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Hi all, Im in the stages of planning a Marines army however one of the most satisfying memories I have of directing my old Ork force was the sheer amount of Dakka they could field. The total volume of solid state firepower they brought to bear each and every turn. Its incredibly enjoyable blasting the bezeus out everything, or rather, opening fire and anything that dies is a bonus

Now when it comes to SM, I've flagged the Assault Cannon as being a possibility to scratch my itchy trigger finger with a respectable number of shots being shouted from its cyclic maw. Is there any particular chapter that favours an excess of this weapon or them that can wield it?

The obvious answer to wanting to fire more shots would be to have more men, but as Im trying to keep the model count down the bigger the unit:bullet ratio the better.

Any advice?

To my knowledge there are no chapters who favour the Assault Cannon as one of their preferred weapons, however if you are looking for a chapter that loves to use big guns, you could try the Imperial Fists or Iron Hands, I think they pretty much love dakka. Also if you really want to field a lot of a lot of Assault Cannons, try useing plenty of Land Speeders, with Assault Cannons and Heavy Bolters they can put out a lot of dakka, while still remaining very mobile, bonus! To support them try either Devastater Squads or Thunderfire Cannons (Possibly both), four heavy weapons per squad is certainly full of dakka. The Thunderfire Cannon is pretty much the SM inbodyment of dakka, so you should have at least one in your force.

And remember, walk softly, and carry a big gun

You can also get a lot of dakka from razorbacks. They come standard with TL Heavy Bolters, and can be upgraded to TL Assault cannons. Thats accurate dakka, something you don't get with orks.

Also, if you are getting into higher points, land raider crusaders have a ton of dakka. TL assault cannon, and up to 6 TL Bolter shots. They put some serious hurt on infantry. Plus they can hold 8 terminators, for even more fun.

Yeah I read about the 'Fists having some shooty affinity but dont know exactly what that refers to. Is it just a thematic thing or is there a solid difference backing it up?

Before considering this I was planning on rolling with the Black Templar, who have that LRC right up their alley. Termies piling out with Assault Cannons and storm bolters and a hail of shrapnel is about as much metal storm as I could find.

The Land Speeder option also has a lot of bullets in it, which would be a plus getting the weapons into range quickly. Thanks!

So yeah, anything to that Fisty dakka-ffinity? Also, I have no idea what a Thunderfire Cannon is.

The imperial Fists shooty thing is only fluff wise. Actually, the imperial fists special character, Lysander, is a TH/SS terminator.

Black Templar are more of an assaulty army as far as marines go. They tend to be the strongest CC marine army.

A Thunderfire Cannon is the artillery piece for marines. On C:SM gets it. It fires 4 blast templates per turn, range 72", and can vary its str, AP and it has some special effects. They also include a techmarine for free, and only cost 100 points. Very cost effect, and absolutely annihilates hordes. Unfortunately they are artillery, so they blow up if an enemy looks at them the wrong way. Used correctly they can be extremely potent.

Here are the stats for a Thunderfire Cannon, it has three firing modes:

Surface Detonation
Range Strength AP Type
60 6 5 Heavy 4, Blast

Airburst
Range Strength AP Type
60 5 6 Heavy 4, Blast

Subterranean Blast
Range Strength AP Type
60 4 - Heavy 4, Blast,
Tremor

Tremor means that any unit hit by the blast will move as if it were in difficult terrain in its next movement phase, if it already is then they roll one less dice to determine how far they go. Vehicles hit by the blast must take a dangerous terrain test it they move next turn.

Compared to the Assault Cannon, the Thunderfire Cannon can do a lot more damage. And the added firing modes would certainly make it more versatile. I seriously can`t see a dakka heavy SM force without the Thunderfire Cannon, so try and get one.

Your right Dave, the Imperial Fists` character is a TH and SS termy but his Bolter Drill special rule gives it away that the Imperial Fists are a shooty chapter, good point though

You know if you really want a dakka loving chapter you could always make your own. I did and I love them, I can do whatever I want with them and no one can complain because I can just make up something to explain why I did it. Plus no one will ever berate me for playing a certain chapter, like the Ultra Smurfs or the Cheese Angels (BA), bonus!

Thanks for that fellas, appreciate it. I got my mittens on some codex material and can see what you mean about that Thunderfire Cannon. It really sounds like an effective hammer for a shooty army, and would make a great bait unit too.

Black Templar do have a lot by way of firepower, but I made the unfortunate discovery recently that perhaps its because the codex I have for them is 4th ed. Not sure if they have a 5th one yet, but considering that its probably futile trying to build a list to it. Im referring specifically to the 2 Assault Cannon upgrades for a 5 man Terminator squad at +20pts ea, as opposed to 1 Assault Cannon per 5 models at +30pts rule in the 5th edition SM codex :(

Not trying to be cheap or anything, just suddenly dissapointed is all. Might just go custom marines with the SM codex and make the most of that, I dont want any complaining or building an army around a rule that's reckoning for change. Veteran and Devastator squads would be cheaper than termies anyhow, and still field decent dakka in small numbers.

The black templar only have a 4th edition codex, just so you know.

Yeah, any way you slice it you aren't going to get that much shooting from any marine army. They are more about quality, not quantity.

That being said this could work. A rough list could look something like this:

An HQ (any will work really)
Sternguard (the special ammo is amazing)
TLAC x2 Dread
Either more sternguard OR another dread OR tactical termies (what ever you want)
Tactical marines to flavor, mounted in Razors (you could also put in 10 strong sniper scout squads, they can be fun)
HB/Assault Cannon Land Speeders (either a couple singles, or one big unit)
Thunderfire Cannon
Devastator Squad
Another TFC OR Dev squad (again what ever you would like)

You are basically looking at a gunline army here. You could go crazy and get a MoTF and go with 6 dreads all with dual TLAC, but that would be a little crazy. Thats probably the most dakka your going to get, which is actually a fair amount. The problem is that, unlike your orks, this is going to fold pretty fast to any assaulty army that can get into your line. But I would say play around.

Lysander can actually help a bit in the shooting department, despite his obvious CC prowess. His Bolter Drill ability makes whatever squad he joins rather effective at shooting (although it does nothing for pure shot output) and his Bolster Defences rule really lets you entrench yourself to make the most of that Bolter Drill rule.

If you just want to bring buckets upon buckets of dice to the table, then maybe consider guard. The look on my friend's face when I told him that FRFSRF made a 20-man combined squad put out 60 shots at close range was hilarious. Note that HE was the guard player, not me.

PraetorDave wrote:The black templar only have a 4th edition codex, just so you know.

Yeah, any way you slice it you aren't going to get that much shooting from any marine army. They are more about quality, not quantity.

That being said this could work. A rough list could look something like this:

That's a pretty fair lineup of the main marine shooters, but as you say its possible to go too far. It only takes one unit of close combat specialists to seriously influence your opponents strategy.

Its not so much that I want to field an entirely shooty army, just that I can expect a good number of shots from however many gunny units I plan on taking. Its no secret SM are good all-rounders and it'd be folly not to take advantage of their CC options, even if it was only as a speed bump on the road to the Thunderfire emplacement (yeah, this unit is a fav for dakka now lol).

So far as special characters go to enhance firepower, I think Telion as a spotter for a gunned up scout squad would be worthwhile; few models but reliable firepower. I see what you mean about Lysander Mecha, but Im not really worried about marine accuracy in large groups (where he'd be the most effective).

Based on your combined advice it looks like some Land Speeder Tomatoes, a Thunderfire Carrot, Sprouts, and some TLAC Breads will give me plenty of healthy shooting options. Thanks!

Totally. How about this then:

HQ
Assault terminators (just to be scary)
TLAC x2 dread
TLAC x2 dread

Troops to flavor

5 man assault marine squad (for counter charging, or speed bumping)
5 man assault marine squad (see above)
Land speeder typhoon(s)

3 Thunderfire cannons (who doesn't like 12 blast templates a turn? Plus thats 3 ruins that can be improved thanks to techmarines)


Again you're looking at a modified gunline army, but with a little bit of CC bite with termies and assault marines. You have some serious horde control with at least 14 small blast templates per turn, more if you put missile launchers in your troop choices. You also have 8 TLAC shots per turn, and some krak missiles for transport/MC killing. The only thing lacking in this list is heavy armor killing power. However that can be filled by getting lascannons/melta in your troops (either dedicated heavy weapons, or razors), as well as TH/SS termies. This could actually be a pretty good list.