Warhammer 40K, Army List: Space Marine core 500 points



Space Marines are a lovely army to start with. From one set of similar miniatures you can get at least half a dozen army lists out.


Which is why I've taken the time to create a 'core' for my students to build towards.




Space Marine Core
Formation: CAD
Points: 350


HQ:
Librarian - Bike, Force stave - 85pts


Troops:
Tactical Squad: Razorback with Twin-linked Lascannon (or Assault cannon), 5 Marines, Flamer - 150pts
Tactical Squad: Rhino/Drop Pod, 5 Marines, Meltagun - 115pts


What the above gives us is a solid core of marines which can take on a variety of roles. I've put the Librarian on a bike, but those 20 points can be easily re-purposed for any number of things. I would leave him on the bike though, either running behind the transports out of line of sight, or dropping in with the Tac squad's drop pod.


Or use those points to convert a Rhino to a Razorback. Up to you.


The Tac squad in the Rhino/Drop pod is flexible depending on your own preference. I would tend to go with a drop pod to really irritate the enemy. In low point games a single unit of Marines with an AV 12 vehicle is surprisingly hard to shift, allowing you time to manoeuvre the rest of your army.


But then come the options.


Options:
Points: 100 (ish)


Biker Squad: 3 bikers, Meltabombs, 2 Grav-guns - 98 pts


Assault squad: Jump packs, 5 marines, 2 flamers, Meltabombs - 100 points


Devastator Squad: 5 Marines, 2 Missile Launchers - 100 points


Dreadnought: Multi-melta, Stormbolter - 100 points


Any of those options will get you to 450 points, and thus a legal School's League army. It really depends on what flavour of Space Marine you prefer. If you like White Scars, go with the bikes. If you like Ravenguard, go with the Assault Marines. If you like Imperial Fists, well, Devastators make sense there to take advantage of Tank Hunters.


To choose anything go with Ultramarines, or Iron Hands. Salamanders fit too, but you're best off taking the Assault squad and down grading the Tac squad meltagun to a flamer. The assault squad (or bike squad for that matter) wielding dual flamers with the Salamander Chapter Tactic is going to leave a mark on most enemies.


Finally, if you think the Librarian excludes the Black Templars, well no worries. Just Turn the Libby into a Chaplain. You may also want to consider turning one Tac squad into a pseudo Assault squad, making them out of Crusader squads instead.


To upscale into 50pts, you can take any number of upgrades. The special weapons can certainly be improved, or simply add more guns to the Devastator squad. To get the most mileage from the Start Collecting set, put the dreadnought in a drop pod, and really scare the enemy!


Space Marines give you a great deal of flexibility, and this little army here will help you to decide which Chapter Tactic you want to build into in the future.


Until next time!

 Thanks for reading.

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