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Imagine you are a Space Marine Sergeant (of your named chapter) leading a tactical squad of 10 marines. You have retreated to medium-sized storage area in the manufactorum which is an armoury as well. Your attached Techmarine attempts to repair the telecommunications array so that their orbiting cruiser might get a lock on their location and teleport them out. As it is, the marines have captured a relic long sought by the chapter (an ancient banner, perhaps) and they must get it back to the ship at all costs...

Although the doors of the area are made of thick plasteel and armaplas, they will not hold for long and dents are spreading showing on its surface. You do a quick survey of the area and notice some basic defences such as crates, a few pillars and a few pantries up above. The armory contains all the weapons necessary for such a defense- boogers, plasma guns, deltas and a few heavy weapons, but only half of the ammunition is left. In a secret stasis chamber, you unwittingly come across 10 suits of Mark III, V and VIII power armour.

Loud braying is heard outside and you presume that the enemy is both numerous and determined to get in- probably orks, tyranids, or chaos heretics. Large banging means that a foe of considerable size is pounding the door. You must act soon.

I'm interested to know how you would position your squad, what weapons and armour you would use and how would you deal with unexpected threats to survive - psykers, burrowers or teleporting units.

Alternatively your squad could be of a different 40k race and with the corresponding gear. What will you do?

Well this is definitely an interesting scenario. Are you trying to start a WH40K play-by-post? But this is a tough call because we are all imagining this hypothetical room. We do not know how large it is, if there are other corridors or windows or other details.

That being said, I would tell my black templars to draw their chainswords and join in glorious, bloody, close combat.

But seriously, it would probably be best to blast open a small opening in the outer door to let in a few of the enemy at a time, rather than them knocking down the entire outer wall and all rushing at once. If they come through a narrow opening you can all concentrate fire on one enemy at a time, especially if you keep the soldiers relatively hidden. However you don't want to scatter your troops for fear of other entry points or losing track of team members.

 Phosis T'Kar Jr wrote:
The armory contains all the weapons necessary for such a defense boogers, plasma guns, deltas and a few heavy weapons

I dont know if this is a lack of my military knowledge, space marine fluff, or other reason but do you mean bolters???

I'd tell three marines to pick up heavy bolters and set up overlapping fields of fire. I'd distribute as many Plasma Guns as I have available but not have them be used until there is a bigger gribby running about.

Well, the spare power armor is useless, because you don't have time (or personnel) to put it on. You don't just pull it on like a pair of pants, your squire (Chapter Serfs) dress you in it and help take you out of it.

Half the weapons you described there I have no idea what they are. The hell is a "booger" as a weapon? Delta? This doesn't mean anything in the context of 40K.

The type of foes I'm facing will greatly determine what weapons I deploy, as well as the layout of the facility. If the comm-array my TechMarines are trying to get working is on the ground floor, then I am going to array my forces to defend it (assuming it is the only viable path off-world, if it is just one of many options, then I may not, depending), also because, being that this is an AdMech facility, the comm-array is probably in close proximity (if not directly connected to) the site's data-shrine, so its chamber will be a veritable bunker.

If I am facing a numerous but relatively lightly armored foe (Tyranids, Cultists or otherwise human/humanish enemies), then I deploy any stubbers, heavy bolters or other weapons capable of automatic fire on any overhead walkways, as altitude denies the enemy the use of most cover.

Kill-zones are the doorways into the building and a clear spot in the middle of the floor, created by piling the rest of that light furniture you described up to make it otherwise impassable. Crates and pantries are less defensive than Power Armor, and against Tyranids or Orks, make terrible cover, but great obstacles.

Pillars? Pillars get strung with anti-personnel mines or, failing that, hand grenades on string. If available, said hand grenade is in a bucket full of nails or other objects that will become so much more shrapnel.

One dude is selected as my "tank buster", he gets the plasma gun and is told to kill the big thing, whatever it is.

My fault- autocorrect and yes I meant a bolter

As for the power armour, I was thinking certain marks would be more useful in this situation- e.g. Mark III.

Btw this is an enclosed area with no other entry points




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As for the big thin- could be a daemon prince or a carnivores, perhaps

Ok good i was wondering what the hell the space marines were going to do with those

carnifex- by the love of Dorn, I hate this autocorrect



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delta was meltaguns


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How would you defend this area as another faction?

And what if you face psykers or teleporting units?



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Sorry Icculus, the room is about the size of an indoor sports pitch. And there are some gunslits up above in the higher areas (but could they be a weakness in the case of flying things or even.... Hundreds of sky slasher rippers).

The PA is going to depend on what me and my other fictional Space Marines are currently wearing, though the scenario described, again, does not permit changing out of our current armor and into new suits. We just don't have the time. They could, however, be set up around the room to serve as distractions and decoys, which improves our chances. Further, if there's enough bolters, the TechMarine might be able to slave the suits to a servitor or some other system that will enable burst-fire if the suits' auspex systems detect movement in front of them.

Well, with meltaguns, there are openings wherever I would like one, which makes escape & evasion a very real possibility, if needed (also very useful for taking out anything very large and/or very armored). The plasma gun remains for targeting high-value targets, depending on the specific foe.

Basic battleplan remains the same, though, overlapping fields of fire on the only viable entrance to the room, preferably from elevated positions (denies cover and makes tunneling attacks fairly useless), with enemy forces funneled by debris and obstacles into a confined kill-zone covered by bolters, grenades, a flamer, heavy bolter, whatever I have here.

With both a plasma gun and a melta, then I have two people dedicated to tank-busting, the tank in this case being whatever giant thing the enemy have (killa kan, DP, Carnifex, doesn't matter), supported by the other elements of the squad.

 Psienesis wrote:
Well, the spare power armor is useless, because you don't have time (or personnel) to put it on. You don't just pull it on like a pair of pants, your squire (Chapter Serfs) dress you in it and help take you out of it.

Half the weapons you described there I have no idea what they are. The hell is a "booger" as a weapon? Delta? This doesn't mean anything in the context of 40K.

The type of foes I'm facing will greatly determine what weapons I deploy, as well as the layout of the facility. If the comm-array my TechMarines are trying to get working is on the ground floor, then I am going to array my forces to defend it (assuming it is the only viable path off-world, if it is just one of many options, then I may not, depending), also because, being that this is an AdMech facility, the comm-array is probably in close proximity (if not directly connected to) the site's data-shrine, so its chamber will be a veritable bunker.

If I am facing a numerous but relatively lightly armored foe (Tyranids, Cultists or otherwise human/humanish enemies), then I deploy any stubbers, heavy bolters or other weapons capable of automatic fire on any overhead walkways, as altitude denies the enemy the use of most cover.

Kill-zones are the doorways into the building and a clear spot in the middle of the floor, created by piling the rest of that light furniture you described up to make it otherwise impassable. Crates and pantries are less defensive than Power Armor, and against Tyranids or Orks, make terrible cover, but great obstacles.

Pillars? Pillars get strung with anti-personnel mines or, failing that, hand grenades on string. If available, said hand grenade is in a bucket full of nails or other objects that will become so much more shrapnel.

One dude is selected as my "tank buster", he gets the plasma gun and is told to kill the big thing, whatever it is.

Wrong! I'd set them up as decoys all over the place! That'd show those Orks, Nids, Daemons, Enemy I didn't notice invading the planet when I walked into the warehouse!

on another note, I was just wondering, Psienesis, If you had a good 1 and a half hours to prepare how would you set the perimeter and what armour would you use. I.m just curious to know? And when the attack does come, what happens when you start losing marines?

Wouldn't the detonation of 10 power cells from 10 power packs be equal to a few atomic bombs going off. Better do that , then give your enemy the option to get gear of your body.

I would take my squad's five best marksmen and set them up overlooking the Tech and the relay. The rest of us would defend the relay in close quarters and hand to hand, until the rest of the chapter deployed to murderate whatever it is trying to kill us.

Minotaurs. It's how we roll.

Makumba wrote:
Wouldn't the detonation of 10 power cells from 10 power packs be equal to a few atomic bombs going off. Better do that , then give your enemy the option to get gear of your body.

Ah, no? It'd be the equivalent of a couple very small hand grenades. Booby-trapping your lasgun's powercell is a last-ditch kind of thing. Unless you mean the backpack power packs on the armor, in which case probably small nukes, which could be useful outside the manufactorum against, well, pretty much anything.

on another note, I was just wondering, Psienesis, If you had a good 1 and a half hours to prepare how would you set the perimeter and what armour would you use. I.m just curious to know? And when the attack does come, what happens when you start losing marines?

This is going to very much depend on who, specifically, I'm fighting and what, specifically, my squad is equipped with. If we're going with the BL-standard five-man SM squad (that is, a squad that showcases all of the Codex Astartes classifications) of Me (Squad Sergeant), 1 Devastator Marine, 1 TechMarine, 1 TacMarine and 1 Assault Marine, that limits what I can place where, but if I have ten Marines, 3 Tac, 2 Devs, 3 Assault, 1 Tech, 1 Sarge (me), things get more interesting, as I can duplicate efforts and maximize combat doctrine.

My two Devs, being that they're going to be manning what will be, essentially, emplaced weapons, get the Mark III armor, simply because the increased frontal protection is going to be rather useful for them (especially against Orks or Humans, or, really, any foe that is more likely to be using guns).

Mark V armor is so cobbled-together and, while being somewhat more structurally-sound than Mark IV armor, it offers absolutely no benefit in these fights to my squad. I will, however, have the suits set up as decoys and, if possible, wired into a slave-control servitor or similar system that allows them to act as automated sentry guns.

The rest of us are going to grab the Mark VIII, because that is the brand new stuff and, when we leave, the Chapter is going to want it anyway.

Again, my heavy weapons are in the overhead walkway area. The gunslits are blocked off or closed, as needed, as they offer too many possible routes of infiltration. I might even wire a couple of the most-vulnerable looking ones to make the enemy think they're all wired when their first infiltration teams get blown up. Again, depending on the foe, the effectiveness of our firepower is going to decide how this battle goes. If I can effectively channel them into what is, basically, a box, and have that box covered with half a dozen overlapping fields of fire from bolters and flamers, then I can hold that position for as long as the ammo lasts. I'm not going to worry about enemy airborne units, because, well, I'm in a manufactorum. The enemy would need serious air power to bomb it effectively and, if they have that, then there is nothing I could do about it anyway.

If the enemy has arrived in sufficient numbers to survive my kill-zones, or runs my Devastators dry of ammo, then it's a fighting withdrawal to the vox-array, which, being a device of arcane technology, will be in its own defensible shrine dedicated to the Omnissiah. It may even have its own defense network, but I'm going to discount that for now. This, then, forces the enemy to come to me and, in the smoke and fire-lit ruins of the rest of the building, allow my Assault Marines to stalk the enemy through the shadows, dispatching them in close-quarters combats, while my TacMarines are still sniping from the tech-shrine with controlled bolter fire. My Devastators have now taken up the plasma and the meltas, and are waiting for the Big Gribbly, whatever it is, to make its appearance. Within the manufactorum, it will be basically forced to come at us from a single direction, which will provide plenty of chances to kill it with plasma and melta fire, as well as striking at it from the flanks with the Assault Marines, to the point that one might be able to affix a meltabomb to it, which should end the fight right then and there.

Very good! However, what if one of your men gets possessed and say attacks your comrades?

He gets a melta to the face. Daemonic possession is not actually accomplished that easily in-universe, however, especially not against Space Marines.

As my favoured chapter of choice is the Mantis Warriors, this doesn't suit well to their form of combat.

Because of this, I'd aim to break my way out of this death-trap ASAP. Even though I know the Techmarine needs to somehow stay inside to repair the array without being harrassed.

I would give the Relic to the Techmarine and squirrel him away in said room with the array. I would leave him 2 marines in the room for emergencies and then I would pile the extra power armour + crates around the entrance, to said room, to hide it and leave him to get on with his job (do or die).

I would then booby trap the entrance where the foes are breaking in, extra grenades, explosives, overheating plasma guns, whatever. In the mean time I would have members of my squad looking for alternative exits to the building.

If there's an alternative exit -
My marines would bail out of the building, and gain the attention of the Xenos/Traitors besieging the main entrance and lead them on a merry chase away from the Techmarine in his room.

If there's no alternative exit -
My marines would have to do it the hard way, attempting to break out of the main entrance after it falls and the booby traps go off. I would designate another 3 marines to hold 2 Heavy Bolters and a Melta ... they would be the first to the breach to clear away as many Xenos as possible. The rest of my marines including myself would be on free for all... just get out through the melee. Whoever gets out/ through the Xenos would then lead them on a merry chase away from the Techmarine (if any survive).

I would kit up 4 guys as (kind of) close combat marines, that have bolters, with limited ammo and the ammo saved would go to my 3 devastators with heavy bolters. The close combat marines would have mark III armour for extra protection because when the bolters run dry its going to be hand to hand combat with power swords (I presume the armory would have power swords right?) the devs would take a defensive position up above, raining hell with the heavy bolters that like i said get extra bullets, then i would have the other three guys and me around 5-10 meters behind the close combat shock marines, maybe on a crate or something to give us a bit of a vantage point over the shock marines so we can kill some of the things that come through the door/hole ( Lets face it those poor 3 guys are going to need SOME help) then when we run dry as well we charge in with combat blades or any over left over close combat weapons (as im a serge i would already have a chainsword) and help The shock troops/take there place if they are all dead.

But before all that i would set up the spare armor as decoys BUT they would each have a certain amount of explosives in, that could be detonated to break enemy lines when they come rushing in. Pillars would be knocked down so they gave the enemy a make shift hurdle which would surely slow them down slightly.

Im fairly sure heavy bolters dont use the same ammo as regular bolters....

They don't. They are 0.25 cal bigger than standard bolter rounds.

Ah balls to it, It makes sense though i suppose

Give the extra ammo to the guys behind the shock troops then

Before I answer; are there actually servitors to use? Is it 10 suits of each or 10 suits total? Pick an enemy please; what will work for 1 may not work for another. What type of planet is it, agri-world would be difficult to escape on where a hive world or jungle planet might be easier depending on what enemy, about how long would we have to hold out before the tech marine completes fixing it?