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Made in gb
Adolescent Youth on Ultramar



UK

As per my Intro post here (where I'm about to copy and paste half of it to save you a click anyway) I've been out of the loop a while. I have some 2005ish space marines, an assault squad and two tactical squads.

It would be nice to use these as a springboard to get back into the game after such a long hiatus, but I want to see if I enjoy painting and modelling before I commit to buying rulebooks etc. So what are my options for building these? I see a lot of options on the sprue, and from what little I remember of 3rd and 4th edition rules you can't use all of the cool stuff in one squad. I also know there will be some more stuff I'd need to buy to make a minimum viable army, but I don't know exactly what. Everything has changed since I last even glanced at some rules
   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Moustache-twirling Princeps





Gone-to-ground in the craters of Coventry

Hi,

The two ways I would go about this are (without yet buying the codex and rulebook):
Get Battlescribe, whether on a PC or phone. It lets you see what a squad can have. The 40k app lets you tinker too, but you have to pay to unlock the army builder section.
Read the army lists section here in Dakka, to see what other people have put together.

The tournaments sections are good for that too.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/07/21 14:27:37


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"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw (probably)
Clubs around Coventry, UK 
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

Looking into online list building tools is good advice. There are a lot of moving parts on how to build an army these days. Overall, there are a ton more options for marines out there, not just units, but chapter tactics and special rules. But the basic tac squad loadout has remained pretty static.

5 man squad has a sarge, 3 bolter brothers, and either a heavy or a special weapon.
10 man squad has the sarge, 7 bolters, and both the special and the heavy.
(You can technically field a squad greater then 5, but less then 10; it has all the options of the 5 man squad)

I forget when they added more options to the tac kit. I know it has been recut a few times. Odds are the only heavy you have available is the missile launcher. You might have something besides flamers.

Assault squads are 2 specials and the sarge, plus basic guys. Most chapters are just flamers or plasma pistols. I forget what’s in the kit, especially the old one. It’s also had a few revisions.

You can still build something roughly based on the old Force Org Chart, but army construction has got a lot looser. You still need at least one HQ type (preferably two)

I’d start with building and painting 6 bolter guys and probably 2 missile launchers. I’m not going to make sergeant recommendations for gear, as IIRC the old kits did not have a lot of toys. Bolt pistol & chainsword should be in the kit, but will not impact the battle much. Adding a combi weapon or a power sword/fist can, but I doubt you have the spare parts. Something to think about as you grow. I’ve got a row of old sarges that have been replaced over the years; these days I use magnets.

But 2x5 man tac squads with MLs and cheep sarges are not bad for filling troop slots and holding backfield objectives. Later if you move to other troops, the MLs can find a pair of friends and start a devastator squad.

Putting together a third tac squad to move up the table would not be a bad call. If all you have is flamers, toss one on the squad. But plasma/melta would be better if you have it. Maybe give the sarge a better weapon.

There are pros and cons to the assault marine options. Even blinging them up a bit to use as vanguard vets.

If you have spare parts (and it might be worth using spare bodies) you could make a captain and/or lieutenant. Doing so would cut into your bits. Depends a lot on how long you are going to stick with what you have, and what your plans to build out are.

   
 
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