Bad TheoryHammer: Adeptus Astartes (Part 1)
(Image Credit: GW
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The poster boys of GW really are struggling to do well in the current environment. That said, they're still the poster boys and there are some great things they can do. In this post, I intend to go through the strengths and weaknesses of the Faction in general and then go into the individual Operatives and what they can be used for.
Please understand, this is Part 1 SOLELY because I could (and have) done an entire other post on the Deathwatch and it will be coming out shortly. After all, I don't want to strain your eyes too much!
Strengths and Weaknesses
So, let's just get it out there. With the exception of Scouts and, for some strange reason, Heavy Intercessors (but we just pretend they don't exist until they get upset and leave), all Marines have APL 3. That's... really nice, especially since I tend to prefer the more horde-y factions (I main Hive Cult, for Pete's sake!). They also have amazing stats overall, great saves, and Bolter Discipline is just awesome.
On the other hand, they are very limited in numbers and there's the elephant in the room. Let's address it. Marines have a lot of versatility in what they can take on a Roster. They have virtually no flexibility when it comes to what is on a Kill Team. They can only take a single Fire Team and their selections within a Fire Team tend to be... somewhat lacking. And that's why a lot of people don't seem to rate them too highly.
Operatives
(Author's Note: I am going to lump these up by Unit Type so I don't have to type up a lot of things for each type of Marine. Also, unit-specific Equipment and the like will be discussed in the prospective Marine type.)
Intercessors
(Image Credit: GW)
These are... the basic Primaris guys, I guess? I fully admit I'm a bit out of the loop with the whole Primaris thing, as I just get bored when it comes to Marines and goofy lore stuff for them doesn't appeal to me. Anyway! They are actually fairly decent on the field, but somewhat boring. You're not going to take Bolt Rifles anyway, because Ceaseless on the Auto Bolt Rifles is just better. I suppose you could take two with Stalkers and Suspensors if you're really wanting the AP1, but I'd just go with Autos all the way.
The Sarge is interesting because there, you actually have options. I know Plasma Pistols are the hotness in Kill Team, but hear me out here. You know you're going to be using Bolter Discipline with these guys as much as you can, so an Auto that hits on a 2+ with Ceaseless and shoots twice per turn can really dish out some damage. Add in a Power Weapon for close combat and you're pretty darned sweet.
Regarding Equipment, well, the Auxiliary Grenade Launcher is frankly pretty darned good. (EDIT: YOU CAN ONLY TAKE ONE BECAUSE GW HATES FUN.)
Assault Intercessors
(Image Credit: GW)
I... I have to admit it. I'm not a big fan of these guys. They just don't do it for me. I'm sure someone loves them, but I'm not that willing to take away a range advantage for an extra damage in melee. I'm sure someone has used them well, however.
Infiltrators
(Image Credit: GW)
For when you want your shootiness to be a little more shooty. As you can probably imagine, I rate these guys pretty highly, although they do utterly lack any real melee presence whatsoever. With Bolter Discipline, they absolutely will be melting some faces (or exploding them, anyway) with their shooting.
Infiltrators also get the amazing Helix Gauntlet to fix up wounded Marines. Healing is amazing in Kill Team and I highly suggest using it. Smoke Grenades, used properly, can turn the tide of a game and save you from your opponent's torpedo units.
Omni-Scrambler is weird. I don't know what to think of it.
Incursors
(Image Credit: GW)
So, I'm really noticing something here with these Primaris guys. GW really likes using names that are hard to distinguish! Of course, the minis are also hard to distinguish. They're all dudes with some sort of bolter and maybe a knife or something, right?
And in this case, that's exactly what you get. A guy with a bolter and a knife. It's an okay bolter, at least, but they don't excite me the way some other Operatives do.
That said, Haywire Mines are an interesting area denial trick and they do get the useful Smoke Grenades. I just don't really see much of a reason to run them over, say, normal I...ors? See what I did there?
Multi-Spectrum Array is actually pretty danged nifty, I fully admit.
Reivers
(Image Credit: GW)
Okay, first things first, I'm going to have a chuckle because the image I ripped from the GW store has a typo in it and that makes someone pedantic like me chuckle. So HAHAHAHA.
Secondly, now we are talking. I'm not saying Reivers are amazing, but it's nice to see Marines that are actually what Marines are meant to be. Begin a little bit of a rant here. I'm going to block it out so that you can scroll down to the actual Bad TheoryHammer part rather than my personal opinions (wait, these are all my personal opinions).
[BEGIN RANT]
Space Marines are supposed to be the Angels of Death. The Emperor's terror troops. The scalpel compared to the Guard's bludgeon. They come dropping down from the sky, secure their objective, and then go on to the next situation. So why in the heck does GW insist on making them do literally everything? There's only a thousand guys per Chapter, for Pete's sake, and yet somehow, they have an entire Chapter devoted to siege warfare. Know what happens when you take a thousand dudes in bright yellow armor and lay siege to a city? NOTHING because you don't have the manpower.
Marines SHOULD be dropping down in Pods and kicking ass and taking names, not driving around in a bunch of METAL BAWKSES with huge cannons strapped to them or being sneaky and stuff. So why does GW do all this (oh yes, money, dear boy).
[END RANT]
Okay, so these guys are basically Spider-Man, if Peter Parker had a really bad day. So I guess Venom. Both options are actually pretty good for them (although the Sarge really just wants the Pistol and Knife).
Smoke Grenades, as mentioned, are great. Grapnel Launchers have the potential to be interesting. Grav Chutes, though, those are my jam. A free 4" movement at the start of the game, which can be flying? Plus the other nice little bonus. You can get some neat tricks off using these. Shock Grenades I'm less certain of. If you get a bunched-up group of operatives, you can do awesome things with them, but they are expensive and unreliable.
Terror Troop becomes freaking AMAZING for controlling objectives (you're now APL4 for that and it takes 3 APL2 models to outnumber you for control). The other use is neat, too.
Heavy Intercessor
(Picture Not Found)
I'm sad to say that these guys don't exist in Kill Team. It would be nice if they did! Maybe they could be slow, but still effective or something?
Tactical Marines
(Image Credit: GW)
What's this? A unit with... options? In my Adeptus Astartes Roster?
Actually, Tactical Marines can do pretty darned well. Sure, they're not quite as tough as Primaris, but they can hang. I will say, however, that the options are pretty deceiving. I mean, are you really going to pass up a Plasma Pistol/Power Weapon on the Sarge or a Plasma Gunner? Then you just have to choose between shooting the Heavy Bolter twice or the Missile Launcher once (there isn't a choice here, mind).
Also, the one big drawback these guys have is that they come in a KT of 6 models. That's just awkward when everything else is 5 and 10 and means you're going to have to fill in a Roster with models you probably won't intend on using.
Scouts
(Image Credit: GW, and they should be ashamed)
To begin with, yes, I admit it. These guys are ugly as sin. Like holy cow are they outdated. There. Done.
Scouts are the go-to for when you want to play a bit of a horde yourself. Oddly, they tend to be very stationary, what with 2-3 Sniper Rifles and 2 heavy weapons (you're going Missiles here). Please keep in mind these guys are only APL 2 and don't get access to Bolter Discipline. The rest of your guys can get a bolter, shotgun (don't), or a bolt pistol and knife. Personally I think the pistol and knife is the best idea here since everyone else will be shooting.
(EDIT HERE: /r/KillTeam has changed my views and shotguns are a pretty darned good idea. Bad TheoryHammer means that when people point out things, I accept it and go with what works! Put shotguns on your boys who aren't otherwise busy.)
For equipment, you already know you're bringing 3 Suspensors, so take like a Frag Grenade on someone else for funsies.
Equipment (That Wasn't Already Mentioned)
Frag and Krak are your standard grenades. They can be useful. Purity Seals are a way of trading EP for CP and if that's your idea of a good time, go for it! Heavy Weapon Suspensors are pretty must a much-have for anything that has heavy weapons.
Ploys (Likewise)
I think I've talked about Bolter Discipline enough at this time. I don't like Shock Assault--typically you're going to kill whatever you charge or it's going to kill you and fighting twice isn't going to change that. Tactical Precision is a pretty decent buff if you're keeping your guys close together, but you probably aren't because you don't have a lot of guys to begin with. It's still a nice buff if you have your, say, Missile Scouts next to your Sniper Sarge.
Transhuman Physiology is very nice and can save your rear when you need it most. In case you haven't noticed, I really like things that save or heal my guys. Only in Death Will I Type This All Out has been nerfed (somewhat) and I don't exactly know what to think about it. It's still useful, I guess, but not nearly so much as it used to be. ATSKNF (see what I did there?) is fantastic once you start taking wounds and need to catch back up to the enemy.
Archetypes
With Elite teams like Marines, Archetypes are a little tricky, but I still say go for Security as often as you can. If you can't do Security, you should be able to do Infiltration, which is probably better than Recon (too action-heavy) and Seek and Destroy (just no).
Sample Roster
Okay, this is going to get a bit tricky. I'm going to put Equipment into the sample Roster. Of course, you can swap things around before the game begins, but this is just what I would consider "standard" choices.
So, I'm going to take a team of Incursors because they seem okay, a team of Reivers because of reasons mentioned above, and a team of Scouts in case I run across one of the "bad" matchups for Marines and need to play a hordey objective game. Bear with me here!
Intercessor Sergeant (Auto Bolt Rifle, Power Weapon, Frag Grenade)
2x Intercessor Warrior (Auto Bolt Rifle, Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, Krak Grenade)
2x Intercessor Warrior (Auto Bolt Rifle)
Reiver Sergeant (Special Issue Bolt Pistol, Combat Knife, Grav Chute)
4x Reiver Warriors (Bolt Carbine, Grav Chute)
Scout Sniper Sergeant (Heavy Weapon Suspensor)
2x Scout Heavy Gunner (Missile Launcher, Suspensor)
2x Scout Sniper
EDIT: 5x Scout Warrior (Shotgun)
I could easily see swaping out the Incursors for, say, Infiltrators, taking some Smoke Grenades and the healing doodad, and going to town there, so don't think this is set in stone!
Anyway, I'm exhausted. It's been a long day.
(Edit: The In...or thing really messed me up on the roster!)
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