Warhammer 40K: Marines Have So Many Troops
I don’t think we’ve ever seen an army with so many useful TROOPS units as Marines.
With this weekend’s Reveal Seminar by GW, it is clear that Marines are only getting bigger, and the army with the most units in the game will now have even more tough decisions to make when building an army. But in particular, I want to hone in on TROOPS units, because this is something the game has never seen before. Take a look at the army with SEVEN Troops choices:
Meet the Troops
Intercessors
The “New Classics”. They offer a great value for their costs, and with plenty of Sergeant weapon options can spring from shooting to assault with ease.
Assault Intercessors
The “New Assault Marines”. These guys are going to hit like a ton of bricks, and have lots of options to get stuck in fast. Those melee weapon Sergeants are going to be a real threat to almost anything once they start swinging. They also have the durability to take incoming fire while they hoof it across the table.
Heavy Intercessors
Meet the “Pocket Devastators”. These guys look like they will be great for holding your backfield and blazing away at anythig that sticks its head up. They are going to be a real pain to remove with W3, but I have a feeling are a little too pricy to be used to build an entire army around.
Infiltrators
What’s not to like? They are durable, can get up in people’s faces, help with early game board control, and won’t cost you an arm and a leg. They are everything Reivers wish they were.
Incursors
The Infiltrator’s slightly different counterparts. A tad batter in melee, and they ignoring negative modifiers to their attacks. Go with whichever one of these two you like more.
Tactical Squads
Old School, but soon to be reinvented with W2. You get the special/heavy weapon options in the squad, and now won’t die instantly to incoming fire. If you dont want to go Primaris… here you go. They do look a little short these days.
Scouts
A definite maybe at this point. These have been the dirt cheap fill-ins for lists for several editions now, but we have two big caveats to see resolved:
- They may stay at W1, meaning their durability compared to all other marines will suck. They showed up as W1 on one of the 9th Ed assembly guides, but there have been typos on those.
- They may get moved to ELITES. There is circumstantial evidence of such a move from the upcoming Marine codex teaser. We will have to wait and see.
Everyone Else
Most other armies get only a handful of Troops. Several like the Necrons, or Orks only get 2. Many get 3-4, but over 5 is unheard of. The bigger issue, isn’t merely the number of TROOPS, but their utility. When you look across the Marine range, most of those units are actually useful and can find a place in a strong army. In fact many Marine players can build the vast majority of thier army exclusively of TROOPS choices, and add in a handful of HQ and specialist units for flavor.
The CORE Mystery
Then we have the latest twist. There appears to be a new Keyword called CORE. It was spotted on some new Marine datasheets (see above). While we don’t have the exact details of what it means, the latest White Dwarf reveals it is something that Marine special rules and stratagems may key off of. It’s unknown if this will directly overlap with TROOPS choices, but it may.
~Do you think these units will all stay TROOPS in the future, or should Marines have more TROOPS than the other armies?
