The Email
I was looking through the units and making mental notes on my shopping list, then I hit the Techmarines. Pretty cool characters but I'm not sure about them. I mean they could fix and reinforce stuff, able the army to field more Dreadnoughts, and can have monsterous CC ability but, I might want to invest my points on somethings else like Terminators. Should the Techmarines be high on my list? If I do get Techmarines, should I also field the Thunderfire Cannon? Also, what of the Servitors? They seem to be be pretty useless. Half the time they can't even be used.

PS: As I was building my Battle-Force, I was challenged in a new way. I could not choose how to arm my troops. They all have their pros and cons. Any advice?

The Answer
For the Techmarines, I'd suggest holding off until you get a feel for the army. Much like the named characters, they can be really fun and can definitely change the way the army works, which is why I feel you'll be better off starting off without them.

Give it a couple of months, then after you've gotten a feel for the army, you may want to look into some other options. When you get to that point, you might want to consider Techmarines. I'll give you a quick rundown about them and answer your questions so that you can make an informed decision at that time. You bring up a number of good points about them, so I'll follow the same order that you asked.

Techmarines
Techmarines, particularly with servitors (I'll talk more about them later) are very good at fixing things. If you plan to have more than a few vehicles in your force, a Techmarine is a good way to keep them in the fight longer. If you are getting them for this function, you'll probably want to maximize their repair capability. Get a Servo-Harness and some servitors with Servo-arms and call it a day. Don't get heavy weapons or anything like that.

While it might seem tempting to add other things, don't. If you get him a bike, he'll leave the servitors behind, meaning that he won't be able to fix as well. If you get him a Thunderhammer or Power Weapon, you'll be inclined to have him use it instead of fixing your vehicles. If you get the servitors heavy weapons, you'll want to stand in place to use them instead of moving over and fixing a damaged vehicle. Think of this kind of Techmarine as an upgrade for your vehicles. It's a pretty expensive upgrade, but if you really rely on vehicles (especially shooting vehicles, since they are more likely to stay close together where the techmarine can get to them easily) it might be just what you need.

Dread-Full
As far as fielding more Dreadnaughts, that's really only an option if you get the Master of the Forge, rather than just any Techmarine. If you find that you really enjoy Dreadnaughts, this might be a good choice for part of your HQ. If you do this, you may want an additional Techmarine and servitor squad to help repair them. Before you go whole-hog on this, though, I'd recommend using 1-2 Dreadnaughts first. If you find you like them, then it can be worth getting more and the Master of the Forge.

Close Combat
As far as combat capabilities go, Techmarines really aren't that much different than other Space Marine characters. They've got a couple of attacks with their servo harness, but other characters can do the same thing with power weapons or power fists, which work out to the same thing. If you find you really need more combat characters and you are running out of options, you might consider one, but I wouldn't really get them for their combat capability. If you are looking for more assault prowess, I'd definitely suggest looking into Terminators or Assault squads. They will provide more damage for your points and will be better able to survive.

The Big Guns
The Thunderfire Cannon provides some pretty impressive firepower. I don't know that it's the best option out there, but it seems pretty good for 100pts. The main drawback is that it's so easy to take out the Techmarine gunner. If you do use it, make sure you keep it as protected as possible. This weapon will be very effective against hordes of light infantry, and it's presence in your force should keep the enemy army spread out a bit, which is very handy. (If they are spread out, they cannot use cover as efficiently, meaning your shooting is more effective.)

Servitors
Finally, we come to the Servitors. First off, Mindlock. This only occurs if they don't have a Techmarine or the Master of the Forge as part of their unit at the beginning of the turn. If they don't, then they have a 50% chance of just standing around doing nothing. So if you have servitors, do your best to make sure the Techmarine sticks with them. Although there is the option to replace the Servo-arm with a Heavy weapon for a couple of servitors, I would recommend against this. Not only does it take away from their primary mission (fixing vehicles) it doesn't give you much firepower and it's a small, vulnerable squad, easy for the enemy to kill. Similarly, while the Servo arms work like Power fists, it's a small, slow squad that doesn't even have as much armor as standard Space Marines. Easy kill for the enemy. While they are still fairly easy to kill as a repair squad, they won't be a high priority to most enemy armies, since they won't be directly causing damage to them.

That wraps up Techmarines, I think, now let's have a look at your questions about equipping your models.

Equipment Options
Each type of model or unit has different equipment options. While you can find all of their options in the entry for each unit, not all of the options are included in the box. Especially for a beginning army, I'd recommend using the equipment in the box first. It will give you a chance to get used to the new army without spending money and points on things that might not be what you want. Even if you have the money right now, save it until you get a feel for the army. Then you'll be better informed about exactly what you are looking for, rather than simply buying something because it's shiny and Games Workshop has written a cool story about it. With that in mind, let's look at what you've got available right now.

Space Marine Tactical Squad: Bolters, chainswords, melta gun, plasma gun, missile launcher, and flamer. In the beginning of this series, I suggested arming each squad with a Missile Launcher, a Flamer and 8 Bolters. I chose the Missile Launcher and Flamer because I knew they would be included in the box and also they are free. Later on, it will be easy to change them out for other weapons, but these are a good start. The Flamer is really good at helping the squad just prior to close combat, as it will cover a lot of models and can cause some serious damage. The Melta gun is very effective at taking out even heavy vehicles or Monstrous Creatures at close range. The plasma gun gives good damage against heavy infantry (such as other Space Marines or the equivalent) but costs more and can injure the firer. The Bolters are the standard equipment for most of the squad. Even if they weren't required equipment for the squad members, I'd recommend them anyway. Good damage, good range, a solid weapon. The chainsword is primarily for the sergeant, who can use one to bolster his attacks in an assault. (You can also easily convert a chainsword into a Power Weapon for even more damage.) For your initial use, I'd recommend leaving the sergeant carrying a Bolter. Later on, you may decide that you want more close combat capability, but give yourself time to get used to the basics first.

Scouts: Shot-guns, bolters, combat blades, heavy bolter, missile launcher. Shotguns are great at close range in preparation for assault. Combat blades are also good for assault. The Heavy Bolter and Missile Launcher are both good for longer-range support. Bolters are good for their flexibility. They can provide long-range firepower and provide short-range kick equal to or better than the shotgun, though you won't be able to charge with them. At least initially, I'd recommend Bolters and one of the Heavy Weapons. After you get used to the army, you might decide to re-equip them for close combat and give the sergeant a Power Weapon or Power Fist, or to specialize them more for long-range support and give them sniper rifles, but Bolters and a Heavy Weapon are a good compromise to start with.

Assault marine sergeant: Storm Shield, power fist, power sword, power axe, plasma pistol, bolt pistol. I'd recommend starting this sergeant with a Powersword (or axe) and a Bolt Pistol. The others can be effective, but a basic loadout is the cheapest and best way to get started.

Assault marines: Plasma pistol, bolt pistol, chain sword. While you can give 1 of the Assault Marines a Plasma Pistol, I'd recommend just keeping all of them with the standard Bolt Pistol and Chainsword. After you get used to them, if you think they need some additional firepower to soften up hard targets before they hit, then you might consider the Plasma Pistol.

You'll notice that almost all of my recommendations have been for the cheapest and most basic equipment. There are two reasons for that. The first is that it gives you the most versatility and lets you try out the unit or model in different situations without getting too specialized. This will give you the chance to understand your units and how they work the best without messing about too much with equipment. The other reason is that the best thing you can give a Space Marine is another Space Marine to stand by his side and blast or hack away at the enemy. The more you spend on equipment, the less Space Marines you have to wield them. Once you have a really good feel for how your army works, you can experiment with equipment, just don't go too far. Think of the weaponry as a way to make them a little bit more effective at something. If you give that Assault Marine Sergeant a Powerfist and Plasma Pistol and a combat shield and melta bombs, he will have a lot of firepower. He'll also still be the same T4 1W model that he was previously, but will cost as much as adding two more Assault Marines to the squad. Except in a few, specific circumstances, you'll be much better off with 2 extra Assault Marines.

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