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I was wondering from someone who has more experience using them has found if they worked better with 5 standard marines added to the squad vs running them just sergeant and heavy weapons. Looking at them it seemed like the extra marines were a pretty good deal since 5 ablative wounds that couldn't be hit for multiple wounds like a lascannon vs a pred would. That and the ability to overwatch with 5 marines might dissuade people charging in to clog up the heavy weapons. I hope to hear how it's worked for you all.

I always take the extra bodies, but then I also take tactical squads of 10.
I find a lot of the "weakness" of marines that the internet complains about is mitigated by simply taking more of them.
A full size devastator squad can survive the same number of wounds as a predator before degrading. In fact, depending on how you count the sergeant, they can take more wounds. They're also easier to fit in cover and benefit from chapter tactics.

You need two extra bodies. So if you have the minimum squad, you buy two weapons. So 7 Marines max.

Zustiur wrote:
I always take the extra bodies, but then I also take tactical squads of 10.
I find a lot of the "weakness" of marines that the internet complains about is mitigated by simply taking more of them.
A full size devastator squad can survive the same number of wounds as a predator before degrading. In fact, depending on how you count the sergeant, they can take more wounds. They're also easier to fit in cover and benefit from chapter tactics.

That actually double-downs on their weaknesses.

I'm in the extra bodies camp. When I see a 5 man squad of devastators with 4 heavy weapons it just tells me who I'm shooting at first because it's pretty easy to knock out. 10 takes a decent bit more work to remove.

Extra bodies all the way. I play them as 10 with 4 heavy weapons when possible