40K: Next Steps After Indomitus – Primaris Marines
Let’s pretend you’ve got yourself a copy of the Indomitus Box and want to build a 2000 point Space Marine Army – what do you buy next?
On Saturday, July 25th, there will be a whole slew of people with their hands on the Indomitus box. Statistically speaking, there will be a batch of them that are new players who just want to get started playing. The Indomitus box contains 1005 points worth of Space Marines. That leaves us with another 995 points to go. So what do you add next?
Now, if you’re a veteran player you can probably just check the ol’ wargaming shelf and whip-up a new list. However, if you’re brand new you’re probably wondering what to buy next. This one is for those players. Our list is simple to collect and simple to learn. It’s not a tournament ringer list but it will at least give you a solid starting point for you to tweak from there. Welcome to the hobby that is Warhammer 40,000. Your army is never really done and there is always one other unit you want to try out. That’s kind of how it goes.
First-Up, Troops
The first think you’ll pick-up on is that the box set is lacking in the troops department. Sure, sure – you can split the Assault Intercessors in to two squads and get two Troops out of it. But that won’t get you past the Patrol Detachment unfortunately.
No, we want to ideally get you to a Battalion detachment. The good(?) news is that many of your other slots are already full. HQs for example are take-up by The Captain, the Lt. and the Chaplain. So at least you won’t have to worry about those slots. No, you need troops. And there are many different ways to go around this.
You could opt for the Start Collecting! Vanguard Space Marine box. That will get you some more Troops and you’ll get some nice ranged options which is something the Indomitus Box is somewhat lacking in. It’s certainly not a bad purchase – although the Lieutenant in Phobos Armor is in an awkward (and full) HQ Spot.
This box has ~500 points, but only ~400 is usable because of the Phobos Lt. At least you’ve got another 10-man squad you can split into two 5 mans squads if you want. Alternatively, you could pick-up the Start Collecting! Primaris Space Wolves box (if you can find it). That’s a unit of Aggressors, a unit of 10 Intercessors, and a couple of Space Wolf specific sprues and a Space Wolf Battle Leader. Even if you’re not playing Space Wolves, it’s still a good deal at $95.
Let’s assume you went with the Vanguard option. Now you’ve got some more Long Range Firepower and you need something to help get your close combat elements to the front lines. Luckily, Space Marines have options. The problem is Transports took a bit of a hit in 8th.
To Transport or Not To Transport?
You could easily opt for an Impulsor as a transport option. That would allow you to toss in those Assault Intercessors and have them in a transport that can move up quickly so they and get into close-combat. They are going to run you 100 points before wargear. They don’t have a ton of shooting or armor but they will probably be able to provide some protection for at least a round.
Another option is the heavier Repulsor. These boast a surprising amount of firepower and relatively good armor. If you’re looking for an APC that might just stick around and do something else this could be another good fit. It’s going to be over 230 points after you get done, however.
What if you just wanted to go with an even BIGGER firebase and smaller transport capacity? Well then the Repulsor Executioner is for you! with a base cost of 250 points, it’s honestly pretty tempting to just say “screw it” and slam two of these on the purchase list and call it a day. They generate a lot of shooting and can be very effective! Sorry – is my Iron Hands showing? (I don’t even play Iron Hands.)
If you want to go with a Transport, any of these tanks will get the job done – it just depends on which job you want to do. Rush forward at max speed and drop off your Assault Elements? Impulsor seems like a good fit. Stay back a round or two so you can get to the assault doctrine and then slam into the enemy? Maybe go with the Repulsor/Executioner for the shooting. We’re going with the Executioner because we’re going to have to split one of those units into 5-man squads to hit our Troop minimums anyhow and they can just ride in the this tank until we need it.
The Last Chunk
Alright, we’ve spent around 650-700 points out of the 995 we had. So what’s the last chunk going to be? Well, we could opt for the safe route and just slap in another Intercessor squad. We could play it pricy and go with some Hellblasters.
Or…we could get weird. Invictor Tactical Warsuits are basically sneaky Dreadnoughts. They can do some shenanigans and you can actually get them pretty close to the front lines early on. This could be pretty useful for allowing your other elements to move up. The early game pressure from one of these models shouldn’t be underestimated. So why not two?
Yeah. Two of these with the Heavy Flamer arm should do the trick. Get them in there and start roasting units! They run ~135 base, too. So two of them will eat up 270 points before wargear. Plus they are Elites and that should round out the list in a funky way.
So what do we have?
-Start Collecting! Vanguard Space Marines Box
-Repulsor Executioner
-2 Invictor Tactical Warsuits
There is some wiggle room for wargear and options but at that point you should have right around 2000 points to play around with. Don’t forget you’ve still got that extra Phobos Lt. you can swap in if you choose. Is this the “most optimal build” – no, probably not! But it’s a place to start from. I’m sure folk will let you know their opinions in the comments section about how awesome/terrible these suggestions are. Just do yourself a favor before you buy anything: Figure out what you want to do with the army. Once you know the direction for the army, then you can go back and figure out what you’ll actually need to get the job done.
Besides – you’re playing Space Marines. You’ve got options.
What would you buy for your next steps after Indomitus?
Note: We’re basing the points off of the upcoming Munitorum Points Values. They are different that the Codex Values.
