How to Write a STRONG Space Marine Army List - Strong Units, Army Elements, Chapters + Detachments

Let's talk through some strong ways to build a Warhammer 40K army list for Space Marines...

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0:00 Intro
0:37 Army List Basics
2:01 Damage Dealers
4:24 Primary Objective Takers
7:06 Secondary Objective Takers
8:59 Support and Utility
12:39 One Basic Army List Idea
14:45 Chapters
15:51 Codex Chapters
18:17 Divergent Chapters
23:31 Detachments
24:44 Gladius
26:42 Ironstorm
28:33 Vanguard
31:01 Firestorm
33:13 Anvil
35:30 Stormlance
37:13 First Company
39:47 Outro

[caydensmith]

Counterpoint. If every single model takes a flamer i will please vulkan and he will assue victory

[caledfwltch]

FACT: 90% of salamanders stop adding flamers right before they’ve hit it big with a flawless list

[hfvfgcn]

Another thing I'd recommend for list building is new recruit, its a web only list builder that works for 10th and ninth edition, as well as some other things. I absolutely ADORE the interface for it, and its constantly being updated (its also free)

[CuriousLumenwood]

Man this is a beacon in the darkness. I was struggling to make a good list for my Salamanders so much that I just gave up and worked on my second army.

How does Auspex keep making the right videos at the right time?

[kennethmacgregor-Gregorach]

Always aim for built in redundancy: you have 1 unit that specialises in a particular aspect, then unit 2 that can do it too but not as well as the 1st, but can also do something different, giving additional flexibility.

[Paradukes]

I've actually been having a fair bit of success with the Anvil Siege Force at the moment, even if they aren't really competitive at a tournament level. We use GW recommended terrain, so it's not like we're playing on planet bowling ball or anything. The thing is, not everything in your army needs to stay static. You set up a couple of really heavy hitters at key points, making sure the enemy units will have to present themselves if they're going to move forward, and then use Inceptors and indirect fire to force them to come to you. Running a Repulsor Executioner and multiple Gladiator Lancers means you can have some truly fearsome levels of firepower on demand, with the Executioner's Heavy Laser Destroyer wounding almost anything in the game on a 2+. With the sustained on a 5+, I've managed to get four attacks through with only two shots, against a Questoris-class Knight. I'm not saying it's the best by any stretch, but it really can be effective.

[reavern]

Using my primary army, Black Templars, as an example, I always have 2 or more “inviting targets” that could also be classified as Damage Dealers. I always bring a Redemptor for heavy fire support and to draw fire while my melee units get into charge range. Since 10e, I’ve been taking a Repulsor to transport 10 Sword Brethren + 2 characters, which also provides fire support and acts as a bullet sponge. I’ve recently acquired a Land Ranger Redeemer/Crusader, which is even tougher and its Assault Ramp is perfect for melee units. My LR tends to draw more fire than my Redemptor, giving me an extra turn of shooting and sometimes it even survives the battle!

I always want a minimum of 5 units of battle-line or elite troops for Primary Obj takers/holders. I admit that my preference for Primaris Crusader Squads leaves me with fewer overall units for backfield Obsec and scoring secondaries, but that’s offset by giving me an advantage at taking and holding midfield objectives.

All of my Black Templars lists includes the “Trinity” of Helbrecht, Grimaldus, and the Emperor’s Champion. I usually take a Castellan to accompany Helbrecht, and a Judiciar to lead 3-6 Bladeguards.

The weakness of my army has been a lack of objective scorers, so I’ve recently been proxying 5 Neophytes as Scouts Squads (since I don’t have any Firstborn Crusaders for cheap units). They’re stuck with a basic loadout (no sniper rifle) but they serve their purpose of scoring objectives. I’ve also been using Jump Pack Intercessors in a similar role. (It depends on how many points I have.)

My Black Templars are great at out-killing my opponents but when I lose a whole unit, it usually costs me a primary and I can fall behind on points. I know that I should use min-size squads instead of max, but it’s difficult to pass up maxing a leader’s ability, like the Helbrecht+Castellan combo on 10 Sword Brethren or 20 Crusaders.

[gordonfreeman]

I've been tinkering with Anvil Siege Force. What I've found is that Heavy Intercessors are perfect as, well, anvils. You advance them up, get them in position, and let them absorb as much damage as possible. If they're not dealt with, they can lay down a surprising amount of fire power. Three msu squads, two scout squads, two infiltrator squads, and an intercessor squad for back line objectives gives a good skeleton to work off. From there you've got Gladiator Lancers, Eradicators, and Hellblasters as damage dealers.

I'm also growing pretty fond of Devastator squads, namely Grav-cannon and Plasma-cannon marines. Grav-cannons are S6 damage 3, making them a decent fit against chunky infantry as well as vehicles, though the low AP isn't great even with ignoring cover. Plasma-cannons are a fair bit better than they were in 9th edition, at least in my opinion. Against a 5 man MEQ, each one will fire a minimum of two shots due to the blast rule changes, but larger squads aren't uncommon.

I don't think it's an amazingly strong detachment or anything, but I'm not sure if it's being approached quite right. I think Rigid Discipline is probably the best mindset for it. Stand on an objective and yell 'come take it', take your lumps, then hit back harder next turn.

[Naim_less]

Now to take this idea and figure out how to make my Alpha Legion be 'totally loyalists you guys don't worry about it'...

[ironmonkey]

For dmg dealers/primary obj sitter, don't underestimate Centurion devastator in Ironstorm detachment with missile launchers and twin-las, especially in a repulsor with both gatling and twin-las. They are tanky, already reroll hits to let you oat something else, floating reroll works fantastic on twin-las to let you reroll the dmg roll and the hit on the repulsor. It lets you remove your slow ass models when charged by dangerous things or just to allow you more movement and still get out and shoot the next turn, the repulsor really help with their mobility and survivability on a unit already dangerous and tanky. And if you want to spend a cp on them, Gladius's Storm fire and Ironstorm's Mercy is weakness work really well with their missile launchers, Armor of contempt is also very good. It's an expensive combo at 365 for 3 models + tank but it works really well vs everything. And the repulsor really gives you more mobility then you would think.

[SpawnmanGG]

Could you please try to make equivalent videos of the other factions too? The predominancy of most video contents is for Marines. Thanks for the dedication to the Hobby btw! :)

[xxofameousgxx]

I’d love a video like this for all the armies in the game. Mainly necrons though cuz canoptek court has me using so many ideas

[Smilomaniac]

List building in general is always a matter of perspective and your mentality of how you go into things.
What's your playstyle? Aggressive? Control? Hedgehog?

One of the key tenets of 40k is that nothing you have on the table is sacred and keeping it alive means something else is wiped. With that in mind and a preference for an aggressive list, one rule to follow is to not have anything that you can't lose.
Swamping your opponent with lots of 'I have to kill that' units hampers their decision making and is sure to get something into melee. How you win from there is board control and overwhelming melee or forward moving durable shooters.

It should be obvious, but anything that has high stats for its points is an efficient list pick. However, don't confuse something good for the points with something good on the table. I don't think redemptor dreadnoughts have ever been great despite their relative low cost. Their output is swingy, they're impossible to hide and they're slow so getting it into melee is a challenge and if you can't then I'd argue you haven't gotten your points worth out of it.

But then meta hits and you realize that all the patterns have been recognized and what to expect. Some guy who brings 12 bikes is doing better than he should and you're sat there with your "optimal list" and are losing because everything he has is on your own side of the table.

A strong list is something that YOU can draw its potential out of, not some net-list that you don't understand half of how it works, especially now with all the ability bloat.

[chewbacca]

This video type but for every army, starting with Tau, please :) Love your videos man they're always super informative. Great job again!

[maneco]

In* regards to Anvil Siege force. Like he said, you need something that can take a hit so it can stand there long enough to fire back.

Y'know... The Lancer Laser Destroyer on the Gladiator Lancer happens to have the Heavy keyword....

So does the Heavy Laser Destroyer on the Repulsor Executioner...

I'm thinking... Firing lanes... Basically "you want no man's land? Come get it."

[pauluss]

Thats a great video. I look forward for other videos about listbuilding especially for other factions eg Guard or custodes

[philurbaniak]

👍👍 Thanks for the breakdown!
I have to wonder, maybe 1st Company is _temporarily_ a bit weak because there's a big backlog of Terminator releases due 😁?

[somerton]

I'm pretty new to 40k and have been hoping to build a Celestial Lions army using Black Templars for at least their leaders (Bayards Revenge is awesome!)

I've played the Firestorm detachment once or twice with borrowed minis and really enjoyed it, and I also have an interest in the Vanguard spearhead force. I was wondering if Black Templars are decent at using either of those detachments? I'm not really interested in running many (if any) Crusaders or anything since I'm thematically playing Lions not Templars, so I don't expect Righteous Crusaders is the way to go.

Currently I only own a captain, 10 Infernus, a Stormraven and a Stormtalon but I'll hopefully get some more soon

[LemurVisionUK]

I feel like you're underestimating kayvaan shrike quite a lot! I'd have raven guard alongside salamanders in the "not quite as good as ultramarines" codex chapter tier.

[troublemaker]

Gladiator Lancer can be taken with literally any list. By giving itself its own re-rolls, it is proof against rule changes. That being said, it shines in the Vanguard Spearhead, where it becomes very hard to kill, and so can take risker and more advantageous shooting positions than it can in other detachments.