Warhammer 40K Hot Mess of the Year – Space Marines!
It’s been a rough time for the poster boys of the 40k Universe. So today – instead of a single unit, let’s just talk about Space Marines as a whole.
The good ole Space Marines haven’t been a fear army on the tabletop for a bit – beyond the Black/Red/Gold Blood Angels that show up from time to time utilizing their tools to compete in 9th edition. We all have a ton of Space Marines lying around the tabletop. Between the starter sets, random boxes you buy, and just trading, you should have a box or two of these stoic warriors of mediocrity.
I really think leaving these guys to wallow in the bottom ranks is a shame for 40K, as this army should be a good starting point and competing point for the game of Matched play. They really should work better – especially as a wonderfully timed option to purchase for Xmas. They are easy to collect and should be used as the example of a “decent” army to start with.
First – How Do We Make Space Marines Better?
We have a few options to make the army better. But instead of making them tougher, I think we should really look at ways to make their damage output actually good. The best way to look at this is for GW to make the Bolter an actually good weapon. AP values always help, more shots are good, and just other stacking options to allow for your blessed bullets to actually do something. I think the best way to make things unique is to give the army the ability to have some kind of Special Ammunition option. This could be something that stacks for the whole army at a single choice – or something that each unit can “burn” in a round.
Here are some ideas that range from probably being too good to something that may work. Tell me what you think is the best in the comments.
- Each wound causes an extra wound. This wouldn’t be increasing the damage it would actually be another wound to help circumvent those damage prevention abilities. Basically, the idea would be exploding Wounds so you could do some kind of cool – 6’s to wound causes an additional wound to the unit.
- Have hits cause negative effects for the unit that was struck. Things like causing a -1 to hit, -1 to Movement, -1 to Advance, and they can’t defend. You are basically shooting flash bullets, and while they are not really killing you, they can cause some kind of annoying option.
- Stacking Damage Effects. Along those lines of cause issues when hit, you could do some kind of stacking ability that is akin to “Damaging” the enemy’s army with your bullet fire, so each wave of bullets gets an extra AP or an extra +1 to wound. Just some way to cause you to plan out your shooting a bit more other than hoping they fail a ton of saves.
Fix Some Aura Options
How about just making their protection Aura options bigger? The Apothecary now has a 6″ bubble default, or maybe even make it a 5+ FNP to normal weapons and a 6+ to Mortal wounds. Give the “Chaplain” aura an everyone-is-affected Aura for some of his better options instead of just picking one unit. Maybe have some cool “order” options like the Guard where they can give some chained command abilities for targeting the enemy. Either way just something to make the army feel like a cohesive military force of super-goons ready to wreck face for the Emperor – or Roboutte.
Make Doctrines More Interesting
Doctrines were always an interesting thing, but they have really gotten worse as the game has moved on. I wonder if they should have moved away from just offensive ability and instead gotten some defensive options too. For example, say you are in the Devastator Doctrine, and you get the extra stuff there. But perhaps also gain a -1 to wound just cause you are synced up to stay locked in. This way, it isn’t just a method to make them better at killing things but a much more unique option and decision-making tree as you decide where to go. You also could get extra layers of Chapter benefits that are not just locked into killing things well.
Give Some Detachment Style Options Based On Your Choices
I don’t think you need to give more units TROOPS – but having some units or choices give you more options could be interesting. Like if you have all ELITES – they are a character-killing force, with some special rules for that. Or you have something set up to give a much more devastating punch to their weapons. This game needs Marines to punch up more, and finding more unique ways to give them rules to allow for more offensive ability at the cost of some flexibility is an interesting thing. Heck, make some specific Armies of Renown that match the Chapters Fighting style with very locked-in choices to help create awesome Marine forces of doom.
Marines Just Need Help To Be Relevant
It’s always a frustrating thing to have your “favorite” army just not work that well. Marines happen to be a lot of players’ go-to army. With so many Space Marine factions, if GW would make them better, it would just help diversify the game a bit more. Make them a uniquely interesting force with many avenues for gameplay. Then everyone would want to have a Marine army somewhere in their collection. I just don’t want to make them so tough they are not fun to play against. Instead, I would like a Marine battle to be deadly on both sides and not just the Astartes getting punched in the face over and over again.
Let us know how you would fix the unit, down in the comments!
