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Hello there,

Relatively new player here, been collecting and painting 40k models for a few months now but I'm going to be playing my first game or two pretty soon. I'm looking to start off with a 750 point list to learn the basics, and aiming to use a relatively basic list.

I'll be playing against Eldar and Necron players (they're both pretty experienced), but I'd rather not be building a list based on countering their armies. Anyways, here's what I have in mind so far:

--- HQ ---

Librarian [90 points]
- Mastery level 2

--- Troops ---

Tactical Squad [190 points]
- five additional marines
- flamer
- combi flamer
- rhino

Tactical Squad [190 points]
- five additional marines
- flamer
- combi flamer
- rhino

--- Heavy Support ---

Devastator Squad [200] (Librarian goes here)
- five additional marines
- four missile launchers

The aim here is to run the two rhinos up to contest objectives, using combat squads if needed. The librarian sits in some cover with the devastator squad which aims for the tougher targets. I'm not sure what psychic power chart he'd roll on, perhaps biomancy.

This leaves me with 80 points to find a use for, I was thinking of either:

- A minimum size bike squad with a gav-gun for 78 points, with the aim to fire them up the board and hopefully take out a nasty vehicle (which probably isn't likely...)
- A whirlwind for 65 points (and using the spare points to get some dozer blades on the rhinos. I kind of feel the tactical squads have the anti-infantry role covered though.

If this list composition sucks then feel free to critique it to oblivion . I can get access to most models in the space marines codex, although I'm veering away from centurions at this points size. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Looks ok for learning the basics.

I would drop the additional marines on the Devastator squad as they probably won't do much. That will give you the points for a 5-man bike squad plus special weapons or a Thunderfire Cannon (much better than a Whirlwind) and have some points to spare. I'd also buy an Auspex for the Librarian, only 5 points to reduce enemy cover saves by 1 is good.

If taking bikes then Grav isn't good for vehicles as you're needing 6s to "penetrate". Grav is good against heavy infantry and monstrous creatures.

For Psychic Powers Telepathy would be the tree to roll on, looking for Shrouding or Invisibility to protect your Devastators.

Another thought is to use the extra points to swap your Librarian for Tigurius. Maybe he is not needed at this points level but he is ridiculously good and has access to Divination which will help your Devastators greatly.

Welcome to Dakka and the Ultramarines.

I’d more the extra bodies from the dev squad to one of the tacs. They are going to want to roll forward and bolter things. Sitting back with the devs, all they are going to do is soak bullets.

I might spend some of the points to get some melta on the table. Either upgrade on of the tac squads, or some sort of FA unit. Right now your only anti-armor is the MLs, which are just OK at it.

Another option would be to upgrade the Dev MLs to LCs. They pack a bit more of a punch.

If you are just going to have a half squad of tacs, consider either downgrading to scouts, or putting them in a razorback.

Overall your list should do OK for an intro list. What to use depends a lot on personal tastes.

Hey Panda - welcome to the smurf brigade!

I think if you are learning the basics then your list is ok and you will have a lot of fun playing it. However if you want a bit more variety and to make you opponents think a bit more then you can definitely tweak it to provide more of a challenge and introduce yourself to more aspects of the game.

Firstly - all the above comments are good ones and worth considering. Personally, at 750 points I would go cheaper on the HQ to allow for more boots on the ground. The Libby also doesn't really want to be sat back babysitting DEVs - he wants to be up in the action, either psychic shrieking units to death or rolling on biomancy and assaulting. In this regard, you could put him in an assault squad and either give him a jet pack or put them all in a Drop pod together (at no additional cost to the assault squad too ). This will give you a nice deep strike threat to keep your opponents honest.

Any spare points I would put into scouts - again, a cheap way of boosting boots n the ground but they can also infiltrate onto objectives from the start, and can hold their own if given a HB and are deployed in some cover. I would also mix your DEVS (not normally done, but it will give you more flexibility) to have 2 MLs and 2 LC for a bit more punch. Given the above, my revised version of your list would be something like:

Libby, Lv1, Auspex (rolling on Telepathy, joining assault squad) 70pts
Scouts x5, HB (infiltrate onto objective in/near cover) 63pts
TAC x10, Flamer, Rhino (general purpose / some anti infantry threat) 180pts
TAC x10, Meltagun, Combi-melta, Rhino (general purpose / some anti tank threat) 195pts
Assault Squad x5, Flamer x2, Drop Pod (Deep strike threat + Libby delivery system and LoS) 85pts
DEVs x6, ML x2, LC x2 (ranged Anti tank and Anti infantry plus a few ablative wounds) 154pts

747 points

Also allows you to use all the Ultramarine Doctrines to good effect at some stage.

Hope that helps!

Thank you for all the replies so far!

@ryuken87 - I agree about the devastators, the extra guys counting as bullet sponges will probably never earn their points back. I do like the sound of a bike squad with special weapons though, hopefully they'd be able to put an end to any wave serpents skimming around!

@Nevelon - I've got a squad of devastators with lascannons lying around somewhere, but bringing 4 of them definitely inflates the cost of the squad (even if it is totally worth it ). Scouts do sound like a good idea too, hopefully they'd be able to camp an objective for a while.

@Iapedus - I do like the sound of that list, it has a little bit of everything (and it would give me a chance to use assault marines ). The only thing I would be worried about is the other player focusing all of their firepower on that drop pod unit after it arrives. I guess the same could be said for any unit being focused though.

I think I'll give that list a shot, but I'll give my first (tweaked) list a try too for the experience. I'd drop the extra meat shields on the devs and take that five-man bike squad mentioned in the other comments.

I would drop something to free up 110 points and grab a storm talon, at 750 I think people would be suprised to see a flyer. Talons are so cheap for what they can bring.