Anti Space Marine TACTICS

[joeshmoe]

What re my opponents going to use against my Assault Terminators (since they cant shoot)?

 

How are they going to try to take out my tacticals that are holding/defending objectives?

 

What are some good defensive strategies to use as a space marin player?

 

I know this is a very broad / general / newbie question. I am looking for any oddball defensive Tactics against the different armys out there including games against other Marine players. I am mostly thinking of defending our home base?

 

As an example:

 

I recently realized the cost of not having a Storm Bolter on a Vindicator concerning "weapon destroyed" results.

 

See, just little oddball Marine quirks and defensive Tactics

 

Much Thanks

[Koremu]

What re my opponents going to use against my Assault Terminators (since they cant shoot)?

Plasma Guns, Vindicator Shells, sheer massed firepower

How are they going to try to take out my tacticals that are holding/defending objectives?

Assault Terminators, more or less anything with a Power Weapon

What are some good defensive strategies to use as a space marine player?

Don't get shot, keep your Tactical Squads either off-board or in Rhinos (or both!) until you need them

I know this is a very broad / general / newbie question. I am looking for any oddball defensive Tactics against the different armys out there including games against other Marine players. I am mostly thinking of defending our home base?

The best form of defense is a horrendously violent assault.

[Tutteman]

The best form of defense is a horrendously violent assault.

 

I like this, it kind of sums up Marines. If the enemy is busy trying to react to our attacks they can't be attacking US.

 

Marines have limited numbers so it's important to make sure you can deliever what troops you have to where they're needed. This is about all I can really say :P I'm not really a tactical genius

[bystrom]

Against assault terminators, its either AP2 weaponry, or in the case of thunder hammer and storm shield terminators, more likely lasguns or other massed fire. You can't roll 2+ forever. The reason massed fire is better than AP2 against such terminators is because there are more of them, and a 3+ inv isn't that more difficult to make compared to a 2+, especially since you could shoot AP2 fire against other terminators, veterans or plain marines out in the open and any any saves instead.

 

Against tactical squads, they're most likely going to be using some sort of large blast weapon, say basilisk, or fast close combat assaulter, say howling banshees in a wave serpent. They'll need to either have a far enough reach to fire at your base, be fast enough to flank your force in the way, have Outflank or Deep-strike to circumvent your force, or just bash your force aside (which probably means you're going to lose anyways). It depends a bit on army.

 

I've been intrigued by a small firebase supporting a larger main force, say a devastator squad, combat squad with heavy weapon, rhino-filled combat squad counter-attacker and a predator, or other combination, the combat squads can take objectives near your deployment zone, while your main force will be busy with the enemy.

 

Or similarly, some sort of fire base supported by a counter-attack unit (command squad, assault squad etc.). Most recently, that idea would have worked if that bloody Avatar had died, but if you roll 18/20 4+ inv. saves, then you do (in short, I threw a chaplain+5 terminators, 5 assault marines, 10 tactical marines and 5 devastator marines and it didn't die, so my home objective was contested).

Then again, I used an attack force (aka a tactical squad with rhino) supported by some ranged firepower (4 missile launchers and a predator destructor) and took my opponent's home objective.

 

Now that I think about it, a firebase with mobile force is a bit like refused flank, which is almost like a defensive tactic. Its a lot more difficult to pull off I think in this edition, with each player deploying fully as opposed to a unit at a time, but if you deploy with a firebase at each flank, then have a more mobile center you should be able to reach out and continuously punish your opponent, who either has to split his force or focus on one. If focusing on one, then retreat with that one while the other fires away, if split, you'll have to try and focus your mobile and one firebase against a portion of his army before jumping on the rest.

 

But, as said, units move quicker than before, and with outflank, its harder setting up safe fire lanes on the sides, and if centred, then the opponent can concentrate his forces as well, which'll probably mean he'll get into close combat and beat your firepower forces.

 

There are tactics articles in the Librarium, one worth checking out is the Tactics of the Adeptus Astartes.

[Grey Mage]

What re my opponents going to use against my Assault Terminators (since they cant shoot)?

Bladestorming Dire Avengers, Firewarriors, Vindicators, Striking Scorpions, Basicly anything that can do volume of shots.

How are they going to try to take out my tacticals that are holding/defending objectives?

Dark Reapers, Snipers, Plasmacannons, Last minute speeding bikes or speeders to deny the enemy, Hormagaunts, Raveners, Vindicators and Defilers....

What are some good defensive strategies to use as a space marine player?

Always shoot when you have the chance, use terrain to block LOS, and make sure you can have atleast three options to deal with anything your enemy has.

I know this is a very broad / general / newbie question. I am looking for any oddball defensive Tactics against the different armys out there including games against other Marine players. I am mostly thinking of defending our home base?

Overlapping fields of fire and a sufficienct number of heavy weapons....

 

Or you could just kill every enemy on the board. Remember- annihilation is ALWAYS a victory condition.

[Muctar]

What re my opponents going to use against my Assault Terminators (since they cant shoot)?

Anything AP2-1 (plasma, vindicator shells, melta, etc), fast skirmishers (eldar jetbikes, land speeders, etc), or just lots and lots of massed firepower. Like bystrom said, you can't roll 2+ forever.

 

How are they going to try to take out my tacticals that are holding/defending objectives?

By focusing their firepower on the squad that is holding that is most likely to die. If there's only one, then that'll be the target. They'll then send in their close combat specialists (khorne berserkers, banshees, assault squads, anything with lots of power weapons and/or attacks) to finish them off and take the objective, or at least have a presence contesting it, forcing you to take it back.

 

What are some good defensive strategies to use as a space marin player?

Dictate the flow of the game. Keep him worrying about his home objectives and he'll most likely ignore your backfield ones. By applying concentrated pressure on your opponent, many times you will force them to pile in their most effective anti-marine units just to hold their objectives. Which means that they aren't wiping out and taking/contesting yours.

 

And...

 

QUOTE (joeshmoe @ Aug 30 2009, 04:17 PM)

I know this is a very broad / general / newbie question. I am looking for any oddball defensive Tactics against the different armys out there including games against other Marine players. I am mostly thinking of defending our home base?

The best form of defense is a horrendously violent assault.

 

Love this. My thoughts excatly. Marines are small in number, but resilient. Therefore I find they work best when concentrating on destroying one unit of an enemy at a time, then moving on once it's gone. Concentration of your power is key, and keeping that concentration focused behind his lines keeps yours relatively safe.