Axioms
I hold a few axioms regarding Space Marines. Some relate more to picking an army, some relate more to fighting the battle, but I believe they are all interconnected. They are:

For Space Marines, emphasize quality over quantity
Points you spend on your army are like dollars you spend in real life: you have to get the most value for your money--even if you have to spend a little bit more--because cheaper is not always better. And trust me: there is no such thing as a cheap Space Marine. 

Of course, it's possible to go to the other extreme and over-equip all your units. Just because your HQ units can take 100 points of wargear doesn't mean that each of them should. You'll have to strike a balance between "cheap" and "effective." Think about what you need, not what you can have, and spend wisely. In the discussions of each unit, I provide examples that you might find useful.

No Space Marine is expendable
The cheapest guy in the Space Marine army is 13 points, which is way more than an Eldar Guardian, Termagant, or Gretchin. Space Marines, even Space Marine Scouts, cost too many points to casually sacrifice them, use them as cannon fodder, or be reckless with them.

In every battle, at least one Marine is going to die: make sure that those who died did so for a good reason. 

Leaders lead
This might not make perfect "game" sense but it is definitely in character for Space Marines. Let's say a Bloodthirster is bounding toward my lines and I have the choice of throwing a Chaplain or a Tactical Squad in its way, knowing that either one is probably going to get chewed up and spat out in hand-to-hand combat. Now of course, I don't want any of my Marines stepping in front of an angry Bloodthirster, but if I had to I'd send in the Chaplain every time. 

Why would I "throw away" such a valuable and expensive character? Mostly to be in character. I can't imagine a fearless Tiger of Varuna ordering his men into certain death to save his own skin; instead I see him ordering the squad to lay down some cover fire and then save themselves while he holds off the monster.

When you think about it though, this does make some "game" sense. If I charge Talwar Chakram at the Bloodthirster, she has five attacks with a power weapon and an invulnerable save to help protect her. Is she going to beat a Bloodthirster? I'd say no at least 19 times out of 20, but when the Bloodthirster wins, it's only taken out one Marine. One exceptional Marine yes, but I still have 10 Tactical Marines who are alive and can keep shooting holes into that big red bastard. And the way 3rd Edition is set up, 10 ordinary troops are almost always more valuable than one exceptional character.

Mobility, mobility, mobility
If you can't move, you lose. It's really that simple. Granted, some elements of your army (notably Heavy Support) are best when they don't move, but the rest needs to be able to go to or get away from the enemy quickly. You'll notice that I have a lot of transports for troops as well as plenty of jump packs, bikes, and teleporting troops.

Don't sweat the big guns, sweat the little guys
Unless you're playing against an all-tank Imperial Guard army, don't worry too much about how "big guns" (vehicles and characters) are going to hurt you, worry about all the "little guys" in front of the big guns. While a Leman Russ or a Hive Tyrant is bound to get your attention, what's probably going to beat you are the hordes of infantry you ignore. Big, bad vehicles and superheroic characters are nice but they almost never win games by themselves. The reverse is that rank-and-file grunts aren't flashy but they almost always carry the game for you. Don't look at the Force Organization charts and moan, "Damn, I have to take two Troop units"; instead, look at the charts and say, "Hot damn! I get six Troop units--and if I take another detachment, I get six more!"

You can't count on shooting, but hand-to-hand combat will win you the game
The revised 40k rules released in fall of 2004 rightly emphasized the importance of the Shooting Phase--after all, it is a game played with a lot of guns, some of them quite large. Nevertheless, the Assault Phase is still critical. Let's do a quick comparison between the phases:

• In a six turn game, there are a six Shooting Phases and up to 12 Assault Phases.

• When you shoot, your opponent gets to pick who dies. When you assault, you pick who dies by moving your figures into base-to-base contact and beating them.

• After you shoot and wipe out your target, you don't get to move further up the field and shoot someone else. If you assault and wipe out your target, you get to move further up the field and start beating on some other poor unit.

One man's cheese is another man's brilliance
It doesn't matter what you include or don't include in your army, some idiot out there is going to accuse you of being cheesy or beardy. 

For example, is it cheesy to have a Veteran Sergeant in your Scout Squad? Or is it smart to give the fledgling Marines the benefit of his Leadership and close combat ability? Is it cheesy to equip that Veteran Sergeant with an auspex? Or is it smart, because before the game begins, he and his Scouts can fire on the infiltrating Ork Kommandos nearby? 

Arguing about cheese/beardiness is a waste of time, because for the vast majority of gamers, cheesy is always what someone else's army is, never their own. I say if it's in your codex and you can legally use it then it's not cheesy. If you're interested, I have more to say on this subject.
 
 

Next page (pg 3): Fighting Tiger HQ Previous page (pg 1): Introduction

Related Pages
Putting an End to "Cheesiness"
 

© Copyright Kenton Kilgore January 2000 

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