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So Im looking into buying the Space marines strike force and was looking into making a 500 point army.

what would be your guys suggestion on a starting army, they have the reroll on bolters, I wont be getting the sentinels of Terra any time soon so whatever is in the codex spacemarine is what ill be using?

I have various bits and could kit a libby HQ.

I've written several 500pts lists for various armies that I'd like to build as side projects.
One of those was for an Imperial Fists force using the minis from the Assault on Black Reach
starter set from a few years ago. They are nice models and I thought the IF color scheme
would work well on them.

Here is a rough version of the list I came up with:

HQ: Librarian, Lvl 2, Force Sword, Storm Bolter

Troops: 10 Tactical Marines, Flamer, Missile Launcher, Rhino
Troops: 5 Scouts, 4x Sniper Rifles, 1x Missile Launcher, Camo Cloaks, Sgt w/Teleport Homer

Elites: Dreadnought, Power Fist, Multi Melta

This works out to roughly 480-ish points.
The scouts and the Rhino were not included as part of the AoBR set but they fill out the force
nicely.

As a painted force of Imperial Fists in their yellow armor, the force would make a striking appearance on the
table top.

Is it an effective force? I have no idea. I've not played it, but when I build lists, I'm not approaching it from
an ultra competitive viewpoint. It's more of a modeling project for me.

I do think this force would stand a decent chance against any other 500pt force.

Thanks,
Tom

I posted this list several times before here but this is my Sentinels of Terra 500 point list and it performs really well:

Librarian
Tactical Squad (5) - rhino, melta, combi-melta
Scout Squad (5) - bolters, land speeder storm w/heavy flamer
Devastator Squad (5) - lascannon x2
Thunderfire Cannon

I would not buy the strike force box set (I'm assuming you mean Strike Force Ultra from GW that costs $325?), and instead just invest in models you'll use.. The dread is useless, the terminators aren't great, you probably don't need a landraider, and unless you're playing a much larger game the Stormraven is too expensive to field in this list (although it's a good model). Most of the things I've listed above will get reused in other lists you make.

You can assemble this list cheaply if you:
- use the tac squad box to make both the tac marines and dev squad since they're both 5-man units (you can probably ebay 2 lascannon bit sets cheaply, but if not a Devastator box set is something you'll want.. But I only find the lascannons useful so I'd buy the bits for much less than $35)
- buy the land speeder storm and assemble the scouts outside of the speeder on some creatively sculpted cork/decorated bases (they look like they're peeking around bits or sitting on it, etc.) You just need to pick up some spare bases (also not hard to ebay or order these bits)
- The things you buy straight up like TFC, Rhino, Tac Squad and Land Speeder Storm will cost you about $163. If you can get bits for the Libby - great, but if not then the model is $30 unfortunately...

Hope that helps!

No i mean the strike force. 2 squads of tactical marine, a unit of jumpers, scouts, dreadnaought, drop pod, razor back, cpt and command squad for $225. Local shop sells for $168.99.
http://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Space-Marine-Strikeforce

I have a bunch of bits from blood angels army. Was digging thebolter action of the imp fist. So i figure i got some extra cash i want to start a new army.

 stileprojekt wrote:
No i mean the strike force. 2 squads of tactical marine, a unit of jumpers, scouts, dreadnaought, drop pod, razor back, cpt and command squad for $225. Local shop sells for $168.99.
http://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Space-Marine-Strikeforce

I have a bunch of bits from blood angels army. Was digging thebolter action of the imp fist. So i figure i got some extra cash i want to start a new army.

Here is a list I put together a bit ago:

Just tossing together a ~1,250 WYSWYG list based just off of the strikeforce

Captain, command squad (apoth, plus extras)
-Drop pod

Ven dread, TLLC, DCCW(SB)

5 Man assault marines, 2xflamer, vet sarge w/sword, meltabombs

10 man tac, ML/Meltagun, c-melta on sarge
--TLLC razorback

10 man tac, ML/plasma, c-plas on sarge

5 man scout, 4 sniper, 1 ML, camo


How to kit out the captain and what toys to hand to the command squad is up to personal preference, but the way this list is set up you have around 200 points to do so. If you are worried about flyers, the 3 MLs can be upgraded to flack missiles, and the TLLCs have a chance of splashing a bird. 2 chances to roll a 6 might not be the best per shot, but few flyers enjoy getting hit with a lascannon. By trimming upgrades and wargear, you could probably fit this under 1k if you wanted to use everything, or just drop a unit.

If you have access to more bits, there are a number of things I’d change, but the intent of that list was to make a viable TAC list exclusively from the strikeforce box. Heavy weapons other then MLs would be the first upgrades, followed shortly by more transports.

My general advice for 500 point lists is:

low cost HQ
Full tac squad
5 man scout squad
Fun toy unit (depending on mood)

The fun unit is around 100-150 points, depending on the HQ and how you gear your tacs. From the strikeforce, it could be the dread, or the assault marines.