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

==Tactics==
"Ye who dare enter within these sacred walls, heed the wisdom of the ancients as it is written, but see past the mere limitations of words and bold statements.

1) Thou shalt ne'er dismount from thy sacred steel coffin. Doing so is equal to doing the enemy's work. He cannot hurt thou until he hast dismounted thine power armored asses from thine rhinos, and all thine most fearsome weapons are usable from thy blessed rhino hatch of potent power and might.

2) Thou shalt fear no evil, for thou art fear incarnate, but thou shalt not let this power go to thine head. Thou shalt respect the enemy as thou respect thy own forces, for arrogance leads to thine own downfall, and the perfunctory loss of massive chunks of thine army to 'only lasguns,' and 'puny long-ranged meltaguns,' or 'that immobilized chaos dread in the corner.'

3) Whilst thine sacred, holy, blessed space marines are an elite force, the likes of which has ne'er been seen prior to, nor since, strength is still to be found in numbers. For whilst a solitary squad of thine most esteemed sternguard will fall versus a score of chaos marines, 3 squads shall not.

4) Thou shalt ensure thou uses the enemy's strengths and weaknesses against them equally. If thine foe is strong up close, thou shall prevent him from getting there. If he is slow and plentiful, thou wilst thin his ranks with potshots, whilst biding thine time to lay into him with tankshock, sacred heavy flamer, and assaults on thine terms. If he is powerful at range, you will drive towards him most fearlessly, making careful use of terrain, smoke launchers, the superior armor value of thine vigilant and invincible predators, and bunkering up where his guns are the thinnest. If his numbers be but few yet strong in spirit and body, thou shalt focus fire on one unit at a time, until it is no more. If the enemy is fast, thou shall present him with a wall of rhinos shielding thy sacred space marine infantry, and careful placement and redeployment to make his valiant efforts for victory futile. If thou art facing thine British Firing Line, pummel them with devastators and then assault them in many different places. Thine foe's supporting fire shalt make an arse out of you if thou don't.

5) Thou shalt not, under any circumstance, allow the vile enemy to have her or his way. If faced with a charge from a score of ork boyz, thou shalt famously unload thy blessed boltpistols and holy promethium from thine flamers into their ranks, and thereafter take the charge most gloriously and defyingly, denying them the initiative, all charging bonuses, and catching the enemy commander unprepared, for yours is the gear, the profile, and the abilities to turn certain death into certain victory for the glory of the Emperor.

6) Thou will fight on all ground, in all terrain, on all fields of combat, and thou wilt do so with stubborn cunning, and the unrelenting, unlimited imagination held by all human beings. Thou wilt use the pieces of the board for all they're worth, and attacking the flanks of any entrenched, isolated firebase with no doubt or hesitation in mind, for it takes a lot of autocannons to guarantee the kill of even a single rhino, and thou wilt field at least 4 at all times.

7) The sole time in which thine mighty armaments of the emperor are useless, is when thine most holy guns cannot reach the foe.

8) Thou shalt always hold the initiative. Thou shalt press on, and use thine forces expertly, while applying pressure to the enemy from the flanks, the rear, and the front - anywhere it is possible. Thou shalt never remain immobile, for giving up thy movement is tantamount to rolling over like a bitch, and presenting thy previously mentioned power armored ass to the enemy.

9) Thine space marines are few in numbers, yet strong and reliable. They will hold the line where lesser men may not, and survive firepower that would render any ordinary squad dead. Thou shalt trust in thine power armor, thine krak grenades, holy boltgun, boltpistol, and thine most underestimated frag grenade, for few of the foe's elite are as royally equipped as thine grunts, or as capable of using them.

10) Thou shalt learn to appreciate a very powerful, versatile, unfocused profile, for yours is the strength and power of three lesser men, contained in one package. Where a man may be exceptional at shooting or combat, thine grunts are capable of both in equal measure, and blessed with the gear to make both a reality.

11) Whilst a plasma gun will ignore thy power armor, it will not ignore thy high leadership, or thy sacred cover save. Unless you elect to fall back, you will hold most stubbornly on a consistent basis.

12) Cowardice is naught but an illusion of lesser men. The popular sentiment is 'he who runs away lives to fight another day.' This is not so. He who runs away lives to rapid fire bolters against the foe that made him run away.

13) Knowledge is power, but power is useless if it's not being put to use. Study thy opponent's tome of lore and wisdom. Read it again, closer. Put the words to mind, so thou wilt not hesitate that destroyers are indeed toughness 5, and a krak missile thusly wilst not inflict instant death upon it.

14) Thou shalt ne'er do the opponent's work for him. While the other races, such as eldar, are wont to kill their own units with Yriel's eye of death, you know better. Thou shalt not ever, under any circumstance, nuke too close to your own units, or 'assault' with a depleted 3 man tactical squad - no! For that tactical squad shall hide inside the nearby, immobilized rhino, so that thy foe has to dig them out to score the killpoint, and make thy 3 space marines stop firing bolters.

15) Though it may take a lesser foe 10 shots fired to damage armor, thy space marines bring melta, and thy blessed profile gives thou a significantly higher chance to score hits, cutting the necessary firepower down considerably. Thou wilt not forget this, for it is the mark of a fool to focus too little or too much dakka and manpower on the task of destroying a single chimera.

16) Thou shalt not load up on tactical marines, for it weakens your army immensely. Thine two mandatory meltabunkers are plenty, and thy further troops slots shalt only ever be employed in case thou needeth more plasmaback or assbacks."

===General Reminders===
*Krak Grenades can not only be thrown in this edition, but they can be both thrown in overwatch and at flyers. 
*Rams are now an auto-hit at 1 for tanks + half the vehicle's front armor; the dozer blade adds 1 to the front armor for this calculation. This means that SM vehicles with even front armor can get +1 strength to their ram attacks. Rams are resolved against the armor facing hit, and very notably, skimmer jink saves cannot be taken against rams and walkers are not allowed to death or glory against ram attacks.
**Additional note: The only SM tanks with even front armor values are Hunters and Stalkers, tanks which should not be ramming. This is likely by design. Also, even if the land raider could be effectively raised to FA 15, dozer blades are specifically prohibited from being taken on land raiders of any variant, likely due to the fact that the bay doors are located in the front of the hull.
**However, of course, whether the vehicle is ramming or being rammed on its front, the dozer blade will help protect against damage from the ram.

===Useful Informations===
These informations come from numerous threads among the most popular 40k forums, some of them are common advice or good food for thought.

====About running naked tacticals in a Gladius====

I'd like to offer a counter-point against the use of naked minimum Tac squads. In my opinion, the single greatest part of fielding a Tac squad isn't 3+, a hail of bolter fire or a well placed special weapon. It's the humble 35 point metal box to haul them around in and keep them safe. 35 points gives your line troops protection from most anti-infantry weapons, and puts your opponent's anti-tank weapons into overload as they try to deal with all the tough SM units on the board like T5 3++/4+++ Bikers, Stormtalons/ravens, Ironclad Dreads, Predators, Vindicators, and that Typhoon Speeder sitting out at 48 inches in the fast slot from the Demi-Co. 
 
35 points for a transport that can fill threads with all the tricks it can pull.  
 
What I mean to say is that CAD and Demi-Co Tacticals shouldn't be looked at in terms of their effectiveness as five dudes on the ground, as that passes up on what I think is point for point the best transport in the game. They should be instead looked at in regards to their performance from a Rhino (or Pod for that matter). Rhinos act as something of a force multiplier for their squad, letting you get into range quicker and get better use out of your special weapon, this goes double for when backed up by a Tac or Dev doctrine. The two fire points also encourage the use of specials, as a much larger percentage of your fire is based around that special firing out of the hatch, so fewer bolters are "wasted". Yet another great synergy between specials and Rhinos comes from the basic knowledge that, generally, when your Tacs are outside the Rhino and take fire, it's because that unit didn't have a clear shot at something better, ie, they aren't being focused and you'll likely have survivors. One of those will almost surely be your special weapon caddie, who is now free to hop back in the Rhino and enjoy the protection of AV11 and keep shooting.
 
It's been a long day for me, and I'm sure I could have written that out better, but that's my two cents worth on the subject.
 
Bonus: Here's a tier list of sorts when buying upgrades for Tacs.
 
'''Tier 1''': Rhino, Special Weapon (usually Plasma) or a Grav-Cannon <br />
'''Tier 2''': Melta Bombs, Dozer Blade, Razorback <br />
'''Tier fluffy''': Veteran Sergeant, Combi-Weapon or Chainsword <br />
'''Tier lulz''': +5 Marines, Heavy Weapon (other than Grav-Cannon), Power Weapon, Hunter Killer Missile, Auspex, Teleport Homer <br />
'''Tier By the Emperor, what are you doing?''': Extra Armor, Storm Bolter on Rhino, Power Fist, Digital Weapons  <br />

====StormTalon mathhammer====
I ran the numbers for the three weapon upgrades against my interpretation of the standard target types and then added that damage with the TL assault cannon's results.

Please note, if the expected result is within 10% of each other, I'm calling them equal.

AV12 = Equal (1.20)<br>
AV13 = TML & TLLC equal (1.03) > SHM 0.92)<br>
AV14 = TLLC (0.69) > TML (0.61) > SHM (0.39)<br>
T6 3+ = TML (2.19) > TLLC (1.82) > SHM (1.52)<br>
T8 3+ = TML & TLLC equal (1.20) > SHM (0.81)<br>
T6 2+ = TLLC (1.57) > TML & SHM equal (1.04)<br>

====About Deathstars and retinue====
Super Killy squads usually don't want badass mofo characters, they just want force multiplier characters. Badass mofo characters don't want elite retinues. They just want meatshields. By giving both squads what is most efficient, you end up with two high level threats instead of one.

Honesty, don't use a Death Star. Just don't.
It's a nice unit that will do damage to another unit, maybe 2. But against a fully balanced army then they really won't have a chance. Too many points stacked up in one unit.
Take 2-3 units that will have more specific jobs instead of 1 all rounder.
Example: Command squad on bikes with chapter master with shield eternal, thunder hammer, apothecary, and 2-3 special weapons (grav really, maybe melta). You've got some to take wounds, you can jink, you get an orbital bombardment on a fast moving killing machine, and T5 with FNP. And not TOO many points. Alongside that run an assault termie unit with thunder hammers and storm shields. Thirdly, run 10 assault marines lead by a captain with burning blade and storm shield. All of that comes in at just over 1,000 points, with no troops. So you'll still get two good tac squads in there and a vindicator or something like that at 1500 points.

===Codex Tactical Objectives===
;11 - Death from Above
: 1 VP for killing an entire unit with a Jump unit or a squad that arrived from Deep Strike that turn.
;12 - Honour the Chapter
: 1 VP for killing an enemy in a challenge.
;13 - No Mercy, No Respite
: 1 VP if an enemy unit either dies or fails morale.  Upped to d3 if you have more than 3 do this.
;14 - FOR THE EMPRAH!
: 1 VP for a successful charge, upped to d3 if you get 3 or more charges.  Seems easy enough.
;15 - Lightning Strike
: 1 VP if you kill an enemy unit within their Deployment Zone
;16 - The Emperor's Retribution
: d3 VP if you steal an objective from an enemy, which is upped to d3+3 if you steal 3 or more.

===White Scars Tactical Objectives===
A bizarre gift for the 2014 Advent Calendar, the [[White Scars]] tactical objectives.  Really, why do this and not some sort of supplements for other Chapter Tactics in the fashion of ''Clan Raukaan'' and ''Sentinels of Terra''.  Or at least TacO's for all the Chapter Tactics. These chapter tactics will also be released again as part of the Warzone Damocles supplements with the latest Tau releases.

;11 - Rapid Redeployment
: Find an Objective that's more than 18" from your models.  Win 1 VP when you control it.
;12 - Run Them Down
: 1 VP for destroying a unit via Sweeping Advance.  While the White Scars are good at this in theory, it's a huge pain in the ass for the same reasons as always: you're relying on a) your enemy not having Hit & Run or some other way to end the engagement before you end the fight, and b) you getting enough kills to force a morale check without simply wiping the squad.
;13 - Mounted Assault
: 1 VP if a friendly Biker kills an enemy.  d3 VP if your bike kills at least 3.
;14 - Feigned Retreat
: 1 VP for using Hit & Run and passing.  Easy point? Heck yes. But there's a problem: you have to Hit & Run during YOUR turn. It specifies this on the card. If you know anything about Hit & Run, you should be able to see the problem here. Scoring the victory point means dooming your poor little Bikes to being shot at/charged during your enemy's turn. Pick your battles wisely if you draw this. (Consider using a small tac squad with a flamer fighting enemy with a lower inititive.  They will get to overwatch then strike first again after netting this VP)
;15 - The Clean Kill
: This one's risky.  You win 1 VP if you kill a model with 3 wounds during an assault phase.  You win d3 VP if you kill a model with 5 wounds during assault.  Issue with this is that bikers aren't the best with prolonged combats without pricy stuff like Power Axes or Fists.
;16 - Claim the Head
: 1 VP if you kill a Character in a challenge during your turn.  d3 VP if you kill the Warlord in a challenge during your turn.  d3+3 VP if your Warlord kills the other Warlord during your turn.  While doable in any means, it's meant to promote BALLS OF FUCKING STEEL.

===Raven Guard Tactical Objectives===
These Chapter tactics will be a part of the Warzone Damocles - Kauyon.

;11 - Strike From the Skies
: 1 VP if you killed with a unit that's either Jump type or a unit that disembarked from a drop pod.
;12 - Keep to the Shadows
: 1 VP if every non-vehicle unit's either in a transport, in a building, or within 1" of cover.  Fluffy AND practical!
;13 - Let them Know Fear
: 1 VP if an enemy unit failed either Fear, Morale, or Pinning.
;14 - Prioritise and Destroy
: d3 VP if you killed a Warlord, Superheavy or GC.
;15 - Highly Mobile Assault
: You win a VP if you charge and demolish an enemy unit. Repeat this three times and you win d3 VP.
;16 - Cripple the Enemy
: 1 VP if you kill an enemy Transport/FA unit.  d3 VP if you kill between 3-5.  d3+3 VP if you kill more than 5.

===Salamanders Tactical Objectives===
In the hype for the 7E codex, a White Dwarf issue actually released a list of Tactical Objectives for Salamanders armies to use.  They were then re-released with the Angels of Death supplement.

;11 - Vulkan's Gaze
: 1 VP for blowing up a vehicle with a melta weapon.  Yeah, this'll happen.
;12 - Weather the Storm
: If you manage to charge successfully AND suffer no overwatch casualties, you get 1 VP.  This is gonna run quite a risk, especially against Skitarii (Especially with the WS4 Overwatch WT), Tau and Dark Angels. 
;13 - Legacy of [[Drop Site Massacre|Istvaan]]
: If you have at least 3 Salamanders units within within 18" of your table edge, you win 1 VP for killing an enemy on your half of the table.
;14 - Vulkan's Task
: This one's a bit tricky: You need to identify all mysterious objectives AND control more objectives than your opponent.  However, doing so gets you d3 VP.
;15 - Look Them In the Eye
: 1 VP for killing a unit within 6" of a Salamanders unit during your turn; this gets upped to d3 VP if you kill more than three units. 
;16 - Fires of Nocturne
: Here's a fun one!  If you destroy a unit with a flamer weapon during your turn, that's 1 VP.  If you destroyed 2 units with flamers, you get d3 VP, and if you kill three of more, that's d3+3 VP.

===Imperial Fists Tactical Objectives===
These were released in the Angels of Death supplement.

;11 - Indomitable Defense
: Pick 3 objectives. On any turn after the turn you draw it in, you can gain VPs depending on how many you keep: 1 for 1, d3 for 2, d3+3 for all of them.
;12 - Man the Walls
: 1 easy VP for hiding in a building or manning a gun. Needless to say that buying an Aegis with a turret is in your interests.
;13 - Disciplined Firepower
: Pick a number between 1 and 3. You win that many VP if AND ONLY IF you kill that many units. Otherwise it's a waste.
;14 - Son of Dorn
: Did you start a challenge? Are you in one? Then grab that VP.
;15 - Death Before Dishonour
: You win 1 VP if you get a unit killed, but not if they fail morale. Funny masochistic message there.
;16 - Breach Their Defenses
: 1 VP if you take over or destroy an enemy emplacement or fortification, d3 if you go beyond that. 

===Iron Hands Tactical Objectives===
Also released with Angels of Death.

;11 - Methodical Destruction
: Label 3 enemy units 1, 2, and 3. You win 1 VP for killing Unit 1, d3 VP for killing 1 and 2, and d3+3 VP for killing them all. Just make sure you got them in position to die.
;12 - Advance and Secure
: 1 VP if you own the Objective closest to the center of the board. If there's two or more equidistant from the center, then your enemy can screw it up for you.
;13 - March of the Machines
: Win 1 VP if your Walker (meaning only Dreads) charges someone.
;14 - Destroy the Weak
: Win d3 VP if you killed an enemy unit in both shooting and assault.
;15 - The Strength of Metal
: Win 1 VP if you get a Techie to fix a tank or a tank/IC passes their IWND. Not too bad to grab.
;16 - Cold Fury
: If you have a vehicle kill an enemy, get 1 VP. If you kill more than 3, then you win d3 VP.