Start Competing: Space Marine Tactics
The Space Marines are the iconic Warhammer 40,000 faction – the best-selling army in the game, the protagonists of more or less every video game in the setting, the subject of a slew of Black Library books pitting them against every conceivable foe. Gene-crafted, power-armoured giants with RPGs as their basic armament and an endless array of other weapons in their arsenal, Space Marines (or the Adeptus Astartes, as they’re known in-universe) have something to offer everyone.
Faction Overview
Space Marines are a funny one in game terms, because although their lore casts them as a tiny force swamped by the other arms of the Imperium and facing impossible odds as they battle its many enemies, in the real world they are a very common sight indeed, and the game more or less treats them as the baseline faction. That means that an army of them is surprisingly numerous, and their “elite” statline is not that elite at all – although we have at least left behind the days when a Space Marine was T4, W1, 3+ armour save, and would die en masse every time a plasma cannon came near them.
In 10th edition, Marines were slightly unusual in getting the second codex of the edition rather than the first, though this was somewhat semantic since they followed hot on the heels of Codex: Tyranids. The codex didn’t change much in terms of the datasheets, though it did fundamentally alter their army ability Oath of Moment, and added a slew of new detachments (six, plus the original Gladius Task Force) to give you ever-more options for using your Space Marines on the table.
How to Play Space Marines in Warhammer 40k
Looking for advice on how to play Space Marines? From getting started to playing at competitive events, we’ve got you covered with these articles.
- Competitive Faction Focus: Space Marines
- Detachment Focus: Firestorm Assault Force
- Detachment Focus: Gladius Task Force
- Detachment Focus: Ironstorm Spearhead
- Detachment Focus: Vanguard Spearhead
- Hammer of Math: Codex Space Marines Detachment Effects
- Hammer of Math: Terminators vs Aggressors
- Hammer of Math: In Which We Mathematically Prove the Repulsor Executioner Might Not Suck
- Competitive Stats for the Space Marines
Note that the articles here will be focused on Codex: Space Marines; for guidance on playing the divergent Chapters, check out their separate Start Competing pages via the links below. If you don’t see your chapter down there, we’re working on it – stay tuned.
Hobby
Want to know how to paint your Space Marines? Whether you’re looking to pick out lenses or make your power swords shine, or paint the perfect Ultramarine or Imperial Fist, you can check out all our How to Paint Everything guides here:
How to Paint Everything: Space Marines
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