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

===Fast Attack===
*'''Assault Squad''' - Melee troops that can work both for deep striking or flying across the map. Not too expensive for what they do, and with a special character and a decently-equipped sergeant they can handle most situations. They might not fare so well against super-melee squads, but their mobility helps them pick and choose, and dual flamers even the odds against foes that would normally be far too numerous for them to consider taking on. Also if you can, give 'em melta bombs and watch them rampage through enemy armor columns. Upgrade the Sergeant to give them at least one guy with a power weapon. 
**You can also trade in their jump packs for a rhino or drop pod, which might work to confuse your opponent when he thinks it's a tactical squad incoming, <s>but then a bunch of guys with chainswords jump out and slice them in half.</s> Except units can't charge after arriving by Drop Pod. It really depends on your playstyle and the mission; keeping your guys in a tank limits mobility slightly, but keeps them alive against small arms; a drop pod lets them go anywhere, but they can't assault when they come out; standard jump packs let them go anywhere.  
**Take a drop pod and two flamers. You now have a 95 point unit that can decimate most infantry. Happy burning.

*'''Land Speeders''' - One of the most awesome and potentially rage-inducing units in the Codex. These little buggers are very fragile, but also very underrated. They come very cheap with a multi-melta, and can bring a heavy flamer for infantry hunting. Deep striking, they are excellent tank or infantry hunters. Their only problem is that they may not last very long after they get their shots off, but if they do, they can deal some real damage to the enemy. Alternatively, try taking a Typhoon Missile Launcher and keeping it far out of harm's reach, raining missiles at shit. When tackling enemy armour with multi-meltas, use the land speeder's maneuverability to your advantage: put the target between the speeder and the rest of his army, and pray you destroy the vehicle in one salvo, WITHOUT blowing it up. With any luck, the burning wreck will keep your flimsy aluminum speeder out of the kill zone. Obviously, this means you take on flank vehicles, charging this into the center of his army is a waste of a good land speeder, unless it's to kill a Leman Russ or something (an enemy's primary tank/threat) in a turn 1 suicide run. Do remember to BLOCK enemy transports and tanks, since they can't move through the Speeder (and only AV14 tanks have the tiniest hope to ram him off). Great for delaying that big fat Land Raider from reaching your lines, for a 70 pts sacrifice (and a decent chance to kill said Raider with your underslung multi-melta).
** Unfortunately, in the new codex, Chapter Tactics no longer apply to vehicles so you cannot use Salamanders for some twin-linked flamer shenanigans.
** With Vulkan the multi-melta '''will''' be master crafted, however.
** [[Troll|It is completely legal to take a land speeder with two multi-meltas]] (one turret and one underslung) for 80 pts.  
*'''Relic Javelin Attack Speeder (Forge World)''' - An upgunned and uparmored Land Speeder that flies solo. AV11 means it is now invulnerable to bolter fire, but still melts under anti-tank (though jink saves help a bit). Armed with either a TWIN-LINKED Cyclone Missile Launcher or a TL Lascannon. Costs as much as a naked Predator, packs much more firepower and mobility, and as a nice bonus it looks absolutely '''fabulous'''. The main downside is a real money price - almost THREE TIMES MORE than regular speeder - like it's silver-plated or something.

*'''Stormtalon Gunship''' - The bastard child of a Thunderhawk and a Land Speeder, this fast flyer comes with AV 11 all around, TL assault cannons and heavy bolters, and can exchange the HBs for TL lascannons, a typhoon ML, or a Skyhammer ML (which is basically a 3-shot autocannon). While more expensive than Land Speeder, this little fucker is a lot more survivable, and has some interesting rules.
**Also, its a flyer now. Take one or you'll die.
**[[Rape|It has the strafing run special rule, meaning that it has BS5 against everything but skimmers and fliers. These shots are also pinning]].
**Alternative Look: Take in pairs if possibly, the most expensive option rocking in at 145 points. A good note to take is that they can ESCORT other units, meaning that it is a lil bit more reliable to get those guys in there. 
**Also, if you want to kit these guys for anti-air duty, do not skimp and go for those lascannons.  You want one-shot kill potential with these instead of chipping away at hull points with the S7 Skyhammer.
**Alternative Look 2: Electric Boogaloo: With the new Stormwing Formation, you can now take one Stormraven, escorted by TWO Stormtalons. And as long as at least one Stormtalon is alive, EVERYONE HAS THE STRAFING RUN RULE. So with one Reserve roll, you bring on a Stormraven, two Stormtalons, an Ironclad Dreadnought and 10-man Vanguard Veteran squad. Make your opponent cry. It's ok. You won't be able to hear them over your laughter. 

*'''Bike Squad''' - Once hardly used except as the odd troop choice with a captain, these guys are now one of the most competitive parts of the new codex. for three reasons: Grav-guns - these guys are relentless, so they can fire their Grav weapons at full range and power while moving and can still charge afterwards. Price - these guys have had a price reduction, making a kitted-up squad of 7 bikers only cost as much as a tactical squad. White Scars Chapter Tactics - Skilled Rider, Hit and Run, and +1 to str on Hammer of Wrath, and you also take Khan for everyone to have scouts. All this for still only 1 pt more than a CSM biker. DO NOT take them as Fast Attack; putting them in a Troops slot lets you bring your flyers and attack bike squads/speeders. It's a crowded FOC slot, so try to avoid taking them as FA.

*'''Attack Bike''' - The Yang to Land Speeders' Yin, this is the Marines' other great FA unit. The debate on the relative merits of the Speeder and the Attack Bike is endless. Great for their two wounds, and heavy weapons. Can fit into variety of roles, from tank hunting to infantry harassing, but their low number of attacks means they should be kept out of all but the easiest of melee combats (e.g., Fire Warriors). Attack Bikes also benefit from a wider array of Chapter Tactics when compared to Land Speeders, although the advantages may not be very significant (White Scars obviously being an exception).

*'''Scout Bike Squad''' - Pretty decent anti-infantry shooting unit, with Infiltrate, Scout and 6 Frag blasts, which means they can hurt light infantry from a safe distance (24") right on turn 1, but they're a glass cannon (T5 helps, though). Krak grenades can glance or penetrate a bawks, too, so use them. 
** Locator Beacons. They're one of two units that can take them, and the only unit that can both start on the board, and be mobile. 
** Infiltrate + Scout move. They can turbo-boost to within 12" of the enemy before the game actually starts. This, combined with a Locator Beacon, allows for tactical insertion of your drop pods and, if you should so fancy, a scout-missile. 

*'''Caestus Assault Ram (Forge World)''' - Craziest vehicle in the game, designed to ram things (hence the name), and accomplishes this by having a 5+ inv. save against attacks on the front (inc. rams, either from the enemy ramming you or you ramming them), re-rolling the armour penetration dice when ramming with +1 to the vehicle damage roll, and nigh-impenetrable for a flyer armour of 13 13 11. Comes with a twin-linked MAGNA-MELTA (WTF?), which is: range:18" str:8 AP:1 type:Heavy 1, large blast, melta. Sound fun, eh? Holds ten men, ideal for punching a hole in the enemy battle lines and disgorging troops, AND it's an assault vehicle, so they can get straight into close combat (and no restriction against carrying terminators, in fact, they only count as one man inside this, not two!). Now this means that the Caestus has to be fast, and it is! Its type is: Flyer (hover mode), and it STILL can ram/tank shock while zooming. Comes stock with extra armour and Ceramite shielding (immunity to 'melta' rule). Options are: Firefury missile battery (range: 36" str:6 AP:4 type:Heavy 4, blast, twin-linked, one-use), Teleport homer, and Frag assault launchers. One should use the Caestus to ram straight through the strongest point of your enemy's force, in most battles you'll be there on turn one, thanks to the 36" afterburner. Ram a tank with this (generally, given the colossal afterburner, you'll give them a S10 hit) and then deploy the men inside (preferably dedicated H2H troops), and charge straight in against the nearest infantry, or if you feel like it, shove a grenade up a nearby tank's tailpipe.

*'''Lucius Pattern Drop Pod (Forge World)''' - big dreadnought drop pod, which allow your dread to deep strike. With the newest update, you can no longer assault out of a deep strike. Instead it gets a rule where the transported dreadnought, the drop pod itself, and anything shot at through the drop pod get the shrouded special rule on the turn it drops down, which is pretty damn nice. Note that the drop pod assault rule DOES NOT require the dreadnought to actually EXIT the drop pod when it comes down, and as it is a transport, it can stay inside, safe from most shooting, and use the pod as ablative armor.As drop pod is open-topped, your dread could even shoot out of it. It also has the assault vehicle special rule, so if anyone is actually stupid enough to stay within charge range of the drop pod, it can then get out of it and start annihilating the nearest enemy unit.

*'''Hyperios Air Defense Battery (Forge World)''' - One to four twin-linked missile turrets with Skyfiring, Intercepting, Heat-seeking krak missiles for only 35 points each. Perfect for trolling fliers. Unlike the other Space Marine Sentry Guns, they don't have firing modes thanks to Automated Artillery, allowing you to direct the shots at your leisure. This configuration does most jobs you ask it to without complaint. For 10 points you can replace one of the launchers with a Command Platform that gives the other platforms Split Fire, not that you need to.