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Hey guys, So I'm painting up a 1k list of IF. So far everything is on foot. I'm looking for suggestions on what I should look at as I build up the force. I guess what I want to know is how can I best cover the bases that this force currently will not?

-HQ- Lib in term armor
- 5 Assault Terms w/ TH+SS

2 10 man Tactical Squads w/ PG and HB. One sgt has PP

1 reg Term squad w/ all SB+PF/PS for sgt

! Dev Squad w/ 2 PC, 1 LC, 1 ML

This fills up 1000 points.

Here's what I'm thinking of adding-

-Sniper scouts,
-regular scouts w/ land speeder storm so I can zoom across the table and deep strike Lib and Assault terms w/ homing beacon.
-2 rhinos for each tac squad for mobility.


Where I run into trouble is deciding what to add for heavier firepower....

I feel like i dont have an idea of what its like to play against different armies, and I dont want to spend a ton on buying one or more than one of every option.

Maybe a ranking of what you'd add to this in order of priority and why???

For example,
1.)vindicator because ___
2.) Thunderfire cannons bc ___
3. Whirlwind b/c ____

Any questions or comments are appreciated!

My advice would be to keep your Devastator squad with matching weapons. That guarantees efficiency since they all have to fire at the same target; it's always better to overkill in 40k than leave something "almost dead" - almost dead is still able to shoot you back! You want all missile launchers or lascannons. The range and flexibility of the missile launcher makes it my first choice, but if you have the points to spare, lascannons are deadly. However, that will quickly make them a high priority threat and you will want some ablative wounds so that each wound your not losing a 20 point special weapon.

Also, Thunderfire Cannons are amazing. I out 2 of these in most lists. The subterranean ammo is great against jet bikes that zip around and hate terrain tests; the str 6 shot is enough to double out some ICs; the ignores cover shot destroys kroot and weak infantry that run on the board and go to ground. The best part about it though is it's now a barrage weapon. Sure that allows you to fire without line of sight, but
More importantly the wounds are dealt from the blast marker's position, NOT closest model to the firer. This allows for "barrage sniping" so you can directly target sergeants, apothecaries, special weapons, etc. Also, the Techmarine that controls it is good in close combat, and has got a flamer, master crafted plasma pistol, S8 AP2 servo arms, grenades, etc.. He's awesome! TFC - Never leave home without it!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also to comment on the troops, for tac squads pick up a rhino and give them a set purpose - all plasma, all melta, all anti infantry, etc. That will maximize their effectiveness as they all shoot at the same squad.

A 5 man bolter scout squad in a land speeder with heavy flamer is awesome; another winner for just 100 points. It's great with bolter drill and also can move late-game infantry pretty well off of objectives. I'd definitely add one of those.

As for the shooty terminators, I'd give them a cyclone missile launcher (an assault cannon maybe if it benefits from your chapter tactics?)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
You should give the Libby a storm shield too. If he's your
Warlord, you want him as survivable as possible. You can clean up points by dropping small things like plasma pistol on the tac squad, power sword, etc. You can always find the points ha!

Lemme know if you need any more help!

Thanks a ton. 57 views and one reply, but you made it really count. I guess I will PM you with more questions since no one else is interested in this.

Sure thing. Yeah, that's fine, or just repost your questions here, I'll help where I can.

I think your idea to add snipers, scouts in a LSS, and rhinos are a good idea. The added mobility will let you get to objectives, which is important for winning.

One question is what kind of army you want to play? Because you can go a lot of different ways. There are as many different ways to build SM armies as there are players. Do you want a gunline? Armored column? Drop pod assault?

One thing you are a little light on is anti-tank firepower. While the dev squad should do OK vs. light and medium armor, against AV 14 you are going to have some problems. I like to include some melta in my lists, and there are a lot of ways to get it. MM speeders, bikes, or drop pods all work.

You have no AA fire. Picking up an ADL w/ a quadgun is a quick and easy way to add some. Other options are the new hunter/stalker, or get some flyers of your own.

I’m not a big fan of DSing assault troops. If you want to charge something with your terminators, I’d invest in a land raider, probably the crusader so you can fit both the librarian and the squad in. Another option would be to keep the librarian with the tactical terminators and run the assault ones alone in a classic 2xTLLC LR. This is a big investment, both in money and points. But a LR full of pain and death makes a very striking centerpiece to a marine tank list.

I have a pretty good list re made based off your advice, but it isnt on my person at the moment.

One question I wanted to ask is, what is wrong with having the Lib and Assault Terms deep strike using the scout's teleport homer??

For 10 points I feel like I could get the squad across the table w/ the LSS and teleport the heavy hitters in.
opens up room for 2 vindicators to ditch a land raider.

I love the land raider model, but is there any reason my thinking is wrong on this?

I’m not a fan of assault units in reserve, no mater the flavor.

First, you are stuck off the table, twiddling your thumbs while the rest of your army gets shot up.

Second, you show up when the reserve roll feels like it. Now, there are a few ways of modifying this, but in general, I plan for the dice to screw me. Best case, you show up turn 2

If you plan on using homers, you can skip the scatter someplace bad step. But you pay points for the luxury. And might have to expose fragile units.

So now you are on the table, hopefully close to something you’d like to assault. If you had guns, you could shoot them now. As a close combat unit, your shooting is going to be anemic at best. Terminators are probably best served running, so not to be in a tight cluster begging for a blast template. Eat interceptor fire now.

Then it’s your opponent’s turn. Now you eat more fire. Everything your opponent wants to shoot at you he will. And it’s probably a lot. At close range. The thing you wanted to assault might take this time to run away. Or something else might charge you to deny you the option/tarpit you.

At last we reach turn 3 if you are lucky, turn 4 or later if your dice were fickle on the reserve rolls. Whatever shattered remnants of your squad can try to stagger into close combat. You probably won’t loose anyone to overwatch, and hopefully will make the charge distance roll. Then you get to put the hammer down and squash something. Probably.

Now I like terminators. And I still put assault elements into my list and use them. There are people who will nay say both of those things; I’m not one of them. But I hate deep striking assault troops. You spend a turn standing around getting shot up while you opponent gets to dictate the nature of the engagement. That’s why I like the LR. It protects you until you want to charge, lets you get where you want to go, when you want to be there, and drops you off close enough to make sure you get to blenderize something. You pay a lot for the luxury, but an AV 14 rolling box of guns and death does have some perks of it’s own.

I'd go with Sniper Scouts. They're not as brutal as a Vindicator or Predator but they're versatile... especially when dealing with Monstrous creatures and other things with really high toughness.

Ok, so some of my thoughts. Imperial Fist are a lot of fun and have insane potential to be very strong. However to do that you need to play to the chapter's strengths. You have bolter drill, so bringing scouts, not what I would suggest, even with bolters scouts don't shoot as well as tacticals. Just my opinion. Secondly your devastators have tank hunter. You want to bring devastators, perhaps all 3 squads worth. Put either ML or Lascannons on them and its a lot of fire power. Gun line Marines are pretty strong and I feel with bolter drill, and tank hunter devs/centurians it feels like that is the natural way to go.

I cant recommend heavy support centurions enough for imperial fists. Grav cannons, on them are very strong, also the other option tl las-cannons with tank hunter and split fire will allow to kill a lot of tanks.

Finally an aegis defence line with these guys is strong. Put a devastator squad, 10 man with 4 ML on it, and have one of the bolter marines man the quad. This will give your quad gun tank hunter, which will allow it to do a lot of damage to most fighters. To me this is one of the best ways to kill flyers. Not to mention the defense line giving all your marines a 4 up cover save. Personally I would focus on this.

As for HQs, the libby is a strong option and I support it. He is cheap and will let you put points into a lot of fire power in other places. Also storm talons are pretty solid as well, and a good monetary investment in any space marine army. Finally, as cool as I think termies are, they are pretty weak right now, the basic terminator squad is, for the most part a 200 point waste. Even if they deep strike in there just going to get shot up. Also regular termies are bad in close combat. The only ones that are good are the close combat terminators with thunder hammers and storm shields and they only work if riding in a landraider. Which is a strong combo, specially with lyssander, if you like termies this is something to consider. In the list you have the termies and libby is one third of your army, and for that amount of points your not getting a lot of fire power.

Finally, rhinos and razorbacks work really well with tactical squads. On foot there not as strong, unless in a gun line, like the aegis.

Hope this helps!

OK, so I'm about 1/2 way through painting my initial list. This is just a basic foot slogging 1k force that I can use as a second army if I want to introduce people to the game. I have a bunch of 3rd edition blood angels that I can use to play against, but with BA being so weak I figure I should build up a better Fists force to play more experienced players. I know I'll get shot to hell with this list at the FLGS as is.




Based on the advice here, I should invest in
a.) at least 3-7 Missile launchers, and lascannons. This will give me 1 or 2 devastator squads with appropriate weapons, and I can use the plasma cannons in tac squads if I ever decide to swap out the heavy blotters.
b.) 2 Rhinos to move the tac squads up
c.) an Aegis Defense line to hold devastators and give some anti-air.
d.) Landraider Crusader to transport Termies and Librarian


I already have a squad of scout snipers and regular scouts to paint up, so whether or not I end up using them is something I'll figure out as I go.


Questions-
1.) Woud a Storm raven be a better option than a Land raider to transport the HQ & entourage? I feel like I want the HQ and the 2 troops to advance towards the enemy/objectives while the heavy support sits back and provides cover fire.

2.) Should I paint my vindicator for Imperial Fists or Blood Angels? I like the idea of a fast vindicator, but on the othe hand I feel like I should just wait tip the new BA codex is to continue building the army. I initially bought a storm raven and vindicator for my blood angels, but I've yet to paint them so any opinions are welcome!


I don't want fast attack in this list. if anything I'll do an allied attachment of Crimson fists for allies. Or i could just ally with blood angels or vice versa.