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Hey Dakka. Recently I bagged myself my first job. Its seasonal, and I'll only make around $400 from it, so I decided to back into Warhammer. My last army was unfortunately destroyed by a freak moving incident, so I've been eyeing the Space Marine bundles on the gw site, and I've fallen in love with the Iron Hands set "Iron over Flesh", and tried my hand at a 1000pt list. I'm not planning on attening any tournaments, but I do face a lot of the tournament-styled lists, so advice on what loadouts are good will be appreciated.

So, here goes:

HQ
Master of the Forge……………………110pts
- The Primarch's Wrath

Elites
5 Sternguard………………………………175pts
-Heavy Flamer, 2 Combi Flamers, 2 Combi Meltas, Meltabombs

Venerable Dreadnought…………………155pts
-Plasma Cannon, Extra armor

Troops
Tactial squad……………………………………205pts
-10 Marines, Veteran sergeantw/ Meltabombs, Powerweapon, Missile Launcher with Flakk missiles, Plasma Gun
Tactical squad…………………………………200pts
- 10 Marines, Veteran sergeant w/ Meltabombs, Combiflamer, Flamer, Missile launcher with flakk missiles, Auspex

Heavy Support
Vindicator…………………………………………155pts
-Siege shield, extra armor, Hunter-Killer missile


So what do you gentleman think? If it helps, I'll be facing everythimg from an Iyanden force to a Tyrannic swarm, Ork Waaagh!s and entire companies of Guard. I need this list to be able to at least hold against the majority of 40k armies.

Welcome back to it! Ok, so there are lots of little things I'd change in order to save points, which means more efficient units and more of them . I'm not sure what models you have to work with but here' sky freedback on what you've posted:

1) Tactical Squad - These guys need a transport and are your primary method of holding an objective so you need to make them durable, which means a rhino and being points-efficient. Drop the vet sgt because ATSKNF means you auto rally and want to break most times anyway if tied up so you can shoot again. Always take melta bombs, they are the most useful 5 points you can possibly spend. I don't like heavy weapons on tac squads because it divides the functionality.. Some need to stand still but they almost always want to move.. Drop this and save points. I'm a fan of spending points on matching special and combi weapons, pick a purpose for them and double up; again, it's much more efficient that way... You should be firing at a target that all the marines can hurt, not just relying on 1 shot out of 10 bodies to deal damage.

2) Sternguard - Great for turn 1 drop pod damage to fill a role your army is lacking.. If you have no anti vehicle, 5 in a pod with meltas is great.. If you have low model count then maybe 5 flamers will help you thin a swarm. Either way, pair them with a transport that makes sense and make all their weapons match to give them a set purpose. Don't forget, their special ammo is great, and taking them naked is good too (you get almost an extra guy for each 2 combi/special you leave out!) If you are planning on using these guys for anti vehicle of anti 2+ armor on the drop, I'd consider Legion of the Damned instead.. They're pretty good in this codex, seeing as they ignore cover and are a bit cheaper, arriving possibly in turn 2 and not giving up first blood if the rest of your army is not podding in.. Just a thought.

3) Dreads - oh the dreads.. They just get 1-shotted too easily in this edition. I Would maybe get a venerable one with auto cannons or lascannon & missile load-out and find cover? That could be a decent loadout with IWND and being able to force a reroll on the damage chart by being venerable.. Just a thought. Otherwise you'll have to put it in a pod if you want it to ever see combat.

4) Vindicator - Hunter killer missiles are kinda a waste of points.. It's a lot of points for a one-off shot that will probably get stopped by cover. Siege shield is ok, but if you're in a pinch for points it could go too and you'd probably be alright.

5) Master of the forge is alright as a low points HQ, and he's fluffy! I'd give him the conversion beaker though and out him on a bike to cruise around and hide backfield (still being able to fire his beam thanks to the bike making him relentless!) and repair you vindicator and shooty dread. He can also move up with the rhino tac squads and hide from LoS behind and fix them too. I'd drop the relic, it's not that great and costs a lot.


Here's how I'd run a build around the models you have posted:

Master of the Forge - bike, conversion beam

Tac Squad (10) - melta, combi-melta, melta bomb, rhino
Tac Squad (10) - melta, combi-melta, melta bomb, rhino

Sternguard (5) - 2x heavy flamer, rhino
Dreadnought - venerable, missile launcher, twin-linked lascannon

Vindicator - siege shield

If there's room for other models I'd consider a Stormtalon first because it's so versatile and will help you against air , but at 1000 points you might not see much? I dunno.. Just thinking out loud.

Hope this stuff helps, lemme know what you think!

Thanks for the reply, Clincher, and I was worried that I had overblown the tac squad's armaments. Now, I don't have much money, and am starting this army from scratch, so the army will more than likely remaina Footslog list for the moment.

So, I'll go ahead and go over your points;

1) I understand how Rhinos will help the squads survive, but for the moment I'll have to run them as a footslogging list. I was worried that I was spending too much on the different options for them, and I'll make a note to drop the Vet Sgts from the list, as I didn't see much use other than the Leadership value (Which, as you said, is an unneccessary thing).
The Melta bombs are always something I grab for my Marines, its a lynchpin against rampaging Walkers and makes the squad able to assault vehicle targets of opportunity efficiently.
I'm not sure how good Heavy Weapons are in the latest addition. I absolutely love the Missile Launcher because its a jack of all trades- with the ability to blast apart infantry and to blow up tanks, it is versatile enough for me to take it. The only things I'm not sure about is the Flakk Missile upgrade, and wether or not Combat Squadding will do me any good. I don't think that, with the current prevalence of Shooting in the latest addition, a 5-man squad of Marines will be able to survive, but I don't want to leave my Marines without some ranged AT support. How well does Combat Squadding a unit work in the latest addition? If it works well enough I'll just leave a few marines and a Missile Launcher to stay back a bit while my Sergeant, special weapon marine, and a few brothers advance.

2) I was actually thinking of stuffing a Legion of the Damned squad in here, because I love their dead hard, immovable firebase stats. I want my Sternguard to act as a firebase, using their superior weaponry and better stats to move forward and wipe enemy infantry and tanks off of objectives. I'm thinking that investing in a Razorback could help that a lot, as the razor's loadouts offer a lot of versatility. I'm pretty confident that these guys can earn their points back if I can maneuver them well.

3) The Dreadnought is an oddball in this list, as I have heard that they don't function well in the latest edition. I will not be doing a lot of cc with this unit, and I'm mainly using him as a firebase that can distract the enemy from my other, more valuable units like my Vindicator and my Marines/ Sternguard. I don't have much experience with dreads, and I don't know what good loadouts are. I thought that the Plasma Cannon would be able to eliminate most light vehicles and heavy infantry, but I was thinking an Autocannon could do the same. I will think about doing the Missile Launcher/ Lascannon setup, as that would definitely work with the "Bunker of death" I want out of this unit.

4) The HK missile was a last moment buy for the last 10pts or so in this list. With the other things I'll be stripping down, I'll strike that off as well. The siege shield is a bit too iconic, and offers and increase in armour (last I checked) that I will be keeping, though.

5) The Master of the forge is a complete unknown unit. It has the Servo Harness that gives him more CC power, but he also has a flamer and a twin linked plasma pistol, which would lend him a good position as a firebase as well. The Conversion Beamer is interesting, but the Bike is a no-go at the moment, as I want to keep him with my Sternguard, providing more firepower as they move forward to destroy enemy scoring units. I'm just not sure what relics (if any) to throw onto him, or how to run him in my army.

The list is interesting, but at the moment I wouldn't have access to all the variety of upgrades here. It looks like a brutal list, but the cost in extra tankage and meltas would probably run me out of money faster than I would like.

Thanks for the help man, I hope to have a revised listing by the end of the day.