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

====Special Units====

*'''[[Vulkan He'Stan]]:''' Has a Captain's statline with a 2+/3++, which is really hard to get in 9E. Comes with an Assault Heavy Flamer, a Force Axe, a bolt pistol, and frag and krak grenades. He has the Captain Rites of Battle ability to let you re-roll hits of 1 for {{WH40Kkeyword|Salamanders CORE}} units within 6", and his Forgefather ability works like Chapter Master, only it works on hits ''and'' wounds, and ''only'' on flame and melta weapons. Like a Chapter Master, Chapter Ancient, or Chaplain, you only get his passive aura if he deep strikes or disembarks.  His compulsory warlord trait is +2S, which is garbage on him, since his melee weapon isn't even as good as a masterwork power axe.
**He has a bit of a fluff clusterfuck in his rules: his gauntlet and spear are supposed to be artifacts made by Vulkan himself, but the spear is just a force axe - worse than a relic blade, much less a master-crafted melee weapon - and the gauntlet isn't even the best gauntlet like it in the Space Marines, as Huron fielded as a loyalist has the same gauntlet, only with twice the damage at D2.  Just do your best not to think about it.
**Remember, Vulkan ''can't'' buff non-core non-character weapons - Centurions, Invictors, any of the forge world dreads except for relic contemptors, Invader ATVs, and any and all vehicles except for dreads are unbuffable by him.  If you're fielding Vulkan as the nucleus of a deathstar, remember not to rely too much on these units (especially the vehicle part - it's tempting to give him a transport tricked out with melta and flame, and that's not terrible, but he can't buff it). 
**Vulkan turns your Chapter Tactic on its head - in fact, a unit of just flame and melta weapons might as well not have the tactic at all, since he's supplying an infinite number of re-rolls anyway.  Infinite re-rolls to hit and wound means the unit he's babysitting wants as many flamers and multimeltas as it can carry.  That means a 6-man Eradicator or Flamestorm Aggressor unit is suddenly a very credible choice, whereas normally you'd stick to Devastator Squads and Company Vets to shoot your melta and flame spam.  As always with them, their biggest problem will be finding a way to be in position when and where Vulkan needs them to be, especially since they can't share a ride with him outside of a Sokar Stormbird or Thunderhawk, which cost too much to be taken seriously in both points and CP (a Stormbird will cost you ''4''!).
***Vulkan standing with a 5-man devastator squad, armed with 4 Multi-Meltas and a Combi-Flamer, is ''extremely'' productive, both for shooting hordes and high toughness targets.  Have them get out of a Drop Pod on Turn 1, and assuming they aren't shot off the table before Turn 2, they'll be murdering everything nearby with a vengeance.
*'''[[Adrax Agatone]]:''' A Primaris Captain with an AP-1 Flamer and an AP-3 Master-Crafted Thunder Hammer (or, from a Space Wolf or Grey Knight perspective, a master-crafted tempest hammer or nemesis daemon hammer; from a Deathwatch perspective, a one-handed heavy thunder hammer). His cloak reduces all incoming damage by 1 to a minimum of 1, as if he were a Dread (there's an Iron Hands relic that does this and grants +1T, for reference), and his 6" Unto the Anvil aura adds 1 to all wound rolls for {{WH40Kkeyword|Salamanders CORE}} melee weapons when you charge or intervene (but ''not'' when you get charged, and the aura has to apply at the time the roll is made, so he usually has to have charged or intervened himself, even though he doesn't buff himself).  His compulsory warlord trait is the flamer hits re-rolling aura, which is good, but has no synergy with his unique aura or his captain aura, making it relatively shabby on him - especially since he only fits in Primaris Transports, and there are no non-Gravis Flamer-heavy Primaris, so there's just no good way to build a strike force around this trait on him.
**His auras mean he's like an exhortation of rage Chaplain but more reliable, but his Captain aura is still his better one - in other words, that trio of 2-man combi-melta Combat Vet squads we both know you were taking anyway, hanging out with Adrax and carrying your favorite of chainswords, lightning claws, or thunder hammers (depending on whether you want the melee as backup, as your solution for chaff, or as followup for the melta, respectively) will suddenly pose a shockingly credible charge threat when they need to.
***Or, if you want an incredibly serious melee threat, pair him with Bladeguard Veterans, since they'll all fit in the same transports.  As noted in his description, Agatone's main problem will be usually needing to have charged or intervened himself to be close enough to provide his buff to a bunch of MSU like you want.
*'''[[Bray'arth Ashmantle]] (FW):''' Pretty solidly nerfed from the ridiculousness of 8th edition, his stats are much closer to that of a Venerable. T7 W8 2+/5++/5+++ and Duty Eternal (enemy attacks suffer -1D, minimum 1) still places him amongst the toughest Dreadnoughts. His weapons didn't emerge un-nerfed either; he has two dreadfire heavy flamers (12" heavy d6 S6 AP-2 D2, auto hits), Burning Wrath (3" Assault 2d6 S4 AP0 D1, auto hits, No longer A Pistol so usable), and dreadfire claws (melee Sx2 (16) AP-4 D4). With WS2+ and A6 (+ Shock Assault), aggressive play will be rewarded. Curiously enough, the rule that used to prevent him from being your Warlord is now gone, although that comes alongside FW's questionable decision to make every FW Character have the same Warlord trait (Inspiring Leader Aura, +1Ld to <Chapter> units within 6"), which doesn't help him at all. This is all for a 220pts price tag, which is pretty reasonable. 
**Other than occupying an HQ slot, it's best to think of him as an Ironclad Dread but better; offensively, he's so close to a dual melee Ironclad as makes no difference, in terms of points efficiency, but defensively, since he's a character with W below 9, there's simply no contest - Bray'Arth is, in every way, easier to deliver to your enemy's face intact than an actual Ironclad.
**Bray'Arth is an ''excellent' recipient of the Lord of Fire Warlord Trait - he can't have it himself, but someone else near him can certainly apply it to him.
** MOVEMENT - He's tough, but not invincible. A Drop Pod or Storm Raven will put him where you want him to be, and should be seen as an investment rather than a tax. Odds are if you waddle him, he won't be doing anything until turn three while taking damage the entire time. 
** TOUGHNESS - It takes about sixteen BS3+ melta shots to kill him. Prime screening units include Company Veterans or some cheap Rhinos. The Salamander Chapter Tactic (AP-1 counts as AP0) and updated Duty Eternal ability have helped ablate losing -2T, but the Fire Shield and Might of Heroes Psychic Powers really help if he's forced to walk. 
*** Only in Death Does Duty End will let him fight even if your opponent manages to take him down while Rise from the Ashes will let him potentially get back up and keep fighting. Just have a Techmarine nearby to patch him up.
** Obviously, Ashmantle is a prime target for Flamecraft if you can get him close enough to use his Dreadfire Heavy Flamers, but that’s not all. Born Protectors will discourage counter-charges, and there's The Crucible of Battle...
*'''Pellas Mir'san (FW Legends):''' The boomer Firstborn Captain of the Salamanders, he's been commanding the 2nd Company for over 150 years. He's identical to a regular Captain, but comes with a combi-flamer, Cinder Edge (melee, S+1, AP-3, D3), Steelsilver (melee, SU, AP0, D1, makes a number of additional attacks equal to the number of enemy models within 1"), and the Master Duellist ability (+2A if an enemy Character is within 1"). Like all FW Characters, his only available Warlord Trait is Inspiring Leader (<Chapter> units within 6" gain +1Ld). 
** For 100pts, he's quite a bargain if you were building an anti-character melee Captain without eating a Chapter Relic or Warlord Trait. If you were willing to spend a Relic, Trait, and extra points though, you can obviously build a better melee Captain. 
*'''Harath Shen (FW Legends):''' A Chief Apothecary who's an HQ rather than an Elite. A vanilla chief Apothecary is 90pts, Harath will cost you 120pts for a master-crafted power sword (melee, S+1, AP-3, D2) and Bloodfire (12", pistol 2, S7, AP-3, D2, may gain +1S and +1D but hit rolls of unmodified 1 kill the bearer). Otherwise completely identical to a 9th edition Chief Apothecary. 
** Badly over-costed, especially since his stats aren't any better and he's locked out of the excellent Chief Apothecary Warlord Trait.