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Hi all

Just began getting into the hobby and thought before I go out and spend money on unit I don't need I'll try my hand at list building.
Picking your vastly more experienced minds would be great if you could point me in the right direction.

So far the750 point list stands as:

HQ
- Librarian, ML1, Force sword and bolt pistol

Troops
- Tac squad: 8x bolter, 1x plasma gun, 1x SGT with combi plasma - Dedicated transport: Rhino
- Tac squad: 7x bolter, 1x meltagun, 1x missile launcher, SGT with combi melta - Dedicated transport: Drop pod with deathwind missile pod

Fast attack
- Land speeder with 2 heavy bolters
- Land speeder with 2 heavy bolters

Heavy support
- Dev squad: 4x Lascannon, SGT with bolter

Idea was to combat squad the melta tac squad, have the melta and combi melta in drop pod and the missile launcher walk on.
Tac squad in rhino could combat squad if required depending on what I'm facing.

I'm open to any and all criticism/critique so I can learn.
Only models I'm reluctant to change are the plasma, combi plasma as I've already built them and I want to keep my first army as WYSIWYG as possible,

Cheers
Tomithy

Welcome to Space Marines and the hobby!

The very first thing I'll ask is what drove you to play Space Marines? Are you looking for the most "competitive tournament style list" or something that achieves a different, more narrative goal? Perhaps looking to gear up to a larger army without having to invest time and hobby effort into units you won't use later? etc...

That being said, what Chapter are you thinking? (again, the same aforementioned comments apply... looking for whatever set of Chapter Tactics matches your fluff, or is just the "best" for the units you wanna use). Do you have a particular color scheme in mind?

What you have isn't a bad start. Here's what I'm thinking... broken down by each unit:

Devastators - I like the devs, but looking forward, if you are trying to get to a higher points limit, keep in mind if/how you'd make use of them down the road... perhaps they would be good in a Skyhammer Annihilation Force formation or Battle Company (give them grav cannons then maybe?), or perhaps you'd be better off replacing them with the more hearty Devastator Centurions..

Librarian - Not a bad choice to start out with, but later you may want to consider a different HQ, or put him with a squad of bikers or jump infantry, etc. to be more effective. He could just sit with the devs and buff them perhaps for now? FWIW I think the staff is the best option though. The +2 strength outweights the sword in a lot of cases... or go with the axe (also good because of AP2) for a Force KO.

Land Speeder - These are fine for picking off light infantry. If you like these, consider Scouts and their dedicated transport the Land Speeder Storm.. it's also very very good!

Tactical Squads - You've got the right idea.Keep them ranged and in a transport.. matching combi and special works. In the long run, you'll probably end up with a bunch of pods and rhinos to interchange.

One final point that I'll bring up, is if you find yourself wondering what HQ to bring at a smaller points game, I'd recommend the Captain in cataphractii terminator armor... his slow and purposeful makes him a great choice to put with some devs in a pod (multimeltas or grav cannons or heavy bolters, etc.).

Hope all that helps, and welcome to the hobby!

Welcome to Dakka, and Space Marines.

Your list looks fairly solid. Good mix of firepower, mobility, etc.

If you are just getting started, consider magnets. Makes WYSWYG easier down the road.

Tac squads are fine. I like both a special and a heavy in my 10 man squads, but that’s the old fashioned Ultramarine talking. But I would take the MM in the drop squad and just keep them together if I were you. I’d also try to find points for a HB or grav cannon in the plasma squad, points allowing.

HBs, while cool, are not as good as I’d like them to be. My speeder of choice is a TML/HB speeder, and I frequently run a pair of them. I think the 2xHB speeder is good if you just need to fill a slot in a formation, but for a few more points, the TML is worth it.

4xLC is my dev squad of choice these days. Good for the classic sit in a ruins deployment.

As you build your army, do keep an eye on where you want to be as you grow. With formations being such a big part of the game these days, some units you might use in a low point CAD will have trouble finding a spot in your list as you move up.