SM Tactics: Tactical Squads..

Angels Inferno 2nd company 1st Squad...

Lets take a look at the backbone of the Marine army the basic Marine, the Tactical Marine. He's got a better then most statline, hes actually equal to and in some cases better than the elites of other armies like Imperial Guard, Eldar, Tau and some Orks. 90% of the Tactical squad carry the famous Boltgun, which has an avarage range of 24" and can inflict serious damage, it also can rapidfire at 12" for extra kills, Now the standard Marine also carrys a Boltpistol for when he wants to charge. The Marine has krak and frag grenades to throw towards the tanks and even those in cover. But all this come's at quite a big cost to you at 16pts per Marine, It may not seem much, but compared to other armys troops choices points cost, you'll likely to be outnumbered 2-3 on every battlefield, which can seem bad, but once you take a good look at those stats, you wont feel so bad.

Special weapons- These are all close ranged, but that doesn't make them weak. The free one is the flamer, and it is used widely, not because its free, but its a definite improvement over a bolter in some cases. Instead of rapidfiring, he can now automatically hit 4-8 guys on average with the stats of the bolter he gave away! This can even be usefull against those with a 3+ save, as they'll probrally fail a save or 2, even 3. The melta gun is another assault weapon, but for tanks. It's the best short ranged anti tanked gun in the game, only problem is getting close, but if you use cover you'll be fine. it can also be used for elites and even H.Q's, as it will most likely instant kill them! The next option is in my opinion a beast, the plasma gun. I call it a beast because it isn't an assault weapon, but is actually usefull for shortranged firefights, as ap2 will allow it to easily slay elite units and light vehicles, and it can rapidfire. But theirs a cost besides being the most expensive, it can kill the unit holding it, with the not so popular rule "Gets Hot", dont forget about this rule it can sometimes wipe out your Marines..

Lets observe the heavy weapons now. The missile launcher is also free, and the most versitile. It can fire frag missiles to take out meduim infantry and krak rounds for tanks, all at an impressive range. The multi melta is rarely taken, It' definetly a lot better than the meltagun, but the marine using it can't move with it, making it's short range unable to actually kill any tanks. Las cannons are also tank hunters, but have twice the range, making them outclass the infantry held multimelta. Heavy bolters are great for anti infantry roles, and are also free. Plamsa cannons combine both frag and krak rounds in a sense, being a blast weapon with high strenght and ap, but has less range, costs more, and can kill you.

So you've got a special and heavy weapon chosen, what combinations should you use?

Missile launcher+flamer- is one of the most common mostly because Both weapons are free, and if you combat squad the same sqaud can take out infantry and tanks, and can support each other as needed. Also the flamer CS (combat squad) can take an objective while the launcher one keeps one, getting 2 objectives with one unit.
Plasmagun+plasma cannon- uncommon, but takes elite hunting to the extreme. This combo when facing Chaos Marines and Necrons come in handy as it will decimate them, and can even take out light vehicles. The downside is CS's(Combat Squads) wont be effective with this and domt forget the "Gets Hot!" it can go wrong and can get rid of both your weapons.
Plasmagun-lascannon-this is actually more common then you think, as it will let the squad kill hard tanks and elites, with the bolter marines taking out troops the other weapons shouldn't bother with.
Meltagun+multimelta- one off the combos i use but thats down to "fluff" reasons it actually a very rare combo, but if effective it will take out monstrous creatures and tanks efficeintly. This is bad in most games, but very useful in planetstrike.
Flamer+heavybolter- this squad is extremally usefull for taking out tyranids, orks and other infantry swarms. common. also Plasmagun+H.Bolter and Meltagun+H.Bolter would work the same against high infantry armys.

And now the last thing with the Tactical marines, and probably the most important Marine in the squad is the sergeant. He adds an extra leadership and attack, so he's very usefull. He will always go with the close combat CS's(Combat Squad if using Combat Squads) because of his extra attack, but some don't know how to arm him. Stormbolters, thunder hammers, and lightning claws are usually a waste on him, due to cost or usefullness. The best weapons for him are bolters/combi bolters and the good old chainsword. Bolters are usefull if hes gonna rapidfire then assault the remains later, and combi flamers/meltas make him much more versitile, taking out tanks and swarms/hordes alike. I personally like the trusty old chainsword and combi-melta/flamer the most for "fluff" reasons and because of the way I play. If you gave the sergeant a bolter but plan on gettng into combat it's a waste. A bolt sarg will either do 1-2 shots or 3 attacks in close combat a turn, one or the other, while a CC sarg can do 5 attacks a turn including his pistol shot. The extra attacks help immensly, and it's free. Taking a combi instead of the CC waepon is fine if he's got a flamer or melta combi, as he'll probrally do more damage (for more points).

thanks for reading join us next time for some more SM Tactics.

jimmy72nd...