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

====Infantry Characters====

*'''Ancient:''' A support Aura Character that's important to big blobs. The banner has a 6" aura that adds +1Ld to all {{W40Kkeyword|<Chapter> Core}} units (which means squads where the Sergeant matters ''least'', like Devastators, mind losing him first even less), and if models in such a unit within 6" die ''to an enemy attack'', you get a 4+ chance for them to get off one more round of shooting or one melee attack before removing that model from the battlefield. Out of phase shooting is great, and Marine Infantry dies quite a bit in practice. Remember, this is a ''ranged support'' unit - it'll do a ''lot'' better supporting a gunline than a melee deathball.
** Combining with an Apothecary has been killed off somewhat, with the revival aspect of his Narthecium being moved to a 1CP stratagem unless you take the Chief Apothecary upgrade.
** Combining with plasma spam has been killed off completely, as he can't generate attacks for models who kill themselves (likewise, he can't be used to generate attacks from a Librarian who dies to his own Perils, for example).
<tabs>
<tab name="Chapter Command - Chapter Ancient"> 
+1PL and +20pts. Any Infantry blob, be they Deep Striking or waddling, will enjoy having this guy nearby. ''Not available to Blood Angels, you have the Sanguinary Ancient.''
*'''Ability - Chapter Banner:''' During the Command Phase, one <Chapter> Core unit within 6" gains +1 to hit rolls with melee weapons until the start of your next Command Phase. 
**Unfortunately, this is barely an improvement over a regular Ancient, who you want surrounded by many ranged units, not one melee unit.
*'''Trait - Steadfast Example:''' Any <Chapter> Core units within 6" count as having Objective Secured; if they already have it, their models count twice.
** This is the Rites of Battle WT only better, and is the primary reason to take a Chapter Ancient. 
*'''Relic - Pennant of the Fallen:''' Friendly models that make a melee attack as part of the Astartes Banner ability make two attacks instead of one.  
**Almost no chapters want this, although there are niche cases, notably Space Wolves, who love getting charged. 
</tab>
<tab name="Company Ancient">
Cheapest base model. As an Elite-choice Marine Character, he has W4 and A3. Comes with a bolt pistol that you can and should swap for a bolter for free, or a different pistol, combi-weapon, or melee weapon. Like other Firstborn Elite Characters, he does not take up an Elite slot if you include a Company Veteran Squad.
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<tab name="Primaris Ancient">
Same as a Company Ancient, but with +1W and +1A. Comes with a bolt rifle in addition to the pistol, but his wargear is fixed. 5 points is nice and cheap for making him more resistant to snipers, but his ranged output is ''worse'' than a regular ancient with a storm bolter for the same points.  The best reason to take him is if you just want a Company Ancient, but need him to be able to ride a Primaris transport.
*Warzone Nachmund has given the Primaris Ancient an extra tool...a power sword they can buy in place of their bolt rifle. At the very least, this can let an ancient fighting alongside assault intercessors or their Death Company equivalents pull their weight in close quarters.
</tab>
<tab name="Bladeguard Ancient">
See that Primaris Ancient? He now trades his bolt rifle and bolt pistol for a heavy bolt pistol and a second aura giving +1 to hit to all {{W40kKeyword|Bladeguard}} units (including himself) within 6".  This guy is the primary reason Bladeguard are so dangerous.
</tab>
<tab name="Terminator Ancient">
If you want your banner to arrive anywhere on the board, you turn to this guy. As one might expect, the armour gives him +1W and a 2+/5++ save over his power-armoured counterpart, and he is locked into having a power fist and storm bolter. An excellent choice for accompanying Terminators of all sorts out of Deep Strike.
</tab>
<tab name="Biker Ancient (Legends)">
88pts nets you M14", +1T, and +1W over your Firstborn Company Ancient (75pts). You also get a twin boltgun, bolt pistol, and chainsword as standard, but you can swap the bolt pistol for a boltgun, combi-weapon, melee weapon, or other pistol. You lose the Command Squad Ability (does not use an Elite slot if a company Veteran Squad is in the same detachment). Like other Bikers, he advances 6" instead of d6". Finally, his Company Banner affects all <Chapter> Infantry and Biker ''models'' (not ''units'', just models) within 6", rather than <Chapter> Core units. Still has the Ancient keyword, so Chapter Ancient upgrade is still a possibility and you don't lose out on abilities like the Biker Apothecary does.
* Costing him at 95pts and swapping his 8th edition Company Banner for the 9th edition version that reaches more models seems reasonable to me, but you start veering into homebrew tweaks then.   
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*'''[[Apothecary]]:''' Much different from his 8th edition version. The Narthecium now lets <Chapter> Infantry or Biker ''units'' within 3" ignore lost wounds on a 6 and Combat Restoratives heals one <Chapter> Infantry or Biker ''model'' within 3" up to d3 lost wounds.  There is also a Combat Revival stratagem that lets him resurrect one slain {{W40Kkeyword|<Chapter> Infantry}}/{{W40Kkeyword|Biker}} with full wounds, except that he can't bring back Invader ATVs. Combines great with high-end Infantry - bringing a Centurion Devastator back from the dead or healing the linchpin of your army's buff aura can be invaluable.
<tabs>
<tab name="Chapter Command - Chief Apothecary"> 
+1PL and +35pts as of the 2021 Munitorum Field Manual Mk II.
*'''Ability - Chief Apothecary:''' Can use his healing ability twice per turn. 
*'''Trait - Selfless Healer:''' Heals three wounds instead of d3, and the Combat Revival stratagem costs 0CP when used on this model.  
*'''Relic - Acquittal:''' Replaces bearer's bolt pistol or absolvor bolt pistol. 18" pistol 1 S5 AP-3 D2, wounds Infantry on a 2+ and becomes D4 against Infantry. 
</tab>
<tab name="Apothecary">
As an Elite-choice Marine Character, he has W4 and A3. Can't swap out his weapons, so he's stuck with a bolt pistol and chainsword. Like other Firstborn Elite Characters, he does not take up an Elite slot if you include a Company Veteran Squad.
</tab>
<tab name="Primaris Apothecary">
+5pts for +1W, +1A, no chainsword (so the same A in practice, at 1 worse AP) and improved pistols: the reductor pistol, which is 3" pistol 1 S4 AP-4 D2, and the absolvor pistol, which is 18" pistol 1 S5 AP-1 D2. He's a great choice if you want to go for an all-Primaris army, so you need an Apothecary who can ride with your other boys, and the 5 points makes him more resistant to snipers and lets him contribute a bit more to ranged output - if you need to fire the 3" pistol something has gone badly wrong, but the 18" one will do a lot more than the baseline version's bolt pistol.
</tab>
<tab name="Biker Apothecary (Legends)">
+5pts for M14", +1T, and +1W, with a twin boltgun, chainsword, and bolt pistol. Very outdated and undercosted for what you get, especially as they retain the old Narthecium rules (heal one Infantry/Biker model within 3" for d3 wounds or revive one Infantry/Biker model on a 4+ with one wound left). Still has the Apothecary keyword, so can be made into a Chief Apothecary. HOWEVER, he does not have the Combat Restoratives ability to use twice, thus negating the Chief Apothecary ability and one-half of the Selfless Healer Warlord Trait. 
* Recommend bumping to 100pts to keep up with 9th edition inflation and swapping the 8th edition Narthecium for the 9th edition Narthecium and Combat Restorative abilities. 
</tab>
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*'''Company Champion:''' He can't bodyguard, but he's WS2+ and A4 compared to his Command Squad friends. Honour or Death grants him a 6" Heroic Intervention range ''and'' he can choose ''any'' enemy character unit if he'd rather that than the nearest enemy model. Martial Superiority allows him to fight first while engaged with enemy Characters, meaning he can use a nearby Character to fight a non-Character faster. A bolt pistol and grenades, master-crafted power sword (S+1, AP-3, D2), and combat shield (+1 to armour saves and a 5++ invulnerable save) make up his wargear; it's unclear why Command Squads and Vanguard Veteran Sergeants have access to ''better'' wargear.
** The extended Heroic Intervention range makes him a decent deterrent in a gunline and his innate melee skills and damage output make him ok as part of a death star. 
** Neither Company Champions nor any of the Chapter Champion variants can keep up with thunder hammer Company/Vanguard Veterans (in terms of damage output), so their main benefit is a defensive role due to being Characters.  
** You have so many Warlord Trait and Relic options that this guy will benefit from. Imperium's Sword and Champion of Humanity traits help him be a beatstick, and the Chapter Champion Martial Exemplar helps him as a supporting unit for melee wrecking balls. As for Relics, where do we begin? Burning Blade and Chapter Champion Blade of Triumph help his damage output, and Armour Indomitus and Shield Eternal help his staying power. 
<tabs>
<tab name="Chapter Command - Chapter Champion">
+1PL and +15pts. Company Champions are ''meh'', but the Chapter Champion is ruthlessly efficient at his job. ''Not available to Black Templars, you have the Emperor's Champion.''
*'''Ability - Chapter Champion:''' Becomes A5 and Ld9, re-rolls failed melee wound rolls against Characters, and enemy melee attacks against him suffer -1 to their hit rolls. 
**The additional Ld is worthless and the additional A isn't worth 15 points (it's worth about 11-13), so to earn his additional cost back, he has to hit enemy characters in melee or tank some melee hits for you.
*'''Trait - Martial Exemplar:''' Any <Chapter> Core or Character units within 6" get to re-roll their charge distances.
*'''Relic - Blade of Triumph:''' Replaces bearer's master-crafted power sword with a master-crafted relic blade: S+3, AP-3, D3.
</tab>
<tab name="Champion">
As an Elite-choice Marine Character, he has four wounds. Like other Firstborn Elite Characters, he does not take up an Elite slot if you include a Company Veteran Squad. 55pts is a bargain and cheap enough that the Chapter Champion upgrade is almost always possible. 
</tab>
<tab name="Biker Champion (Legends)">
80pts (the biggest gap between Infantry vs Biker Command Squad characters) grants you M14", +1T, +1W, and turbo-boost, alongside a twin boltgun. Retained an 8th edition ability; Superlative Duellist allows you to re-roll hit and wound rolls against Characters in melee. However, he's also retained his 8th edition combat shield (5++ invulnerable only) and master-crafted power sword (SU instead of S+1). 
* Keep the points the same, but copy-paste his wargear and abilities to the 9th edition version if you want to keep-up. It's a Legends unit anyway, they're more for casual games. 
</tab>
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*'''[[Judiciar]]:''' The big scary beatstick introduced in Indomitus, they're functionally Primaris Champions but Chaplains-in-training in the fluff. WS2+ W5 A4 and Sv3+(4++ in melee) are respectable Character stats. The executioner relic blade is a relic blade (S+3 AP-3 D2), ''plus'' unmodified wound rolls of 6 inflict an additional mortal wound, like a volkite or sniper weapon; make no mistake, despite this he's less efficient than a Chapter or Company Champion at actual murder. His Tempormortis lets you pick one enemy unit within 3" to always fight last, which is why you take him: park him near your gunline, and even if they're charged, they'll punch the charging unit first. This NASTY tactic  is particularly scary with an up-meleed sergeant. 
** A very strong defensive Character, the infamous Tempormortis gives a serious debuff to enemy units that get too close. It's a shame the model looks derpy, with the cowboy handkerchief, chunky hourglass<s>, and slutty off-the-shoulder robe</s> Oh come on guys, it's [[blam|not wise]] to slut shame the little Chaplain.
** Sadly and completely without explanation, there's no way to field a Firstborn one of these. In fact, the 9E codex strongly implies they ought to exist.

*'''Imperial Space Marine (Legends):''' Now a Character rather than just something you can substitute any Space Marine model for, which has its pros and cons. He's armed with a combi-disintegrator (a combi weapon with a second 18", rapid fire 1, S5, AP-3, Dd6 profile) and a disintegrator pistol (9", pistol 1, S5, AP-3, Dd6), as well as the usual grenades. He's built like an Ancient or Apothecary in terms of statline. Since he's 60pts to boot, there's no really good reason to take him even if you can - he's worse at support than an 90pts Ancient with combi-grav, and he's worse at murdering than Veteran Squads.