Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Space Marines (section)

===HQ Units===
*'''Chapter Master:''' Properly kitted out, this guy can become a nigh-unstoppable rape machine that can go toe to toe with most any other character except maybe a kitted out Juggerlord, Daemon Prince, Greater Daemon, Be'lakor, Abaddon and the Swarmlord. For 40 points more than a Captain, these guys get +1 A, +1 W and an Orbital Bombardment, which is neat, but not all that reliable. Mounting him on a Bike or giving him Terminator Armour now allows you to launch this S10 AP1 Large Blast AND move. A decent (but expensive) build is one of these guys on a Bike with Artificer Armour, a Storm Shield and the Burning Blade. A cheaper and more survivable option is Artificer Armor, Shield Eternal, and a weapon of your choice (either relic blade or Thunder Hammer). Iron Hands Chapter Tactics work well here. Another big benefit is that they get Honour Guard instead of Command Squads, and they now also allow Bikes as Troops if they are on a bike as well. All in all, an excellent HQ choice. Just remember he'll get expensive very fast, so consider a Captain if you want to spend some points elsewhere. For maximum cheese, go with the [[Chapter Master Smashfucker]] build for a unit that is all but indestructible and can make even melee beasts like Abbadon wet themselves in fear.
**'''Honour Guard''' - The new edition gave these guys a major overhaul! They laugh at almost all power weapons now, and can be kitted out to slaughter MEQ (PS) TEQ (PA) or hordes (PM). Or you can give them power lances if you have a jousting fetish and don't like winning. They are fragile against low-AP shooting, but that shouldn't be an issue, because you put them in a Land Raider, right? Right. While Terminators have the ability to take obscene amounts of punishment, of literally any kind (2+/3++ IS bitchin') these guys can dish out many times more damage, and the Champion is astoundingly good at dueling.  They can have five attacks on the charge, and four in subsequent turns, with the Champion having one more and at WS5. Each. For 25 points/model. With Power Axes. Pair them with Sevrin Loth or Tyberos to make them monstrous.  Watch out for the lack of invulnerable saves, though. 
**Giving them all relic blades and one the Chapter Banner makes them surprisingly effective at slaughtering MEQs or anything not I5 or better (I'm looking at you 20 strong Necron Warrior squad). They still die horribly against TEQs, unless you get some lucky hits in at I4. [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|Take a shooty terminator squad and laugh as they flee the assault cannon's hail of death]] [[Rape|right into your relic blades]]. But if you are fighting any Space Marine variant or any other army with gobs of 2+ armor saves, don't bother, unless you have an extra 250 pts lying around (and how the balls did you do that?). 
**For some ridiculous reason, GW only sells these guys along with Marneus Calgar. Like he's the only Chapter Master who's ever had an Honor Guard (because when they were released he did, it's in the 4th codex). Kit-bash the Masters of the Chapter pack with a Sternguard Squad to deny Matt Ward his Ultramarines fetish. (what I did was use the extra shoulder pads in the commander box and lots of backpack banners, looks surprisingly threatening)
**For some other ridiculous reason you can replace the boltgun of the Champion with a close combat weapon, even when he already has a bolt pistol. <s>I suppose it will be useful in case you lose a weapon to some eldar exarch dickery.</s>  The default Honour Guard Champion model doesn't have a boltgun and has a sword and knife. WYSIWYG at it's finest.


*'''Captain''' - No longer just good for handicapping your army, the Captain is a versatile and generally pretty useful HQ choice.The only thing you should definitely not do with this guy is just leave him with a power weapon or fist and expect him to do well. Storm Shield should be strongly considered, and a few of the Relics are worth taking to make him a strong combatant. He doesn't have to go with his Command Squad and you can fit him into a variety of units, such as Sternguard, Vanguards, Terminators, etc. All have their merits. A good built is to stick him in a suit of Artificer armor and give him the Burning Blade and a storm shield. Costs 180 points, which is dirt cheap by most standards. Stick him with a Command squad that has an Apothecary and you have a model with 5+ FnP, a 3+ invuln from the storm shield that hits at S7 AP2. Ouch. 
**The Biker Captain deserves special mention; Biker Marines are a very nasty build, so it is worth taking a Captain for allowing Bikers as Troops should you want to do so. For a cheap Biker Command Squad leader, give him a Relic Blade and a Bike; alternately, you can load him out for solo work with a Relic Blade, Storm Shield, Artificer Armour and minor upgrades (Amusingly, due to the wording of Two-Handed and Storm Shields, they do stack).  Hellfire rounds are  an option also you may consider the primarch's wrath.
**'''Terminator Captain:''' - Now separate from the regular captain for some reason. Was meh in 5th edition and still meh now. Anything he can do, a Captain in Artificer Armor can do better and for around the same cost. Unless you're starting him in a unit of Terminators and are going to teleport him onto the field (and you damn well better have a teleport homer on the ground if you're doing that) pass on him and take a captain with Artificer Armor instead.


*'''Librarian''' - Used to be the best generic HQ option, but is now much less awesome due having to roll for powers and no access to Divination. It's harder to build a coherent list or strategy around one, so plan carefully. Unlike the Captain and the Chaplain, he normally has no Invulnerable save, but he can take Terminator Armor, giving a 5+ Invuln - which can be upgraded to 3+ with a Storm Shield. This is extremely useful; you might not be able to take Invuln saves against Perils of the Warp any more, but you can take it against everything else. And you WILL be taking it against everything else because Librarians are priority targets. Of special note is The Shield Eternal due to Adamantium Will combined with a Psychic Hood.  Suddenly your nearby units ignore offensive powers on a 4+.  Suck on that Eldar!  Librarians are limited to rolling powers from Biomancy, Pyromancy, Telekinesis, and/or Telepathy. Overall, unless you sorely need him for a gimmick with Chapter Relics (I.e. shield Eternal), a Primaris power or to unlock a Command Squad, he's not worth it.


*'''Chaplain''' - A wonderful companion for Assault Marines, Vanguard Veterans, or Bikers, his melee-boosting abilities are quite helpful, and he's pretty damned good himself. Though if you're not putting him on a Bike or in a Jump Pack and are using the Ultramarine Chapter Tactics, consider taking Ortan Cassius instead if you can afford the extra 40 points. 6th edition nerfed him a bit, his Crozius now has only AP4, so he is not so killy against other power-armored guys, though keep in mind he now hits at Strength 6. Chaplains ostensibly fit nice into the Black Templars, wherein they will boost a basic squad's fighting ability - and you should expect to get your Templars in close combat or else WTF is wrong with you? <s>Recommend giving this guy a pair of lightning claws if you want him to do challenges: re-rolls to hit and wound plus rending make him a mini-Shrike!</s> Chaplains can't take lightning claws anymore, although you can take a Term Captain w/ LCs for the same effect, just more costly. If you have the Emperor's Champion in the same unit, give the Chaplain the Teeth of Terra to seriously fuck up anyone that isn't a TEQ. If you don't have the points for a Chaplain but want his CC buffs, consider taking the relic standard instead, as it has similar (and arguably better) effects for a good bit cheaper.


*'''Command Squad''' - Now you can have a squad of these for your Chaplain and Librarian as well as your captain! A pretty nice, versatile squad. An Apothecary gives them Feel no Pain, and makes them pretty tough to kill with small-arms fire (they still fold to S8, though, which is fairly abundant in the form of Krak Missiles, GK Psyflemen and Power Fists), and at a much cheaper price tag than the Honour Guard. Fits excellently in a Razorback or Drop Pod, and can be equipped with a variety of melee and ranged weaponry. Biker Command Squads, while very costly and vulnerable to S10, provide a beatstick unit to an army in need of it, as Bikers are terrible in assault. Tool them out with Storm Shields, Lightning Claws, a Power Fist and two Meltaguns, (Errata'd - they're back in, take those two Meltaguns, you beautiful bastard) and they'll beat the hell out of any unit you can't shoot to bits. Remember their vulnerabilities, though - that 3+ invuln WILL fail you from time to time, so don't be careless with them. Take them with your Captains, or you'll be sorry.
** '''Alternate Opinion''': Never outfit Command Squads for CC. Firstly, special weapon spam like plasmas or Grav is far better and far more killy. Secondly, the idea that this unit can take on most targets is absolute rubbish - against a competent CC unit they'll get ripped to pieces and a MC will eat them for dinner. However, they can eat back-line units and low armored mobs. They are not mandatory, and you do not need to stick them with the Captain.

*'''Master of the Forge''' - Most often an overlooked, but pretty decent HQ. He lacks an invulnerable save, shouldn't go with anything that can be threatened with CC, and he works best as a shooting or support HQ. A Conversion Beamer and a Bike is nice support for a home scoring unit or a Biker unit (Bikes being Relentless by default). Ultimately, his usefulness is in his FoC moving ability, which allows you to field all three basic Dreadnought types as Heavy Support. This is beyond nice, as it frees up your excellent Elites slots.  His recent points drop just sweetens the deal. He can be more easily attached to squads willy-nilly to augment them than a Libby or Chaplain, because he gives you repairs, a TL PP, a Flamer, S8 attacks, and a 2+ armour save for sucking up wounds - as well as his other benefits. A good place to put the Primarch's Wrath relic with his high BS with out the urge to throw him into combat (and waste the shooting power of the relic). 
**'''Another Take:''' With his Servo-Harness, and The Shield Eternal, this guy has a 2+/3++ with Eternal Warrior and Adamantium Will, with 3 AP1 Power Fist attacks base. All of this is cheaper than an equivalent build with a Captain, at the cost of 2 WS and 1 W, and gets a Twin-Linked Plasma Pistol and Flamer to boot. You can augment this with another Plasma Pistol, for 2+ saves and light vehicles, making better use of that high BS.  Being an IC lets you mitigate that Wounds issue some, leaving you with a dead killy HQ that makes Scouts extra tough and Dreadnoughts rain from the sky. You can stick him with <s>extra wounds</s> Servitors to ensure the vehicle carting him around never ever stops moving, or leave them behind to make room inside a LRC for 7 Assault Termies and a Chaplain to ruin something's day. Suddenly, the nerdy kid from Mars is mulching people in CQC.  Iron Hands rejoice.


*'''Techmarine''' Now moved to the HQ section, but doesn't take up a slot. You can take one for every HQ you have bar Command Squads, Servitors, Honour Guard, and other Techmarines,, so they became a bit more viable. Can be a useful unit in smaller point games (~1000 or lower). Unfortunately, he has a hard time keeping up with the vehicles he's supposed to repair, unless he's, you know, INSIDE of it. However, an overlooked aspect of the Techy is that he's an absolute monster in close combat against non-Power Weapon-wielding opponents. Fitting him with a Servo-Harness will have him crank out ten shitloads of attacks, so throw one on and watch a tarpit vanish like magic. Also, don't overlook his terrain cover save buff. can really help out a ranged unit than relies on cover (looking at Scouts or Thunderfire Cannons here).
::'''Alternative Opinion:''' Techmarines are just about usable in Grey Knights, because they get Psychotroke Grenades and Matt Ward Grenades, and can join a Death Cult Assassin unit - making them into even more horrendous kill-machines. The basic Space Marine Techmarine, however, sucks dick. In assault with a Servo-Harness, he gets 2 Power Fist attacks. Hooray! It's a deal for downers. You pay almost as much as the Master of the Forge, who has an extra wound, an extra pip of stats, and unlocks Dreads as Heavy Support. Never take one, unless you have points to spare and nowhere else to spend them (and how the flaming pants did you do that?).
:*'''Servitors''' - Who forgot about these? They help the MotF or Techmarine repair stuff (add 1 to the Blessings roll for each one that has a servo-harness). That's all you will use them for, because a 10pt Heavy Bolter or Multi-Melta and 20pt Plasma Cannon at BS3 is kinda wasteful, as they will need to be running around with their master repairing stuff. 50pts for a full squad. Stick the whole lot in a Land Raider or Thunderhawk Gunship (you <s>rich</s> testicle-deprived bastard) and laugh as the single gun your enemy's volley of Krak Missiles shot off repairs itself and shoots back. Oh, and don't leave them alone, they will probably Mindlock and stand there soaking up bullets with their faces.  


*'''Damocles Rhino (Forgeworld)''' Yes, an HQ vehicle! Now 75 pts in IA12 and no longer takes up a HQ slot, so you still have to take another HQ. Although the most expensive in terms of real money, point-wise it's one of your cheapest HQs. Armed with nothing but a Storm Bolter and a Searchlight for defense, with no transport capacity, it may not seem like an obvious choice. In fact, the Damocles' true power lies in its incredible support abilities - it allows a single Orbital Bombardment in the same way as a Chapter Master (but does ''not'' have the 'Orbital' rule so can use full BS if scatters), lets all teleporting units within 12" arrive without scatter, and allows the owning player to modify reserve rolls by plus or minus one. In a Deep Strike-heavy army, with Terminators or such like, the Damocles is one of the best choices you can make. Also, don't buy it. Converting a normal Rhino is easy enough.

====Special Characters====
Space Marine players also have access to a variety of special characters, most of which change how the whole army works. They're all fairly expensive, and, as such, should be viewed as force multipliers rather than stand-alone units.

'''Ultramarines'''
*'''Marneus Augustus Calgar''' -  Aka "Big Papa Smurf", is the most expensive character in the codex, and also the most powerful in hand-to-hand, other than Lysander. He's a Chapter Master with double power-fists, an ''AP 2'' storm bolter , Eternal Warrior, Titanic Might gives him Tank Hunters in CC and His main power is "God of War" which lets you use a Combat Doctrine twice. He can also swap-out his artificer armour for Terminator armor (allowing him to deepstrike) and even gets a free teleport homer, it should be noted he can still Sweeping Advance in terminator armour. He also has a power sword, you know, in case you don't want to hit at Initiative 1, <s>but nobody ever uses it.</s> It's worth noting that his powerfists are NOT specialist weapons, meaning that if some dickish Eldar player tries to disarm him to reduce his attacks, use the sword and a powerfist and keep on fisting that Avatar. He also has the most useless rule that lets him take 3 Honour Guard units which is pointless outside of Apocalypse games, if only because ''no one'' has that many spare points lying around. If you've noticed, pretty much his entire arsenal makes a mockery out of armor saves, even his ranged weapons. Also lets you choose to pass or fail any and all Morale checks (great if someone charge your devastator centurions).  Still, the Papa is horribly expensive for what he does and the new codex upped his cost.
** That said he does have a few new bluffs to make up for the points raise, namely the fact he can allow you to use an Ultramarine power twice and you roll the warlord traits three times picking one.  Meaning you could have twinlink everything for THREE TURNS.
**'''Alternate Take:'''  Calgar should be seriously considered for any Ultramarine player out there.  Trying to make a similar Chapter Master will end up costing about the same without Calgar's exceptional special rules.  Being able to pass or fail any morale check combined with ATSKNF is one of the best abilities in the game.  Need to make sure that one marine stays on that objective last turn?  Don't want to run off the board turn one since 2 marines died in shooting?  Calgar stares them down and makes them stay.  If you are clever, you can even use it to get squads out of sticky situations without penalty by failing clutch leadership rolls such as a morale check after taking 25% casualties after going to ground.  Pretend your Imperial Guard for a bit.  Hell, his Honour Guard rule can even be used to take 3 minimum size squads and give them options to either attack the 3 man squad and ignore your scoring units or get assaulted by a fairly nasty cheap CC squad.  Using a combat doctrine twice allows for you to deal with threats you army may not have the best tools to deal with.  Flying circus?  Devastor doctrine twice.  Fighting Tau?  Assault doctrine twice.  General fire fight?  Pop tactical doctrine again.  And you don't have to choose which you need until you use it the second time.  Calgar relies on clever usage to be effective, just like he should be.  Yes, he's expensive, don't forget that, but he is costed right for all the buffs he gives your army unlike other special characters.  (Looking at you Khan...)
**One argument made against Calgar is his price, especially when you consider that you have to put him in a land raider for him to be effective. However, remember that as long as you win the game, whether or not the opponents shiny vindicator/carnifex/whatever kills you guys doesn't matter, and essentially nothing can compete with Marneus Calgar and an assault terminator squad in a land raider redeemer. Rush them onto a contested objective late game, destroy the opposition, and then next turn hop back in the ride. That objective is yours, whether they like it or not.
*'''Cato Sicarius''' - A somewhat expensive Captain. He allows one *tactical* squad to take either Counter-Attack, Infiltrate, Scout, or Tank Hunters, and gives you a +1 to Reserve Rolls. He's stuck with the crappy one-use Furious Charge warlord trait. Cato is pretty average in hand-to-hand combat. Being a bit tougher than most Space Marine characters (2+ armor, Feel No Pain) and having the option to make a single attack that causes Instant Death. But other than that, he's just got 4 power-weapon attacks. He's got a nice laundry list of utility, great durability, and fair combat prowess, though it comes at a fairly high price. He also has the benefit of being the Captain of the 2nd Company so 99% of Smurf players are already using his Company Heraldry on their models and therefore he should be taken in all Ultramarine armies, unless its one of the 3 Ultramarine armies that isn't 2nd Company. By the way, his loadout is the default loadout for 4th Edition Captains, so he is somewhat nostalgic. And he is a glory whore, really.

*'''Varro Tigurius''' - Tigurius has gotten cheaper in the 6th edition codex while retaining the ability to re-roll reserves. He has access to all the BRB disciplines including the much vaunted Divination and can also re-roll psychic powers which makes him much more likely to get a set of powers that you want. He's still your only option for Mastery Level 3 from the base Codex, and his exclusive Psychic Hood lets him re-roll failed psychic tests. If you make him your warlord then his warlord power also lets him grant one unit re-rolls to hit in the shooting phase once per game which isn't amazing, but always useful. It may be best to keep him behind the lines where he can place numerous blessings on your units and improve reserve rolls as his baseline stats are relatively fragile. A good supporting HQ.

*'''Ortan Cassius''' -  Special character Chaplain. He's pretty much a normal, power-armored Chaplain, but at T6 with feel no pain and a master-crafted combi-flamer with the boltgun having the "poisoned (2+)" special rule, though it's only S1. If you're planning on taking a Chaplain in power armor (or even terminator armor), it might as well be this guy, he's only 10 points more expensive than a stock Chaplain with Terminator, and a lot more survivable. He and his unit now cause Fear thanks to his Warlord Trait.  Make a squad with him and Calgar for some majority toughness dickery. 

'''Imperial Fists'''
*'''Darnath Lysander''' - One of the toughest kids on the block. Lysander is a Space Marine Captain, but has Eternal Warrior, 4 wounds, Terminator armor, a Storm Shield and a S10 Thunder Hammer. His utility has mostly been lost from the previous edition, and his price has been increased by 30 points, but the destructive power of Lysander is undeniable as very few units in the space marine codex can deliver strength 10 close combat attacks and take the equivalent in return. It is worth noting that Lysander also allows all friendly Imperial fists within 12" to reroll morale and pinning checks, including himself, which ensures your battleline remains intact and friendly units are always on hand to respond to any changes in the field. Seriously though, his unwieldy initiative and 4 attacks mean he won't be clearing tarpits very well, but in a challenge, he has been proven one of the greatest character slayers in the game. He can go toe-to-toe with Calgar, Moloc, the Swarmlord, or Abaddon with a good chance of winning.   

*'''Pedro Kantor''' - While Pedro boasts the same statline as a regular chapter master, his viability is assured in the numerous support special rules he carries, including the ability to treat sternguard veterans as scoring units, which allows these flexible units a greater degree of use on the field, holding down any objectives they might have cleared rather than waiting on a troops choice to move in and pick it up. In addition, all friendly units in his detachment have the Preferred Enemy (Orks) special rule, and all models within 12" gain +1 attack, amplifying the combat potential of your specialists, such as vanguard vets, terminators and honor guard. In terms of equipment, Pedro suffers from the lack of artificer armour and eternal warrior, making the character rather squishy in comparison to other special characters out there, this of course is evident in close combat, where his powerfist is more of a hindrance than a boon. Alternatively, Pedro can sit just outside of close combat, as one of his main strengths is his storm bolter, a 4 shot weapon with an AP of 4 which allows Pedro to suppress light units and deal quite a few casualties to any unit in the open, this is topped by his orbital bombardment, allowing him to deliver a high explosive payload on any unit you see fit.      

'''Black Templars'''
*'''High Marshal Helbrecht''' - New to the Vanilla Marines codex, Helbrecht is the High Marshal(Chapter Master) of the Black Templars. He has the stats of a regular chapter master with artificer armor, a combi-melta, a master-crafted power sword that gives him d3 bonus attacks on the charge, and the Imperium's Sword Warlord trait. However he lacks an Orbital Bombardment. His wargear isn't anything special, but he's pretty point efficient for what you get. With the bonus from his sword he can get an ungodly [[eversor|seven attacks on a charge]], meaning he's likely to [[Rip and Tear|eat most of a squad]] if someone doesn't accept his challenge. His special rule Crusader of Wrath, grants him and all other space marines hatred and fleet for one assault phase, making for a [[WAAAGH|truly horrific army-wide charge]]. His sword is only AP3 so he'll still get bogged down by 2+ saves outside of challenges where he'll have rending. Also, due to the rules for Hatred units already locked in close combat will not get the bonus from it when he uses Crusade of Wrath, so don't expect it to break your units out of tar pits they're already stuck in.

*'''Chaplian Grimaldus''' - Another Black Templars character.  He's gotten slightly cheaper, has another wound, and has It Will Not Die which replaces his previous Only in Death Does Duty End rule.  He also has the Zealot rule and projects it to any Black Templar units within 6" of him.  His servitors also project a 6+ invulnerable save to any Black Tempar within 6" of him.  He's not a frontline dueling character but he works well if used with Helbrecht to make your Crusader Squads enter BEAST MODE.

*'''Emperor's Champion''' - The third Black Templars character. He retains most of his original stats and has all the same wargear. The Black Sword is AP2 Master crafted, and his armor gives him 2+4++. He is no longer mandatory for lists over 750 and isn't restricted to joining troop squads, but you no longer get to take vows. He always issues and accepts challenges, and can now choose between two stances when in challenges. One makes the black sword a Relic Blade with unwieldy, the second makes him cause instant death on a roll of 6 to wound. For 140 points he's essentially a nerfed Captain, with -1 to BS, W, and A. '''Except that he comes with an AP2 sword and he doesn't need BS, he's not going to be shooting.'''He's a good choice if you want a substitute to handle an assault that the Captain is too busy to, but in most cases he's too expensive to justify that. You're only gonna take him if you wanna play a fluffy list.

'''Raven Guard'''
*'''Kayvaan Shrike''' - A Space Marine Captain with a Jump Pack, and two Master-Crafted Lightning Claws (which also have Rending, so he won't be stuck fighting a Dreadnought). Shrike himself has Stealth and Infiltrate, but can only join Jump Infantry units before deploying. A captain with the same wargear (and artificer armor) costs less, so you must carefully consider how valuable the special rules he lends (to himself and one squad) are.
** <b>NOTE:</b> Shrike has a Jump Pack but a Command Squad cannot take Jump Packs, either put him in an Assault Squad for mediocrity or a Vanguard Squad for Awesome <s>But Impracticality</S>. While taking biker command squad retinue sound good at first glance, bikers get a 5+ jink save, and Shrike does not - so he would be blasted off the table in a single volley of focus-fire, and as previously stated, Shrike may only join with Jump Infantry before deploying, meaning that you will need to join during the course of the game, so good luck pulling that off.
**For people who can think for more than 5 seconds: Shrike is about subversion and misdirection. He can infiltrate a Vanguard Vet squad near an opponents weak point in their front line or on a flank to wreak havoc in their back field. He is not designed to go toe-to-toe with Abaddon. He exploits weakness in the true Raven Guard way. Go hunt some skimmers, Long Fangs or the like then cut back in and slaughter their front line from behind the moment your line connects. Shrike requires more prowess than a player starting out to use properly.
*'''Shadow Captain Korvydae''': One of the few non-Badab War Forgeworld characters, he is a Captain with TH+Jump Pack+BP+IH, and he and his squad have hit and run. On top of this, he makes assault marines troops so long as you have a squad of scouts in the army. Not a bad choice, all things considered. Pair him with shrike if you want an entire army of fleet, troops ASM.

'''Salamanders'''
*'''Vulkan He'Stan''' -  Previously one of the most commonly used special characters, Vulkan is now Salamanders-only. Vulkan has the same stat-line as a Captain (while not actually *being* a Captain currently in the fluff, he was one before becoming Forgefather, so he does have access to a Command Squad). 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). Use him to kill any and all infantry short of TEQ. His Warlord Trait, Iron Resolve, adds +1 to combat results for his unit, further enhancing his effectiveness. He adds onto the "Chapter Tactics (Salamanders)" rule by making meltaguns, combi-meltas, and multi-meltas master-crafted. Enemy vehicle crews will shit themselves at the very thought of drop podding melta squads. Taking him results in a chain reaction — he is only worth it if you ''really'' focus on melta weapons, which are short-ranged. Being short-ranged means your army is open to assault, thus you need combat units (read: Assault Terminators) yourself to defend. So, Vulkan drastically changes the way you approach list building, even more so than the base Salamander Chapter Tactics rule does. 
:*There is also an exploit using RAW concerning the master-crafting of combi-meltas.  If you take He'Stan and Sternguard and give them combi-meltas then the special ammunition portion of the boltgun part of the combi-weapon is also technically master-crafted as well.   
*'''Pellas Mir’San (Forgeworld)''': Captain with WS 7, artificer armor, an AP2 Power Weapon and combi-flamer. He has some interesting tricks in close combat, and can do some Calgar-like morale magick with his squad. For 40 points less than He'stan, he could be a rather good choice.
*'''Harath Shen (Forgeworld)''': Master apothecary with artificer armor, plasma pistol and power weapon. For 135 pts. Shen allow you to put FNP 4+ to the squad you need it. While he has no invuln, you get to reroll Look Out Sir rolls. If you ever want 2+/3++ FNP 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 units within 6" on a 5+, but he's unlikely to ever be your warlord with Ld9.
*'''Bray’Arth Ashmatle (Forgeworld)''': Dreadnought HQ, forged by primarch Vulkan himself! Bray’Arth is a hell of a monster: with his front armor 13, 4 HP, venerable and immune to ALL extra dice roll to armor penetration (melta, armourbane, rending, Kharn, fucking Vindicare turbopenetrator shot, etc.) he is almost impossible to kill, without [[Railgun|S10 weapon]] or some weird shit like haywire or gauss. He is armed with two DCCW’s with inbuilt heavy flamers, which also can count as single twin-linked meltagun, and he can forgo one close combat attack to auto hit anything in BtB contact with S5 AP4, so he can fuck up near anything, from tanks and monsters (though not as much now do to the Smash attacks monsters can do now, even stuff that couldn't scratch him before can now do a S10 attack on him, though it does half their attacks), to the big tarpit blobs. Of course, he is extremely expensive at both points and pounds, but he totally worth every point and penny. Put him into Lucius pattern drop pod. Drop him in to the middle of enemy gunline. Laugh maniacally. Field him against [[Bjorn]] and make compensating jokes. Beware DE Witches, Swooping Hawks and... Fire Warriors in melee - sure, his burning wrath could kill a lot of them, but at initiative of 1, which might be too late after he got haywired.

'''White Scars'''
*'''Kor'Sarro Khan''' - This crazy Mongol adds onto "Chapter Tactics (White Scars)" by giving every '''bike squad''' and '''squad with a dedicated transport''' scout, which in turn allows for outflanking, allowing them to come in from the side of the table; additionally, he has Furious Charge, ''(does not confer to is unit)'' Other than that, he's an average Captain (who can be upgraded to ride a bike) whose power weapon just so happens to cause Instant Death on a roll of 6. He's an awesome character for a White Scars army. Outflanking is also a gamble if you take Kor'Sarro Khan in a No Bikes Mech army, screwing up the outflank rolls can put all your scoring units on one side and anti-tank fire will make them all footslog. But goddammit, an outflanking squad of Assault Terminators in a Land Raider? Hell yeah.

====Forge World====
There are also a lot of special characters  from '''Forge World''' '''Badab War''' IA-s. '''NOTE:''' Forge World has released new Chapter Tactics for all the Chapters relevant to these characters. If you take a character with the Chapter Tactics of one of the Forge World Chapters, you have to take them in a detachment of that Chapter. However, some of the Forge World Chapters have the same Chapter Tactics as Chapters in Codex:Space Marines, and you can take those characters in those armies, i.e., Vaylund Cal in an Iron Hands detachment. Most of these characters also have updated rules not yet discussed here.

'''Red Scorpions'''
*'''Lord High Commander Carab Culln''': Chapter master, with terminator armor, teleport homer, MC storm bolter and a MC power sword that can give him SMASH! Eternal Warrior and any Red Scorpion in his detachment can use his leadership for Morale and Pinning his warlord trait gives any Red Scorpion locked in combat a +1 to combat resolution; +2 if he himself in is a challenge however he can never make a Look Out Sir! 
**'''Commander Carab Culln''': Same Guy, but back when he was first captain.  Most of the same wargear, except his sword is a regular relic blade, and he doesn't gain extra attacks or a teleport homer, and doesn't give you apothecaries.  Only advantage is saving 25 points.
*'''Sevrin Loth''': Chief librarian. Master lvl. 3 and can pick his powers from Biomancy, Telepathy or Telekinesis. Yes, '''pick''', not roll - get all that Biomancy goodies with Enfeble, Endurance and maybe Life Leech to restore Peril wounds (with 3 powers per turn you WOULD get perils). He has a 2+ armor save, which can become 2+ invulnerable (with a warp charge spent, no psy test required), and he has gotten much cheaper at 175 pts. Also, he can have honour guard, except better. Because, you see, his honour guard can have axes, and he can give them force dome, or FNP/relentless if you go biomancy. Because of this, and since axes aren't specialist weapons, they get 4 ap2 attacks each on the charge, 5 for the champ. And that's without a banner, which wouldn't be bad in a unit of Sevrin Loth +4 guards. Not so bad compared to assault termies now, eh?

Remember, he can take from telepathy. Meaning invisibility. This guy will destroy in challenges.

'''Astral Claws'''
*'''Lugft Huron''': Chapter master, with terminator armor,  heavy flamer, and AP2 lightning claw which forces opponent to reroll successful invulns. His orbital bombardment is S10 AP1 ordnance 2, his “living legend” rule makes all your army Ld10. He can [[Commissar Yarrick|come back from the dead]]... but only once. But he is expensive as hell for 235 pts.
*'''Corien Sumatris''': Captain, with +1WS, -1BS, MC power weapon, which gives him +1 additional attack on charge, storm shield, and some weird 12’’-range assault bolter. His main ability is to give Furious Charge to his squad (and himself) and +1WS to all your infantry within 12’’ of him. At 165 pts. he is a bit costly, so use his special powers properly (obviously, by putting him in dedicated CC squad).
*'''Armenneus Valthex''': Master of the forge, also known as “Alchemancer” with conversion beamer and some weird techno-thing called “Indynabula” which counts as two power weapons,  and give him 5+ invuln, counter-strike USR. He can also make one squad’s bolters poisoned 2+, turning them to cheap wannabe-sternguards. But why the heck would you do that when you can poison Terminator storm bolters or (with the new pdf update) a Bike Squads twin-linked bolters?  Think synergy people!  Ever poisoned a Wraithknight to death? It is great fun!  And he's surprisingly cheap, assuming his shiny wargear - maybe, to compensate those schizophrenic combination of ranged-oriented and close-combat-oriented bits.

'''Minotaurs'''
*'''Asterion Moloc''': chapter master with terminator armor, storm shield, and eternal warrior but one less attack (FAQ update - enjoy a manly 4 attacks like everyone else) and basically a Custodes halberd (+2S AP2 two handed weapon), except it shoots a powerful laser beam once per game instead of bolts. He also gives assault grenades and fearless to his squad and his "Sanctioned Fratricide" rule give his whole army the Preferred Enemy: space marines (any non-chaos) at a cost of making all of them desperate allies. He is VERY expensive, but he has one of the few AP2 close combat weapons without unwieldy in a vanilla marine army, and [[Grey Knights|with]] [[Blood Angels|so]] [[Space Wolves|many]] [[Dark Angels|loyal]] [[Ultramarines|marine armies]] around, preferred enemy could work more often than not.
*'''Ivanus Enkomi''': Chaplain with "Crozius Arkanos" ''(S:User Master Crafted, Concussive, AP3 with built-in twin linked grenade launcher)''  power fist, jump pack and With +1 initiative, +1 attack, and extra +1 attack on charge for him and his squad he costs only '''25 pts''' more than a vanilla chaplain with fist and jet pack.

'''Others'''
*'''Anton Narvaez''': Marines Errant captain, with -1 WS, power weapon, bolt pistol, MC plasma gun and 3+ invuln instead of 4+ (with 50% chance to lose it each time it fails). He also has Scout and Move Through Cover USR’s. Can select D3 units of Tacticals, Devastators, Sternguard or himself and any Command Squad he has with him to Deep Strike via teleportation rolling 3 dice for scatter dropping the highest if the don't get a 'hit'
*'''Ahazra Redth''': Mantis Warriors chief librarian. He is not a monster-psyker, like Tigurius or Loth, and only cast 2 powers per turn. On the other hand he does have a built-in 5+ invuln and is able to re-roll his first failed psychic test. His special psy-power “Mirage” gives his unit shrouded, and if they're attacked, their attackers make a disordered charge. Which is beyond awesome. His Warlord trait also gives any squad he joins Night Vision and Interceptor, which is pretty cool. On top of this, epistolary librarian cost only 15 pts less than Redth.  Also, he is the only vanilla marine with access to divination psychic powers, meaning he can make his squad durable with mirage, and then make them shootier AND killier with prescience. Win.
**Take Redth and assault termies in Land Raider. Cast Mirage on LR and screen it with some tall, fast and cheap models (allied Rough Riders comes in mind). Look at your opponent face when he realize your über metal box has 3+ cover.
*'''Elam Courbray''': <s>Legion of the Damned</s> Fire Hawks captain with jump pack and rending power sword, as well as I6. Like Culln, Elam can choose to do a SMASH attack instead. Gives his squad Hit and Run and Counter Attack USRs. His warlord trait is a swooping hawk-like blast attack when he deep strikes which he doesn't need to scatter around, but he is unlikely to be your warlord with Ld9.
*'''Mordaci Baylock''': Novamarines  terminator-captain with MC-shredding chainfist and storm bolter (WTF?). He can make his terminator squad choose to fail or pass any morale and pinning test, make terminators scoring and… that’s all. He cost 30 pts. more than vanilla captain with his wargear, so, take him only if you have a lot of termies, Though if you are, why aren't your playing Dark Angels.
*'''Tarnus Vale''': Fire Angels Captain with… WHAT? Plasma pistol and chainsword? What the fuck? Why 165 points? He got nerfed in the update, But then you realize that he has Stubborn and Tank Hunters... as does any Transport he's in... which [[Antaro Chronus|can also use his Ballistic Skill]]. In addition all of your Razorbacks, Rhinos and Land Raiders get 5+ Invulnerable saves against Glancing Hits, nice but not broken.
*'''Zhurukhal Androcles''': Star Phantom captain with power fist and combi-melta. Makes Devastator Elites AND Heavy support and little else. Though not as devastating as Vale, he is cheaper and actually have some decent wargear.
*'''Silas Alberec''': Exorcists captain with MC thunder hammer and S5 (which always wound daemons on 2+, if S10 isn't enough), bolt pistol, teleport homer. He gives FNP 5+ to himself and his unit against ANYTHING with psychic powers or marks of chaos or daemons, and his warlord trait lets you take morale checks on 3D6 and choosing the best. and is reasonably priced for his wargear.
*'''Lias Issodon''': <s>Reasonable Marines</s> Raptors chapter master. He only has a power sword and pistol for close combat, -1WS and +1BS, compared to a standard chapter master, but is armed with some monstrous R30 Salvo 2/4 bolter with special ammunition (that must use the profiles described in C:SM), and can use the Raptor tactic of H1 rending, so he is a shooty chapter master, which is rare. He has no Invulnerable save, but this is made up for with artificer armour and shroud. The main reason you would like to take him is his special abilities: he forces a -1 on enemy reserve rolls, can reroll his own reserves (even successful ones), and he can cripple (or even kill) one enemy's  MC or vehicle before the game even starts. For some reason he doesn't have an invulnerable save or orbital bombardment, but he is relatively cheap, so shut up, camp his raptors in the covers and shoot people to death like [[Reasonable_Marines|reasonable marines]] should do.
*'''Tyberos The Red Wake''': Carcharodons chapter master with terminator armor and two weapons, which could count as lightning claws or chainfists and allocate hits with either as he wants with 5 base attacks. No iron halo, so his invuln is only 5+. Tyberos himself is a terrifying murderous machine in close combat, when subject to RAGE! usr, he AND EVERY Carcharodon unit that is subject to Rage becomes +1 str for the rest of the battle. His warlord trait 'savage beyond reason' gives him and his unit preferred enemy (infantry). He also allows you to take one LC-terminator unit as troops. And he costs less than a vanilla chapter master with two chainfists.
*'''Vaylund Cal''': <s>Iron Hands</s> Sons of Medusa master of the forge with iron halo, thunder hammer, servo-harness, and monstrous creature stat line. Being an Iron Hand he gets FnP 6+ and It Will Not Die and +1 to Repair rolls. While being expensive as hell, he could put a lot of hurt in close combat and extremely hard to kill for his T6. For further expense, he can give devastator units in the army Toughness 5 for 50 points per squad, but don't expect it to save you against plasma firepower.
*'''Thulsa <s>Doom</s> Kane''': Executioners high chaplain with artificer armor, plasma pistol and S6 AP2 Unwieldy sword. With +1WS/BS/W/A, eternal warrior and big 12” aura of “reroll 1 on to-wound” he also gives friendly Executioners squads +1 to their assault results and +1 to their sweeping advance provided he is fighting in a challenge. The only thing, Kane don’t have, is jump pack to join assault squad, or terminator armor to join teleporting assault termies.
*'''Chaplain-Dreadnought Titus''': Howling Griffons dreadnought with +1 attack, which can reroll failed to hit roll in CC, and make everyone within 12” fearless. Also, despite being a vehicle he also becomes a Scoring unit if he's the only HQ left in the army and can also benefit from Ultramarines chapter tactics. For 15 pts. more than ordinary venerable dreadnought In 6-th editions venerable dreads are shit, so don't even think to take Titus unless you REALLY want that 12"-fearless aura.