Warhammer 40K: The Game’s 5 Best Battleline Units
Goatboy here to talk about 40K’s best Battleline units for your army – right now in late-2024 10th Edition.
Battleline units can define an army or at the very least show up in almost all their builds. They are probably not the best, but at the very least they are useful for the army at hand. Let’s bust out the 40K App, look through some army lists, and figure out the strongest choices we have in 40K 10th Edition right now.
First some ground rules. I am going to look at “true” Battleline units that can show up in most armies and are not those limited to becoming Battleline via a detachment choice. A lot of the time some specific builds can activate off of a specific set of choices a detachment gives you and while it is cool it isn’t nearly as good for a best-of.
5. Chaos Space Marine Legionaries
Almost every CSM army has a unit of these Plastic Dudesmen, as they can do a lot for very little points. They are kitted out to be pretty mean in close combat, which helps you “recover” more than their points worth when they crash into an enemy’s army. I find them to hit the perfect spot of: cheap enough with cool options to make them a worthwhile choice in your CSM lists.
4. World Eater Jakhals
Look I really hate these models but have found a single unit to be amazing, each game I play them in. They can sticky an objective, and have enough staying power to survive mortars and other no-LOS shooting. Jakhals are just a pain in the butt when a sneaky character comes in. I just like the fact they can take a charge and not really die quickly. This allows any of my other World Eaters choices to come back, clean up the mess, and bring bloody justice to the tabletop.
3. Thousand Sons Rubric Marines
Did you know a 5-man squad is only 105 points and it gets you a caster, some dangerous flamers, powerful interactions, and a tough body? Did you know you can take them as an ally in CSM and they can get the detachment rule powers? Did you know they are one of the building blocks for Thousand Sons lists that are pains in the butt in the tournament scene?
2. Adepta Sororitas Battle Sisters Squad
I know you won’t see 20+ Sisters on the tabletop, but a single squad that can be split into two and thrown into 2 Immolators seems to be key to a lot of lists. Heck, I just finished painting two of them for a Client and his Imperial Agents army. You have the ability to take a unit, overload one side with Meltas, shove them into said Immolator, and then profit as you have two tanks, two units that can sticky objectives, and a ton of damage that can be a pain in your butt.
1. Black Templar Crusader Squads
Hey I heard hordes of 2-Wound bodies running around the tabletop can be a problem. You also mix that in with some mean characters, lots of stack rules interactions, and damage potential and you got a majority Battleline army that can wreck faces. Crusader Squads are right on the line of maybe making a Battleline option too good. They can be a problem as 100+ Marines that can get all the fun rules we get to give Battleline in missions might be a bad thing. If waves of Angry Marines in Black Armor is your thing, the Black Templars is the army for you.
What Battleline units are your favs?
