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

==Formations==
Each formation described below can be taken as a stand-alone element, so you can do things like tack a Storm Wing or Librarius Conclave onto a Combined Arms Detachment. They can also be combined in specific ways to create an alternative FOC, following in the footsteps of the Necrons, Khorne Daemonkin, and Eldar. Note that any attached Independent Characters don't benefit from the Formation's rules unless it also came as part of the same formation.
===Gladius Strike Force===
This alternative FOC is included in the base Space Marines codex. It grants one use each of the three Combat Doctrines, which affect the whole detachment when used.  Of interest is that none of these formations or the larger formation grants a warlord trait re-roll, which is an otherwise omnipresent feature of such lists.

*You need 1-2 of the following "Core" choices:
**'''Battle Demi-Company''' - A Captain or Chaplain (which may be any of the named ICs), 3 Tactical Squads, 1 Assault Squad/Bike Squad/Attack Bike Squad/Land Speeder unit/Assault Centurion Squad, 1 Devastator or Centurion Devastator squad, 0-1 Command Squad and 0-1 Dreadnought unit(s) of any type. The Demi-Company gets [[Awesome|Objective Secured]] and its own extra use of Tactical Doctrine. More importantly, if you bring two (with a Captain in one and a Chaplain in the other) within one Gladius Strike Force, the two Demi-Companies are counted as a Battle Company and can then buy Rhinos, Razorbacks, and Drop Pods as Dedicated Transports for the low, low price of [[Cheese|FREE]]. You still need to pay for upgrades, but that can translate into 400-500 points worth of free transports - ideally, you'd use it to spam Razorbacks as a source of free guns or 20-point TL lascannons.
***Since the Demi-Company has a good chunk of what the average Marine player tends to bring anyway, and provides Objective Secured for everything in it, the Demi-Company is perfectly capable of getting by without being battle-forged unless you really want those snazzy detachment-level command benefits. Otherwise the Demi-Company works well as the general purpose core of an unbound army, the rest of your bases can be covered by adding other formations or individual units as you see fit (just note that bringing two Demi-Companies won’t benefit from being a Battle-Company unless they’re part of a battle-forged Gladius Strike Force).
***The Demi-Company's personal Tactical Doctrine can be really nasty if the Tactical Squads are put in Drop Pods and given a special/combi-weapon to blow up tanks or mow down backline units. It can really help these otherwise unimpressive "tax" units pull their weight.
***Free transport drop pods can be fairly hilarious.  Dropping 10-14 drop pods (even empty ones) with ObSec around the board (that's 1-3 per objective) makes a big mess for your opponent.  
*You can take 0-3 of the following "Command" choices:
**'''Strike Force Command'''- Any Captain or Chaplain (named ICs included, as well as Marneus Calgar), 0-1 Honor Guard, 0-1 Command Squad, and/or 0-1 Emperor's Champion. Here's all your non-Librarian HQs in one package. Unfortunately not a Formation by itself, so no Battle Forged army of just 10 heroes.
**'''Reclusiam Command Squad'''- Based on the old Reclusiam Command Squad dataslate, consists of a Chaplain with a Command Squad (he must join them during deployment, and can't leave them) with a Razorback DT. The formation gains Crusader, and all friendly Space Marines within 6" of the Chaplain re-roll misses in the first round of each close combat (aka Hatred). This time around, you aren't required to take an Apothecary or Champion, and don't have to pay points for the formation's unique rules. Still doesn't make it good, though if you insist on fielding a chaplain without a jump pack, bike, or terminator armor (any one of the three are ostensibly better choices, but again, if you insist), this is probably the best way to do it.
***That said, the rules don't actually say you can't bike your Chaplain and Command Squad. If you're fancying a razorback to use for no particular purpose (say you have a combat-squadded tactical squad, or the like), and were going to take a biker Chaplain & squad already, this gives you that plus a (minor-ish) bonus to the chaplain's special rules.
**'''Librarius Conclave'''- 3-5 Librarians, one of which may be Tigurius. Taking this lets you break out an excellent trick, as follows: you may nominate one of the Librarians at the start of a Psychic Phase. All the other ones within 12" of him can't use powers that phase, but the nominated Librarian now knows all of their powers until that phase's end. More importantly, he now harnesses Warp Charges on a 3+ if there's one Librarian within 12" of him, and 2+ if there's more than one in range. This makes your casting in the Psychic Phase ultra-efficient, especially with buffs (or summoning, if you don't give a shit about fluff and want free army points), to the point that even Eldar or Daemons would be jealous! Someone needs to e-mail Forgeworld about their Character Librarians like Chief Librarian Loth joining this.
***Done, FW replied saying that any named Badab War character may be taken in the same slot as a SM codex named character (but only if they are the same unit type, e.g. swapping Tigurius for Loth).
***The BRB FAQ (page 3) has rendered this formation's benefit practically irrelevant. Sure, you know all the powers of other Librarians within 12", and sure you can manifest them on 3+ or 2+ depending on the number of donors. However, your nominated model is limited in casting a number of powers up to his mastery level, so while he may know something like 16 powers, he is ''still'' only casting two or three. And those donors are standing around doing nothing, because they are not allowed to cast, meaning a whole bunch of wasted warp charges.  The formation can be useful for getting Librarians into your army, but you should typically only be casting your powers individually.
***Sure, your other Librarians can't cast, but in return you can effectively get a +12" range extension on another Librarian's rolled power and an opportunity to reliably manifest several select 2 and 3 Warp Charge powers from a single point with much fewer spent dice and less chance of perils, as Mastery Levels do not restrict the number of charges you are pumping through a psyker, just the number of powers. Also, the harnessing bonus allows you to put more dice into manifesting a power so it will be harder for the opponent to dispel. If you are concerned about wasting Warp Charges, you can dip into Imperial Agents or Inquisition books and buy yourself some more Psykers to buff backfield units.
*You need at least 1 of these "Auxiliary" choices, but there's no hard limit as to how many of them you can take:
**'''Anti-Air Defense Force'''- A unit of Hunters and a unit of Stalkers, with the Stalker unit consisting of at least 2 models. Anytime a Hunter lands a hit on a Flyer or FMC, the Stalkers gain +1 BS against whatever got hit. Solves your AA problem nicely, and it's pretty cheap for how effective it is so a full Battle Company gets some wiggle room.
**'''1st Company Task Force'''- 3-5 of any combination of Terminators or Veterans, who gets Fear and Fearless. All enemies get -2 Ld when they're within 12" of at least 3 units (including the Dedicated Transports!) from this formation, and a selected enemy unit has Preferred Enemy applied to it when attacks are made against it by this formation (again, including the Transports). Expensive, but it'll keep a special snowflake on his toes. Works well with Psychic Shriek and any other sort of Ld-related attack or effect. Scary, scary Rhinos/Drop Pods.
**'''10th Company Task Force'''- 3-5 Scout squads and/or Scout Bike squads (the latter of which must be equipped with cluster mines), and can take Torias Telion. Everyone who Infiltrates but doesn't have Stealth gains a watered-down version of Stealth that lasts until they move, run, Turbo-boost, charge, or fall back, at which point it stops working (shooting doesn't dispel it, though.) And on the first turn, all of their shooting attacks have Precision Shots.
**'''Storm Wing'''- A Stormraven is joined by two Stormtalons. They count as a single unit for the purposes of Reserves, and as long as at least one Stormtalon is intact the Stormraven has Strafing Run. Yes, they did copypaste it from the original Storm Wing dataslate from an edition ago. 
**'''Centurion Siegebreaker Cohort'''- An Ironclad Dreadnought unit teams up with 2-4 Assault Centurion squads. Everyone with an omniscope can reroll failed armor pen rolls against buildings and can choose to re-roll glancing hits as well. If they ever destroy a building or Transport in the Assault phase, the occupants suffer an extra 2d6 S6 AP4 hits with Ignores Cover. Would probably go well with an Imperial Fists army, and it'll definitely make your opponent think twice about taking fortifications. 
**'''Land Raider Spearhead'''- 3 of any combination of the basic Land Raider types (standard, Crusader, and Redeemer). As long as they're within 6" of each other, they ignore all results on the vehicle damage table short of Explodes!, and they all re-roll failed to wound/armor penetration rolls against GCs, super-heavies, and buildings with the Mighty Bulwark rule. With this formation, the classic Land Raider may actually be worth taking as a superheavy-killer. Sadly, no option for Antaro Chronus to join, that's for the next entry.
**'''Armoured Task Force'''- A Techmarine, 0-3 Thunderfire Cannon units, 3-5 of any combination of Predators, Vindicators, and Whirlwinds, and the option of taking Antaro Chronus. As long as any of the vehicles is within 6" of the Techmarine or the Techmarine Gunners, they ignore Crew Shaken/Stunned, and said Techmarines gain a +1 bonus to their Blessings of the Omnissiah rolls when applied to any vehicle from the formation. 
**'''Suppression Force'''- A unit of Land Speeders pairs up with a unit of Whirlwinds (minimum two models). If it doesn't move Flat Out, one of the Land Speeders can nominate an enemy within 18" in its line of sight in its shooting phase; the Whirlwinds have infinite range and re-roll To Hit against that target. Make it a 3-tank Whirlwind unit and watch blob armies cry.

===Scarblade Strike Force (Kauyon)===
A variant of the Gladius for the White Scars, this gives its members re-rolls on their Hit & Run test, a bonus d6" to Turbo-Boost and Flat Out (or 2d6" for Fast/Flyer vehicles), and Hammer of Wrath when they successfully charge something 8"+ away (if they already had it, HoW hits re-roll failed Wound rolls instead). Remember, these "elements" can be used as a stand-alone formation: you have to be White Scars to use the Scarblade Strike Force FOC, but you don't have to be White Scars to take any of the new formations introduced in the Kauyon book.

*Your unique '''Core''' elements are: 
**'''Stormlance Demi-Company''' - This consists of a Captain or Chaplain (or any named variant thereof), 3 Tactical Squads, 1 Dev Squad, and 1 of either Bikers, Attack Bikes, Land Speeders, or Assault Marines, with the option to add a Command Squad. All non-vehicles in this formation must have either jump packs, bikes, or start the game inside a Rhino or Razorback.  Everyone gets to re-roll misses during the Shooting Phase against enemies controlling an objective.  All bikes and jump units get to move 2d6" after firing, while anything else moves d6" after shooting (with anything within 2" of the transports able to jump in even if they left that same turn).  They can't assault after moving in this manner, but it's basically Battle Focus for marines, which is really good! Ideal for massaging ranges (i.e. Rapid Fire, melta), hitting and running, or shooting then hiding in your metal box.
***Do note that the boxes themselves get this bonus. I.e. you can move a Razorback 6", disembark a squad up to 6", shoot with the squad, move the squad back d6" and embark, shoot with the Razorback, then move it back d6", [[Rage|preferably behind a LOS-block]]. Model your dakka boxes with the gun just above the back door; this allows you to poke out of cover for an inch, do the switcheroo, and still get back into cover even if you roll 1".
**'''Hunting Force''' - A Biker Captain joins 2-5 Bike squads, 1-3 Attack Bike squads and 1-3 Scout Bike squads - you may optionally add a Bike Command Squad and/or a Biker Chaplain, and Kor'sarro Khan may replace either HQ. After deployment, this formation has to pick a primary target (which must be an enemy HQ), as well as secondary and tertiary targets. They re-roll misses and failed To Wound rolls when attacking the primary target, and gain Furious Charge if charging them. If the primary target dies, the Hunting Force gets those same bonuses against the secondary target, and the same against the tertiary once you kill the secondary. On top of that, units in this formation with at least five models hit twice when they make Hammer of Wrath attacks. Fluffy for White Scars, extremely potent against deathstars and other high-value targets, and perfect for still fielding massed bikes while getting in on the formation-y goodness.

*You may also incorporate these two Auxiliary elements:
**'''Stormbringer Squadron''' - 1-3 units of Land Speeders and 1-3 Scout Squads with Land Speeder Storms. The Scouts (but not their transports) get Objective Secured, their transports get +1 to Jink when within 6" of the formation's Land Speeder(s), and the Scouts can disembark from their Speeder even after it moves, as long as it moved less than 12". Perfect for rushing to capture points after your other forces clear them out, and the only way for a Scarblade force to get Objective Secured without a Battle Demi-Company. You can gib a tank or charge something Turn 1 with ease if you have some combination of multi-meltas on your Speeders and melta bombs/combi-meltas for the Scouts: deploy as close as possible, move 12" and disembark 6" (thanks to the formation bonus), then shoot the multi-meltas (ideally you've weaved into melta range), shoot the combi-melta if you have it, then charge in with a krak grenade and a melta bomb. If you take multiple Scout Squads (120 points gives the LSS a multi-melta and the Sarge a combi-melta and bombs), you can destroy enemy transports on Turn 1. If they deploy further back to avoid your melta rave, you have more room to scout/infiltrate and consolidate board position from the start.
**'''Speartip Strike''' - 1-3 units of Land Speeders accompany 2 squads of your choice of Bikes, Attack Bikes or Scout Bikes. At the start of your Shooting phase, you can choose ''Focused Suppression'' or ''Harassing Fire''. ''Focused Suppression'' forces an enemy unit that at least two units shot at to take a Pinning test at -2 Leadership for every unit from this formation after the second that fires on it (i.e. if you took 3 units of Land Speeders and all five units shoot at one target, the FS Pinning test would be at -6 Ld). ''Harassing Fire'' causes any target that suffers at least one unsaved wound to take a Leadership test. If they fail the test, they may choose to Go to Ground. If they don't Go to Ground, and weren't already Gone to Ground, they are Provoked, and must move as far as possible towards the unit during the next Movement phase. This is perfect for neutralizing hit-and-run tactics or forcing an entrenched enemy (ideally something with Heavy or Salvo weapons) out of their hiding spots.

===Talon Strike Force (Kauyon)===
A Raven Guard-themed Gladius.  It allows a re-roll for mission type, table side to deploy from, and your dice on the roll-off for who goes first IF your Warlord is in the TSF. Units in the TSF can choose to auto-fail Morale checks, and can roll for reserves on the first turn, passing on a 4+ (roll normally on other turns). Similar to Scarblade, only Raven Guard can use the Talon Strike Force FOC (unless FW okays the Raptors or other successors' use), but any Chapter can use the new formations that the Kauyon book added.

*'''Core (1-2)'''
**'''Battle Demi-Company''' - Same as Gladius Strike Force.
**'''Pinion Battle Demi-Company''' - A Captain/Chaplain (replaced by a named HQ if you want) takes an optional Command Squad, 3 Tacs, 1 Dev and 1 Assault squad, and 1-5 Scout squads, either on bike or on foot.  During shooting, a Scout Sarge can spot for another unit from the Company within 9", giving that unit Ignores Cover. In addition, each Scout squad can lead another unit out of reserve (but not Deep Strike Reserve), and you use one roll for both the Scout unit and the other unit. If the Scouts outflank, the following unit arrives from the same table edge even if they can't normally outflank. When the two units arrive in this way, the unit being led gets Stealth until their next turn if they were within 9" of the Scouts leading them.
*** If you use this, definitely set up a unit of Scouts near your Devastators. Ignores Cover Missile Launchers, or Lascannons? Yeah, that would be pretty brutal.
*'''Command (0-2)'''
**'''Reclusiam Command Squad'''
**'''Strike Force Command'''
***Sadly, you can't take the Librarius Conclave as part of the Talon Strike Force, so they won't get 1st-turn reserves or auto-fail Morale checks.
*'''Auxiliary (1+)'''
**'''1st Company Task Force'''
**'''10th Company Task Force'''
**'''Storm Wing'''
**'''Anti-Air Defense Force'''
**'''Suppression Force'''
**'''Shadowstrike Kill Team''' - 2-4 Scout squads and 1-3 Vanguard Veteran squads with jump packs. The Vanguards can choose to auto-pass or auto-fail their Reserve roll (which combines very nicely with the TSF ability to roll for reserve on Turn 1). They can also charge on the turn they Deep Strike, and if they arrive within 9" of at least two Scout squads from this formation, they don't scatter. The Scout squads' Scout and Infiltrate moves almost guarantee a precision Vanguard Vet turn 1 alpha strike in TSF, as long as you got the first turn or don't get the Scouts shot off the table before the Vanguards can show up. Non-Raven Guard can still use this formation very effectively - in particular, you can put a Locator Beacon in a Drop Pod to Deep Strike the Vanguard Vets in a perfect spot to reinforce your alpha strike.
**'''Bladewing Assault Brotherhood''' - A jump pack Captain/Chaplain (or Shrike) with 1-3 Vanguards and 2-4 Assault squads, all with jump packs and numbering no more than 30 models. Once per game, in your Movement phase, you can make every unit here disengage and jump back into reserves (even if they were locked in close combat!). They arrive from reserves as a single unit - when Deep Striking, draw a straight line from table one edge to another. You must aim your Deep Strike on a point along that line, and can re-roll the scatter.
***This is as close as any bound army can get right now to an Assault Reserve Company, and not limited to just Raven Guard. Worth a look if you like assault marines.
**'''Skyhammer Orbital Strike Force''' - 3 Tacs in Drop Pods and 1-3 Land Speeders. Pick a point on the board before any Turn 1 Drop Pods land - Drop Pods landing within 12" of that point only scatter d6", and anyone that targets an enemy within 12" of this spot can re-roll hit and wound rolls of 1.  On top of that, the Tacs can run '''and''' shoot the turn they disembark.
**'''Ravenhawk Assault Group''' - A Stormraven joins a Dread of any type and a Sternguard squad. The Stormraven can Deep Strike, but must Hover the turn it arrives - its size makes it risky to DS successfully, never mind that it can be shot at normally, just have it arrive normally. When the first unit from this formation deploys or arrives from reserve, nominate an enemy unit as the formation's target - the Assault Group re-rolls all misses against that unit for the rest of the battle.
**'''Raptor Wing''' - A squad of Land Speeders and 2 Stormtalons. The Talons automatically arrive on your Turn 2 if they were in reserve. Also, once per turn, the Land Speeder designates an enemy unit within 18" and in line of sight as a priority target, giving the Stormtalons re-rolls to Wound and Armor Penetration, and can even re-roll glances to try for penetrating hits instead.
**'''Shadow Force''' - A Captain (replaceable by named guys) joins a Sternguard Squad, Vanguard Squad, and a Land Speeder, nobody with Termie Armor. Everyone gets Acute Senses, Move Through Cover, and Scout, while everyone can re-roll runs (vehicles add 6" to Flat-Out instead). This matches the contents of Strike Force Solaq from the box set.

===Fist of Medusa Strike Force (Angels of Death)===
An Iron Hands flavored Decurion. Contains copy-pasta from the Gladius, plus some new units. The command benefits are a 12" bubble around any independent character that grants +1 to Feel No Pain rolls (because Smashfucker needed that...), with all vehicles in the bubble gaining Power of the Machine Spirit, and a bonus Warlord Trait, with the 2nd one only coming from either Strategic or Tactical rulebook traits.

*'''1-2 Core'''
**As Space Marines
***'''Armoured Task Force'''
***'''Battle Demi-Company'''
**New
***'''Stormlance Demi-Company'''
****1 Captain or Chaplain
****0-1 Command Squad
****3 Tactical Squads
****1 Devastator Squad
****1 Assault, Bike, or Attack Bike Squad, or 1 Land Speeder
****'''Clear and Sweep'''
*****Re-roll misses in the Shooting Phase when targeting an enemy unit which is controlling an Objective Marker.
****'''Mobile Firebase'''
*****Units with Bikes or Jump Packs can move 2d6" immediately after shooting in the shooting phase; other units can move 1d6".  They may embark on their Dedicated Transport if all of their models end this move within 2" of one of its Access Points, even if they disembarked on the same turn.  Units that move after shooting cannot charge in the subsequent Assault Phase.
*'''0-3 Command'''
**As Space Marines
***'''Reclusiam Command Squad'''
***'''Librarius Conclave'''
**New
***'''Strike Force Command'''
****1 Terminator Captain, Captain, Chaplain, or Venerable Dreadnought
****0-1 Honour Guard
****0-1 Command Squad
*'''1+ Auxiliary'''
**As Space Marines
***'''1st Company Task Force'''
***'''10th Company Task Force'''
***'''Storm Wing'''
***'''Anti-Air Defence Force'''
***'''Suppression Force'''
***'''Centurion Siege Breaker Cohort'''
***'''Land Raider Spearhead'''
***'''Strike Force Ultra'''
**New
***'''Skyhammer Orbital Strikeforce'''
****3 Tactical Squads, each with a Drop Pod as a Dedicated Transport
****1-3 Land Speeders
****'''Dropsite Clearance'''
*****At the start of your first turn, before any Drop Pods arrive using Drop Pod Assault, pick a point on the battlefield to mark the center of this Formation's dropsite.  Units gain Preferred Enemy against units within 12" of that point, and Drop Pods that Deep Strike within 12" of that point scatter one less die.
****'''Shock Assault'''
*****Tactical Squads can Run and then Shoot on the same turn they disembark from their Drop Pods.
***'''Skyhammer Annihilation Force'''
****2 Assault Squads with Jump Packs
****2 Devastator Squads with Drop Pods as Dedicated Transports
****'''Shock Deployment'''
*****All units in a Skyhammer Annihilation Force start the game in Deep Strike Reserve. Instead of using the normal deployment and reserve rules for these units, you can, during deployment, choose whether this Formation will arrive during your first or second turn. The entire Skyhammer Annihilation Force automatically arrives on the turn you choose—no Reserve Rolls are required. Ignore this Formation’s Drop Pods for the purposes of the Drop Pod Assault special rule.
****'''First the Fire, then the Blade'''
*****On the turn they arrive from Deep Strike Reserve, the Devastator Squads in a Skyhammer Annihilation Force have the Relentless special rule and the Assault Squads can charge even though they arrived from Reserves that turn.
****'''Suppressing Fusillade'''
*****A unit targeted by a Skyhammer Annihilation Force’s Devastator Squad in the Shooting phase must take a Morale test at the end of the phase on 3D6, regardless of how many casualties were inflicted. If the test is failed, the enemy unit does not Fall Back, but must immediately Go to Ground. If the test is passed, the enemy unit is unable to fire Overwatch for the rest of the turn.
****'''Leave No Survivors'''
*****Assault Squads in a Skyhammer Annihilation Force can use their Jump Packs in both the Movement phase and the Assault phase. If an Assault Squad from a Skyhammer Annihilation Force charges a unit that has Gone to Ground as a result of the Suppressing Fusillade special rule, that Assault Squad can reroll failed To Hit and To Wound rolls in the ensuring Assault phase.
***'''Raptor Wing'''
****1 unit of Land Speeders
****2 Stormtalons. 
****'''Incoming Support'''
*****The Stormtalons automatically arrive on your Turn 2 if they were in reserve. 
****'''Priority Target Received'''
*****Once per turn in the shooting phase, one Land Speeder may designate an enemy unit within 18" and in line of sight as a priority target, giving the Stormtalons re-rolls to Wound and Armor Penetration, and can even re-roll glances to try for penetrating hits instead.  The priority target remains such for this formation until it is destroyed or the formation designates a new one.
***'''Honored Ancients'''
****1 unit of normal, Venerable, Ironclad, or Contemptor Dreads.
***'''Iron Guardians'''
****This is copy-pasta of Honored Ancients, except you can include a Tactical Squad.

The Stormlance Demi-Company can gain real traction in this detachment due to its formation bonuses overlapping really well with this detachment's bonuses. An optimal scenario has a Las-plas Razorback carrying a team of Tactical Marines. The Razorback moves 6", and the Marines disembark 3" away. They open fire at a choice target, before boarding their transport again. In turn, the Razorback fire both guns at full BS with the potential to engage two targets thanks to POTMS before it moves another D6 in turn. Multiply this by 3 and you have a solid army core to work with. When the Razorbacks do die, the Marines inside will still remain a threat due to the improved FNP from the detachment, as well as the ability to keep moving after firing; obsec is nice and all and losing it hurts, but actually getting to the objective and surviving to hold it also matters too. The real advantage to this over the Gladius/Battle-Company is you have a lower buy-in to take full advantage of this army, should you wish to play around with an allied CAD or go heavier on auxiliaries, plus you have the potential to get really cheeky with other units in your army. POTMS is cute on Land Speeder Storms and Stormtalons in terms of threatening enemy MSU, and it lets Ironclad Dreadnoughts do pseudo-Knight shenanigans where they shoot one unit before assaulting another. On the non-vehicle side, 10th Company Scouts become annoyingly difficult to kill for their points, and a Command Squad with Apothecary starts with FNP 3+(!). Round off with your Warlord getting a second Strategic Trait, and this detachment has a lot of small force multipliers that let it snowball into something more than the sum of its parts.

Alternately, this formation can also appeal to tank players. If you take any kind of a tank in an Armored Task Force that is a part of this formation, and give the Techmarine a servo-harness and a bike, you can have up to 5 units of [[Awesome|5+ IWND, Power of the Machine Spirit]] [[Predator|Predators]], [[Whirlwind|Whirlwinds]] or [[Vindicator|Vindicators]], that are repaired on 2+ by a character with T5, 2+ armor, 5+ FnP and very good mobility, and are completely immune to Crew Shaken and Crew Stunned. Meaning these Vindicators can now move 12", still fire their [[Demolisher_Cannon|DEMOLISHER CANNONS]] at full BS, and not give a fuck. If said Techmarine also has an Ironstone, that IWND increases to 4+ and also repairs a Weapon Destroyed or Immobilised result on a 6 if the Techie is within 6". Moreover, all you need to round up the bigger Decurion is a Dreadnought which gets almost all of the same bonuses, thus you can have the most resilient armored fire support formation EVER [[Cheese|for under 750 points]]. Now go ahead and include [[Smashfucker]] [[RAGE|as a Command choice]].
* Plonk this formation on top of a shielded Landing Pad and duck.
* Sadly, Thunderfire Gunners are not considered characters at all, so they don't get the FnP/PotMS bubble nor IWND from chapter tactics.
**In fact, this formation has astonishingly little access to Techmarines; the ''only'' way to field them is via the Armoured Task Force detachment.  It's a sharp contrast with an Anvil Strike Force or the Space Wolves, either of whom can spam an incredible number of Techmarines.
* Also of note is the ability to effectively split a squadron's fire while keeping the bonuses. So, for example, you can take 3 Tri-Las Predators in a squadron, with Tank/Monster Hunters as a bonus, and then use PotMS on each tank to fire 6 Lascannons at one target and 3 twin-linked Lascannons at three other different targets. Unfortunately, it's not as great for Whirlwinds; Multiple Barrage forces you to lay down your blast templates in a specific pattern regardless of the targets of the non-primary firer, so choosing different targets (or the same target twice, but declared to be different) does not let you re-roll scatter independently.  However, Whirlwinds DO still get the standard trick of firing after moving at Cruising Speed.
*As Independent Characters are critical to the benefits of this Formation, here are your ways to field them, gathered together:
**Command (0-3)
***'''Strike Force Command''' can get you a Terminator Captain, Captain, or Chaplain.
***'''Reclusiam Command Squad''' bans the Chaplain from leaving the unit but ''does not'' remove the IC rule from him, so this gets you one that will emit the bubble.
***'''Librarius Conclave''' gets you 3-5 Librarians, definitely the easiest way to get your hands on some ICs.
**Core (1-2)
***'''Stormlance Battle Demi-Company''' and '''Battle Demi-Company''' will both net you a single Captain, Terminator Captain, or Chaplain.
***'''Armoured Task Force''' will net you a Techmarine, the only way to get one in this formation.  As noted above, remember that the Thunderfire Gunners are ''not'' ICs.
**Auxiliary (1+)
***'''Strike Force Ultra''' will get you a Captain or Terminator Captain.

===Flameblade Strike Force (Angels of Death)===
The Salamanders get their own detachment. Your Warlord can now get a second WT from the Personal Traits table (just hope you don't roll the FNP trait when Vulkan He'stan's your warlord since he already has FNP from his set trait), all Flamers held by Salamanders models get +1 S, and if any unit stands still for your movement phase (running, assaulting, etc are still cool), they gain Fearless. Curiously, though, they get a good deal of Land Speeder formations, which sorta breaks from the fluff about Nocturne's inconsistent gravity. 

*Your '''1-2 Core''' choices are either the '''Battle Demi-Company''' or the '''Stormlance Battle Demi-Company'''
*Your '''0-3 Command''' choices are the '''Librarius Conclave''', '''Strike Force Command''', or the '''Reclusiam Command Squad'''
*Your '''1+ Auxiliary''' choices are the '''Armoured Task Force''', '''1st Company Task Force''', '''10th Company Task Force''', '''Storm Wing''', '''Anti-Air Defense Force''', '''Suppression Force''', '''Centurion Siegebreaker Cohort''', '''Task Force Ultra''', '''Raptor Wing''', '''Stormbringer Squadron''', '''Ravenhawk Assault Group''', or the following:
**'''Flamebringers:''' It's an LR Redeemer with no additional rules. Doesn't even get the +1 S to its flamestorms since it's not a Salamanders model per the Chapter Tactics rule and the detachment rules care about that. Wooo. Since most things you'd want to stick in one can already take it as a dedicated transport, this just screams lazy afterthought.
***The one potentially redeeming feature is that it allows for the cheapest way to get Assault Terminators in a Land Raider. Take this plus a Librarian, Assault Terminators, and 2 Scout squads in the CAD for 15 points less than taking the 1st Company formation with Terminators and 2 naked Vanguard squads.
****It´s also a cheap way of getting auxiliary choices for the decurion.

===Anvil Strike Force (Angels of Death)===
An armour-heavy Decurion, this is the army for tank fetishists like the [[Aurora Chapter]]. You can make a Tank the Warlord, gain immunity to Crew Stunned/Shaken on your vehicles as well as allowing your warlord to give itself or another tank within range the ability to fire all guns twice in a turn. And if you go full-on Smurf, you can take Chronus in '''any''' Tank Formation you want, provided he's behind the controls of a Land Raider or a Rhino-chassis Tank. Effectively BS 10 LR Crusaders? Las-Plas Razorbacks? You can get them here. Only catch is that your Infantry must have Transports, which is great if you're taking a Land Raider Spearhead as your Core choice, but doesn't matter for your TFC units, since they aren't Infantry.

*Your '''1-2 Core''' choices are either the '''Armoured Task Force''' or '''Land Raider Spearhead'''.
*Your '''0-2 Command''' choices are limited to either:
**'''Masters of the Armoury:''' Take either Chronus, those special Command Tanks, or a plain Pred/Vindicator/LR of any sort. That said, however, Chronus can ride atop any tank without grabbing this choice if you really need more tanks.
**'''Keeper of the Forge:''' A Techie grabs a Rhino or a Razorback.
*Your '''1+ Auxiliary''' choices are the '''Suppression Force''', '''Anti-Air Defense Force''', '''Raptor Wing''', '''Storm Wing''', or any of the following.
**'''Mechanized Infantry:''' Grab some infantry and stick'em in a bawks. You can grab Tacs, Assaults, Termies of any kind, Centurions, Scouts, or Veterans.
**'''Techmarine:''' Get a spare Techmarine or grab one with a TFC, Drop Pod optional.
**'''Recon Outriders:''' Grab Land Speeders.
**'''Honoured Ancients:''' Here's a squad of Dreads of any sort.

===Sternhammer Strike Force (Angels of Death)===
An Imperial Fists Decurion, here to round out the First Founding...sorta (if you count the Gladius for Ultras). The Warlord gives everyone Stubborn while he's alive, the Bolter Drill rule from Chapter Tactics now re-rolls all misses instead of just 1s, and everyone in the detachment adds 1 to armor penetration rolls against buildings (because fuck buildings). Twin-linked Sternguard? Why not! Stubborn is a nice add-on to ATSKNF, to further ensure your battle line stays intact no matter what. The volume of bolter fire put out by a Tactical squad increases markedly, making them a rather scary unit even to other MEQ.
*Your '''1-2 Core''' choices are either the '''Battle Demi-Company''' or '''Centurion Siegebreaker Cohort'''.
*Your '''0-2 Command''' choices are either '''Strike Force Command''', '''Reclusiam Command Squad''', or '''Librarius Conclave'''.
*Your '''1-10 Auxiliary''' choices can either be the '''Armoured Task Force''', '''1st Company Task Force''', '''10th Company Task Force''', '''Storm Wing''', '''Anti-Air Defense Force''', '''Suppression Force''', '''Land Raider Spearhead''', '''Strike Force Ultra''', '''Skyhammer Orbital Strike Force''', '''Skyhammer Annihilation Force''', '''Raptor Wing''', or the following:
**'''Devastators:''' A squad of Tank Hunting Devastators. Season to taste with Twin-Linked Heavy Bolters or AT weaponry.
**'''Centurions:''' A squad of any sort of Centurions. Because they punch/shoot heavy things.
**'''Line Breakers:''' If you want Vindicators, but don't want to go with the whole formation for it.
**'''Ordinance:''' A unit of TFCs if you needed more cheap Templates. One of the few ways Marines can compete with Guard Artillery.
**'''Siege Ancients:''' A Contemptor or Ironclad Dread, since they're the heaviest armed. If you want a dakka dread you have to use the Demi-Company slot to make it fit in (with the advantage of ObSec). Still, an Ironclad dropping down with a Demi company full of twin-linked weapons (remember the Demi company still has access to one Tactical Doctrine) makes for a good alpha strike, especially combined with the infamous Skyhammer Annihilation Force. Plonk a Pod on every objective turn 1 and hold on till the end.

===Castellans of the Imperium===

Found in Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia, this detachment skirts the line between using no force org, and being battle forged. Basically, take Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle, Space Marines (vanilla Space Marines, with Black Templars, mind you), Imperial Knights, Assassins, and Militarum Tempestus. Then build the army around the units in their different unit organizations. Ok, so it's not that clear cut. The detachment basically lists what units (by name) can be used in what position. Space Marines offer a lot for HQ, Elite, Fast Attack, and Troops. However, they lose out to Guard on Heavy support vehicles with the exception of the Land Raider. Also, they give some powerful Deep Striking potential to the detachment. That being said, the detachment does not list Legion of the Damned. This is not surprising at all. Aside from giving open reign with your army construction, the detachment gives you some other nice benefits. 

*Hatred for all. Yep, everyone in the detachment gains hatred. Even better, if you fill out the force org chart, all the units gain Zealot instead. 
*Chenkov fun. Yep, if a troop unit is destroyed, it has a chance to be in on-going reserves. Add in that you have no upper limit on the number of troops you may take, and you have some combat staying power. Just hope it's not a kill point battle.
*Build an Imperial Crusade. Basically, take what you want to create the perfect army that you always wanted.

The detachment has some problems, though.

*Points cost. You think getting that Zealot is cheap? You are wrong. Three Lord of War Choices ain't cheap. Not to mention the number of heavy support, troop, HQ, elite, and fast attack choices you need to fill out that Force Org. 
*Multiple armies. For this detachment, you need at least two of the armies listed. So, if you are starting out, this is not the detachment for you.
*LARGE!! This detachment is large if you plan on filling it out. Having all those books, rules, and units can be daunting. 
*Restrictions. Sorry, unless later FAQed, no Forgeworld for you (except Vendettas, long story). Except that from Forgeworld Emails, all of their 'dreadnoughts' count as dreadnoughts for the purposes of formations (just remember that the Leviathan's Relic of Darkness rule means that he can't claim the formation benefits, even if you put him in there). In addition, all of their Badab War Characters count as their respective type for formations. Sevrin Loth is a Librarian, while Captain Tarnus Vale is a Captain. That said, units in armies such as Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Blood Angels, and the like cannot be taken in this detachment.

===Victrix Strike Force (Rise of the Primarch)===
And now the First Founding is officially rounded out, as this is Ultramarines only. Grants a copy of each Doctrine, like the Gladius, but also allows you to enact as many doctrines as you like each turn of the ones still available.  Also grants ''Objective Secured'' to all non-vehicle units, and your Warlord can re-roll Warlord Traits if he uses the Traits table in the supplement (which is the new Ultramarines Warlord traits table).  Can only contain models with the Ultramarines Chapter Tactics rule, and Ultramarines special characters (too many to list thanks to GW favoritism).
*If you're relying on units the Doctrines don't improve with, like a Strike Force Ultra, you can use this and Guilliman to simulate the Tactical Doctrine every turn: you have three copies of Tactical (from the Formation and your Chapter Tactics), and you have three each of Assault and Devastator, which can now be paired to simulate Tactical happening again, giving you 6 turns of re-rolling all 1s to hit in both the Shooting and Assault phases for all of your Chapter Tactics models (although your Dreads won't get ''Objective Secured'').
**Of course, doing this makes two of his Warlord Traits redundant, but ''all'' of his traits are based on being within 12" of him and he's very slow (his only speed buffs are Move Through Cover, Fleet, and +1" to running and charging when the Warlord) and can't ride a Transport, so you don't ''need'' him as your Warlord - he provides the Doctrines whether or not he is.  If you're considering someone else as Warlord (probably Calgar, for ''yet another'' Doctrine, this one dynamically chosen, and your choice of SM table traits), here's a recap of Guilliman's Warlord Traits.
***Friendly units within 12" of Guilliman can use his Leadership (10) rather than their own.
***Enemy units within 12" of Guilliman must use their lowest Leadership value, not the highest.
***Guilliman, and all friendly units within 12", have the Move Through Cover special rule.
***Guilliman, and all friendly units within 12", add 1" to the distance that they can move when they Run or Charge.
***In the Shooting phase, Guilliman and all friendly units within 12" of him re-roll To Hit rolls of 1.
***In the Assault phase, Guilliman and all friendly units within 12" of him re-roll To Hit rolls of 1. 

====Core (1+)====
*'''Battle Demi-company:''' You know what this does.
**The ''Objective Secured'' here is redundant on the infantry and bikes but does buff the vehicles, and you get ''yet another'' copy of the Tactical doctrine.
*'''Strike Force Ultra'''
**''Objective Secured'' Terminators and Assault Terminators isn't bad, but do remember this entire formation has to come in from Reserve - which Sicarius can help with, particularly if you take the Victrix Guard.  Also, of course, your Venerable Dreadnought here doesn't get any sweet, sweet ''Objective Secured''.

====Command (0-3)====
*'''Strike Force Command:''' All the usual options, except Guilliman's also an option.  For obvious reasons, you can't take an Emperor's Champion.
**'''1'''
***Marneus Calgar.
***Roboute Guilliman.
***Captain, including Captain Sicarius.
***Chaplain, including Chaplain Cassius.
**'''0-1'''
***Honour Guard
**'''0-1'''
***Command Squad
*'''Librarius Conclave'''
*'''Reclusiam Command Squad'''

====Auxiliary (1-10 ''per Core'')====
*'''Victrix Guard:''' Captain Sicarius and a unit of Honor Guard join four units of Sternguard or Vanguard in any combination. This formation cannot include any dedicated transports, nor can members cannot begin the game embarked. In exchange, all models gain +1 WS and BS, and if a unit is within 3" of Guilliman you can LOS! as if he was a part of the unit. It's very expensive, but gives Guilliman his desperately needed meat shields.
**Notes: The Vanguards have no restriction on Deep Striking in.
**This is a detachment in its own right, if you want to ally it in.
*'''Armored Task Force'''
*'''1st Company Task Force'''
*'''Anti-Air Defence Force'''
*'''10th Company Task Force'''
*'''Storm Wing'''
*'''Suppression Force'''
*'''Land Raider Spearhead'''
*'''Centurion Siegebreaker Cohort'''

===Dataslate Formations===

Several of these formations are old dataslates and share their name or broad composition with one from the 7th Edition Space Marine Codex. Since some players or tournament organizers may argue that the dataslates have been replaced by the codex formations, these formations will have their names marked in ''Italics.''

*'''Strike Force Ultima (Web Bundle)''' A termie captain, 1 sternguard veteran squad, 1 terminator squad, 1 tactical squad, 1 stormhawk interceptor, 1 land raider, 1 razorback and 1 drop pod. All units from this formation must be placed in reserve (non-vehicle units in a transport vehicle or in deep strike reserve) and automatically arrive in the first turn. When a unit from this formation arrives from reserve or disembarks from a transport vehicle for the first time, all ranged weapons carried by the unit add 1 to the number of shots they can make until the end of the turn. 
**Pairs extremely well with the Skyhammer Annihilation Force - if you are [[That Guy]]

*'''Firespear Strike Force (Start Collecting Space Marines pack):''' A Termie captain can only bring a Ven Dread and a tac squad. The captain '''must''' designate one unit from his detachment within 12" of his model during the movement phase. That unit forgoes moving (and also forgoes the ability to charge or run that turn) to open fire during the movement phase, and it can then later fire ''again'' normally during the shooting phase. This leads to some decent dakka but the stupid wording means that one of the units in the formation must stand still each turn, making using the formation... Difficult. The Levitation power from the Telekinesis discipline can be used to move the unit around. That's admittededly a waste of resources though. But if you really want to move them it ''can'' be done. 
**Goes decently with the Primarch's Wrath for 2*5 S 4 AP 4 shots from the Captain alone, best paired with heavy bolter for the least investment and optimum similarity between weapons or grav gun and grav cannon for maximum firepower.  
*''' ''Adeptus Astartes Storm Wing'' ''' - Two Storm Talons and a Storm Raven in one formation.
** The Storm Talons act as Escorts for the Storm Raven (Meaning than when you're rolling for reserves, you only roll for the Storm Raven), thus giving the Raven some extra wounds if it gets set upon when they arrive.  The Talons also give the Raven the Strafing Run rule so long as at least one of them isn't destroyed.  Yep, GW be mad desperate to push out the fliers between this and Death From the Skies. 

*''' ''Reclusiam Command Squad'' ''' - Alongside the Chaplain, you have to give the Command Squad an Apothecary, a Champion and a Standard Bearer and stuff them in a Razorback.
** This one's really iffy, mainly because the rules for it (Which give the squad Crusader as well as getting re-rolls on combat while the Chaplain still lives) focus really on the Champion and Chaplain, while the other guys are just along for the ride (Though FNP is a good thing to have).

*'''The Legion Ascendant (Apocalypse/Legion of the Damned Codex)''' - 2+ Legion squads with 10+ Legionnaires.
**  By joining in, they get Fear, Deep Strike that causes S2d6 S4 AP5 Soulblaze hits to anyone within 6", and -3 to all Leadership for the enemy.  All for a rather decent price.  Plus, on the turn they arrive, they get Fleshbane and Ignores Cover to really make the best of it.

*'''Saint Tylus Battle Force''' - Cassius gets to bring along at least one Tyrannic Veteran Squad and up to six Storm Talons as a formation.
** Your Storm Talons are gonna be the stars of this formation as they can not only choose whether they want to infiltrate or start on-board in hover mode, but whenever they hit an enemy, then the Vets can ignore cover with their guns, since they saw who was getting hit.  Stack on the Vet's Preferred Enemy (Nids) and Zealot rule against the Nids, and you'll begin to weep along side your Tyranid-using foe.  Difference is that you'll be crying tears of joy at your muderous prowess, while they'll be crying over how hard Cruddace fucked them over.

*'''First Company Hammerfall Assault Force''' - A Termie Captain/Lysander, a 5-man Termie squad of each kind, and a Land Raider (Crusader or Redeemer). 
** The Captain and the AssTermies have to must come from reserves embarked in the Land Raider, while the other Termies are forced to Deep Strike.  The models in the Land Raider gain Hammer of Wrath the turn they assault after disembarking, and the Deep Striking Termies can run and shoot on the turn they DS.  Rather...minimal, though run-and gun Termies sounds nice and HoW on Termies sounds awesome.

*'''First Company Skyspear Assault Wing''' - A five-man Termie squad of each sort join a Venerable Dreadnought and a Storm Raven for a ride.  
** The AssTermies have to embark in the Raven alongside the Dread and hide in reserves, while the other Termies have to DS their way in.  Other than that, it's the same as the one above, replacing the Land Raider with the Storm Talon.

*''' ''Strike Force Ultra'' ''' - The Hammerfall and Skyspear formations have to join together. Aside from any benefits the others have by themselves, having the Captain alive allows you to roll for reserves in the first turn.  Oh look, all that dakka is being laid down to kill your ass.  Oh joy, all that Hammer or Wrath.
** The new Codex gives them new boosts: Everyone still has to be in reserves or in transports, but they can arrive on Turn 1 now, and everyone who Deep Strikes or disembarks for the first time gets a free attack and shot for the turn.

*'''Strike Force Solaq (Boxed Set)''' - Solaq needs Vanguard squad Davros, Sternguard squad Amarex and Land Speeder Darkwind.  Everyone gets Acute Senses and Move Through Cover (Which is killer for them), Scout, and the ability to re-roll runs/add 6" to Flat-Out.  This makes this small team real good at being moving fast or attacking from safety.

*'''Centurion Decimator Cohort (Apocalypse)''' - Group together 3-6 Centurion Squads and buy all the sarges Omniscopes.
** Gathering this many giant matryoshka marines gives a special rule: before firing, one of the sergeants in the formation can nominate one target within LoS.  All shots fired at that target can now gain either Ignores Cover, Monster Hunter, or Tank Hunter.  More likely than not, you're probably gonna use the last two, as your weapons aren't exactly the best and therefore don't benefit so much from Ignores Cover.
** what are you talking about? Ignores cover on grav-cannons can destroy bikes and the like without even trying. 
** In no way is ignore cover bad. If we're talking Gravity Cannons, the other options do nothing due to the amp, but even Las Cannons can benefit more from Ignore Cover than a from the reroll from Tank or Monster Hunter. 33% chance to ignore all damage (5+ cover) being negated, vs a 20% to increase the odds of penetration Vs arm 14. 25% for 13. Similar odds for the very few creatures with high enough toughness not to be wounded on a 2+... Ignore cover is just far and away better than the other options in most cases. Let's not even talk about the 2+ Cover units of ridiculousness some factions have...

*''' ''Centurion Siegebreaker Cohort''  (Apocalypse Dataslate)''' - 2+ Centurion Assault Squads + 1 Ironclad Dreadnought, all sergeants need omniscopes.
** As long as a sergeant is still alive, all models get to re-roll armour penetration vs buildings (shooting & melee). Also if a building suffers any form of collapse or detonation result, units inside the building suffer an additional d6 hits. As a formation it's not necessarily the best, seeing as the units are all really good at pulling down buildings anyway and at the apocalypse level there are already many big weapons capable of taking buildings down easily. That said, the formation costs you nothing if you already have the models. Do it if there is no other formations you can use.

*'''Space Marine Company (Apocalypse)''' - A Captain, Chaplain, Command Squad with Standard, and trio of Dreads have a choice.  If they're from a battle company, they must have 6 Tac squads, 2 Assault Squads, and 2 Devastator Squads.  If they're from a reserve company, they must have all 10 squads be of one type of the three.  All squads must have 10 men.
** A fluffy formation that really works depending on how you kit them out.  No matter what, they get an Orbital Strike Strategic Asset and Counter-Attack.  If they're within 12" of an objective, they get Stubborn.  If someone charges an infantry unit of this formation within 12" of them, they get the Tau Supporting Fire rule once per assault phase.

*'''First Company Veterans (Apocalypse)''' - A Termie Captain/Lysander, a Chaplain, a Command Squad with Standard and 3 Ven Dreads have to take 100 models of either Vets or Termies.
** Despite their hefty cost, they come with a few more rules.  For one, they get Counter-Attack, Deep Strike, Fear, and Preferred Enemy.  They also get all the rules from above.  Like above, this depends heavily on how they're kitted.

*''' ''Librarius''  (Apocalypse)''' - 5 Librarians or Rune Priests.  If you want, you can replace one of them with a named Librarian, but in doing so, you have to make them all of the same force (Meaning no mixed Chapter Tactics).
** These Librarians form a Warp Charge 4 (!!) power called Force Vortex, a 24" S:D AP1 Heavy 1, Large Blast Vortex.  IF they don't recall it before it moves, then it'll scatter off and kill everyone.  BEfore you run with this ask yourself: How confident am I that this won't kill absolutely everything?

*'''Masters of the Chapter (Apocalypse)''' - A Chapter Master can take an optional Honour Guard squad along his 4-10 Captains of the same chapter.  Any of them can be replaced with a named Character where fitting.
** This is not an assault force; it's too small for that.  What it can do, though, is give you 3 additional assets on the first break and give them a 3++ on the turn they use their Finest Hour/Sons of the Primarch ability.

*'''Predator Assassin Squadron (Apocalypse)''' - 3-5 Predators, here to kill.
** The tanks do their part by giving them a reroll on all failed to-hit rolls against a chosen enemy when within 6" of another member of the squad in exchange for the ability to fire at someone else until the enemy is gone.  Any Predators with two lascannons and a TL lascannon can also exchange all their hits for a single Strength D AP2 Killshot that will total a single enemy.  If there was ever a priority target removal system for the tanks, it's this one.

*'''Scout Company (Apocalypse)''' - A non-termie Captain without a Command Squad must lead 10 squads of 10 Scouts.
** The Captain gets some compensation for his lack of survivability by giving him Infiltrate, Move Through Cover, and Scout.  Everyone as a team gets the ability to charge from reserves and a +1 to all cover saves from buildings in their deployment zone.  Really, keep them shooting at the proper targets and keep moving from cover to cover.

*'''Titan Hammer Formation (Apocalypse)''' - Lysander takes 3+ TH/SS Termie squads for titan-killing fun.
** THIS is how you kill titans, superheavies and Biotitans. The Formation is Lysander and 3+ TH/SS terminator squads who must all deepstrike, within 12" of where Lysander deepstrikes, but they only scatter D6", and are Fearless, and LYSANDER GETS A VORTEX GRENADE! Sweet Jesus, this could reduce Tyranid players to tears as you one-shot their biotitans (D6 wounds on gargantuan creatures, no saves) Baneblades (D3 structure points)and Primarchs (removed with no saves allowed). Best part about vortex is the blast can drift around, and one-shot ANOTHER biotitan! Fuck yeah! Anything that survives can try it's luck with dozens of TH/SS terminators led by Lysander, with Fearless.

===Warzone: Armageddon===
*'''The Legion Ascendant''' - Since this was made pre-Codex of the Damned, you get to nab 2+ Legion units here, so long as they all have 10 models.
** These guys are made for mob-cleaning with Fear and an aura of -3 Ld within 12" of them.  In addition, when they Deep Strike on board, they force everyone within 6" to take 2d6 S4 AP5 Soulblaze hits, and they get Fleshbane the turn they deploy.

===Warzone: Damnos===
*'''Conclave of the Ancients (Apocalypse)''' - A Venerable Dread leads a gang of 3+ Dreads and 1+ Ironclad Dread.
** The main focus of this formation is surprise smashing, as the rules this formation gives focus on melee.  Any Dreads within 6" of the Ven Dread gets Rampage and Preferred Enemy (For horde-cleaning, if you're willing to throw them there), while Dreads within 2" of two other Dreads in the formation get d6 Hammer of Wrath hits, just to incentivize charging into an idiot.

*'''Deathstorm Area Denial Force (Apocalypse)''' - Drop more than one Deathstorm Drop Pod near each other.
** The main point of this formation is shock and awe, plain and simple.  They force any successful morale and pinning tests caused by them to be rerolled, they can fire any of their weapons independently of each other, and, upon arrival, fire as if they were always stationary.  Deploying more than three of the things gives them all +1 Strength the turn they come in.  All in all, it's meant to scare them and distract fire away from squishier units.

*'''[[Deathwatch]] Strike Team (Apocalypse)''' - A generic Captain joins 2+ veteran squads of any make (Vanguard or Sternguard).  Presumably, they'll adopt whatever Chapter Tactics you choose.
** The draw this formation gets are special Antiphasic Bolts (24" Range, S4, AP4, and Rapid Fire) that can be used by any bolter or combi-weapon, which force Necrons hit by them to reroll their Reanimation Protocols, which is pretty useful.   Aside from that, the formation gains Preferred Enemy against one Xenos Codex (So like a weaker form of the Ordo Xenos) and the ability to gain an extra VP when they slay the xenos Warlord.  While they have their uses against any Xenos army, their best use is against Necrons with their special bolts. HINT: combine with Angels Revenant chapter tactics to get preferred enemy and hatred against necrons

*''' ''Land Raider Spearhead''  (Apocalypse)''' - Group together 3-5 Land Raiders of any sort.
** This formation essentially turns them into a squadron, with the choice of Arrowhead Formation (help needed; check the old Apoc book for full rules, but the essentials are that if at the beginning of their movemement phase they are in a certain position relative to each other and a Hellstorm template, then they get bonuses) giving them not only Tank Hunters and Preferred Enemy, but they also get to add 12" to any Flat-Out moves made.  So essentially, listen to whatever is mentioned above about the Raiders and now add these benefits to them, which helps get them somewhere faster when they have the room to move.

*'''Line Breaker Squadron (Apocalypse)''' - 3-5 Vindicators.  Let's go.
** Gathering these Vindicators allows them to exchange their Demolisher shots into one single 24" S10 AP2 Ordinance 1 Apocalyptic Blast that can hit any buildings without needing to roll for pen.  When calculating any results, you then have to add +1 for every Vindicator who joined in.  Clearly, this would do great when using the Sentinels of Terra and their additional building damage.

*'''Skyhammer Orbital Strike Force (Apocalypse)''' - 3+ Tac Squads, as well as any HQ choices or other units that can grab Drop Pods, must take those Drop Pods and Deep Strike in on the first turn.
** For this auto-Deffwing Assault, everyone gains Preferred Enemy against the Warlord and Crusader and Fear for the first two turns.  Like the Other Drop Pod formation, this is for shock, awe, and lots of shooty, though Crusader makes them more useful in melee.

*'''Skyreign Hunter Squadron (Apocalypse)''' - 3-5 Hunters.  All there is.
** For each Savant Lock beyond the first used on a target, they take +1 for their roll on the lock counters to see if they get hit.  In addition, if a locked target is within 18" of another flyer of any sort, the Hunters have to roll d6; on 1, nothing happens.  On 2-4, only one Savant Lock can transfer to the new target.  On 5+, you can transfer as many as you want.  Really, this is so you can keep tabs on those pesky flyers.

*'''Spear of Macragge (Apocalypse)''' - Chronus takes the Terminus Ultra (A Land Raider with 2 lascannon sponsons, 2 TL lascannon sponsons, an HK Missile, a hull-mounted TL lascannon, a Searchlight and Smoke Launcher at the cost of transport) and 5+ tanks that are either Predators, Whirlwinds, or Vindicators.
** For one, every tank within 12" of Chronus' tank get to fire on his BS of...5.  However, if you roll more than 4 1's in a single shooting phase. it has to take an S9 AP2 hit on the side after it shoots.  If you really need a tank army, you can't do much worse.

*'''Stormsurge Strike Wing (Apocalypse)''' - 3-5 Storm Ravens.
** When they first come in through reserves, they have to move between 36-72" and use one of the special attacks this uses on anything they go over.  While this bars them from deploying anyone, denying them evade, they instead get a 4+ save the start of the next turn.
*** Missile Storm requires that everyone fire ALL THE MISSILES.  Once the hits go above 7, it becomes a Strength D AP2 Concussive hit that grows from just a hit to an Apocalyptic blast.
*** Strafing Storm makes them fire everything but the missiles, like as strafing run, but they also get Shred for the rest of the turn.  This is meant more for infantry than tanks.

*'''Suppression Force (Apocalypse)''' - A Land Speeder or any sort assists 2+ Whirlwinds.
** Anything within the Land Speeder's LoS and within 48" of it counts as being within the Whirlwinds' LoS, meaning that they now have infinite range with now twin-linked missiles.  The Whirlwinds can then exchange their firing to fire one big-ass missile strike of either sort that now become Apocalyptic Barrage X blasts (Where X is twice the number of Whirlwinds contributing).

*'''Ultramarines Chapter Honour Guard (Apocalypse)''' - Calgar must take a full Honour Guard Squad with a Standard Bearer and a Land Raider to call his own.  He can then opt to take Cassius, Tigurius, and/or a Venerable Dread.
** The Land Raider gets Tank Hunter, Monster Hunter, and Preferred Enemy.  The Guard give you the choice of 2 Strategic Assets because eliteness.  Everything within 6" of Calgar himself either gain FNP (for infantry) or the ability to ignore Crew Shaken/Stunned results (for vehicles).  Pretty clearly, this is a damn pricy setup, and it all hinges upon how you can manage Papa Smurf and his gang and the tank, though they do gain some good staying power with FNP.

===Warzone: Damocles===
*'''Armoured Vanguard Squadron (Apocalypse)''' - 3-5 Rhinos and/or Razorbacks being used as Transports are grouped up.
** When using the Arrowhead Attack Pattern, the Rhinos now all gain Tank Hunters (which is of dubious use depending on the troops used) and Assault Vehicle (More awesome).  This is definitely made with the Scars in mind.

*'''Stormclad Squadron (Apocalypse)''' - A Thunderhawk takes 2+ Stormtalons as groupies.
** The T-Hawk is the big star of the show, while the Talons are just support.  A Talon can give up shooting to give the big guy Night Vision and Preferred Enemy, and if they're within 4" of the Hawk, the Talons have to become little shields to the big one.

*'''Hunting Force (Apocalypse)''' - BIKES.  BIKES EVERYWHERE.  The Captain gets a bike (And can take a Command Squad or a Chaplain as accompaniment) and 1-3 squads of plain Bikes, Attack Bikes, and Scout Bikes.  And in the [[Webway]], [[Jaghatai Khan]] sheds a tear...
** All the bikes give everyone Outflank and Scouts because FAST.  They can also select an  HQ or Apoc Formation to get Preferred Enemy and Furious Charge against, just so they can charge and shoot the bastard(s) to death.

*'''Stormbringer Squadron (Apocalypse)''' - 3-5 mix of either Land Speeders and/or Storms (The Storms no longer get to be Dedicated Transports though)
** First of all, Scout for  everyone, with an additional redeployment so long as they get at least 6" from an enemy, and anybody that disembarks from the Storms won't count as having moved for the first turn.  In addition, when they redeploy, anyone else within 12" from the formation now must test for pinning.  In short, this is for the Scouts and how they'll get into the field in the quickest way possible.

*'''Furion Peak Counter-Strike Command (Apocalypse)''' - Khan and Shrike take a Raven Guard Captain and a White Scars Librarian with them.
** Really, the only bonus they get is the ability to give anyone within 12" of them Shrouded while the Librarian is alive.  Considering that they won't be able to move very fast, this won't help very much, and it'll be holding them from bashing in stuff, though Shrouded is something good to have.

===Blood Oath (Warhammer World Exclusive)===
In the May 2015 reopening of Warhammer World, there was a fuckhuge diorama about the Imperium (Ultras, GK, Knights, and Titans) battling Khorne Daemonkin and other titans.

*'''Spear of Sicarius''' - Cato and a Chaplain join a command squad, 6 tacs, 2 devastators, 2 assaults (All in squads of 10), and 2 dreads all in Drop Pods.  They all gain Stubborn and EVERY Pod arrives on Turn 1.  And to make them even safer, each one of them makes enemies within 5" take d6 S4 AP5 hits just by being near them when they arrive.  Afterwards, they can then fire twice once they disembark during the Shooting Phase or opt not to fire any Heavy and Rapid-Fire weapons and gain the option to charge in the following Assault Phase. AKA everything Star Phantoms do, only twice as good.

*'''Ultramarines First Company''' - A Captain and Chaplain join 3 Dreads and 10 10-man squads of either Termies or Vets of any sort.  Unlike the [[Blood Angels|Archangels Strike Force]] of Exterminatus, there's no need for the ICs to be Termies too.  They all gain Fear, Fearless, they give Imperium Armies within 6" Stubborn, and they can re-roll to hit during Shooting AND Assault when they use a Doctrine.  Greatest of them all indeed!