Editing Codex Astartes (section)

===Marine roles===

Among the tenets of the Codex, Guilliman outlined the roles of various Marines to be used in Chapters. They include the following:

====Battle Line====
*'''[[Tactical Squad|Tactical]] Squad''': The backbone of a Battle Company, Tactical Marines are those who are flexible in combat, relying on both ranged weapons and melee weapons in combat. Note that due to the order of the Companies, they usually have served as both Assault and Devastator Marines, so they definitely know the basics of both, granting the majority of the chapter great theoretical tactical flexibility. Ironically, due to their wargear, they’d actually be more like a step up from how neophytes fight and so would make a much more logical role as the first post-graduation position of a newly minted Space Marine than Devastator or Assault, both of whom are the opposite of all the neophyte’s training to this point.
*'''[[Intercessor]] Squad''': Those Primaris Marines who are armed uniformly with some version of Bolt Rifle, either the standard version, the more mobile Auto Bolt Rifle, or the longer-ranged Stalker bolt rifle. Their role on the battlefield is to set up lines of fire and advance on and secure objectives much in a similar way to Tactical Squads; although they lack their little brothers' overall flexibility due to their exclusive use of Bolt Rifle variants, it is said that a combination of these units with other squads is invaluable to a commander. They may be equipped with [[Combi-weapon|Combi Grenade Launchers]]. The Sergeant may take Chainswords, Power Weapons and/or Hand Flamers.
*'''[[Infiltrator]] Squad:''' Recon Primaris Marines wearing a slightly lighter armament, but are expected to perform extended operations behind enemy lines. All Primaris Marines can revert to Vanguard Marines at any time, though Primaris Marines from the reserve companies often get seconded to frontline companies in this way.

====Fire Support====
*'''[[Devastator Squad]]''': Devastator Marines can be summed up in three words: Blow shit up. The purpose of the Devastator is to provide artillery strikes and heavy weapons fire in battle, and hunt tanks. Once a Scout earns his Black Carapace and Power Armor, he will be attached to a Devastator Squad, allowing him to gain battlefield experience by watching the conflict from afar with the added perk of allowing a new marine to bond with his armor while learning its strengths by lugging heavy weapons around. Unlike [[Sisters of Battle]], the Devastator title refers to organization rather than weapon skill. Devastator squads will contain both heavy weapons and bolter marines who act as spotters and loaders; likewise, the heavy weapon marines in tactical squads are tactical marines, not devastators.
**'''Devastator [[Centurion Squad]]:''' Devastators trained to wear Centurion Warsuits, allowing them to carry considerably more firepower than any other marine short of a dreadnought. Centurion squads are organised in combat squads of three rather than five, which means that the reorganization of the codex to accommodate more variety actually means leftover soldiers can bulk up other Demi-squads without interfering with the 100 man standard.
*'''[[Hellblaster]] Squad:''' Primaris Marines who show a particular talent for marksmanship are elevated to the position of Hellblaster, which makes them a sort of elite promotion rather than Devastators who are often newbies. The reason for this is because the Plasma Incinerators they wield are very rare and difficult to maintain, and so are be entrusted to the care of a warrior who can put them to best use. Their role is to provide dedicated anti-armor firepower without sacrificing mobility in the process, and assault and heavy variants of the Plasma Incinerator also exist for greater effectiveness against massed light infantry and vehicles, respectively.
*'''[[Aggressor]] Squad:''' Primaris marines equipped with Mk X Gravis Armour, Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets and Flame Gauntlets (essentially power fists with built-in bolters or flamers, respectively). in the case of the former, they may also use shoulder-mounted grenade launchers to further supplement their firepower. Aggressors fulfill a similar role to Centurions and are also organised into combat squads of three, but are somewhat more lightly armed in exchange for superior maneuverability. Their role is to provide close-range anti-infantry fire support to an advancing force as they move in for the kill.
*'''[[Eliminator]] Squad''': Marksmen Vanguard Marines wearing stripped-down Phobos Armour, with a Shrike Pattern Bolt Sniper Rifle with special ammunition or Las-fusils for AT work. Their duty is to hunt for targets of opportunity while being extra stealthy.
*'''[[Suppressor]] Squad:''' Come with Omnis Pattern Armour, a lighter variant of Gravis Armour equipped with various jump packs, grav chutes and shock absorbers. Unlike Inceptor Marines, they aren't meant to crash onto the battlefield from low orbit and cause havoc but are instead intended to maneuver themselves into position and lay down withering fire with their Accelerator Autocannons.
*'''[[Eradicator]] Squad:''' Come with Melta Rifles for medium range anti armor support and are equipped with Gravis Armor. Can exchange their Melta Rifles for the Heavy Melta Rifle variant, and one in three per squad can carry a Multi-Melta.
*'''Heavy Intercessor Squad:''' Equipped with Gravis Armor and carry either Heavy Bolt Rifles, shorter ranged and less powerful but faster firing Hellstorm Bolt Rifles or more powerful, slower and longer ranged Executor Bolt Rifles. One in every five Heavy Intercessor can carry a corresponding Heavy Bolter variant. Standard Heavy Bolt Rifle squads carry normal Heavy Bolters, Hellstorm Bolt Rifle Squads carry Hellstorm Heavy Bolters and Executor Bolt Rifle Squads carry Executor Heavy Bolters.
*'''[[Desolation Squad]]''': The Desolation squads carry oversized [[Castellan Launcher]]s capable of rapid fire anti-infantry work, with each marine also getting either Super-frag or Super-krak missile tubes attached to the Castellan for yet more Dakka. The Sergeants instead get the [[Vengor Launcher]], which retains the rapid fire rotary anti infantry missile and exchanges the super-frag/super-krak tubes for an indirect fire generalist missile.
*'''[[Infernus]] Squad''': Equipped with [[Pyreblaster]]s, these squads conduct close fire support with their improved flamers and clear out infestations of enemy infantry, hordes of creatures or other nasty stuff that needs a good burning. Each Infernus also carries a bolt pistol by default just in case.

====Close Support====
*'''[[Assault Squad]]''': Assault Marines are those who specialize in melee combat, using [[Chainsword|Chain]] and [[Power weapon]]s alike to fuck up the enemies of the [[Imperium of Man]]. In addition, they also usually take to the field wearing jump packs, which allows them to deepstrike onto the battlefield, move quickly from point to point, and even execute a jet-fueled charge of awesomeness into the enemy. This is the next stop in a new Marine's career when he graduates from the Devastator squads (Blood Angels start as Assault and become Devastators, a relatively common approved Codex variation; see below for details), helping to familiarize him with any weapons he hasn't used yet and putting him through the crushing psychological stress of hand-to-hand combat under something resembling optimal conditions. Assault marines can also use bikes, attack bikes, landspeeders, drop pods, Rhinos, and Razorbacks.
**'''Assault Centurion Squad:''' Assault Marines trained to use the Centurion warsuits for siege breaking and trench clearing.
*'''[[Inceptor]] Squads:''' Primaris marines who fulfill an analogue to the Assault squad role, though their function is less about engaging the enemy at close quarters and more to act as the spearhead unit that will arrive in advance of the main force and secure the drop zone. Their Assault Bolters and Plasma Exterminators are surprisingly powerful for their size, allowing Inceptors to perform deadly hit-and-run attacks.
*'''[[Reiver]] Squad:''' Primaris specialists in shock and awe tactics, who fill a role somewhere between Assault Squad and Scouts. Their mission profile is to create confusion and terror by attacking from unexpected angles; to do this they can either infiltrate onto the battlefield or glide in silently on grav chutes. In battle, they can choose to wield either a paired combat blade and heavy bolt pistol for melee use or a bolt carbine for close-quarters firefights.
*'''[[Incursor]] Squad:''' Vanguard marines clad in lightweight Phobos Armor made for flushing out hidden positions and close combat. Their special Occulus Bolt Carbines and Multi-Spectrum Arrays allow them to detect enemies in any circumstance, while their haywire mines can cripple vehicles. Curiously, these are the only marines that seem to know how to dual-wield their knives effectively enough to be standard issue.
*'''[[Bike_Squad#Primaris_Outriders|Outrider]] Squad:''' Primaris Bikers, armed with bike-mounted frontal twin bolters, bolt pistols and astartes chainswords.
*'''Assault Intercessor Squad:''' Primaris marines equipped with Chainswords and Heavy Bolt pistols. The Sergeant may take the same weapons as an Intercessor sergeant, as well as Plasma Pistols and Thunder Hammers.

====Others====
*'''[[Scout|Scout Squad]]''': Scout Marines are Neophyte Space Marines who are charged with scouting terrain and enemy positions, in addition to demolitions and what we would today call special forces operations. A risky job, but this has the effect of ensuring that the more cautious ones survive while the reckless and foolish are weeded out.

*'''[[Veteran Squad]]''': Veteran Marines are those who have been through several centuries of combat, allowing them access to all the cool toys in the Chapter's armory. They're hopefully experienced and cool-headed enough not to, say, [[Dakka|super-glue the relic blade of the founder to the codpiece of their armor to skullfuck the enemies of mankind.]] A Chapter's first company veterans get to wear [[Terminator]] armor (the Crux Terminatus is a cross between a medal and authorization papers) but they sometimes stay with normally-sized power armor which is instead slowly turned into Artificer armor by all the bling and enhancements. Power-armored Veterans are divided into two subgroups: Vanguard (who focus on close quarters combat) and Sternguard (who focus on bolter drills and other forms of ranged warfare).

*'''[[Bladeguard Veteran]] Squad''': Veteran Primaris Marines with Storm Shields, Heavy Bolt Pistols and Master Crafted Power Swords. The Sergeant may exchange his Heavy Bolt Pistol for a Plasma Pistol or a Neo-[[Volkite]] Pistol.

The first and tenth companies '''very''' rarely take to the field as single formations; instead the veterans are seconded to other companies, often serving as commanding officers and sergeants to other squads, so as to spread their experience and skill as widely as possible. The same is also said of Scouts, who are attached to other companies as auxiliary units so that they can learn their trades alongside their more experienced brothers, which was in fact the standard operating procedure as putting all scouts together was only done in major battles in desperate situations where the entire chapter was at war before the reforms dispersed the scouts by default to all companies and made the Tenth Company into a full vanguard company. Now, Vanguard squads are far more likely to be dispersed and if the Vanguard Company is working as one there is a direly critical objective to infiltrate which will likely draw most of the Chapter anyway. If the Veteran Company is fighting all together shit has officially hit the fan.

On top of listed equipment pretty much every marine not in Terminator or Gravis armor carries multiple frag and krak [[Grenades & Explosives|grenades]] and their combat knives.

A very common codex variant is to keep a company's veterans attached to their parent company permanently, acting as an additional squad in a company and assisting the captain and his command staff where necessary, filling the role of Champion, Standard Bearer and any other administrative positions as the Command Squad. These men are very seldom counted as part of the 100 man structure of the company and are instead counted among the command staff. More rarely the Veterans will supplant one of the tactical squads, particularly when they act autonomously from the Captain and form the line of battle, instead of as a command squad - or in an even greater deviation from the codex, are added as an extra squad that is counted amongst the company's order of battle. This organization is used by the [[Space Sharks]], [[Iron Hands]] (and most of their successors due to the ancient Clan-Company tradition), [[Iron Snakes]], [[Executioners]], and [[Dark Angels]] (and their successors, as their first and second companies are the [[Deathwing]] and [[Ravenwing]] and they have... special duties, see below and their articles) among others.