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Hello brothers, this is my first post on this forum and I hope I am getting this in the right section. I'm looking to build a 750 point space marine army, as I've been trying to get into the hobby for months but it's been tough with cash. Finally got some money and I would like to finish off my army list!

I already have some units that I bought just to mess with, and would like to add as many as I can to my 750 point army. They include:
x1 Chaplain Cassius
x3 10 man Tactical marine squads (no weapons added yet)
x1 Rhino
x1 Land raider
x1 Drop Pod
x2 5 man terminator squads w/ storm bolters

These are pretty random I know, just bought whatever caught my eye. Really would like to keep Cassius as I loved all the black library books he was in and the competitive aspect doesn't matter all that much to since I just want to have some fun. I'm not really sure what I should add/remove from what I have. Should I but a bike squad next? Terminator assault squad with cassius? No idea. Hoping to learn some things here.

PS: I have the codex, and the rule book. Just not 100% sure on the points and all.

Welcome to Dakka and the Ultramarines.

For points, you might want to look into army building software. I find Battlescribe very useful in working out lists. Not a replacement for your codex, but a handy tool.

It looks like you have a bit over 1,000 points with what you have, but gear options can change that quite a bit. Not a lot of heavy hitting units though, also a reasonable core to an army.

I’d suggest looking at the formations. They are a decent guide on how to build, and offer some nice perks. Battle Demi-company is going to be your go-to option.

What kind of Land Raider do you have? Lascannons, or a crusader of redeemer? One problem with the iconic one with the TLLC is the cargo capacity of 10. As terminators take up 2 spaces each, it means you can’t fit a HQ in there with them. Vanguard vets, a command squad, or honor guard all work though. And you can run them with just the assault terminators, but it’s fun to have a chaplain running down the assault ramp with them. Be aware, that any flavor of LR eats up a huge chunk of your points, and there are a lot of things out there that can crack them open. Not that they instantly explode, but they are a lot of eggs in one basket, and most lists should include a few ways to make it go away.

Cassius is great. His main problem is being a CC guy on foot. So he needs some sort of transport and a squad of guys to hang with who enjoy close combat. I’ve run him in a land raider, or with an assault squad in a drop pod. Both work. But he needs a ride, and some friends. I’ve also run him with sternguard, but that’s not the best place for him to shine.

Tactical terminators are not the most competitive unit. For their points, they are fairly fragile, and bolter fire is not hard to get a hold of. I do occasionally field a squad with an assault cannon and a chainfist, as a general troubleshooter unit. You just need to be careful to keep them away from plasma/other AP2 and massed small-arms.

In genreral, your tac squads are going to want transports. Both pods and rhinos work, and can be mixed in hybrid lists. For gear, make sure your weapons want to shoot the same sort of thing. Matching a combi weapon on the sarge to the squad’s special is a common option. Do you have just basic tac squads? Or more heavy weapon choices? MLs are kinda mediocre at everything.

For things to get:

I’d aim to get the demi co. You have plenty of tacs, but need an assault pick and a dev choice. A box of devastators is a solid option. Not obly will it get you some nice long range firepower, but spare weapons can be built to help your tacticals.

Bikes are very good, hard to go wrong picking up a squad of them. My only issue would be where are you going to put Cassius? My suggestion would be to get a 5 man assault squad and put them in your pod. 2xFlamers and a vet sarge. With Cassisus and his combi flamer, you can hoop out of the pod and lay down 3 templates. Then charge the survivors next turn.

3 full tacs, and a 5 man assault and dev squad, with modest gear options and transports, should make a tidy 1,000 point list.

After that, you might want to look into some of the auxiliary choices. If you like terminators, the 1st company TF is a good option. Sternguard are one of the best units in the book. Work well out of pods. Even if you don’t want to go the formation route, getting a squad of them is a good choice. From a modeling POV, they are a very nice kit. You can cut it with spare tactical marine parts to get more vets, and use unused parts to spruce up your sergeants.

Wow, thanks so much for the fast and detailed reply!

So I'm currently looking to buy a 5 man dev squad and then an assault squad.

Don't need much else, but what weapons should my tac/dev squads use? Not really sure whats the best options, haven't attached anything as of yet. Very happy about being able to play at 1000pts after getting these, really excited to play. Thanks again!

If you can squeeze another tactical squad in your budget, it will be worth it to be able to build a guy with every heavy weapon in the Dev box. That way you have some choices about how you want to run your Tacs and Devs over time.

There are a lot of ways to run both Tacs and Devs.

As an Ultramarine, I like full 10 man squads, with both the special and the heavy. Many people forgo the heavy to save points, as the mobile lifestyle of the tactical marine is not conducive to stable fire. But I find use in a downfield heavy often enough to justify their inclusion.

My two most commonly fielded tactical squads are a ML/F (basic sarge) one and a MM/M, c-melta sarge one. 3rd most common would be a HB/F, c-flamer squad. I just recently finished gearing up a full grav squad, and they did well on their first outing. Expensive though.

Full melta is a nice flexible load. Some things need that level of firepower to kill. Melta is short range, but the tac squad is moving close anyway. So it’s a good way to get some extra AV firepower on the table. And for non vehicle targets, you have bolters to contribute.
ML/F is a very jack-of-all trades. I mostly field them out of tradition.
HB/F c-flamer is a dedicated anti infantry squad. Flamers like to kill the same things bolters do, and while HBs might be a little underpowered, they look cool and don’t cost that many points.
Adding grav or plasma to tac squads gears them for taking out hard targets, which are becoming more prolific. Just avoid plasma cannons. Can’t snap fire them.

I like my dev squads for anti armor duty. I figure I’ve got enough anti infantry fire with all the bolters, but need something to crack open tanks. 4xLC is my go-to these days. If you do mix weapons, make sure they all want to shoot at the same thing, at the same range. LCs and HBs never want to shoot the same thing, and LCs and MMs have vastly different ranges.

If you are doing a drop pod army, things change a bit. And certain formations and chapters also weigh options differently.

From a practical POV, the dev box comes with two of every weapon. Tac squads come with MLs. But they are all powered armor guys, so you can mix and match. If I was kiting out an army I’d probably go something like this:

Tacticals (full 10 men):
MM/M c-melta
HB/F, c-flamer
GC/G, c-grav

Dev:
2xLC, 2xML

But do keep all the spare bits, and if you get more bodies build them to swap around. Different lists need different firepower. So as you expand and play larger games, you might need to tac squads to pick up slack in some areas.