Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Space Marines (section)

==Space Marine Armoury==

===Melee Weapons===

*'''Astartes Chainsword:''' SU, '''AP-1''', D1, +1A. As of 9E, all Space Marine chainswords get AP-1 on top of the extra attack, making them even better against lightly armoured hordes while also giving them a little utility against tougher foes. 
*'''Lightning Claws:''' SU AP-2 D1, re-roll wound rolls and +1A per claw. This will outperform all other D1 melee weapons against any target (except T8-9 with a 2+ or 3+, where the power sword wins, but why are you picking D1 weapons for those?). Your best bet for mulching single-wound hordes.
**+1A for one claw, +2A for two claws, so two claws usually cost twice as much as one for a tiny fraction of the benefit; anything forced to take two claws is often easily overshadowed by something with the choice to take only one. 
*'''Power Weapons:''' Each type of power weapon has its own profile now, so pick the right one for the situation. Unless you have the option for a lightning claw, then you should always take that instead.  All of these come in Force flavours as well for Librarians, which changes from D1 to Dd3, making it marginally worse than the reliable D2 available on Master-Crafted versions.
**'''Power Axe:''' S+2, AP-2, D1. Outperforms the sword against T3 and T5 models, since you wound them on a 2+ and 3+ respectively, compare to the swords 3+ and 4+. 
**'''Power Maul/Power Lance:''' S+3 AP-1 D1. This is the one you want least; boosting you to S7 isn't that much more useful than the axe's S6 and you lose a point of AP in the process. If you want to bash units with T6+, just pay the 5pts and grab the powerfist. 
**'''Power Sword:''' S+1, AP-3, D1. Best against targets that rely on armour saves over toughness to shrug off hits, and particularly good if you have access to re-rolling wounds. 
*'''Powerfist:''' Sx2, AP-3, D2, -1 to hit rolls. Good against everything, cost-effective, and very common to find.
*'''Chainfist:''' Sx2, AP-4, Dd3, -1 to hit rolls and becomes D3 against Vehicles. A Terminator-only weapon. Marginally better than a powerfist against other highly-armoured models that lack an invulnerable save, strictly better against Vehicles, and has a 1/3 chance of offing a Plague Marine in one go by shredding through their -1 D Disgustingly Resilient. Costs the same as a powerfist, so trading the fist's reliable damage for better AP could be worth it.
*'''Thunder Hammer:''' Sx2, AP-2, D3, -1 to hit rolls. A powerfist that trades one point of AP for an extra point of damage. The extra damage could mean the difference between one-shotting a Custodian Guard/Aggressor/Terminator or getting a guardian spear/powerfist in the face. When you have a thunder hammer/storm shield-Captain with Jump Pack, every enemy model begins to look like a nail. BUT, at typically twice the cost of a powerfist, it's not worth ditching up to three extra special or heavy weapons just to squeeze out a few extra points of damage. Still quite viable on everything that isn't a Character at least, so feel free to spam with Terminators or Vanguards.
*'''Relic Blade:''' S+3, AP-3, D2. Available to Vanguard Veteran Sergeants and Captains. It has a good comparison to the power fist, but the two models that can take a relic blade can also take a thunder hammer. 
** Ignoring S bonuses or wound-roll buffs, the powerfists bumps you to S8, whereas this takes you to S7. This only matters against T4, T7, and T8 targets, as you go from wounding on a 2+/3+/4+ respectively to a 3+/4+/5+. 
** With hit roll modifiers capped at +/-1, attack units with inbuilt "enemy attacks suffer -1 to hit rolls" isn't so debilitating, again making the fist/hammer the better choice.

===Combi-Weapons===

*'''Boltgun:''' You know what a bolter is, but if you somehow forgot it's 24" rapid fire 1 S4 AP0 D1.
**'''Combi-Weapon:''' A bolter taped to a special weapon (plasma, flamer, melta, grav). Check below for the special weapon profiles. You can fire one of the weapons at full BS, or both with a -1 to hit rolls. Note that the flamer portion of combi-flamers don't care about your BS. 
**'''Storm Bolter/Combi-Bolter:''' A boltgun taped to another boltgun. Cheap as chips (if chips cost 5 points) rapid fire 2 boltgun, typically seen on Bikers and Terminators, also available as upgrades on most of your Vehicles and Sergeants. Their abundance, the majority of bearers' ability to go fast (Bikers) or Deep Strike (Terminators), and Bolter Discipline means you should usually be getting four shots per turn with this weapon.
*** Worth the 5pt upgrade on Sergeants of Tactical and Devastator Squads at least, since it effectively adds another Marine's firepower for much less than the cost of another body.
*'''Auto-flamer:''' Found only on Black Templar Primaris Captains because fuck other chapters, that's why. This is just an Auto Bolt Rifle (24" Assault 3 S4 AP0 D1) combi-weaponed with a flamer so you can advance and shoot both profiles, unlike with a combi-flamer.
*'''Auto-plasma:''' Found only on Black Templar Primaris Lieutenants again because fuck other chapters, that's why. Again, this is just an Auto Bolt Rifle (24" Assault 3 S4 AP0 D1) combi-weaponed with a plasma gun because Cawl forgot he already invented assault plasma and that unsafe plasma should only be in the hands of a core unit near a captain.

===Special Weapons===

*'''Flamer:''' 12" assault 1d6 S4 AP0 D1, automatically hits. 9th edition has been good to all flame weapons, boosting their range from 8" to 12". A classic anti-horde option, at least it's cheap. 
**'''Pyreblaster:''' Black Templar only, found only on Primaris Crusaders: 15" is nearly meaningless, but AP-1 is a big deal for murdering armoured targets.  Other than that, a flamer.
*'''Meltagun:''' 12", assault 1, S8, AP-4, Dd6, +2D if you're within half range of the target for a potential of 8D (5.5D average). Good against anything with lots of wounds, be they Vehicles, Monsters, or even heavy Infantry. **At 12" range, supercharged plasma is better (but riskier), so you really should try and get into melta range. While you can advance to close the gap, it is convenient if the unit's other weapons are assault weapons as well. 
*'''Grav-Gun:''' 18", rapid fire 1, S5, AP-3, D1, becomes D2 against targets with Sv3+ or better. Against most Vehicles, MEQ's, and TEQ's, this is a safer plasma weapon at the cost of less S and the same amount of pts. 
*'''Plasma Gun:''' 24", rapid fire 1, S7, AP-3, D1. Their gimmick is having a safe profile and supercharged profile, which gives them +1S and +1D at the risk of killing the bearer on a hit roll of unmodified 1. Sticking close to a Captain can mitigate this risk.

===Pistol Weapons===

Pistol weapons are equivalent to their bigger brethren, with different ranges and weapon types. Other than that, S, AP, D, and unique rules are the same.

*'''Bolt Pistol:''' 12" and pistol 1. One of the most common weapons in the Space Marine armoury and available on most things as either an option or as part of their wargear. Just don't forget it exists and that you can fire it in melee. 
**'''Heavy Bolt Pistol:''' 18" pistol 1 S4 AP-1 D1. Primaris-only, as the Firstborn don't have the wrist strength to hold them. 
*'''Grav-Pistol:''' 12" pistol 1 S5 AP-3 D1, becomes D2 against Sv3+ or better. 
** Probably your best special pistol. Can take care of MEQ's without killing the user, unlike the plasma pistol.
*'''Plasma Pistol:''' 12" pistol 1 S7 AP-3 D1, can become S8 and D2 but kills the user on a hit roll of UM1.
**Supercharged, it'll one-shot MEQs... which the grav-pistol nearly does (it's worse at successfully wounding) without the possibility of killing the user. Its only boon is the higher S for hurting things that are T3+ (almost everything).
*'''Inferno Pistol:''' Deathwatch and Blood Angels only. This is a meltagun with a 6" range and pistol 1 typing. The range puts you in close enough to spit on your target if you're trying to use it for melta, but you should be maximising the pistol aspect to pull a General Kenobi or Indiana Jones on your opponent and finish the swordfight with a pistol shot. 
**Just to be clear, you are spending 5pts for a weapon that you may not even get to fire in melee. Your pistols are fired in your shooting phase. If you charged on your turn, the unit with this will fight and be hit back two times before this comes up. In casual games this might come up, but most units that can take it will lack invulns so it's of dubious use.
*'''Hand Flamer:''' Deathwatch and Blood Angels only. This is a flamer with S3 and pistol d6 typing. ''Very'' remarkably, suffers no range impediment, firing at the full 12" of a flamer.
** If you can field it, twin hand flamers is a surprising amount of dakka when you deep strike. Vanguard Veterans can be outfitted as such for 29 points per dude/32 with jump packs, which is 160 points for 10 deep striking hand flamers (16 points per gun). An Assault Squad with jump packs, two flamers, and a hand flamer equipped Sergeant is 115 points for 2 flamers, 1 hand flamer, and 2 bolt pistols, which is ''substantially'' worse dakka: the former will land 35 S3 hits when it deep strikes, while the latter will land 3.5 S3 hits and 8.33 S4 hits, for 11.83 hits total.
**'''Pyre Pistol:''' Black Templar only, found only on Primaris Crusaders and Primaris Sword Brethren; is an AP-1 Hand Flamer, which is a big deal for murdering armoured targets.

===Heavy Weapons===

*'''Heavy Bolter:''' 36", heavy 3, S5, AP-1, '''D2'''. A solid choice for taking down light-medium Infantry, if one that tends to be overshadowed at times by the assault cannon and heavy flamer. 
** They can quickly raise the cost of your army due to their huge availability, so be a bit cautious about spamming against armies that are not mainly 2W. 
** Hellfire Shell is a unique stratagem that can be used on Infantry-carried heavy bolters; instead of shooting normally, make a single hit roll that deals d3 mortal wounds. Make the most of this with re-roll auras or Devastator Sergeant Signums. 
*'''Heavy Flamer:''' 12", heavy d6, S5, AP-1, D1, auto-hits. More effective against armoured targets than its smaller brother, but cannot be fired after advancing. Can be found on Dreadnoughts, Terminators, and Sternguard Veterans, and is added to the Heavy Weapons list for Deathwatch and Blood Angels (including successors). 
*'''Multi-Melta:''' A 24" and heavy 2 meltagun, meaning you can't run with it, but ''can shoot in melta range out of a deep strike'', now fulfilling the role of Drop Pod threat-removal. With the rise to heavy 2, they've become 20pts for Infantry, more expensive than the lascannon. 
*'''Plasma Cannon:''' 36", heavy d3, and blast effectively means the same shots as a plasma gun, but from 36" away instead of 12" and better against Infantry. You need to be careful when you supercharge, due to the sheer cost of this weapon.
*'''Grav-Cannon:''' A 30" range and heavy 4 grav-gun. Akin to a ''heavier'' heavy bolter to deal with bigger targets.
**A unit with grav-cannons will become a serious target for your opponent, so consider sticking them in a Transport of any flavour so they can't be Basilisk'ed off the table turn 1.
*'''Lascannon:''' 48", heavy 1, S9, AP-3, Dd6. Your primary long-range anti-vehicle weapon, and is as common as the heavy bolter.
*'''Missile Launcher:''' Can fire either frag missiles (48" and heavy d6 bolter shots with blast), or a krak missile with (48", heavy 1, S8, AP-2, Dd6). Not quite as good as an assault cannon, heavy bolter, or lascannon in regards to dealing with Infantry and Monsters/Vehicles (respectively), but still pretty good at both of those roles. 
**Similar to heavy bolters, this weapon has a unique stratagem. Flakk Missile deals d3 MW's as well, but only against Aircraft targets. 
**'''Hunter-Killer Missile:''' A single-use 48", heavy 1, S10, AP-2, Dd6 missile for 5pts, just in case you didn't have enough anti-tank. The vast majority of your ground-based non-Dreadnought Vehicles can have one. Ironclad Dreadnoughts can take two, and Leviathans can have three.

===Other Common Weapons===

*'''Assault Cannon:''' 24" Heavy 6 S6 AP-1 D1. Haha minigun go brrrt. Not hard to find, available as a Terminator heavy weapon and Dreadnought option. Twin-linked variety is on Razorbacks, Land Speeders, Land Raiders, and most Aircraft.
**'''Onslaught Gatling Cannon:''' 24" Heavy 8 S5 AP-1 D1. Found on multiple Primaris armoured platforms as a secondary weapon, and puts the hurt on infantry. 
**'''Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon:''' 30" Heavy 12 S6 AP-1 D1. Mounted on Redemptor Dreadnoughts, Repulsors, and Gladiators, the bigger brother of the onslaught cannon that does everything better.
*'''Ironhail Heavy Stubber:''' 36" Heavy 4 S4 AP-1 D1. A weird GW trend of putting stubbers on the hover tanks, but better than a storm bolter or the Imperial Guard heavy stubber. 
**'''Icarus Ironhail Heavy Stubber:''' As above with +1 to hit {{W40Kkeyword|Aircraft}}. Realistically too weak to actually deal damage to Aircraft, however. 
*'''Fragstorm Grenade Launcher:''' 18" Assault d6 S4 AP0 D1, blast. Boltstorm Aggressors come with one, the Redemptor Dreadnought can swap its two storm bolters for two of these, and they can also be found on most of the Primaris tanks (the Repulsor can have a whopping ''five'').
*'''Krakstorm Grenade Launcher:''' 18" Assault 1 S6 AP-1 Dd3, meaning this is the same grenade launcher your Scout Bikes and some others get (as do the Imperial Guard), minus the frag profile ''and'' with -6" range.  Apparently [[Belisarius Cawl|Cawl]] decided to festoon a bunch of his vehicles with a gun so bad he had to invent it, as the Imperium's worst guns were already too good; it's commonly found on a bunch of his grav vehicles.

===Relics===
If your Warlord is a Space Marine Character, you can give one Character a Relic, absolutely free. Weapon Relics can only be taken by a unit that can take the weapon it's based on and you have to pay for the base weapon (e.g. a Terminator Captain does not have access to a chainsword and thus cannot take the Teeth of Terra). The Relic of the Chapter Stratagem can be used for extra relics, number depending on the size of the game.

Named Characters and {{W40kKeyword|vehicles}} cannot be given a Relic. But only [[That Guy]] would try to force a Chaplain Dreadnought into the Armour Indomitus or something like that. But, hey, if you're playing Marines, odds are you're at least halfway to That Guy status.

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*'''Bellicos Bolt Rifle:''' Replaces a master-crafted auto bolt rifle. 24" Assault 4 S5 AP-1 D2. 
** The Primarch's Wrath, but for Primaris, that doesn't need Bolter Discipline for four shots. Chuck it on a Captain or Lieutenant in your gunline. 
*'''Benediction of Fury:''' Replaces a Crozius Arcanum. S+2 AP-2 D3, unmodified wound rolls of 6 do a mortal wound in addition to other damage. 
**With Mantra of Strength and the right Warlord Trait, your Chaplain will become as deadly as he is in the fluff. [[Asmodai|''REPENT, HERETIC! *B O N K*'']].
*'''The Burning Blade:''' Replaces a power or master-crafted power sword. S+3 AP-5 D2. 
** Where the Teeth of Terra hits more often, the Burning Blade hits harder and nullifies all armour saves. This is ''really'' a relic blade with better AP (AP-3 vs AP-5), which means it's usually a waste of a relic slot, although some chapters have weapon relics which are even worse.  For most wielders and most targets, the Teeth of Terra is ''better'', and most of your army that can take a relic can take at least one of the Teeth of Terra, a Master-crafted Thunder Hammer, or a specific relic from their <Chapter> or Chapter Command that's better.
*'''Lament:''' Replaces a master-crafted stalker bolt rifle. 36" Heavy 1 S5 AP-2 D3, successful wounds inflict a mortal wound on top of that.
*'''The Primarch's Wrath:''' Replaces a boltgun, master-crafted boltgun, or special-issue bolt carbine. 24" Rapid Fire 2 S5 AP-2 D2. 
**Can be useful for those officers buffing your ranged units. One of the few relics that benefits from Bolter Discipline. The gold standard by which bolter relics are judged Since all specific chapters can take this instead of a chapter specific one they might have.
*'''Purgatorus:''' Replaces a bolt pistol or heavy bolt pistol, so it's better when it replaces a bolt pistol. 18" Pistol 3 S5 AP-3 D2. 
**Generally the most useful on something without a ''real'' gun, like an Apothecary, or even a Smash Captain, if you really want to improve his dakka.
*'''Teeth of Terra:''' Replaces a chainsword. S+1 AP-2 D2, and bearer gains +3A with this weapon.
**Good against hordes, better against multi-wound Infantry like Marines and Characters. Fun fact, this weapon is exactly the same as the Alpha Legion Relic, Blade of the Hydra.

There are two relic weapons not listed in the codex, but instead ''every'' chapter has them as chapter-specific relics (for first founding chapters, these are special-issue wargear all successors can take, and Deathwatch simply includes them in the relic list).

*'''Digital Weapons:''' Make an additional attack when the model fights. If it hits, the target suffers a mortal wound. ''Never'' take this; anything good enough in melee to warrant a melee relic is better off with something else, like a Master-Crafted Weapon.
*'''Master-Crafted Weapon:''' +1D with one of the bearer's weapons, which is then considered a relic. A Master-Crafted Thunder Hammer is the gold standard by which melee relics are judged, and most of them can't compare.
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*'''Ghostweave Cloak:''' {{W40kKeyword|phobos}} model with a Camo-Cloak only. Passes though models when moving, advancing, or falling back, and enemy units suffer -1 to their hit rolls against the bearer. 
**Give it to a Stealth Adept Captain to make him as difficult to kill as [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly8hMwNkR0E Remo Williams].
*'''Reliquary of Gathalamor:''' Primaris only, because fuck you.  Enemy Psykers must subtract 1 from Psychic Tests made within 18" of the bearer. In addition, if the psychic power is not successfully manifested, roll a D6. On a 4+ the Psyker that attempted to manifest that psychic power suffers d3 mortal wounds. 
**Niche, but useful to protect your units if your meta is Psyker-heavy, especially if you didn't bring Psykers of your own (like Black Templar).
*'''The Armour Indomitus:''' Bearer gains +1W Sv2+, and once per game ''before taking a save'', you can also activate a 3++ invulnerable save until the end of the turn. 
** One of the few ways to get a 3++ invulnerable save and of more use to those in power armour. A good panic button for those Characters you put into high-risk situations. 
*'''The Honour Vehement:''' Friendly {{W40kKeyword|<chapter> Core}} units with the Shock Assault ability (which is all of them) within 6" always get the +1A instead of having to meet the criteria. Useful for ongoing combats.
*'''The Shield Eternal:''' Replaces a storm shield, relic shield, or combat shield So available only to Captains, Terminator Librarians (Legends), and Company Champions (and Space Wolf Lieutenants on Thunderwolves or in Terminator Armor). It's a Storm Shield that also offers the same 5+++ as an Adamantium Mantle, which has no pre-requisites So it's best used on something with a combat shield that can't take a storm shield, namely your Company Champion.
*'''Standard of the Emperor Ascendant:''' {{W40kKeyword|Ancients}} only. Boosts the range of the Standard Banner ability to 9" and friendly {{W40kKeyword|<chapter> Core}} units within 9" re-roll Morale Tests.
**This certainly changes its uses quite drastically from the auto-take it was in 8th edition to something more niche. Example uses include keeping Crusader Squads from suffering under Morale Tests.
*'''The Vox Espiritum:''' {{W40kKeyword|Primaris}} only. +3" to their Aura abilities (max of 9"), excluding psychic powers. 
*'''Tome of Malcador:''' {{W40kKeyword|Librarian}} only. He knows one additional power from any discipline he has access to.
**Non-named librarians always have access to ''two'' disciplines - their datasheet lists Librarius, and their supplement says they ''also'' have access to the chapter's discipline.  That means the Tome can be used to take a Librarian with powers across two different disciplines, which is often useful, as many disciplines, including Librarius, often suffer from failing to have two powers useful in the same context.
*** As per 02/06/21, FAQed into oblivion, as now it "just" gives one extra power from the discipline you chose your Librarian to know without allowing  you to pick one from another discipline they had access to. 
** Utility depends heavily on your specific chapter's relics and discipline - for example, Salamanders functionally have this but better.

There are two pieces of relic wargear not listed in the codex, but instead ''every'' chapter has them as chapter-specific relics (for first founding chapters, these are special-issue wargear all successors can take, and Deathwatch simply includes them in the relic list).

*'''Adamantium Mantle:''' 5+++ Feel No Pain.  Works on mortal wounds So can be useful for making a Librarian perils-resistant, or for making anyone extra sniper-proof beyond what even an Apothecary can offer; completely overlaps with the Chaplain litany and Successor Tactic for 5+++ vs mortals So don't bother mixing them.  
*'''Artificer Armor:''' 2+/5++. Excellent on Lieutenants and Librarians who don't get invulnerable saves to start. Or, throw it on a Sergeant with your chapter-specific strat for doing so.
**On any Sv3+ dude, this is literally a combat shield only because it's not ''named'' that it will stack with both combat and storm shields for a net Sv1+.  This is a genuine waste of a relic if you use it to save points on something that could just take a combat shield.
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