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

====Special Units====
'''HQ'''
*'''[[Marneus Calgar]]:''' Papa Smurf, now back in the HQ slot. His Armour of Antilochus grants a 4+ invulnerable save and halves all damage he receives (rounded up, so he's not immune to 1 damage weapons). The Bolter part of the Gauntlets of Ultramar aren't too bad since they deal 2 damage and have AP-1, but you will ignore both them and his relic blade because in melee they act like Power Fists without the -1 to hit. As is the case for all Chapter Master characters, he grants re-rolls for all to-hit rolls for units within 6". He can also deep strike, and having him as your Warlord in a Battle-forged army grants 2 bonus Command Points. While both his stats and buffing abilities pale by comparison to Guilliman, he can fill a similar role if you want to save the points and/or the Lord of War slot. 
**'''Marneus Calgar in Artificer Armour:''' (index) Papa Smurf, before Swarmlord ate his arms, his legs, and half of his face. One less wound, no halved damage, and no ability to deep strike, and now, since the Codex sets Calgar in the Armour of Antilochus at 200 points, 35 points cheaper than the version in Artificer armour, you have no reason to ever take him in this form unless you're re-creating the battle at the Cold-Steel Ridge or something. Or you desperately need him to fit into a Rhino or Razorback.
**'''Marneus Calgar in the Armour of Heraclus:''' It has finally happened. Papa Smurf has become the super-NuMarine. He now gets +1T thanks to his Gravis armour, as well as +1W  and +1A from being Primaris, and he even gets to keep his 2+/4++ along with the halved damage. This makes him even more powerful than he ever was, although being a Primaris does mean that if he wants to actually get into combat he'll either need to footslog or pay for a Repulsor.
***Something for consideration: Calgar, with the right supports, is actually a deadlier fighter in melee than Guilliman is. For starters, while Guilliman can feel the pain from larger foes and their absurd damage, Marneus can, for the most part, walk out less damaged and more annoying thanks to the halved damage. Assuming all damage is multi-wound rather than 1 damage, Calgar technically has ''16'' wounds, versus Guilliman's 9. In addition, while Guilliman can resurrect with D6 wounds, Calgar can receive near-constant healing through an Apothecary as he is an <INFANTRY> rather than a <MONSTER> (what, you thought Apothecaries can understand the anatomy of pseudo-demigods?). Excluding the cost of a Librarian and Victrix Guard (since Guilliman can benefit from those too) and you can have a better beatstick than Guilliman (though you do lose his super-aura). The only main weakness of Calgar in this regard is that he has slightly less toughness and strength (you ARE using Might of Heroes through Calgar's Librarian, aren't you?) than Guilliman, and he's stuck with D3 damage for his fists. TL,DR: Calgar is far cheaper for a super tough HQ and can benefit from other buffs where Guilliman can not. Calgar can certainly buff your army, but Guilliman does it better. However, Guilliman delivers more melee offense overall and functions better in situations devoid of support.
***Somebody is really [[Matthew_Ward|overestimating]] Calgar here. Against incoming attacks that are 2 damage, D3 damage, 3 damage, and D6 damage respectively, Calgar essentially has 16, 12, 12 and 14 wounds respectively (the results of D3 damage halved rounding up are 1, 1 and 2 and so D3 damage weapons average 1.333 damage against him). Now this is impressive, but the kinds of things you’re talking about fighting will usually force him to use his invulnerable save, which is a 4+, and so his effective hp is actually 32, 24, 24 and 28. Guilliman has 9 wounds on a 3++, so his effective hp is 27 in all scenarios, so the differences are actually minor against the bigger damage weapons without accounting for his revive ability, but between rerolling wounds and D3 mortal wounds on 6+ his melee output is potent enough to deal 7.778 wounds to Calgar in a single fight phase, ie basically killing him on average. How much damage can Calgar accomplish against Guilliman, or Calgar himself (Abaddon)? 2.6 wounds in both cases, 3.02 and 3.78 with the might of heroes. You may notice by this point that you’re paying half the points for less than half the melee power even with psyker support (at least in this case, but I think this is a decent benchmark). Add in that Calgar’s halve-damage durability is completely negated by things like the mortal wounds from snipers, and well...
*'''[[Cato Sicarius|Captain Sicarius]]:''' No longer able to give 10 leadership to his whole detachment, or let a rhino tac squad infiltrate. But he is a bit cheaper now, and his power sword can do D3 mortal wounds if you roll a 6 to wound. His ''artisan plasma pistol'' now gets the benefit of overcharging without any risk of hurting him. He also can grant a squad Defenders of Humanity for a round. Overall, he is roughly the same if not slightly better in terms of melee, but can surprise an enemy via (for example) giving his Terminator retinue ObSec. The best thing about him is that, at 100 pts, he's pretty cheap. He's alright for his price, though his special ability does require some forethought. 
*'''[[Varro_Tigurius|Chief Librarian Tigurius]]:''' Got beefy now, with only a 3+ save, no invuln, yet 5W and 4 attacks. He's still rather vulnerable, but can kick and punch almost as well as a Captain thanks to becoming a Primaris Marine. He does have a pretty nifty ability, however, as he can inflict a -1 penalty to '''all''' hit rolls against him or a friendly '''Ultramarine''' unit within 6" each turn, which helps him or any screening unit to survive. Can also be used on a unit holding an objective to increase its survivability, on a flyer for a -2 to hit for maximum trolling, and so on; this ability has quite a few interesting tactical applications. Is equipped with his rod, a power stave that gives +3 to strength, but you don't want him in close combat anyway, unless facing extremely weak close combat opponents. His mortal wound production from ''Smite'' helps against high wound models and hordes. His hood now adds +1 to psychic tests and denial on top of the re-rolls.
**He can re-roll failed Psychic Tests (but not successful ones, even if they Perils), so his expected damage from ''Smite'' is 2.09, rather than 1.79, assuming he can live through Perils, which he can always do with his starting health.  His Primaris version is better, and can re-roll any Psychic test, so you can re-roll double 6s to avoid Perils. 
***He knows 3 Librarius (or Indomitus) powers and ''Smite'', and can cast and deny 2 powers per turn.  In general, non-Primaris Tigurius' odds of casting a power (assuming he lives through Perils) are:
****''Smite'':  97.22%
****''Veil of Time'':  92.28%
****''Might of Heroes'':  92.28%
****''Scourge'':  92.28%
****''Fury of the Ancients'':  82.64%
****''Psychic Fortress'':  97.22%
****''Null Zone'':  82.64%
***Primaris Tigurius is ''even better''; he gets +1 to cast rolls.  His odds on WC5 to WC8 are:
****''5:'' 99.31% (Smite, Psychic Fortress, Precognition, Empyric Channelling)
*****Because his +1 will make Smite roll higher more often, his Smite output is higher; because he can also re-roll successful Psychic tests, you can fish for bigger Smites - if you re-roll all rolls of 9 or less (remember, you get 1d6 mortal wounds on 10s with this guy), your average will be 2.319 mortal wounds.  If you only re-roll 3s and 2s, since you'll succeed at the cast on 4s, your average will be 2.257.
****''6:'' 97.22% (Veil of Time, Might of Heroes, Scourge, Storm of the Emperor's Wrath, Psychic Shackles)
****''7:'' 92.28% (Scryer's Gaze, Telepathic Assault, Fury of the Ancients, Null Zone)
*'''[[Ortan Cassius|Chaplain Cassius]]:''' He grants a mortal wound against enemy units that kill an Ultramarines model within 6" on a 6+. 3+ Marines die often, so with big numbers in your army Cassius has some punch and hurts the enemy in their phase. Combine with a Company Ancient and Apothecary to make the marine shoot as he dies, confer a mortal wound, and be brought back to life to shoot the next turn.
**With the new codex and the Ultramarines Supplement, Cassius provides two Litanies for your marines. Using the +1 to hit and +1 to wound litanies can give squads that can generally hit on 2s, and a minimum wounding of 5s.
*'''[[Torias Telion|Sergeant Telion]]:''' Telion makes Scout Snipers better. He is armed with a better Sniper Rifle, and Scouts within 3" add 1 to their roll to hit. Telion hits on a 2+, and also has the Ultramarine and Scout keyword. Rolls of one always fail, but modifiers are diminished by his buff to himself.
*'''[[Antaro Chronus|Sergeant Chronus]]:''' Sadly, you still can't take Chronus in a Repulsor or certain FW vehicles, which is a real shame since he can not only repair the tank he's riding in but also fixes its BS to 2+. This might not seem like much of a buff at first, but keep in mind that ''this overrides the BS decrease that the damage tables would normally force''- not only will it be hitting on a 2+, it'll continue to do so even at the point it would normally be hitting on a 5+! Like in 7th edition, he becomes an infantry unit if his tank is destroyed, but a lackluster statline and bad selection of wargear mean that Chronus on foot is little more than an extra kill point for the enemy.
**Depending on whether you want him to fill a Heavy slot or not as well as an HQ slot, the two vehicles he's commonly considered best in are a quadruple lascannon predator or a double assault cannon razorback.  In either case, remember that he's not a character until he disembarks, and you want his vehicle to have as many guns as possible, so always take a storm bolter and strongly consider a hunter-killer missile.
**The vehicle Chronus commands gets the character keyword. While that might not by itself stop him from getting shot, (all the vehicles he can ride have 10 wounds or more,) it does mean he can use Company Veterans, Honor Guard and Victrix Guard to deflect shots and stay operational for very long.
**Originally, vehicles he can command was very specific; but the new Codex has the following keywords as available rides: LAND RAIDER, RHINO, RAZORBACK, WHIRLWIND, PREDATOR, VINDICATOR. Sadly, no REPULSOR, SICARAN, MASTODON, ASTRAEUS, FELLBLADE or SPARTAN, but this still means he can command a Whirlwind Scorpius, a Land Raider Achilles or a Relic Predator. Or if you want to live dangerously, a Vindicator Laser Destroyer or a Terminus Ultra.
**Chronus and Telion are dirt cheap (65 for Telion, 30 for Chronus, although that's on top of the tank he rides), so they will be a great help to fill compulsory HQ slots for bigger detachments. This is a huge boon for Ultramarine players, as this will help get more command points and recycle them thanks to their warlord trait. Throw in cheap Scout Squads for the troop tax (and to make sure Telion is used to his full potential) and you're good to go for a Battalion.
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'''Forgeworld''' {{W40kKeyword|Successor Chapters}} '''Characters'''<br>
Remember you don't necessarily need to pick Inheritors of the Primarch to be Ultramarine successors and use this supplement.
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{{W40kKeyword|[[Fire Angels]]}}<br>
*'''Captain Tarnus Vale:''' Captain.  Provides a 6+ invuln to nearby vehicles, but isn't riding a bike or using a jump pack, so he'll never keep up with his charges unless he’s in a transport or said charges are artillery tanks, such as a Fellblade or Whirlwind. But, he does have a power axe that has D2, and an 8" pistol 3 plasma pistol. Not to mention lots of vehicles sit in a parking lot. Like are you really gonna be zipping that predator up the field?
'''Successor Tactics:''' The Fire Angels are notable for for their strict adherence to the Codex, so Inheritors of the Primarch is a perfect fit for them. Alternatively, if you want to build around Vale's Vehicle buffs and build a parking lot type army, tank boosting Tactics like Master Artisans and Scions of the Forge are good options.

{{W40kKeyword|[[Fire Hawks]]}}<br>
*'''Knight-Captain Elam Courbray:'''  Captain.  The ''only'' Forge World character in this list who showed up with a Jump Pack, with the highest Move stat (and the guy in second place, Hecaton Aiakos, can't be your Warlord, although [[Lias Issodon]] is the guy in third place).  However, because how DARE you tell him what to do when he comes in from reserve, he teleports in like a boss, rather than falling from the sky like a pleb.  Also, he will always try to attack Characters within 1" of him, even if you'd rather he attacked someone else, because, again, FUCK YOU. 
**You're better off taking a regular captain with a jump pack bolt pistol and a relic blade. You're paying 18 points more to get to reroll wounds on your Suser AP-2 D1d3 sword (worse than the relic blade at S+2 AP-3 D1d3, which is more likely to wound on the first roll given it makes the captain S6). That's all he has over the normal jump pack captain. That and the 'has to hit characters if possible within 1"' thing. Which is actually a handicap.
'''Successor Tactics:''' While Courbray is nothing you'd build an army around and not a whole lot is known about the Fire Hawk's specialisation, they present a fluffy option for creating a more fleshed out Legion of the Damned. No options for universal FNP or Deep Striking, but general durability boosters like Indomitable, Stalwart, Stealthy (fluff it as the smoke rising off them giving them cover!) Or Warded are fine choices, and Fearsome Aspect is quite appropriate.

{{W40kKeyword|[[Howling Griffons]]}}<br>
*'''Chaplain Dreadnought Titus:''' Exactly the same as a normal chaplain dread, but his FNP equivalent is a 5+, not a 6+, and he has fixed weaponry in an assault cannon, heavy flamer, and big ol' smashy fist. He's worth taking if you're playing Howling Griffons and already planned on taking a Chaplain Dreadnought, but otherwise unremarkable.
'''Successor Tactics:''' Griffons are known for their tactical flexibility and good sense, so most any blend of Tactics could be made to work. Titus himself, similarly, is just a solid all-rounder, though Chaplain Dreads inherently encourage a more melee focused playstyle. A good pick for remaining fast and loose with what sort of army you want to bring.

{{W40kKeyword|[[Marines Errant]]}}<br>
*'''Lieutenant Commander Anton Narvaez:''' Captain.  Used to be he was a little worse stats-wise than a captain (since he's not a captain) but had more interesting (if weird) wargear. Now he's just as good as a regular captain stat-wise, but his wargear got even weirder and even better. He comes with a power sword that on a 6+ to wound does a mortal wound ''instead'' (weird), an assault d3 plasma gun with 1 less ap that can't supercharge (weirder) and the Actinic Halo which gives him a 2++ save that is better than his power armour save UNTIL you take an unsaved wound at which points it stops working and only gives a near useless 6++ (legendarily weird). He honestly makes a decently shooty captain who has a decent buff (he provides the captain buff of rerolling 1s to hit, not the lieutenant buff to wounding) and is good for an all-rounder and doesn't cost much at all, use your command point rerolls on his invulnerable save to keep him alive all game and outside of mortal wounds he'll be exceptionally tanky... especially for a dude who's just supposed to be a ship captain.
'''Successor Tactics:''' Close range board actions are not well represented on the tabletop outside of Killteam, but we can make it work. Assault is the name of the game here, so Hungry for Battle and Rapid Assault are no brainers.

{{W40kKeyword|[[Novamarines]]}}<br>
*'''Captain Mordaci Blaylock:''' Terminator captain, with a D3 chainfist, a relic storm bolter S5 AP-2, and grants a 6+ FNP to all Novamarines Infantry within 6".
'''Successor Tactics:''' Another Codex hardliner, so Inheritors of the Primarch is probably ypur go-to here. Just as well, Braylock is brutal in close range where he can support similarly built units.
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'''Elite:'''
*'''Chapter Ancient:''' Split off from the Honour Guard, he's the same as a Company Ancient, but exclusive to Ultramarines and comes with a 2+ save and a power sword instead of the pistol (which he can't exchange). He also has a 9" banner range instead of 6", just in case you wanted him to reach out and touch farther units to let them fight or shoot one last time.

*'''Chapter Champion:''' Despite the name, the Codex Chapter Champion isn't unique, so one Ultramarines Chapter can have multiple of him. He has the same mandatory Heroic Intervention and re-roll against CHARACTERs as a Company Champion but has +1A and Sv, and different wargear. His Codex entry carries a Power Sword and Champion's Blade (as well as a bolt pistol and grenades), meaning he costs 64 points, so you're paying 10 points over a Company Champion to go from 3+/5++ to 2+ and from A3 S4 AP-3 D2 to A4 S4 AP-3 D1 + A1 S4 AP-2 D1; as you may have just noticed, this means, even before the points difference, your output is going down against anything with 2 or more wounds. Accordingly, you're better off with a Company Champion, even though the Chapter Champion can use the Index to swap his Champion's Blade for a Bolter (which is drastically better on him) or his power sword for something else, simply because the master-crafted power sword on the Company Champion is so efficient and because 2+ isn't that much better than 3+/5++. The closest you're going to get for competition is the Thunder Hammer/Bolter combo, which is 81 points for A4 WS3+ (rerolling 1s to hit characters) S8 AP-3 D3, which will murder most things more efficiently than the Company Champion will, but only once delivered, and you can't give him a Jump Pack - that's a serious points investment over solving the same problem with Thunder Hammer Vanguard Vets, who can just get to the problem with their Jump Packs.
**Both Champions have buffs that overlap Chaplains/Captains/Chapter Masters, so plan accordingly - if you're bringing the buffs in from elsewhere, neither is remotely as compelling as TH/SS Company or Vanguard Veterans.
***This has all changed now. The Chapter Champion gets a Mastercrafted Power Sword and some quite substantial buffs now. Firstly, he has 5 attacks on his profile, which is more than even a Captain. Secondly, all attacks in close combat are at -1 to hit him. Combined with a 2+ save he's looking very survivable. Against characters, he also gets a whole host of special rules that will range from okay to downright scary! A 6" Heroic Intervention is okay to reach a character but re-roll hits and wounds against a character is amazing.
Give this guy the Burning Blade and The Imperium's Sword Warlord Trait and enjoy wounding T4 on 2s with AP-5 and D2. You can even shark vehicles with him since he has 7 attacks on the charge at S8. I'd even use him to finish a Knight character and laugh about it!

*'''Honour Guard:''' They seem underwhelming at first since there're only two models per unit and they have only one more wound compared to the Company Veterans. However, they only cost a minimum of 50 points plus gear (see below) for the entire unit. They possess a 2+ save, which, paired with their W2, is the primary reason to take them - they're worse in melee than Company Vets - and because of their unit size, have no worries about morale tests. Like the Company Veterans, they can intercept wounds for CHARACTERs, so they're good to have around in melee. Remember that you can stick several units into a single transport, so there is nothing stopping you from sticking 8 2-man units of Honour Guard into a single Land Raider Crusader.
**Codex Honour Guard has a mandatory Power Axe, but Index Honour Guard can take a Sword, Maul, or Relic Blade, so per the FAQ, the Index "wins", letting you take 50 points Sword Guard for bubble wrap/ablative wounds. For any weapon from Power Sword, Maul, or Axe, an Honour Guard costs the same as a Company Vet with a Storm Shield, meaning the choice is W2/2+ or W1/3+/3++; the former is cheaper per wound, which means your bodyguard lasts longer, but the latter is more durable against the majority of potential incoming fire, due to the abundance of higher damage and armour penetrating guns out there. Note also that both units are functionally immune to morale, but the Company Vets hit harder in melee - the Honour Guard unit is 4 attacks, while the Company Vets are 5. Relic Blades are garbage, doubling the cost of the Honour Guard carrying them; Company Vets with Thunder Hammers will outperform them any day.
*'''Tyrannic War Veterans:''' Sternguard Vets, minus the weapons options and with the ability to re-roll all failed rolls to hit or wound {{W40Kkeyword|TYRANID}} units. Situational, but since the bugs have gotten significant buffs it might be useful. The unit consists of 4 models, so can be cheaper in total than Sternguard, and make odd arrangements in transportation more viable.
**As a strange side note, remember that these models have STERNGUARD VETERAN SQUAD as a keyword. This means they not only can benefit from Masterful Marksmanship but also bonuses from being in the Victrix Guard Specialist detachment. Further, with their Special Issue Bolters, you can see them as a way to extend a Sternguard allowance from just 3 squads to 6. Why you would do that is beyond comprehension.
*'''Victrix Honour Guard:''' Primaris Honour Guard, with both upsides and downsides. Standard 1 wound and ABOVE standard +2 attacks (normally Primaris get +1), but also kitted out with power swords (losing the superior power axes of the base unit) and storm shields (losing both the bolters and bolt pistols of the base unit), and can perform Heroic Interventions. If they're in the same detachment as Marneus Calgar, they don't take up a slot.  The net result, even after paying 5 more points per model, is that you gain a lot of durability and slight mobility, as well as an overall gain to melee output (''doubling'' the unit's total attacks more than compensates for the inferior melee weapon), in exchange for a sharp reduction in ranged output - in fact, if you want your chapter tactic to apply to them, all you can do is have the unit throw a single grenade, as opposed to the base unit, which has a pair of bolters.

'''Lord of War'''
*'''[[Roboute Guilliman]]:'''The most effective unit in the Astartes Codex, even with his whopping 350 point cost. He possesses an impressive statline: WS and BS are both 2+, 8" movement, S6, T6, 6A and has 9 wounds and if he is killed he comes back on a roll of 4+ with D6 wounds. Has the character keyword so can't be shot at unless he's the closest model or by snipers, and also takes cover behind a constant 2+, 3++. Shooting wise he uses the Hand of Dominion which is 24" rapid fire 3 S6 AP-1 Dmg 2, which is good but it's CC where you want Girlyman. In close combat he can either use the Hand of Dominion a Sx2 AP-3 Dmg 4 power fist or use the motherfucking [[Emperor's Sword]] at S+2 AP-4 Dmg 3 that on a roll of a 6 causes D3 mortal wounds on top of the 3 damage he already caused. In close combat he is one of the best characters in 8th, on top of that lucky rolls can lead to him dishing out a lot of extra damage through mortal wounds. All of that is nice, however, where Guilliman truly shines is his buffs to the rest of the army. Any keyword '''Imperium''' unit within 12" adds 1 to advances and charges, re-roll hits of 1 and can re-roll failed morale tests. As the Primarch of the Ultramarines, he gives any {{W40Kkeyword|Ultramarines}} units within 6" re-rolls of any hit roll, and wound rolls of 1 as well. Guilliman himself is affected by his own aura, allowing him to add 1 to charges and advances as well as re roll hits and 1s to wound. If all that wasn't enough if your army is battleforged you get 3 extra CP. He does everything you'd want a warlord to do, basically. The main reasons not to take him are points cost, wanting a different LOW, or not wanting to be seen as [[That Guy]]. 
**Be aware that since he has the {{W40Kkeyword|Monster}} keyword for some odd reason, he tends to interact strangely with several other rules (e.g. taking Transports). Watch for anything that affects {{W40Kkeyword|Monster}} units and be prepared to footslog.