponsons and is cheap for its points.)

Dakka pred = autocannon + heavy bolters. It is decent because of the low cost, but IMO, it's not a good use of a heavy slot. A predator with autocannon + lascannons is a better deal.

I think a fluffy IF list can be built up cheaply by using 2x AoBR set's + Lysander + 2x rhino/razorbacks. You can use the captains as fancy veteran sergeants.

Lysander
2x Dreadnought
10 Termies, 2x cyclone
2x10 Tacticals
- rhinos/razors

The above should work out pretty well, is around 1250pts, and is probably pretty much as cheap as you can get it. I think some vindicators would round it out nicely as a 1500pts IF army.

I agree with the second post, and I also suggest getting some more tac squads/rhinos

Dakka Preds are really fun against infantry, but are pretty useless against an enemy tank. Just keep that in mind

Dessloch wrote:I also suggest getting some more tac squads/rhinos

He doesn't need more than two at the 1000-1500pts range. Tacticals put out too little damage. They are objective-holders first and foremost. They can lend some firepower, but marines need some really killy units to compete. If you want to go with hordes of power-armoured troops, you should play SW's or BA instead

Most important thing is getting a second troops choice, considering what you have isn't enough for a legal army. I'd recommend a Tac Squad. From there, Get Rhinos for both Tac squads, and a Land Raider for the Terminators. Tanks are fun to play and fun to build/paint. Depending on what point level that brings you too, consider a Vindicator. They are deadly effective, and rather fluffy for the Imperial Fists. If you really want to get fluffy, use the Captain as Darnath Lysander. He's a beast, and goes well with Terminators. Your friends should let you proxy your captain model as him.

Consider buying Assault termie bits and converting your AoBR termies. Sternguard are a fun and effective unit that would benefit greatly from Lysander's bolter drill.

For fluff, vindicators are a nice choice.

Consider getting the Battleforce to upgrade your marines.

It's cheap (considering what you get for it!):
Rhino
2 10 man tac squads
1 5 man tac squad
1 5 man assault squad
1 5 man scout squad


After that consider more Rhinos, and possibly some fast attack models like more assault marines.

Terminators and elites you should get when you're comfortable playing with normal troops I think