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Im considering doing Blood Angels as another army and to get started i was looking at the battleforce and was wondering. Is there really any use in using Tactical Marines in a Blood Angels army?

They're just as effective as tac Marines in a vanilla army, really. They do pale in comparison to assault Marines though, as they can get 2x special weapon and directly benefit from the Red Thirst rule far more, plus Sanguinary Priests buff them too. Tac Marines are alright, but ASM trump them.

ASM are actually cheaper with full gear and a rhino than the tactical marines.

Brother SRM wrote:They're just as effective as tac Marines in a vanilla army, really. They do pale in comparison to assault Marines though, as they can get 2x special weapon and directly benefit from the Red Thirst rule far more, plus Sanguinary Priests buff them too. Tac Marines are alright, but ASM trump them.

They are less effective than vanilla Marines, since Combat Tactics is more useful for a tac squad.

There is really no reason at all for BA to ever field tactical marines.

Omegus wrote:

Brother SRM wrote:They're just as effective as tac Marines in a vanilla army, really. They do pale in comparison to assault Marines though, as they can get 2x special weapon and directly benefit from the Red Thirst rule far more, plus Sanguinary Priests buff them too. Tac Marines are alright, but ASM trump them.

They are less effective than vanilla Marines, since Combat Tactics is more useful for a tac squad.

There is really no reason at all for BA to ever field tactical marines.

Well they can have FNP and can take fast transports. But yeah usually you'll be better off taking assaualt marines anyway.

Even in vanilla, tac marines barely qualify as passable. Assault marines ability to take a special weapon at 5 man and another at 10 is rather nice for BA because they can have meltas in their assault squads. It sounds small, but it changes so much in terms of squad composition and effectiveness. The fact they can have a melta and be ok with being on the front line is great. Being able to fit in a fast razorback for little extra cost is amazing.

I used the tactical bodies in my BA battleforce to make sternguard. Extra purity seals, shoulder pads from a sanguinary guard box, and leftover bits from the command squad sprue all worked well to make them stand out.

I suggest you do something similar because as it stands Tac marines aren't a very good choice for vanilla OR BA.

Or use the Tac marines as Assault Marines that are in a Rhino/Razorback (hence losing the jump packs).

rigeld2 wrote:Or use the Tac marines as Assault Marines that are in a Rhino/Razorback (hence losing the jump packs).

I would suggest this as well except the tactical sprue doesn't come with enough bolt pistols/chainswords, and ASMs dont' carry bolters but sternguard do. It comes down to personal preference at the point.

I magnetized all my jumpers so i can switch their jump pack to a backpack, which is very handy.

Im glad to see everyone agrees on the matter haha. Im not so sure if im going to get the battleforce now, instead just get stuff i know i'll use. Plus one one thing i like about Assault Marines is deep striking in with 2 Meltas scattering only D6

CaptainHonkey wrote:Im glad to see everyone agrees on the matter haha. Im not so sure if im going to get the battleforce now, instead just get stuff i know i'll use. Plus one one thing i like about Assault Marines is deep striking in with 2 Meltas scattering only D6

The battleforce is not a terrible buy. The Tactical marines can be painted to look like Sternguard vets, and that is worth something.