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Yarbicus

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I played 40k extensively between 3rd and 6th but never in 7th.  When 8th first came out I played a short escalation league but nothing since.  I want to put together list that will be fun for my opponent since I don't plan on winning often.

My basic idea is an Imperial Fist army that revolves around a unit of Sternguard in a drop pod.  Maybe a second unit (Honor Guard?) in another Drop Pod then most other units either long range heavy or in Rhinos.

 

Where can I find a good basic tactica?  Something that will walk me through the pros and cons off each unit in 8th?  

Also, any advice?

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If you are looking for another site, I like this one:

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Space_Marines(8E)

Anyone can edit it, so it's a bit jumbled.

 

Anyway, for my own SM advice with regard to your mentioned plan,

28 minutes ago, Yarbicus said:

My basic idea is an Imperial Fist army that revolves around a unit of Sternguard in a drop pod.  Maybe a second unit (Honor Guard?) in another Drop Pod then most other units either long range heavy or in Rhinos.

Remember that in this edition, Deep striking units (like drop pods) can't arrive until turn 2+, and furthermore, you auto-lose if you have nothing on the table for an entire round (so pure DSing pods doesn't work).

On the other hand, you can technically deploy your pods in your deployment zone, like any other unit, during the deployment step. So you could go pure pods, you just can't have everything be in reserve like you could in previous editions.

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Thanks Pax!  Yeah, I plan on having maybe half my army in reserve, max.  The other units will be my most resilient to withstand fire until everyone arrives.

BTW I also realize that Drop Pods are overpriced for what they do but I don't care.  I have always wanted to use them I love the idea of the dropping down and disgorging units that can put out massive dakka.

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On the subject of RESOURCES I think that some battle reports are easy to find online.  A more succinct way to kind of learn it might be to get the advice from a master Space Marine player of which there must be one or two like you're doing.

I will offer MY perspective as a frequent ENEMY of them, who never plays them.

1.  Chapter Masters and Lieutenants seem like a must.  I cannot see a list being better for not having one or both.  They are protected by the rules from being shot and they empower an Imperial Fist ginline in a big way.

2.  The Bolter Errata/FAWQ/Whatever you want to call it allows you to fire the bolt weapons twice if you don't move when you normally couldn't.  This makes sturdy bolt weapon platforms really good.  Bikers are the sturdiest Bolt weapon platform there is really for the points, and so the Bikers and to a much lesser extent, Primaris Marines fit the bill.   Veterans on Bikes with Storm Shields are incredibly durable, and a Biker Apothecary (which i think you can do through the Index, but I'm not certain) makes for an excellent investment, given that.  As an opponent I am never excited to see the 8 shots per bike, with a 2 wound, 3+ invul chassis from the Storm shield.  Even when you kill a couple, the apothecary biker can get them right back up to fighting strength.  They are faster than any unit you can take that is similar and it obviates the need for Drop pods.

3.  On the melee side, the Veterans with Jumppacks and Thunderhammer+Storm Shields serve admirably.  they are probably the most durable and dangerous choices, and they are fast also.  But a Drop Pod will suffice in place of the Jump packs if that is more a stylistic thing that you love.  Either way its hard to pack more melee hurt in than you can doing this.  Even a small unit of them can be very skery.  They aren't tough like Wulfen but they are still pretty good at their jobs.

4.  Thunderfire Cannons don't see much use but they seem awfully good to me when I face them.  They nerf the crazy speed of things like Genstealer Cult, Wulfen and a host of other things.  I personally think these would be very important to Imperial Fists, because Imperial Fists are either showing up with Terminators or shooting a lot of Bolters, and making the enemy's CRAZY assault unit go slow buys time for both.  Its also a way of nerfing enemy ranges.  So for what it's worth, I think that it's underrated at its job.  I've seen my units become unable to evade enemies because of that stupid cannon and I've been unable to assault because of it.  Kind of a big deal (to me anyways).  The model is pretty boss as well.  I don't like seeing those cannons.  Hehehe.  Ive had people just hide them and then move them when it makes sense.  It doesnt have to really kill anyone to do what it does so...

That's what I got for you.  Nothing else in the Space Marine Codex causes me great consternation.  But those units are pretty troublesome.

 

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1 hour ago, Yarbicus said:

Thanks Pax!  Yeah, I plan on having maybe half my army in reserve, max.  The other units will be my most resilient to withstand fire until everyone arrives.

BTW I also realize that Drop Pods are overpriced for what they do but I don't care.  I have always wanted to use them I love the idea of the dropping down and disgorging units that can put out massive dakka.

One thing regarding SM Transports in this edition. You can put multiple squads in each, totally the max transport capacity.

So, for example, you can combat squad two 10-man tactical squads, deploy the two 5-man special weapons in your pod. Then deploy two 5-man heavy weapon squads on the table.

With combi-weapon sergeants, you can have 4x special weapons in one pod and they can objective secured and fill troops slots.

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3 hours ago, Yarbicus said:

Thanks Pax!  Yeah, I plan on having maybe half my army in reserve, max.  The other units will be my most resilient to withstand fire until everyone arrives.

BTW I also realize that Drop Pods are overpriced for what they do but I don't care.  I have always wanted to use them I love the idea of the dropping down and disgorging units that can put out massive dakka.

Make sure you are using the most updated points! 65 for a storm bolter and deepstrike for something that doesn't have it but shoots mid range well is worth that in my opinion. Especially with the across the board discounts on Marines and their gear.

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Oh, if you go the pod route, GW recently added an FAQ note about those, stating that it's the owners choice to deploy them doors open or shut and that the doors are considered part of the model. 

So you can have a really large deploy area, or block line of sight better. Also means you can glue the doors shut if you don't want to paint the interior.

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48 minutes ago, paxmiles said:

Oh, if you go the pod route, GW recently added an FAQ note about those, stating that it's the owners choice to deploy them doors open or shut and that the doors are considered part of the model. 

So you can have a really large deploy area, or block line of sight better. Also means you can glue the doors shut if you don't want to paint the interior.

I mean, you have always been able to glue the doors shut. 

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45 minutes ago, Yarbicus said:

So, is it now legal to charge out of Drop Pod as soon as it lands?

Like any other deep striking unit...kinda diminishes the pod given that everyone else can do it too.

And the ability to land on target is gone because deepstrikers no longer scatter.

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14 hours ago, paxmiles said:

Oh, if you go the pod route, GW recently added an FAQ note about those, stating that it's the owners choice to deploy them doors open or shut and that the doors are considered part of the model. 

So you can have a really large deploy area, or block line of sight better. Also means you can glue the doors shut if you don't want to paint the interior.

From a practical standpoint I get this ruling. Accommodate the folks that don't want to paint interiors.

But thematically, I absolutely hate this ruling. Sure, you can deploy with the doors closed, and the passengers can enjoy pounding on the doors for the rest of the game. 

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First list try:

2000 Pts - Space Marines Roster

Battalion Detachment (34#, 671 pts)
   1 Imperial Fists Captain
   1 Imperial Fists Lieutenants
   1 Imperial Fists Rhino
   10 Imperial Fists Tactical Squad
   10 Imperial Fists Scout Squad w/Combat Knife
   10 Imperial Fists Scout Squad w/Sniper Rifles 

Spearhead Detachment (24#, 762 pts)

   1 Imperial Fists Thunderfire Cannon
   10 Imperial Fists Devastator Squad w/4 Lascannons
   1 Imperial Fists Drop Pod (for two small Dev Squads)
   5 Imperial Fists Devastator Squad w/4 Hvy Bolters
   5 Imperial Fists Devastator Squad w/4 MulitMelta
  1 Imperial Fists Captain

Vanguard Detachment (15#, 510 pts)
   8 Sternguard Veteran Squad
   1 Imperial Fists Drop Pod
   1 Imperial Fists Apothecary
   5 Imperial Fists Terminator Assault Squad w/3 Light Claws, 2 Hammer/Shield
   1 Captain Lysander, 130 pts (Fists of Dorn; Storm Shield; Iron Halo; And They Shall Know No Fear; Icon of Obstinacy; Rites of Battle; Teleport Strike)

 

 

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@Yarbicus

 

I don't know how you feel about fast attack but you could fold that entire list into a brigade reasonably easily... Split all those 10 man to 5 man troops, drop a Captain, maybe a sternguard or two and pickup 3 single attack bikes. Hell might be able to get the attack bikes for the unnecessary Captain.

 

This would put the whole army in a single detachment and increase your command points by one. Arguably the bikes are better than the Captain you are only taking to get more detachments with.

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3 minutes ago, VonVilkee said:

@Yarbicus

 

I don't know how you feel about fast attack but you could fold that entire list into a brigade reasonably easily... Split all those 10 man to 5 man troops, drop a Captain, maybe a sternguard or two and pickup 3 single attack bikes. Hell might be able to get the attack bikes for the unnecessary Captain.

 

This would put the whole army in a single detachment and increase your command points by one. Arguably the bikes are better than the Captain you are only taking to get more detachments with.

I haz no attack bikes.

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1 hour ago, Yarbicus said:

I haz no attack bikes.

So sticking with what you have, I feel ya! I have one but man they are cheap mobile multi melta, so tempted to pick a couple more. Odd little thing I found is plasma pistols are cheap and assault squads can take 3, I had enough random Marine bits to execute on this for my list

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9 minutes ago, VonVilkee said:

So sticking with what you have, I feel ya! I have one but man they are cheap mobile multi melta, so tempted to pick a couple more. Odd little thing I found is plasma pistols are cheap and assault squads can take 3, I had enough random Marine bits to execute on this for my list

Your advice is solid, for sure. I might look into adding some bikes.

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On the note of bikes, I cannot recommend scout bikers enough. Cheap as chips and loaded for bear. Even the grenade launchers aren't terrible, because they let you shoot after advancing (which, when you automatically move 6", is nice.) They ALL have shotguns and combat knives, AND you can give the sarge yet another toy (I usually opt for a storm bolter, because they're dirt cheap and hey, more bolter shots.) They get to take advantage of bolter discipline, and they have their own stratagem for dealing mortal wounds. They're shooty, stabby, and only marginally less survivable than regular marine bikers while being faster and much more heavily armed. Very worth it.

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There's also the sense of self-respect that comes from actually playing the game the right way, rather than all this silly nonsense these kids are doing these days with the multiple detachments and multiple factions and this and that. Consarn it, I remember when it was one codex, one force org chart, and that's all you got. And we were glad for it! Goddamn kids these days... GET OFF MY LAWN!

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41 minutes ago, Sgt. Rock said:

There's also the sense of self-respect that comes from actually playing the game the right way, rather than all this silly nonsense these kids are doing these days with the multiple detachments and multiple factions and this and that. Consarn it, I remember when it was one codex, one force org chart, and that's all you got. And we were glad for it! Goddamn kids these days... GET OFF MY LAWN!

Even that's new-fangled. Give me my random Chaos Warband charts again!

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2 hours ago, Sgt. Rock said:

There's also the sense of self-respect that comes from actually playing the game the right way, rather than all this silly nonsense these kids are doing these days with the multiple detachments and multiple factions and this and that. Consarn it, I remember when it was one codex, one force org chart, and that's all you got. And we were glad for it! Goddamn kids these days... GET OFF MY LAWN!

Pretty much how I feel. I feel dirty with less than 10 man squads.

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