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With space marines usually looking for lightning assaults or elite spear heads to avoid prolonged conflict in the 40k galaxy, how do space marine chapters deal with inevitable long term or prolonged wars? Like say a chapter world comes under attack from tyranids or necrons where attrition is the basis of battle. How do they handle offensives and defences of this kind of warfare? Any insight would be helpful!

Depends really, SM generally for the reason of having limited manpower would try their utmost to avoid such encounters. In the codex it says in prolonged campaigns they will establish FOBs or between contacts go back to there Space ships and refit and rearm.
They may use a variety of tactics:
Hit and run so lightning assaults on HQs, Logistic dumps etc
Make the enemies numbers work against them or deny their superior numbers by fighting at a choke point.
Use of orbital bombardments from battle barges and strike cruisers.

Generally SM will avoid this type of engagement and leave it to IG to hold the line with their superior numbers, firepower and then the SM would be the reaction force that plugs holes in the line or forcing break throughs in enemy lines for the IG to then capitalise on and rush their superior numbers and armour through.

Call in the Guard. Attrition warfare is their job.

If forced into that style of fight, a lot depends on the individual chapter. For the most part, marines are tougher and faster then anything out there. And if not both, they are faster then things tougher then them, and tougher then things faster. So the standard marine tactics of hitting the weak points of the foe, crippling key parts would still be the order of the day. They just need to redeploy before overwhelming force is brought down on them. Prolonged marine warfare is going to be a strong alpha strike against key units. Under normal situations, this would leave the foe crippled and ineffectual, where mop-up could be left to the locals/guard/others while the marines move on to other threats. If the first hit didn’t work, I suspect hit and run guerrilla tactics would take over.

Ravenguard are going to be the primary loyalist for this kind of fight.

As a counterpoint, a chapter like the Imperial Fists might just dig in. Rally any local forces and form strongpoints. Sortie occasionally to keep the foe off balance and disorganized, and wait for backup. Once the meatgrinder arrives to help, switch back to offense.

Impitral guard job in all honesty.

Marines too valuable to waste on such as that, now stranded force may use guerilla tactics but not meat grinder, ambush and make enemy numbers count for less in choke points, sap supply lines, control and general disruption to enemy force.
They are precision strikes and raids not meat grinder filler.

They may open a breach but its guards job to exploit and follow through with its greater mass or men and armour.

jhe90 wrote:
Marines too valuable to waste on such as that.

This. The marines can do things no normal men can do, but taking losses is not their thing. Every battlebrother who falls is an investment of at least five years and priceless technology used to outfit him. Just as he's said to be worth a hundred guards in battle, it's worth at least a hundred guards (or maybe many more) to keep that marine alive to fight another day. Only when the price is right should a Captain spend his men.

The Ultramarine defense of Macragge against the Tyranids is a good example of how costly it is for a Chapter to get involved in such action. They had the Ultramar PDF (who are presumable well trained and equipped), their own navy and their massive fortresses. And they still were overrun so badly on the ground that the entire 1st Company was lost. The space battle took so much attention that the ground battle had to be left until later, and if not the Imperial Navy had turned up to smash the Tyranids between it and the UM fleet the space battle might have been a long drawn out loss. But the UM had to fight - their homeworld was at risk, and losing it would have been a massive blow to their recruitment and morale.

Interesting factoid: The second edition codices are regarded by many as the 'bibles' for their respective factions, one of the few things from Codex: Ultramarines to have actually changed was that back then the 10 companies of 100 marines was stated to be a guide not an absolute rule with chapters often exceeding standard size during 'periods of prolonged conflict' this was a reutterance of the similar info from Epic which included (post-heresy) marking information Ultramarines covering up to 30 companies.

 Gashrog wrote:
Interesting factoid: The second edition codices are regarded by many as the 'bibles' for their respective factions, one of the few things from Codex: Ultramarines to have actually changed was that back then the 10 companies of 100 marines was stated to be a guide not an absolute rule with chapters often exceeding standard size during 'periods of prolonged conflict' this was a reutterance of the similar info from Epic which included (post-heresy) marking information Ultramarines covering up to 30 companies.

wow i didnt knew that it sould still staid in that way

now for the topic : IG is always there, SM will do a last stand in their homeword ( and more specific in ther base) if wold lost , they got lost too, othe SM chapters will come to help, if they are 5 chapters in full power, adn whith IG in their side they got prety much a big strong force
and also SM are small chapters , but in general nubers SM arent few , just they arent big numbers, of couse they arent like they were like pre-heresy but they do they job well

DAMN GUILLIMAN and his theoretical. As bad as Lorgar he was.

Except for BA, who are on the brink of extermination. Again.

Different chapters will avoid the fight if other chapters that they dont like pledge their arm to the fight.

A recent BL series had the home world overrun and slaughtered. Though its ok, theres about 1000 knights on the world just over. Which is just stupid

acidlemon wrote:
With space marines usually looking for lightning assaults or elite spear heads to avoid prolonged conflict in the 40k galaxy, how do space marine chapters deal with inevitable long term or prolonged wars? Like say a chapter world comes under attack from tyranids or necrons where attrition is the basis of battle. How do they handle offensives and defences of this kind of warfare? Any insight would be helpful!

Cut off the head and the body dies. IA 12, iirc, is all about SMs beating Necrons by doing just that.

Forgeworld books explain marines a bit better. After the Horus Heresy and the legions were broken up, marines were not meant to be used for attrition war, that time was over. They are the speartip. They can rip the heart out of the enemy, cut the head off a foe, or reinforce a faltering front. But then they leave. No really, once the objectives are completed they leave the entire warzone. They can't handle being cannon fodder as each loss is felt by the chapter, but it is inevitable. That's why there are many stories of an imperial commander trying to woo a marines chapter to help with a campaign. They strike hard, and can change the course of a war, but they will leave once done.

Remember too, a chapter is not 10 battle companies and rarely fight as a chapter. The large amount of reserve companies is specifically because they need the ability to rapidly refill a battle company due to the inevitable losses. In this way they are designed not to fight an attrition war as they cannot handle it mechanically.

Nevelon wrote:Call in the Guard. Attrition warfare is their job.

As a counterpoint, a chapter like the Imperial Fists might just dig in. Rally any local forces and form strongpoints. Sortie occasionally to keep the foe off balance and disorganized, and wait for backup. Once the meatgrinder arrives to help, switch back to offense.

Yup. Priority one is to call in the guard. Priority two is to survive until they (eventually) show up. This means that they'd try and stage "300" situations where the fact that they're grossly outnumbered doesn't matter nearly as much (like on Macragge), or go into a guerilla fighting campaign or something.

Space marines getting caught in attrition warfare is like a handful of special forces getting caught in attrition warfare. They use their cleverness to exfiltrate or, of they really need to stick around, cue up the bad 80's action movie plot.