Let's get it Started
I received this email, and I thought it would be the perfect subject of an article. "I'm a noob..... so how do you exactly want to use each of the units? like what type of army should I get? How many of each? What is recommended to start off with? Mega-force or battle-force? If I'm not bothering you, advice will be appreciated."

Reading this, it occurred to me that while I try to provide information for players of all kinds, from the advanced ones to rank beginners, I often assume that people are already familiar with the game itself or a particular army. I'd like to rectify that a bit. This article will be focused on new players getting started with a brand new army. That being said, the information in this article can also apply to older players starting a new army.

The first part I want to cover is whether to get a Megaforce or a Battleforce or simply buy off the shelf. Below, I list the contents of each and the price of each part.

Megaforce $175

Predator $41.25
Rhino $30
Dreadnaught $41.25
Tactical Squad $35
Tactical Squad $35
5xAssault Marines $26.50
5xScouts $20.00
$229 ($54 potential savings)

Battleforce $90

Rhino $30
Tactical Squad $35
Combat Squad $20
5xScouts $20
5xAssault Marines $26.50
$131.50 ($41.50 potential savings)

Both sets offer significant savings over simply buying off the shelf, but those savings are only useful if you'll actually use the contents. If you don't use the Assault Marines and Scouts or the Predator, you've wasted nearly all the savings. That brings us to the next step, figuring out what to use at first.

Come Get Some!
There are a lot of different ways to play Space Marines, but probably the best way to get started is a shooting/counterassault force. Not only is this a fairly simple way to get started, it also makes good use of most of the units in the force sets and can easily be adjusted to another style later.

A basic shooting/counterassault army focuses most of it's power on shooting, but has some _counterassault_ elements to respond to assaulters that get to the lines. When an assault unit hits your lines, your counterassault units then assault the assaulters. (That way your assaulters get the bonus attack for charging against their assaulters, and they can hit at full strength.) I'll put together a basic list and demonstrate how it works. Please note that I won't be delving into cool wargear combinations or anything. I'm going to mostly equip them straight from the box and go with the basics. You can experiment with wargear and equipment variations later, this is just to get you started. In addition, I'll be avoiding the use of named characters. If you are trying to get the hang of a new army or a new game, changing the rules (which is what many of the named characters do) is probably not a good idea. Once you've gotten a good feel for the game or the army, then try messing about with the characters and wargear. This particular list is created from the Megaforce set, though you could substitute other units for these, just keep roughly the same balance of units.

115 Space Marine Captain with a Power Sword and Boltpistol.
-very basic and simple. Any of the HQ choices would be fine here. The Powersword is a simple way to make him effective in close combat cheaply. It's also an easy conversion if you don't have an appropriate model. Simply paint a sword or chainsword with fancy, bright colors and it's a powersword.

170 Tactical Squad. Sergeant and 9 Tactical Marines. Flamer, Missile Launcher, 8xBolter

205 Tactical Squad. Sergeant and 9 Tactical Marines. Flamer, Missile Launcher, 8xBolter, Rhino transport
-basic troops, the backbone of almost any army. You can't take an objective without boots on the ground and these provide them. In addition, they've got pretty solid firepower and good staying power, especially if you can get them in or behind cover. The Rhino is there to move a squad onto an objective or to slow down enemy assaulters.

85 Scout Squad. Sergeant and 4 Scouts. Heavy Bolter and 4 Bolters.
-inexpensive firepower and some more bodies for objective missions. Keep in mind that they aren't as durable as regular Space Marines and put them in back or behind cover. Sniper Rifles would be even better for these guys, but I don't think they come in the force sets that way. (a fairly easy conversion would be to give all the Bolters very long barrels with silencers on the end and scopes. For inspiration, just look at the models of Scouts with Sniper rifles.)

130 Dreadnaught. Assault Cannon and Extra Armor.
-The Multimelta isn't bad, but the Assault Cannon is effective against a wider variety of targets. This is one of your Counterassault units, so don't get rid of the Dreadnaught Close Combat Weapon. Armor on this is pretty light, so put it in cover or behind your units. (See below)

115 Assault Squad: Sergeant with Power Sword and 4 Assault Marines.
-Fast counterassault unit. The power sword is an easy conversion, see above. Again, not many bodies, so make sure this is protected by cover or your own units.

145 Predator: Lascannon Sponsons, Hunter-Killer Missile, Extra Armor. -Antitank firepower. With the Autocannon, it's especially effective against light transports (such as those containing enemy assault units headed for your lines.) With AV13 in front, it's pretty resilient, but I'd still put it in cover or behind a unit, at least until enemy tanks and heavy units are eliminated.

965pts. Gives 35pts of leeway for extra gear in a 1000pt game. Now, how do you use it?

Formation
Basically, you want to make a wedge or castle. A fairly solid block of troops and vehicles, mostly clumped together. The Tactical squads will be in front, with the Captain attached to one of the squads. The Dreadnaught and Assault Marines will be behind them. The Rhino should be behind that. The Scouts and Predator should be further back in cover, or behind the formation if there isn't suitable cover with good line of sight. Against an assault army, remember that you don't have to place all the way up against your deployment zone line. Pull back a little bit, since they'll be coming to you.

Tactics
Hunker down and shoot, shoot, shoot! 2 Missile Launchers, a Heavy Bolter, an Assault Cannon, 2 Lascannons, an Autocannon, 2 Stormbolters and 20 Bolters can put quite a few holes in things. 31 bodies in Power armor (if they have cover!) can withstand a fair amount of firepower. If they send assault units your way, fire at any fast movers (Jump Packs, Hormaguants, etc.) with the Tactical squads and Scouts while the Dreadnaught and Predator concentrate on transport vehicles. When they reach your lines, let them hit the tactical squads. After they've hit the tactical squads, the Dreadnaught and Assault Marines come out around the sides of the formation and charge the assault units that are in combat with your Tactical squads. The Predator and Scouts should now be focused on making sure that no more assaulters reach the lines to reinforce the ones that are there.

Alternately, if you feel that you are up against a shootier army, you may have to take your show on the road. In this one, you'll start out similar to before, but make sure that you are as close as possible to the edge of your deployment zone. Also keep the Rhino close so that the Tactical squad is entirely within 2" of the Rhino exits, so they can mount up on your first turn, move 12" forward and pop smoke. The Assault Marines move up behind the Rhino. The Dreadnaught will also move forward, but make sure it is partially behind the Rhino so that it is blocked from most of the enemy shooting. In the meantime, your remaining Tactical squad, the Scout squad and the Predator will all focus on any assault units in the enemy army. The next turn, the Rhino should move forward 12" and disembark the squad close to the enemy, allowing them to Rapidfire into the enemy. The Assault Marines will pull up behind the Rhino while the Dreadnaught continues forward. The Dreadnaught and other shooty units continue targeting any assault units. The next turn, the Assault Marines jump over the Rhino and assault an enemy unit while the Tactical squad flames and then assaults another. The Dreadnaught continues forward and all shooty units fire into assault units or the closest enemy unit to the ones in assault. The next turn should see the Dreadnaught get into combat as well.

Where do we go from here?
Once you've gotten a handle on how your new army works, then you can try to determine where you want to go from there. You might decide you like the shooty part better. In which case, you'll want to look into more Predators or other tanks and or a Devastator squad, plus another Tactical squad or two to bulk out your force. On the other hand, if you decide that assault is more your thing, you can start by getting another Rhino and some Powerfists for your Tac squad sergeants and either another Dreadnaught or some more Assault Marines. If you find you like the shooty/counterassault thing, get a little of both. Perhaps another Tactical squad, a second Rhino, some Powerfists for each of the sergeants, another Dreadnaught and another Predator.

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

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