Tactica Plague Marines

[tdemayo]

When Tenebris added his Ork tactica to the sticky post at the top of the forum, I was reminded that a lot of the entries there were bare.  I suggest remedying that, by posting Tactica for the various units. I will begin by posting some thoughts on units I use often, starting with my beloved Plague Marines.  Nothing I say will be news to anyone with experience, but it might be good to have in one place for reference.  If people think this a worthy project, they or I can add additional threads on other units.

 

(Apologies if this should be in the Tactica forum instead.) 

 

So...

 

++Plague Marines++

 

Overview

 

Plague Marines are a short to medium range unit, incredibly tough, but also quite expensive. 

 

Their distinguishing features are T5 and FnP 5+.  Against weapons without Ap3+, they have an effective combined save of ~78%.  Even against weapons that negate their armor, they will save 1/3rd of the time.  They are only automatically removed by weapons which are Ap3+ AND Str 10: a very rare circumstance. 

 

In addition, Plague Marines have a panoply of other benefits: They are Fearless.  They have bolt pistols, close combat weapons, and bolters.  They have Krak, Assault and Defensive grenades.  They have poison 4+.  In short, they have all the kit a Marine could envy.

 

• Fearless means they will never run due to failed morale.  So, you don't have to worry about them behaving unexpectedly, and this removes a random factor from your army's performance.  Fearless, however, is a mixed bag.  Fearless units cannot go to ground for a bonus cover save.  They also cannot ever leave a losing combat.  They don't benefit fully from cover that might give other units a 2+ save.  And they might get sucked into uneven match ups and destroyed.
• Having bps, cc weapons and bolters means that they can shoot bolters like tactical marines, or charge like assault marines, as necessary. 
• Assault and krak grenades are pretty standard for Marines, but defensive grenades are relatively rare.  The defensive grenades remove an enemy's charge bonus.  This is a small but significant edge.
• Poison is pretty nice too.  It does nothing against a T4 foe, of course, but it gives a reroll against T3.  It also threatens any monstrous creature or whatever that relies on its Toughness.  Nothing says fun like wounding a Wraithknight as easily a tactical marine.

On the negative side, Plague Marines have a few disadvantages:

• First, they are extremely expensive.  This means that you can't take very many of them, and it skews them towards being a resilient, defensive unit, rather than an aggressive, assaulting one.
• They are I3.  So they strike after other marines in combat.
• They cannot have a heavy weapon.  I don't mind this much, as  they can have two special weapons, which is almost always better.
• They have a mediocre-to-low damage output.  Their main weapon is a bolter, which is not hugely effective, especially in the low numbers Plague Marines can bring.
• They are only a medium-capacity assault unit.  Their 2/3A, T5 and 5+ FnP will see them through assaults with most normal marines or GEQ, but it won't cut it against dedicated assault units with lots of high S or low AP weapons.
• Plague Marines are tough, but not indestructible.   They are quite vulnerable to the normal anti-Marine weapons.  High strength shooting that ignores their armor will kill them quickly.  A 5+ FnP save is not terribly reliable.  Sometimes it will work miracles.  Most of the time, by itself, it cannot protect a unit being pummeled by plasma or krak missiles.  Plague Marines are also vulnerable to massed high strength fire, such as the S6 shots Eldar can pump out, or the S7 fusillades of Tau Broadsides. Such weaponry can erase Plague Marines by simply overwhelming their FnP and Armor with lots of wounds.

Plague Marines vs CSM with the MoN

 

I recommend this thread:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/300405-plague-marines-vs-chaos-with-mon/?hl=%2Bnurgle&do=findComment&comment=3896244

 

How I Use Them

 

I've been playing Death Guard since early 3rd edition, and tried them in several different configurations over the years.

 

Plague Marines' defensive potential is far higher than their offensive one.  They aren't so good at killing, but they are good at not dying.  I try to keep them in their Rhinos as long as possible, and to disembark and keep them in cover wherever possible. They make a good reserve to support a large unit of cultists or a heavy support vehicle near an objective. They make a good counter-assault unit, too.  If I can hide the Rhinos behind cover, and swing them out to rapid fire plasma onto an advancing enemy.  Offensively, I may use a pair of units to escort an advance of, say, Bikers or an allied Knight, but I don't expect them to successfully assault an enemy position or seize an objective by themselves.

 

In 7th edition, I have come to think they are best run as a minimally-sized unit, with two special weapons, in a Rhino.  I usually give mine two plasma guns, which synergize well with their bolters.  I try to run multiple squads if I can, so that two or more  of them can concentrate their weapons on a single target. 

 

I have also often run Plague Marines at a squad strength of seven, with two special weapons and a powerfist on the champion.  This sized unit is better in assault.  Typically I drive their Rhino towards the enemy, disembark and rapid fire.  The following turn, I charge.  Seven plague marines with a pfist can usually defeat a Tactical Squad of marines, and go toe-to-toe with other 2-attack marines like Assault Marines or Sternguard.  A Pfist champion has good odds of surviving a challenge against an I4 Ap3+ Str 4 weapon like a power sword or claw, due to his intrinsic toughness and FnP save.  Plus, he's going last anyway, and should hit hard.  Although I liked this configuration in 5th edition, I think in 6th/7th the additional cost is just too high for most purposes.

 

I suppose one could also run huge squads of Plague Marines.  14 seems like a nice number, and I occasionally ran 14 infiltrating PMs in 3.5  Such a unit is really too expensive for me to contemplate seriously nowadays.  Fearless units don't benefit as much from size. I think it would have trouble remaining in cover, and the additional S4 attacks from more bolters would not match their cost. 

 

In terms of overall army composition, I find it difficult to fit more than two 5x PM squads into a 1500 point list, or four such squads in a 2500 point list.  I think they need to be leavened with cheaper units (such as cultists) for additional bodies on the one hand, and supported with more dangerous units -- both ranged and melee -- to do the actual damage.  Because of their low damage output, Plague Marines need something else in the army to do most of the actual damage, whether heavy fire support, a killy HQ unit, or whatever.  In my lists, PMs exist to not die, and to provide some moderate fire support.

[Forté]

No apologies needed and well done for sharing your thoughts on a popular squad type.

[hopkins]

5 men, 2 plasma guns, in a rhino

Drive-by shooting!

I never leave home without 2 of them

 

Don't forget those blight grenades

I've even killed the odd marine with them, despite being strength 1

Then there's that all important Blind USR, so if they fail the initiative test, you'll be swinging 1st