Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Was thinking about adding to my Chaos army and I don't have any Noise Marines. I was just wondering what people thought of them in the new edition since you aren't taxed with taking a Slaanesh lord to make them troops. They always seemed okay to me but I have a hard time justifying not taking Plague Marines. Just curious if people thought they could be used for anything semi-competitive for Chaos.

Noise Marines are in a great spot right now. Being that they are one of the only IC mechanics CSM currently have, they are also durable as balls behind, or inside cover themselves. I cannot tell you how many times I have out ranged my Tau opponents or had people try to swarm my table edge with Gaunts or Orks, only to be annihilated and picked apart. The nicest thing you'll notice, Blast Masters are 48" with TWO profiles. That duel profile is fantastic to shoot out of fire-points on Rhino's giving you and your peeps much needed mobility. Icon grants FNP? Sweet! Throw it on a bloke and don't forget it doesn't take up a weapon slot, So throw a Sonic Blaster on that guy!

I love my Noise Marines.They get expensive however and sadly that's just one of the main reasons people don't take them. I mean, a squad of 10 with Champion + Doom Siren Power Fist + 2 Blast Masters 7 Blasters and Icon run you 331 Points =/ Which is a crazy steep cost, but durability wise, they're holding their own against pretty much everything that isnt a MC beatstick. Just be weary and try to guard them from the inevitable Wraith Knight or Riptide. As these units WILL make a B-Line for you.

They seem very survivable when played right. Mostly because they get access to FnP. Though I agree they can get on the expensive side because I was looking into taking both Sonic Weapons and Blast Masters (not in the same squads) but it became pretty pricey. Wasn't sure if I could get away with a mono Emperor's Children army or if they'd be best used as support.

With noise marines you really wanna run them specialized or they get super expensive. Either a big squad with sonic blasters and the banner for the tough str4 dakka, a bare naked 10 man squad with 2 Blastmasters for the backfield artillery, or the doom siren champ with power weapon and a bunch of pistol guys + banner for close combat. You can run them mixed, but that's the 3 basic configurations for them. Which, granted, is still better than the other cults get. They're the most flexible troop choice CSM get, and can excel at any of their roles with the right load out.

And most importantly, they're the funnest unit in 40k to paint.

I regret siding with khorne berzerkers instead of getting noise marines back when I started out in 5th ed.

Also, it's stupid cheap to give them an extra close combat weapon. With extra ccw, sonic blasters and a 20 strong fearless unit, they can sit right in the middle of the table and just pour out the fire. If they get charged by something they have 2 attacks apiece at init 5.

I'm in the proccess of converting a bunch more for my army as they are also the most tactically flexible cult unit. They can take 2 blast masters in a squad of 10 for heavy support and can also support other noise marines equiped for close combat. The use I really want to try is to have them supported by cheaper CSM squads in rhinos or just a second squad and just drive up to a unit, elite or horde, and hop out and open up with sonic blasters. If they can use the rhino as a shield against other units shooting, then it's hard for something to stand up to that kind of firepower and hit back hard on it's own.

Large Noise Marine squads with Blastmasters and Icon of Excess are good at holding objectives and shooting from afar.

In Maelstrom missions, though, I prefer a MSU approach called "Dick in a Box": stick a unit of 5 NMs with a Blastmaster in a Chaos Rhino to create a fairly efficient "tank". Preferably with MoS on your Chaos Lord so that the NMs and Rhinos are all with Objective Secured. NMs shoot and hold objectives, Rhinos protect them. I've also grabbed distant objective markers with empty Rhinos many times already.

I've been using Noise Marines as my Troops almost since the inception of my army and I'm not going to supplant them ever.

If you run a CC noise marine squad don't be afraid to take Lucius!

On paper, Lucius looks like he'd ruin lives in challenges. Does he really work out that well? I might snag an old metal of him. I've been eyeing him since I started, but I picked up Huron instead. Huron's still a great choice for some infiltrating, though, and his claw is great for melee murdering. He also has a bit of psychic umph to him in 7th, as well.

I'm currently putting together a small Emperor's Children force to play alongside my CD, so have obviously looked closely at Lucius.

Two things stand out, if he gets tied up against a 2+ save character (and with CoC forcing him to challenge, it's definitely a possibility) with average WS, he's going to be there forever, assuming the opposing character doesn't have something unwieldy to make him go squish.

Secondly, why on earth does his Armour have the ignores cover USR when it can only ever have an effect in CC when cover saves are invalid? GW's writers really don't know their own game.

 Azreal13 wrote:
Secondly, why on earth does his Armour have the ignores cover USR when it can only ever have an effect in CC when cover saves are invalid? GW's writers really don't know their own game.

It you look around in the 6th and 7th Codexi, you'd notice similar instances of Cover saves in Melee. I believe Tyranids have a couple units that can ignre cover in combat, or can able their cover save in combat. Something along those lines.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to Noise Marines..

I've personally never given them much thought, as even in 4th edition I went for Khorne. This has been more of a preference rather than thinking logically. The Sonic Weaponry does look tempting, I will admit, and I'd say go for it if you're even considering them for your Troops. Even against other MEqs, they're going to have an advantage at Int5.

Noise Marines are very, very good. My local gaming group, save the Deathwing Player, have developed an entirely rational fear of them. Nothing like denying skimmers cover, pinning units, and ID'ing marines, suits, and all the funky Necrons. I recommend hiding them in a Rhino and maybe paying for 2 blastmasters and the icon. Tough as nails that way.

Additionally, I have run max squads with sonic blasters. Use Huron to infiltrate them 18" from a few units. Delete unit one. Turn 2, delete unit 2. Rinse, and repeat. Sucks when you are finally out of range though.

Haven't had any sucksess with Lucius. Ever. He's no match to Kharn or even your generic lord with a pf/lc. Lack of ap2 and just 5++ is what makes Lucius mediocre. He can chop t4-5 3+ squads all day but the moment he meets something with t6 or 2+ he's screwed. And you meet that stuff more often than you'd like.

Noise marines are fine overall but remember that they don't get tactical flexibility for free and that you'll always be less effective than dedicated stuff point-to-point.

Sonic blasters are great when the opponent's coming for you. But NM generally fail to do anything significant vs something like tau/ig gunline cause you generally have to waste a turn or two getting to the fire position. However, sonic blaster is a unique weapon that definitely has it's uses.

Icon is not worth the points on squads smaller than 7-8 guyz. Better get extra bodies instead.

Always bring a rhino.

 koooaei wrote:
Haven't had any sucksess with Lucius. Ever. He's no match to Kharn or even your generic lord with a pf/lc. Lack of ap2 and just 5++ is what makes Lucius mediocre. He can chop t4-5 3+ squads all day but the moment he meets something with t6 or 2+ he's screwed. And you meet that stuff more often than you'd like.

Noise marines are fine overall but remember that they don't get tactical flexibility for free and that you'll always be less effective than dedicated stuff point-to-point.

Sonic blasters are great when the opponent's coming for you. But NM generally fail to do anything significant vs something like tau/ig gunline cause you generally have to waste a turn or two getting to the fire position. However, sonic blaster is a unique weapon that definitely has it's uses.

Icon is not worth the points on squads smaller than 7-8 guyz. Better get extra bodies instead.

Always bring a rhino.

I cant agree with you on the notion of Lucius not being able to kill 2+ models.. If you're in a challenge and someones trying to smack him with an ap3 or 2 weapon and you save that due to his 5++, that model takes a str 4 ap2 hit automatically. I've had Lucius and a squad of CC Noise Marines kill terminators simply due to this. Not to mention he's bloody fast with I6. AND reducing his opponents attacks by 1 along side having Shred.

Sure fire way to obliterate models with Lucius is to have a Sergeant eat a challenge, allocated your wounds to Lucius. Save them, BAM The Armor of Shrieking Souls just put out a handful of AP2 wounds for FREE. That is, of course if you don't kill whom ever you're attacking outright since you're hitting them first. I personally love him in CC.

 GoliothOnline wrote:

I cant agree with you on the notion of Lucius not being able to kill 2+ models.. If you're in a challenge and someones trying to smack him with an ap3 or 2 weapon and you save that due to his 5++, that model takes a str 4 ap2 hit automatically. I've had Lucius and a squad of CC Noise Marines kill terminators simply due to this. Not to mention he's bloody fast with I6. AND reducing his opponents attacks by 1 along side having Shred.

Sure fire way to obliterate models with Lucius is to have a Sergeant eat a challenge, allocated your wounds to Lucius. Save them, BAM The Armor of Shrieking Souls just put out a handful of AP2 wounds for FREE. That is, of course if you don't kill whom ever you're attacking outright since you're hitting them first. I personally love him in CC.

It puts a hit on him, not a wound. So assuming Lucius takes 3 wounds, he saves one on his 5++ and then gives the enemy a str4 hit. Lucius is mostly dead, and it only gives a 50% chance to wound a T4 opponent. Anyone worth challenging probably will have an invunerable save, probably better than 5++

 Exergy wrote:

 GoliothOnline wrote:

I cant agree with you on the notion of Lucius not being able to kill 2+ models.. If you're in a challenge and someones trying to smack him with an ap3 or 2 weapon and you save that due to his 5++, that model takes a str 4 ap2 hit automatically. I've had Lucius and a squad of CC Noise Marines kill terminators simply due to this. Not to mention he's bloody fast with I6. AND reducing his opponents attacks by 1 along side having Shred.

Sure fire way to obliterate models with Lucius is to have a Sergeant eat a challenge, allocated your wounds to Lucius. Save them, BAM The Armor of Shrieking Souls just put out a handful of AP2 wounds for FREE. That is, of course if you don't kill whom ever you're attacking outright since you're hitting them first. I personally love him in CC.

It puts a hit on him, not a wound. So assuming Lucius takes 3 wounds, he saves one on his 5++ and then gives the enemy a str4 hit. Lucius is mostly dead, and it only gives a 50% chance to wound a T4 opponent. Anyone worth challenging probably will have an invunerable save, probably better than 5++

Then the question becomes, why did you charge the T6 Bikers? Or the T5 Terminators with SS/TH? Obviously you need to pick your fights, but as I've said above, I've still walked away from battles I've otherwise should have lost outright simply because of Lucius.