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Hi all, this will be my first real army list so any advice on units or tactics would be great
I don't really like the idea of mechanizing my army, but I wouldn't mind the odd tank or drop pod. Is there anything that NEEDS to go?

Chapter Tactics [Imperial Fists]

+ HQ (65pts) +

Librarian (65pts) [Mastery Level 1, Force Axe]

+ Elites (110pts) +

Sternguard Veteran Squad (110pts)
····5x Veterans

+ Troops (325pts) +

Scout Squad (70pts) [Camo Cloaks, 4x Scouts, 4x Sniper Rifle]
····Scout Sergeant [Sniper Rifle]

Scout Squad (80pts) 4x Scouts, [4x Close Combat Weapon]
····Scout Sergeant [Bolt Pistol, Power Fist]

Tactical Squad (175pts) [ 9x Space Marines, Heavy Bolter, Plasma Gun]
····Space Marine Sergeant [Combi-plasma]

+ Fast Attack (180pts) +

Land Speeders (65pts)
····Land Speeder [Assault Cannon, Heavy Bolter]

Stormtalon Gunship (115pts) [Skyhammer Missile Launcher]

+ Heavy Support (320pts) +

Devastator Squad (220pts) [, 9x Space Marines, 4x Lascannon]
····Space Marine Sergeant [Boltgun]

Thunderfire Cannons (100pts) [Thunderfire Cannon]

Thanks

Imho, trim down some points from the thing like Powerfist, it is not worth on a Scout Sargeant. And buy your unit some transport, like Droppod, Rhino and Landspeeder Storm. Otherwise, Marines are too slow and die too easy when you footslog them up field.

Thanks for the response Neophyte, My thoughts on the powerfist were that he might be able to punch a tank with more success than melta bombs and i think they look cool lol. Is there any viability in footslogging?

Renfield7878 wrote:
Thanks for the response Neophyte, My thoughts on the powerfist were that he might be able to punch a tank with more success than melta bombs and i think they look cool lol. Is there any viability in footslogging?

For a fun game VS low tier army like Orks and "balanced" Tyranids (i.e. a horde of Gaunts back up by a few footslogging MCs) , your footslogging SM will do ok. But don't expect it can do well against Eldar / Tau or FMC Daemons / Nids, even "mildly competitive" build of these army can eat your footslogging marines.
The transports not only get your men to where you want them to be, but also provide either another layer of protection, or let you have great alpha strike ability

You need to save maybe 110-120 points for that list to have better mobility (35 for a rhino, 35 for 2nd rhino or solo drop pod and 40-50 for a Landspeeder storm)

So since you are Imperial Fists and Missile Launchers don't suck due to Tank Hunter making them viable and versatile:
1) Switch Devs to MLs (20 points back) and consider losing a few "ablative" wound marines....
2) I wouldn't bother running a SW/HW in a tac squad unless it's combat squading - so lose the HB
3) Drop your land speeder
4) Drop the powerfist on your scout serg

That's 120 points back...

Now give the Close Combat Scouts a MMelta LSStorm
Then get a Rhino & Pod or 2 Rhinos for your Sternguard and Tacs.

Would something like this be better then?

Chapter Tactics [Imperial Fists]

+ HQ (65pts) +

Librarian (65pts) [Mastery Level 1, Force Axe]


+ Elites (145pts) +

Sternguard Veteran Squad (145pts) [5x Vets, Rhino]

+ Troops (375pts) +

Scout Squad (70pts) [Camo Cloaks, 5x Scouts, 5x Sniper Rifle]


Scout Squad (105pts) [5x Scouts, 5x CCW]
··Land Speeder Storm [Multi-melta]


Tactical Squad (200pts) [9x Space Marines, Plasma Gun, Combi-Plasma, Rhino]


+ Fast Attack (115pts) +

Stormtalon Gunship (115pts) [Skyhammer Missle Launcher]

+ Heavy Support (300pts) +

Devastator Squad (200pts) [10x Marines, 4x Missile Launchers

Thunderfire Cannons (100pts)

Shameless Bump

Sternguard need numbers. Even with special ammo and bolter drill, you need some mass to get the job done. A pod would be better then a rhino, but the tank can work. I’d probably bump them up to a 9 man squad, to leave a seat for the librarian.

Who could use the 2nd ML, but should be OK. I’d also go with a staff/sword, as going last in CC can be lethal for a guy just in power armor.

I would keep the HB, but I’m an old fashioned Ultramarine like that. It’s probably more efficient to just run with the specials, but I like the way HBs look, and you won’t always be moving.

Scouts are fine. I might spring for a MB on the sarge if you have a spare 5 points.

Talon is good.

I’d run the devs as a 5 man squad with 4xLCs. Frag missiles are generally a waste of time to toss downrange. And if you are mostly going to be gunning for tanks, even with tank hunter, the extra S and AP are important.

TFC is good at it’s job, and should be more then enough to thin out hordes.

I think this is my favourite so far. ML2 or las/plas / tl las on the razorback. Would there be any problem with me modelling my scout sarge with a powerfist (maybe holding a melts bomb)? I want to make the leader of each unit stand out Starting to get off topic but what do we think about scythes of the emperor paint job (black with yellow) or stormwardens (white/silver with blue)


+Chapter Tactics [Imperial Fists]+

+ HQ (90pts) +

Librarian (90pts) [Mastery Level 2, Force Staff]

+ Elites (165pts) +

Sternguard Veteran Squad (165pts)
....5x Veterans
····Razorback


+ Troops (380pts) +

Scout Squad (110pts) [5x Scouts, 5x CCW, Melta Bombs]
····Land Speeder Storm [Multi-melta]


Scout Squad (70pts) [5x Scouts, 5x Sniper Rifle, Camp Cloaks]

Tactical Squad (200pts) [10x Marines, Plasma Gun, Combi-Plasma]
....Rhino

+ Fast Attack (115pts) +

Stormtalon Gunship (115pts) [Skyhammer Missle Launcher]

+ Heavy Support (250pts) +

Devastator Squad (150pts) [5x Space Marines, 4x Lascannon]
····Space Marine Sergeant [Bolt Pistol, Boltgun]

Thunderfire Cannons (100pts) [Thunderfire Cannon]

I was told to consider something like a Sternhammer Strike Force:

+ CORE +
+ Battle Demi Company +

Chaplain [Jump Pack]

(5) Tactical Squad [Plasma Gun]
---Rhino [Dozer Blade]


(5) Tactical Squad [Plasma Gun, Combi-Plasma]
---Rhino [Dozer Blade]


(5) Tactical Squad [Plasma Gun, Combi-Plasma]
---Rhino [Dozer Blade]

(10) Assault Squad [Jump Packs, 2x Flamers]

(10) Devastator Squad [4x Lascannon]

+ AUXILIARY +
+ Ordnance +

Thunderfire Cannon


The advantage of this is that I will be halfway to a Gladius, and I get the special rules of Sternhammer : Stubborn, Re-Roll all failed Bolt Weapon hits and also extra building damage. Thoughts?

I’d rather see full 10 man tac squads then assaults/devs.

Sarges could use combis more then rhinos need dozers. Assault sarge could use a vet upgrade and a power axe.

I agree Nevelon, I would rather try to convert the original list to Sternhammer than the list I've been given. I'll rewrite it in a bit. Also, how many bodies is too much? I feel like this list has lots of boys and not many toys but that might just be me

A lot depends on what you want to play. There is a certain amount of fun to be had playing horde marines. A (very) old rule of thumb was one good scoring unit per 500 points.

At 1,000 points, you might just be fine with the minimum 5 man squads for the battle company. That’s still 25 MEQ on the table, which isn’t bad as a base. They are all ObSec, so that helps a lot. The Sternhammer lets you take a lot of toys by themselves, so if you wanted to, you could go down that road to include some extra dakka. Things like a second dev squad or TFC, or a Vindi would add some extra punch to your list.

You could also use a bike squad instead of assault marines. Not quite as iconic, but mechanically superior.

How competitive do you want to be? What models do you like the look of? There are a lot of ways to build a marine list, you just need to find what feels right to you.

I see Marines as quite an elite army so I'm not sure if I want TONS of troops. I'll think about it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
How about swapping the assault marines for 5 Bikes
Bike for Chaplain
3 5 man Tac squads all with plasma gun, combi plasma and dozer blade rhinos
Vindicator with Siege Shield

Takes it to 1000 iirc


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I had a crazy thought, What about 4 Heavy Bolter Devs and 1 Bike instead of the Vindicator? The Heavy Bolters might be good because I can re-roll all misses (Sorry for Double Post)

Renfield7878 wrote:
I see Marines as quite an elite army so I'm not sure if I want TONS of troops. I'll think about it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
How about swapping the assault marines for 5 Bikes
Bike for Chaplain
3 5 man Tac squads all with plasma gun, combi plasma and dozer blade rhinos
Vindicator with Siege Shield

Takes it to 1000 iirc


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I had a crazy thought, What about 4 Heavy Bolter Devs and 1 Bike instead of the Vindicator? The Heavy Bolters might be good because I can re-roll all misses (Sorry for Double Post)

I can tell from the way you build your lists that you(and likely the people you play with) are relatively new and sort of going off what you think might be fun. This is an AWESOME time, enjoy it while it lasts, take whatever looks cool and start to get an idea of what works and what doesn't organically. There will be time to netlist later when one of your friends comes up with a real sh** kicker list you can't beat, but for now? I'd just through boss frickin models on the table and play.

The one main issue I see with swapping the Devs to HBs is that they made up the bulk of your anti-tank firepower.

A good Take All Comers list needs to be able to:

Get scoring units to objectives and keep them there as long as needed.
Kill heavy armor (melta, etc)
Kill light/medium armor (massed mid-S shots can work here)
Deal with MCs/GMCs (same as above mostly, but grav excels at this role)
Thin out hordes (large blasts, flamers, massed small arms)
Flyers (can be ignored in some metas/small games)

No Nevelon, I meant should I spend my spare points on either a vindicator or an additional unit of devestators with HB and an upgrade here or there

Who are you planning on fighting? Which do you think looks cooler?

HBs are good vs. light troops in the open. IF ones can do OK vs. very light vehicles as well on a dev squad. How much of that do you see? Most light troops tend to hide in cover, and only a few armies field AV 10 vehicles. HBs, sadly, are not very competitive in more tuned lists. That said, against horde armies, they can put out a lot of dakka.

Vindis have the pie plate. You need to respect the pie plate. That said, it needs to get close to shoot, has soft sides, and most results on the damage chart with shut down it’s gun. But when you blow large chunks out of your foe, it is glorious.

Given the choice between them, I’d probably go with the Vindi. Move it up, keep rhinos close to it’s sides to screen it. But that bias might be because I’ve only recently painted my own, so it’s got that fresh paint charm to it. Devs are old hat; I’ve been fielding them for decades.

Hi all, thanks for your advice, I think this is the list I am going with

Sternhammer Formation - Imperial Fist
+ Core (780pts) +

'Battle Demi Company * (780pts)


Bike Squad
3x Bikers
1x Sergeant with Melta Bombs
1x Biker with Grav Gun

Chaplain
Bike

Devastator Squad
4x Devastators with Lascannons
1x Sergeant

Tactical Squad
3x Marines
1x Sergeant
1x Plasma Cannon
Rhino with Dozer Blade

Tactical Squad
3x Marines
1x Sergeant with Combi-Plasma
1x Plasma Gun
Rhino with Dozer Blade

Tactical Squad
3x Marines
1x Sergeant with Combi-Plasma
1x Plasma Gun
Rhino with Dozer Blade


+ Auxiliary (220pts) +

'Line Breakers
Vindicator

'Ordnance
Thunderfire Cannon