Horus Heresy: The Care and Feeding of Your Legion Assault Marines
New on the docket this week for Horus Heresy – Assault Marines of course! Here’s how to get the most out of yours!
With GW finally getting around to some of the major troop staples to support the wonderfully flexible Tactical Marines, I’m happy to see some speed and ferocity added to the troops slot for all legions.
Once again, I’m asking you to paint Space Marines in the age of Darkness…but with jump packs and close combat weapons. Today we’re talking about those iconic and speedy marines who are looking to bring the fight to the enemy up close.
The Legion Assault Marine – Assembly:
If you’ve built the Tactical Marines from the Age of Darkness (AoD) box, then you’re assuredly familiar with this kit. The bodies are very similar mono-pose sculpts with the addition of a jump pack and different arms. Thankfully the kit also comes with everything you’ll need to add character and grimdark charm to your your rampaging horde of dudesmen. As an avid hobbyist and bits junkie, I’m always looking for additional ways to set my models apart from the next guy. This kit comes with holsters, pistols, widgets and doodads to add to your heart’s content. If that weren’t enough they take all of the old and new upgrades bits beautifully. For me it’s worth the extra minutes to add personality to each model through the addition of bits and bobs.
You’ll need the standard clippers, files or sanding sticks and either super glue or plastic glue to ensure that your boys don’t fall to pieces. A small pinvice is always recommended for drilling out those gun barrels and possibly adding some bullet ricochet dents to the armor. The skies the limit on this kit, and I advise any Horus Heresy aficionado not drowning in models to go out and grab a box to bolster your force.
*Pro-Tip: If you happen to have some spare backpacks laying around from your tactical marines you can easily swap the jump pack and create Despoilers. For those not in the know, those are foot-slogging close combat marines. Stuff your Despoilers into a Rhino or a Spartan or any other transport and get them to a target. Despoilers are cheaper pointswise and for some Legions are the preferred choice over Tactical Marines.
Why Take Assault Marines?
I fear this answer is rather simple, “BECAUSE THEY ARE AWESOME.” In all seriousness, Assault Marines fill the gap between Tactical Marines in a Rhino and something a bit heavier like Outriders, Jetbikes and even something like Terminators in a Mini-Van (Spartan). They excel at getting to an objective quickly for capture while also being quick and flexible enough to bounce to another target and either tarpit them or remove them with the sheer number of attacks.
A Word of Warning: You want to be cognizant of what you’re throwing these guys at and be very leery of blast and template weapons that can inflict heavy losses before you reach your target. Assault Marines are simply standard marines, yes they move quickly and can stand toe to toe with other marines of a similar caliber, however they have their limits and should avoid combat with WS5 or high toughness targets that can severely reduce the amount of attacks that land and the number of wounds that land. These guys excel at removing basic marines and other lesser horde infantry like militia and thralls.
Wargear:
The truly desirable part about most of this Legion choice is the absolute slew of wargear options you get. You can build your Assault Marines for whatever their anticipated use is and tailor them for specific roles. Undoubtedly this will add points to the models. Just remember you want these guys earning their points back, don’t overly invest if you don’t plan to support them with HQs and other support units.
Assault Marines in Two Flavors
These guys are best used in large bricks of 15-20, so they aren’t being forced to take morale checks for minimal losses of 1-2 guys. Also, do keep in mind that they have the Legion Warhawk Jump Pack which is awesome in that it grants 12″ of movement to its bearer, which in turn gives them +2 inches of additional movement on charges and lets them ignore terrain. *they still take dangerous terrain tests as normal
- Cheaper the Better – Load up 14-19 Assault Marines into a troop slot and keep it bare bones. Your Sgt should have artificer armor, a power fist, and meltabombs for dealing with that pesky Contemptor of you’re in need of breaking through some stubborn armor.
- The Elite Blob – Load up 19 Assault Marines into a troop slot along with a Sgt w/ Power Fist, Artificer armor and Melta Bombs. Next, you’ll want to introduce 4 power swords to the squad and take combat shields on everybody. While expensive, this option affords you some upgraded 6++ saves due to the combat shields, and it gives the unit some teeth with the power swords. You can reduce the number of combat shields to help you meet your points cap. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to add an Apothecary to the unit either to help with a Feel No Paint save and give some additional staying power and another set of artificer armor to take armor saves on.
I think the above are really the two best options for Assault Marines, Cheaper the Better being my preference. At the end of the day, Assault Marines are just that, Marines with a jump pack. That’s nothing to shy away from. They are an excellent choice and top-notch skirmishers, but a 6++ invuln isn’t going to stop the carnage if your opponent is truly gunning to remove them. Even volleys of bolter fire from a 15-20 man brick of tactical marines can be devastating by sheer weight of fire. If you’re not hard-pressed to capture an objective turn 1 consider using Assault Marines for a counter charge or a supplementary unit to help push your other line units over the top during the assault phase.
What Legions Will Benefit?
Space Wolves – Probably the cream of the crop as far as a landing spot for Assault Marines. Its not hard to imagine 15-20 crazed Assault Marines streaking across the battlefield under the banner of the wolf. What’s not to like here? You get to move, run, and then charge all while snap-firing your pistols. On top of that, your Legion reaction is excellent for Assault Marines, if an opponent dares get within 12″ of you. Keep these guys cheap and plentiful, and you’ll be looking at plenty of victories.
White Scars – Another high mobility army that gives you +1 to your movement characteristic. This is excellent for Assault marines as this will get you into the 13″+ inch range which will give you a +3″ on the charge. Suddenly those 10″ charges are looking like 50/50 odds…those I can live with.
World Eaters – While our blood-soaked friends of the World Eaters don’t have nearly the mobility of the Space Wolves or White Scars, they make up for it by letting units like Assault Marines hit above their weight by giving them an additional attack on the charge and a legion reaction that grants a 5+++ feel no pain during an opponents shooting phase and then immediately lets them charge into combat.
Night Lords – Max out your squad size on Assault Marines and watch the tears flow. There are few things more devastating than giving your already ferocious Assault Marines an additional +1 to wound simply by outnumbering your opponents. For the lords of nightmares, Assault Marines are a match made in Space Marine Heaven.
Final Thoughts
With the end of the year rapidly approaching its been a phenomenal year for Horus Heresy. With dozens of new plastic kits hitting shelves and giving the game the accessibility that it needed to flourish, I’m excited for what the new year will bring. Assuredly we’ll be seeing more consuls and black books, but what else? This author is hoping for a Xiphon, and finally some much-needed attention to the Sisters of Silence range as well as some releases for the Mechanicum or Solar Aux.
