Eliminator

Want a way to make Space Marine Scouts both competitive and scary? Given them some actual Power Armor.

THE SHORT VERSION:

The sniper Veterans you always wanted, except they're Primaris.

THE LONG VERSION:

Eliminators are the Vanguard Primaris Marines sniper specialists. Think Scout Squads with actual Power Armor and thus, reasonable. They act as battlefield assassins for the Primaris Vanguard, using camo cloaks and specialized Bolt Sniper Rifles to pick off enemy leaders and disrupt infantry. They fulfill a long-standing gap most Space Marine armies have had since the Horus Heresy: a lack of dedicated sniper teams in power armor, just like ye olde Legion Reconnaissance Squad. Role-wise, they are heavier, more specialised sniper scouts designed to camp in cover and strike key targets from a distance (even through walls) with a range of special ammunition.

Equipment

Eliminators are full-fledged marines in stealth-modified Phobos-pattern power armor that has been stripped of some of its armor and fitted with silenced servos. In addition to their standard krak and frag grenades and Bolt Pistol, Eliminators all go to war with camo cloaks and signature (now S5!) Mk.III Shrike Pattern Bolt Sniper Rifles or Las-Fusils. And for those who play lots of video games, yes, their bolters are oversized G36s. Good thing for Games Workshop, Heckler and Koch aren't that lawsuit happy (Actually, since these only resemble overall shape and are not identical carbon copy, it is generally okay. After all, for example all cars in the same class and class segment are roughly the same overall shape. As for G-36, you may look for the story between H&K and Mexican state armoury regarding the latter's FX-05 rifle. In short - since while FX-05 is overall similar to G-36 it is not identical and thus no design patents were deemed infringed, also guns are hard to copyright in fiction in general with renamed guns that are basically a specific gun in real life constantly appearing in games if the developers or publishers can't afford the license). Their rifles can accommodate a variety of special ammunition including:

• Mortis Rounds: The default ammunition type with high damage output, good armor penetration and a chance of inflicting mortal wounds which is the standard fare for 8e snipers.
• Executioner Rounds: Specialist ammunition that is extremely accurate and ignores cover, but have reduced armour penetration and damage output. Used to eliminate foes that are completely out of sight.
• Hyperfrag Rounds: Fragmentation rounds for horde killing. No armor penetration, but basically converts your sniper rifles to a longer ranged boltgun so your special ammunition isn't wasted on Ork boyz.

The new Space Marine Codex further expands their wargear, notably adding las-fusils that are 36" Heavy 1 S8 AP-3 D3, giving them a surprisingly potent anti-armor punch, and finally giving Primaris Space Marines a way to fill the Lascannon-Devastator shaped hole in their lineup. Use Concealed Positions to drop them in cover with good firing lines, and harass enemy vehicles with your surprisingly-hard-to-shift 3 Power infantry unit.

For extra cheese, the Sergeant can also optionally be equipped with an Instigator Bolt Carbine, which enables him to use a Covering Fire ability that lets you move the entire unit immediately after firing in your Shooting Phase (Sadly, you cannot shoot and move during a Overwatch). This gives them some movement shenanigans, to move 6", possibly advance if you can force your rifle into range as it is a assault weapon, and then move 6 again. Combined with their "Conealed Positions" ability, it lets them easily take midfield objectives, do secondary's like "Engage on All Fronts" and preform actions with ease. If anything, you take them for this ability, and the rare off chance they might be able to delete a character.

Tabletop

For fluffy players of Raven Guard or Raptors who have long waited for a dedicated sniper unit other than Sniper Scouts, Eliminators are grand. Their competitive usage is yet-to-be seen, but they are notable for being one of the few infantry units in the game that can target foes outside of line-of-sight, meaning that plinking off a Guard officer behind a tall rock is now a thing.

They have the ability to use Concealed Positions, enabling them to be set up during deployment anywhere on the board that is more than 9" away from the enemy deployment zone or enemy units. This allows your sneaky snipers to set up in favorable fire positions outside of your normal deployment zone.

As a Heavy Support choice, they compete heavily with other units that could go into the slot and they lose ObSec, diminishing their value as objective campers. They are intended to be deployed as a fire support unit, not an objective holder (you have Infiltrators, Incursors, and Intercessors for that).

When entrenched in cover with their camo cloaks, they have comical durability - a 2+ save that ignores the first point of AP means that nothing short of plasma guns will even remotely threaten them at long range. At short range, they can beat a retreat from charging enemies using Covering Fire, thus avoiding any melee meatshredders. They also have the signature 2W of Primaris marines.

Although the optional las fusils give them the capability to serve in an anti-vehicle role (which is itself much needed given the near total absence of designated long-range anti-vehicle weapons among Primaris infantry), they are defined by bolt sniper rifles, which are a versatile anti-infantry weapon. With all ammunition profiles, bolt sniper rifles can target Characters at will. Their standard Mortis ammunition is a scout sniper rifle shot with AP-2 and D3 damage, instead of AP0 and 1 damage. On average rolls, Eliminators will have 2 damage per shot and a much-needed AP value for sniping. Their most unusual round is the Executioner round, capable of targeting foes entirely outside of line of sight at AP-1 and 1 damage. Executioner rounds also add an incredible +2 to hit to their attacks, meaning your snipers hit on 2's and ignore a single -1 to Hit penalty entirely. Their last round is the Hyperfrag, a Heavy D3 36" boltgun for token horde clearing, but your points really are wasted every time you don't fire at a character with these weapons. That said, Las-Fusils are still a good substitute for Lascannons as they deal a flat 3 damage instead of rolling a D6. This makes them especially deadly against multi-wound high-armor heavy infantry.

Finally, for those extra tricky targets, the Sergeant can skip shooting to instead use the Guided Aim ability, spotting targets for the other two snipers in the squad and thus giving them a +1 to both Hit and Wound rolls.

9th Edition

Hyperfrag rounds got the Blast rule, so if you find them out of position to hit a character or there is none in range you might as well pick off some chaff.

Trivia

On page 7 Vanguard Space Marine Mini-dex, Mortis rounds are described as carrying a payload of self-replicating mutagenic acid, while executioner rounds are described as self guided missiles able to navigate around cover. Care should be taken to note their crunch profiles are the other way around. (Fixed in the new Codex)