Pete Haines

Pete: As if consummately skilled, two-metre tall supermen in impervious armour with lethal weaponry wasn't enough to scare the wits out of the Emperor's enemies, the Adeptus Astartes can also call upon a wide range of powerful war machines to supplement their firepower. Working out what tanks to include in your Space Marine army, and how to use them, isn't always that easy though, so we figured that it was time to look at the options and give a few helpful hints and tips.

All Warhammer 40,000 armies have to fit in with the Force Organisation chart and the Space Marines are no exception. This means you will be limited to three Heavy Support choices. As tanks tend to be Heavy Support this theoretically limits you to only three, but this isn't the complete story. Land Raiders, Razorbacks and Rhinos can all be selected as transport options for your Space Marine squads so it is possible to include a lot of armoured support in even a 1,500 point army.

The most important thing to remember about using tanks in a Space Marine army is that they are there to support the Space Marines themselves. Armies which manage to integrate infantry and tanks together will be more successful than those that don't. Because of this, it will generally be a good idea to consider exactly how you want your Space Marines to fight and allocate points for them and their equipment first before being lured into spending all your points on tanks. At the very least, you will need two Troops choices and a HQ, and in all probability quite a bit more besides.

The Land Raider Crusader is one of the most powerful weapons in the Space Marine arsenal.

To illustrate this point let's consider three types of Space Marine army. Firstly, one optimised for assault, say Blood Angels or Black Templars. Secondly, a specialised firepower army such as the Salamanders or Dark Angels. Thirdly, a balanced army able to shoot or fight as the need dictates, such as Space Wolves. Codex Space Marine armies can, of course, be built to fit any of these categories. Assault armies will obviously include powerful characters in their HQ selections, as well as several squads armed for close combat, Scouts to outflank the enemy and so forth. Firepower armies may include several Tactical squads to absorb any enemy attack and protect their valuable Devastator squads. Balanced armies will inevitably do a bit of both. Having decided on the approach you plan to take, it is a lot easier to work out exactly what tanks you will need to support your other troops.

It may help if we look at the logic first from the perspective of an assault-orientated army and then from the perspective of a firepower-intensive army.

Next: Rapid Assault.