Warhammer 40K – The Best Space Marine Character Melee Weapons are…
Goatboy here and will continue our 40K Space Marine talk about going over the top 5 Special Character Melee weapons in 10th Edition.
That is a lot of words to say but will go through and see the top 5 close combat weapons we have on the tabletop for the mighty Adeptus Astartes. These are the guys you don’t want to see charging your lowly Warlord as you wait for a plethora of attacks to wash over them like some kind of angry wave of doom.
5. Pedro Kantor – Fist of Retribution
This is another one of those Resin relics that somehow stuck around into 2025. I think his model is pretty nice and can easily be “updated” with some sweet super big fist, some awesome extras, and get us feeling the Crimson Fists as a true army choice. His fist comes in with 5 attacks, hitting on 2’s, strength 8, AP -3, and 3 damage which is a nice basic stat to work with.
4. Adrax Agatone – Malleus Noctum
This is a weird one as it is a pretty interesting model that I am sure is waiting for whatever that upcoming Salamanders glow-up is going to be. This guy is coming at you with 5 attacks that hit on 2’s, strength 10, AP -2, and 3 damage. If he is part of a unit he gets to reroll the wound roll which is pretty good to try and pull out that 3 damage. The only thing that is odd is seeing a 3 damage option without AP 3 in this list.
3. Darnath Lysander – Fist of Dorn
Wait this guy is still legal in the game right now? Lil’ Lysander is so small and old he feels like he is dwarfed compared to the new Terminators! Do you think will see a new model sometime soon? My magic eight ball says maybe? The little yellow old man comes in with 5 attacks, hitting on 2’s, strength 10, AP -3, and 3 damage with Devastating wounds as the extra kicker on top. The AP -3 is pretty huge as well as having flat 3 damage. If you can’t tell from this list if it ain’t 3 damage it’s bunk.
2. Marneus Calgar – Gauntlets of Ultramar
These fists that mean business throw out 6 attacks, hitting on 2+, at strength 8, AP -3, and flat Damage 3. They also just happen to have Twinlinked as well which is a whole pile of awesome in two hands that want to bring you the sweet death of jazz onto your head. This guy is going to come in hot and just wreck any “elite” style unit that gets to close to you and is great in just about any Detachment that wants to pretend to be an Ultramarine one. Oh and it’s pretty awesome he usually has some friends with him with more power weapon attacks.
1. Roboutte Guilliman – Emperor’s Sword and Hand of Dominion
Holy heck have you read these stats? The Emperor’s Sword comes in at 14 attacks, hitting on a 2+, strength 8, AP -3, and flat 2 damage as well as having Devastating wounds? If that wasn’t enough the Hand of Dominion comes in hot with 7 attacks hitting on 2’s, strength 14!@!, AP -4, and 4 damage with lethal hits? Why does it need Lethal hits you ask? Cuz when he backhands you with his Strong Hand you have to listen.
It seems the sweet spot is flat 3+ damage in this list and I think is one of the things that makes or breaks a character. If they don’t have a cascade of special rules like Devastating, Lethal, or Sustained it gets hard to really justify throwing them into your army. Most of these characters are defining how your army works and hopefully some of these Resins ones get a nice shiny update in the future.
For the Emperor!
