Tactica Astartes: Status et Contendo (Part 1 - HQ)

Tactica Astartes: Status et Contendo
"Space Marines on a Static Shooting Army"
by: Interrogator-Chaplain Obidus the Punisher

To a Space Marine, the boltgun is far more than a weapon; it is an
instrument of Mankind’s divinity, the bringer of death to his foes, whose
howling blast is a prayer to the gods of battle.
- Psi-conduit 7717

There are three basic designs that Space Marines players could select from when creating an army list based on their preference or game style. I will be referring to them as the bashy config, the shooty army, and the hybrid list. The bashy configuration favors the assault phase and mostly composed of units geared to have advantages in close combat. The shooty army, on the other hand, capitalizes in the shooting phase where it focuses on amassing the amount of firepower it can throw against the enemy. The hybrid list is an amalgam of both ideas, maintaining a proportionate number of shooting and close-combat components.

For this strategy guide, I’ll be concentrating on the design of my preferred game style, the shooty army. It still can be further subdivided into two: the mobile shooty army and the static shooty army. However, since I personally haven’t got much experience fielding a mobile shooty army, my focus on this article will be more about the battlefield effectivity of every Space Marine units on a static shooty army.

A static shooty army depends a lot on having its shooting units deployed on a spot where several open lines of sight are available. Deployed that way, a long-range weapon could maximize its threat potential, give it several target options, and cover several areas at a time. Always be mindful on where to put these units because most likely they will be staying where they were deployed until the end of the game. When fielding your firepower, just remember that it should be positioned in such a way that it’ll be shooting at something valuable on most of your shooting phases OR lacking such spots, it should at least be able to maintain a threat on an open corridor that can be used to your army’s advantage along the game.

With these basic principles in mind, I will proceed on evaluating the roles of every Space Marine unit on a static shooty army and how should they function in battle.

The HQ Choices

A good commander does not need to take risks – he merely waits for his foe to do so.
- Tactica Imperium

Commander (Master and Captain)
The only reason to field a Commander in a static shooty army is to capitalize on his “Rites of Battle” special rule. With a Master’s considerably high Leadership of 10, the army’s shooting components would be extra difficult to pin or cause to fall back, things that would waste a turn of their much-needed shooting. If you’re really scrimping on points, say on a small pointage game, the Brother Captain is a cheaper alternative and his Leadership of 9 is still more appreciable than a regular Space Marine’s 8.



Battlefield Role:
A Commander does not have much option on packing a threatening ranged weapon. Even with his high Ballistic Skill (BS) of 5, it will be a waste of the Commander’s high Weapon Skill (WS), Attacks (A), and Initiative (I) if he’s only going to be tooled up for shooting any of the bolter variants available to him. Thus, the only function he can fulfill on a static shooty army is as a counter assault unit.

A Space Marines army can never outshoot all armies in Warhammer 40K and sometimes, it is better to take the battle to the enemy than to stay put and watch your entire strike force to be withered on a lopsided shootout. However, shooting units were never meant to engage in combat, much more to be mobile and waste its firepower. This is where counter assault units are required. On shooty armies, there should always be at least one or two units tooled up for combat. They can act twofold: 1) as barriers if an army of bashy config should threaten to overrun your firing lines AND/OR 2) as direct assault options to engage enemy units that are inferior in combat without utilizing your shooting units for that role. Usually, counter assault units should just lurk around your deployment zone, their purpose is to charge at the enemies before they could assault your shooting units and disrupt their chance to shoot on the following turns.

The most efficient weapons to arm a Commander for counter assault purpose are a power weapon and a bolt pistol. Never give a power fist to an Independent Character lest he could be picked out in combat before he strikes back. A power weapon makes better use of a Commander’s considerably high Initiative of 5, hitting first most of the time. A bolt pistol is a cheaper choice to provide an additional Attack for having two close combat weapons. You can ought to exchange it for a plasma pistol if you have the points to spare, but be mindful of the “Gets Hot” risk.

Since there is a need for counter assault units to be fast reactive to approaching threats, there are several options I could recommend to accomplish this: 1) take a Jump Pack, 2) give him a Rhino or a Razorback or 3) ride him in a Space Marine Bike. Of those, I favor more the use of a Jump Pack. Apparently, Jump Packs and Bikes are more outright in carrying your counter assault unit to where it should be. Rhinos and Razorbacks have limited maneuverability because of their models’ size. Commanders in Jump Packs and Bikes can operate alone (although I prefer it leading a squad of Assault Marines or Bikers) while before he can be given a transport vehicle, the rule would require a Commander to join a Command Squad first. While a Jump Pack is cheaper than a Space Marine Bike, the latter gives an extra Toughness (T) to the Commander and grants him the ability to Turbo Boost up to 24” – the fastest movement available to a Space Marine. So, choosing between a Jump Pack and a Bike is basically dependent on how much points you want to spend on your HQ choice.

On the other hand, the advantage of having a Commander in a Rhino or a Razorback is that you’ll immediately have a counter assault unit resilient enough for combat in the presence of the mandatory Command Squad. This will be further discussed on the Command Squad entry of this article. For now, it’s just for you to know that a Commander-led Command Squad is one of the good choices to fill up the counter assault role and that a Rhino or a Razorback should be taken to give this squad mobility. The Rhino can be utilized as a “shield wall” to block threats to your more valuable units while the Razorback can also be used for that purpose PLUS it gives you an extra heavy weapon to boot. Rhinos and Razorbacks will also be further discussed on their respective entries on this article.

Another option is to don a Commander in Terminator Armor but this is only effective as a counter assault unit if he is joining a squad of Terminators (see Terminator entry on this article). Doing otherwise is just putting too much points on an already expensive unit which will not be much effective on a counter assault role.

Author’s Analysis:
I’d rather not field a Commander. There are more cost-effective alternatives that can perform the counter assault role better. His only use in a static shooty army is for his “Rites of Battle” special rule and if ever I am to field him because of it, I’d stick with giving him the basic weapons – bolt pistol and chainsword – and don him with a Jump Pack so I could have him join an Assault Squad instead of being a footslogger and have a hard time chasing bashy units (which are often fast moving!). With it, I can make him at least useful and in the same time, maintain his only advantage over the other HQ choices sans his special rule – a cheap HQ.

*****

...next entry: Chaplain (Master of Sanctity and Reclusiarch)