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Hi guys first ever attempt at a list so be gentle. Have been looking at Space Marines - Imperial Fists chapter tactics. Will play as Invaders a successor chapter.

Wanting to get a 500pt list set before I purchase anything.

The List:

HQ

Librarian;
Bolt pistol, force stave, mastery level 1
65 points

Troops

5 man Tactical Squad;
Heavy Bolter, Meltagun
Transport: Rhino
125 points

5 man Tactical Squad;
Heavy Bolter, Meltagun
Transport: Rhino
125 points

Heavy Support

Devastator Squad;
Sergeant - Stormbolter
Multi-melta, Missile Launcher x 3
Transport: Razorback
185 points


Thats where I am at so far, 500pt total. Was thinking to put Librarian in the Razorback with the Devastators. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Looks good, but I don't see how you can get a heavy bolter and meltagun in the five man squads? Unless you mean a combimelta on the sergeant, but if that's the case, I'd advise you take a meltagun and combi-melta for that paired shooting potential.

The devastator squad should probably all have the same weapon - four missile launchers would be fine for that. Stormbolter rarely does anything that good, so I'd scrap it to get some points.

I might consider something other than the stave, maybe just a power sword to deal with any pesky MEQs, but otherwise, that's pretty solid.

Hey man, a basic librarian is definitely a good call for a 500 point list. He is cheap and pretty useful.

Just like the previous poster said, you can't have a heavy bolter and melta gun in a 5 man squad. The only way to get a special weapon and a heavy weapon in a tactical squad is to have 10 men. I would drop the heavy bolter and just ride the meltagun around with 4 regular marines. Or better yet, get a combi-melta for your sergeant and you can pop off 2 melta shots.

I would say don't put the devastators in a razorback. They can't shoot and even if they disembark they can only snapfire. I would drop the vehicle all together and just keep the Devs in the backfield. And ditto the previous poster: you want to have all of the same weapon or at least ones that do a bit of the same thing. 4 missile launchers is pretty awesome in a 500 point game. Missile launchers are GREAT! You can hit tanks pretty hard and drop small templates on infantry. Also, like the other guys said, no need for the stormbolter. If you are going to use it, put it on the sarge of a tactical squad.

Do you have any other models to use?

Welcome to Dakka and the Space Marines.

I like the staff on the librarian. It’s a good all-around weapon. He’s a good low point HQ for this size game.

As others have said, it’s either the special or the heavy on a 5 man squad.

Generally you only want to take transports for devastators if you are required for a formation, or you are doing something wacky with them. Most of the time you just want to find some nice ruins with a good field of fire, and hunker down and shoot the whole game. Turns spent driving around are turns not shooting those expensive guns.

Stormbolters in general are not worth the points. They only offer some very marginal upgrades over the stock bolter you get for free. And one of these (the ability to assault after firing) will probably never be used by a dev sarge. Frankly, he’s should be spending his time making one of his squadmates BS5, and will almost never fire his own gun.

With what you have listed, I’d rework the list to be something like this:

Librarian
10 man tac squad, heavy bolter, flamer, rhino
5 man tac squad, meltagun, sarge with combi-melta. razorback
5 man dev squad, 2x missile launcher.

However, I notice you said you wanted to get a list before buying models. In that case, what kind of army do you want to be playing at 1,000 points? 1,500? 2k? What drew you to the space marines? What units do you love? What style of warfare appeals to you? How competitive is your local group?

If, for example, you love the image of drop pods screaming down from orbit, devastating the foes of mankind like the hammer of god, you don’t want to buy 2-3 rhino chassis that are just going to collect dust later. If you are going to build towards one of the meta-formarions, you might want to pick a captain or a chaplain for a HQ, as you will need one of them for that. Librarians, while great in a CAD, are harder to work with in formation based lists.

There are a lot of different ways to build a marine list. You need to find the one you like.

That and learn how to magnetize. Good skill for someone getting into the hobby.

Thanks for the replies guys, I like the combi-melta sarge, meltagun combo, will put that into my list builder.

As for the vehicles, I will buy the razorback kits and magnetize them so I can switch between razorbacks and rhinos when I need to.

As for why I picked Space Marines, I like the idea of elite troopers getting stuck in and getting the job done. Being outnumbered by the enemy sounds kinda fun.

1850 - 2000 points is my future goal something like a TAC Battle Demi Company or something, I like shooty and being able to hold a defensive position, but have a few fast units to rush in and hammer in some damage.

Thanks again

Hi!

Just a thought:

If you REALLY like the idea of Elite troops being outnumbered but being AWESOME at same time then may I suggest the Following Space Marine Faction:


GREY KNIGHTS

 Corennus wrote:
Hi!

Just a thought:

If you REALLY like the idea of Elite troops being outnumbered but being AWESOME at same time then may I suggest the Following Space Marine Faction:


GREY KNIGHTS

Them or Deathwatch. Both of them really double down on the ultra elite marine concept.

But as armies, they are not especially flexible.

In the marine codex, you might want to steer towards sternguard and vanguard vets. An end goal to aim for might be a demi-co backed up by a 1st company TF.

Based on what you are looking for I would say go for some sterngaurd veterans as well. They can deal with just about anything with their special ammo. (and re-roll ones if you are imperial fists) If you are looking at kits to pick up, I would say get yourself a sterngaurd kit and a couple of tactical kits. This will give you more than enough pieces to build all the differently equipped marines you want. You would get a bunch of bolters (naturally) and then all sorts of combi-weapons and even some close combat stuff if you like.

Good call on buying the razorback kit and magnetizing. You get all the pieces you need to make both. (But you do only get to choose one turrent: Heavy bolter or lascannon)

Also, as for one of those fast units you were talking about: I HIGHLY recommend bikes. They can move fast, they are relentless, they are tougher (T5) and they can use all sorts of cool weapons. You can put a command squad on bikes too which opens up even more options.

Ok so taken a few suggestions and this is what I have got for version 2.

HQ

Chaplain in Terminator armour

120 points

Troops

5 man Tactical Squad
Sergeant Combi-melta, Meltagun
Transport: Rhino

125 points

5 man Tactical Squad
Sergeant Combi-melta, Meltagun
Transport: Rhino

125 points

Heavy Support

Devastator Squad
Missile Launcher x 4

130 points

500 points total, got some guns for against vehicles and troops. Any more advice would be great, even in regards to chapter tactics for a list like this?

Thanks again!

The only thing that pops out as a problem is the chaplain.

I love chaplains, don’t get me wrong. They are an iconic part of the fluff, and really encapsulate the essence of 40k. But what’s he doing here? Terminators can’t fit in rhinos, so he’s either just footslogging/DSing on his own, or hanging out with the Devs.

If you want to keep running a chaplain, just run him naked with a tac squad. Not the best spot for him, but it’s what you have. From a model POV, having a naked chaplain on foot is not bad, as you will want one if you go full company gladius. Getting one where you can magnetize a JP to swap between that and foot is a good long term plan.

But for list, I’d go one of two ways. Go back to the librarian in your original list. They work well at low points, and you can change up if he’s going to move forward with the tacs or back to buff the devs. Or bring a techmarine. They can fortify a position for your devs, have a 2+ armor save and a nice array of stock gear, which can be upgraded. At this point level, I’d not think about a captain. They need more points to work.

For chapter tactics, I’d probably go with either Ultramarines or Imperial Fists. Doctrines from the Ultras are generically useful. Your meltagunners will get a lot of use out of an accuracy boost when they hop out of the rhinos to take their shot. IF will give the Devs a nice boost with tank hunting, and bolter drill will help out the tacs.

Agree with the above post: the chaplain is out of place. For sure go with the librarian or techmarine. If you take a techmarine, I would give him a servoharness. This gives you a boost to repairing a vehicle as well as a twinlinked plasma pistol, flamer and an extra attack (a powerfist attack!!!). Throw him into one of the rhinos with the tacticals. He can repair it, and if need be he can flame or shoot something out of the hatch. He is 30 points less than the chaplain too, so you can afford some extra goodies! With those extra 30 points I would add one marine to the devastator squad(14pts) (with devs, it's a good idea to have a few extra marines to take wounds so you can save your missile launchers), each rhino gets a dozer blade(10 pts, don't want to get immobilized!) and give someone a melta bomb.

A librarian with mastery level 2 is the same price as the techmarine w/servoharness(90) so either one works.

Otherwise this new list works! It's a good, solid list that can handle a little bit of everything.

Best fit with small 500 points army is definitely the librarian. Gives you psychic powers and Force Weapon to bring any nasty big scary stuff down with Instant Death

what if you put a jetpack on the chaplain and tac him in an assault squad?