Defeating Space Marines

[LunaSR]

Hello!

This is my very first post so I’m sorry if I butcher anything. I’m pretty new to the 40k realm but I am very competitive. I am battling a Space Marine army, 1000 points and I was wondering if in such a small battle are there any good tactics I could use? Or are there any good ways to infiltrate space marines without losing many units?

I’m sorry if my questions are confusing or nonsense lol.

Edited May 2, 2020 by LunaSR

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

As far as I can tell, Dark Lances. Dark Lances and your mobility are your lynchpins. Don't bother deepstriking, especially not near anything killy unless your opponent's out of CP; Auspex Scan is really, really scary to deal with. To give more information than that, I'm gonna need to know what kind of Astartes you're up against. I'm not a Drukhari player, but I'm a Space Marine player who knows the general playstyles of various Space Marines and their weaknesses, and who has been stomped by Drukhari in the past. I once essentially got solo'd by a single Archon with the tankbusting pistol he can take. Durable buggers, they are.

[LunaSR]

I’m facing a custom chapter. He likes ranged tactics, but does tend to field a couple killy melee units. As far as I can see, he has a captain, a lieutenant, a tech marine, 2 tactical squads, a scout squad, 2 predator tanks, a whirlwind tank, and a company ancient.

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

The Tacticals, Captain, Lieutenant and Scouts may or may not be a big deal, based on what their loadout is, and the Techmarine and Whirlwind need to die right away, since the Techmarine keeps the Whirlwind alive and the Whirlwind can shoot out of LoS. I'd bring as much chaff infantry and as many anti-tank weapons as you possibly can. Focus the dakka the chaff affords you directly on the infantry, and blast away the HQs and vehicles with the anti-tank. Use LoS to keep your units alive, and use your mobility to get in vehicle-exploding range. Scourges are good for this, and Kabalite Warriors in a Ravager with Dark Lances for all might be good as well. My previous regular opponent liked to bring flyers, too, and I won maybe twice ever against him with my old Marines (this was pre-Supplement, but still) so consider that as well.

 

Also, remember: fun is the point, not victory, necessarily. While coming up with good combinations and list-tailoring might result in an easier victory, it feels to me like your opponent's bringing a TAC (Take All Comers) list designed to do well against a wide range of opponents. I'd try and do the same, rather than specialize and tailor. It's tempting to list-tailor, but unless your opponent's planning on a competitive game, it's probably better if you just build as good of a TAC list as possible. Hell, he brought Tacticals and Predators; he's certainly not planning on a highly competitive game. He's got a competent list, sure, but not competitive by any standards.

[LunaSR]

Thankyou! that’s actually super useful. He doesn’t like primaris, he’s stuck on his first born and I don’t blame him. Also this is really my first battle outside of Small rounds at each other. This battle will teach me the basics and hopefully learn quite a lot about both sides.

[Snazzy]

Blasters, Shredders, Dark Lances.  In that order.

 

Archon w/Hatred Eternal and Huskblade isn't too bad, especially if he can Soul Trap a character.  Succubus w/Arcite Glaive will put wounds out on the cheap.

 

Ravagers with Disintegrators are a little overrated.

[Dread]

My 1k list was a wych cult. Lelith with her unit of wyches in a raider, 2 other units of wyches in venoms, 3 reavers (which stays in reserve for that fast needed punch, 15 hellions (they can take a locking and put out the hurt, oh ya a succubus to. It's been awhile so can't remember what else was in the list but it was fun, won a few, lost a few but cover is key. Most marine players I've been up against try to dig in and will have 1 or 2 mobile units, so I had to get across the field as fast as possible which is good because this army is all about fast. Hope this helps

[WarriorFish]

Welcome to the B&C :) What sort of lists are you using, are you using all three or mainly Kabal for example? DE rely on speed and fire power which have long been effective and in 8th even more so. Which is just as well as 8th is quite killy so being a bit fragile means you need to be careful with application - DE have long been the glass hammer army of 40k.

 

Marines can muster good fire power and are durable so not the ideal opponents, but the latter is mitigated a bit with poisoned weapons. Raiders and Venoms are good, aside from protecting your squishy troops they can provide some much needed heavier fire power and of course the mobility speaks for itself. Getting in close or skirmishing is easier with them which sounds like what you're after. With Splinter Ranks are Warrior squad can put the hurt on a Tactical squad for example. They're also pretty durable by DE standards with their 5++ invulnerable save and -1 to hit, so should be able to last as long as you need them especially with a few on the board.

 

DE have a lot of nice tricks up their sleeves, from Archons up to no good to Stratagems so once you get comfortable with the army you should be giving the Marines a run for their money :) The more information you can provide the more everyone can help, and don't forget to share pictures of your army too ;)

[LunaSR]

Thankyou! I am using all of the troops I have right now, I went on a spree and bought what the store had and due to covid, I can’t get anything else atm.

As of right now, my army consists of:

 

HQs

Drahzar -120 points

Succubus (2x) - 100 points

Agonizer (2x) - 4

Archite Glave 2x) - 0

(I have two Succubus’s equipped with the same thing)

 

TROOPS

Kabalites Warriors (x10) - Dark Lance, shredder, powersword.

 

Wyches (x10) - Blast pistol, agoniser, razor flails, shardnet and impailer

 

Wyches (x10) - Blast pistol, agoniser, razor flails, shardnet and impailer

 

Wracks (x5) - Electrocorrosive whip, venom blade

 

FAST ATTACK

Reavers (x3) - powersword, heat lance, x2 splinter rifle

 

FLYERS

Voidraven bomber - Void lance x2, Voidraven missile

 

Voidraven bomber - Void lance x2, Voidraven missile

 

DEDICATED TRANSPORT

Venom - x2 splinter cannon,

[WarriorFish]

I'm no expert given my last DE game was a very long time ago, but there's a couple of things I'd look at. The first is that as a mixed detachment you wouldn't be getting your Obsession trait bonus? All you'd need is an Archon and Haemonculus and you could take a Raiding Force of three Patrol Detachments - one less Command Point but you'd be getting your three Obsessions Perhaps a bit of counts-as is in order for your HQs?

 

The other is that Wyches with no transport are unfortunately bolter bait, I imagine they get slapped about quickly in games? The Voidraven is a fantastic model with what looks like decent rules (void bomb sounds fun) but a couple of them feels "toys before boys"? Looking at the Reavers too I think this is a general thing to the list so until you can supplement your collection I'd advise trying smaller games so you don't have to pad out lists so much or make do

 

For good or ill 8th Edition is very killy, and for ordinary troopers in light armour especially so. Even with Guardsmen (just as easy to kill, half the points) it's best to keep them cheap, so this is all the more so for Warriors. The extra points make them juicier targets and chances of the Sybarite ever swinging that sword are sadly low My plan is to stick with my Guard approach - single weapon upgrade per squad; cheap but has some hitting power.

 

Wyches are a bit different, I think they want more than a single upgrade as they want to do good work when (if?) they reach combat. This also means they want a Raider to make sure they reach combat - I'm afraid you may be stuck a bit with your current collection. Perhaps dropping one to a five model squads so they can hitch a ride in the Venom?

 

Unfortunately the limits of your collection make things a bit difficult in forming a cohesive force due to the unique three way split of DE armies. Hopefully others can offer more detailed list help but I'm afraid you're stuck in some ways until you can expand. We still need pictures of the models though

[ThePenitentOne]

If you run wyches as 1x5, 1x5, 1x10 + Succubus x 2 + Reavers and make them red grief, they can advance and charge, which will help you close the deal. Putting 5 wyches in the venom is good, because red grief have a strat that lets them consolidate back to a vehicle and embark. With 2 boxes of 10 wyches, you'l only have 2 Hekatrix models and 2 of each wych weapon, which is a bummer, because the shardnet and impaler is the winner here, and if you had 5, I'd field all five of them. Since you've only got 2, put them in the 5x Units.

 

Your other stuff will have to be a patrol; I think it will still count as a battleforged army, but you won't get the coven or kabal obsessions. This isn't as bad as it sounds, because Drazhar doesn't get the obsession anyway.

 

If you cut the wracks, your kabalites could get the obsession, but I wouldn't recommend it; it would only be a patrol, so no CP and of course, you'd have to leave your wracks out because they don't have a coven HQ.

 

Once you can get stuff again, I'd go for a Haemonculus first. And then maybe a raider.

 

It's a good core though, and it can grow in a lot of different directions.