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

====Infantry Squads====

*'''[[Scout Squad]]: CORE.''' Cheaper than Tactical Marines, with the same damage output but a 4+ save and 1 wound. In an effort to curb the Scout spam meta for Marines, [[Derp|they are no longer Troops]]. Concealed Positions allow them to cut off huge swathes of the board from enemy Deep Strikes early in the game and Outflank allows them to Deep Strike near a board edge. Boltguns, bolt pistols, and grenades make up their standard weaponry. The boltgun can be swapped for an Astartes shotgun (an 18" assault 2 boltgun), sniper rifle (36" heavy 1 S4 AP-1 D1, hit rolls of unmodified 6 inflict an additional mortal wound and they can target Characters), or a combat knife (SU AP0 D1, bearer gains +1A). The Sergeant can swap his boltgun/bolt pistol for the typical Sergeant things of melee, pistol, and combi-weapons. One Scout can swap his boltgun for a heavy bolter or missile launcher. Finally, any number of models can have a camo-cloak to give them +2 to their saves in cover instead of +1. They have access to a special dedicated transport, which is actually the best in the codex - the reason you don't normally use it is you're banned from putting anything but Scouts in it, but a Land Speeder Storm is not only 55 points for a heavy bolter and a cerberus launcher (an 18" heavy 1d6 blast bolter), it also lets the Scouts shoot while embarked ''and'' they can disembark after it moves.  The problem is the Scouts' lack of compelling guns to make this worthwhile - hands down their best gun is their shotgun, but the Storm hates Advancing.  
**Since their banishment to the rather-crowded Elites section, don't expect them to be used for speed bumps as much in this edition. They're still cheap, but they don't contribute to Troops taxes. They're not as good at area denial as Infiltrators as they're much less durable, they're not as good at sniping as Eliminators, and their weapons aren't as good as Intercessors. 
**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 Painboy that supports him. Has good range, a chance for mortal wounds, AP-1 now, and the ability to target Characters freely.
***Well, ''sort of''.  A scout sniper who doesn't buy a camo cloak is 16 points, while an Eliminator is 30 - just under twice the cost.  The Eliminator's actually-for-sniping round, the Mortis round, has 1 better S, AP, and D than the Scout's sniper rifle, none of which help the Eliminator deal more mortal wounds, but they ''do'' mean he tends to hit harder, and critically, the Eliminator is natively BS2+, meaning his sniper rounds land 25% more often than the Scout's.  The Painboy is a reasonable test case - his Sv is so bad the Eliminator's better AP won't even help him, in fact.  An Eliminator will still deal, on average, 5/4 wounds per shot fired - more than double the Scout's 4/9 of a wound, and again, for less than twice the cost.  Scouts can be more ''numerous'' - you're not putting more than 9 Eliminator Snipers on the table - but they're really less efficient at sniping most targets.
**They can still use the flakk missile or hellfire shell stratagems, so they might have a good chance to spring a surprise d3 MWs on an enemy unit. 
*'''[[Reiver]] Squad: CORE.''' With new and old units taking up the role of Guardsman-munchers, Reivers got revamped with Stratagems to be the loyalist [[Night Lords]] they are described as. They have a -2Ld aura which pairs with the Terror Troops Stratagem to stop the enemy from scoring VP. Reivers come with an AP-2 bolt pistol for MEQ and a basic combat knife to blend GEQ with four attacks or they may swap to a 24" assault 2 bolter for some ranged support, though within 12 inches your probably better using the bolt pistol. Either way, You're likely to grind away most unaugment humanoids. For additional mobility, you can take Grav-Chutes for Deep Striking or Grapnel Launchers for Outflank and ignore vertical movement. Both of these synergise with the Stratagem to return them to reserves during the Movement Phase so they can ambush another unit trying to score points your next turn.    
*'''Veteran Intercessor Squad: CORE.''' Intercessors with +1A and +1Ld as the Veterans trademark. Like Troop Intercessors, the entire unit has bolt rifles, auto bolt rifles, stalker bolt rifles, or heavy bolt pistol and chainsword. This contrasts with the Bladeguard, who are all-in with melee and are the cheaper choice if you just want more Primaris that can benefit from Veteran Stratagems.
**Kitting them for melee is a waste. For the same cost per model, you can take Vanguard Veterans with a lightning claw each that will outperform them in melee against anything. If you're going to take them, bring them as a shooting squad that has a bit of extra melee punch, not as a melee squad that's easily outclassed by better options.
**If you're taking a Primaris-only force, then there are worse options for anti-horde melee. With five attacks each on the charge at AP-1, they will happily blend light infantry but may need a Transport to get there. Reivers have enough mobility to move without the Transport, have different options, -1A each and no AP. 
*'''[[Aggressor]] Squad: CORE.''' Got nerfed by losing their "shoot-twice-if-stationary" rules, but that was absurd from the start.  Like all Mk. X Gravis models, Aggressors are T5 and W3 models built for heavy defence and advancing, with powerful short-range dakka as they would need when protecting an objective or your lines. Unlike other Gravis, they also have great close combat power with powerfists. They come stock with two flamers (which Salamanders love) or two boltstorms (18" assault 3 bolters, making them ''ideal'' for Crimson Fists, due to their large amount of bolter dakka coming from a unit of few models) and a frag grenade launcher (18", assault D6, blast bolters). Despite the removal of their rules, the 40 point flame version is still damn good and a better choice with the new 12" range. The Mk. X Gravis-exclusive stratagem gives them +1 to their saves against D1 attacks in one phase, as well as the Primaris-exclusive Gene-Wrought Might (auto-wound on hit rolls of UM6 in melee) and Transhuman Physiology (cannot be wounded on 2+ or 3+). 
**Shooty and choppy, they're balanced by their inability to get around easily. All other units in your army can either Deep Strike, Infiltrate, fly 12", bike 14", or ride Dedicated 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.
** Assault Centurions comparison: Aggressors are cheaper and take up less transport space, that's pretty much it. Assault Centurions can pump out more S4 shooting (two flamers + hurricane bolter, provided they don't advance), ignore cover when shooting, hit harder and more often (Centurions hit on a 3+ with A3 S10 AP-4 D3 and Aggressors hit on a 4+ with A3 S8 AP-3 D2), and are more durable (Centurions W4 and Sv2+ vs Aggressors W3 and Sv3+). Regarding Transports, both units can only embark in the chunky Heavy Support tanks (Land Raiders and Repulsors). On the other hand, Aggressors are Core, making them easier to buff.
** Terminator comparison: Aggressors pump out more S4 attacks (18" 6+d6 attacks with boltstorm or 12" 2d6 attacks with flamestorm vs four 24" attacks with storm bolters) and have +1T and +1A. Terminators are cheaper, have Deep Strike, are Sv2+/5++,  and access to the Fury of the First Stratagem (models gain +1 to their hit rolls for one phase). Like Centurions, both can only be transported in Heavy Support tanks. 
*'''[[Bladeguard Veteran]] Squad: CORE.''' The 1st Company are properly inducting Primaris now. W3 and A3, toting storm shields for +1 to their armour saves and a 4++ invulnerable and master-crafted power swords (S+1 AP-3 D2). They also have heavy bolter pistols (18" pistol 1 S4 AP-1 D1), and the Sergeant can swap that for a plasma pistol or neo-volkite pistol (15" pistol 2 S5 AP0 D1, wound rolls of unmodified 6 inflict an additional mortal wound) - the neo-volkite is basically an autoinclude if you're taking the unit, as it significantly more than doubles the sergeant's limited dakka.  Unless you're White Scars, in which case you'll never stop moving long enough to pull the trigger. 
** Unlike Terminators or Vanguard Veterans, these guys can't Deep Strike on their own, and unlike Company Veterans, can't come in in a Drop Pod or bodyguard your Characters. Treat them as Assault Terminators without Deep Strike and you can't go wrong. 
*'''Centurion Assault Squad:''' Power armour inside power armour. With S5, T5, and W4, these choppy Space Marines are hard to shift. Coming stock with two flamers, siege drills (Sx2 AP-4 D3, ''no hit roll penalty''), and the Assault Launcher keyword. Any model can swap their flamer for meltaguns and swap their Assault Launchers for a hurricane bolter (a rapid fire ''6'' boltgun). The Sergeant's Omniscope grants the entire squad ignores cover, so they're quite noticeably better under Crimson Fists than Imperial Fists. 
** Getting them up the field practically requires a Land Raider, although they're ''relatively'' durable, so if they hug cover, they might be able to hoof it somewhere. For long-range shooting focused marine armies though, Assault Centurions make a strong counter-charge unit. Because of having two flamers each, the minimum a squad can put out is 6d6 of auto-hitting overwatch surprise or tearing apart big blobs of Infantry.
** Bolter Discipline doesn't affect them, as they are specifically excluded from firing twice when stationary (excluded from bolter discipline, they still fire twice at half range, as per normal Rapid Fire weapons). 
**Deathwatch have both a Flyer Transport option (Corvus Blackstar) and a Stratagem that allows them to Teleport in the same manner as Terminators (which makes them a deep striking melta unit.).
*'''[[Honour Guard]] (Legends):''' Two bodyguards for your Characters, they're best suited to guarding Characters who want to get stuck-in with melee. With a unit size of only two, they don't take up a lot of room in a Transport. Ld9 and Sv2+, but still only WS3+, W2, and A2 means their unit size is the main reason to take them. Their Honour Guard rule means that on a 2+, any wounds lost by your Characters within 3" turn into mortal wounds against an Honour Guard model. They can take boltguns AND power weapons of your choice, including [[Awesome|relic blades]] if you're willing to shell out the points.
*'''Company Veterans: CORE.''' One of three Firstborn Veteran Squads, these are your Character babysitters. They don't use an Elite slot if your detachment has a {{W40Kkeyword|<Chapter> Captain}}, and {{W40Kkeyword|<Chapter> Characters}} with nine-or-less wounds within 3" cannot be targeted by enemy ranged attacks. A unit size of 2-5 models and the most flexible unit available to your Marines; they can swap any of their weapons for melee weapons or storm shields, their bolt pistol for a special pistol, and their boltgun for a combi-weapon. Veterans (but not the Sergeant) also have the option of swapping their boltgun for a special weapon. Special and combi-weapons are all 10pts, except the 5pt flamer, so you might as well get the combi-weapon for the boltgun option. If the unit has five models, one can swap their boltgun for a heavy weapon, which might be the only way in the game to carry a heavy weapon and a storm shield at the same time.
**They deliberately pay more for their special/combiweapons than Sternguard do, in order to ensure Sternguard have a place, but they pay Vanguard Veteran prices for melee weapons, pistols, and storm shields, probably under the assumption their lack of jump packs and intrinsic cost of 1 more point per dude will prevent them from taking over the Vanguard spot.  They also pay the standard price all your infantry does for the heavy weapons.  The net effect is that their ''best'' use is their intended one, guaranteeing your characters immunity to snipers until they die, and thankfully they can take storm shields for super cheap, and their small size really helps them fit on transports.
** A great unit to have, and only made better by not using an Elite slot if you have a Captain. Storm shields and special weapons turn you into tougher Sternguard if you were taking those for special weapons anyway. 
**For the points, you ''should not'' take flamers or plasma, as the combi versions cost the same.
*'''Company Veterans on Bikes (Legends):''' Similar to their footslogging counterparts, but with M14" and +1T. ''These models are only W2, so they've not benefitted from the +1W 9th edition has granted everyone else''. Turbo-Boost gives them a 6" advance instead of d6", and their Command Squad Bodyguard is different as well; on a 2+, any wounds lost by your <Chapter> Characters within 3" turn into mortal wounds against a Biker Veteran model.
** A Biker is 30pts, an Outrider is 45pts, and these guys are 34pts. An additional 14pts gets you a storm shield and combi-weapon though, so it's best to think of these guys as a tough (T5, Sv2+/4++) and mobile special weapon shooting unit.
** Five Company Veterans on Bikes with a storm bolter is 185pts and puts out 40 bolter shots at 24" range. A five-man Tactical Squad at 12" (or 24" if they remained stationary) is 10 shots for 65pts. 
*'''Sternguard Veteran Squad: CORE.''' With the special ammunition gone, the Sternguard now walk up the field with their beefy special issue boltgun (30" rapid fire 1 S4 AP-2 D1). They also get the standard Veteran +1A and +1Ld over a normal Marine, so they can deal some decent retaliatory damage when they're inevitably charged. Any model can swap their SIB for a combi-weapon, the Sergeant can swap any of his weapons for a pistol or melee weapon (excluding thunder hammer), and 0-2 models can swap their SIB for a special weapon for literally no reason, heavy weapon, or heavy flamer. 
**In an effort to deal with the fact that outside of the 0-2 heavy flamers/weapons most of their choices make them Company Vets only worse, but heavy weapons make them Devastator Squads only worse, GW's done some bizarre fiddling with the points values each unit pays for their respective weapons.  As a result, a Company Vet with a Flamer is 25 points and a Combiflamer 30, while a Sternguard with Combiflamer is 25. 
** When comparing SIBs and storm bolters, the storm bolter is better against Sv4+ or worse, while the SIB is better against 3+ or better or against anything more than 24" but no more than 30" away.
**Even after the movement penalty, multi-meltas and grav-cannons are so good they completely sideline SIBs, but remember, if you're trying to field those, you're a Devastator Squad but worse.  Against very weak chaff, you can do better, but you don't want SIBs against that.  That means the primary reason to field Sternguard Vets is combiflamer spam: 25 points per combiflamer is just about the best you can field for mowing down chaff within 12" (in fact, you don't even really want two guys with heavy flamers - the extra S and AP is offset by both the combiflamer's better rate of fire and cheaper cost).  As a corollary, the sergeant should usually have a chainsword, but if you ''really'' want to spring for a better melee weapon on him, grab a lightning claw, as it's best against the units you'll usually deploy these guys against.
*'''Vanguard Veteran Squad: CORE.''' Better Assault Marines. When properly loaded out and taken in numbers, they can get enemy models engaged in CC and kill them first turn (the easiest way to accomplish a turn one Deep Strike charge is by making many attempts at it, after all). They can take almost any melee weapon or pistol available (see the Wargear section for a breakdown), and their Sergeant also has the option of taking a relic blade (S+3 AP-3 D2). 
**The most cost-effective chaff blender for them, in general, is a lightning claw paired with a chainsword, for 3A base, 4 with Shock Assault, one more on the sergeant, plus an extra S4 AP-1 hit - the reason to take the chainsword over the bolt pistol isn't so much the AP-1 as that you want to ''avoid'' killing the closest chaff members before you charge, as that may make the charge harder.
**While there ''are'' targets for which power fists on the base squad are best - e.g. TEQs or Land Raiders - targets for which Thunder Hammers are best are very common, due to how often you'll be hitting something with 2+/4++ or simply a 3+ or worse save.
**Though expensive, a Vanguard Squad can be a superior alternative to taking Assault Terminators with the same weapons; same amount of A, S, and D, Deep Strike and 4++ invulnerable (with storm shields), and you can mix-and-match weapons, usually letting you outperform for efficiency. Vanguards get M12", Fly, and are 37pts with hammers and shields, 28 with claws and shields, or 24 with claws and chainswords (or 27 with two claws, but this is worse against ''everything''); Assault Terminators are ''43'' with hammers and shields (M5, but W3), ''33'' with claws (M5/W3/Sv2+/4++).  In fact, Vanguard Veterans are the best reason in general ''not'' to take Assault Terminators.  Relic Terminators have a niche build at 39 points for a chainfist and claw which can situationally outperform Vanguard Vets, but their preferred targets are on the rarer side.
***The above cost assumes jump packs - if you're using a Drop Pod to get them into melee turn 1, they cost 2 less each but the Pod costs 70, making a set of 10 dudes end up costing 50 points more (5 more per dude).  Notably, terminators ''can't'' ride a Drop Pod, so the option is simply off the table.
* '''{{W40kKeyword|[[Legion of the Damned]]}} (Legends):''' A Deep-Striking, ranged Infantry unit. 9th edition has left them behind somewhat, as they are still W1. They're durable in other ways though, with Sv3+/3++ and Ld10. They did get updated with Bolter Discipline, ATSKNF, and Shock Assault, as well as keeping Deep Strike. The all come with boltguns, bolt pistols, and grenades. One Legionnaire can swap their boltgun for a flamer, meltagun, or plasma gun, and one other Legionnaire can swap their boltgun for a heavy flamer or multi-melta. The Sergeant also has a limited selection of optional wargear, being able to swap their bolt pistol for a plasma pistol or storm bolter and their boltgun for a chainsword, power weapon, or powerfist. 
**Unfortunately the LotD are one of the most point inefficient units in 9th edition, at 25pts each. This is a shame considering their bitchin' models. Only ever use these guys in a fun environment, as competitive ones will laugh at these guys. 
*'''[[Terminator Squad]]: CORE.''' 9th edition has been kind, giving them an extra wound and no points increase. Coming stock with a storm bolter and power sword (Sergeant) or powerfist (Terminator), these guys can spit out a lot of bolts and then punch whatever's left. One-in-five can replace their storm bolter with an assault cannon or heavy flamer, or take a cyclone missile launcher (read; twin missile launcher) in addition to their storm bolter (the sergeant can't do this, but counts as one for letting someone else do this). Powerfists can also be swapped for chainfists, giving you more anti-Vehicle power and just better AP against W3+ targets (Sx2 AP-4 Dd3, becomes D3 against Vehicles), so since the swap is free, you should usually do it. They can also take a teleport homer, which lets the unit (if you combat squad them, pick one of the two to keep the homer), once per game, spend its movement phase deep striking either into your deployment zone or within 3" of a friendly chapter model.
**Unfortunately, the Sergeant functionally costs more than his squad members, because he has to buy his power sword for the same cost the others pay for their power fists.  As a result, the squad is ''less'' cost effective than if you build it from Relic Terminators, simply because the cost works out to be identical if you make a 5-man one, but you can swap the sergeant's weapon for a superior lightning claw for free, even with no other changes.  As a result, you should only field this unit if you want at least one of an assault cannon, missile launcher, or teleport homer - with just a heavy flamer or storm bolters and no homer, relics will do the same job better.
**They have their best use arriving on the board via Deep Strike or Transport as close to a target as possible. A five-man squad with the basic loadout should be able to spit 20 bolter shots at a target while being tough enough to weather most return fire.
**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 their 5++ invulnerable instead. At the same time, the addition of W3 to their profile outright triples their survivability against massed small arms fire and doubles against the now abundant D2 weapons designed to kill Marines. 
**The heavy flamer punishes counter-charges if you spend a CP on Overwatch, has the benefit of auto-hitting, and can now be fired out of Deep Strike thanks to its new 12" range. The assault cannon is good for shredding lightly armoured infantry and can even possibly chip away at light vehicles if you have nothing better to shoot at. The Cyclone Missile Launcher now arrives at a decent 25 points and vastly supplements all-rounder firepower. In fact, because the CML dude shoots, on average, ''11'' S4 shots in light fire mode, he'll often outperform the assault cannon against its preferred targets.
*'''Terminator Assault Squad: CORE.''' Can take a homer like their non-assault cousins for 1/game spending their movement phase deep striking into their own deployment or within 3" of a friendly, and comes in two flavors, both of which have to be compared directly to Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs, who can't take a homer but have superior mobility in general and superior weapon choices.  
**Dual lightning claws makes them immediately better than the same loadout on relic terminators, who cost more and can't take a homer.  Compared to Vanguard Vets, it's 33 points for 2+/5++ W3 Mv5 for these guys or 27 points for 3+ W2 Mv12 (Fly), so you can pay more for superior durability and inferior mobility, or not, depending on your plan.  Vanguard Vets can also take a Storm Shield instead of their second claw, raising their cost to 28 points each in exchange for losing 1 attack and becoming 2+/4++.  It's +5 points for the squad to have a homer, which is +1 point per dude MSU but also gets you a higher average A for the unit thanks to the sergeant, or +0.5 points per dude for 10-man.  Remember, the Vets also have grenades, giving them negligibly more ranged dakka.
**TH/SS is ''43'' points for 1+/4++ W3 Mv5, while Vanguard Vets are ''37'' for 2+/4++ W2 Mv12 (Fly), meaning their durabilities are much closer than with the TLC loadout.  Remember, the Vets also have grenades, giving them negligibly more ranged dakka.
*'''Relic Terminator Squad: CORE.''' Replaces the Tartaros and Cataphractii. [[Derp|Boiled down the uniqueness of two ''vastly different'' variants of terminator armour into merely a Terminator Squad with different wargear options]]. Relic Terminators are a mix of Terminators and Assault Terminators in terms of weapons. All models (''including the sergeant'', who starts with one rather than a power sword) can ''individually'' replace their powerfist with a lightning claw or chainfist, which is why despite costing a point more base than Assault Termis, they're baseline better than normal Termis, as they're not forced to buy power fists. They can also all ''individually'' swap their storm bolters for lightning claws, letting you field them with two lightning claws on everyone (which is stupid - assault termis do this better) or a lightning claw and a fist of either type, which has weird efficiencies against various targets compared to tlc assault termis, so you might want to experiment with it.  Their 1/5 heavy weapons dude can take a heavy flamer or reaper autocannon (36" Heavy 4 S7 AP-2 D1, which doesn't look very good, but it's ''cheap'', costing only as much as the heavy flamer), but also any 1 in 5, even the sergeant, can take a grenade hardness for 12" Assault d6 S4 AP-1 D1 Blast, which is fairly expensive at the same cost as a heavy flamer, but can be strapped to your sergeant or heavy weapons dude as you like, ensuring you lose it last, and can be included in an all-melee unit to give them more than no guns.  The serge can replace his storm bolter with a plasma blaster (18" assault 2 S7 AP-3 D1, may gain +1S and +1D but hit rolls of unmodified 1 kill the user) or a volkite charger (20" heavy 2 S5 AP0 D2, wound rolls of unmodified 6 inflict an additional mortal wound).  As both of these cost 5 points ''and'' a storm bolter, the charger is generally the better option of the two, as you won't usually be advancing with this unit ''anyway'', and you don't want to risk overcharging and killing your sergeant off.
**If you go Space Wolves, Deathwatch, or Dark Angels, then Relic Terminators are by and large outmatched in terms of Chapter-exclusive units that do the same or similar weapon-mixing thing for a cheaper price tag. Those Chapters need to consider this unit ''much'' more carefully.
*'''[[Servitors]]:''' Now they can be taken independently of a Techmarine, but they don't take up an Elite slot if your army includes one. You could use them as a cheap way of adding more plasma cannons to your force, but when not near a Techmarine, they have WS5+, BS5+, Ld6, and Sv4+. They'll have trouble actually hitting things, die from anything more dangerous than a mean look, are likely to be lost to morale checks, and they don't even get the benefits of Chapter Tactics. Having a Techmarine nearby mitigates their flaws a little by boosting them to WS4+, BS4+, and Ld9.
**If you have a Techmarine anyway, it could be worth taking them as cheap fire support that also helps fill out detachments. Four Servitors with two heavy bolters is 40pts (50pts with plasma). Servitors are essentially worse, cheap Devs that use no slots. For them to be able to make back their points, though, they ''need'' that boost to BS.
**9th edition opinion; because these guys have the {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} keyword, they can perform Actions. 30pts is a low, low price for some extra VP while your actual units are hurting stuff instead of typing on a keyboard.