TheCustomLime wrote:
Combi-gun all the way. You want your Sergeant shooty since he is a member of a shooty squad. Usually you want to match your special.

 Nevelon wrote:
Welcome to the world of space marines. I like the strikeforce box for a bunch of reasons, but as a basis for a standalone army it has some issues. The big one being a lack of solid anti tank firepower.

Here is a list I tossed together for a ~1,250 WYSWYG list based just off of the strikeforce



One tac squad combat squads the ML off and sends the melta and c-melta forward in the razor, the other just can either stick together or separate as needed. While I almost always field a ML/F basic sarge tac squad personally, my army lists are heavily influenced by nostalgia. From an effectiveness on the table POV, they are jack of all trades generalists, and top lists tend towards specialization. Not that take all comers lists are hopeless, I do OK with mine, but if you are looking for “The Best” specialize.

But as you sift through the option in the strikeforce, ask yourself what can scratch a tank? The TLLCs from the ven dread and razorback, the meltaguns and c-meltas on the tac and captain/command sprues, and then the MLs from the tacs and scouts. For a force this size, I like a bit more, so we can’t afford to squander what we have.

For expanding your army, a devastator box should be on your short list. Having more then MLs is a huge boost. The dev box will give you the bits to make 2x LC/PC/HB and a single MM and ML. It’s worth finding the extra power armor bodies to make them all.

More transports is another solid idea for what to pick up next.

 Nevelon wrote:
One of the perks of Ultramarines is that we can do everything kinda OK. Which way you build your list can depend on your mood of the day and your collection.

One thing that helps with that is magnets. While you don’t need to use them, they help stretch your hobby dollar.

Even if you don’t go full drop, sticking a ironclad in a pod is a good disruption unit. Tossing a monkey wrench into your foe’s backfield turn one can take some of the pressure off of the rest of your army. Also consider sternguard. They love drop pod deployment. From a modeling POV, the sternguard box is packed full of extras. You can probably mix the box up with 5 extra tactical marines and get a full 10 man squad that is still more blinged out then the rest of your army.

In an ideal world, you want an odd number of pods to maximize first turn impact. Three is a good number for hybrid drop/mech lists. Assuming you don’t stab your eyes out after assembling/painting the first one. I love drop pods on the table, hate them on the workbench. YMMV.

To bring the pod discussion back to your question about how to gear your tac squads, the deployment method makes a huge impact on how you gear up. When you start on the table, either on foot or in a rhino, you never know what’s going to come over and try to kill you, or what you are going to be deployed across from you. A TAC load is more viable here. If you are riding into battle in a drop pod, you have the luxury of knowing what you are going to be landing next to. So you can load the tac squad with MM/M, c-melta on the sage and drop next to a juicy tank that craves a little melta love.

Getting some games in an seeing how your style works out is a good idea. Drop pods are not for everyone. Unless you are playing in a very competitive environment, there is a lot of wiggle room on how to build your army. You can take almost anything, as long as you make sure you can cover all your bases.

MitchellTyner wrote:

Thanks again for the detail. Yeah I plan on using magnets when I built my vehicles etc to get more mileage out of them but the marines are just so small I can't really effectively use the magnets. So I guess my best bet would be to get a box of tac and just build them all with special and heavy weapons to have a variety when I choose what I'm going to drop then. Probably the best idea right? lol.

So for right now, with my only heavy weapon being the ML, what should I put as my special for the two quads and use as the sarg weapons? I'm assuming something similar to your other post like melta, c-melta for one and plasma, c-plasma for the other? What is a good close combat weapon for the sarges??? There is so many options lol.

 Nevelon wrote:

MitchellTyner wrote:

Thanks again for the detail. Yeah I plan on using magnets when I built my vehicles etc to get more mileage out of them but the marines are just so small I can't really effectively use the magnets. So I guess my best bet would be to get a box of tac and just build them all with special and heavy weapons to have a variety when I choose what I'm going to drop then. Probably the best idea right? lol.

So for right now, with my only heavy weapon being the ML, what should I put as my special for the two quads and use as the sarg weapons? I'm assuming something similar to your other post like melta, c-melta for one and plasma, c-plasma for the other? What is a good close combat weapon for the sarges??? There is so many options lol.

Putting a 2mm magnet into a SM shoulder is not very hard. I’d not bother for special/heavy weapons (I just keep fully built models on the spares shelf to swap in) but for things like captains, sergeants, command squads, or vanguard vets I think it’s worth it. Also jump packs. I’ve only recently started seriously magnetizing my army (within the last year). It’s one of those things I wished I started earlier.

I’m not a big fan of CC toys on tactical sergeants. There is a limit on how many points I want to sink into a one wound model. Think about what you want to kill with him, and if there is going to be a HQ attached to the squad.

Power sword: Kills MEQ, very focused. Of course, there are a lot of MEQ out there that need to be killed.
Power axe: Kills TEQ, but you strike at I 1. Can you live that long?
Power maul: Good for xenos. AP4 means most relevant things are going to get a save, but +2S helps get wounds in.
Power Lance: If you don’t have hit&run, or are a bike/JP sarge, not the best option. Even then, very situational.

Lightning claw: If you want to use a combi weapon and have a CC one, take one of these.
Power fist: Expensive, but will crush things. Same issue as the power axe
Thunder hammer: Like the fist, but you pay 5 points for concussive and looks.

If you plan on keeping a HQ with the squad, things like the axe/fist look better. Someone can’t just single you out with a challenge and kill you before you swing. In general I like the power sword, but I’m a traditionalist like that. Plus the bits are easy to find in a lot of kits. Unlike mauls, which are on the rare side. Keep a bolt pistol for the off hand. Plasma and grav pistols are not worth the points.

 Nevelon wrote:
There is nothing wrong with the humble chainsword. A good number of my sergeants take to the field packing just a bolter of a bolt pistol & chainsword. With the free options, you are taking the points you’d spend here, and putting them to better use elsewhere.

I’m a follower of the “boys before toys” philosophy, believing you are better off with more boots on the ground then fewer, tricked out, ones. So in general, I’m very stingy with the wargear. Each unit should be given just enough tools to get the job done.

There are times I wish I had given my tac sergeants power weapons. I can see the allure of it. But 15 points of upgrades per squad across my whole army will get me another squad. I’ll take that instead. And just shake my head when the marines get into some prolonged slap-fight that could have been quickly won if I wasn’t so stingy.

 Yonan wrote:
Seconding the magnets, it's very much worth doing for special and heavy weapons on troops, characters and probably sergeants too. It's not very fiddly to do once you get the hang of it. If nothing else you can repose your sergeants chainsword while making chainsword noises ; p

MitchellTyner wrote:

 Yonan wrote:
Seconding the magnets, it's very much worth doing for special and heavy weapons on troops, characters and probably sergeants too. It's not very fiddly to do once you get the hang of it. If nothing else you can repose your sergeants chainsword while making chainsword noises ; p

well answer me this then, will a single magnet hold up an arm and the weapon held out? Like will it hold the arm with a bolter on the end of it? I just don't see a single magnet holding that arm on there without it falling down from gravity lol

MitchellTyner wrote:


haha yeah I hear you. I've always heard that meltabombs were a good idea though.

But since I'm new what kind of bonus does the chainsword bring to the fight?

 Nevelon wrote:

MitchellTyner wrote:


haha yeah I hear you. I've always heard that meltabombs were a good idea though.

But since I'm new what kind of bonus does the chainsword bring to the fight?

In my army, melta bombs get handed out at the end of list building to eat up spare points. 4/5s of the time you don’t need them. That last time though, you stand over the smoking pile of slag that used to be a Land Raider, and it makes those 5 points the best you ever spent. Most vehicles have weak back armor, so the krack grenades issued to all marines to a fine job blowing them up in CC. The melta bomb is needed vs. walkers, LRs, and buildings.

The chainsword has no unique mechanics. It’s an additional close combat weapon though (paired with a bolt pistol) so instead of one attack in CC, the sarge will get two. Three if you pay for the veteran upgrade for him.

On the topic of magnets, yes, you can go too far. Different people have different thresholds for what they consider worth it. I, as an example, don’t do footslogging specials, and never heavies. I do magnetize the special weapons on my bikes though. And sometimes will only partially magnetize a model. My sternguard sergeant has his bolter glued on, but his other arm is free for options. For the most part I use 2mm magnets, and they are strong enough for pretty much anything a marine is packing. There are tutorials out there, and I go discuss my experiences in my blog (link in sig) if you want an example of an average guy doing things.

MitchellTyner wrote:
So what else does the vet do other than just boost leadership?

 Nevelon wrote:
Codex layout is a mess, no arguments here. Page 159 has all the weapon upgrade charts. You'll be flipping to it a lot.

The "A" value of 2 for the vet sarge is his attacks. Most of the game is the same between 6th and 7th edition. A few things got tweaked, but most of the core concepts have been the same for years.