It's almost 3am, I'm slightly intoxicated, I'm bored to tears, and the Space Marine section is severely lacking in helpful content. This thread is meant to be a simple introduction and guide to the classes that be, for those who want to play the Space Marines. If anyone has anything helpful to add, feel free to post whatever helpful tips you might have for the class in question. SO! You want to be one of the shiny, all-mighty, EMPEROR'S FINEST? FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC. You're already well on your way to glory, because you haven't given into those edgy Chaos cunts, whiny space elves, or those obnoxious Greenskins. But being a Space Marine isn't all about just WANTING to fight in the Emperor's name. You have to understand several things about this faction, and the classes that represent it. You also have to understand how to work with those other classes, because nothing is more useless in this game than a sole Ground Assault trying to clear out a room on his own(other than the Stalker Bolter). INTRODUCTION TO BEING A SPACE MARINE: The first and most important lesson every LSM needs to learn is this: You are not invincible. No matter how much GW markets them, or how badly Matt Ward once wrote fluff for them: Space Marines can die. Now at first this doesn't seem like a noteworthy thing to mention, but YOU'D BE FUCKING WRONG. I've lost count of how many times I've seen several LSMs try to charge across an open field to a point, only to get mowed down by Multicannons or whatever the enemy decided to bring to battle that day. I know in the armor you wear, you might feel like you're a dangerous superhuman capable of unleashing death upon anything that even looks at you funny, and in most cases you'd be right. With Chaos, Eldar, and Orks on the field, this is not one of those cases. Heretic Bolters can do just as much damage as your Bolters. Fight smart. Use cover. Don't be a hero. Tactical Marine: "I'M GONNA CAP THIS POINT. THEN SHANK YOUR UGLY, WARP-CORRUPTED FACE." The forefront of any offensive push and one of the least-picked classes in the faction, the Tactical Marine is STILL without a doubt the most important. Versatile and armed with a variety of guns ranging from Bolters and Plasmaguns, to Stormbolters and Meltaguns; the Tactical is an adaptable grunt with varied loadouts. With a reasonable chance to defeat just about anything thrown at him, the Tactical's versatility is a strength all its own. Boot that Raptor in the face and mow him down with your Stormbolter, get in close to that Loota' and show him what Melta does to mortal flesh, stab that fucking SS in the face for trying to chainsword you from behind, and most importantly CAP THAT FUCKING POINT. DON'T LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT THE POINT, YOU HAVE A CAPTURE KEY AND ARE THE ONLY CLASS THAT CAN ACTUALLY CAPTURE THE POINTS WE NEED TO WIN GAMES YOU MINDLESS FUCKNUGGET. It's true. As the only class capable of capturing points, any LSM squad should have a few on-hand at all times. Stick together, fight together, and don't forget to flank your enemies. With some determination, proper planning, varied loadouts, and a few well-placed knife stabs, you'll have that fortified position cleared out and have a shiny new point to help capture the outpost and win the game. Devastator Marine: "LOOK AT THAT FUCKING HEAVY BOLTER. IT PRINTS MONEY, AND DEATH TO ANY PIECE OF SHIT THAT TRIES TO OPPOSE THE EMPEROR." Armed with heavy weapons and enough Arnold quotes to get you through the Horus Heresy, the Devastator is the class of choice for point defense and anti-vehicle duties. Despite being helpless in melee, a Devastator has enough firepower to not give a shit and obliterate anything that looks at him funny. The Heavy Bolter is a nice start, capable of shredding both tanks and people in equal measure; with a supportive effect that results in anyone you shoot at being unable to hit jack shit. Inaccurate as hell unless you're braced, you'll quickly learn that while you're capable of shredding anything, you'll need to set up first if you want to do any real damage. Also, WATCH THE OVERHEAT. The Lascannon and Multi-Melta are on two opposite sides of the spectrum. Both are great at taking down armor, but function at two entirely different ranges. With the MM, you gotta get right up in the ass of that tank before you can melt it within two seconds. With the Lascannon, your dumb ass better be outside render range, because it takes a half hour to fire a LOCK-ON ONLY SHOT WITH A SHINY LASER POINTER TO SHOW EVERYWHERE WHERE YOU ARE. Lastly, the Plasma Cannon is for generally being an asshole and making shitty montage videos. Pelt tanks and clusters of infantry with what's basically an artillery cannon, and get that Raptor trying to slam into you with a few well-placed snapshots. Like the Heavy Bolter, this son of a bitch overheats. AND DON'T CHARGE IT FOR TOO LONG UNLESS YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE SUN FEELS LIKE. Regarding tactics: Any respectable Devastator is glued to a point if he's defending, or around helpful squadmates if he's on the offense. While your supportive firepower is great, anyone that gets within tickle distance of you is going to make sure you know effective a chunk of metal is against some chucklefuck with a Power Sword. Anything that flies in particular is your worst enemy, because they can outflank you with ease compared to their flightless brothers. Jump Assault: "I'M COMING AT YOUR DUMB ASS DEFENSIVE POSITION FROM THE STRATOSPHERE." I take it back, THIS class is for making shitty montage videos. That said; it's remarkably useful for any offensive force. Equipped with a big fucking jetpack and a proper melee weapon for RIP AND TEAR scenarios, the JA is effectively a shock-troop: Slamming into fortified positions and cleaving those fucking Havocs in half with a few chainsword swipes, or dropping a couple Krak grenades onto a fagwagon and tearing it to shreds with your mighty power weapon. Unlike the ground-pounders, the Jump Assault is all about mobility, and his distinct inability to absorb anything more dangerous than a pea-shooter is well-founded proof of that fact. With a limited number of jump charges, the JA can only bounce around so often before needing a recharge, so planning your attacks before jumping into the fray(and preferably with others) is a wise move. Group up with other JAs, flank your enemies, upgrade your jetpack, pick off individual targets with your sick evade boosting, then jet the fuck out of there before you get shot full of holes. This is how a Jump Assault does his work, and anyone who tries to solo a clusterfuck of enemies is doing it WRONG. SEE ME AFTER CLASS. Apothecary/Wolf Priest: "YOU DON'T NEED AN APOTHECARY THAT LITTLE BOLTER WOUND, BITCH. WALK IT OFF." Essentially a Tactical/Assault with an instant healing serum and the ability to revive teammates within a second, both the Apothecary and Wolf Priest are essentially the medics of the LSM faction. While common as all hell due to behaving similarly to the Tactical/Assault with the exception of some shiny medical toys, prospective healer players need to get into the medic mindset; which means you need to realize that YOU'RE NOT A FUCKING TACTICAL. STICK WITH YOUR TEAM AND STAB THEM WITH NEEDLES WHEN THE FIGHTING DIES DOWN. IF YOU'RE TRYING TO RAMBO, THEN AT LEAST SWITCH TO A REGULAR TACTICAL SO WE CAN CAP SOME FUCKING POINTS. If you're playing an Apothecary; understand that your actions can make or break a fight. Inject your allies with Narc vials beforehand so they can get that lovely continuous heal, and advance in the Apoc advancement tree to get different vials with different effects. Provide fire support with your Bolter and move in quick to help anyone who's downed. USE 'F' TO REVIVE THEM FASTER. NOT 'E'. But what if I'm using the Chainsword/Wolf Priest? If you're using the Wolf Priest, stick with your teammates and smack anyone who tries to get close with your club. If you're the regular Apoc using the Chainsword, PUT THAT BULLSHIT AWAY AND GRAB A BOLTER. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE YOUR DOCTOR TOOLS. THE POISON IS A LOT MORE DANGEROUS THAN YOU THINK AND ALL HERETICS HAVE AN INHERENT FEAR OF NEEDLES. Ground Assault: "FINALLY. I GET TO DROP THE FUCKING BOLT PISTOL FOR THIS SWEET-ASS POWER SHIELD." An Assault who traded in his Jump Pack for a Shield, the GA is a walking can of whoop-ass when in the right hands. His shield can block most blows to the front, and a Power Weapon serves as a nice instrument for showing those dumb cunts what happens when you hit your head against a brick wall too many times. Effectively the main melee class for the LSM faction, Ground Assaults are designed to take punishment and then dish it out when they're finished lumbering towards their intended targets. Capable of providing brief but mobile cover for other classes, the Ground Assaults can close the gap when a hallway is presently a meat-grinder, and then cause enough of a ruckus for the non-shielded classes to come in and clean things up. Use your shield for just about anything! Need to get into that Dire Avenger's face? Hold up the shield and club his fucking skull in. Is an ally trying to revive a teammate but under fire? Get in front of him and keep him covered. Enemy trying to break into a room? Set up with a few other GAs and HOLD THAT FUCKING LINE. What if I don't want to use the shield? Then you're a FUCKING DUMBASS, at least at this point in the game without proper mods to fill the loss of the shield. The Power Shield is what differentiates the GA from the JA, and if you're going to try and be the 'Bestbro', you may as well pick the Jump Assault and start shopping for tampons because you're severely gimping yourself.
Thank you for the Doom quote. Something to consider as the Apoth is that your heal grenades will pick anyone wounded if they are within the sphere of healing, including yourself... Abuse this ability like a mad man.
Comedic gold and surprisingly helpful, perhaps now the basic loyalist pug will act mote loke a loyalist now and less of an Ork in disguise! Also. QUIT ZOGGIN' KRUMPIN' THE MESSENGER GROTZ I SEND TO YER HOUSE! How's you 'sposed to show up to poker night if ye' keep shovin' the invitation back into da grotz mouth?!
Tactical marines! Get that shiny round DRUM-MAGAZINE for your bolter! Also add some other attachments to increase accuracy, fire in 10-round bursts and aim for the head. (not the scope though, its useless) Also if you are tactical with boltgun, make sure you have two grenades, and dont hesitate to lob them into advancing enemy forces or into enemy cover (learn how to throw without helpful trajectory highlight). Watch for filthy space-elven flyers! they could be a real pain in the ass, but holy bolter can blow them from the skies (just dont forget to lead them, they fly faster than bullets). Remember, you are battle brothers, so team up with your brothers, dont go alone, and dont get into line of friendly fire! This is really important, because not only your ass will get shot, but enemy ass WONT GET SHOT! this is unacceptable, so watch out for these friendlies (and dont fire blindly urself, watch your fire). The Emperor protects, and by His will cover also protects (beware of reloading though, it will make you stand up in sitting cover). Time your attacks to unleash barrages of fire while heavy bolters cool down.
Doom quotes are my life blood. Shit though. Didn't know about the Apoc grenades. I need to use those more. WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU SENDING GROTS IN THE FIRST PLACE? Out of every type of Ork subspecies, they're the most punchable. Thanks though. I know it's not written like you'd expect a guide to be, but I do genuinely want to help newer players get better as Space Marines.
Here, brother. Take this praeparatio from the Apothecarion. You don't really need to know what it is, the Emperor protects.
