Hi

I want to return to Epic and considering several armies. I would love Tau but is near impossible to get a hold of without proxying most.

Seems like I may be getting my hands on a lot of Space Marines.

How viable / competitive are the Space Marines?

Compared with Orks, Imperials and Eldar?

Cheers
Draccan

pretty much every army in epic is viable and competetive..... unlike in other GW systems, the epic developers on this forum strive for balance and fairness between all armies

Some armies are slightly harder to use effectively, but they're every bit as competetive when used correctly

Marines are perhaps slightly trickier to use than Guard or Orks for example, but when you get the hang of them, they are every bit as capable as any other army of winning

There are a few poor matchups in E:A due to certain playstyles and rules mixing (Tyranids tend to struggle against eldar for example) but creative tactics (and a bit of luck) can mitigate that somewhat

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Mate,

I have been successful with Marines. I won 5 from 5 at CANCON 2012 with Codex Marines and 4 from 5 in 2013 with Space Wolves. Its a good army to play, but requires some training to get up to speed. Its not an easy army to win with like Guard.

Cheers
Aaron

Marines are good but their realtively small units can make them fragile.
I'm still learning my way through the game, being new to it myself (as you can see by my forum join-up date) and, after winning a job lot on ebay, found myself with a load of Guard and Marines. Using the experimental Net EA Saranes Expanse Crusade list I (with some assistance) put together a Marine/Guard/Titan mixed list.
While it has it's flaws but it's got the large blob Guard units to take hits, the small but mobile Marines to strike out and a couple of Warhounds to flank, harry and dash for objectives. It's very forgiving for a beginner thanks to it's flexibility (and fights as you'd expect those units to, which is great).
Having said that I think most lists are fine for beginners. Most people I've played have been very patient and helped explain the best use of my units. I'd just dive in if I were you. It won't break the bank to make a few changes later but you won't be going far wrong with Marines.
PS. You may want to throw in a warhound or two. They're great fun, effective units and, in my humble opiniion, what's the point of playing Epic if you haven't got a few Titans stomping about.

Marines are cheap as chips and readily available on eBay since so many were produced. So it's hard to go wrong with them really in terms of time and money investment. Marines are so flexible so getting started should be easy. You will probably want to get your hands on some thunderhawks and maybe warhounds before long, which are not dirt cheap but still fine.

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My main worry is that the troops are few and expensive and that you get twice the guards. I see (from an armchair perspective ) that Epic Armageddon is all about putting blast markers on units to break them and it seems to be much more easily done towards Marines than with marines.

Orks / Imperials will also have so many more troops to outflank and crossfire.

Reading the rules I am not sure marines are worth twice the points costs as imperials

Thanks all. Much appreciated. It certainly allays some fears..

Another question:

An army consisting of many standard marines, land raiders, rhinos, warlord titan(s), some command stands. How viable is that for a starter army.
And possibly 4 bike stands, 6 terminator stands etc.

How important is bikes, terminators, vindicators, whirlwind etc.?

Also a side question:
If one were to buy a couple of FW Thunderhawk transporters does it matter which of the three?
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Epic-40000/ ... ce_Marines
(differences in rules?)

There are lists that specifically have units in the list for Thunderhawk Transporters (Black Templars for instance). Which of the two models doesn't really matter in that case and is more a situation of personal preference. For lists that lack them and only take Thunderhawk Gunships (irrespective of which variant) I am sure that most opponents would not take issue with using a transporter as a gunship proxy which is one of those items to be handled in the 5 minute warmup.

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I'd suggest going for one of the transporters for one reason alone. I recently got the Gunship and, although it's a nice model, those small forward wings and heavy-bolter sponsons are very fragile. The landing gear is too but all 3 have that but the transporters look to be sturdier. Mine is still in one piece but I know it's only a matter of time before I lose a bit. As Jimmyzimms says, just tell your opponent which one it is at the start and it won't be a problem.

On your other question it's often best to take a mixture of units. Scouts are very useful (most people take at least one unit). AA can be handy but it depends on your opponent. Terminators teleporting in can make a big difference.
Although I'm relatively new at this I'd suggest going with what you have now. Mix it up as much as you can (not all tactical units, for example) and see how you get on. Chat with your opponent(s) and start tweeking as you learn how you want to fight and how each unit is most effective. There's no one answer (although few marine players seem to ignore the Thunderhawk loaded with Assault, and possibly Devastator, Marines combo, thats nasty).

IMHO I wouldn't suggest taking land raiders, I find them to be too expensive for what you get.

I ALWAYS take terminators, and often lately I have taken to putting them in a Thunderhawk and bringing them onto the battlefield at the end of turn 1 - gives them another turn of doing damage and reduces the chance of engaging with blast markers.

I've never played with a warlord Titan, but a couple Warhound titans will give you a powerful unit that is able to move quickly across the battlefield and give your opponent something to worry about.

It's important especially with marines to engage on your terms. Use your speed to engage where you think you can win, and use multiple units to support each other while you move.

I find that a marine army without any air power to be at a severe disadvantage. I'd always recommend at least one unit of fighters, and I find bombers more valuable than whirlwinds for dropping heavy ordinance.

Scouts and land speeders can be used to brutal affect to hamper your opponent's plans by constantly ZoC-ing expensive units and forcing your opponent to either deal with them, or spending another unit's activation to deal with them.

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