Codex Space Marine Troops

In this section we will look at the Space Marine Troop choices and their tactics.

Tactical Squads

The Tactical Squad is the basic troop of the Space Marine army. It is made up of 5 to 10 Space Marines. Ten marines is the optimal number as this allows you to have heavy and special weapons in the squad, and allows you to use the 'Combat Squads' special rule.

Wargear

Space Marine Tactical Squads come with power armour, frag & krak grenades, bolt pistol and a bolt gun.

Space Marine Boltgun

The Boltgun (or bolter) is a good standard weapon. It has a 24" range strength 4 and AP5. This means that a standard marine can take down most tanks by shooting at the rear armour.

Space Marine Bolt Pistol

The Bolt Pistol is not normally shown on the Space Marine model but it is important that you remember that you have it. If you are assaulting, The bolt pistol is a 12" assault 1 weapon. This allows you a pot shot at the target before you get in to close combat.

Number per Squad

You can have between 5 and 10 Marines per squad. So what is the best number of Marines to have in squad?

The case for a 5 man Tactical Squad

5 is the minimum number of Marines you have in a quad. This means that it is the cheapest option. Two 5 man squads fulfil your minimum troop choices. This is a bit more expensive in points than two Scout squads, but you will find that tactical squads are much more flexible. Cheap troops squads means that you have more points to spent on HQ or heavy support choices to create a specialized (cheesier) army list.

A 5 man tactical squad with a tooled up Sargent make for an effective assault squad. Add a Razorback to give the squad some extra speed and fire power.

The case for a 6 man Tactical Squad

If you play tournament rules, you get victory points for reducing a squad to below half strength. If you have a five man squad, that is achieved by killing three models. With a six man squad, four marines will have to die to get the points. Other than this all the benefits of a 5 man squad apply.

The case for 7 to 9 man Tactical Squads

Extra Marines in the squad adds resilience to the squad. I think that the extra points would be better spent on having two 5 men squads or one 10 man squad.

The case for 10 man Tactical Squads

Combat Squads

Space Marne Tactical Squads can split up in to 'tactical squads'.

> Also see: Gerneral  Space Marine Tactics

Scout Squads

Space Marine Scouts are trainee Tactical Space Marines. As such they are cheaper in points, have less access to weapons, and don't have such good stats or armour. They do have some good skills though, they light armour means that they can infiltrate and slip through terrain easier.

Scouts are usually used in one of two roles, either as light assault troops, or as more heavily armed troops used to hold a position. The role you choose for them will depend on the mission and the terrain. Again, the more you know about the match ahead of time the better.

Light Assault Troops

Armed with close combat weapons (replace bolter with 2nd close combat weapon), Space Marine Scouts make very good assault squads.

Hold the Ground

Using the infiltrate rule, Space Marine Scouts are very good at being placed ahead of the main battle lines to hold a strategic location. This may be a marker or a building with a good line of sight etc.
If you want to have the scouts holding the ground then you want to arm them with heavy weapons, bolters, and/or sniper rifles, depending on the opponent.

Special Rules

Space Marine Scouts have special rules. Most of these have been covered in the section above.

> Buy: Discount Space Marines