Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Space Marines (section)

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*'''[[Marneus Calgar|Chapter Master Calgar]]:''' Papa Smurf, nuff said. He now gets +1T thanks to his Gravis armour without the -1 to movement like the majority of Gravis units, as well as +1W and +1A from being Primaris, and he even gets to keep his 2+/4++ along with the halved damage. This makes him even more powerful than he ever was, although being in a Gravis suit does mean that if he wants to actually get into combat he'll either need to footslog or pay for a Repulsor.
**Something for consideration: Calgar, with the right supports, is actually a deadlier fighter in melee than Guilliman is. For starters, while Guilliman can feel the pain from larger foes and their absurd damage, Marneus can, for the most part, walk out less damaged and more annoying thanks to the halved damage. Assuming all damage is multi-wound rather than 1 damage, Calgar technically has ''16'' wounds, versus Guilliman's 9. In addition, while Guilliman can resurrect with D6 wounds, Calgar can receive near-constant healing through an Apothecary as he is an <INFANTRY> rather than a <MONSTER> (what, you thought Apothecaries can understand the anatomy of pseudo-demigods?). Excluding the cost of a Librarian and Victrix Guard (since Guilliman can benefit from those too) and you can have a better beatstick than Guilliman (though you do lose his super-aura). The only main weakness of Calgar in this regard is that he has slightly less toughness and strength (you ARE using Might of Heroes through Calgar's Librarian, aren't you?) than Guilliman, and he's stuck with D3 damage for his fists. TL,DR: Calgar is far cheaper for a super tough HQ and can benefit from other buffs where Guilliman can not. Calgar can certainly buff your army, but Guilliman does it better. However, Guilliman delivers more melee offense overall and functions better in situations devoid of support.
**Somebody is really [[Matthew_Ward|overestimating]] Calgar here. Against incoming attacks that are 2 damage, D3 damage, 3 damage, and D6 damage respectively, Calgar essentially has 16, 12, 12 and 14 wounds respectively (the results of D3 damage halved rounding up are 1, 1 and 2 and so D3 damage weapons average 1.333 damage against him). Now this is impressive, but the kinds of things you’re talking about fighting will usually force him to use his invulnerable save, which is a 4+, and so his effective hp is actually 32, 24, 24 and 28. Guilliman has 9 wounds on a 3++, so his effective hp is 27 in all scenarios, so the differences are actually minor against the bigger damage weapons without accounting for his revive ability, but between rerolling wounds and D3 mortal wounds on 6+ his melee output is potent enough to deal 7.778 wounds to Calgar in a single fight phase, ie basically killing him on average. How much damage can Calgar accomplish against Guilliman, or Calgar himself (Abaddon)? 2.6 wounds in both cases, 3.02 and 3.78 with the might of heroes. You may notice by this point that you’re paying half the points for less than half the melee power even with psyker support (at least in this case, but I think this is a decent benchmark). Add in that Calgar’s halve-damage durability is completely negated by things like the mortal wounds from snipers, and well...
*'''Marneus Calgar (Legends):''' Probably the most impressive Firstborn statline in the game, but holy FUCK do you pay for it with power level 13 and 250pts. Compared to a Terminator Captain, he's W7 and A5. His Armour of Antilochus grants him a 2+ armour, 4++ invulnerable save, Deep Strike, and halves any damage he suffers. He has the 8th edition Chapter Master rule (all Ultramarine units within 6" re-roll failed hit and wound rolls), but you'll change it to the 9th edition Rites of Battle and Chapter Master rules if you're not That Guy. Master Tactician grants you +2CP if he's your Warlord. Finally, he's armed with a relic blade and the Gauntlets of Ultramar (24", rapid fire 2, S4, AP-1, D2 or melee, Sx2, AP-3, Dd3). 
** He's behind the times with regards to his rules, even FW updated their Legend units to a 9th edition standard. His relic blade and Captain/Chapter Master rules specifically. 
*'''Marneus Calgar in Artificer Armour (Legends):''' Papa Smurf, before Swarmlord ate his arms, his legs, and half of his face. Same as above, but 235pts with no Deep Strike or halving damage. Pay the 15pts.
*'''[[Cato Sicarius|Captain Sicarius]]:''' For 115 points, you get a 2+ save ''without'' giving up melee or ranged, combined with relatively inferior melee and ranged.  He has a plasma pistol that's on permanent overcharge safely and a force sword that deals d3 mortal wounds instead on um6 to wound; by comparison, a thunder hammer/combi-melta captain is 110 points and has better melee ''and'' better dakka, but is only Sv3+, and you have to give a weapon up to carry a storm shield; if he gives the gun up, he's down to just a bolt pistol.  The real reason you take Sicarius and his major downsides of not being allowed to wear a jump pack or take relics or choose his own warlord trait is that at the beginning of each battle round, he can pick a character or core unit within 6" to be objective secured for the round.  That means you generally want him in a transport initially, to help ensure you can get him to the objective and use his ability.  He's great for riding a Drop Pod in turn 1 so he can start handing out his buff on turn 2, or you can start him on the table so he can hand out his buff at the start of 1 before embarking.
*'''[[Uriel Ventris|Captain Ventris]]:''' Another Black Library Character given tabletop life. 110pts gets you a Primaris Captain with Invictus (30", rapid fire 1, S4, AP-2, D2) and the Sword of Idaeus (melee, S+1, AP-3, D3) makes him deadly at all ranges. His special rule is Unorthodox Strategist, allowing you to use the Adaptive Strategy Stratagem (one <Chapter> unit from your army counts as having all doctrines active for one turn) for 1CP instead of 2CP if you use it on an Ultramarine Core unit within 6". His fixed Warlord Trait is Paragon of War (unmodified wound rolls of 6 inflict an additional mortal wound) and he gains the Master of the Fleet Honorific if he's included in a Crusade Force (Orbital bombardment Stratagem can be used twice per game and only costs 1CP). 
** His rules are unique and fluffy, but CP intensive, so find a way of gathering CP from another source if you want to make full use of him. Papa Smurf can be an option; and simultaneously fluffy and unfluffy at the same time depending on the situation.
** His model is pretty baller, with a lot of detail included from his background (Inquisition icon from his Deathwatch Service and Rose of Pavonis from his first assignment as a Captain).
** Even if you don't use Unorthodox Strategist, he is still a 5 point upgrade from a basic captain to have a true Intercessor master-crafted bolt rifle and a better power sword for the price of a bad warlord trait (pro tip: he doesn't have to be your Warlord to get his rules going). If you '''have''' to use a standard Primaris Captain as an Ultramarine and not the Indomitus version, this is probably the best option for the points. Unorthodox Strategist is just icing on the cake.
*'''[[Ortan Cassius|Chaplain Cassius]]:''' He grants a mortal wound against enemy units that kill an Ultramarines model within 6" on a 6+. 3+ Marines die often, so with big numbers in your army Cassius has some punch and hurts the enemy in their phase. Combine with a Company Ancient and Apothecary to make the marine shoot as he dies, confer a mortal wound, and be brought back to life to shoot the next turn. But with marines all getting 2 wounds, this ability will see a little less use.
**Cassius provides two Litanies for your marines. Using the +1 to hit and +1 to wound litanies can give squads that can generally hit on 2s, and a minimum wounding of 5s.
*'''[[Varro Tigurius|Chief Librarian Tigurius]]:''' The primary reason to take this guy is that he's the best Psyker in the Imperium right now - he gets +1 to all Denies and Casts, ''and'' re-rolls casts, making his smite *ludicrous* - he can and should re-roll anything below a 10 on the first cast (remember, his Smite gets better on a 10+, not 11+), giving him a total expected Smite value of 2.32 Mortal Wounds.  Unlike most named Librarians, he's ''not'' locked to the Ultramarines discipline, so he can stick to Librarius if he wants.  At the start of the battle round, he can pick a core or character unit within 6" to be at -1 to be hit, which is baller as hell.  He's armed with a Force Relic Blade, i.e. a Relic Blade only worse at Dd3, and a bolt pistol and grenades.  Compared to the famously powerful Mephiston of the Blood Angels, almost his entire statline is worse and so is his weapon, but he's unquestionably better at casting spells.  
*'''[[Antaro Chronus|Sergeant Chronus]]:''' Stick him in a Rhino, Razorback, Predator, Stalker, Hunter, Whirlwind, Vindicator, or Land Raider. That Vehicle heals one lost wound per turn, gains Character, and is always BS2+ no matter the damage. If the Vehicle is destroyed, he pops out as... Well, as someone pretty useless. BS2+, W4, A2, and a servo-arm, but no Techmarine fixing ability. 
*'''[[Torias Telion|Sergeant Telion]]:''' Telion makes Scouts, Scout Bikes, and Land Speeder Storms better. He is armed with a better Sniper Rifle, and at the start of the Shooting phase he can pick a Scouts unit within 3" to be BS2+ for the phase.  Unfortunately, Scouts suck, and he can't use his ability while embarked, but he ''can'' embark on a Land Speeder Storm, so if he does, this can be helpful if you want to pop him out and have both models shoot.