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With 6th Edition here I am considering starting a Salamander army and I am curious as to whether 6th makes Vanilla Marines a viable force on the battle field or not?

like they were in 5th ed, C:SM are solid at everything but not great at any one. If you plan on running a fluffy Salamander list that could be good, with Flamers and Meltas getting a bump with 6th ed.

Yes I was thinking about build a fluffy list for my salamander, I just really like the history behind them and the color scheme is badass so I figured why not, wouldn't hurt to have an imperial force seeing as I play Choas right now.

I know they are a jack of all trades type army, can they be a winning force or is it more of the general (person playing them) than the army themselves?

I suggest you take a strong strong look at the tactical capability of Combat Tactics before fully committing to Salamanders. The special rule is absolute bonkers now.

Alright so I read the rules for Combat Tactics and the only thing that I can get from it is that when faced with a morale check I have the ability to force fail it so that I can retreat and regroup. Am I reading and interpreting this correctly?

 Synister_Intent wrote:
Alright so I read the rules for Combat Tactics and the only thing that I can get from it is that when faced with a morale check I have the ability to force fail it so that I can retreat and regroup. Am I reading and interpreting this correctly?

Check the Combat Tactics special rule for Vulkan He'stan on p.93 of the Vanilla Space Marine codex.

I have been playing marines since 1st edition. I have won 99% of my games with them and all in 6th Edition. They are solid, solid, solid. By Far my favorite army and have at one point owned every army put out by GW. Marines are the only army have have had in very edition.

With the changes to Rapid Fire, Marines definitely got a comfy boost. Overwatch is nice too, if unreliable, as Marine squads tend to get bogged down in close combat a lot. The boosts to grenades help as well; your regular tactical squad can absolutely wreck vehicles with krak grenades now.

Space Marines overall got a lot better in 6th ed, IMHO. And what the others are alluding to in regards to Combat Tactics, is that now that the "No Retreat" rule no longer exists, when losing an assault during an opponent's turn, there's never a reason NOT to utilize Combat Tactics in Close Combat.

Combine that with all the other benefits they now get (ie - Bolters having 100% efficiency) I think that one benefit overall from Combat Tactics makes Vanilla Marines all the more viable now.

 Synister_Intent wrote:
With 6th Edition here I am considering starting a Salamander army and I am curious as to whether 6th makes Vanilla Marines a viable force on the battle field or not?

Space marines have always been one of the easiest forces to play which is why they are so popular. They have the best basic statline in the game and are good at shooting and assault. With the removal of the stationary requirement from rapid fire, they have had their bolter range effectively doubled. Add in changes to vehicle combat and even tactical marines with krak grenades can drop vehicles pretty easily. Marines have always been the most forgiving army to use since their troops are so adaptable. You can win quite often with vanilla marines. Sure devastors aren't long fangs and assault marines are not death company, but that doesn't make them useless or ineffective by any means.

Space Marines are and will remain the flagship 40k army...

Skriker

 Brother Sergeant Bob wrote:
like they were in 5th ed, C:SM are solid at everything but not great at any one. If you plan on running a fluffy Salamander list that could be good, with Flamers and Meltas getting a bump with 6th ed.

While true, that became a better stance in this edition.