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

===Troops===
*'''Tactical Squad''' - Your bread-and-butter scoring units. These guys don't excel at anything but are decent at everything. Unfortunately, their balance tends to be their downfall as most other basic troops tend to be better at everything than they are (see: Grey Hunters), and they're a tad expensive when fully kitted out. Keep them at a distance if possible, but keep in mind to make effective use of your Rapid Fire range. Great for camping objectives as the one thing they're best at doing is staying alive for a good while. Always take Rhinos or Razorbacks with your Tacs, even if they're camping an objective. Metal Boxes make excellent walls and mobile shields for your troops. Take at least 2 squads of these guys in every army. 
**'''Veteran Sergeant Haas''' (Red Scorpions) - An upgrade to a tactical squad sergeant, 60 points gives you a 2W, artificer armoured, Iron Halo sergeant with a power sword and a pistol. That's not why you take him, however.  You take him because he makes your squad RELENTLESS. Yes, that is every bit as awesome as it sounds, for a squad so reliant on "heavy" and "rapid fire" weapons. Allows for rhino hatch-firing shenanigans.
**Important side note, if you plan to assault with these men remember they all have Bolt pistols, meaning you can unleash 10 bolts while still being able to assault. Generally, though, you shouldn't assault with Tacticals, but if you do, remember to shoot with your pistols/grenades/assault weapons first.
**If you manage to run away and your enemy catches you, your Marines aren't auto-killed but continue the fight instead (6-th ed threw No Retreat rule away). Remember this! Next thing to remember, if your enemy does not catch you and you broke out in their close-combat phase, on your next turn which comes right up your Marines are auto-rallied as usual. They also count as '''not having moved'''. In other words, rocket launcher in the face or 9" move (you do get your 3" regroup move as well as usual 6").
**Loadouts for Tacs will usually consist of a few configurations: Flamer, Multi-Melta, and Combi-Weapon or Power Weapon on the Sergeant is the tried-and-true kit that threatens Infantry and Tanks both, and discourages either from getting close to your squad. Any Special Weapon, Missile Launcher, and Power Fist on the Sergeant is the old 5th Edition default for using Combat Squads by leaving the ML behind to take potshots at armor or infantry while your Rhino advances with the Sarge and special weapon. And finally, a Meltagun, Multi-Melta, and Combi-Melta on the Sarge, aka the Meltabunker, which decks your squad out for anti-tank duty. Thanks to the revised Combat Squads, you can leave the Multi-Melta in the Rhino to take shots from mobile protection (a pseudo MM turret for your Rhino) while your Sarge and Meltagunner can get out and hold an objective while discouraging enemy tanks from approaching them.  
**Never take a CC weapon, grav or plasma pistol on the Sergeant. Ever. They're worthless, and they scare nobody. Not Orks, not that nasty squad of Terminators, not the rampaging Khorne Berserkers. They're far too expensive and they take away points from your list. If you are nuts enough to take a plasma pistol though, your opponent will give you respect knuckles when your Sergeant one-shots a rampaging Dreadnought.
**Also, this is the edition of MC's and hard-to-kill infantry, not vehicles. Outfitting them with meltaguns makes their use far too specific and the role is better given to a unit that can do AT and something else at the same time just as well. (e.g a Tri-Las Predator)
**Do not take Heavy weapons in a Tactical squad if you are planning on having that squad be mobile (such as in Mech lists, Drop pod lists, or if they are moving in a transport of any sort).  Only put them in units that you plan on having sit in one place for the entire game (combat squad on an objective).
**Carcharodon tactical marines
*'''Crusader Squad''' - Essentially a beefed up tactical squad that is capable of taking neophytes as meatshields and a Sword Brother as a Veteran Sergeant for your initiates to survive longer and therefore be able to make the charge once they have gotten within range. They come standard with the Black Templars Chapter Tactics.
**There are two ways to kit out your neophytes for close combat. Pistol/CCW allows a S4 AP5 shot before combat, and two S4 attacks at I4. The Shotgun option allows for two S4 shots before combat and a S4 attack at I4. The AP5 of the bolt pistol will rarely be more useful than the extra shot before overwatch is even fired. Also keep in mind the shooting attacks will always hit on a 4+, whereas the close combat attacks (at WS3) will sometimes hit on a 5+.  Another consideration is that you might accidentally gimp your charge distance if you kill too many models in the shooting phase-shotguns can do this if you run into Termagaunts or the like. Black Templars should be running in the shooting phase to make use of their Crusaders special rule. The only time this wouldn't be true is if your squad used an LRC to get up close and is already within 6 inches of the enemy and can assault that turn. Crusader Squads want lots of Bolt Pistols and CCWs if you are using anything other than 5 man las-plas squads because Crusader Squads should be focused on assaulting. Use tactical squads if you want to sit back and shoot.
***If you wish to switch between these options, assemble your scouts with close combat weapons and pistols, then trim the hands off the shotgun models and glue them to the scouts back as though holstered.
**Also, don't make the mistake of giving a Crusader Squad a heavy weapon if you're running any squad bigger than the 5-man special/heavy squad. Crusader Squads can't Combat Squad, and you always want to be playing aggressively with Black Templars. Use the slot you'd normally use for a heavy weapon to buy either a power weapon or power fist.
**You can both a special AND a heavy weapon with just 5 guys. Thats right, Las/Plas is back baby!
**A Lightning Claw is a good choice for the Sword Brother. BT Chapter Tactics give him rerolls to hit and Rending in challenges, and the LC gives him rerolls to wound, making him very likely to come out on top against anything MEQ or lower. Or you could spend an extra 25 points to go for the LC/PF combo for an extra attack and optional AP2.

*[[Scout|'''Scout Squad''']] - A decent unit, especially if you want to focus on more expensive units for your army. You really don't need more than one squad of these guys, if any at all to go along with Tacs. Scouting and Infiltrating, they can put a Teleport Homer on the board rather fast and uncomfortably close to your enemy's forces, so keep that in mind if you run Terminators of either flavor. Not the worst unit in the world, but your points are often better spent elsewhere.
**One of the classic Scout combos is to take a Techmarine (Master Of the Forge or a Thunderfire Cannon's crew also count). Give your scouts Camo Cloaks, put them into a ruin that you "fortify" with the aforementioned Techmarine's special power, and [[Troll|enjoy]] a 2+ cover save.
**A final tactic worth mentioning is the "Shrike Stampede" You load up on scouts armed for hand-to-hand combat, Infiltrate as close as possible to the enemy (18") take your 6" scout move, and on turn one, scream "kekekezergrush" while charging in and hoping for the best. Not actually a good tactic, but fun, and catches some people off guard. You're just not allowed to assault in the first player turn, with infiltrating/scouting units. You can definitely still assault in Turn 1, and if you're player 2, you can assault in turn 1 with infiltrating units.
**Sniper Scouts: Due to 6th edition Sniper Rifle rules, a full sniper squad is also worthwhile again. The rifles only cost 1 point and on a 6 you get to pick out the target you kill rather than your opponent. Plus sniper weapons always count as pinning, bogging down your enemies with morale tests. Their purpose is naturally sitting around, so give them Camo Cloaks and a fortified ruin, or alternatively Telion (stealth for free).  A 9-man squad with Telion and a missile launcher will cost you 171 pts, but give you 10 Pinning and Rending shots per turn and a missile.  It is more of a wild card, since MEQs and even TEQs die like bitches to rending, but you need to roll 6s.  But it is great when you can deter a heavy melee unit for a turn or two by pinning it with some lucky rolls (letting you get heavier weapons to bear).  
**'''Torias Telion''' - An upgrade to a Scout Sergeant, Telion gives you a Rending, Pinning, Sniper-boltgun that you get to allocate the wounds from. He can also forfeit his shooting (aww) to allow one model in his squad to shoot at BS 6 (say, a scout with a missile launcher). Useful for putting pressure on your opponent and picking off specialists, which he will at least once in a game (problem, hidden Power Fists?) Pricey, so consider your points. Also worth noting that he gives free Stealth to his unit. So combined with the Techmarine-ruin-camo cloak strategy above, or even hidden in regular area terrain, his [[Troll|2+ cover save]] makes him tough to flush out.
**Scouts are have a great place in manning the Quad Gun on the Aegis Defense Line. Take Sniper Rifles and a rocket launcher, put them behind the line with an objective in your deployment zone, and have one guy man the Quad Gun. Throw in Telion with his free stealth cloaks for delicious 2+ save and the ability to have a BS6 rocket or Quad Gun at will and you have a rather solid back line.
**Bear in mind, the wording of the rules for scouts says that the sniper rifle only replaces the '''boltgun'''. The sergeant can take items from the melee and ranged wargear lists, and both of those state that the model in question replaces his '''bolt pistol''' for the listed weapons. So yes, you can have a scout sergeant with a sniper rifle in one hand and a combi-weapon in the other, or a power weapon, or a lightning claw, or (hilariously) a thunder hammer. While funny, the combo probably isn't terribly effective, but the combi-weapon might be worth it as a nasty surprise for the slugga boyz charging the ruin where your sniper scouts are holed up, especially if you don’t have the leftover points for Telion and/or you’re not running with Ultramarines chapter tactics.
**According to the wording in the rule book, models choose their weapons individually. Meaning you can take a squad of 5 w/ Snipers and 5 w/ Shotguns and a Land Speeder Storm, and at the beginning of the game, Combat Squad them and stick the melee squad in the Storm while the Snipers hang out in ruins with a Techmarine.
**If there is one thing scouts don't do, it's survive. Unless you used the camo cloaks techmarine combo, you scouts will only have a 4+ cover save at best. You opponent knows this too, and a smart player will likely focus fire them and score first blood. Seriously, the board isn't that big and unless you're lucky with the saves one round of shooting and the scouts are dead. Keep them safe.

'''Red Brethren( Carcharodons only )'''
How come no one included them??? Tyberoswing Assault terminators without the ability to take TH/SS. You can take one squad of them if you included Tyberos in your army. Oh and they are also troop choice. Put them in a LR(prefferably crusader) point it at anything without 2+ save and watch it dissapear. Great middle finger to [[That guy]] who brings 3 baledrakes. And don't forget [[Rape|honorguard with chapterbanner and Tyberos in another land raider]]