Howdy:

Dave (of forum fame) was nice enough to give me and a mate a demo of EA this week and I absolutely fell in love with the game. I'm going to start playing with Vanilla Space Marines and wanted some comments on a very basic 3K list:

Incompertus, 3000 POINTS
Codex Astartes (NetEA Compendium 1.1)
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TACTICAL DETACHMENT [300]
6 Tacticals, Rhinos

LAND SPEEDERS [200]
5 Landspeeder

THUNDERHAWK [200]

ASSAULT DETACHMENT [225]
4 Assault Units, Chaplain

ASSAULT DETACHMENT [175]
4 Assault Units

WHIRLWINDS [300]
4 Whirlwinds

SCOUT DETACHMENT [175]
4 Scouts, Sniper

THUNDERBOLT FIGHTERS [150]
2 Thunderbolts

TACTICAL DETACHMENT [400]
6 Tacticals, Rhinos, Supreme Commander

DEVASTATOR DETACHMENT [250]
4 Devastators, Rhinos

TERMINATOR DETACHMENT [350]
4 Terminators

VINDICATORS [275]
4 Vindicators


Planned on placing the Assault Marine detachments in the Thunderhawk, otherwise I believe the list is reasonably straight forward. Is this a good point to start? Is there anything I need to add/substract to have a good base to learn the game's mechanics?

Thanks in advance for any comments!

That ought to get you pretty comfortable with the rules I think. Perhaps add in a Warhound at some point to fool around with WEs. And Drop Pods are always fun to play with once you've had a few games.

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Dave

Blog

NetEA Tournament Pack Website

Squats 2019-10-17

That's a good start for a list. The most glaring weakness however is in AA. Adding in some hunters (as expensive as they are points-wise) is advisable, or at least another FM of t-bolts. Dave has been able to use vindicators to good effect, but on these forums you're going to get grief for putting them in your list b/c they're "pants".

EDIT: although looking back on what you're looking for, game-mechanic wise yeah it covers most of the bases except for WE's. It should demonstrate the advantage of high activation count too

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Let us playtest like the Greeks of old... You know the ones I mean

Good solid list you have there. I would sacrifice one activation though and bring in some Hunters for more AA cover.

Hi, and welcome to E:A.

Your list will give you a good start to the game as others have said. If possible, I would recommend trying to play against Orks or Imperial Guard for your first few games to learn the strengths and weaknesses of the Marines. Then try experimenting with other themes (some may work, others may fail dismally) to find the style of play that suits you. By that I mean going for a more air-assault list, or including more armour, or using Titans etc. Try to find ways of using the in-built strategic flexibility by playing in different terrains etc. Equally, try experimenting with the other Marine commanders; the Librarian in Devestators, Chaplain in Terminators or Assault Marines (as you have), Captain with the Tacticals etc.

Above all, have FUN - (good luck is also usefull)

one thing I gota say is that your BTS is also your SupCom... not the greatest thing.

Hard to avoid with SMs. Tacticals are best for SCs due to the higher model count, but they're often BTS too. It's something to watch, but not the end of the world.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

I usually aim for this. Sometimes you might hold a BTS or SC back to protect it at the expense of it's offensive firepower. When they're both the same formation it's usually not a huge deal, but if they're two it can really start to affect what you can do with your army. I've been playing it this way for a couple of years now and it hasn't steered me wrong with Marines. Plus it's kind of fluffy.

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Dave

Blog

NetEA Tournament Pack Website

Squats 2019-10-17

I also play vanilla marines against Dave & company. I've really only been playing for about a year-and-a-half but have gotten fairly decent with them.

That's a good starting list you have, actually not too far off from what I take, but here are some of my thoughts:

As others have said here, you should take some hunters...at least two...limit where your opponent can fly and make him think twice about where his aircraft can hit.

I usually only take one Tactical Detachment. Mostly just personal taste, Tacticals are expensive at 300 pts and I like to take more specialized units.

You might want to think twice about the strategy of putting 2 Assault Detachments in the Thunderhawk. There are some armies in Epic designed for close combat (like Orcs and Tyranids) that will hit you back as hard - or harder - than you hit them. I'd do 1 assault and 1 devastator. (Also, it seems whenever I hit with assault marines & chaplain out of a Thunderhawk, the chaplain NEVER hits with his macro, and ALWAYS dies before rolling for combat resolution.)

I don't take Vindicators. First off, I flat-out don't have the models, but I also don't picture them as being all that effective and I instead spend the points on anti-armor Predators. No doubt Dave can argue with me and point out the value of Vindicators, they're just not my thing.

Terminators - I (almost always) never leave home without them. But the smart way to play Terminators is to not have them teleport in until turn 2 - to limited how much opponent scouts can move out - and you really want to hit hard and really stack the odds in your favor where they hit. I always take a chaplain with terminators to give that extra macro in HtH and the extra +1 in combat resolution. As others around here can attest to, I have an uncanny ability to hit with at least 3 out of 4 close combat attacks, and then hit with all 5 macro attacks - which can really mess a unit up!
The big downside to Termies is after hitting hard, they aren't really very mobile so you want to have them come in somewhere that they can affect the game after their initial attack -- maybe even pick them up in your Thunderhawk at end of turn 2 so they can redeploy and hit again in turn 3.

One unit of scouts is good, but 2 are better. I usually don't take the sniper upgrade for scouts - again, matter of personal taste but I just find it never works and I can better spend those points elsewhere - but 2 units of scouts can ZoC a lot of the enemy and really mess with his plans.

As Dave said, Drop Pods can be a lot of fun but I'd hold off until you get a good feel for the game. They take a lot of foresight and planning, and even then things don't always work out right and you end up with your ass hanging out. Also, if you play in a tournament or something where you have to write up for list beforehand with no idea who you are going to fight - and then end up going against Tyranids or Orcs - having drop pods is just playing into your opponent's hands. I've played with drop pods, they're fun and Dave really knows how to play them well, but I don't think I've won a game with them.

Hopefully you'll be able to make it to our next big gathering

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That's not a moon....it's a space station....

I remember Dave said he was going to give a demo game. I'm glad you like E:A. Having another regular player is always a good thing.

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"I don't believe in destiny or the guiding hand of fate." N. Peart

Good to hear - I can never understand why this isn't the reaction everyone has the first time they play Epic, it's such as good game

Your list looks nice, and great for learning the game. In my experience, loaded thunderhawks, terminators and warhounds tend to be the most terrifying things in a space marine force (you see a lot of them in tournament armies), but there's no need to max out on them when you're learning the game.

Hope you enjoy getting into the game