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Hey all,

As the title says, I'm "new" to 40k. I played 5-10 games during 5th edition. I'm familiar with the armies, some lore, and some mechanics. Otherwise I'm new!

Anyways, I was wondering if you could help me. I'm wanting to start Space Marines. I purchased the Betrayal at Calth boxset and I'm sitting here assembling bodies. But I'm unsure of how to equip the 30 tactical marines.

Even more importantly, I'm not sure of which chapter to use! I know, I know... "Paint your guys whatever you want and use a variety of CTs until you find one you like most." I get that. I'm looking for an army that will utilize infantry, heavies, and tanks. I love the Centurion models and Dreadnought models. I like the idea of marching across the battlefield shooting enemies as they come to me and blowing them up when I get the chance.

Is there a chapter out there for me? I like A LOT of them. Specifically Iron Hands, Dark Angels, and the Carcharodons (I know they are assault base).

TLDR:

1. I need a good Space Marine chapter that is good at shooting things with infantry and heavies.
2. What's the optimal loadout for 20-30 tactical marines?

EDIT: An idea that I had for a dark themed army was to use the Dark Angels codex and call my army "The Forsaken" based on "The Fallen" only these marines never intended to follow Luther through the Warp but found themselves there. They had hoped their Dark Angels company would at least attempt to come retrieve them but eventually gave up hope.

Think Legion of the Damned meets Dark Angels.

I'm unsure if this breaks any lore, but it was just an idea.

To me, infantry, heavies and tanks with Centurions and Dreadnoughts = Imperial Fists, Iron Hands to a lesser degree Ultramarines and Salamanders

For the tactical marines in 40K, they will be in squads of 10 maximum. As for optimal load out, I wouldn't be able to say what's currently hot. I personally run mine with a Missile Launcher and a meltagun OR Plasma Rifle with Plasma Cannon (that said, my tacticals are used for camping objectives rather than being particularly active) - someone else could probably give better advice on that front. I expect Heavy Bolters if you're going for Imperial Fists and actively using the tacticals

I would leave heavy weapons off tac marines. Run 5 man teams with special and combi on the sarge. The only imperial heavy that's any good atm is the grav cannon anyway. Missile launchers and heavy bolters in particular aren't worth the points. also, plasma cannons are bad because small templates are bad. Lascannons are bad because single shot anti tank is bad.

Buy magnets.

I am not kidding you buy a lot of the thinnest rare earth magnets you can get your hands on. It will give you the flexibility of switching out every weapon you have. Just remember to glue them all down with the same polarity.

Personally i find it sooooo fiddly that i rather just buy extra dudes and make multiple different special weapons holders instead of magnetizing them.

If you plan on running a ton of Mk4 armor in 40k instead of 30k then i believe Red scorpions and Iron hands have and make the most use of them. though some other chapters have them on hand as well.

(Fluff wise)

All marines need transports of some kind to be competitive, so from the get go your going to want to choose whether you want to use Rhinos, Razorbacks or drop pods. Space wolves also have a flyer transport but it's not cheap so your probably only get one or two in a list.

 Desubot wrote:
Personally i find it sooooo fiddly that i rather just buy extra dudes and make multiple different special weapons holders instead of magnetizing them.

If you plan on running a ton of Mk4 armor in 40k instead of 30k then i believe Red scorpions and Iron hands have and make the most use of them. though some other chapters have them on hand as well.

(Fluff wise)

I feel the same way. I do have a bunch of magnets coming in so I may magnetize some models. But I would rather just buy the extra couple of marines to swap out.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

HoundsofDemos wrote:
All marines need transports of some kind to be competitive, so from the get go your going to want to choose whether you want to use Rhinos, Razorbacks or drop pods. Space wolves also have a flyer transport but it's not cheap so your probably only get one or two in a list.

I was instructed to buy Razorbacks and to use them as Rhinos or Razorbacks. I can magnetize the tops.

For the strategy you just described, Imperial Fists all the way. As for 20-30 Tac Marines, just remember to make as much use of MSU (multiple small units) as humanly possible. Basically, take as many Units as you can, and make them as point-effiicient as you can (ie 5-man Tac Squad running minimal special weapons). This way, you could get, what, 6 5-man Tactical Squads, all with Objective Secured (if you're running Primar CAD), and they can zip around the board, hitting whatever Objectives seem most convenient for you. Of course, then you would have to build all of those Rhinos :/

My current plan with my BaC set is to have 3 x 10 man tactical squads with one combi-plasma and one plasma gun. I'll be running them with Red Scorpions Chapter Tactics because a) 5+ Feel No Pain is awesome and makes a large unit more durable and b) they can reroll Pinning tests so when their Rhino inevitably pops, they'll most likely be able to shoot at full BS

Thanks all for the replies!

I built my first squad pretty vanilla..

7 Bolters
1 Heavy Bolter
1 Missile Launcher (doubt I'll use him much once I get my Centurions and/or Devastator squad)
Captain w/ PS and CombiPlasma

The next 2 squads will be much less plain. Probably put some plasma guns in there.

I'm still unsure if it's better to run a captain with a PS, PF, or CS. Suggestions?

Can't have 2 heavies in a tac squad.

Heavy bolters are terrible, missile launchers are merely bad.

Power swords are terrible, but then, so are axes and fists unless you're packing the shield eternal.

What you describe that you want sounds like a perfect start to an iron hands demi-company who has taken dev cents instead of devs and has included the optional dreadnought squad, though I can see it playing well as fists too.

Check the codex for options and formations that you think are cool.