Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Space Marines (section)

==Unit Analysis==
Unit keywords are [[Space_Marine_Chapter_Creation_Tables|{{W40kKeyword|Adeptus Astartes}}]], {{W40kKeyword|Primaris}}, [[Space_Marine_Chapter_Creation_Tables|{{W40kKeyword|Chapter}}]], and the like. Units with a specific {{W40kKeyword|Chapter}} keyword can only be taken by that Chapter. Note that even if most "Bike" variants of characters have been written out of the Codex due to them having no official miniature (and some models due to those miniatures being limited edition), they can still be taken and are legal, using the Warhammer Legends datasheets and the latest point costs. White Scars players can thank the God-Emperor (Absolutely! Interestingly GW does some good things nowadays!)

===HQ===
The average SM HQ is a heroic model that can do fairly well in melee and, being the poster faction, we have a lot of choices when building [[Your_dudes|our guys]]. Listed here are some common builds so that you don't have to read "Captain, Captain with Jump Pack, Librarian, Librarian with Jump Pack" and so on.
#{{W40kKeyword|Jump pack}}: Mobility is the name of the game. The model gains 12" movement, fly and can deepstrike, so he can appear anywhere and ignore terrain, jump over the enemy's bubbelwrap alongside your Vanguard Vets and even '''[[Awesome|punch a damn airplane to death]]'''.
#{{W40kKeyword|Bike}}: High speed, high drag. The character becomes a battering ram, gaining a speedy bike that can turbo boost to M20", T5, +W1, and an additional 4 bolter shots. Sadly, all but Captain on the bike were relegated to Warhammer Legends, including Biker Vets, which makes the whole bunch overpriced.
#{{W40kKeyword|Terminator}}: The heavy armour. +1W 2+/5++ and Deep Strike but only 5" movement and a slightly reduced wargear selection. Not meant to move around much, positioning is often determined by a Deep strike or the Land Raider that is carrying him around. Provides a lot of protection for your character. A Character's Iron Halo or Rosarius' 4++ has prevalence ofc.
#{{W40kKeyword|Primaris}}: Extra beef for a relatively low cost. +1W +1A, but usually restricted customization options. Segregated to their hover transports; that used to mean restricted, but now they're more of a separate-but-equal kind of deal.
#*{{W40kKeyword|Phobos}}: Primaris Operator with stealth training; "Concealed Positions" lets them keep up with infiltrators, and they get their own selection of Warlord Traits and Psychic powers.
#*{{W40kKeyword|Gravis}}: Bigger and better beef, offering +1T and +1W with a 5" move as opposed to the Terminator Armors deep strike and 2+ save. Very limited wargear and thus far only Captains. 
Remember all re-rolls happen ''before'' modifiers.

*'''[[Brother-Captain|Captain]]:''' The standard all characters compare to, he can be customized to do almost any job you need him to do. Can be taken with a {{W40kKeyword|Jump pack}}, a {{W40kKeyword|Bike}}, {{W40kKeyword|Terminator}} Armour, {{W40kKeyword|Phobos}} Armour or as {{W40kKeyword|Primaris}}.
**Captains are simultaneously destructive and survivable, with their base 4++ Iron Halo, {{W40kKeyword|character}} status and ability to ditch one of their weapons for a Storm Shield. Additionally, his mere presence boosts your other units with his re-roll 1s to Hit aura, helping your plasma not blow up and improving the hit rate of your already fairly accurate armywide 3+. In melee, they can wieldy all the heavier power weapons: Powerfists, Relic Blades and the expensive Thunder Hammer, as well as their Master-crafted (+1D) versions and other relics, like the Teeth of Terra on his off-hand, to terrifying effect. Alternatively, he can provide an anchor for your gunline, with his Master-crafted AP-1 D2 Boltgun or a Combi-weapon, while the Primaris version does so with a Master-crafted Auto bolt Rifle (24" Assault ''3'' S4 D2) or a Master-crafted Stalker Bolt Rifle (36" Heavy 1 S4 AP-2 ''D3!''). The usual Smash Captain wears a {{W40kKeyword|Jump Pack}} to enhance his mobility, while others prefer Terminator armour to increase their resilience while still gaining a deepstrike (and fit in with the accompanying TH/SS squad). Other deceivingly fast ways of getting him in combat would be a Primaris captain with Powerfist + Plasma Pistol loadout riding a cheap Impulsor (with Intercessor Vets) or a manlet in a drop pod for Turn 1 deepstrikes.
**'''Captain in Cataphractii Armour:''' An alternative version of the Terminator Captain that trades heavily reduced mobility (4" Movement and halved Advances) and no Grenade Launcher for a built in 3++. A reasonable alternative if you weren't taking a Power Fist and were planning on deepstriking him anyways.
**'''Captain in Gravis Armour:''' The Gravis Captain has T5 and '''7W''', but a fixed loadout of a Boltstorm Gauntlet and Power Sword, reducing his flexibility and hampering which Relics he can take. In addition, Gravis suits cannot deepstrike and are limited to expensive Repulsor transports. However, he is perfectly suited for accompanying Aggressors and can weather high volume, low AP attacks better than other Captains.
**'''Captain in Phobos Armour:''' The Phobos Captain is even more dedicated to the gunline; his 30" Assault 1 S4 AP-2 ''D3'' Master-crafted Instigator bolt carbine lets him snipe {{W40kKeyword|characters}}, and his Omni-scrambler denies deepstrikes within 12", crippling alpha strikes and forcing most enemies to approach your gunlines some other way. He's got a Camo Cloak to help the few times he gets shot at, but lacks any melee options besides the basic Combat Knife unless you replace the knife with a relic.
*'''[[Librarian]]:''' Your good old source of mortal wounds (and psychic protection). Can be taken with a {{W40kKeyword|Jump pack}}, {{W40kKeyword|Terminator}} Armour, {{W40kKeyword|Phobos}} Armour, or as {{W40kKeyword|Primaris}}. May also take a {{W40kKeyword|Bike}}; check GW's website for Warhammer Legends.
**Although the Librarius discipline is overshadowed by other imperial disciplines like Blood Angels and Grey Knights, it's still a solid one that gives strong buffs to units and characters, of which this model knows two (plus Smite). And with the wide array of Chapter specific Disciplines, the number of combinations you can field as an army is both terrifying and a little overwhelming. Librarians are a lot more random in this new edition now you can't spend all warp charges on a psychic power you want to go off at all costs. They're akin to a glass cannon (by marine standards), as their Force weapons inflict multiple damage but they themselves lack an invuln save. Unless, of course, you take him in Terminator Armour, in which case he gains a 2+/5++, or even a 2+/3++ if you give him a Storm Shield! Can customize their force weapon, and pistol/Combi-weapon, and receive +1 to Deny if the psyker is within 12". If you're more keen on getting him into casting range as quickly as possible, a Jump Pack or a Bike will serve you very well. Alternatively, the Phobos Librarian offers a bit more tactical flexibility with the Obscuration Discipline, as well as his Camo Cloak and Concealed Positions ability. Overall, a solid pick for any army, no matter which version you choose.

*'''[[Chaplain]]:''' The guy for not-magic support magic. So, a Bard-barian. Can be taken with a {{W40kKeyword|Jump pack}}, {{W40kKeyword|Terminator}} Armour, or as {{W40kKeyword|Primaris}}. May also take a {{W40kKeyword|Bike}}; check GW's website for Warhammer Legends. Litanies make this team-player work somewhat different from other characters, especially his interaction with transports and deepstrikes - a consideration unique to this HQ. Each Chaplain knows the melee Litany of Fury, their primogenitor Chapter's litany and another one of their choosing, though one of them can be upgraded to Master of Sanctity to know and chant one extra litany. Chaplains also have a 6" aura of Ld9, making morale a non-issue for marines around them. All forms are bigger and better than ever before... though your newfound Litanies require a 3+ to go off, which is a real pain in the ass when you really need some buffs to kill something before it kills you.
**If you want the Chaplain for melee like you're used to, consider putting him in a Drop pod or Impulsor. He won't have litanies when disembarking, but those specific transports operate under similar restrictions: They are both fast, Drop Pods will arrive one turn earlier than Jump Pack and Terminator squads, and troops disembarking from an Impulsor have to wait one turn to charge. A one-two punch requires patience and the ability to take a beating before dealing damage, but can be rewarding. Chaplains are terrifying melee characters, their Crozius Arcanum hurting heavy infantry at S+1 AP-1 ''D2'', and their litanies make them effective assault lynchpins and powerful additions to a deathstar.
**Unlike earlier editions, Chaplains can also have a place back in your own lines, with a couple litanies boosting a unit's firepower. They aren't auras, but +1 to either hit or wound (''or both'') to a unit is an important boost by itself if your warlord is far away, and complements aura HQs if you are fielding a battalion or bigger.

*'''[[Techmarine]]:''' Vehicles may be tougher this edition, but their performance diminishes with wounds, and this guy repairs them for 1d3 Wounds a turn, no roll required! May also take a {{W40kKeyword|Bike}}; check GW's website for Warhammer Legends.
**Being a character, he can work in relative safety, so he doesn't need Servitors either provided you keep at least ''something'' between him and the enemy. He also holds the distinction of being able to become your cheapest HQ (45pts with a chainsword), though you shouldn't pick him as a tax HQ if you're just going to have him stand around. You're playing Space Marines, it's not like you're short on vehicle options for him to keep up and running. Beyond just going as cheap as possible, he can generally can be built one of two ways, and they are sadly mutually exclusive. For a more shooty build, he can ditch his pistol for any other Pistol or Ranged weapon and replace his Servo-arm with something very useful indeed: a Conversion Beamer. This tasty bit of gear functions as a Multi-laser with only D3 shots when at close range, but turns into an Overcharged Plasma Cannon that trades 2 AP for no exploding on a roll of a 1 when over half it's rather impressive 42" range. The other path is more of a close combat monster; by taking the Servo-harness, you give yourself an extra servo-arm, a Flamer and a Plasma Cutter, which is basically an Assault 1 Plasma Pistol, and all for only 60 points! Quite brutal, but you should generally build your Cogmarine for where he's going to be hanging out. If he'll be humping the leg of a Deredeo in your backline, take the Beamer and maybe a Storm Bolter if you have points left over. If he's going to be running around in the thick of things keeping your melee dreads from getting splattered, strongly consider the Harness, which carries all Assault weapons and you can repair even after Advancing! His Bike version can happily take all the same Wargear options, along with the usual Twin Boltguns, boosted survivability and insane Movement, making him a worth addition to a high mobility list, since a footslogger Cogboy can't repair while he's embarked.

*'''[[Primaris Lieutenant|Lieutenant]]:''' A surprising addition with the advent of 8E, with a mini-Captain statline of WS2+ BS3+ W4 A3. Can be taken with a {{W40kKeyword|Jump pack}}, {{W40kKeyword|Phobos}} Armour or as {{W40kKeyword|Primaris}}. You can buy up to two Lieutenants per HQ slot, but you ''should'' be taking them separately to fill out HQ taxes. There's no Biker Lieutenant.
**Since a Lieutenant's Tactical Precision aura (re-roll 1s to wound) is mathematically equivalent to a Captain's Rites of Battle (re-roll 1s to hit), they can be used as a budget sub-commander to fill your HQ tax and boost your back field. The basic version can swap his Master-crafted boltgun for combi-weapons, but the Primaris version, with Master-crafted auto bolt rifle/stalker bolt rifle, can do more damage at range.
**For melee it is the manlet version the one you want, as he can take a Jump Pack and power weapons to join a Smash Captain dropping into melee, his aura complementing the Captain's. Meanwhile, the Primaris version can only equip a Power sword, and has to give up his bolt rifle for it.
**The Phobos version is a mixed bag, equipped like an Incursor (Master-crafted Occulus Bolt Carbine & Paired combat blades), but can't infiltrate alongside actual Incursors, being forced to catch up turn 2 with his grav-chute, like a Reiver. And he can swap his master-crafted gear for a heavy bolt pistol and combat knife to become an actual {{W40kKeyword|Reiver}} with keyword and '''Terror Troops''' -1Ld...at the cost of ditching his goddammed grav-chute for the smoke grenade Incursors get. [[Fail|Thus being the only Reiver who doesn't deepstrike and the only Phobos who cannot infiltrate]], thanks, GW.

====Forge World====

*'''Chaplain in [[Dreadnought|a goddamn Dreadnought]]:''' The Chaplain Dreadnought is the go-to answer for players wishing to run an all dreadnought army. This is one of the best models space marines can currently use in 8th, arguably ''the'' best outside of special characters. Being a {{W40kKeyword|Character}} makes this a Dreadnought that CANNOT BE SHOT AT except by snipers, who usually have pitiful AP. It has a 5++ save and also buffs the strength of friendly models fighting the same unit as it, and has heroic intervention and 6+ FNP. It's also reasonably priced, considering its many advantages; 164 points vanilla, but can be cheaper or more expensive depending on wargear choices (taking an assault cannon makes it cost 174, as an example). the Dreadnought also know chaplain litany to give a variety of buffer roles in addition to having big guns. if you were planning to bring a dreadnought and/or want a tough and killy HQ, then the Chaplain is a fantastic option that also saves you an elite or heavy support slot.
** Two fists allows you re-roll 1s to hit, which on his total 5 attacks for the charge at WS2+ is pretty good. However, you only loose the re roll 1s if you take a ranged weapon, which is usually a smarter option as he also has BS2+. 194 points get you twin lascannons, storm bolter, and a fists for a very complete package. 
** The additional changes space marines have seen make this model absurd. It now sports the litanies ability like other chaplains... Cast Mantra of Strength on itself, use its natural aura, then use the Heros of the Chapter stratagem and take the Emperors Sword warlord trait. This should give you S9 and 7 Attacks on the charge. Combined with two fists, you also get re roll hits of 1 on a 2+, all for a grand total of '''7 S18 AP-3 D4''' attacks. Do you know of another model that can potentially hit harder and more often than a volcano cannon for 164 points?
*'''Damocles Command Rhino:''' Only one Damocles can be taken per detachment. It can now transport a single {{W40kKeyword|CHARACTER}} model, and if that model is your Warlord you roll 2d6 at the end of each turn; if the result is less than your Warlord's Ld, you get a bonus Command Point. Valuable, on its own, there's also the Orbital Bombardment, which now functions identically to the Stratagem of the same name (albeit without the CP cost). While the bombardment can be useful if you're lucky, the Damocles is better off acting as a meatshield/Command Point generator for your Warlord, preferably far from the front lines.

=====Named Forge World Characters=====
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Special Characters are noted with their corresponding {{W40kKeyword|<CHAPTER>}} keyword, and are arranged by their Founding (when applicable). Characters from known successor chapters are in their relevant sections, because supplements make that kind of matter now. The points cost for all special characters already includes their wargear, as stated in the points section, under the points heading in the codex (or index/Legends if not in the codex).  All other units say "does not include wargear" except special characters where it says "including wargear".<br>
With the 8.5 FAQ all Imperial Armour SM entry’s gain Angels of Death.
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{{W40kKeyword|[[Astral Claws]]}}

Either {{W40kKeyword|[[Ultramarines]]}} or {{W40kKeyword|[[Dark Angels]]}} successors, with no great way to decide between the two; your fluffiest bet is Ultramarines since they make the better bikers anyhow. Although if we look at their Chapter Tactics before 8th, [[White Scars]] is the best substitute for a melee-focused rush(if allowed to ignore Successor chapter restrictions). Astral Claws love mortal wounds, have I said that enough? 
Successor Tactics: Hungry for Battle, Master Artisans, Rapid Assault

*'''[[Lugft Huron]]:''' Chapter Master, with terminator armour, an artificer heavy flamer (Assault, not Heavy, and D1d3), and THE ONE PIMP HAND TO RULE THEM ALL (S+1 AP-5 D1d3, forces rerolls of successful invulns)! "Big Guns Never Tire"  ensures he can bring the hurt once per game to anything on the board that's not a character (d6 mortal wounds on a 2+, or usually 2.92). His “Living Legend” rule makes sure you can pull it off on the 2+ with an extra command point as long as you are battle forged ''and Huron is your Warlord''. He can come back from the dead... as often as you can roll a 5+. But he is well priced at 145 points. Still better in combat than Draigo (who's more expensive), and could even take on Abbadon/Swarmlord (not really he is A4). He still has ATSKNF and his chapter master trait allowing rerolls to hit for any Astral Claws unit within six inches for support. Forge World FAQ gave him and Cullen the ability to deploy via teleporting.
** 'Ol Lugft you salty bastard! Take note of this dudes special rule (Big Guns Never Tire) and how well it combines with the rest of the Astartes codex. Lugft Huron is the king of mortal wound spam in a very mortal wound spamming prone army. You have to get creative: I'm talking triple vindicators, librarians, scout snipers, scout bikers, devastators using double hellfire shells, all the other command stratagems, '''AND''' a Damocles Command Rhino which doesn't even need Lufgt to ride in for ''another'' Orbital Bombardment!!! (you're already using forge world so...) You will be that guy to a degree, but this is all totally legal and really just very good tactics. Enjoy frying anything from Magnus to carnifexes all with comfortable ease.
***BE sure to load up on command points and consider a brigade because this play-style while quite good, is very command point taxing.
*'''[[Armenneus Valthex]]:''' Techmarine, with an Assault 2 Conversion Beamer, an AP-1 melee weapon that adds 1d3 attacks when at least 3 enemy models are within 1" of him, and a 6" buff of +1 strength (max 5) to boltguns and storm bolters, specifically. Give Valthex the Storm of Fire warlord trait and 1 in 6 bolter shots become heavy bolter shots.
** Note that hurricane bolters are ''not'' specifically storm bolters or boltguns.
** As his rule reads ''The Strength characteristic of '''all''' boltguns and storm bolters fired by [...]'' an argument could be made that this also includes special issue boltguns. The word "all" wouldn't make any sense otherwise.
** Pairing him with a Lieutenant still has the exact same effect as pairing him with a Captain, with or without Storm of Fire.
** This guy screams for running Astral Claws as Ultramarine successors as his special rule and Scions of Guilliman gives great synergy with a high number of Tacticals/Sternguards/Company Veterans under Tactical Doctrine and Bolter Discipline. While long-range focused footsloggers might not be true to their fluff, it doesn't stop them from being quite good at it. Pair with Long-range Marksman and Stealthy.
*'''[[Captain Corien Sumatris]]:''' Captain; still a good cost-effective melee fighter/buffer, his power sword does D2 and give +D3 attacks on the charge; combined with his ability to gain +1S near enemy {{W40kKeyword|CHARACTERS}}, this makes him a mini-me Helbrecht, although he might be tougher with his 3++.  His gun is a lame Pistol 2 now, despite still being called a Bolter. Also has the unique ability to choose his chapter keyword between {{W40kKeyword|Astral Claws}} and {{W40kKeyword|Tiger Claws}}, the latter of which will never be taken, because it disallows other Astral Claws characters from being taken.
*'''[[Carnac Commodus|Arch-Centurion Carnac Commodus]]:''' Lieutenant, and improved greatly now; his CC weapon hits as hard as a Heavy Bolter with D2 and vs. {{WH40Kkeyword|INFANTRY}} every 6+ to-wound does a Mortal Wound, combined with a 6" lieutenant aura makes him another good melee beatstick/buffer for Astral Claws. He also gets a 5++ invul because that's what Void Hardened Armour does now.
** See above Lugft Huron. Astral Claws love mortal wounds Bitchez!!


'''{{W40Kkeyword|[[Red Scorpions]]}}'''

Probably loyalist Emperor's Children successors; the closest you're going to get here is probably {{W40kKeyword|Ultramarines}} Chapter Tactics to reflect their hard-on for the Codex Astartes, although {{W40kKeyword|[[Iron Hands]]}} might reflect their love of purity (and previous tactics) better.
Successor Tactics: Indomitable, Stalwart, Stoic, Warded

*'''Lord High Commander Carab Culln:''' Chapter Master. Stats-wise, of the level of other CMs here and in the main book, but his extra rules and weapons loadout is scattered and mediocre. An AP-2 D2 stormbolter, a +1 strength power sword with d3 damage that turns into a beastly x2 strength weapon, BUT only when he's fighting monsters or vehicles, and his personal rules gives every red scorpion within 6" a 6+ FNP style damage ignoring roll (no more stacking with iron hands chapter tactics due to 2018 FAQ). Overall, he's not bad, but has a sword that most of the time is simply average, and a gun that works but you aren't paying a couple hundred points for. Stick him in a fight vs Tyranids or similar and he'll prove his worth, but in comparison to the other chapter master level characters he's not quite focused enough in one area to do a job well enough, plus he's still the same points cost as the rest of them
*'''[[Carab Culln|Carab Culln the Risen]]:''' the same guy as above, but slapped in a freakin' ''Leviathan Dreadnought'' with a Twin Assault Cannon on one arm, and a D4 siege claw with Heavy Bolter on the other. He also packs two Heavy flamers and three Hunter-Killer missiles for shits and giggles.  A fairly decent one-use rule "Death Hold", is when he rolls a 6+ to hit, he can opt to grab his opponent and cause d6 mortal wounds, but this renders the built-in Heavy Bolter useless for the rest of the game. Still retains his old rule that gives 6+ FNP to every Red Scorpions within 6", and if he dies to roll a d6; on 5+ he explodes causing d3 mortal wounds to every unit within 9". Culln is a little underwhelming compared to other Leviathans. As Storm Cannons are better than his Assault Cannons, but he isn't bound by the Relic rule. This means Red Scorpions won't need to take a Chaplain Dreadnought for that all Dread army. So he is is a consideration for the leader of an allied Vanguard or Spearhead Detachment. 
**While he's still a {{W40kKeyword|Character}}, he has over ten wounds, meaning no hiding him behind a wall of thirty Scouts to kamikaze up the field. 
**"Culln is a little underwhelming compared to other Leviathans". Other Leviathans are for the shooty-shooty. Culln is for the punchy-punchy. Two different tools for two different jobs. Compared to a SCA + claw + triple missile Leviathan, then for '''one extra point''', you gain +1A, +1W, +1D in assault, his Death Hold rule, and a 6+ feel no pain for all Red Scorpion models within 6".
**"but he isn't bound by the relic rule" he has the relic tag and is bound by the relic rule, so you still have to take a chaplain dread alongside him.
*'''Magister Sevrin Loth:''' Librarian.  Cheesier than a fondue convention in Wisconsin for two editions, he's finally been toned down to a 'good-but-not-too-good' level. He can cast two powers and deny three; now that you always choose powers and with the removal of some of the more potent powers, he's lost a lot here. His most powerful trick of gaining a 2++ is completely gone, now he just gets a 2+/4++. He also has nothing to do with command squads now. The only things that stayed the same are his price and his anti-psyker skills; a 6" aura of re-rolls to wound vs Psykers and a +1S Force Axe that always inflicts 3 damage vs Psykers. Still good enough to be a nigh auto-include for any Red Scorpions player.
*'''Casan Sabius:''' New Chapter Master who has inherited the Blade of the Scorpion (S+1 (Sx2 vs monsters/vehicles), AP-3, Dd3) from Culln. He has a 2+/4++ save, and a new rule where if he causes one or more wounds in the Fight phase, one Red Scorpions Infantry unit within 6" gains +1A until the end of that phase. He also has the standard Chapter Master aura bonus, meaning he stacks very well with thunder hammer-wielding escorts, who suffer the usual -1WS. 
*'''Sirae Karagon:''' Released as part of a duet with the above dude, we've been told to just use him as a standard Chapter Ancient. Lazy and lame. 
*'''Dreadnought-Brother Halaar:''' Comes from the FAQ; he's a generic dreadnought who can take a flamestorm cannon instead of an assault cannon, but thanks to his FAQ entry having lazy writing, he hasn't got the {{W40Kkeyword|character}} keyword.
*'''Veteran Sergeant Haas:''' In the same FAQ, this guy is basically completely dropped from the game - instead, you're told to use the model to count as someone else's sergeant.

'''{{W40Kkeyword|[[Minotaurs]]}}'''<br>

Said to have "chimeric" gene-seed, but given their melee preference your ''fluffiest bet'' is Black Templars; however, if you field Moloc, Iron Hands is a good choice instead to represent being rock-hard in melee. Whirlwind of Rage should be considered.

*'''Lord Asterion Moloc:''' Chapter Master.  The Lord Master of the Minotaurs is no longer the Marine killer he was before, but he's still a horrifyingly effective character. Sitting at a 2+/3++ with W7, he is harder to take down than some vehicles. His Black Spear makes a return at S+2, -3 AP, and 3 Damage with an additional attack against {{W40kKeyword|CHARACTER}}s. The spear's lasbeam is no longer single-use, meaning he can fire that sexy, sexy S8 -2 AP weapon all he likes. he gives the usual Chapter Master buff of re-rolls to failed hits in 6", and also gives his Minotaur infantry re-rolls to failed charges. Even if your opponent, somehow, makes it through all those saves in a charge, he gets to pile in and get off those attacks, making melee with him under any circumstance risky at best.
** Pairing his re-roll failed charges special rule with the Hungry for Battle Successor Tactic (+1" to charge and advance) gives you a ~66% chance on a successful charge after deep striking.
*'''Chaplain Ivanus Enkomi:''' The Minotaur chaplain character. He's lost the RAGE buff he had before and has no extra special rules over the usual buffs of a chaplain, usual rosarius, powerfist, and crozius. No jump pack, but instead has a grenade discharger. Frag grenades for mobs, krak grenades for tough targets. Worth noting is that, alongside his boss, Minotaurs re-roll charges as well as hits for the fight phase. Do ask yourself when you take him though... did you really WANT to pay 23 points to double the range of the otherwise completely normal frag and krak grenades. Yes, aside from that he boasts an extra attack and an extra wound, compared to normal, so maybe those 23 points have not been spent in vain.
Ok, maybe they were, BUT, he is now a big boy chaplain, able to chant 2 litanies, so they are definitely not in vain anymore
*'''Hecaton Aiakos:''' A character contemptor dreadnought - an HQ choice, but can't be your Warlord. Sporting 13 wounds, a 2+/4++ save, and the ability to ignore wounds on a 6+, he and Moloc apparently both believe that defense is the best offense. Not that either is lacking in that regard. He sports a heavy plasma cannon with all the pain that entails as well as the standard Dreadnought combat weapon. Groundstrike allows him to immediately inflict mortal wounds on a unit in 1" of him if he charged.  Also worth mentioning is that, as a {{W40kKeyword|RELIC}}, he gives access to the Relic of Ancient Glory stratagem. All this will set you back in points, however, beating out even Huron for sheer points. Additionally, he can never be your Warlord. But he sure kicks ass. Just let him stay around Moloc for the sweet sweet re-rolls and unleash the moo-moo. 
Note that being a Character he can get a trait while not being Warlord, though it would cost you CP to do so and there might be other candidates, but hey, Sword of the Imperium sounds glorious on him 
** Use the WHITE SCARS chapter tactic so Aiakos can fall back and charge and keep dealing out mortal wounds.
*'''Sergeant Hamath Kraatos:''' The FAQ basically tells you to drop this guy from the game, and instead use the model to represent a generic Devastator.

'''{{W40Kkeyword|[[Star Phantoms]]}}'''<br>
These guys are DEFINITELY nothing like the Exorcists, and all rumors you have heard that they are successors to the Dark Angels are BLATANTLY FALSE AND HERETICAL PROPAGANDA, PREPARE TO BE PURGED.  As their founding chapter is DEFINITELY AND TOTALLY UNKNOWN, treating them as an Unknown Founding chapter makes the most sense for Tactics.

*'''Captain Zhrukhal Androcles:''' Captain.  Lost his ability to take Devastators as elites and heavy support. Is identical to a vanilla captain statline wise. He comes with Stonefist, which is a named thunder hammer, and a combi-melta, but no Bolt Pistol. With the Thunder Hammer's disgustingly increased cost, Captain Z finally has his chance to shine, since he grants nearly everything a similarly built Captain can give for over 20 points less. 

'''{{W40Kkeyword|[[Exorcists]]}}'''<br>
These guys are particularly interesting because they're a Codex Chapter founded by a non-Codex chapter which has no Chapter Tactics rule.  As their founding Chapter is considered to be unknown by most of the Imperium, they get a free choice of Chapter Tactics like any other Chapter of unknown origin.  Grey Knights additionally have absolutely no rules in their Codex or Index section covering how to field their successors.  Your fluffiest choice of tactic will probably be, as the Blood Ravens, to dynamically choose your tactic after finding out your opponents' faction, as that is how the Chapter fights in the fluff and no game rule bans it. Successor Tactics: Knowledge is Power & Warded (known for getting possessed and then exorcising the Daemons).

*'''Captain Silas Alberec:''' Captain who can Deny the Witch as if he were a basic Psyker (2d6, 1/phase). Also comes with S5, a named power fist (for that sweet S10) that does 3D to a Psyker or Daemon, and a S6 bolt pistol. Best for pounding enemies into beefsteak at melee. 

{{W40Kkeyword|[[Blood Ravens]]}}<br>
Not confined to use Warded + Psychic Mastery, turns out that was just an example of the tactics you can use as successors. Successors to whom, nobody knows, so you can do whatever you want.
*'''[[Gabriel Angelos]]''': That's right, Gabe's finally made his official debut on the tabletop, sporting his [[Dawn of War III]] look and coming with some updated rules in July's White Dwarf. <s>(sadly, the [[C.S.Goto]]-style acrobatic feats he displays in the game do not get represented in the rules).</s> THE TERMIE FLIP IS BACK BABY, in the form of an ability: '''Leap into the Fray''' - upon successful charge a roll of 4+ deals d3 MWs.  He's a Chapter Master in Tartaros Terminator Armour and an Iron Halo, so he has a 2+/4++ save along with 6" movement and the ability to teleport onto the battlefield. His Warlord Trait is '''Rites of War'''. 
**As for goodies, he comes with his signature Daemon Hammer, ''Godsplitter'', allowing him to choose one of the following 2 profiles in combat: '''Mighty Strikes''' is a standard Thunder Hammer statline, with the addition of dealing an additional Mortal Wound whenever you roll a 6+ on the wound roll. The second profile, '''Sweeping Blows''', grants Gabe +3 attacks on top of his 5 base, at str+2 ap-1 d1 without the -1 penalty to hit, for your GEQ killing needs. Additionally, he has an improved version of '''Chapter Master''' that allows rerolls for ALL hit rolls, even successful ones. Compared to his previous Forge World rules, he, unfortunately, lost his access to grenades. 
**Naturally, he's best off rolling with other Tartaros Terminators; not only can they keep up with him more effectively than the standard or Cataphractii versions, but they can also be kitted out both to aid him in melee fights and to provide him with the covering fire he needs. 
**At 185 points, he can be a bit hard to fit into smaller lists.

</div></div>

====Warhammer Legends Units====
This section covers HQ units that were included in the 8th Edition Index but did not receive a new entry in the 2019 codex, and an honorable mention from years long past.  These units have gained the Angels of Death special rule through FAQ. Both of them have now been moved into Warhammer Legends.

*'''Rhino Primaris:''' One half of the Command Tank duo, the Rhino Primaris distinguishes itself from the basic Rhino by 3 things: its twin Plasma Gun, the ability to call an orbital bombardment (a 72" range monster with S10 AP-4 Heavy D3 D6 damage that becomes Heavy D6 when used on a unit with 10 or more models and doesn't need line of sight, but can only be fired once per game), and its servo-skull hub. The hub allows the Rhino Primaris to buff allies within 12" with either a +1 to hit, a -1 to morale tests,  or healing a wound (for vehicles only). It only has room to transport 6 units, though that's just enough for a Captain and his Veteran Squad.
**Never fire the plasma gun on overcharged mode; the risk of destroying the Rhino Primaris isn't worth the extra damage. Unless you use the Servo-skull hubs +1 to hit on the Rhino, in which case you can overheat without risk. Probably better spent on those Hellblasters or Plasma Cannon devastators though. 
**Positioning is important, but it's even more important with the Rhino Primaris. Rhinos are tougher now, but you don't want your light APC in harm's way. But if you camp it behind a ruin that's somewhat central, flying units and other assets fighting in the vicinity all become viable options for the servo-skull hub. Imagine an overhead Caestus flying in, getting tagged by the Rhino, and then vomiting its weapons onto an enemy. Hitting enemy targets with BS 2+ anti-tank weaponry from nowhere? That's the value of positioning.
**Worst case, have the Rhino Primaris pick itself on Turn 1 with its servo-skull hub, and fire the orbital relay (which can now be fired on turn one, a significant boost from 7th). Hitting on 2+ with a weapon this powerful is amazing, whether it's D3 or D6 shots. Add some way to reroll ones/hits and you can really lay a beating on something. A footslogging Captain may be better here than the Excelsior, but each scenario is different. If the Rhino is far enough back, a Primaris Captain (with a Stalker-pattern Bolter) babysitting some Hellblasters anyway could help.
**Dropped by almost 100 points with it's final Datasheet in warhammer legends, it's now a fairly cheap and sturdy HQ for it's cost and the utility it's buffs provide.
**If you're looking for a good base for a conversion, the Damocles Rhino from Forge World is a good start.
*'''Land Raider Excelsior:''' The other half of the Command Tank duo, which comes with a 5+ invulnerable save, the Captain's ability to grant re-rolls for hit results of 1 for units within 6" of it, a pair of twin lascannons, a combi-plasma, and a grav-cannon/grav-amp combo. If you take it, take the Rhino Primaris too - it'll gain a +1 to hit for all shooting attacks if it stays within 24" of the Rhino Primaris. Apart from that, it's fairly similar to the vanilla LR, albeit better able to take on heavy infantry thanks to the grav-cannon. 
**As is the case for the Rhino Primaris, do ''not'' overcharge the plasma gun part of the combi-plasma. Your lascannons do everything that an overcharged plasma gun shot can do, without the risk of killing yourself in the process! Unless you're close to the Rhino Primaris, in which case, you might as well, since your rolls of 1 will become 2.
**As of the release of Warhammer Legends, the Land Raider Excelsior has undergone an interesting transformation, losing some of its flavour (read: cheese) while somehow simultaneously becoming a more viable pick for regular games. The 100 pt. drop in base cost, mixed with an updated combi-plasma that doesn't cause the LR to go nuclear on an off-day, means that this platform is a lot easier to justify fielding. Unfortunately, this does come at the cost of losing its status as a character, which means no relics/WT/stratagems for the poor old Excelsior anymore (sad face). Still, for only a handful more of points, you can now bring a vanilla LR with a 5++, a grav-cannon and grav-amp, and reroll 1s for itself and everyone around it. Not too shabby.
*'''Techmarine on Bike:''' 70 points for a faster Techmarine to get your repairs where you need them quicker. May trade his servo arm for a [[Old school roleplaying|Conversion Beamer]] for 20 points -- D3 shots at S6, or S8 AP-1 D2 if you're further than 21" away.
** The Premier Shooty guy HQ for codex Space marines and in particular Imperial Fists (See Chaplain Dreadnought for Forgeworld Bullshittery). Bike, Storm bolter, a Melee weapon and a conversion beamer (Min 94 pts) allows for 8 Bolter shots at 24" and heavy d3 multilaser or an ap-1 safe overcharged plasma cannon. Factor in imp fist tactics (ignore cover and exploding 6s for bolt weapons), and imp fist devastator doctrine (ap-1 and +1D for heavy weapons) and you have a cheap mobile weapons platform. But there's more... Factoring into account that this is a character you can also make him a warlord and give him a relic. Imp fist warlord trait Siege Master gives +1 to wound vs vehicles and buildings and you can also make his conversion beamer master crafted. 8 bolter shots with ignore cover and exploding shots on 6s, and a heavy d3 master crafted conversion beamer at S8 ap-2 D4 and all shots have ignore cover and +1 to wound vehicles and buildings making even the bolter shots decent vs T7 or lower vehicles.

===Troops===
With the new FOCs it is possible to make a Battle Forged list without any Troops at all...but you do need them for CP. Troops are usually where one turns for numbers, as in 8E the player with the most models within 3" of an objective can claim it. You have a lot of options for troops, and they're actually decent this edition.

*'''[[Tactical Squad]]:''' The same jack-of-all-trades as always. Due to how armour modifiers work in this edition they now benefit from cover, more so than most infantry in fact, but there are drastically more weapons capable of making them take a 4+ or worse save. They can fill in any gaps in your army that might need to be addressed. The best way to look at them is as a good middle ground option to your other troops choices. They don't have the early game mobility and good special rules of Scouts, the same durability and damage output as Intercessors/Infiltrators, or the same cover ignoring tricks as the Incursors, but they can be relied on to get the job done more often than not. Just don't expect them to perform miracles. Heavy weapons are easier to use now as they get less penalties for moving and unlimited split fire exists. This edition also encourages you to <u>take them as MSU</u>: less morale vulnerability and many units can fit in the same transport. That way you can put two 5-man units inside a Rhino and have two Sarges with Combis plus 2 Specia/Heavy weapon guys. Four total, as opposed to the three a regular 10-man squad would. Second Codex has reduced their cost significantly to the point where they cost only one more point than Scouts. 
** Tacticals make great pocket lascannon units, or, can take a hint of plasma/grav weaponry. let them sit on objectives or hitch a ride in a transport and they can really help other more expensive units. 
** Also consider the Missile Launcher in light of early AP-1 doctrines on heavy weapons. Unless you're against T8 (where a Lascannon will be the better choice), ML lets you take shots on tanks and monsters, then bolsters your bolters against hordes into the later stages of the game.
** Seriously consider taking Tactical Marines in a Rhino over Assault marines with jump packs, the assault marines are less encumbered, faster and cheaper but the rhino gives the marines a 9" movement before combat and for grabbing objectives (because of the +3" deployment move or you could keep them in the rhino for the same movement if you don't want to take advantage of obsec) and considerably more survivability. As for offence the Rhino soaks up overwatch and if the marines get the chance to shoot they get the same number of S4 attacks as a chainsword Assault Marine (2 bolter +2 melee with shock assault vs 1 bolt pistol and 3 melee with shock assault) but they also benefit from both the tactical and assault doctrines. In addition the Tactical Sergeant can take an actually good ranged weapon and a melee weapon while the Assault Sergeant can take only 2 melee weapons or a pistol and melee weapon, a TS with a storm bolter and chainsword (+2pts) has 8 S4 attacks if it can shoot and charge while the AS has only 5 S4 attacks if it has 2 chain swords or 3 power weapon attacks and 1 S4 chainsword attack (+4/5pts)

*'''[[Scout Squad]]:''' Cheaper than marines, with the same damage output but a 4+ save. The Scout special rule '''Concealed Positions''' may be the best troop rule space marines have, allowing them to cut off huge swathes of the board from enemy deep strikes early in the game. But Scouts are more than a mere speed bump. Flexible as the space marines in training they are, they can be used with either ranged or close combat loadouts (the close combat loadout is terrible unless you have very specific chapter tactics—typically, anything a pistol and chainsword scout can do, a shotgun scout can do better), but lacking power armour, you'll want to have a plan. Furthermore, don't give them shotguns unless you put them in a Land Speeder Storm—bolters are usually the better free gun, especially if you can keep them stationary and benefit from Bolter Discipline at the full 24". Camo Cloaks let them make better use of cover—it gives them the same resilience as Tacticals in cover (or from 12" away, if they're Raven Guard or Stealthy), but at a higher model cost. And Missile Launchers can combine with the Devastator Doctrine to effectively give them either a Lascannon shot or a Heavy Bolter burst on turn 1.
**Scouts with Sniper Rifles are your army's cheapest source of, well, sniping. Just like in Rynn's World, a scout with a sniper rifle is not going to kill an Ork Warboss, but they might take down the Pain Boy that supports him. They also help to create Character denial area during deployment. With good range and a chance for mortal wounds, they're useful for harassing not only characters but also targets of opportunity, like armoured infantry and even tanks.
**A sniper can be viewed as a source of 1/9 of a mortal wound.  Two battalions each with 15 sniper scouts (in 5 man teams) are a good example - it'll run you 390 points base before camo cloaks (another 90 for all of them) or monkeying around with the sergeant's loadout. If all 30 are all in range you're looking at about 3.33 mortal wounds a turn on any unit (including Characters, of course) in range, plus D3 more on a non-Character if you throw in a Heavy Bolter for Hellfire Shells. Each of those mortal wounds is de facto also a nonmortal wound (since you had to hit and roll high enough for the shot to have wounded anything in the game), so it's 3.33 mortal wounds plus ''at least'' 3.33 saveable wounds, which may be enough to kill a W4 target or less (which many characters are).
** Sniper scouts or even shotgun scouts make fantastic distractions and will bait your opponent into killing a unit that isn't really all that dangerous. Scouts are relatively cheap and force your opponent's hand, lest they start piling on mortal wounds or getting into shotgun or charge range. It tempts other players to waste their effort on them. In reality, all of your far more deadly units are moving into position with a turn less damage... which can make all the difference in situations where you didn't go first or become outmaneuvered, etc.  

*'''[[Intercessor]] Squad:''' The big boys. Had become the go-to for a high damage output Troop choice with their buffs and Stratagems. Has a 2W and A model for 17pts as opposed to the mini marine's 1W and A for 12pts; meaning 35% cheaper wounds. Before upgrades or considering squad sizes, that means you can bring 12 Intercessors (24 W) for the same price as 17 Marines. Their Bolt Rifles give them a 25"-36" threat range, where ''most enemies will need to move to even engage them'', leaving their cover behind. Stalker Bolt Rifles aren't as cost-effective and are only Heavy 1, but do let them further abuse the range difference while adding armour penetration and an extra point of damage, allowing them to contribute to the fight and pick off heavy infantry even when securing the backfield objectives. While they aren't as starved for mobility as other marines due to their range, Auto Bolt Rifles allow them to advance without sacrificing all their shooting, and have now been bumped up to Assault 3, making them the go-to choice for facing horde armies. And with 2 attacks each, plus a 3A sarge who can be equipped with a power sword, chainsword, power fist, or thunder hammer, they aren't defenseless in a melee. Even basic Intercessors come with a bolt pistol sidearm, so they actually get 3x S4 attacks each if they're locked in melee. That being said, they're countered by heavier vehicles, as their only special weapon is a 30" grenade launcher (with grenades themselves being meh, even under Devastator Doctrine). They're also a prime target for multi-damage weapons, like autocannons, and they are practically custom-tailored to be mulched by Dark Reapers. 
**Stalker Bolt Rifles are now D2, and with AP-2, these are clearly meant to be the rifles to be used against enemy Primaris. With the Devastator Doctrine the rifle is AP-3, which makes even light vehicles a viable target. Fists, both Imperial and Crimson, will get good mileage out of this since they can proc even more hits, and Iron Hands can take them while still retaining their mobility. 
**Intercessors are usually more durable on the tabletop than they appear on paper. Unlike tactical squads, Intercessors don't have heavy weapons which tend to draw fire from the enemy. This means your opponent will generally only fire at intercessors with anti-chaff weapons, especially if you have vehicles or other multi-wound models about. As long as the intercessors have cover, they're rolling 2+ saves on T4, with two wounds per model, which is much better than you really need to survive most anti-infantry firepower. This means your Intercessors are much better at holding objectives than an equal value of Tactical marines unless faced with heavy firepower. When brawling in CC over an objective with other skirmishers, they are easily underestimated—2W and 2A each means that they are effectively two tacs rolled into one model while not looking much more threatening. This leads to some mop-up charges getting stuck and worn down, or even being wiped out entirely thanks to Shock Assault. 
**Intercessors are a good choice for a {{W40kKeyword|Raven Guard}} force, as they are one of the few units able to Rapid Fire from outside 12" even when on the move, allowing them to keep their cover bonus. Prime objective cover campers, as at 2W, 2+ save and -1 to hit, there are more appealing targets to be found elsewhere.
**As of the second Codex, Intercessor Sergeants can now take a few relics with the right Stratagem. Not the best option for a relic, but it's there if you want it and a D4 Thunder Hammer is capable of ruining someone's day no matter who's using it. 

*'''[[Infiltrator]] Squad:''' Scout Intercessors, but with +1Ld and '''Marksman bolt carbines''', which are essentially boltguns whose unmodified hit rolls of 6 automatically hit and wound. They can be set up anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 9" from an enemy unit or your opponent’s own deployment zone, and their '''Omni-scramblers''' prevents deepstrikes within 12" of them (and <u>nullifying deepstrike charges</u>), making them excellent at area denial. With Primaris resilience they become better speedbumps than Scouts...though at twice their cost, no sniper guns, special/heavy weapons or even good bolter AP like Intercessors they can struggle to be more than heavy keepaway units. To operate usupported away from your lines, they can replace an infiltrator with either one of two specialists:
**The defensive option is an Apothecary-Cadet that can only heal a model from this unit, or revive one on a ''5+''. Along with their smoke grenades, which work exactly like vehicle smoke launchers, Infiltrators in cover can survive moderate fire while your actual Apothecary is busy elsewhere.
**The offensive option is a Comms specialist who will let your whole unit benefit from Rites of Battle and Tactical Precision auras of any Phobos Captains or Lieutenants currently in play ''no matter where they are on the board''. Only those two auras; apparently Chapter Masters throw away their vox set upon promotion. Getting those re-rolls simultaneously makes their marksman bolt carbines more reliable without sacrificing the auras for the rest of your army. Intercessors still beat them on AP, but Infiltrators get better positioning from the start.

*'''[[Incursor]] Squad:''' Cheaper, close support infiltrators. Useful in offense and defense. At range, their '''Occulus Bolt Carbines''' and tacticool sensors lets them ignore both cover and hit penalties, making them the bane of enemy stealth users and such. Yet they also have the best melee among your troops, with their paired knives inflicting an extra hit on natural 6s. They can infiltrate, and while they don't have the infiltrator's deepstrike-denying auras or specialists, they can defend a position with a '''Haywire mine''' and blow up people and vehicles that go where you don't want them to go.
**Intercessor Vets with a Thunder Hammer hit harder than them, but sending them against GEQ is overkill. Reivers hit harder in melee, but they're Elites, and sacrifice their dakka for choppa. Incursors are good front line brawlers, killy enough to deal with hordes and heavy enough to be hard to tackle without dedicated melee squads or MEQ-killers. Capturing that objective all the while, because they're troops. You can even tie up vehicles; set the mine up before the charge, and when they try to fall back from the Incursors, they'll trigger it.

===Elites===
The Space Marine Elite slot gets work done and carries essential buffing character units like the Apothecary and Company Ancient, as well as a few exotic Forge World vehicles. Vastly improved with new codex, very powerful units await!
 
*'''[[Aggressor]] Squad:''' Now with 3W, they're the middle ground between a Terminator and an Assault Centurion. Aggressors are heavy defense soldiers, with powerful short range dakka and the ability to shoot twice if they stay still, as they would when protecting an objective or your lines. And unlike other Primaris, they also have great close combat power with 3 powerfist attacks base! They come stock with auto boltstorm gauntlets (2x 18" Assault 3 bolters) and a frag grenade launcher, or you can trade all that in for Firebat pattern flamestorm gauntlets, aka a pair of flamers. The bolters + launchers average 6.33 hits to the flamers' 7, but at more than twice the range. 
**Aggressors are a veritable roadblock, and cost-effective to boot. Do notice '''Fire Storm''' lets them shoot twice if they didn't move <i> in that</i> turn, meaning even running forwards they get to overwatch twice, which is when the flamer's autohitting double overwatch  ''14 hits per model'' outshine the bolters' 3.16. With Gravis armour T5 3W, they are resilient enough to serve as front liners and discourage/punish Deep strikes, swarming tactics and fast charges, like Evil Sunz' or Genestealers'. They are a good guardian squad to use '''Auspex Scan''' on, triggering the Fire Storm. A vanguard detachment of 3 squads with a Lieutenant placed in front of your main army is more than enough to contain an opponent and deal significant damage in the process while being affordable: a squad of three is 111 pts yet cranks out 57 shots a turn. That's nearly .5 bolter shots per point; the highest damage output per point IN THE ENTIRE GAME, dealing at least TWICE as much damage per point to pretty much any target as the next best option. And with support you can double it. For example, against MEQ with just a captain reroll 1 to hit and Doctrine, these will deal 3 times more wounds per point than Dark Reapers. Plus, they work well with many stratagems, and are both anti-horde *and* anti-elite. Clearly someone at GW gets a blowjob for every box of aggressors sold.
**Shooty and choppy, they're balanced by their inability to get around easily. All other units in your army can either deepstrike, infiltrate, fly 12", bike 14" or ride cheap transports like Rhinos, Drop Pods and Impulsors. Aggressors may only ride ~300 pts Repulsors, so you'll have to either rely on chapter-specific gimmicks or plant them somewhere and be on the defensive. At least they can advance without the shooting penalty, where Assault Centurions can only walk or hop into Land Raiders.
**'''Comparison to Termies and Assault Cents:''' They don't teleport nor do they have an invuln save, so, any resemblance to Terminators is merely a cosmetic one. Aggressors are Assault Centurions lite: lots of S4 shots, lots of wounds, T5 and nasty punches. They are more mobile and thus, easier to use. That being said, Centurions do have a 2+ save and S10 D3 drills that lack a penalty to hit. And while they need a Land Raider (preferably Redeemer), at least that fills a Heavy choice and can fit manlet characters, unlike the normal Repulsor (which is a dedicated transport) or Executioner (which is a better gunship but fits 3 Aggressors and nothing else).

*'''[[Apothecary]]:''' Now a Character running on his own. Doesn't give out Feel No Pain, but if he's within 3" of a {{W40Kkeyword|<chapter> Infantry}}/{{W40Kkeyword|Biker}} unit at the end of the Movement phase, he can heal 1d3 wounds on 1 model in it. If no-one's wounded, he gets a 4+ chance to bring 1 dead model back to life with a single wound, but if he fails, he can't do anything else that turn. Can't swap out his weapons, so he's stuck with a bolt pistol and chainsword. Combines great with high-end infantry, shooty or assaulty. Bringing a Centurion Devastator back from the dead or healing the linchpin of your army's buff aura is invaluable.  Combine with a Company Ancient to make a trade-in death.
**'''[[Primaris Apothecary]]:''' 10 points for +1W and improved pistols: the reductor pistol, which is a 3" S4 AP-3 D2 pistol, and the Absolver Pistol, which is 16" S5 AP-1 D1. He's a great choice if you want to go for an all-Primaris army. Keep him back and out of assault - he has no business in close combat. He'll do just fine popping off shots with his pistol and keeping nearby units alive.
*'''Company Ancient:''' The old banner bearer, now an Independent Character. The banner adds +1L to any same {{W40Kkeyword|<chapter> Infantry}} units within 6". If a {{W40Kkeyword|<chapter> Infantry}} ''model'' dies within 6", you get a 4+ chance for them to get off one more round of shooting or close combat right then before your opponent can move on to something else. Note that this only affects models in the bubble, not units, so be mindful when picking who dies. It also sadly doesn't affect bikes. Comes with a bolt pistol that you can swap for a different pistol, combi, or melee weapon. Out of phase shooting is great, and marine infantry die quite a bit in practice. Combine with an Apothecary.
**'''[[Primaris Ancient]]:''' Same as a Company Ancient, but with +1W +1A. Comes with a bolt rifle in addition to the pistol, and can't swap his wargear or ride in anything but a Repulsor. ''Easily'' worth the 5 points for the +1W alone; the +1A and improved bolter are just icing, as you probably weren't planning on up-gunning you are Ancient anyway, and since the Ancient buff is an AOE on multiple units, very compelling overtaking a second Ancient for redundancy.
**'''Ancient in Terminator Armour:''' A new addition as of the 2.0 Codex, now this guy is finally available for use by Marines that don't get their own special codex. As one might expect, the armour gives him +1 Wound and a 2+/5++ save over his PA counterpart and he is locked into having a Power Fist and Storm Bolter. An excellent choice for accompanying Terminators of all sorts out of Deepstrike.
***Also of note is the fact that, much like the bike ancient, these guys are mounted on a larger 40mm bases, meaning you can get more models into your buff aura.
*'''Centurion Assault Squad:''' With T5 and 4 wounds apiece, the choppy Space Marine in a Space Marine is a nasty piece of work in melee, especially since it can cause a HoW-like mortal wound on a 4+. However, it can give that ability up in exchange for Hurricane Bolters that act like Rapid Fire 6 Bolters- that's the equivalent of a MSU Tactical squad before you even get into RF range! The Siege Drills are pretty good too, since they act like Chainfists but with one more point of damage and no penalty to hit. As an added bonus, their sarge's omniscope negates cover bonuses. Getting them up the field practically requires a Land Raider. For long range shooting focused marine armies, Assault Cents make a strong counter charge unit. Especially because of having 2 flamers EACH, that make up for 6 D6 of auto hitting surprise in overwatch or tearing apart big blobs of infantry. Can also swap the flamers for melta guns which will complement your drills quality over quantity melee output. With the new codex they are still expensive but their improvements make them at least reasonable considering Shock Assault and W4.
*'''Chapter Champion:''' It's anyone's guess at this point which datasheet for this guy is "correct"; he has entries in the first Space Marine Codex and the Index, with different wargear; he's absent from the second Codex, but is present in both the Ultramarines supplement (with the {{W40Kkeyword|Ultramarines}} keyword) and in '''''Faith and Fury''''' as a 1 CP upgrade to a Company Champion.
**Index/Codex 1 Version:  The only version that can take a bolter, and the only version that can take a relic blade or thunder hammer, but also the one with the least special rules making it better in melee (no re-rolling wounds, no ASF, inferior Heroic Intervention range).  As a result, this version, if legal, is the best of the bunch against ''non''-{{W40Kkeyword|character}} targets, as you can give it superior equipment, and the only rule you miss out on is -1 to be hit in melee.  Against an actual Character, not even as good as a Company Champion, below.  Don't forget to give him a bolt pistol - it's on the Index datasheet, so even the Codex version can carry it.
**Ultramarines Supplement:  You can see the relevant chapter discussion below for more on this, but the tl;dr is that it's less points efficient than the Faith and Fury version, while costing no CP.  It also has no bolt pistol.
**Faith and Fury:  This is a Company Champion with +1Ld, +1A, and -1 to be hit in melee, which you pay 1 CP to accomplish.  As a result, this is the only one of the three with a 3+/5++ instead of a 2+, and it has a bolt pistol but no Champion's Blade; it's a lot cheaper in terms of points, so against a character, it's the best of the three, provided you can get close.
*'''Company Champion:''' Another former Command Squad guy now on his own. He can't bodyguard, but he's WS2+, W4, is a {{W40Kkeyword|character}}, has to make a 6" Heroic Intervention if possible, and re-rolls failed hits and wounds and has ASF against {{W40Kkeyword|Characters}}. Comes with a master-crafted power sword, bolt pistol, and combat shield for a 5++, but no other wargear options. Multiple Champions can be very interesting when embedded in your gunline, or as part of a larger melee deathstar - Heroic Interventions make them a very useful counter-assault choice, and they can swiftly dispatch ''most'' other characters without wasting your Captain / Chapter Master's time.
**However, neither Company Champions nor any of the Chapter Champion variants can keep up with Thunder Hammer Company Veterans, from an offensive standpoint, so their main benefit is ''defensive'', due to being characters.
*'''Company Veterans:''' More or less the Command Squad from earlier editions, minus the Apothecary, (Company) Champion, and banner bearer (now a Company Ancient), which are all split off as independent Characters. You can still kit between 2 and 5 of them out however you like (except no special weapons on the Sergeant - he's stuck with combi, which only matters if for some reason you wanted to bring meltaguns). They possess an ability similar to the old "Look out, Sir!" rule which lets them intercept a wound from a {{W40Kkeyword|<chapter> character}} on a 2+ in exchange for taking a mortal wound, so they're good bodyguards. 
**Far and away the best {{W40Kkeyword|Infantry}} unit you can field, both offensively and defensively, per point; all of them can go special/combi weapon+storm shield, thunder hammer+storm shield, or special weapon+thunder hammer, and they can get down to a 2-man unit, emphasizing morale immunity and maximizing the "free" sergeant "upgrade" (even though he is proficient with fewer weapons than his men). Note the sergeant has been FAQed to now have access to storm shields.
**While it goes without saying taking two melee weapons is idiotic outside of two chainswords or two lightning claws, any combination of melee and pistols essentially means you're taking Vanguard Vets, but without the Jump Packs, and with the ability to get down to 2 men, not 5 (particularly useful due to the Sergeant's improved Attacks), as well as having the bodyguard ability - if you were going to take Vanguard Vets on foot anyway, such as in a transport, these are better, but you should think long and hard before taking these instead of Vanguard Vets with Jump Packs, if you're after melee.  The ''primary'' reason to take Company Vets is the Special Weapons access, paired with either a thunder hammer or a storm shield (the storm shield is usually your best bet).
**For the points, you ''should not'' take flamers - a combi-flamer will deliver more S4 shots in that range per point, if you're ''really'' after 8" of S4 death.  However, no tricks here will let you beat out Scout Bike trios or Bike trios for S4 hits per point, so you should seriously consider loading them out differently.
**The same is true of plasma, simply because plasmas and combiplasmas have the same point cost, so you may as well take the combis for their improved output against GEQ.
**Meltaguns cost as much as the Veterans carrying them, and you have no really great way to get them into position to shoot, so in practice, they're best avoided.  Grav guns, on the other hand, are just always an inefficient choice, period, compared to plasma.
**Consider a Stormbolter + Chainsword loadout for Rapidfire 2 S4, and 3 Attacks on the charge, at a fairly decent price. These guys can be really helpful in a Character spam space marine army, as usually characters can't be shot if other units are in the way, but some attacks can single out characters. These guys can intercept those wounds.
**With a minimum size of two veterans, {{W40Kkeyword|Crimson Fists}} should be very pleased.
**Because all of the wounds of a single attack are negated it's pretty useful to take just two of them, and overkill the unit with mortal wounds if your characters get hit by especially high-damage attacks. 
*'''Vanguard Veteran Squad:''' Better assault marines. They can take a large selection of weapons while using Jump Packs when properly loaded out they can get enemy models engaged in CC and kill them first turn if taken in numbers (the easiest way to accomplish a turn 1 deep strike charge is by making many attempts at it). A pretty popular unit in 7th and still could be in 8th, as weapons like lightning claws and power swords can wound things like dreadnoughts and vehicles on 5s. Plasma pistols are a really viable choice in 8th, as you can shoot both pistols on the drop. Each model can take 2 chainswords - that's 4 attacks per model for 90 points (or 80 if you're silly and don't take the Packs), 5 for the Sergeant. Though expensive, with the changes to how invulnerable saves work, a Vanguard squad with Thunder Hammers and Shields can be a superior alternative to taking hammernators. A squad with this set-up can kill some of the most powerful units in the game in a single turn. As an example, 4 groups of 5 hitting Magnus (T7 Sv3+/4++r1 18W) expect to wipe him out in a single turn, although they will cost about 2/3 again his cost, assuming you take the Jump Packs. Vanguard with thunder hammers can do a maximum of 33 damage per turn; if a Captain (or, better, a Chaplain, who will provide a better buff for fewer points), Lieutenant, and/or Guilliman is within buff range, they become particularly terrifying. Revisiting the above math, a nearby jump lieutenant and jump chaplain take the point difference from needing 668 to kill 415 to needing 597 (roughly, 4 squads to 2.5 squads), and that's just their buff, of course - both characters can jump in and help if they like.  Each TH/SS Vet costs 13 points less than a TH/SS Assault Terminator, hits just as hard, can't have their teleport deactivated, has the same invulnerable save, will never need a transport to be effective, and has ''much'' higher movement. Their main trade-offs are an armour save of 3+ instead of a 2+ and 1 less wound than a Terminator; however, considering the amount of AP modifying weapons and multi damage weaponry in 8th, this isn't as big a trade-off as it first appears. On the whole, a flexible unit that can be geared to be what you want - as cheap as possible to shred hordes with chainswords, or tooled up to deal with more powerful units. Models in this unit can have 2 chainswords, which is usually more productive than 1 chainsword 1 bolt pistol -- as you get two fight phases per battle round, but only one shooting phase. 2 Chainswords on a 2 attack model means 4 total attacks.
*'''Sternguard Veteran Squad:''' With the special ammunition gone, the sternguard now walk up the field with their beefy Special Issue Boltgun. Now the gun is free and packing a punch with its AP-2 and 30" range over the standard-issue, the sternguard are much more likely to crunch through all forms of armour, especially in conjunction with the Masterful Marksmanship Stratagem. A special note goes towards combi-weapons; while they don't have the one-use rule anymore, remember that the bolt part of the weapon is the standard one without any AP. They also get the standard veteran extra attack over a normal marine, so they can deal some decent retaliatory damage when they're inevitably charged.
**The sergeant can take a Sergeant Weapon ''in addition to'' his SIB, which you should ''always'' do - depending on your plan for the unit, a combiflamer, combiplasma, or storm bolter plus SIB will ''always'' outperform any other loadout he can take, because the SIB is free.
**Still one of the best units to come out of a drop pod and rapid fire something to death with their special issue boltguns.  Their new specialized stratagem gives them +1 to their wound roll, so make sure to have a Captain/Chapter Master near them for the re-rolls, and give him the Storm of Fire Warlord Trait and include a Lieutenant.  Now they're shooting 20 shots, re-rolling 1s (or misses if it's the CM), wounding everything less than T8 on a 3/4+, re-rolling 1 s to wound, and every 5 or 6 to wound is resolved at AP-3 (and just for added fun, make them Imperial Fists and ignore that cover their squad is hiding in while you gain the potential for extra shots with the Bolter Drill Stratagem, or make them Salamanders for even more reliable wounding/improved AM and less reliance on a full Chapter Master).
**When these guys come out of drop pods, don't forget that their rapid fire range is 15", so that can give them some space before the inevitable charge.  Most units are only able to rapid fire 12" away, so the following turn, the enemy unit can advance 6" and then be up close for an easy charge.  The difference between being 9" away and 6" should not be understated, and should be used to your advantage, so keep that in mind when deploying their drop pod.
***Note that coming out of a drop pod 12" away if armed with Storm Bolters will be more effective, if riskier, and without ap-2.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
*When comparing the Special Issue Boltgun to the Storm Bolter, it can be seen that (ignoring range) the SIB is, in general, better than the Storm Bolter against most targets, when employing the Masterful Marksmanship stratagem. It is better universally if the target has a 2+ armour save and an invulnerable of 4++ or worse, and they are the same against 3+ or 2+/3++. The AP of the SIB comes in handy when discussing how many successful wounds when the wound roll is disadvantaged; the Storm Bolter affects nothing, while AP-2 can significantly improve wound chances. When using the stratagem, see the following table.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

<center><div>
{|class="wikitable" border="1"  cellpadding="4"  cellspacing="4"
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Masterful Marksmanship
! colspan="5" |Save
|-
!2+
!3+
!4+
!5+
!6+
|-
! rowspan="5" |To Wound
!2+
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Both
|Storm Bolter
|Storm Bolter
|Storm Bolter
|-
!3+
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Storm Bolter
|Storm Bolter
|-
!4+
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Both
|Storm Bolter
|-
!5+
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Storm Bolter
|-
!6+
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Special Issue Boltgun
|Special Issue Boltgun
|-
|}</div></center>
</div>
</div>

*'''[[Terminator Squad]]:''' As of late, Terminators seem to be overtaken by other elites and Primaris heavy hitters. However, terminators still have a worthy role in your army and it is actually the fluffiest! Terminators really only find value when being shot out of very cheap land raiders and teleporting. Heavy shock assault troops have always been their role, now its just been streamlined into their only relevant role. Terminators still have to worry about high-AP weaponry, but since very few weapons have anything better than AP-4 they'll almost always be able to use the resulting 6+ armour save (though you could just use the 5++ instead); it's not much, but it helps. At the same time, the addition of an extra Wound to their profile also outright doubles their survivability against massed small arms fire. The  5" movement means they're most effective when deep striking, but footslogging can still work if your opponent's lacking in anti-armour weaponary.  The heavy flamer punishes counter charges and has the benefit of autohitting, but you won't be able to fire it the turn they teleport in. Storm Bolters do pour out the Dakka but Bolters aren't very productive, except when you tie in widely available buffs. The assault cannon is good for shredding lightly armoured infantry and can even pick away at light vehicles if you have nothing better to shoot at. The Cyclone Missile Launcher now arrives at a decent 32 points and vastly supplements all-rounder firepower. Teleport them onto a midfield objective, when in cover they become quite hard to shift. Deep Strike these guys 9" away from enemy meatsheilds, within Rapid Fire range of their Stormbolters, and launch the equivalent of 20 bolter shots. Follow up with a charge at whatever the meatshield was protecting. 
**Teleport homers work a little differently now; it's set up during deployment, anywhere in your deployment zone, and allows Terminators to skip their move in exchange for re-deploying the unit within 6" of the homer. While this is great for bringing them into an area that needs defending, each homer can only be used once and will be disabled if an enemy moves within 9" of it. A good way to screw with your opponents head as they can see where the homer is and will always have to consider the fact that your units can just blip away at your discretion. 
*'''Terminator Assault Squad:''' Still the gold standard of heavy assault troops, especially with the extra wound they've gained. The classic Hammernator setup is still great for smashing in vehicles and heavy infantry alike while taking little damage yourself, but the -1 to hit can be a problem at times. Take a Chaplain along to mitigate the lowered hit rate (remember, though, that re-rolls occur before modifiers, so no re-rolling 3s). A set of Lightning Claws are more reliable and more effective against horde armies due to the additional attack, so it may be a better idea than before to stick with them. Assault Terminators with hammers, shields and near a chaplain or captain can obliterate the most powerful units in 8th in a single turn. The only alternative that offers anywhere near the CC killing power of hammernators are vanguard with hammers (Hammerguard?) and while they have better movement and cost less they lack the durability of terminators having less wounds and a weaker armour save.
**Never take these guys with only Lightning Claws, you should always include at least 1 with hammer and shield. Why? Tartaros Terminators can take double claws for the exact same cost, have the same stats and 5++, get a 6" move instead of 5", and can add a grenade harness for a bit of shooting on the side; Cataphractii aren't as fast, but have a better invulnerable save, also get the harness, and ''cost 5 points less'' when using double claws. The only advantages these guys have over Tartaros are the hammer/shield setup, and a teleport homer for an emergency jump out, so *use* them.
**After failing to use these bad boys to their full potential for 3 games in a row, I've come to the conclusion that anything less than running them as '''Black Templars''' with a Chaplain babysitting them just isn't worth the effort or points. The 9" charge is just too much of a risk to pull off without the guaranteed re-roll, and the lack of Chaplain means these walking tanks fail to hit 50% of the time with their hammers. If you want to guarantee a KEQ kill, you need to make a successful charge with both the Terminators '''and''' the Chaplain, do not die to overwatch or return fire, then pop an ''Honour Thy Chapter''. As mentioned before, and in the standard unit's entry, use discounted Land Raiders to place Hammernators right where you need them. 
*'''Cataphractii Terminator Squad:''' Cataphractii Terminators come with a 4++, but they're stuck with a movement of 4" and halve the results of their Advance rolls. They can be as lethal in close combat as Assault Terminators (and more durable by far when compared to Assault Terminators with LCs if kitted out that way), but their terribly slow movement means they'll struggle to actually get stuck in without deep striking or hitching a ride on a Land Raider. 
**Remember that to benefit from the Lightning Claw's extra attack, you need to replace both the power fist and the combi-bolter. As lethal as the combination of LCs and a built in Storm Shield can be, it will eat up a lot of points. A good build not available to normal terminators is a LC and a twin boltgun on each terminator, dropping the twin LC for one and taking the boltgun, you only lose one attack and gain 4 bolt shots instead, giving your 5 man squad 20 shots, and don't forget you can take a heavy flamer too. On a 10 man unit that is 40 shots and you save yourself 20 points on dropping the extra LC.
**The sarge's grenade harness is a good way of giving him a ranged attack while still letting him take two lightning claws. It's an Assault D6 12" bolter with -1 AP, which isn't great but is still better than nothing.
**A unit of 5 Cataphractii Terminators with Twin Lightning Claws costs 210 points. A Terminator Assault Squad with Twin Lightning Claws costs 215 points. A Tartaros Terminator Squad with Twin Lightning Claws costs 215 points. For the reduction of 5 points you lose 1'' of movement and gain a 4++ save instead. The sheer durability added and the ability to teleport onto the field means that if you're looking to do Twin Lightning Claw terminators there's literally very little reason to NOT use Cataphractii over normal Terminators. Just keep in mind that after the charge they'll have to footslog unless you have a transport near by. Great when combined with Black Templers for the re-rolling charge to ensure they make the charge. 
*'''Tartaros Terminator Squad:''' All the protection of standard Terminator Armour, but none of the movement penalties! As before, the Tartaros Terminators use Reaper Autocannons instead of Assault Cannons; while they have fewer shots than the AC, which means even with the extra point of strength they'll break even against T7 (and have worse output against T6 ), at least they're slightly cheaper. The improved mobility does come at the expense of losing access to Storm Shields, though, and unlike the Cataphractii your invulnerable save is no better than basic Terminator armour. 
**Up to 2 models can take grenade harnesses; their range overlaps with the Combi-bolter's rapid fire range, so use that to your advantage.
**The sarge can take a Plasma Blaster or a Volkite Charger. The Plasma Blaster is an 18" Assault 2 plasma gun, with all the strengths and weaknesses that entails. The Volkite Charger is Heavy 2 15" S5 AP0 D2; while it may seem somewhat weak compared to the Plasma Blaster it can still cause multiple wounds without running the risk of blowing yourself up with it in the process. <s>[[Fail|But unlike other 40K Volkite weapons it can't cause more damage on a 6+.]]</s> GW sensed your pain and have answered:  volkite chargers now do the extra mortal wound on a 6. Pairing it with the power sword might be a good idea, though - the sword's AP-3 can help compensate for the Volkite's ineffectivenss against armoured units. Though you probably want to take a Chainfist as it has better AP and damage compared to the other melee options. If you expect to face TEQs. You should take the Plasma Blaster instead. 
*'''[[Dreadnought]]:''' The Dreadnought is one of the best non-HQ units in the Space Marine lineup. For 177 you can have a Dreadnought with twin lascannons and the CCW w/Heavy Flamer (even cheaper in 8.5 codex baby - this loadout now costs only ''134 points''), or for 165 you can have 5 Devastators with 4 lascannons. That's not the most optimal build for the Dreadnought, either. In an edition that loves the Heavy Flamer, Dreadnoughts can carry 3. The unit is buffed by HQs and provides the same security any other bubble wrap could. And speaking of buffs, remember that the Wisdom of the Ancients Stratagem gives it a Captain's re-rolling aura for a turn.
**Three heavy flamers is the best use for one of these guys, because a Venerable Dreadnought has more efficient accuracy, provided you took weapons that roll to hit.
**A special note on the capabilities of horde killing. An assault cannon is only 1 point more than taking 2 heavy bolters, in exchange for +1S, which is easily worth it - it will devastate any T3 units, and can deal with T4 too, while the heavy flamer will toast charging units. Should anything survive the onslaught, the dreadnought then packs 4 attacks at S12(!!!) with AP-3 and 3 damage a strike. The dreadnought will smash most things you throw it at, should you manage to get it into melee.
**Another mention goes to the Riflenought setup with two dual autocannons, spewing out 8 Autocannon shots per turn. Great for tearing up 2 wound models in particular, or throwing some decent hurt at most targets from long range. Notably, it's 5 points cheaper to do this with a regular dread than a Mortis. Even though the Autocannon option isn't in the new codex, luckily we can still use the wargear from the index/Legends profiles.
*'''Venerable Dreadnought:''' A Venerable Dreadnought has a slightly better WS and BS vs a regular Dreadnought, as well as the ability to negate received wounds on a 6+. It gets all of the same weapon options as a regular dread, so it can fill the role better, if more expensively. Notably, the 2+ BS lets you move and still shoot heavy weapons with a better than 50/50 chance to hit, so if you want your dual twin autocannon or lascannon/twin autocannon to stay mobile, consider the Venerable. Note that even with the cheapest possible loadouts (missile launcher+assault cannon), this implies a 17.24% cost increase for a 25% gain in performance if you stand still (the gain is better if you move), so unless you're taking Heavy Flamers or a Chapter Master, this is always worth it for the output alone; under a Chapter Master, even if you move the gain is less than the cost, so if you don't care about the durability increase, don't pay for the Venerability. Ven Dreads with the Iron Hands trait don't receive both benefits.
*'''Contemptor Dreadnought:''' For just a modest points increase over a standard Dreadnought, the Contemptor packs 3 extra inches of movement, 2 extra wounds, +1 strength, the same WS/BS as the Venerable Dreadnought, and a 3+/5++ (it also costs more than a Venerable). All of this, unfortunately, comes with a small consequence. The Contemptor and the Redemptor are the only non-FW dreadnought variants currently that suffer from a Damage Table. Generally speaking, the Contemptor is a goddamn steal for what he costs now. The extra-fast movement speed means he can get into any position he needs to be in very short order, and reach melee combat with almost complete certainty. It's limited to a melee weapon and either a multi-melta or Kheres-pattern Assault Cannon (which has one more point of S compared to the normal AC, in exchange for costing 4 points more - not that S7 vs S6 is a compelling jump) and lacks smoke launchers, but its wargear is still more than enough to take out most enemies. This dangerous combination of potent stats and strong weapons means he can fulfill a wide variety of battlefield roles, and the dizzying array of options its Forge World counterpart (see below) has only makes it even more adaptable:
**Crowd Control: Go after enemy units and hunt down squads. 
**Elite Hunter: Superb at taking down other Elite Units.
**Character Killer: His high Strength, Weapon Skill, and Damage means the Contemptor can kill most characters in a single round of combat. He is rightfully to be feared by enemy warlords.
**Linesman: High toughness, high saves, and high wounds means the Contemptor can stop advances pretty quickly. 
*'''Ironclad Dreadnought:''' Ironclad Dreadnoughts are much more melee-oriented than the other Dreadnought types, and the extra point of Toughness they get helps them stick around to get there. It switches out its ranged weapon for a Seismic hammer, which forces a -1 to hit but comes with AP-4 and deals a jaw-dropping 5 damage per attack; if reliability is more your thing, it can be switched for a Dreadnought chainfist which deals "only" 4 damage per attack but retains the high AP and loses the penalty to hit. The hammer is better against W5, 9, 10 while the fist is better against everything else. If you don't know for certain that you are going to face a lot of W5 characters or transports with W10 you should generally avoid the hammer. You can choose to switch the CCW for a hurricane bolter, but that's a bad idea since it re-rolls to hit results of 1 in close combat when it has two melee weapons equipped. Of course, if you plan on keeping close to a Captain or Chaplain (such as riding a Stormraven with them and another squad), that second CCW becomes redundant. Finally, the Ironclad Assault Launchers give it the ability to deal d3 mortal wounds to units within 1" of it after a charge on a 4+, which ensures they'll be softened up when you begin the fight phase.
**Ludicrously strong against high-wound targets without invulnerable saves such as tanks, Tyranid monsters, etc. It can easily earn its points back in a single melee phase, but it is limited by the 6" move.
**Worth noting that since the April 2019 FAQ, this is the only vehicle in your arsenal which can still use Bolter Drill on a Hurricane Bolter. pumping out 12 boltgun shots at 24" range is nothing to be sniffed at. It adds infantry clearance to its already very good CV.
**Unbelievably good with the iron hands stratagem for dreadnought characters, leave this chad in your lies and un-targetable and have him smash any big nasties that try and rush your lines.
*'''Redemptor Dreadnought:''' The vanilla dread's Jock roommate. With nearly twice the wounds of a vanilla dreadnought (and degrading stats to accompany the increased durability), the redemptor dreadnought is a solid heavy weapons platform, capable of holding the anti-horde Onslaught Gatling Cannon or the armour-melting Macro Plasma Incinerator, ''and'' the anti-air Icarus Rocket Pod as well as a pair of storm bolters or fragstorm grenade launchers. However, it is a heavy points investment, and much of its anti-armour potential might be better handled by specialized units like Devastators, Hellblasters, or Predator variants. Instead, anti-horde fire support appears to be its most effective niche, potentially able to put out a withering volley of mid-strength shooting that will take a significant chunk out of GEQ or weaker units and then follow up with a smack from its CCW, which is d6 damage compared to the normal Dreadnought CCW's d3. But even if it takes the Macro plasma Incinerator, the CCW can still swap its heavy flamer for an Onslaught Gatling Cannon to retain effectiveness against hordes. 
** Equip it with a Plasma incinerator, use the Wisdom of the Ancients stratagem, and a big unit of Hellblasters, and you can re-roll all those overcharges that might blow you to high heaven.
*'''[[Invictor Tactical Warsuit]]:''' Dreadnought Lite—all the bulk, half the <s>calories</s> points. T6 and W13 helps keep it on the board, and it doesn’t degrade until it’s down to 6 wounds. For firepower, it can take either an Incendium Cannon that’s basically a souped up Heavy Flamer (12” Heavy 2d6 auto-hit S5 AP-1 D1), or a Twin Ironhail Autocannon (48” Heavy 6 S7 AP-1 D2) for shooting up heavy infantry. Backup weapons are a standard Fragstorm Grenade Launcher, a pair of Heavy Stubbers, and a Heavy Bolter that switches to Pistol 3 when enemies are within 1”. The only real way to take on vehicles (or, say, the occasional Bloodthirster) is with its Power Fist, which does 4 attacks at S14, AP-3, and D3. Finally, to get in position, it has the same Concealed Positions ability as Infiltrators and Incursors.
**Best use of this is probably to give it the flamer option and use Concealed Positions to start it within 12” of some enemy infantry. Further, this unit packs 5 S14 Ap-3 D3 hits on the charge or when charged, and careful positioning will hamper monsters and vehicles running towards your infantry, which is just another reason to get it as close to the enemy as possible. For this reason, assume it will get destroyed turn 3. However, if you're careful, it should get a few turns of shooting and overwatch with the flame cannon and maybe a combat or two with the fist... Could do better, could do worse. 
**You could also give it the Autocannons and either leave it in your backfield for long range fire support, or use Concealed Positions to put it where it can pop shots off at targets who tried to hide and block line of sight. However, the rest of its weapons are oriented towards close range infantry mulching, leading to the same issues as with the laser version of the Repulsor Executioner.
*'''[[Reiver]] Squad:''' The 16 point loyalist equivalent to berserkers, the melee specialists of the Primaris Marines have some steep competition in the Elites slot, but where they're beaten in regards to sheer power they compensate with their unique rules and equipment. They're armed with a heavy bolt pistol that has -1 AP compared to the normal one and a combat blade that functions identically to a chainsword and can be traded for a bolt carbine, but their main draw is their Shock Grenades. They're Grenade d3 weapons that don't deal direct damage, but instead disable the Overwatch of INFANTRY they hit in addition to penalizing their hit rolls by 1. This added advantage in the Fight phase works well with the Reivers' Terror Troops rule, which reduces the Ld of all enemy units within 3" of any model in the Reiver Squad by 1, and which stacks with other squads up to Ld-3. As a result, they can debuff the Ld of units they're not actually in combat with, which can lead to a nasty chain reaction if they're stationed near units that are already likely to break in the Morale phase. They're also the cheapest of the Primaris Marines released so far by a long shot as well, which makes them a good way of supplementing an Assault Marine-centric force without spending too many points in the process. They can also buy grav chutes which lets them deep strike anywhere more than 9" away from the enemy. Alternatively, you can buy grapnel launchers, which negate vertical movement when calculating how far Reivers can move and allows for them to Outflank a la Space Woof Scouts. 
** Now at 16 points per model, Reivers are looking better than ever! Thats 8 points per wound, ''with'' fancy kit. Indeed, the cheapest Space Marine wounds ever seen!!!
** A small unit with bolt carbines and grapnel launchers can make a decent harassing unit. Plop them in a building on your opponent's side. Bolt carbines put out twice as many shots as bolters/bolt rifles at 24" and the vertical distance keeps them safe from most assaults while cover helps keep them alive. Next turn hit the floor and advance while shooting, or better yet charge if you have the chance after popping off a shock grenade. It's a small, expendable unit that can still wreak havoc if left unchecked.
** While not points efficient, it is possible to give Reivers both the grav chutes and grapnel launchers. This really does it open up the board with movement. Have them drop onto a building and use their Bolt Carbines to harass enemy units that get close. If an enemy gets too close, no worries, simply advance away to another building. Because vertical movement is not an issue due to grapnel launchers, you can literally Tarzan around the board. And since assault weapons simple cause a -1 modifier on to hit rolls for a unit that has standard marine ballistic skill, you can see where this is going. With Combat blades, the units charge is not effected. Basically, they can jump down from high ground, assault, and get back into the high ground. Do be aware, however, that if you Advance, you can't Charge. Assault weapons don't mitigate this.
***These guys are top notch bullies. They won't do much to vehicles/monstrous creatures/heavy infantry... But will abuse MEQ and lower very well. It's funny because a unit like this belongs in a chaos codex with bat wings painted all over it, Guilliman lowered the bar with this lot.
**New codex has several buffs that let combat Reivers put in ''work.'' Shock Assault gives them '''four''' attacks per model in the first round of combat, and Assault Doctrine means they'll finally have an AP. Stack those Terror Troops debuffs with the Fearsome Aspect Successor Tactic for -4 Ld, and make Chaos Space Marines as cowardly as grots.
*'''[[Servitors]]:''' Now that they can be taken independently of a Techmarine, you could use them as a cheap way of adding more plasma cannons to your force, but with WS/BS 5+, Ld6, and only a 4+ armour save, they'll have trouble actually hitting things, die from anything more dangerous than a mean look, and are likely to be lost to morale checks; they don't even get the benefits of Chapter Tactics. Having a Techmarine nearby mitigates their flaws a little by boosting them to Ld 9 and WS/BS 4+, but even then there are much better things you could be doing with your Elites slot. 
**Alternative take: If you have a techmarine anyway, it could be worth taking them as cheap fire support that also helps fill out detachments. 4 Servitors with 2 heavy bolters is 40 points. Servitors are essentially worse, cheap, devs in the elite section. For them to be able to make back their points though, they ''need'' that boost to BS.

====Forge World====
*'''Relic Contemptor Dreadnoughts:''' 37 points (around 38%) more naked than a naked normal Contemptor.  Two more wounds compared to the standard Contemptor, ignore wounds received on a 6+ AND has a 2+ save, but Attacks also degrade with damage now (rather than Movement). You also get access to way more options than any other Dreadnought. For your convenience, they're all listed below; you can take any two you like, unlike the base Contemptor, which is forced into 1 melee option and has only a Kheres and a Multi-melta to choose from for its main gun.  Unfortunately is a Relic, so each one of these forces you to take a non-Relic Elite.  If you really just want a Contemptor but better (i.e. filling the same role against the same targets), take 1 chainfist with a heavy flamer and 1 Kheres.  You'll get into position for the Kheres faster since your Movement doesn't cripple, it'll take way more work to cripple your statline, and your fist's output in both melee and ranged will be incredible.
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
*Weapon Options
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Cyclone Missile Launcher''': Per the FAQ, can take one of these, but it's 38 points for two missile launchers at only 36" range - two actual missile launchers would cost you 40, and have 48" range and the ability to split fire if you wanted. Not a bad idea, but better than on Terminators, as it mounts on top of the hull and doesn't replace an arm weapon. The big draw here is the Contemptor's BS2+.
*'''Fist Weapon Options''':DCCW or Chainfist, with a built-in Storm Bolter, Heavy Flamer, Plasma Blaster (an assault 2 plasma gun at a steep price hike, but sull usable for reasons described below), or Graviton Blaster (an assault 2 grav-gun without paying a point more, which is sadly not nearly enough to make it worthwhile).  It's also worth mentioning that Relic Contemptor [[Dreadnought]]s have the ''Unstoppable Fury'' rule, while allows them to reroll 1s to-hit if they are armed with two melee weapons but doesn't specify in which phase. So you have less concern about overcharging your plasma blaster now that you hit on a rerollable 2+. Since your movement no longer cripples, the Heavy Flamer is a really solid choice, allowing you to easily get into position to use it even as your other stats degrade.
**'''Chainfists''': Contemptor Chainfists gain -1 AP and +1 damage over a normal DCCW. Overall a solid upgrade that lets them do terrible damage to both vehicles and monsters. It's a must-take for all purposes. Don't take 2, though - 1 chainfist + 1 DCCW will give you identical performance while saving you 6 shiny points.
**Re-rolling hit rolls of 1 is pretty damn worth it, now that rolling with 2 melee weapons only costs you 10 more points.
*'''C-Beam Cannon''': The new Heavy [[Conversion Beamer]] is a single-shot weapon that starts at S6 AP-3 that does D3 damage. It also gains +2 points of strength and +D3 damage for each 24" between the target and the firer, totaling [[Awesome|S12 AP-3 4d3 Damage]] at 72" exactly, though realistically it will be S10 AP-3 D3d3 between 48" and 72". In addition, if ''a model is removed from play as a result of wounds caused'' then it automatically triggers 2d6 extra auto-hits on the target unit at S6 AP0 D1. Generally speaking, this weapon suffers the exact same problem as the [[Vindicare Assassin]], with a crippling downside that the contemptor MUST remain stationary for the entire turn in order to use it. It cannot be stressed enough that this thing really '''<u>NEEDS</u>''' the range, though firing it at infantry squads has a good chance of killing a random mook and triggering an average of seven further S6 hits, which is still better than a twin heavy bolter. At full range, the initial hit will likely knock the crap out of any target, wounding it on a 2+ or 3+ depending on its toughness and generally reducing its save to 5+ or worse but those additional hits will likely be wasted.
**Against the infantry targets you have a serious chance at one-shotting, the C-Beam Cannon suffers from costing so much.  Against GEQs, you'll do a lot of damage even at short range, but not enough to outperform the Kheres, and you'll face similar scaling problems at any range, largely because as your ability to guarantee the "splatter" improves, your splatter's actual value gets worse.  This weapon actually becomes the best when used against hard targets at the range - at 48" or more away, the only 6+ wounds target it's not your best choice against is T5 or T6, where the twin autocannons take over - but without the range, it's just not going to earn its keep.
**Think of this as the Swiss Army Knife of Dreadnought weapons. While there are dedicated weapons that handle their specialty better than the C-Cannon does, the fact that this can be used against almost any target and still be relatively effective is worth a mention. The movement restriction is an issue, though.
*'''Kheres Assault Cannon''': Take this against 1-wound models at Toughness 3, 5, 6, 7, or 10, (where on God’s green earth you’re going to find a Toughness 6/7/10 1-wound model is beyond me, but just in case...) and mulch your enemies.
*'''Twin Heavy Bolters''': 68% the cost of a Kheres, in exchange for S5 instead of S7 and 12" more range.  S7 isn't a big deal, but S6 is, for shooting up both GEQs and Buildings, should that come up; the tl;dr here is that the THB is your best choice against 1-wound models with Toughness 1, 2, 4, 8, or 9 (although where you'll find those last options is a mystery).
*'''Twin Autocannons''': Identical to the one on the normal Dread. Worse than either of the above options against single-wound enemies, but the best you can take against 2-wound foes; the twin [[lascannon]], below, only finds viable targets starting at 3-wound targets and above, but this gun remains a good choice all the way up against ''something''; even at 6+ wound targets, this is best against Toughness 5, 6, 7, or 10, due to its relatively cheap cost.
*'''Twin Lascannons''': Pop vehicles open without having to get into melta range. Probably better on the Contemptor Mortis, though.  Has fantastic range, but is crippled by its staggering cost; in order to earn its keep you have to shoot things with the wounds to notice that 1d6 damage rating.  Once you're up against 6+ wounds targets, it's best against Toughness 1-4, 8, and 9.
*'''Multi-Melta''': A terrible idea.  Much less effective than twin lascannons, against, well, anything. And the basic Dread or non-FW Contemptor could already take this.
*'''Heavy Plasma Cannon''': You have a 6+ save against the wounds overcharging this causes, but it's worse than your other choices against anything in the game, overcharged or not.  Skip.
</div></div>

*'''Relic Deredeo Dreadnought:''' The end-all solution to your dakka-Dread needs, for when even the Contemptor Mortis won't cut it. Its armour save is slightly worse than the Contemptor's at only a 3+, but to compensate it has 2 more wounds and its invulnerable save rises to 4+ in the Fight phase (but why are you in melee in the first place?) on top of the built-in smoke launchers. For guns, you have the Anvilus Autocannons (8 36" autocannon shots with +1 S) for mulching infantry, the Hellfire Plasma Carronade (5 overcharged plasma gunshots which deal 3 damage each but cause mortal wounds on a 1) as the generalist option, and the Arachnus Lascannon Battery (2 S10 AP-4 D6 Damage shots that deal an extra mortal wound on 6s) for taking out vehicles, and also chest-mounted heavy bolters/heavy flamers. Don't bother upgrading to heavy flamers. While auto-hits are good, the Deredeo should be as far away as possible. It should be shooting things, not tied up in melee. It can supplement the main weapon with either an Aiolos Missile Launcher for extra fire support or an Atomantic Pavaise to give everyone within 6" of itself a 5+ invulnerable save. The latter works great with Devastators or other long-ranged units that can help support the Deredeo's firepower.
**8th edition is kind of a mixed bag for the Deredeo. While 8 shots at BS2+/3+ on the move with the Anvillus sure are great, the 12" range reduction is very painful, especially for the plasma carronade. 24" max means it will be in range of most weapons in addition to the risk of losing wounds which is very probable at 5 shots per turn. So it is advised to have a reroll/repair character nearby should you go for the plasma option.
** Raven Guard and Salamanders Chapter Tactics make Deredos substantially better - RG increases its survivability, and Salamanders provides a source of rerolls to make sure those giant fuck off lascannons deal damage or that the plasma carronade doesn't damage the Deredeo.
**In addition, a "Master of the Forge" Techmarine can provide a +1 to ensure the Deredeo takes no mortal wounds. And since you're bringing another elite, make it a plasma armed vehicle (like a redemptor dreadnought). Overlap the 5+ invuln save and safe plasma on a few high-wound dreadnoughts and you got yourself a sticky gun battery that will cause a headache for your opponent.
*'''Deimos Pattern Relic Predator''': Take a Predator, give it an extra wound, and slap a Plasma Destroyer on it as its turret weapon, and you have one of these tanks. The Plasma Destroyer itself can't be overcharged, but with the same number of shots as the basic Predator Autocannon and 2 Damage, it doesn't really need to be. While it can swap out the plasma destroyer for the standard Predator guns, that's a waste of its options. Instead, you should use its unique options: the Conversion Beam cannon to make it a hard-hitting artillery unit, the Magna-Melta for close-range anti-vehicle firepower, and the Infernus cannon for a double dose of heavy flamer goodness.
**The c-beam isn't bad if you can keep your target at least 24" away. 72", heavy 1, S6, AP-3, Dd3, 2d6 S6 auto-hits if you cause a wound. A pretty solid addition to a gunline, since the infantry can provide a deep-strike and charging buffer. Best utilized against light-vehicles and smaller monsters due to 2d6 auto-hits. Its real downside is that it's heavy 1. You get one-shot. Just the one. Uno. Ein. So try and make sure it's plonked next to a Captain, or have a CP or two set aside to re-roll. 
**Plasma Destroyers fill in the usual plasma niche, but better. 36", S7, AP-3, D2, and does NOT cause a mortal wound. A good counterpart to the autocannons anti-light vehicle, this gun specializes in anti-heavy infantry. In that vein, the range gells with sponson heavy bolters, but can also pair well with sponson lascannons if you're going after monsters. 
**The magna-melta is garbage (24", Heavy d3, S10, AP-4, Dd6, melta rule), and it's '''70pts'''. Hard pass, grab the twin las for vehicle busting. The infernus cannon (8", heavy 2d6, S5, AP-1, D2, auto-hits), isn't much better at its role of infantry killing at 45pts. Predator autocannons or plasma destroyer will do much better at that role, especially since you don't have to spend at least two turns getting in range. Either grab a Baal Predator or a Hellhound if you want Imperial '''fire'''power. 
*'''Relic [[Javelin Attack Speeder]]:''' The poor Deodorant Tanks got a huge nerf in 8th edition. For the most part, these fulfill the same role as before, that of a Heavy Land Speeder. [[lolwut|But they lost the twin-linked rule on their Missile Launchers'''(WTF)''']]. They even lost their trademark Outflank ability. Overall this turned what was already a mediocre relic slot item, at best, into a shitty tool that's worse off than a generic land speeder. 
** IS it garbage? for 100 points you get 9 wounds on a T6 platform with a 3+ save and FLY, also including a handy rule: "Gravatic Augur Haze" that imposes a -1 modifier on all shooting attacks from 8" or more. This layout has 2 lascannons and a heavy bolter. That is 1 less heavy bolter than a Predator and arguably more survivable, plus it doesn't have a damage chart. With Raven Guard enhanced chapter tactics these should be able to get an additional +1 cover save while you comfortable fly around the backfield. Frankly, you could do worse, 3 of these will be 300 points with 6 lascannons and will be very hard to remove, all the while they constantly provide dedicated fire that can maneuver very well. 

*'''Relic [[Sicaran Battle Tank]]:''' The Sicaran has transitioned smoothly into 8th ed, retaining its status a high-speed menace. With a big 14" move, T7, 14 wounds, and 3+ Save it falls in between a Predator and a Land Raider in terms of size and durability. It's armed with a nasty twin accelerator autocannon which has a couple of neat tricks. It fires at 48" Assault 8 S7 AP-1 D2, suffers no penalties to its hit rolls when attacking flyers, and a to-wound roll of 6 increases the AP of that hit to -3. It's also armed with a single Heavy Bolter and can grab 2 sponson-mounted Heavy Bolters or 2 sponson-mounted Lascannons, a hunter-killer missile, and a pintle-mounted Storm, Bolter, if you crave more dakka. The Sicaran is a useful anti-air unit in a pinch and is well known for its ability to counter skimmers. Make good use of the Assault rule on its main gun by zipping around and firing while advancing. Thanks to Chapter Approved the Sicaran now only costs 165 points without sponsons.
*'''Relic Sicaran Venator Tank Destroyer:''' The Venator trades the regular Sicaran's quantity of anti-skimmer shots for vehicle annihilation; even if a tank survives the Neutron Pulse Cannon's S12 AP-4 D6 damage hits (all 3 of them), it'll have all its shooting rolls reduced by 1 for the turn, which can make life very difficult for vehicles like Executioners or Tau vehicles with Ion Cannons. Additionally, it doesn't get penalties for moving and firing its heavy weapons.
*'''Relic Sicaran Punisher Assault Tank:''' A new flavor of Sicaran, its draw is the Punisher Rotary Cannon- 18 Heavy Bolter shots guaranteed to make any hordes within 36" hate life. And if you don't move that turn, it re-rolls all to-hit rolls of 1. Enjoy making Orks and Tyranids cry.
*'''Relic Sicaran Arcus Strike Tank:''' Another Sicaran variant, this one is armed with a rotary missile launcher. Though 24" is a bit short-ranged for a vehicle weapon, it's still Heavy 2d6 with S5 AP-2 D1. And not only does it negate cover saves, it also deals an extra mortal wound to INFANTRY units on a 6+ to wound. If you're forced to fight an extra large horde, it can switch its weapon profile to Heavy 4d6 at the expense of not being able to fire its missiles until after the end of the next turn. As a result, taking the heavy bolters/lascannons and the storm bolter is a good idea to ensure it doesn't render itself defenseless after a missile massacre.
**Alternative Opinion: Don't get the Arcus Strike Tank. Ever. Functionally, the Relic Whirlwind Scorpius performs the exact same role against most types of infantry (but better) except against pure hordes, at which point the Sicaran Punisher takes over. Seriously, this tank is an absolute mess, and there is little to no reason for you to bring this. If you really want to field a Sicaran tank, look somewhere else. 
*'''Relic Sicaran Omega Tank Destroyer:''' Yet another member of the Sicaran family. Its Omega Plasma Array has two modes; in its normal mode, it acts like a Heavy 6 plasma gun, and when supercharged it becomes Heavy 3 S9 AP-3 3 D and inflicts an extra mortal wound on a 6 to wound, but loses d3 wounds if it rolls a 1 to hit. Unfortunately, its range is no better than that of the Arcus, which is far better at wiping out infantry of all types due to the sheer number of cover-ignoring shots it can fire. The range issue is even worse when trying to use it against vehicles, since it'll be in lascannon/plasma cannon range long before it can shoot back and the -1 to hit from moving is going to make it a lot more likely to blow itself up (and even if it survives, it'll still be overshadowed by the Venator). Overall, it's not bad, but not ''quite'' good enough when compared to its competition.
*'''Relic Whirlwind Scorpius:''' The Scorpius is set apart from the basic Whirlwind by its Scorpius Launcher (and its occupation of an Elites slot, not a Heavy one) - while it has only half the range of either of the Whirlwind's rocket types, 3d3 S6 AP-2 D2 shots is still plenty to threaten hordes and light vehicles alike. And as an added bonus, it can fire twice in a shooting phase if the Scorpius hasn't moved in the movement phase.
* If you stand this bad boy still, it has 6D3 S6 AP-2 D2 Shots that ignore LOS. 48'' is plenty enough range to hit the majority of targets it wants to hit, and doing so outside of LOS is huge. Properly supported, it can annihilate medium and heavy infantry, while the number of shots, good AP, and reliable damage give it utility against light and medium vehicles. With Combat Doctrines it will have AP-3 round one. Very nice vehicle.

====Warhammer Legends Units====
*'''Apothecary on Bike: ''' Same rules as Apothecary, except for the price of a Lascannon, you get +1T and +1W, and he's now faster than a Rhino to zip around to where he's needed most. Gets a twin boltgun with the bike for a little dakka.

*'''Company Ancient on Bike:''' Gets the same added durability and speed upgrade as an Apothecary on a bike. His aura still only affects {{W40Kkeyword|Infantry}}, not bikes.
**''Always'' take a bike. With the new 60mm x 35mm bike bases, your aura increases from about 6.5" from the center of the model to about 7.75", giving you more than a 15" diameter bubble of bonus actions.

*'''Company Champion on Bike:''' Same as above, with the bike's +1T, +1W, M14, and twin bolter.  Costs a truly staggering 94 points, so best avoided.

*'''Imperial Space Marine:''' Now a character rather than just something you can substitute any Space Marine model for, which is good because he's gotten much nastier since last edition. Compared to an average Tactical, he's gained 3 extra wounds, 2 more attacks, and one extra Ld point. But it's his disintegrator combi-gun and disintegrator pistol you should watch out for. They're only 18" Rapid Fire 1 and 9" Pistol 1 (respectively), but with S5, AP-3, and d6 damage (basically a higher damage combi-grav and grav pistol) they have the potential to fuck up a lot of units if it manages to wound them. He is frustrating to use against T6+ Monsters and Vehicles, but against T5 models and less he's a straight thug killer. 

*'''Company Veterans on Bikes:''' Similar to their footslogging counterparts, but with an extra wound and point of toughness per model. Keep in mind that they can only intercept hits for {{W40Kkeyword|Biker Characters}}, so if none of your Captains/Chaplains/Librarians are on bikes, they won't be able to bodyguard.  It's challenging to justify the points cost here, since you pay 9 more points per bike than a Bike Squad, and don't get additional special weapons access until the 4th unit member, but this is just about the only way to field melee-focused bikes, if you have some sort of weird desire for that. 5 Company Veterans on Bikes each with a Stormbolter can lead to this single unit putting out 40 bolter shots at half range. A tactical squad at half range is 10 shots for 65pts, 6.5 points per bolt fired. A Scout Bike Squad at half range with a Storm Bolter Sergeant is 22 shots for 77 pts, 3.5 points per bolt fired. Meanwhile the Company Veterans on Bikes with Stormbolters comes to 4.75 points a bolter shot. 
**Running two smaller 2 or 3 man squads instead of one larger squad has some tradeoffs. With more small squads, you get more sergeants (i.e. more melee attacks), make multi shot weapons less effective, and make it more likely for your opponent to overcommit when shooting them, since there are fewer guys for the shots to spill to. However, smaller squads make it easier for the opponent to pick off the guy he wants, for the same reason. Small squads are also fully immune to morale, but that's not much worry for a bigger squad anyway.

*'''[[Honor Guard]]:''' Two bodyguards for your Characters. 21 points plus wargear. On a 2+, any wounds lost by your Characters turn into mortal wounds against any Honor Guard within 3". They can take boltguns AND power weapons of your choice &mdash; including [[Awesome|relic blades]] if you're willing to shell out the points.

*'''{{W40kKeyword|[[Legion of the Damned]]}}'''
**'''Damned Legionnaires:''' Tough, a deep striking infantry unit. They can be armed with a plasma gun, flamer or a melta along with a heavy flamer or multimelta. The sergeant gets access to a shortened list of the usual sergeant weapons. The built-in 3++ invuln keeps the Legion of the Damned on the table longer than other Power Armour infantry units. Heavy Flamers and Flamers are great, but on the turn, the LotD unit arrives, it must be 9" away, and the flamers cannot shoot. For this reason, LotD is maximized with plasma or melta weapons on the alpha strike. Two squads of LotD can really hurt powerful tanks with two melta weapons in each squad.  The flamer heavy loadout is best for objective camping early in the game, as the LotD can grab useful points via their deepstrike turn one.
**Legion of the Damned can be taken alongside any {{W40kKeyword|Imperium}} army in a Vanguard detachment despite said detachment not having any HQ units in it. However, the detachment will not grant extra CP.
**Unfortunately the LotD are one of the most point inefficient units in 8th edition, which is a shame considering their bitchin' models. Only ever use these guys in a fun environment, as competitive ones will laugh at these guys. 
***Despite this, some viable strategies include dropping them in an objective in cover. Also you might as well give the Sergeant both a storm bolter and a bolter for some hilarious rapid fire 3 on a basic dude &mdash; and yes, they do still gain [[Dakka|Bolter Discipline]].

===Dedicated Transport===
*'''[[Rhino]]:''' 10 Wounds and a 3+ make the old [[METAL BOXES]] harder to crack open than ever before, and it comes with a mean new trick- at the start of the turn, you roll a d6, and on a 6+ the Rhino restores a lost wound. It might not seem like much, but it can make the difference between moving 12" and 6" if it moves you back a step on the damage table. Also now having 2 storm bolters means that you can output a lot of Dakka (8 shots at 12 inches), and Kill off some infantry then tie up vehicles in combat. A breakthrough star of 8th
*'''[[Razorback]]:''' Transports that produce offensive output, like a Razorback, are likely to be very strong this edition. 8 lascannons fired by devastators will not destroy a Razorback in one turn on average. That is a lot of Dakka to absorb. If you run them with Heavy Flamers, then no matter how injured your Razorback is, it will still always autohit, until said Razorback is dead. 
**The razorback has 6 different options for its main weapon, making it a very flexible tool for patching up weak points in your army's firepower.
***''Twin Heavy Bolter'': The stock option and by far the most boring. Cheap, and that's really all that can be said for it. Use if you're on a budget, but if you're not upgrading the weapon, maybe consider just going with a plain old Rhino instead and drop a couple of Heavy Bolters somewhere else in your army, they're nearly the same cost.
***''Twin Assault Cannon'': The crowd favorite and for good reason. 12 S6 AP-1 shots is a substantial threat, allowing you to mulch that Guardsman squad standing on the objective you want before dumping your cargo of marines out to finish them off. Got a notable price bump in Chapter Approved, so it isn't an auto-pick anymore, just a very solid one.
***''Twin Lascannon'': The infamous Laserback. The most expensive option, but a damn good one. This is one of the Marine's more cost-effective anti-tank options, able to deposit its cargo, then dig in and start picking at tanks and monsters.
***''Twin Heavy Flamer'': (Index Only) The Marine's knockoff Immolator, it really suffers from the pathetic 8" range. Even the THB can deal more damage simply by having the range to do so; this weapon will be complete dead weight until you're literally on top of the enemy. Avoid.
***''Lascannon and Twin Plasmagun'': (Index Only) A bit of an esoteric choice, with the TAC's price hike, this option is only 1 point more. The real draw is the fact that the Plasma guns are Rapid Fire, not Heavy, allowing you to tear around the board firing without penalty. While it actually outperforms the Twin Lascannon in every area when Overcharging, even when not in Rapid Fire range, it does carry that annoying rule that it dies without saves if it rolls a 1 to hit. Still, an interesting option and certainly worth looking into.
***''Multi-Melta'': (Forge World) This is the weapon of the Infernum Pattern Razorback mentioned below, but it is literally the only difference between it and the regular Razorback, so here we are. The cheapest weapon option outside the stock THB, this is the budget anti-tank choice. Workable, but a single 24" melta shot taken at -1 from moving is putting a lot of faith in a 50/50 chance. 
*'''Land Speeder Storm:''' Dedicated transport for 5 Scout models, for the same base cost as a normal Landspeeder.  Open top so they can shoot out of it, although still suffer any penalties for shooting heavy weapons after moving, and cannot shoot after falling back even if the vehicle still can.  Does not get Concealed Positions, but has an 18" move, to easily re-locate.  Starts with a Cerberus Launcher (D6 bolter shots at 18") and a Heavy Bolter that it can swap for a Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer, or Assault Cannon.
**Put a Scout Sniper squad inside for a mobile Character killing fire base with a 7 wound buffer.  Heavy flamer to discourage charges (and hopefully let you fly away next turn), or a Heavy Bolter/AC to provide supporting fire.
**Put a Scout Shotgun squad inside with a Heavy Flamer, and charge it up into their face.

*'''[[Drop Pod]]:''' Grants a Power Armour unit deepstrike. Tactical Marines can use it to capture objectives and hamper enemy movement.  Melta units can get in close for a hard strike.  Assault units can charge out of it if you can make 9 on 2d6.  No longer scatters and arrives at the turn you chose. Much more importantly, it ignores the Tactical Reserves rule so you can finally pull off a turn 1 Deep Strike. You might still struggle to pull off a charge or get into the optimal range, but the correct selection of Chapter Tactics can do a lot to mitigate those downsides.
**it is been FAQ'ed that the opened doors count as part of the Models, soo it can also be used to make a sizable anti-deepstrike zone, before it’s shot of the board (if your opponent put enough thought into it). 
**If you choose to take the Deathwind Launcher in Matched Play, then you are officially retarded, as a Storm Bolter is generally twice as good for its points at 12" and can also shoot up to 24".

*'''[[Repulsor Tank]]:''' The Primaris flying landraider, trading a little armour for absurd more firepower. Holds 10  Primaris Marines (models with Gravis armour count as 2) and carries a fair number of anti-tank or anti-horde weapons to protect its passengers. While it can be built to be a veritable battle tank in its own right, it is a heavy point sink and requires support to get the most out of its statline. As most of its anti-tank damage comes from having the potential to equip the equivalent of four lascannons, it might be best to aim for a mixed build to capitalize on its potential to melt hordes and severely damage vehicles. However, its costs can rack up quickly, so unless you plan to field a lot of Primaris Marines you're probably better off taking a Land Raider variant. It also has the FLY keyword with all of it's dis-/advantages. Take it with a squad of 8 Reivers, a Primaris Chaplain, and Apothecary for a rather mean, if expensive assault/harassing Unit. Just hope it survives the onslaught of AT weapons long enough to get them in position. 
** If you're just looking for lots of lascannons or horde-clearing weaponry, there are probably cheaper - if somewhat slower - means of getting them on the table, like a Devastator Squad or Redemptor Dreadnought. Anti-armour setups, in particular, have the issue that the las-talon has only half the range of the twin lascannons, which means it'll only be able to unleash half its anti-armour firepower at its farthest range. At that matter, most of its other weapons struggle with an equally short range compared to most vehicle-mounted weapons, so it will likely need support when dealing with long-ranged attackers. 
**Defensively, it's nearly identical to a Land Raider; although its armour is only a 3+, it has the same number of wounds as a LR and does a good job at discouraging charges with its Repulsor Field rule (-2 from any charge rolls). The optional Auto Launchers supplement this with an extra -1 to hit on opponent shooting rolls if the Repulsor doesn't shoot. 
**Three Aggressors with Auto-Boltstorm Gauntlets, a Captain in Gravis armour, and a Primaris Lieutenant and Apothecary all fit snugly in this beast, hit like a brick, can heal models around it, and protect otherwise slower models. Outfit the Repulsor with Heavy/Onslaught Gatling Cannons and say goodbye to any infantry in 18". If you take a regular Primaris Captain instead of one in Gravis armour, you can also toss a primaris ancient into the floating death-bawks so that the aggressors have a chance to fire when they die as well.
**When kitting the Repulsor out, decide if you want it fighting tanks or hordes. In terms of pure output, for anti-tank take the Las-talon and Twin Lascannon, for anti-horde take the Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon and Twin Heavy Bolter and for balanced take the Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon and Twin Lascannon. Do note that in terms of points effectiveness the Twin Heavy Bolter is better than the Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon, though.

*'''[[Impulsor]]:''' The inbred spawn of a Razorback and a Repulsor. Has 1 more wound than a Rhino and can be upgraded with a 4++, but lacks Self-Repair and Smoke Launchers. Comes stock with two Storm Bolters with the option of taking  Ironhail Heavy Stubber and swapping the storm bolters for fragstorm grenade launchers. 14" movement and FLY, combined with the ability to disembark a unit after moving and the penalty to enemy charges that the Repulsor also inflicts makes the Impulsor one of the better transports... in theory. In practice:
**It has a transport capacity of 6 but can't carry JUMP PACK or GRAVIS models, so it's only good for moving MSU squads.
**Passengers can't charge after it's special disembark, so it's no help for assault armies. 
**So, what is it good for? Not much yet, but a cool new reveal has more or less answered this question. cough9thedcough.
**It can take the following upgrades:
***'''Shield Dome:''' A 4++ invulnerable save. Generally, this is the one you want, as it makes this bizarre vehicle unusually tough (smart opponents will simply shoot its cargo, so hurl it into CC ASAP). 
***'''Ironhail Skytalon Array''': The cheapest addon. Two more heavy stubbers that get +1 to hit and to wound if they target a flyer, and -1 if they target anything else, which probably translates to [[Imperial Guard|BS5]] since it lacks Power of the Machine Spirit. Only use if you expect to be up to your armpits in flying enemies or to spend that last 5 points. 
***'''Bellicatus Missile Launcher:''' Yep, it's a missile launcher with the addition of Anti-air. Could technically work as an adaptable weapon, but taking other weapon teams and tanks would be better. 
***'''Orbital Comms Array''': The orbital bombardment you know and love from the Damocles Rhino and the Stratagem. One use only, but being able to crap out mortal wounds wherever you like is still nice. As long as you can keep it alive to use it, of course. This bombardment does not involve ballistic skill. That means your opponent will have to go through 11 wounds to stop you from using the mortal wounds. This demands that your opponent potentially waste firepower on your otherwise expendable transport while your hellblasters take far less damage.

====Forge World====
*'''Lucius Pattern Dreadnought Drop Pod:''' It's a drop pod...for dreadnoughts. A good, relatively cheap option for delivering dreads right into multi-melta range and the ONLY option for deep striking Leviathans and Deredeos at all. (Why you would deep strike a Deredeo is a mystery, but you do you) 
**Note that while it completely lacks any offensive abilities whatsoever, it can still serve one use after its cargo lumbers off: body blocking. It still counts as an enemy model for your opponent in terms of movement and line of sight and thus they have to 1. Kill it, thus sparing one of your other units some damage and since the pod is nearly as tough as a Rhino, it'll take a beating before going down 2. Go around it, which costs time and forces units out of position, or 3. Go through the hassle of charging it, using pile in to scoot around it and falling back from it, which is really, REALLY dumb. And the model (if you can get ahold of a real one) is massive when its doors are open, denying a huge chunk of board. Bonus points if you can use this to block your opponent's anti-tank from reaching the Dread you just disembarked into his backline on the opposite side of the pod.
**Also remember it can turn an ironclad from a risky high damage Slow speed bullet magnet to a unstoppable rape machine if used against tightly packed armies and tanks, especially with Black Templars charge re-rolls.
*'''Infernum Pattern Razorback:''' A Razorback with a Multi-Melta. Might be tricky to get it into melta range in one piece, but on the other hand, it's a Dedicated Transport with a Multi-Melta.
*'''Termite Assault Drill:''' It's neither a drop pod or a rhino, but something of both. Like a drop pod, the Termite can be deployed at the end of a movement phase close to the enemy. Once deployed, however, the termite acts like a very slow Rhino. At 8 inches, this thing isn't going anywhere fast. Not to mention the melta cutter is so short-range its only real use is to fight back if it happens to be caught in melee. So why bother? Well, the termite has some neat little things going for it. First is the transport capacity. At 12 standard marines(Not terminator, jump pack, or primaris) this little drill is quite the metal box. Add in that deployment and who cares if this thing only moves 8 inches a turn. <strike>Even better is the Breaching terror special rule with gives enemy units with 12 inches a mortal wound.</strike>  And then there is the subject of weapons. Storm Bolters are the way to go most of the time due to the range and fire output. Heavy flamers are meh, though the increase in the movement has helped make the weapon somewhat more viable. Volkite chargers are iffy. They have more range and damage than the flamer but have a negative 1 to hit on the move. Honestly, the Storm Bolters are your best bet.  The termite also has a decent melee game, though this is more for protection than anything. That being said, the drill makes for a nasty anti tank melee weapon. Now for the bad news. This thing is expensive points-wise, way more so than the drop pod, but the points cost is nothing compared to how much you will need to pay Forge World for one.

===Flyers===
*'''[[Stormhawk]] Interceptor:''' The Anti-Flying Flyer.  Gets a +1 to hit any target with the Fly keyword, to mitigate the penalty for moving and firing heavy weapons.  Comes stock with 2 Assault Cannons, 2 Heavy Bolters, and an Icarus Stormcannon.  The bolters can be swapped with Skyhammers for more anti-flying or a Typhoon against ground targets, while the Icarus can be swapped for an anti-vehicle laser.  Cannot hover, unfortunately, but does get to re-roll any 1's for saves and has the normal Hard to Hit.
**A good choice if you are going up against Tau or Dark Eldar, due to the prevalence of Fly. Especially the Icarus/skyhammer combo as it lets you hit anything with Fly on a 2+; with the drawback of hitting everything else only on a 5+.
**Another unit that has suddenly become very good for Iron hands as when in devastator doctrine you'll be hitting without penalties and re-rolling 1's in addition to your additional -1 AP, this means that on iron hands Stormhawks you can just load up on anti-infantry and wear down enemy flyers and if he doesn't have flyers then just kill of all his infantry with your assault cannons and heavy bolters to keep him from grabbing objectives.
*'''[[Stormtalon]] Gunship:''' The Anti-Ground Flyer. The 'Talon has undergone a few noticeable changes in this edition. You can hover, of course, but standing still is probably not what you want to do with it. The other change comes from the assault cannon. The weapon now vomits out three times as many shots, but lost much for AP and lost rending completely.  This makes it better at clearing infantry than the light vehicles it had been targeting previously.  Compared to the last edition, it's much tougher but easier to hit.  Also technically your cheapest flier, making it good for building Air Wings.
** If you hover you can fire at ground targets at BS2+, assuming you don't move and have taken no more than 4 wounds (Or you are back to normal 3+ after falling into middle damage bracket, which at that point might as well stay in hover and get the most out of your flyer before it gets toasted). This is actually really damn good, in later turns. having the ability to get a few solid rounds fo shooting makes a big difference. Be sure to play your talons cautiously, as the assault cannon requires you to get within range of enemy Dakka. This flyers true potential can only be achieved by treating it very gently. 
**Also note that, for the usual GW rules-fuckery reasons, the Strafing Run special rule completely invalidates the second half of the Skyhammer Missile Launcher's rules. Skyhammer Missile Launchers gain +1 to hit against units with FLY and -1 to hit against units WITHOUT FLY...but Strafing Run gives a +1 to hit against units WITHOUT FLY. Resulting in a net result of only +1 against FLYing units.
*'''[[Stormraven]] Gunship:''' A flying Land Raider and one of the most effective units marines have. T7 means S4 weapons can wound it on a 5+ compared to the Raider's T8, 2 fewer wounds, and a 3+ save instead of a 2+, but it's much faster and has -1 to be hit when zipping around. It's also a bit cheaper than a Land Raider, depending on what you arm it with. In addition to the -1 to hit it, it has the new normal flyer rules. Comes stock with a twin assault cannon, twin heavy bolter, and two Stormstrike launchers (72" heavy 1 S8 AP-3 3 damage) that's 20 shots a turn. Can swap the assault cannon for a twin lascannon or twin heavy plasma (that only causes 1 mortal wound for a 1 to hit when supercharged instead of straight killing it). Can swap the heavy bolter for a twin multi-melta or typhoon missile launcher. It can also strap on a couple of hurricane bolters (seriously for 20 points total with 24 bolter shots on the rapid range you should ALWAYS take this). It has the same Power of the Machine Spirit as a Land Raider, so it can shoot heavy weapons on the move at no penalty. Can carry 12 Infantry (and can carry Jump, Terminator, and Centurions, but they take extra space) and 1 Dreadnought whose max Wounds value is less than 13. With a 45" max normal move (up to 65" if you advance), you can get right in the face of something, then have an almost guaranteed charge the next turn. There are no restrictions on disembarking from it, so you don't even have to drop to hover if you don't want to. It starts on the board, and can't fly off of it. 
**While all vehicles are more expensive this edition, the big bird can eat up a massive amount of points.  All those guns aren't free and the base cost is fairly high, as well.  This, combined with the loss of the bulk of flying rules, makes the 'Raven a bit more like a superheavy tank, albeit a fast one. 
** Point cost was further increased for both the bird and the weapons in the CA.
** Be aware that some armies have dangerous Anti-Air-Guns or even CC (flying demons, monsters...). Your Stormraven carries a huge "Shoot me!" sign right above it's cockpit, so most players I met will try to get it down turn 1 at all cost. This will most likely also kill some of the passengers. IMHO it is a beast on paper but tends to be a duckling in real games. Agreed, as it is far too expensive for a T7 model, especially since it will often see an entire armies worth of Dakka in a single turn. Hovering with this thing is suicide.

====Forge World====
*'''[[Fire Raptor]] Assault Gunship:''' Your replacement for the Storm Raven after Chapter Approved, and absolutely vital for dealing with hordes; srsly this shits dice. With T7, 16 wounds and 3+ SV it's almost as tough as a Land Raider, but unlike its counterpart, the storm eagle, can't transport anything. The avenger bolt cannon now packs 10 shots at S6 AP-2 D2, enough to drop a whole Primaris squad if you're lucky. In addition, it has a pair of quad heavy bolter ball turrets, which each pack 12 heavy bolter shots, or you can swap out the quad heavy bolters for dual autocannons if you want less anti-horde and more anti-TEQ (they have moar S&D but a put out a third of the dakka). Hellstrike missiles are no longer one use only and you can in fact fire 4 missiles at S8 AP-3 3D a turn now, or it can take the cheaper 2 double lascannons instead for +1S but less reliable damage (d6 instead of a flat 3). It can also move and shoot heavy weapons without penalty. Arguably the best flyer, point for point, the marines have access to, and undoubtedly the best anti-horde unit. Amusingly, thanks to the Air Wing Detachment, you can make your entire army out of only fire raptors.
**Note: Chapter Approved 2018 dropped its base points cost all the way down to 240 - 10 less than the original cost of 250 in the index. This is good news, especially after the ridiculously big increase it experienced courtesy of the April FAQ last year.
** BE CAREFUL! 420 points (448 if you go full [[dakka]]) is a lot for something with T7 and a 36" range (though once you factor in movement this increases to an effective 86" range). Use psychic powers and litanies or other such tactics to increase the survivability of this flyer, and always bring a techmarine. I guarantee you this model will garner the attention of nearly all of your opponents ranged options as soon as the dice start rolling. 
*'''[[Storm Eagle]] Attack Gunship:''' The big brother of the Storm Raven that vanilla marines know and love, this elongated flying brick of a hover jet boasts a transport capacity of 20 and some increased firepower along with two additional wounds. It can transport jump infantry and terminators, but not bikes or primaris marines. 
** In comparison, the Stormraven is roughly 10-20 points cheaper and carries dreadnoughts as well as more diverse weapons options. The Stormeagle is tougher (2 additional wounds) and carries more straight out infantry (also has a much better model). 
**'''Storm Eagle Attack Gunship- ROC Pattern (Minotaurs):''' Expensive as hell, beautiful brick'o'hate. Lord Asterion Moloc demanded extra marine-murder with wings, and the beast was born. Sporting 8 krak missile shots (at D2 each), 4 lascannon shots and option to take twin HBolter\MMelta or some MORE krak missiles, the grizzly brick of flying hate actually has more dakka\point when compared to devastators (2 missile squads 1 lascannon squad). Add power of da machine spirit, 16 wounds and T7 and you can feel the power of the charging flying bull. sort of.
*'''[[Caestus Assault Ram]]:''' A flyer designed to ram starships/buildings and disgorge Space Marines into the breach, the Caestus Assault Ram is armed with a number of powerful weapons and abilities. The Caestus is quite survivable with T7, 14 wounds, a 2+ save, and -1 to hit. With the removal of vehicle facing in 8th, the Caestus lost its 5++ against shooting from the front, and is no longer outright immune to small arms fire, but it's much more durable against heavy weapons. It's armed with a Caestus Ram - a melee weapon that hits at S User(8) AP-3, D6D, and increases to WS2+ against buildings when it charges. Its Airborne Ram ability restricts it to declaring charges against and being charged and attacked in melee by units with FLY, but only while it's in not in hover mode. It is also armed with 2 Firefury Missile Batteries, each Heavy 4 S6 AP-1 1D. It is further armed with a Twin Magna-Melta - Heavy 2D3 S10 AP-4 D6D (with the Melta rule), meaning this thing can lay the hurt on medium enemy infantry and enemy armour alike. With its 50" movement (70" if you advance) and PotMS, it can reach out and touch people on turn one. For 370 points (post- Chapter Approved, for the hull and the Melta; missile batteries are free) it's pricey, but given Hard to Hit, its toughness, its wounds, and a 2+ save, it WILL deliver its cargo. It's unique troop bays can carry 10 infantry models in terminator armour or power armour, as well as scouts, with terminators taking up a single space instead of the usual 2. The Caestus helps overcome the low movement of Cataphractii Terminators in particular, potentially delivering them closer than the 9" away they're required to teleport in, and enabling them to redeploy. 
** If you need to choose between this and a Land Raider the Caestus is always the better choice. It's pretty much a flying Land Raider in its own right, only with better durability, firepower, speed, and transport capacity while being impossible to tarpit and actually capable of pulling off effective charges. All this for only 15 points. And woe unto your opponent if they decide to get cute and bring Fortifications. 
*** Its a hard call now, as you can get Land Raider Crusaders for 100 points less than the Ram.
*'''[[Xiphon pattern interceptor]]:''' A high-speed interceptor, the Xiphon is a heavily armed flyer [[Original character, do not steal|that channels a strong Battlestar Galactica vibe]] and - unlike every other Space Marine aircraft - actually looks like it belongs in the air. It sports a respectable BS3+, T7, 11 wounds and a 3+ save. It's armed with 2 Twin Lascannons as well as a Xiphon Missile Battery - Heavy 3 S6 AP-2 D3. It also adds 1 to all hit rolls when targeting units with the "FLY" keyword thus negating the effects of "Hard to Hit" and since a lot of units with "FLY" don't have the "Hard to Hit" bonus it will hit them on a 2+. With a huge 50" move and 4 lascannon and 3 missile shots, it'll put some major hurt on flyers and ground targets alike.
** 220 points (as of CA2018) is steep for a flyer, but your getting the functional equivalent of a flying predator annihilator, with all of the benefits this entails, and it puts colleagues like the IG Vendetta to shame. Has no option(s) for anti horde, but it's a specialized anti-air / anti-armour killer.

===Fast Attack===
Rocket jumpers, deadly riders and all kinds of zoomers, here you find units boasting great mobility but also lots of dakka and not just fast blades. The changes to Combat Doctrines make these units more relevant as game progression draws you to close range. Plenty of points reductions here, notably on bikes of all shapes and sizes, making them very useful fast and tough units.

*'''[[Assault Squad]]:''' Pistol and chainsword space marines. Jump packs are optional, but to not take them is silly. For +2 pts you could take Vanguard Vets, which have 2x the base attacks and can bring actual blades to a fight. The reason you'd ''ever'' take them is numbers; single wound marines are rather fragile. While Assault marines can't die in your Vanguards' stead like a Devastator squad's boltgun marines can, they can be used to screen the Vanguards from overwatch and be a unit the enemy ''has'' to deal with or get his forces tied up. Arguments can be made about how warhammer is now a shooty game, but since when did space knights with jump packs and chainswords stop being cool?
**They can be built akin to a special weapons squad. Access to a couple of flamers and plasma pistols restric them to anti-infantry, though with decent close-quarters performance and great mobility. As for melee, two Eviscerator attacks on the charge aren't reliable. See them as an extension to the sarge's <s>power fist</s> Thunder hammer, but it's best to keep it simple and aim those chainswords at infantry. They can use a melta bomb after falling back, but wouldn't count on it to deal with anything heavier than a Sentinel.

*'''[[Inceptor]] Squad:''' What you get when an Assault marine wields a Devastator marine in each hand. With 3W T5 and lots of dakka, these guys are ''Space Marine Crisis suits''. Armed with snub versions of the heavy bolter and plasma cannon (same stats, 18" Assault instead of 36" Heavy) they're powerful anti infantry, and arguably better than deepstriking an equivalent Devastator squad. While shooty, they want to charge weak nearby units to hide in the enemy's shooting phase/force them to fall back, like tanks.
**These guys do benefit from a jump pack captain or better yet, a jump pack chaplain to get a ''safe plasma cannon on each hand''. Three plasma Aggressors shoot even more plasma than Hellblasters.

*'''[[Suppressor]] Squad:''' Lighter Inceptors (not gravis, M12" T4 2W) with improved "Accelerator" AP-2 autocannons that cancel enemy overwatch if they kill a model from the charged unit, making them good support for your melee units now that [[Agripinaa|many]] [[Mordia|factions]] [[Iron Hands|overwatch]] [[Imperial Fists|on a]] [[Tau|5+]]. The sergeant can give up his shooting to chuck out smoke grenades for -1 to be hit, just like a vehicle, though his teammates still get to shoot. Accelerator autocannons are Heavy 2 meaning they lose accuracy on the move, so pop the smoke when jumping from one piece of cover to another.

*'''Attack Bike Squad:''' 37 points for a heavy bolter or 49 points for a multi-melta is now VERY CHEAP, but you can't advance and shoot any of your guns, and moving will give the heavy weapon a penalty, so this is usually not a great choice, but the heavy bolter option is noteworthy for making this the cheapest in-Chapter option you have for Fast Attack, if you're looking to fill out a detachment.  The full weapons complement of one is the heavy weapon, a twin bolter, 1 bolt pistol (which can't be swapped for a chainsword, unlike with standard Bikes), frag grenades, and krak grenades, but most of these will never come up - the compulsory storm bolter means you'll never want to fire the pistol or frag grenade, and it'll be a very rare occurrence that you'll prefer 1 krak grenade to the storm bolter ''and'' the heavy weapon, even after the movement penalty.
**White Scars players could put the MultiMelta loadout to good use, as they can move and shoot without penalty.
**Frankly, anybody can use the HB load out at 37 points. A squad of 3 sets you back 111 points and gets you 12 T5 wounds, 3 HBs, and 3 stormbolters always firing full volume at 24." Surprisingly, just keep them still and serve as a distraction as they chew threw chaff.
**For the points, these are better than Gravis units when stationary. However, aggressors and inceptors have better abilities and gain infantry/fly bonuses while also having assault weapons.
**White Scars, Ultramarines, and Iron Hands do not care about heavy weapons restrictions, making these an interesting option for a Brigade.
*'''[[Bike Squad]]:''' For 2 points more than a Scout Bike, you drop from M16 to M14, and lose some weapons - no shotguns, and you have to choose between the pistol and the chainsword, instead of taking both - but you improve from a 4+ save to a 3+ save, and up to two non-Sergeants (minimum unit is Sergeant + 2 non-Sergeants) can take a Special Weapon instead of that pistol or chainsword.  The tl;dr here is that the ''only'' reason to take this squad is triple melta; you can see below for a discussion of the other choices.  112 points will get you your choice of 3 S8 shots at 26" (with melta-damage at 20"), 2 of which will hit, or 1.5 hitting at 32" and 26", respectively (before you ask, it's not worth the accuracy penalty to upgrade to melta damage).  That isn't remotely as efficient as lascannon Devastators, but those aren't as good as getting onto or holding an objective.  Don't take the Attack Bike if you can help it; losing Morale immunity isn't a big deal, but as just mentioned, the primary reason to take bikes is for the mobility, and Attack Bikes hate moving. '''tl;dr:''' Take ''only'' if you want relatively mobile but durable melta.
**The first, most obvious choice is Storm Bolters for the Sergeant; if you do that, you're looking at 83 points for 16 S4 shots at 38", while T5 and 2W. More points effective than Company Veterans on Bikes with all Storm Bolters, but worse than Scout Bikes. Keep in mind Storm Bolters are not on the Special Weapons List. This makes taking Flamers the slightly stronger option, giving every model more opportunities to wound while at closer range. 
**The next most obvious choice is Flamers, which is a significant mistake; due to the bolter taxes involved, a triple Flamer squad trying to use their speed and auto-Advancing to get into Flamer range will find itself delivering ''fewer'' S4 shots for ''far'' more points than a Scout Bike squad.  ''Without'' Advancing, you'll manage to out-shoot the Scout Bikes, but still by ''nowhere'' near enough to justify the cost, due to range limitations: your ''good'' threat range is only 22", which is the threat range on the S5 profile for the Scout Bikes' shotguns, and outside of that, you're incredibly inefficient!
**Finally, grav and plasma are fairly obviously bad - grav costs more than plasma for less damage against most targets you can be bothered shooting, and plasma is particularly a poor choice on models you've already paid a premium on for durability.
*'''[[Land Speeder]]s:''' Land speeders are now, for all intents and purposes, slightly bigger, faster, and more heavily armed attack bikes. The key difference here is that land speeders have the {{W40Kkeyword|fly}} keyword, which means if they ''do'' manage to survive the melee combat they'll occasionally find themselves in, they can just move out and shoot as normal (albeit with the penalty for moving with heavy weapons). This also makes them excellent at tarpitting gunlines. Currently, the Typhoon Missile Launcher is wildly undercosted, and should be your default choice.  Benefits from the Big Guns Never Tire and Skilled Riders stratagems to mitigate the survivability and accuracy issues.
** An interesting loadout for SALAMANDERS is a unit of 3 land speeders kitted out with 6 heavy flamers, as they're one of the units that benefit the most from the Flamecraft stratagem.
**Ultramarines are a fluffy and interesting chapter that can make use of these without much issue due to '''Scions of Guilliman'''. Iron Hands, while not fluffy, can also do so thanks to their Heavy Weapons doctrine.
**Taking landspeeders in squads is a slightly more appealing option this edition, as it helps to mitigate their fragility somewhat and this edition gives all units the ability to split fire, so small vehicle units soaking up enemy anti-tank guns is less of a factor.
*'''Scout Bike Squad:''' Scout bikes got very interesting this edition, especially with the new Bolter Discipline rule! They lost scout but gained a second wound and a ''lot of firepower''.  Every rider comes loaded for bear, with a twin bolter, combat knife (chainsword), shotgun, and bolt pistol, plus the usual grenades - every non-heavy weapon available to ground pounder Scouts. For each model this means 4 S4 shots at 24", and 6 at 12", two of which become S5 at 6". Up to 3 non-Sergeants can swap the twin bolter for a grenade launcher. But at the ludicrous cost of 9 pointsa and thanks to the Bolter Discipline, it become pretty useless: stay well away(unless you plan to exclusively advance). More interestingly, the Sergeant can drop his Pistol for a Storm Bolter. For only 2 points, he could single-handedly deliver '''8 S4 shots at 24", without taking his shotgun into account'''.  Not only that, but they keep their combat knives - they'll handily out-melee a bike squad any day, if both units commit to dakka, as they should. It goes without saying you should always, always do that, fielding these guys MSU style.
** '''tl;dr:''' Each 71 point 3-bike squad has a basic threat range of 16 S4 shots up to 40", 22 up to 28", and, outside of debuffs, is utterly immune to morale. One of the best delivery methods you have for a lot of S4 hits happening right now, on a reasonably durable, very mobile platform.  A great choice.

==== {{anchor|Fast Attack Forge World}} Forge World ====
Can you really blame the makers of superheavy choices for submitting fast attack choices that are mostly static guns? These units are dakka that is here so they won't overpopulate the Heavy section.
*'''Deathstorm Drop Pod:''' A Drop Pod full of automated guns; it can choose either an 18" 2-shot gun with S8 AP-2 D3 D or a 12" 6-shot S6 AP-1 1 D gun. In either case, it must make 1 full shooting attack against anything in range (except for CHARACTERS, who still can only be shot at if they're the closest unit in range).
** This is really good against a wide range of armies, especially MSU (the more times this thing gets to shoot the better) and gun-lines where an entire army is packed closely together. Granted, you're hitting like an Ork (BS5+ from the movement penalty) the turn you arrive...but you're also ''shooting'' [[Dakka|like an Ork.]]
*'''Land Speeder Tempest:''' A tiny drop in movement (well, sort of; see below) from the vanilla type, but has better T and Ld (not that the latter usually matters). Each one is equipped with an Assault Cannon and two Tempest Salvo Launchers (36" Heavy 1d3 S6 AP-3 D2; at only 10 points each, ''drastically'' better as a pair than a Typhoon Missile Launcher against anything at all, but the Tempest itself is a good deal more expensive than a vanilla). When Advancing, they must move between 20" and 35"; they also impose a -1 to hit against them in the next Shooting phase and prevents units without the FLY keyword from charging (or being charged by) them. Since they are neither Flyer nor Aircraft, they can still claim objectives and Breakthrough, despite having considerable reach and all upsides of being a Flyer.
**Relative movement:  These guys don't have Anti-grav Upwash, so a unit of 3 of them is 5" slower than a unit of 3 vanillas, rather than 1", when not Advancing.  When Advancing, they are ''much'' faster, regardless of unit size, since they can go their choice of 20-35" (no need to roll), instead of 16-21 for a small unit or 21-26 for a large unit of vanillas.  Unfortunately, there's no option to take Assault weapons on them of any stripe. 
**Dropped down 50p to 87p in Chapter Approved 2019, now these make more sense. Possible buffs: Skilled Rider strat (3++ when advancing, -1 to hit, immune to non-Fly charges), See, But Remain Unseen (for -2 to hit when advancing) or Big Guns Never Tire (all weapons are heavy, ignoring the movement penalty for a full unit might make sense).
*'''[[Tarantula]] Air Defense Battery:''' As below, but stuck with S8 AP-2 D3 D anti-air missiles that get +1 to hit against flyers and -1 against everything else. MUST target the nearest enemy flyer, and otherwise the nearest enemy non-flyer, but you were probably already planning to do that when you took this unit. 
*'''Tarantula Sentry Guns:''' Whoooo boy, these suckers got a huge buff in 8th edition. They ended up gaining a whopping +1 BS, along with Toughness 5 and 4 wounds, which makes them fairly sturdy for a 20 point/PL3 model. They are hit automatically in CC, but still shoot while an enemy is within 1", and that enemy can still be shot at by everyone else. The only really significant downside is that they can't move ([[Fail|and yet are somehow still fast attack]]) and can't deep strike, so they'll sit in your deployment zone the entire game. Tarantulas can be equipped with the following loadouts:
**Twin Heavy Bolters: These are the default weapons. Good against infantry, but comes with the caveat that it MUST target the nearest INFANTRY model, or else the nearest non-INFANTRY.  A steal at 17 points, but restrictive. Due to the large model footprint, relatively high resilience and low cost, it is useful to deny deep strike in a larger area while always contributing shots into the midfield. Also fairly useful as a speedbump - it is easy to block larger areas for non-Fly units, and anyone in CC with them is still a valid target for everyone, including the tarantula itself.
**Twin Assault Cannons: Hands down the best option. Tarantulas with dual assault cannons lose their targeting restrictions entirely, and gain a whopping 12 shots each. These can be a goddamn steal for what they do, and can be considered practically mandatory.  Like the THB option, cheaper than two of the base gun at only 35 points.
***Mathhammer:  It costs 37 points to field 6 shots at S5 AP-1 D1 restricted and 55 points to field 12 shots at S6 AP-1 D1 unrestricted, which means the latter would be the better choice even if you didn't also gain the benefit of lifting the restriction.  This is so good you even beat the AM version of these things, which cost 34 points for the THB variant. That being said, keep in mind these boys can't move and range will be important, meaning the heavy bolter can still have a place in your plans.
**Twin Lascannons: The other default, good against tanks. Also comes with a restriction that it MUST target the nearest enemy non-INFANTRY, or else the nearest INFANTRY.  Notably ''not'' a steal, since you pay the same cost two lascannons would cost (50 points), but still good.
**Multi-melta: Same deal as the lascannons, but mathematically worse (carrying two guns is better than carrying one). However, it does unlock your targeting restrictions, so a multi-melta equipped tarantula can fire at anything you want. Very expensive at 37 points for the total loadout (relatively so, you're still getting a multi-melta on a very durable platform for the price of one and a half intercessors).
***Mathhammer:  The Twin Lascannons have twice the rate of fire and twice the range as the Multimelta, at 60 points rather than 37, with similar performance against the same targets for the rest of the statline, but the targeting restrictions on them can be quite aggravating, since they will happily target things like BEASTS or SWARMS that you don't care about.  As for the Multi-Melta, 47 points is two points ''more'' than the Assault Cannon variant and you generally won't get into Melta range since you'd have to rely on the enemy to do it for you, so it's only better against medium and heavy vehicles, who are generally fast and/or well-armed enough to deal with turrets handily, which is why neither heavy option is remotely as compelling as the twin assault cannons.

===Heavy Support===
*'''[[Devastator Squad]]:''' Due to everyone getting Split Fire, you can feel free to mix and match weapons however you like; that said, it's still a good idea to use weapons with similar ranges in case you need to focus your shots on a single opponent. Be sure to keep whoever has the best gun less than 3" from the Sergeant, since his Signum will let that guy hit on a 2+. Finally, the Armorium Cherub has received a big buff - you can use it once per game to effectively give one model in the squad a second shooting phase. Needless to say, you should always take the cherub.
**Combine the Cherub and Signum. On turn 1, use the Signum on a key gun (e.g. lascannon), and then use the Cherub to get the extra shot. The signum will apply for the whole phase, meaning 2 powerful shots at BS2+.
**These guys will outperform their Centurion cousins (see below) for points per wound, but won't take nearly as much damage, of course; even before the cherub and assuming the sergeant just sits around like a dork, a full 5-man 4-lascannon squad will be more efficient at killing Land Raiders, ''even after moving''.  This is less brutal for competing against hordes, because hurricane bolters are insanely cheap, as opposed to badly overcosted like Centurion Missile Launchers, to the point that horde-hunting Centurions on the move will outperform Heavy Bolter Devastators on the move, although the Centurions go back to being less efficient if the regular Devastators hold still.
**Note that the devastator sergeant has unique wargear alternatives in that he can replace his boltgun with two new weapons. This allows him to uniquely field three bolt pistols, or probably more commonly a storm bolter, chainsword, and bolt pistol.  If you don't mind him being short range (e.g. if he's showing up in a Drop Pod), his most efficient loadout against almost anything is 2 plasma pistols and 1 bolt pistol, even if he doesn't overcharge, barring going even shorter range against hordes, in which case the combi-flamer will win out.
** Devastators make prime candidates for occupying an Imperial Bunker. For only 100 points you can give your squad the durability of a Leman Russ (T8, 12W, 3+ sv). Magnificent when paired with a squad full of lascannons. 
*'''Devastator Centurion Squad:''' Ridiculously ultra-heavy marines with, each, the firepower of a tank; people either [[skub|hate or love them]]. They are slower and easier to kill individually than a tank, but have all the advantages of being Infantry: smaller size, gaining cover in certain terrain (like forests), can go to the second floor of buildings, etc. This unit can be the cornerstone of an army, synergizing well with Chapter Ancient, Apothecary, Chapter Master, and Lieutenant models. Three Lascannon/ML centurions are all the AT firepower you will ever need in a TAC list. At T5, 2+ armour, and 4 wounds, they can be a nightmare to kill without antitank weapons. They ignore the movement penalty for firing heavy weapons but only have 4" movement, which is not a big problem thanks to their long/medium range. With their Sergeant's Omniscope they ignore cover saves, and you can Combat Squad a unit of 6 of them into two 3-man units; great if you only want to spend one Heavy Support slot on them, but remember one of the units won't have the Sergeant and his Omniscope.
**''Heavy /Hurricane bolters:'' The one for killing hordes, and the cheapest one (210 pts). Sitting on 12 bolt and 6 heavy bolt shots, they are very good at their job, and decent against units of heavily armoured but sparse infantry; bad against anything with decent toughness/armour.
***Work very well with Imperial Fists or Crimson fists. In addition to being somewhat [[fluff|fluffy]], the exploding 6s on hit for bolt weapons go a long way when each model is putting out 12 bolt and 6 heavy bolt shots without penalty, even after moving.
***This load-out suffers from comparison with the new and shiny Aggressor Squad. They cost half as much and can shoot twice when standing still. However, the base firepower of a Centurions is objectively better than an Aggressor, even if he is not as mobile.
****Note that Aggressors are an Elite choice. The competition being tough in that slot, Bolt Centurions could be a really good substitute.
**''Lascannons/Missile launchers:'' Excellent against Vehicles/Monsters/Superheavies (and Characters too if they get close enough), wasted against any other thing. The most useful overall, because of their massive range that lets them be in the back lines, protected by cover and supported by some Character/HQ while sniping important things.
*** This is the most expensive load out at 330 points; which almost gets you two quad las predators with 20 points short, or 6 points less than two twin lascannons Contemptor Mortis Dreads, or the same amount for two 5-man lascannons devastator squad. If you really want to take this loadout, you better have a plan. A good one.
**''Grav Cannons/Missile Launchers:'' The narrowest focused of the load-outs. Grav Cannons are Heayy 4 S5 AP -3 1 Damage weapons, but they get D3 Damage instead against units with 3+ armour. Because of the low Strength, this is only useful against highly armoured multi-wound infantry (TEQs, Primaris Marines, Ogryns, etc) and some random units, like Vehicles with T5 and 3+ armour. But it just so happens that those same targets are difficult to kill efficiently with other weapons (light arms aren't enough against them, anti-tank weapons are too much), so this load-out can be good if you have that specific hole in your army, or know your opponent has a lot of these units. If you give them Hurricane Bolters instead, you lose some focus but become much better against hordes, but if you wanted that, just take Heavy Bolters/Hurricane Bolters instead.
***This is the mid-range load out at 240 points; which puts you short 50 points for two 5-man devastator squads with double grab cannon/launcher each.
***Something to note here: with access to the gravitic amplification strategem, grav cannon centurions can be downright nasty. Especially if you manage to deep strike them, they can just pop up, pour grav-cannons on a big enemy model (repulsor execitioner, knight, etc), re-roll failed wounds, re-roll damage rolls you don't like. Its a surprisingly effective strategy for a load out that seems somewhat schizoid (not enough strength to be true anti-tank, not enough shots to be true anti-infantry), and I've personally been on the receiving end and watched a repulsor and a full ten man intercessor (in cover) die to grav cannons and hurricane bolters (respectively) from a 5 man centurion devastator. Its also worth noting that they're durable enough that they survived the Repulsor executioner's retaliation once my turn rolled around. 
** As we can see, it's an impressive unit with compelling abilities... but dear lord, it's expensive. There are other options which are easier to plug into most lists; these guys require you to have a solid plan you expect to execute consistently. As said before, they almost require the whole list to be built around them. Think carefully before choosing these big guys.
**Try to keep them out of close combat, though. Even with their stat, buffed a little by the new codex (+1 W and A), and Shock Assault, they don’t have any melee weapon. Contrary to appearances, [[wat|those big hands are not power fists]]. Any specialized melee unit will tarpit you. You can always retreat, but you lose a turn of shooting then, unless you're Ultramarines. Mind your positioning!
**The Sergeant's Omniscope becomes useless with the Imperial Fists Chapter Tactic. That lets you combat squad a 6 man Centurion unit without the fear of losing any bonus.
*'''[[Eliminator]] Squad:''' The Primaris scalpel compared to the Primaris sledgehammer that is the Hellblasters. They have the same +2-for-being-in-cover camo-cloaks that Scouts get, and they can take either an anti-tank las fusil or a bolt sniper rifle that gets three different ammo options to use: Mortis for standard character sniping, Executioners because fuck your stealth units (ignores line of sight and cover), and Hyperfrag for overwatch (AP0, D1, but are Heavy D3). All ammo types can target characters without them needing to be the closest units. Alternatively, gear them up with 36" Heavy 1 S8 AP-3 D3 las fusils, and let them harass enemy armour from cover. The Sarge can use his trademark pointy finger and give his other two mates a +1 to hits and wounds in the shooting phase, though he cannot himself shoot a weapon when he uses his telescope. Nifty when his bolt carbine is out of range and very helpful for nabbing mortal wounds and wounding things tougher than T5. 
**''Sniper:'' At only 72 points for the unit, this is one of the cheapest and most effective Heavy Support choices in the Marine range. Psykers and buffing characters are ubiquitous, so this unit will be useful in almost any game while cheaply filling out a Spearhead Detachment or serving as a useful ''Relic Tax'' for units like the Leviathan Dreadnought. 
***The '''Executioner Rounds''' allow for Eliminators to effectively shoot through terrain, much like Tyranid Hive Guard. Eliminators can be completely within cover and simply fire through the battlefield to effectively threaten and kill enemy characters and other units. While this disallows the use of the more damaging '''Mortis Rounds''', it does allow Eliminators to engage from cover and out of LoS with essentially no risk to the unit.
***Comparing these to Scout Marines equipped with sniper rifles is really an apples vs. oranges debate as one is a troop choice and the other is a dedicated anti-character support unit.
**''Anti tank:'' The las fusil is a relatively cheap way to get almost-lascannons on the field, but note that of all their weapon options, this is the one conspicuously ''lacking'' the ability to target Characters who aren't the closest unit. Taking this really does convert them from being a Scout Sniper replacement to being a Devastator replacement.
***Worth noting that they get +1 to hit and wound when the Sarge doesn't shoot, which makes their Las Fusils comparable if not better than Lascannons, trading an average of 3.5 damage for a flat 3. A squad with two Fusils and the sarge with the sniper rifle (the cheapest option) runs 96pts; three such squads run cheaper than 10 Devastators with 6 Lascannons and 2 HB, has more wounds, is more accurate, and when there are not tanks that need murdering can also offer some sniping utility. The Las Fusil's flat 3 damage is also relevant against some elite, 3 wound units. Also, fusil is French for rifle, so GW is just getting lazy with names; still, these guys make pretty good Green Jackets.
**The optional Instigator Bolt Carbine for your Sergeant trades heavier firepower for the ability to scoot out of charge range immediately after firing Overwatch (which is to say, ''before the enemy can actually get their melee attacks in''), letting you kite melee units across the board when your sniper perch eventually gets overrun. And, unlike a regular Fall Back maneuver, they'll still be able to attack without penalty in their next shooting phase since they're not technically in combat yet. Also, despite the relatively limited range and firepower (24" Assault 1 S4 AP-1 D2), it can still freely target characters just like the Sniper Bolt Rifle, for what it's worth.
*'''[[Hellblaster]] Squad:''' Some pretty wicked dakka right here. Their Plasma Incinerators are 30" S7 AP-4 D1 normally, with the same boost as other plasma weapons if supercharged (+1 to S and D) - more than enough to wipe out any TEQs they encounter. Run with any character giving re-rolls to hit (e.g. any of the Captain variations) to make these things a monster/tank killer if they get into rapid-fire range. To do that, you’ll probably want to get them an [[Impulsor]], which can get them into position on turn 1 thanks to the Assault Vehicle ability. The only other option is one of the [[Repulsor Tank]] variants, and you’re already putting too many points into these, since they're as expensive as... well, as elite marines carrying souped-up plasma weapons.
**If you happen to be running a Primaris only force, these guys will be one of your best anti-vehicle choices, but still not a fantastic one. Will be majorly improved by pouring a lot more points into them with Captains, Ancients, and Lieutenants, but that's a lot of extra points. 
**The Plasma Incinerators comes in two more variants; a Heavy 1 with 36" and S8/9 that costs 2 points more than the standard option, and a 24" Assault 2 with S6/7 that costs 1 point more. 
***The Rapid Fire (standard) version is definitely the best in general, costing the fewest points for the most output against the most targets, but you'll want to get up close and personal with it - see the Assault version below for shooting things farther away.
***The Assault version costs you more points for less strength, but better rate of fire in the 16-24" range, and you can fire it after advancing, so you could also consider it to have superior rate of fire in the 16-27.5"; therefore, it's actually better on a squad intended for longer range engagements, rather than one intended for, well, assaulting.  Because S7 is so underwhelming compared to S6 or S8 against most real-world targets, it's seldom justified to overcharge this one, although it can be worth it if you're desperate for the increased damage.  Take this version to shoot things farther away better, but up close worse, than the Rapid Fire version.
***The Heavy version costs you more points for worse rate of fire (although you can move and shoot with it out to 36-42" range if you want), but enough Strength to kill MEQs on a 2+ ''without'' overcharging. It can also act as an anti-vehicle weapon in a pinch when overcharged; say your opponent has a Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer, two of the best options currently available. With the extra range you can stay completely out of its threat range of 34" and hit it with an overcharged version of this gun. This would wound on a 3+ and do 2 damage each with only a 6+ save. Granted it will take about 18 shots to kill one on average, but a 10 man unit with the two rounds of shooting it will get because of the range increase will badly cripple it at minimum. For long range anti-vehicle and heavy infantry fire support this is definitely the option to go for.
**Null Zone is particularly deadly if there's a group or two of Hellblasters in range of the Librarian's unfortunate targets, considering their AP-4. This player can attest that one Null Zone was enough to put down three Shield Captains with the aid of Hellblasters and additional anti-armour tools.
**They have gotten quite silly with the advent of the new codex, as they now have AP-5 during the Tactical Doctrine... Which is rather pointless compared to AP-4 as anything with a 2+ is likely to have an invulnerable save.
*'''[[Thunderfire Cannon]]:'''The Thunderfire Cannon has one of the best stratagems, and has found a way back for marine players for reasons beyond its 4D3 shots or S5 hits. With the 2019 Codex the Thunderfire can have a unique combination of Stratagems. First, pop the Tremor Shells, which slows an enemy's movement by half, including their Advance or Charge ranges, then follow up with Suppression Fire to slow down two units with 3CPs. This can cause traffic jams, failed charges, and slow the deployment of enemy forces. Based on stats and points cost (including its mandatory gunner), the TFC is better than than a Whirlwind but worse than a QHB Rapier Carrier. It ignores line of sight and has 5 feet of range, but costs half again as much as just taking Heavy Bolter Devastators. If the Techmarine gunners wander too far from the guns, they're considered destroyed. 
**At only 93 points (CA2018) the Thunderfire Cannon is more attractive than ever - consider buddying up with a dreadnought or tank to get the most out of your Techmarine.
**'''Alternative Point:''' Thunderfire cannons may have lost some power, but they have gained survivability. They are effectively a self-sustaining Heavy Support choice: as a VEHICLE, the Techmarine Gunner will automatically repair D3 wounds on it per turn, but as a CHARACTER he cannot be targeted separately unless he is the closest target. Its lower wound score and toughness do make it vulnerable to big damage weapons like Lascannons and meltas though, so be warned. Though if it does die, you now have a techmarine without having used a HQ slot. Also, the techmarine can act independently from the cannon, as long as he stays within 3" to not lose the cannon's shooting. Park a predator (or any other long-range shooty vehicle) next to the techmarine for a free auto-repair each round (doesn't substitute shooting any more), while toasting nearby enemies with plasma cutter and flamer while still shooting the TFC. In a pinch, the TFC could even soak up overwatch, and the techmarine's 2A servo arms and 3A base mop up single targets.
***When comparing it to the whirlwind, the difference in strength actually doesn't matter against T4 enemies. ''(Though the Whirlwind can switch to Vengeance missiles for S7 killiness.)'' Also, where the whirlwind does 2-12 shots, averaging 7, with diminishing accuracy as it takes wounds, the Thunderfire is more likely to get hits in thanks to more dice, doing between 4-12 shots, averaging 8 with no drop in accuracy and its ability to self-heal.
**The Thunderfire Cannon alongside its Stratagem punches way above its weight class. Berzerkers coming in, move 6", charge 12", for a max of 18", would be reduced to move 3", charge max of 6". Without using the Stratagem the TFC is less efficient than Whirlwind.
**Always remember that the Techmarine is loaded with guns himself. If you're paying for them, you may as well be shooting them.  And, when you compare the fire output to a whirlwind, the numbers shift in the cannon's favor when the TP is within 8".
*'''[[Predator Tank]]:''' Predators now get their own special autocannon profile; it seems like the predator can turn into a monster. For just ten points less than a twin lascannon, you drop to 2 less strength and AP for 2 more shots on average, and guaranteed 3 damage, rather than rolling with an average of 3.5. I don't know how an autocannon can paste Nobs easier than a demolisher cannon (maybe because the demolisher is relying on the indirect blast and shrapnel from its huge but inaccurate shells, while the predator is relying on direct hits that explode Nob torsos like watermelons) but we'll just have to take it. Roll it with an Autocannon and side-mounted lascannons for a versatile (but expensive) fuck machine.
**Dakka predators became good again, being able to chuck out 2D3 Autocannon and 6 Heavy Bolter shots per turn. Consider further augmenting its firepower with a Storm Bolter or a Hunter-killer missile too. 
**Two Laserbacks with Hunter Killer missiles and Stormbolters costs 246 points, while a 4 Lascannon Predator with Hunter Killer missile and Stormbolter costs 210 points. The Predator allows for less drops per 4 lascannons.
** Lost its signature stratagem for better wounds and damage, which sucks. 
*'''[[Vindicator]]:''' With the pie plate replaced with 6 hits at the most and MEQs and TEQs now allowed at least some kind of save, the vindicator took a huge nerf. However, with the changes to the wound formula, S10 became ''very'' important, and chucking out what are effectively D6 lascannon shots onto an enemy tank isn't something to look down on. With T8 it's bound to shrug off a lot of fire it might soak, The best use of it is probably taking on groups of elite units or vehicles, such as large squads of terminators.

**The Vindicator has one less wound and better Ballistic skill than an Imperial Guard Leman Russ with Demolisher Cannon at 27 fewer points (although the IG Demolisher gets Grinding Advance, ''and'' benefits from Doctrines like '''Brutal Strength''', not to mention tank orders). Stupidity of the fluff aside, they’re better against high-toughness multi-wound models, which almost every army has at least one unit of (Nobs, Wraithguard, Crisis Suits, Terminators & Primaris Marines, Ogryns), so one Vindicator can find a home in lots of local metas and is actually a cost-effective way of getting the DC on the field. Three and a Techmarine to repair in a Spearhead detachment could be a useful and relatively cost-effective (432 pts stock) distraction carnifex ally. 
*'''[[Whirlwind]]:''' The Whirlwind has two gun options, Castellan at 2D6 (average: 7) shots of S6, and Vengeance at 2D3 (average: 4) S7, AP-1, and D2. With the higher strength of this weapon, the hits you do get will make short work of most infantry, but the ideal purpose of wiping out cheap blob units remains out of reach.  You have to choose which gun to take when you build the list, so the latter choice results in a 9% more expensive tank overall while dealing more damage to anything with at least 2 wounds or 2+ saves.
**The Vengeance launcher is functionally a twin autocannon that paid 1 point for both +24" (*1.5) range and the ability to fire outside of LOS; the Castellan launcher is more like an assault cannon that paid 4 points for +1 shot but +1 AP and lots more range, with non-LOS targeting.  The net result is that which is better is strictly a question of wounds - Castellan is better against 1-wound models, while Vengeance is better against 2+.
*'''[[Hunter]]:''' No longer explicitly AA, this weapon delivers a high strength hit equal to a lascannon, re-rolling missed hits whether the model is flying or not.
**While not an efficient damage dealer, this model is a steal for its points. Exact same base cost as a Predator while making the leap from T7 to T8, and getting a free 5' range lascannon that can reroll hits. Won't spit out as much damage as your other Heavy Support options, but incredibly reliable. Great Especially if taken with a Tactic that let you reroll failed hit and wounds.
*'''[[Stalker]]:''' Has two AA guns. Now a very flexible gun, it gets +1 to hit against flying things, while suffering a -1 to hit versus non-fliers. For a Stalker to be worth taking, it likely needs to be buffed by an HQ to make it more accurate, otherwise, other weapon systems on other vehicles are more productive. Fliers are very popular early in 8th and this is a good anti-air vehicle. It is fairly productive in other roles as well, providing a 48" range and 2 Damage with 6 shots at plasma strength and a Heavy Bolter's AP. The poor AP is mitigated by the Damage done per shot. The tank is tougher than its own weapon, a rare T8 Rhino chassis. 
**Of course, much of the previous is very rosy sounding. If everything goes right- six hits, six wounds, six failed saves- you do twelve damage. You are better off on average firing just about anything else at its intended target. Three shots can get through reliably, but most Flyers are T7, meaning the majority of the time you only wound half the time. And the AP means you will only get through their armour save roughly half the time. You will do two or zero damage the majority of the time. They have a better time shooting down hoverbikes and Jump Pack infantry. Almost any major HS option can do its job better. Avoid.
*'''[[Land Raider]]:''' Now that the vanilla Land Raider isn't forced to fire all its guns at the same target, it's gone from schizophrenic to an effective all-rounder. For example, you can use its lascannons to pop a vehicle and then follow up with the heavy bolters to wipe out an infantry squad. This is assisted further by the new Power of the Machine Spirit, which lets it ignore the normal penalties for moving and firing heavy weapons. While its transport capacity is still rather small compared to the other Land Raider variants, it still has just enough room to drop a trio of Assault Centurions off or a 5-man squad of Assault Terminators. And with T8, 16 wounds, and a 2+ armour save it'll be a tough nut to crack even with anti-armour weaponry. Enjoying another price drop!
*'''Land Raider Crusader:''' As ever, the Hurricane Bolters will shred any infantry within 12" - you have twenty-four bolter shots supplemented by another 12 assault cannon shots. The Frag Assault Launchers also help in regards to transporting and supporting its cargo, since it causes d3 mortal wounds on a 4+ if it finishes a charge within 1" of an opponent. But whatever you do, take the multi-melta. Neither the assault cannons nor the hurricane bolters have enough AP to significantly reduce a MEQ's armour save, and anything with T7 or more (e.g. other vehicles) won't even get their paint scratched. It carries 16 models, so it's still your best choice for transporting Terminators, crusader squads, and other larger units. Stick near a Captain and/or a Lieutenant and laugh maniacally as you shred every infantry squad around you. Enjoying another price drop!
**Also, all those guns can fire without penalty, even if you're moving at maximum speed (which you should be).  Somewhere, a Black Templar wipes a manly tear away as he remembers the words "defensive weapons."
**Now that Chapter Tactics applied to every Space Marine units, Imperial and Crimson Fists could have a double Hurricane Bolters with an additional hit on a 6. Enjoy your [[Awesome|20 Bolters HITS on rapid fire range]]!
*'''Land Raider Redeemer:''' Similar to the Crusader, but trades off the hurricane bolters' volume of shots for the flamestorm cannon's greater strength, higher AP, and improved damage per shot. While you'll have to get in close to make the most of it, the Frag Assault Launchers let you use this to your advantage as you burn down the heavier infantry. Though the flamestorm cannons can threaten lighter vehicles, you should still add the multi-melta to be on the safe side. Carries 12 models. Can easily cockblock a charging unit with 2d6 automatic Flamestorm shots. Enjoying another price drop and 12" Flamestorm cannons!
**The flamestorm cannon can, because of flamer autohits, crisp some flyers if you are close enough. Consider if it is worth to put your Land Raider in the open. 
**Bear in mind that the Land Raider has one enormous Achilles heel - it can't fall back and shoot. If even a single model makes it into combat with your Raider then it instantly becomes a lame duck during your next shooting phase. This can make assault-oriented Raiders like the Redeemer and Crusader especially vulnerable. <i>However</i> as of the 8.5e codex, flamestorm cannons have a range of 12", so anything wanting to hold it up in combat will definitely have to face 2D6 automatic hits at a pretty respectable strength, AP and damage. 
*'''Repulsor Executioner:''' Jury's out on this one. 6 Capacity with some big guns. 284/293 base depending on the gun, +12 points with the two options. Steep price, but it fires the main gun twice (when you move 0-"under half" current M). One is a Heavy 2 72" monster at S10 AP-4 D1d6(min 3) on a D6 cannon and the other is what you'd expect from plasma, but with D6 shots and starts at S8 AP -4 (pumping up to S9). This baby also gets a heavy onslaught Gatling cannon stock as well as a few other guns you sometimes forget to fire (seriously, there are a lot), including a Twin Heavy Bolter. It can also be upgraded with an Ironhail Heavy Stubber and Icarus Launcher if you feel inclined to do so. It has 18 S5 AP-1 shots and a metric ton of various S4 shots, some S7 as well, allowing it to reliable mulch opposing infantry. The Heavy Laser Destroyer can tear through enemy armour reliably and the Macro Plasma can remove medium and heavy infantry. 
**Properly supported, this thing can annihilate swathes of the enemy army. A Captain (better yet, a Chapter Master) and Lieutenant will never be a bad idea. And if you bring two of them, they can quickly turn the tides of conflict. However, it is a major investment in points and dollars. You need to maximize your opportunities to get the most out of it. If you can, then an Executioner or two is the sort of heavy fire support the army craves. If you can't... Well, Marines are used to losing in 8th anyway-Don't be stupid, get the Lieutenant and bring a Techmarine!!!!
**Whenever you make such an investment on big units, you must consider everything you are paying for. While the Heavy Laser Destroyer is a very potent weapon which will serve you well, this particular weapon loadout will require a play style that ignores most of the other benefits of the unit by hanging back and remaining fairly static. Taking the Plasma loadout, however, saves points and requires closer positioning of the tank. That may seem foolhardy, but this vehicle is loaded with close/mid-range weaponry that complements the plasma very well, while still being able to deliver a 6 man Primaris infantry unit on top of repulsor fields. Thus, this writer regards the Executioner as a very gun laden Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), not a true battle tank. You can take a battle tank's weapons loadout, and certainly, that may be necessary at times, but this tanks true calling is in direct support of infantry. The executioner is really just a beefed up standard repulsor and really should be used in a similar fashion. Its slow-moving double shooting rule is perfect for sitting behind a wall of aggressors marching up the board as both units extract maximum firepower potential from hardy buffing characters.
  
====Forge World====
*'''Whirlwind Hyperios:''' While it's still best used against aircraft because of its +1 to hit against flyers (and -1 against everything else), Heavy 2d3 S8 AP-2 D1d3 isn't something to take lightly. 
*'''[[Rapier Armoured Carrier]]:''' A dirt-cheap source of heavy bolter fire, which can also be used as a cheap counter to "light" superheavies like Knights if taken with Laser Destroyers or act as artillery if you use the Quad Launchers (added in the FAQ). Now coming stock with a 12-shot quad bolter at 3/4 of what you pay for a devastator squad armed with same, on a fairly sturdy chassis. Fills out the heavy support requirements of a Spearhead detachment really nice, but keep the gunners safe or it gets auto-removed just like the Thunderfire Cannon.
**Quad Heavy Bolters are terrible, costing more than 2 twin heavy bolters for the same guns...or... you can ask yourself what kind of platforms let you take twin heavy bolters and ask yourself if the cost is worth it.
**The average damage from a laser destroyer is less than its weight in lascannons - 183.33% of the damage for 240% of the price; the difference in strength will never matter against practical targets, while the improvement to AP will come up and won't make up the difference. If you're using the Salamanders chapter tactics and like to focus on single enemy units before moving to another enemy unit the laser destroyer can do a good job while letting your characters help other units.
**As a result, hands down your best bet is always going to be the Quad Launcher.
***In thunderfire mode this will, for 45 points, outdo two lascannons for 50 points, as losing a point each in strength and AP is more than made up for in doubling its attacks, and the difference in damage is not only slight, it also deals predictable damage, making it invaluable in many contexts, such as shooting Quantum Shielding... witt the new space marines combat doctrine you regain 1AP during the devastator Turn, yeah take this.
**In shatter mode, this will shoot randomly from 1.3 to 4 of heavy bolter shots, for an average total of 8 shots, losing a point of AP in exchange for indirect targeting and improved range.  This is inferior to the Quad Heavy Bolter option, so you should regard it as a bonus to the high strengh mode, rather than a good gun in its own right, and take this gun for the purpose of killing off enemy heavies, not massacring enemy lights.
**They have half of the survivability perk of the Thunderfire, as the Rapier is a vehicle and SM Gunners are functionally Characters without a keyword (can't be targeted unless the closest model). If you take a full battery of Rapiers, strongly consider also taking a Techmarine to repair them or putting a Thunderfire Cannon in the gunline.
*'''[[Mortis Dreadnought]]:''' Your go-to dakka dread. It costs 5 points more than a standard dreadnought, with the exact same profile, but it brings the option to double up on weapons the regular dread can't. You can take a pair of twin bolters, autocannons, or lascannons, or a pair of regular missile launchers, assault cannons, multi-meltas, or heavy plasma cannons. All good choices for laying down firepower, with the best guns depending on what you plan to shoot and how many points you can spare. 
**As of CA2019, their base cost matches that of the regular old Dreadnought chassis at 60pts. Their autocannons are also 3 points cheaper, so enjoy your 8 S7/AP-1/D2 shots at 120 points.
*'''Contemptor Mortis Dreadnought:''' Better than the standard Mortis in every way, from the BS 2+ to the 5++. Apart from that, it can do everything the regular Mortis can, only better.
**Since the v1.1 FAQ/Update, Contemptor Mortis' can once again take Cyclone Missile Launchers. The downside is, like their Terminator counterparts, they're still 50 fucking points for either Heavy 2D3 S4 AP0 D1 OR Heavy 2 S8 AP-2 D6D. With this in mind, however, it could be decent now that EVERYTHING has Split-Fire, and you're no longer hitting Flyers on 6s, but only 3+(!!) with at least 6W or more. Churn out some dakka with your two Kheres Assault Cannons (which, keep in mind, can ALSO fire at two different targets, as they are considered 'two identical weapons', and then slam a couple of Krak missiles at a Flyer that screams overhead. Or a tank, I guess, if that's your thing.
*'''Siege Dreadnought:''' This Dread specializes in short-range firepower, coming stock with an Inferno Cannon that acts like a souped-up heavy flamer (but costs more than a twin heavy flamer, for reasons) and a seismic hammer with built-in meltagun that suffers from a -1 to hit but will wreck anything that gets hit. With the ability to re-roll all to wound rolls of 1 in the Fight phase when targeting a BUILDING or a unit with a movement stat of 0", its niche as a building killer should be obvious. 
*'''Relic Leviathan Dreadnought:''' '''I AM THE DESTROYER OF ALL THAT EXISTS, THE ANATHEMA OF LIFE, HATRED, AND WRATH GIVEN PHYSICAL FORM, I AM THE FUCKING LEVIATHAN DREADNOUGHT. POINT ME AT ANYTHING, AND IT WILL DIE, FROM THE LOWEST OF GUARDSMEN TO THE BIGGEST OF TITANS.''' ''Ahem'', enough of that nonsense! But Mr. Leviathan does have a few good points. The Leviathan Dreadnought is easily one of the deadliest single models in the entire game, barring actual ''Titans'', packing a series of quite frighteningly powerful weapons that can make short work of virtually anything. It packs a Strength and Toughness of 8, with a 2+/4++ saves line, and a whopping 14 wounds. In addition, it actually received a fairly decent points decrease in 8th edition, having dropped in cost by 50 whole points even after all wargear is accounted for. A few things were lost though, as the Leviathan no longer has his frag-launchers (but it did get its hunter-killer missiles back in the FAQ) but in exchange, his whole loadout has gotten huge buffs.
**It has two Heavy Flamers which can't be swapped out for anything, and two Leviathan Siege Claws (Sx2 AP-3 D3 Re-roll failed wounds against Infantry) with in-built meltaguns stock.
***The Claws can be swapped out (without losing the meltaguns) for Drills, which up the AP and D to -4 and 4, but you stop re-rolling failed wounds against Infantry.
***The Claws can also be swapped out along with their meltaguns (at the cost of -1A for each one you swap out) for:
****'''Cyclonic Melta Lance:''' Capable of destroying a Land Raider in a single volley, while being able to shave off 15 wounds from a Knight (leaving it sufficiently weakened that it will no doubt then die to be slammed with 15 additional wounds in melee).
*****Note that this actually has worse AP than the Bombard (although it will usually only matter against Land Raiders and the like, as against any Invuln save at all or a 3+ save or worse they'll tend to equal out), with better rate of fire against 4 or fewer model units and worse damage against Monster/Vehicle/Titanic models but better damage otherwise.  A Leviathan with 2x Bombards costs 339, while with 2x Lances it costs 359 (including Heavy Flamers), which means that against a Land Raider, the Lances are only better inside melta range. The Lance will do better against vehicles where the difference in AP doesn't matter, regardless of range (such as any 3+ vehicle, or a 2+ vehicle with an invuln), provided the target unit has 4 or fewer models.  It will also do better against infantry units of 4 or fewer models, but as soon as the target unit has 5 or more models in it, the Bombard will simply take over.
******A Salamanders Leviathan paired with Vulkan is sufficiently better that, ignoring Vulkan's cost, the Lance will be better against a Land Raider outside of melta range, but don't forget that the Bombard Salamanders Leviathan still gets Salamander Chapter Tactics, so if you only examine Vulkan+Leviathan in isolation, the Bombard will easily win.  Against infantry spam, he usually will not improve the Lance enough to do much, but remember, the Lance is already better against very small units.
****'''Storm Cannon Array:''' Has a whopping 10 shots, which do 2 damage each. While not quite as horrifyingly deadly against vehicles as the Cyclone Melta, it exchanges sheer output for more reliability. This can be useful since 2-wound weapons occupy a fair niche in the current meta, for their ability to 1-shot the numerous amount of multi-wound models, without suffering from overkill. This makes it the perfect weapon for dealing with models like Terminators.
***** This is basically a seriously up-gunned heavy plasma cannon, with ''quintuple'' the usual shot volume and one worse AP in exchange for one better D, and an inability to Overcharge. Costs 5/6 the amount two of the cannons would cost you, though.  It is far and away from the most efficient gun you can take against most targets of 4 models or less - it will actually out damage both the Bombard and the Lance against anything T6 or less and T7 Sv 4+ or worse, and that's assuming the target has enough wounds left that no damage gets wasted.
******It's much simpler to look at this weapon as 5 autocannons with an extra point of AP and half the range.
*****For serious, take this gun seriously.  It is far and away from the most generally useful of the lot; a pair of them will murder most anything foolish enough to get in your way.
*****A leviathan with two of these will be horrifyingly efficient at shooting down enemy flyers, stick 1 or 2 +1 to hit modifiers on this guy and you can quite reliably shoot down 2 Alaitoc flyers a turn.
****'''Grav-Flux Bombard:''' Now your dedicated horde killer. It deals 1d3 shots and gains an additional 1d3 shots for every 5 models present in the target unit, which means the Leviathan can get a whopping 11d3 shots when targeting a mob of Conscripts, or [[Rape|22d3]] if equipped with two of these. This essentially means that the grav bombard is your designated weapon loadout if you expect to go up against Infantry Blobs, as it can fry an entire 50 man squad each and every turn.  It also does more damage (5, rather than 2) against Vehicles, Buildings, and Titanics, making it more useful than the Lance in many cases.
*****A pair of these is the way to go for horde scrubbing - 2d3 shots every 5 models in the target means you average 4 shots for every 5 targets.  The gun is only 18" and you'll take a BS penalty (typically down to 3+ unless you use the Big Guns Never Tire stratagem, which you should) for moving and shooting with it, taking you to 3 1/3 and 2 2/3 hits for every 5 targets, respectively. At S9 AP-5 D2, ''usually'' one wound per target is all it will take; assuming you're up against T4 or less without an invuln save, you're looking at 2 7/9 or 2 2/9 (after moving) dead ''for every 5 models in the target'', or around 50% casualties. Hopefully, Morale will do the rest of the work for you, or you can just bring two of these things.
******New Chapter Tactics addendum: With the new [[Imperial Fists]] Chapter tactics, Grav-flux bombards are boosted to 6 damage against vehicles. This lets 2 grav flux bombards take out light vehicles reliably at only 2 shots needed to take down a predator and landraiders, repulsors and their equivalents with 3 shots. Also makes the [[Necron]] vehicle immune to this loadout.
*'''Deimos Vindicator Laser Destroyer:''' This thing brings to the battlefield the unique Laser Volley Cannon, which is a 2 shots Lascannon with a few twists: they only have a range of 36" instead of 48, they do a fixed 3 damage (so a little less than the average you do with 1D6) and can be overcharged to go to S10 AP-5 with a fixed 6 damage. The trade-off is that if they shoot that way, they take 3 mortal wounds on each roll of 1. If it does not move, however, it can shoot twice, but not in overcharged mode. Also, note that it gets +1T and +1 wound compared to a predator but moves 2" less. All in one, this tank is kind of odd. It costs roughly the same as a classic predator with a full lascannon setup and can pump 4 shoots if it stands still, for an average amount of wounds slightly lower. Its overcharged mode might give you an edge on T5/T9-10 opponents or target with extremely high armour saves, so what you lose in range you get it back in versatility, at price: 2 shots against 4 and the risk of wounding yourself. Between increased durability, shorter range and movement, and varying fire modes, it is hard to draw a clear line between the Predator Annihilator and the Vindicator Laser destroyer in terms of battlefield role, but the latter being clearly less efficient while on the move, you might want to invest your money in other Forge World models.
*'''Relic [[Land Raider Proteus]]:''' The Proteus has two twin Lascannons like the vanilla LR, but it can choose to take a multi-melta or twin heavy flamer instead of a twin heavy bolter. (There's also an option for a single heavy bolter, but why would you even use that?) But its main draw is the Explorator Augury Web; taking it reduces the Proteus' transport Capacity to 6, but it prevents anyone from deep striking within 12" of the Proteus. Conveniently enough, that happens to be melta range for the multi-melta so suicide melta squads won't be able to get near it. For a more aggressively inclined Proteus, you can take the Heavy Armour instead to give it a 5+ invulnerable save, though it too reduces the Proteus' transport capacity. 
*'''[[Land Raider Helios]]:''' Also has twin lascannons, but it brings along a Helios Launcher- a Heavy weapon that fires 2d6 autocannon-equivalent shots (albeit only 1 damage) that can fire without LoS. A decent combo of the Whirlwind's different missile types, and it can transport 6 models too.
*'''Land Raider Prometheus:''' A fun toy for your Warlord - if he's embarked within it, one of the Stratagems played on your turn costs 1 less CP to use. It doesn't reduce the cost below 1, but it helps. As an added bonus, its attacks all ignore cover saves, which make its 24 heavy bolter shots absolutely terrifying to light infantry. Carries 10 models.
*'''Land Raider Achilles:''' The rage-inducing and expensive Achilles is back in a big way in 8th ed. T8 with 19 wounds, a 2+ save, and a 4++ Invuln save for good measure makes this raider insanely tough. The Achilles is armed with a hull-mounted Quad Launcher and 2 sponson-mounted TWIN Multi-Meltas (Heavy 2). The Quad Launcher can fire Shatter shells at Heavy 4 S8 AP-2 3 Damage, or Thunderfire shells at Heavy 4D3 S5 AP0 1 Damage (and can target units not visible to the Achilles). It can also grab a hunter-killer missile and a Storm Bolter for a little extra dakka. This weirdness is compounded by a transport capacity of 6, including terminators and jump pack models. Seriously, go look up a picture of this thing. At 355 points there is no reason not to take three of these!!!!

===Fortifications===
Not often seen, Marines in 8th have tended towards static gun lines like Primarch + Devastators. Fortifications are not a serious part of any meta right now, so using them can be an advantage while the Imperial Fists and Iron Warriors are not common.
*'''Castellum Stronghold:''' In case you want to play an army comprised of buildings instead of tanks and soldiers. 3 bunkers and a bigger bunker, with T9 and a total of 56 wounds (3x12 and 20). This realm of battle tile (yes, its 2' by 2') is fairly indestructible and can pack up to 5 heavy weapons, from anti-tank guns to AA or troop mulchers. The tacticus bunker has transport space for 30 guys, and the bunkers for 12 each. Up to 15 and 10 models can shoot out of each of the bunkers. If your army doesn't fit inside completely, they can man the battlements for a cover save. And until the big bunker is destroyed all infantry, bike and dreadnoughts get a 4++ against shooting attacks while inside the stronghold. Oh, and one stratagem per turn costs 1 less CP if your warlord is embarked. Each of the small bunkers can take one of: Twin Heavy Bolter, Twin Heavy Flamer, Twin Lascannon, Multi-melta, Twin Assault Cannon, or Air Defence Missiles. The big bunker can take up to two of: Twin Heavy Bolter, Twin Heavy Flamer, Twin Lascannon, Multi-melta, Twin Assault Cannon, Castellum Air Defence Missiles (d3 shot krak missiles with the AA rule and the ability to fire at units it can't see), Whirlwind Castellan Launcher (2d6 frag missiles at S6 with no need for LoS), castellum battle cannon (nicked from the Leman Russ), Icarus Quad Lascannon (4 lascannon shots with the AA rule), or the pointless Communication Relay (FW meant that the -1CP to strats bonus only occured when you took this, but they named the special rule "Command Relay" instead of "Communication Relay" so [[fail|it comes as standard instead]]). All these guns must target the nearest enemy unit unless there's a friendly unit embarked within. At 550 points without guns this is something of an apocalypse thing.

===Lords of War===
=====Warhammer Legends=====
*'''Land Raider Terminus Ultra:''' Not sure why exactly this was moved to Lords of War since its statline is still no different from the other Land Raiders, but it will do a spectacular job of wrecking vehicles thanks to its 8 (!) lascannon shots per turn. 3 to hit rolls of 1 in one turn will cause you to take 6 mortal wounds, but the chances of that are so small that it's unlikely to be an issue. Even if it does happen, it won't be enough to decrease your base stats until you drop to 8 wounds or below, and with the toughness and armour save that comes with being a Land Raider variant that's probably not going to be an issue. Just be sure to watch out for massed infantry- for this reason you should probably take a storm bolter over the multi-melta since any vehicle close enough to be in melta range is going to become a smoldering wreck either way.
** As of Warhammer Legends, the terminus is now available to all chapters.

====Forge World====
Forgeworld FAQ[https://17890-presscdn-0-51-pagely.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/40K_8th_ed_Update_Imperial_Armour_Index_Forces_of_the_Adeptus_Astartes_ver_1.0..pdf] updates the relic rule for LoW, effectively you can get one with no pre-requisites but further ones will still require the 'non-relic' tax. On the other hand, [[That Guy|who would even need to bring 4 Lords of War into anything short of the biggest Apocalypse games?]]. Beware as they are all overpriced, [[Rage|thank daddy GW for that]] and should never be taken outside of fun games

*'''Relic [[Spartan Assault Tank]]:''' The Spartan has always been a bigger nastier Land Raider at heart, and this edition just makes it even meaner. A relic from the Legion days, it boasts an impressive BS3+, S8, T8, W20, a 2+ Save, and PoTMS so it can move and shoot with no penalty. The Steel Behemoth rule allows it to shoot or charge after falling back, and fire its guns even if enemies are within 1" of it. Further, it only benefits from cover saves when at least half the model is obscured. It comes stock with hull-mounted Twin heavy bolters (which can be replaced with Twin heavy flamers), 2 sponson-mounted Quad lascannons (that's a total of 8(!) lascannons), and anything trying to attack it in melee will have to deal with its Crushing tracks, which are S8 AP-2 DD3. And with a WS5+ and 8 attacks, it has a better chance than most tanks of actually hitting with them. If 8 lascannons don't do the trick, they can be swapped for Laser Destroyers to give it the role of blowing superheavies to pieces; its basic profile of S12 AP-4 DD6 is nasty enough as it is, but any time it inflicts damage, you roll a d6. On a 3-5, its damage rises to 2d6, and on a 6 it becomes a staggering 3d6 damage! If you crave even more dakka you can add a pintle-mounted Heavy bolter, Storm Bolter, Heavy flamer, or Multi-melta. Finally, the Spartan has an enormous 25 transport capacity, including Terminators, Jump Pack Infantry, and Centurions (but not Primaris). If it explodes after losing its last wound (on a roll of 6), it deals D6 Mortal Wounds to units with 2D6" inches. 

*'''Relic [[Typhon Heavy Siege Tank]]:''' The Vindicator's big brother on steroids is a fierce siege engine, boasting BS3+, S8, T9(!), W22, and a 2+ Save. The Dreadhammer siege cannon taking up the entirety of the vehicle drops Heavy 2D6 S10 AP-5 3D shots at 24" or 48" if it holds still. Losing the enormous blast template from the previous edition, the Dreadhammer can now put serious hurt on vehicles and monsters with it's 2D6 high strength high AP shots. In addition to the main gun, it can grab 2 sponson-mounted Lascannons or Heavy bolters, and can also take a pintle-mounted Heavy Bolter, Heavy flamer, Multi-melta, or Storm bolter for extra dakka. The Steel Behemoth rule allows it to shoot or charge after falling back, and fire its guns even if enemies are within 1" of it (except for it's Dreadhammer siege cannon, which must target other units). Further, it only benefits from cover saves when at least half the model is obscured. It has PoTMS so it can move and shoot with no penalty, and it makes a respectable 8 attacks with it's Crushing tracks (decreasing to 6, and then D3 as it takes damage) at WS5+ S8 AP-2 DD3 in melee. If it explodes after losing its last wound (on a roll of 6), it deals D6 Mortal Wounds to units with 2D6" inches.

*'''Relic [[Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer]]:''' An insane Titan-class laser weapon mounted on a Spartan chassis,  boasting BS3+, S8, T9, W22, and a 2+ Save. The Heavy neutron pulse array kicks out Heavy 3 S14 AP-4 3+D6D shots at 72", and causes a -1 to-hit penalty to the shooting attacks of vehicles wounded by this weapon. In addition to the main gun it can grab 2 sponson-mounted Lascannons or Heavy bolters, and can also take a pintle-mounted Heavy Bolter, Heavy flamer, Multi-melta, or Storm bolter for extra dakka. The Steel Behemoth rule allows it to shoot or charge after falling back, and fire its guns even if enemies are within 1" of it (except for it's Heavy neutron pulse array which must target other units). Further, it only benefits from cover saves when at least half the model is obscured. It has PoTMS so it can move and shoot with no penalty, and it makes a respectable 8 attacks with it's Crushing tracks (decreasing to 6, and then D3 as it takes damage) at WS5+ S8 AP-2 DD3 in melee. If it explodes after losing its last wound (on a roll of 5+ thanks to its Unstable Reactor), it deals D6 Mortal Wounds to units with 2D6" inches.

*'''Relic [[Fellblade]] Superheavy Tank:''' The Baneblade's exponentially meaner cousin, and the king of the battlefield. If you get first turn with a Fellblade in your army, and your positioning is good, you WILL win. Absolutely bristling with guns, it has a massively impressive statline of BS3+, S9, T9, W26, a 2+ Save, and PoTMS so it can move and shoot with no penalty. It's enormous and versatile Fellblade accelerator cannon sports two shell types: HE shells are Heavy 2D6 S8 AP-3 2D shots and allow rerolls for the number of shots when targeting a unit with more than 5 models. AE shells are Heavy 2 S14 AP-4 6D shots that work wonders on tanks. It comes stock with a hull-mounted Twin heavy bolter (which can be replaced with a Twin heavy flamer) and 2 sponson-mounted Quad lascannons (which can be swapped for the really not that good Laser destroyers like the Spartan). Like the Baneblade it also has a hull-mounted Demolisher cannon. If you crave even more dakka you can add a pintle-mounted Heavy bolter, Storm Bolter, Heavy flamer, or Multi-melta. Finally, anything trying to attack it in melee will have to deal with 9 WS5+ attacks from its Crushing tracks, which are S9 AP-2 DD3. If it explodes after losing its last wound (on a roll of 6), it deals D6 Mortal Wounds to units with 2D6" inches.  The Steel Behemoth rule allows it to shoot or charge after falling back, and fire its guns even if enemies are within 1" of it. Further, it only benefits from cover saves when at least half the model is obscured. Its only real weakness is a lack on an invulnerable save, as dedicated anti-titanic guns like the Knight Castellan's volcano lance will completely delete it thanks to AP-5 and rerolling failed wounds against {{W40kKeyword|Titantic}} units. However, with T9 and a 2+ armour save, it's still pretty durable against most reasonable weapons, and most of the time you can outrange the insane anti-armour guns as the FAC has 100" range. Consider bringing the Fire Angels’ special character, Captain Tarnus Vale, to give it a 6++ (the other is to bring a Dorito Dreadnought with Atomantic Pavaise to give the Fellblade a 5++; this is more expensive than taking Vale but chances are you’re not worried about points (or money) if you’re taking a Fellblade) and casting Might of Heroes on it for T10 shenanigans. Despite its cool look and ''amazing'' firepower, [[Rage|it can no longer compare against the regular Baneblade thanks to its default loadout costing 917 points!]] Consider bringing techmarines or allying in Cawl to keep it alive as long as possible.
**Highly amusingly, in another proof of Forge World being inept at copy-pasting their own units' rules between their indices, the chaos fellblade costs 20 points less and their HE shells only do 1 damage instead of the 2 yours do.

*'''Relic Falchion Superheavy Tank Destroyer:''' A Fellblade variant which shares the same statline and special rules but mounts the unbelievably deadly Twin volcano cannon in place of the Fellblade cannon and Demolisher cannon. The Twin volcano cannon can annihilate targets 120" away with Heavy 2D6 S16 AP-5 D2D6 (re-rolling wounds against Titanic units). Just like the Fellblade it comes stock with two Quad lascannon sponsons which can be replaced with Laser destroyers. Given its ability to take the laser destroyers, and that its Volcano cannon spits out double the shots, it's objectively better at destroying superheavies than a single Shadowsword counterpart in practically every way. Which is good, because at almost triple the points you'd expect it to be. It also sports a hull-mounted Twin heavy bolter which can be replaced with Twin heavy flamers, despite the fact the guns don't actually exist on the model. As per an email from forge world, "it's a copy and pastes error from the Fellblade that hasn't been fixed in an official errata"... yet. Just stick them on with bluetac or something as you're paying the points for them. You can add a pintle-mounted Heavy bolter, Storm Bolter, Heavy flamer, or Multi-melta if you crave even more dakka. Just like the Fellblade it got a massive points increase which led its point efficiency to drop through the floor. You can bring two Shadowswords at double the wounds to out-scale the T9/2+, the better version of the VC, and regiment rules for two hundred points less. 

*'''Relic [[Mastodon]] Super-heavy Siege Transport:''' Have you ever wanted to transport 40 Marines at once while trashing flyers and generally being nigh-indestructible? Then the Mastodon is the LoW for you! With 30 wounds and a 5+ void shield, the Mastodon is a fucking tough nut to crack, made even more so if it somehow gets into the 6" range for its siege melta array's reroll to kick in. 

*'''[[Thunderhawk]] Assault Gunship:''' The standard air support and transportation workhouse of the Space Marines. This monstrous flyer will cost you an arm and a leg (in both points and real $) but has some seriously impressive rules. It has a big 20-50" move in Supersonic mode and can hover. Its has BS2+, S10, T9, 30W, a 3+ Save and PoTMS so it can shoot on the move. Its Void-hardened Hull grants it a 5++ save for extra durability. The Thunderhawk Assault Gunship is armed with a Thunderhawk heavy cannon - 48" Heavy 2D6 S8 AP-2 D6D, which can be swapped for the monstrously powerful Turbo-laser destructor - 96" Heavy D3 S16 AP-4 2D6D (6's to wound inflict an additional D3 Mortal Wounds). For secondary weapons it sports 4 Twin heavy bolters and 2 Lascannons at various points on the hull, as well as a choice of Thunderhawk Cluster Bombs or a Hellstrike missile battery. The Cluster bombs can drop once per game on a single unit you flew over, rolling up to 12D6 times (3D6 for every VEHICLE or MONSTER and 1D6 for other models). Each 5+ result deals a Mortal Wound to the unit, though units consisting only of characters cannot be targeted. The Hellstrike battery is 72" Heavy 4 S8 AP-3 D3. It's Colossal Flyer rule forces -1 from shooting attacks against the Thunderhawk, but also forces opponents to measure from where its hull would be if it were at ground level and then add 12" to that measurement (which is an attempt to account for the custom flying bases you need to hold this heavy-ass brick of resin up). It also means that a lot of guns flat-out cannot shoot at it while it's Supersonic. Finally, the Thunderhawk has an impressive transport capacity of 30, including TERMINATORS, JUMP PACK models, CENTURIONS, and BIKES. It is also one of the only vehicles that can transport PRIMARIS models, with each counting for 2 spaces, although you cannot mix them with non-PRIMARIS units. In terms of loadout, 8th edition favors a high volume of shots. <s>As such, the heavy cannon is likely a better option than the turbo laser, as 2D6 (avg. 7) hitting on a 2+ and wounding a Land Raider on a 4+ is better than D3 shots hitting on 2+ and wounding the same target on a 2+, even with the difference in armour save thanks to AP.</s> Command point rerolls benefit the heavy cannon more, due to the increase in variance between rerolling a D6 vs a D3. Additionally, due to the low chance of the Cluster Bombs actually doing what you want them to do, as well as being one-use only, the Hellstrike Missiles are likely a better option. 
**'''Mathhammer:''' The above, struck through statement is not actually correct, and a command point spent on the number of attacks won't change it. Given, the cannon is obviously better against squads (2.43 unsaved wounds on non-shield terminators with D6 damage beats anything two attacks could do without a large number of mortal wounds, and the laser only inflicts .33 MWs per shot), but against a Land Raider? 1.45 unsaved wounding hits at d6 damage vs 1.15 unsaved wounding hits at 2d6 damage, +.55 mortal wounds. ~5 wounds vs ~8.6 and a command point only buys the cannon, on average, +.75 wounds. Worse armour and lower toughness change this, but until you hit some ork level T7, 4+ save madness that turbo laser will out perform the cannon vs vehicles/MCs. The canon is better for utility though, hurting vehicles and munching squads.
**Chapter Approved more than doubled the points cost of the hull of the Thunderhawk, meaning that taking one with Hellstrike Missiles brings this thing up to 1450 points, after buying its secondary weapons. It can absolutely earn its points back, but more as a result of tanking a tremendous amount of enemy gunfire between T9, 30W, decent armour, Hard to Hit, and adding 12" to enemy ranges. It can destroy an enemy Fellblade in one salvo (saw it happen), and it's a hell of a distraction.
   
*'''Thunderhawk Transporter:''' A Thunderhawk variant designed for airlifting tanks, this unusual vehicle shares the statline of the Thunderhawk (with the exception of 26W - 4 fewer than the Gunship). In addition to 15 models including TERMINATORS, JUMP PACK models, CENTURIONS, and BIKES, it can hoist vehicles into battle in one of the following configurations: 
**1 model with the LAND RAIDER or SPARTAN ASSAULT TANK keyword.
**Up to 2 of the following: RHINO, RAZORBACK, INFERNUM RAZORBACK, PREDATOR, DEIMOS PREDATOR, WHIRLWIND, WHIRLWIND HYPERIOS, HUNTER, STALKER, DAMOCLES, VINDICATOR, VINDICATOR DESTROYER, WHIRLWIND SCORPIUS.
***These vehicles act exactly like other passengers and are subject to the usual restrictions for embarking and disembarking, meaning they can detach while in Supersonic mode at the end of the movement phase. Transported vehicles can carry units at no additional transport cost to the Thunderhawk, so feel free to deep strike 25 dudes in a Spartan PLUS 15 dudes in the Thunderhawk itself. The cost of this unusual ability is the loss of ranged firepower - the Thunderhawk Transporter is armed with 'only' 4 Twin heavy bolters and a Hellstrike missile battery. It's much cheaper than the Thunderhawk Gunship, but its usefulness is somewhat questionable, cool as it may be. 

*'''Sokar Pattern [[Stormbird]]:''' Pretty much the largest flyer/transport/model Forge World offers next to titans. Damn expensive in points (2,271 after wargear) and tangible money alike, it can ferry entire demi companies onto the battlefield. Has like 8 lascannons, a host of various missiles and bombs, void shields, and a few heavy bolters here and there for flavor. The void shields can extend and overlap nearby troops 8" away that jumped out if it has hovered. Has 40 wounds, T9, a 5++ after the void shields.
**Hilariously enough this is the only vehicle in the entire space marine range that lets both primaris and old marines onboard at the same time. In addition, it along with the Thunderhawk are the only transports in the game that can transport Inceptors and Suppressors.

*'''[[Astraeus Super-Heavy Tank]]:''' This beast of a tank now has its rules released... and it's frankly nastier than anyone gave it credit for. 24 wounds, Toughness 8, 2+ Armour, Power of the Machine Spirit and Steel Behemoth are already bad enough, but then you look at its gear. Firstly, the Void Shield. Just like the Titans, it's a degenerating shield that can block off any wound, mortal or not, and does not care about AP value. However, it cannot protect you from overheating Plasma Eradicators or melee attacks, so watch out for Knight Gallants and other heavy-hitting melee units that somehow get by the Enhanced Repulsor Fields. Said Enhanced Repulsor Fields not only reduce enemy charge rolls by 3", but are also its form of '''''close combat attack'''''. Considering the fields give -2 AP and deals D3 damage per wound, this is surprisingly vicious, especially considering the 8 Strength 9 attacks the tank gets (albeit only at WS 5+, although it still benefits from auras like Litanies of Hate and Rites of Battle). Obviously, however, you're here for the guns and... oh boy. Its twin macro-accelerator cannon is a vicious Heavy 12, S8, AP-2, Damage 3 that ignores all abilities that impose negative hit modifiers when targeting anything with the FLY keyword. Its other default weapons don't seem that threatening at first, however. The two las-rippers are slightly weaker las-talons with a new name, the twin heavy bolter is somewhat useful against infantry, and the storm bolter and ironhail heavy stubber can be augmented with another ironhail heavy stubber. However, the twin heavy bolter can be replaced by a twin Lascannon, and the las-rippers can be replaced by the new Plasma Eradicator, a +1 Strength, AP-4 Plasma Cannon that uniquely only causes one mortal wound per 1 to hit on Supercharge. 90% of the time the Eradicators are the better choice. Not only are they cheaper than Las-Rippers, but they have more range. Being within 24" will put the Astraeus in danger of being chopped up by enemy Knights and makes it a prime target for most Plasma weapons. The lone Storm Bolter won't be doing much of anything regardless. 
**Compared to the Fellblade, its main gun is <s>lacking in terms of pure power</s> almost strictly better under mathhammer due to the high number of S8 shots. Against a Knight the Fellblade's AE mode barely does 6 damage, with a fair chance of doing 0, vs the Astraeus' more consistent 6-9 damage. The TMAC is also a better version of the Fellblade's HE mode; guaranteed 12 shots vs 2d6 at one less AP and one more damage. Very effective against light to medium vehicles (especially flyers), as well as 3-wound infantry such as Tyranid Warriors, Grey Knight Paladins, and Custodes. The secondary armament is only inferior with the eight Lascannons and Demolisher Cannon of the Fellblade outgunning the Accelerator Cannon itself when combined. In melee it is a mixed picture, the Enhanced Repulsor Fields make the Astraeus harder to engage and hit but it lacks the option to mount any flamer for point defense; the Fellblade can mount up to 3 heavy flamers which will inflict significant overwatch casualties on attacking infantry. The Void Shield gives it an important defensive tool that the Fellblade and most superheavy tanks lack, albeit on a more fragile (T8 not 9), less durable (2 wounds less at 24W) chassis but the VS can be used against mortal wounds; so it ends up out-living the Fellchassis in the long run by effectively having ~29 wounds. Most importantly, it's much cheaper than the Fellblade, and since it's not a Relic you can use it as a "non-Relic" tax in the unlikely chance you really want a full Super-Heavy Detachment as a Space Marine army.
***New Chapter Tactics addendum: Iron Hands and "Scions of the Forge" successor chapter tactics mean your tank keeps it's 5 up void shield until there's only 5 wounds left, so long as they're taken in Supreme Command detachments. Enjoy that while you can, because I expect an FAQ.
***CA2019 dropped the base cost of the Astraeus by 100 points, meaning that it is now one of the most viable Super-Heavy picks for SM right now (not that it's really that big of an achievement).