Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Space Marines (section)

====='''Salamanders'''=====
*'''[[Vulkan He'stan]]''' -  Vulkan has the same stat-line as a Captain (while not ''actually'' a Captain currently in the fluff, he was one before becoming Forgefather). Vulkan is tricked out for up-close-and-dirty face-bashing with essentially the best gear possible (Artificer armor, 3+ Invulnerable Save, Master-crafted Relic Blade, and a Heavy Flamer/Digital Weapon). Use him to kill any and all infantry short of TEQ. His Warlord Trait, Iron Resolve, gives him Feel no Pain, further enhancing his resilience. Also, if he is the Warlord, he adds onto the "Chapter Tactics (Salamanders)" rule by making '''ALL''' meltaguns, combi-meltas, and multi-meltas '''in his detachment''' Master-Crafted. Enemy vehicle crews will shit themselves at the very thought of drop podding melta squads. Taking him results in a chain reaction: you want a lot of melta to make the most out of his [[Awesome]] special rule, thus making your army even more focused on short range firepower. Not really a problem though, since you're Salamanders. You did take lot of flamers too, right??
**With his 2+/3++, Vulkan fits in nicely with a squad of Thunder Hammer Terminators, and since he strikes at initiative 5, he can take out those pesky power fists in the enemy squad before they mulch your expensive terminators.
**Since this applies to combi-meltas, you can get rerolls on the bolter portion, too.  If you take He'Stan and Sternguard and give them combi-meltas, then the boltgun and special ammo components also get master-crafted. As the new GW FAQ team on Facebook just confirmed that it makes the entire weapon master-crafted, this is definitely both RAW and RAI. 
**Don't forget to master-craft his pistol. It won't come up often, but it's one more advantage if you have to shoot something outside template range.
*'''Pellas Mir’San (Forge World)''': The Winter Blade, Captain of the Salamanders 2nd company and cheap for what he gives: he has the standard Captain profile, but with +1 WS, and comes with Artificer Armour, a Close Combat Weapon and a Combi-Flamer. He also has one special weapon (Cinder Edge) that's basically a Master Crafted Power Sword with '''AP 2'''. It still strike only at S4, sadly, but is one of the rare AP 2 weapons that isn't Unwieldy, and isn't Two-Handed or Specialist Weapon, so he gets the +1 attack for his extra sword! He was clearly designed for challenges, as his warlord trait give him 1 victory point for any character he slain in challenges, while his Master Duelist rule allows him to either give himself +1 attack or his opponent -1 while in a challenge. For his cost he is one of the best challengers in the game, but remember to keep him away from the real heavyweights: he wouldn't last 2 seconds. Lastly he can pick whether his squad auto-passes or auto-fails Morale checks, which gives you some extra tactical flexibility.
**All in all he is a good and cheap support/fighter HQ, although, sadly, he doesn't compare to the other special options you get, not giving anything to your army except for the squad he is in, while not being a close combat monster like a lot of other special characters.
*'''Harath Shen (Forge World)''': Master Apothecary with the profile of a Chaplain/Librarian, Artificer Armor, Plasma Pistol, Power Sword and Digital Weapons. He has Chapter Tactics (Salamanders) but, strangely enough, he doesn't have a master-crafted weapon (though you can still pick one to master-craft). But don't let that discourage you: for 135 pts, Shen allows you to put FNP 4+ in the squad you need it in, and, while he has no invuln, he gets to reroll Look Out Sir rolls '''AND''' gives his squad +1 to the score to determine the result of any assault. If you want 2+/3++/4+++ assault terminators (and who doesn’t?), this guy delivers. Also has a really unique Warlord Trait where you can get victory points back for destroyed friendly units within 6" on a 5+. Not really impressive, but you don't take him for that, you take him for the '''TROLL'''!
*'''Bray’Arth Ashmantle (Forgeworld)''': Dreadnought HQ, forged by Primarch [[Vulkan]] himself! Bray’Arth is a hell of a monster: with his front armor 13, 4 HP, venerable, extra armour, '''It Will Not Die''' and immune to '''ALL''' extra dice roll to armor penetration (melta, armourbane, Rending, Kharn, etc.) and to all effects that would reduce his armor, he is almost impossible to kill, without an [[Railgun|S10 weapon]] or some weird shit like haywire or gauss. He also has +1 WS and Attacks compared to a normal Venerable Dreadnought and is armed with two DCCWs with inbuilt Heavy Flamers, which also can count as single Twin-Linked Meltagun. He can also forgo one close combat attack to auto hit anything in base contact with him (Friend or Foe, so be careful and don't forget this) with an S5 AP4 hit at Initiative 1, for when that big unit thinks itself smart and tries to tarpit him for the rest of the game. Basically he can take on everything barring Titans and the like, but beware Swooping Hawks and... Fire Warriors in melee - sure, they only hit him on a 5+ and his Burning Wrath could kill a lot of them, but remember that it happens at initiative 1, which might be too late if he got haywired. Also, his warlord trait (he CAN be the warlord, but only if there are no other HQs) gives him one Victory point for each vehicle with at least one armour value of 12+ and/or Independent Character that he destroys in an assault, but only if there aren't other friendly models in the assault (not really a problem for this Beast). This is [[awesome]] since, unlike similar traits, it doesn't state that he needs to be in a challenge for this to work, and he can trash most vehicles like they're not even there. Of course, he is extremely expensive, in both points and pounds, but he totally worth every point and penny. Put him into a Lucius pattern drop pod. Drop him into the middle of the enemy gunline. Laugh maniacally. Field him against [[Bjorn]] and make compensating jokes.