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I was hoping to get some help in knowing the best way to go about making up an army list for space marines. I just bought the SM ultra strike force (1 Terminator Captain, 10 Space Marine Terminators, 10 Space Marine Assault Terminators, 1 Venerable Dreadnaught, 1 Stormraven Gunship and 1 Land Raider Crusader) and have the rulebook and SM codex. I am looking to get some more units but as models are expensive I don't want to buy something and then figure out it won't work or is subpar since have never played before and I'm not sure what is good and what is terrible. I'm not necessarily looking to win at all costs but I would like to be competitive in tournaments and with my local scene. Is there any good websites/ways to learn what I need to know?

I haven't decided on a chapter just yet but I was leaning towards Black Templars because I really like their color scheme. I really enjoy terminators so it seems like dark angels might be a good fit as well. I like the fluff associate with the Ultramarines so they could be an option as well. Are any of these chapters competitive, particularly the BT? Is it viable to use terminators? From what I've read terminators cost to much to be worth it and I've heard BT chapter tactics aren't that great.

I apologize for the noob questions but any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'd say every army is competitive given the right synergy.

If i were to run BT I'd throw in 3 Drop pods and 2 dreadnaughts - probably an ironclad in there.

Sternguard box is a good one too - it will get you lots of bits and veterans.

a Tactical box or 2 for your crusaders (get the BT kits! ) - some rhinos would come a long way too.

Some bikes and finally, a land raider crusader.

That is where i would start .

The point is to overwhelm the enemy from the start and push your slower guys to the front while he is occupied trying to kill your heavy stuff. You terminators could Deep strike using the beacon on a drop pod so they dont scatter.

Chronas wrote:
I was hoping to get some help in knowing the best way to go about making up an army list for space marines. I just bought the SM ultra strike force (1 Terminator Captain, 10 Space Marine Terminators, 10 Space Marine Assault Terminators, 1 Venerable Dreadnaught, 1 Stormraven Gunship and 1 Land Raider Crusader) and have the rulebook and SM codex. I am looking to get some more units but as models are expensive I don't want to buy something and then figure out it won't work or is subpar since have never played before and I'm not sure what is good and what is terrible. I'm not necessarily looking to win at all costs but I would like to be competitive in tournaments and with my local scene. Is there any good websites/ways to learn what I need to know?

I haven't decided on a chapter just yet but I was leaning towards Black Templars because I really like their color scheme. I really enjoy terminators so it seems like dark angels might be a good fit as well. I like the fluff associate with the Ultramarines so they could be an option as well. Are any of these chapters competitive, particularly the BT? Is it viable to use terminators? From what I've read terminators cost to much to be worth it and I've heard BT chapter tactics aren't that great.

I apologize for the noob questions but any help would be greatly appreciated.

You can always sell the terminator if you follow what internet say or give it a try and make some list, what you need more right now are troops, i recomend two tactical squads, scouts are more cheaper but you need at least 4 box to have 20 of them, so go for the tactical squad, they have a lot of good bits (flamer, plasma gun, plasma pistol, meltagun, gravgun a power sword and a power fist) maybe two rhinos if you try to play a rush army, or three drop pod for a "in your face" army.

Whit the thing you have you can play a nice iron hands army, it is a chapter tactics that boost and survavility to vehicles and have a nice supplement, if this the case get a techmnarine and maybe a predator or two, and with the supplement you can make a chapter master a true cc monster. Too you can make a nice imperial or crimson fist army, you only need some devastetors and a squad of centurions

If you want more a single minded net army, white scars, lots and lots of bikes

You can easily play everything you own as an unbound army to get your gaming feet under you without having to spend extra money on models just yet.

Some people will say "boo, unbound!" but you are bringing a fluffy build that would work great in a game. The tournament success will come primarily with Experience. Being able to understand synergy, anticipate opponents and maintain tactical options isn't something you can buy in a box. Knowing that Unit A works in situation B, and right now its in situation C and being able to fix it comes with time.

The best part about chapter tactics is: You can use any of them that you want!! One game, I'll build a list around maximizing UM tactics, next game, might try imperial fist, then ravenguard next game. Paint your models as black templar if thats the scheme you like, and play around with the chapter tactics to figure out which works best with your play style.

Once you decide you want to stick with 40k, grab some tactical marines and the black templar upgrade sprue if you go BT. Lots of good stuff there. You'll want to build towards playing a battleforged army. 2 troop choices is anywhere between 5 and 20 marines and as black templar you could run a special and heavy weapon in a 5 man squad.

Terminators, just like any unit in the game are good in certain situations. They are expensive and can easily be overwhelmed with numbers if you let them fall into a bad spot. 7 with thunderhammers and stormshields inside a LRC with an attached chapter master with th/shield eternal can win alot of fights if you can get them to the right place at the right time.

Thanks for the responses. I should clarify that it would be really nice to know is what the current space marine meta is - what units are taken and what units are not and why for the various chapters.

I come from a TCG background and with a TCG there are usually a set amount of decks/strategies that can compete at a high level and certain cards for every class/color etc that are usually auto include in nearly every deck that can play them. If you are just starting out its usually a good idea to copy a preexisting deck that you know is good and you like for one reason or another and then modify it over time to suit your personal preferences/local meta as you gain experience. I was assuming there is something similar to this for 40k.

I guess was hoping someone could point me to places to find army lists that have done well in tournaments for the black templars, dark angels, or ultramarines. That way I could look over the lists and see hopefully find one that I like and use it as a template for my initial army. Then I could know what units to purchase and hopefully learn some tactics on how to play it effectively from others experiences. I know there is lot of army lists posted but as someone new to 40k I have no idea what is a competitive list from a fluff or for fun list.

Thanks again for the help!

Every place has a different play style . I run Sisters of battle and i constantly switch tactics. From full Mechanized frontal attack to gun lines with exorcists and heavy bolters.

So, consider what rryannn told you and play what you have at the moment and then start adding more units and mixing it up.