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I play ad mech and i love my Castellan gun line mixed with my fun shooty shoot cyborgs. They're just fun i wish we had more HQ units (and more units in general), but for now it's fun running a pure admech list. Anyways i wanted to get into playing marines and with the Sons of Dorn getting their own codex (i think) but i don't know where to start and if i should add primaris models to the mix. Also as a rule of cool would adding a Land Raider be worth it? I've always liked the model of that and a Predator, but everyone always tells me their not worth the points. ANYWAYS, any help with my sons of dorn list would be great! I haven't really started the list yet as their abundance of HQ units and psychic abilities is a little overwhelming coming from Ad-Mech that just gets canticles and throws shots down the board.

well land raiders aren't total crap and can be useful, but they're hardly optimized this edition. (that said every marine player should IMHO have at least one)

if you want to start a marine army, I'd suggest snagging dark Imperium, and following it up with... maybe the start collecting space marines box (assuming you want to run a mix of old and new) ?

BrianDavion wrote:
well land raiders aren't total crap and can be useful, but they're hardly optimized this edition. (that said every marine player should IMHO have at least one)

if you want to start a marine army, I'd suggest snagging dark Imperium, and following it up with... maybe the start collecting space marines box (assuming you want to run a mix of old and new) ?

Why the bolded bit?

 JNAProductions wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
well land raiders aren't total crap and can be useful, but they're hardly optimized this edition. (that said every marine player should IMHO have at least one)

if you want to start a marine army, I'd suggest snagging dark Imperium, and following it up with... maybe the start collecting space marines box (assuming you want to run a mix of old and new) ?

Why the bolded bit?

they're such an iconic marine unit that I don't think a marine collection is complete without one. it's purely my opinion and certainly reflects a degree of "I'm a collector as much as a gamer" I admit

BrianDavion wrote:

 JNAProductions wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
well land raiders aren't total crap and can be useful, but they're hardly optimized this edition. (that said every marine player should IMHO have at least one)

if you want to start a marine army, I'd suggest snagging dark Imperium, and following it up with... maybe the start collecting space marines box (assuming you want to run a mix of old and new) ?

Why the bolded bit?

they're such an iconic marine unit that I don't think a marine collection is complete without one. it's purely my opinion and certainly reflects a degree of "I'm a collector as much as a gamer" I admit

Okay, that's fair. I don't agree, but to each their own.

Start an iron hands army, they're pretty much known as the admech's marines. Your two armies will be thematically linked.

Remember, rules change but models last. Just because something is “meh” now does not mean it always will be. If there is something that catches your eye and lights your hobby passion, go for it! But do so knowing that the rules might be a little lackluster, and try to tighten up the rest of your list to compensate. Then hold fast and wait for the wide-swinging GW pendulum of buffs/nerfs to swing in your favor. Then when people whine about you putting the new hotness down on the table, you can look them in the eye and tell them you’ve been using it for years, even when it was garbage. Most marine units do their jobs, some are just overpriced for what they do. Unless you are playing in a very competitive meta, there is some room for fun units in your list. Just keep an eye on their weaknesses and cover for them.

As this is not your first army, you should know the basics of what’s needed in a list. Some AV, some chaff clearing, a way to get boots on objectives and keep them there for as long as they need, etc. Marines are a VERY flexible list. We have multiple units that can do multiple roles, depending on how they are geared.

Pick 3 units you want to use. Why do you want to play marines, what brought you to the Emperor’s finest?
Figure out what role they fill.
Take any units that are needed to support/cover them.
Take units that are required to fill roles that they do not.
(figure out what you need to pare back to get under your point limit)

I can’t speak to the Sons of Dorn specifically, I’m an Ultramarine. So there are going to be a lot of synergies with your strats/traits/buffs etc that I’m going to miss. I assume you are looking at an Imp. Fist successor with that name.

Land Raiders make a great centerpiece model for a marine army. What pattern makes a difference on what it does on the battlefield. The classic Phobos with the Godhammers is solid AV, but you need to keep it screened. Some grot touches the bumper, and you loose a round of shooting as you back out of CC. Best used sitting back, maybe holding a counter-charge unit. The LRR/LRC are more aggressive. They still have the issue of being tagged in CC, and with their short range guns, this is more likely. They can, however, do better with overwatch, the LRR with the auto-hit flame cannons especially.

Preds are not bad. I think their main issue is that they are not much more resilient then a razorback, and take up a FOC slot.

HQs being the third thing you mentioned, is not an issue for marines. They all do their thing, and have a place. Buffs/auras/tricks are the way to go. But hard to go wrong here. Captain/Lt/Lib all work well.


Now I’m going to make a big assumption here: You don’t want a gunline army. Most people who start a second faction don’t want one that plays the same as their primary. Now marines are always going to gunline a little; it’s 8th edition, blobbing firepower around buffs and shooting downrange is a solid tactic. But let’s keep that to one side of the army, and take the other to ram an armored fist into your foe.

For your firebase, I’d take a pred, either a WW or a TFC, and a squad of scouts to screen them.
For the advance element, core is the LR full of something fun, screened with your other troop pics. I’d use tacs in rhinos, but that's just me. Half squads in Razors would probably be better, but even just intercessors on foot would work (although impulsors would fit the theme)

It really depends on taste. Just pick a theme that works for you and make sure all your bases are covered.

Nice thanks for the help ill take it into affect! And no i don't honestly mind gunlines I fully understand the Imperial Fists are meant to fotify their position and gunline in, while they have units like centurion that are meant to walk the board and giggle fist people, thanks for the help guys!