Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Space Marines (section)

===Elites===
*'''Terminator Squad''' - Expensive, and not too effective. The regular terminators are best teleported in, but it depends on your enemies composition. If he has no AP2 or AP1 weaponry, footslogging them can be good, especially if you have an assault cannon or cyclone. In small point games, terminators are hard to kill without AP 1/2. If the enemy does have heavy weapons, it's best to deep strike them, and hope you can eliminate that weapon before that, or put them out of harms way. Land raiders may be useful, but are better suited for assault terminators. All termies are buffed by new edition now that melee weapons have AP values, so they now laugh at power weapons (warning: klavies, warscythes, power axes, powerfists, hammers, and monstrous creatures still laugh at your armour save and first two aren't unwieldy), making (insert something here)wing armies much harder to kill. However, storm bolters simply aren't killy enough, and a single assault cannon or cyclone won't do much. Against the abundance of high strength AP1 and AP2 in many updated codices, you may find your toughness 4 terminators dying without doing much at all (besides absorbing firepower for a few turns, which turns them into distraction carnifexes). 

*'''Assault Terminators''' - Is where you want a Land Raider at. These are the gold standard of assault units. Seriously, nearly every other dedicated assault unit in the game is compared to these fuckers, and 9 times out of ten, they cannot compare (That last 1 of 10 would most likely be genestealers or Incubi). They should absolutely not be footslogged if it can be avoidable. Always keep a majority of them with thunder hammers, a composition of perhaps 3 thunderhammers and 2 lightning claws are the best, to get that 3+ Invulnerable save if he brings out anything big and nasty. These guys attract a LOT of firepower (i.e. all of it) so keeping them alive can be difficult. They wreck just about anything in the game. You don't have to worry about Grey Knights any more, unless they bring a lot of Daemon Hammers because their other Nemesis Force weapons are all AP3. Space marines now pay for their TH/SS at 5pts a pop.
**Put these guys w/ storm shields right in front of a unit of horrors. Now, any wounds you take give you FnP, bonus points for iron hands or 2-wound termies.
** As cool as they are, remember that they're expensive. Quite expensive. Like, A ready-for-battle-in-a-raider-squad will cost you 450+ points. Is that the best use of 450+ points? Choose carefully... 
** Also remember that a Land Raider is not 100% mandatory. If you want their Close Combat ability, but shrink at the price, consider putting a teleport homer or two in your list. It allows them a "Kinda safe" means of entering play that doesn't cost more points than the squad itself. Just be sure you have enough storm shields in the squad to cover your ass or you WILL be shot off table!
** A third note: remember, a single Land Raider is a '''massive''' bullet magnet. Viable competitive lists bring two, but that's only viable at 2k pts, because you still want some support for your Termies.
**If you have the points to burn and are also taking a dreadnought that you planned on hooking into a drop pod, smash your assault termies into a storm raven instead. Fly over the enemy to get that cover save, and parachute your assault termies in front of the enemy.

*'''Sternguard Veterans''' - 22 points for the first 5 models in which you have to also pay for a Vet Sgt. and 22 for each after, and a very versatile ranged squad. Give combi-weapons to as many of them as you can, beware, for they're 10 points now so think is the one shot really worth it? they are also one of only 2 squads to be able to take a Heavy Flamer. If you are fond of having a good ranged unit that can deal with almost any threat, bring in a squad of these in a Rhino or Drop pod. Razorback is bad as it requires disembarkation with the inevitable "SHOOT THEM OFF" from your enemy afterwards, while Rhino has the hatch. They also have access to a mix of two special/heavy weapons. If you take Pedro Kantor, they're scoring units (NOT troops, you still need to take tacticals) which allows you for some good ol' 4th edition style Las/Plas teams... but at too high a cost to be worth it. Another thing to be aware of is that although a storm bolter ''looks'' like a good upgrade, but you can't use their special ammo with it, which is TOTAL BULLSHIT, but them's the breaks.
**Oh, and don't forget: Sternies get base 2 attacks. Not a lot of opponents know this, so when they get 3A on the charge or 2A when defending some players are a little surprised. Still, they should shoot first, assault only if completely necessary. Even Pedro Kantor doesn't make them super efficient at CC due to their cost.
**Combi-Meltas make tanks cry, and Combi-Flamers make assaulting these guys a bad idea, BRING BOTH. Generally you'll want to avoid Combi-Plasmas unless you know you're going up against a lot of 2+ Armor saves, in which case you could use combi-gravs, and even then your Tacs should probably be packing Plasma Guns and Sternguard even have some AP3 ammo specially for killing Chaos Marines (no seriously). Just remember the AP3 bolter shot is 18", meaning it Rapid Fires art 9", and it has Gets Hot!, so beware.
**Remember, you can bring up to two(!) Heavy Flamers in a 5-man Squad, and at only 10 Points each they're a steal. Take 9 dudes. Add a Librarian Pyro or Bio or Telpathy, put them in a Rhino or Drop pod, and laugh maniacally as you then pop out and butcher a unit. Doesn't matter what it is, if it don't have 2+ armour, Sternies will kill it. Trygon? Six wounds is cute, but when you take 12 or 15 armour saves? Not so hot. Hordes? Combi-Flamers and Hellfire Rounds. Entrenched Guardsmen with Stealth Pants? Dragonfires and Heavy Flamers. 3+ saves? Vengeance Rounds if you feel lucky, punk, or bury them in Hellfire wounds.
**Rapidfire now work on half range, not fixed 12", so kraken rounds now rapidfire on 15" and vengeance only on 9".
**Sternguard vets can take a drop pod as a dedicated transport.  Give them combi-meltas and drop them on the heaviest tank the enemy has on turn 1.  They pop out, and the tank gets shot at by 5 meltaguns at once, destroying it or making it useless before it can even do anything.  Granted, your 150ish pt squad will probaby be rage-killed by everything that your opponent can throw at it, which is actually great, because now he/she/it/hermaphrodite just spent a turn killing one squad and no longer has their precious baneblade(or whatever you murdered).
**Drop pods also work great for Sternies because they get your special amunition right where you want it- in rapid fire range. Often times, 10 specialty shots is all you'll need to take care of any enemy, and that doesn't even take into account the weapon mounted on the drop pod. Just remember that it is extremely likely that you will lose at '''least''' a few sternies the next turn, if not all of them, so if there isn't an effective spot for insertion, just drop the vets in cover and wait for an opportunity.

*'''Tyrannic War Veterans''' - They're basically the same as Sternguard but only able to use Hellfire rounds for their bolters, cheaper as a base unit though smaller and cost 1 point more per extra model, Preferred Enemy (Tyranids), and a special rule that grants them Zealot when facing Tyranids.  Needless to say, against any other army, they're practically better off as just plain Sternguard, but against Tyranids, they're a handy squad for hitting the inevitable gaunt hordes that will comprise of the Nid player's army.

*'''Vanguard Veterans''' Substantially cheaper and the same cost as Sternguard when you give them jump packs. They are better ASM for only 50 points(+1a, +1Ld0). That's another metal box, or another Drop Pod, or another two Sternguard Veterans. Depending on how close you are to your points limit, the extra 50 points might be spent better elsewhere. They lost the assault from deepstrike, but everything in this game is going to lose it anyway. The points decrease is well worth it. They each can take a Storm Shield for the cost of a combi weapon and take various power weapons at cost. Give a few the 3++ and stick them out front for saves against those pesky blastmasters and watch them survive. These are they guys you choose when you want elite jump infantry as opposed to just more ASMs by taking a few SS for all that low AP cover ignoring meta and some power weapons to cut down foes for less than the cost of two ASM units.
**'''Veteran Sergeant Culln''' - Yes, this is the same guy who is the Red Scorpions Chapter Master. And First Captain. Yeah, it's weird. Anyways, the gist of it is that he is a 60 point upgrade to a sergeant, just like Haas, and he has two wounds, a jump pack and a relic blade, and gives the squad stubborn and re-roll to hits in CC. Fantastic, but on an already underwhelming unit, he is the only special character in the game with heroic intervention, so he's all your vanguards have got. Basically a budget chaplain with AP3, one less attack due to relic blade, heroic intervention, re-rolls that work on subsequent turns and a much, much lower price tag. Not enough to make them "good", but makes them better. Especially if you take the forgeworld character who makes them scoring.
**If you deep strike them anyway, a locator beacon is the best bet: first, drop pod an Ironclad dreadnought directly on top of an powerful enemy tank, and the drop pod will scatter to right next to it (Scout bikes work too, but less reliably). Then while the dread ties up the tank, use the pod's locator beacon to swoop in 5 Vanguard vets with melta bombs, then charge them straight into the tank and melt it into little pieces. With 5 vets all with melta bombs, this will work on anything from warbuggies to BANEBLADES!!! Once that's done, your vets and the Ironclad can go hunting.
***Only problem here is that they need to survive an enemy round of shooting. 3+ is nice, 3++ Storm Shields are nicer, but the points start racking up quickly. Think perhaps a Stormraven instead.
**Note they can each take a plasma or grav pistol. Take both and duel wield flying cowboy marines.


*'''Dreadnought''' - There are 3 ways you can field this beast. The first is by making it a gun platform. There is no other option than putting a pair of TL Autocannons on it in this method. And even then Grey Knights will laugh at your pitiful S7. Anything else in this configuration is a waste. The second way to field it is to optimise it for melee. Never do this. The first lesson Space Marine players learn is that a CC Dread is good for nothing but locking a unit up. And you pay out the ass for that luxury. Its because you get a pitifully low amount of attacks, 4 S10 attacks on the charge at I4 sounds brilliant on paper, but in practice you'll be killing 1-2 Marines each round of combat. And they will be ripping you to shreds with Krak Grenades at the same time. The third, and best way to field a Dreadnought is as a Multi Melta Dread in a drop pod. On the first turn drop it near your opponent's prize tank (e.g a Land Raider filled with Grey Knights)and pop it on the first turn.
** Now '''Venerable''' is an upgrade to the normal Dread, and at 25 points (10 of which are for the +1 on WS and BS) it's a steal.

*'''Ironclad Dreadnought''' - You won't be getting krak'd to death anymore, but you pay more and for only a marginal increase in effectiveness. Not bad as a suicide DP dread. Don't come under the illusion that the Hurricane Bolter is worthwhile. It isn't. Somewhat useful in that the seismic hammer and chainfist are interchangeable (before the game starts, obviously), so if you are fighting lots of light vehicles, use the hammer (+1 to damage roll), and the chainfist practically guarantees a penetrating hit on AV14 (S10 + 2d6). [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|Deepstrike it in a drop pod next to their AV14 tank and laugh as they spend a turn killing it with all their heavy weapons]] (while your MM land speeder gets into range). Also, with the Stormraven going vanilla, you can crap the Ironclad there with a squad to give it support, cover and utterly destroy any threat that gets too close. Furthermore, the Stormraven is a Flyer and Assault vehicle! [[Rape|Imagine combining it with the Ironclad]].

*'''Siege Dreadnought (Forgeworld):''' An interesting, somewhat cost effective alternative to the Ironclad, albeit not as heavily armoured. Has an inferno cannon with (which can be replaced with a multi-melta for free) and an assault drill with a built in heavy flamer. Can also mount two hunter-killer missiles just like an Ironclad, but the standout feature is that assault drill: +D6 for armour pen rolls on bunkers, fortifications, buildings and motionless vehicles. Then you get to take a free heavy flamer shot against anyone inside.

*'''Chaplain Dreadnought (Forgeworld)''' - Because why the hell not? The idea behind this thing is take everything you like about a Venerable Dreadnought, all of Forgeworld's dreadnoughts (except the Contemptor) and a Chaplain. You can take pretty much every gun, including an inferno cannon, plus you can double up on DCW's plus heavy flamer. This thing has the Venerable and Litany of Hate rules, plus a Venerable's stat-line.

*'''Contemptor-Pattern Dreadnought (Forgeworld)''' - A more advanced dreadnought, with more weapons options, greater base strength, 13 12 10 armour, a weapon skill of 5 and a substantial points hike. Also comes with 'fleet' (even more useful in 6E - although average charge distance is a bit lower, you don't need to sacrifice your shooting), and atomantic shielding (5+ inv. against shooting, 6+ inv. against close combat, and +1" to explosion if it suffers a 'vehicle explodes' result). Adding an extra dreadnought CCW would be best to take full advantage of 'fleet', but a shooty dread may be good since at range it retains a 5+ inv. save, and because the Kheres Pattern assault cannon is murderlicious (it's an assault cannon that's assault fucking 6!). However, the better loadout is two dread CCW's (one of which may be a chainfist), because contemptors get access to some nifty built-in guns to their hands: there's your standard storm bolter and heavy flamer, plus a plasma blaster (assault 2 plasma gun with an 18" range) and the freaky-deaky graviton gun. This gat shoots an AP3 small blast that forces a strength test or die and makes the terrain it hit difficult; vehicles are auto-glanced. Oh, and you can give the contemptor BS5 to go with its WS5 for a small upgrade, plus you can mount a typhoon missile launcher - on its back without giving up its arm guns!

*'''Contemptor Mortis (Forgeworld):''' Probably the best Contemptor variant, this guy trades in fleet for BS5 and Skyfire and Interceptor if it stands still and can mount a big gun in each arm PLUS a cyclone missile launcher. Here's your loadout: ignore everything and take 2 Kheres pattern assault cannons and a cyclone missile launcher. There! You're done. If you find yourself not in range of the assault cannons, move forward and throw down with a couple of <s>BS5</s> missiles. No longer BS5, now BS4 with interceptor. If you DO have something in assault cannon range, hold still and let the rape flow - your dread will loose a total of 12 S6 AP4 rending shots at 24" on a hapless unit and if you stood still, you can drop 2 more missiles on the poor fuckers <s>ALL OF IT HITTING ON 2'S!</s>  You will tear apart tanks, mow down infantry and blast aircraft out of the sky with this fucking thing.

*'''Hecaton Aiakos (Forge World)''' A unique contemptor dreadnought character for the Minotaurs chapter, comes with a plasma cannon. Costs a fortune but he's much improved over a normal contemptor; first he's ''Venerable'', which is something other contemptors don't get, letting you force re-rolls on the damage chart. Second he's got [[Slaanesh|+1 to his Initiative]], Ballistic Skill AND a +1 bonus to his atomantic shielding, so his invulnerable save is 4+ against shooting, making him a good choice for a footslogging army. On the flip side his rear AV is 10 and his explosion radius in increased by 2".

*'''Centurion Assault Squad''' - New beefy assault unit in the new Codex. While 50% more expensive than assault terminators they are like, three times more durable (T5, 2 wounds), albeit fewer in number (though not as terrible as Mutilators) and without invulnerable saves. They are armed with double S9 chainfists WITHOUT unwieldy, and swing them on WS4 I4 (despite their war suits not being synchronised with the Black Carapace, meaning they should be I2 at best). Having only two attacks per base (3 on the sarge) and SAP they aren't good at killing any infantry other than TEQs (and only if they have no storm shields or equivalents), though double flamers and hurricane bolters help a bit, but any vehicle or building they successfully charge is already dead, just too stupid to realize it. Which brings us to their main problem - with close to zero mobility and no deep strike, it's almost impossible for them to charge anything without a Land Raider's help, and you can fit only 5 in a Crusader or 4 in a Redeemer. Spending near 500 points to kill a single enemy TEQ squad, vehicle or bastion and then being kited for the rest of the game is nowhere near cost-effective. With a massive points cost decrease, they might be worth it, but for now they're massively overcosted.
**'''Another take''' - If you want a cheaper way to transport your Centurions, a StormRaven is both a cheaper and interesting option compare to the Land Raiders. To keep it cheap, give it a TL Assault Cannon and a TL Multi-Melta. Hurricane Bolters is a nice option if you have the points, which will add more anti-infantry shooting that Centurions lack, but it isn't required. As for how to use your Assault squad, that depends on what you want them to do. If you want to go tank/transport hunting with them, slap on the melta guns. When combined with the StormRaven's MM (Either way), this makes their job easier, and can assault the passengers after its destroyed. Now for going against infantry, either the Flamer or Melta gun is fine (Your choice), and the Iron Hands, Black Templars, or Ultrasmurfs tactics fits in this role. The 6++ FnP can give them a bit more survivability  in combat and against AP2/1 shootings, and the Sergeant gets It Will Not Die and so does the SR too! BT on the other hand grants them +1 to Deny the Witch, which is great against Tzeentch Daemons and other psykers, but you can forget the Crusader rule due to Slow and Purposeful. Finally the Smurf tactics allows them to reroll charge distance once per a game, which is not bad at all. Either role you go for, have fun with them in casual games (Don't take them in tournies or in a competitive metas).
**'''Yet Another take''' - Unit is Amazing in games against super heavies. They strike before stompas, before the brass scorpion, and at the same time as imperial knights with those awesome S9 ap2 armorbane melee weapons. It is notable that the very bulky rule and min squad size of 3 means that they can load up into a normal land raider and have a single spot remaining for an attached IC. Chaplain being the recommended attached IC. Chappy+3 centurions will very likely destroy imperial knights in a kamikaze capacity.