Codex: Space Marines 1500 and 2000 points lists

[PD78]

I posted a 1000 point list a while ago, but I made three lists for my friend in kind of an escalation format so he has an idea of what to buy as he builds his collection. So here are the 1500 and 2000 point lists - I'm not sure if I should go for a 2500 point list too, since when I played last the gold standard was 1850 points. Is that still the case?

 

Anyway, here's the lists:

 

1500 point Codex: Space Marines list (73 PL)

 

HQ (6 PL, 106 points)

Terminator Captain; Storm Bolter, Relic Blade, The Honor Vehement, Warlord, Iron Resolve (106 points, 6PL)

 

Elites (36 PL, 697 points)

Venerable Dreadnought "Enterius"; Twin Autocannon, Dreadnought CCW w/ Storm Bolter (122 points, 6 PL)

(Transport) Lucius Pattern Dreadnought Drop Pod (6PL, 80 points)

 

Terminator Assault Squad "Mortuus"; Sergeant with LCx2, Teleport Homer, 4x Terminator Assault Marines with LCx2 (165 points, 9 PL - Captain rides with these guys)

(Transport) Stormraven Gunship; Twin Assault Cannons, Hurricane Bolter x2, Stormstrike Missile Launcher x2, Typhoon Missile Launcher (330 points, 15 PL) 

 

Fast Attack (4 PL, 90 points)

Suppressor Squad "Muscare"; Sergeant with Accelerator Autocannon, Grav-chute, Frag/Krak grenades, 2x Suppressors with Accelerator Autocannons, Grav-chute, grenades (90 points, 4 PL)

 

Troops (23 PL, 519 points)

Tactical Squad "Decimus": 3x Boltgun/BP+CCW, 1x Grav Gun, 1x Sgt w/ Grav Pistol+Power Maul, Frag/Krak grenades (82 points, 4 PL)

(Transport) Razorback w/ TL Lascannon, Hunter-Killer Missile (116 points, 5 PL)

 

Tactical Squad "Deimos": 3x Boltgun/BP+CCW, 1x Plasma Gun, 1x Sgt w/ Plasma Pistol+Power Fist, Frag/Krak grenades (85 points, 4 PL)

(Transport) Razorback w/ TL Lascannon, Hunter-Killer Missile (116 points, 5 PL)

 

Infiltrator Squad "Furtivus"; Infiltrator Sergeant with Marksman Bolt Carbine, Frag/Krak grenades; Infiltrator Helix Adept with Marksman Bolt Carbine, Frag/Krak grenades; 3x Infiltrators with Marksman Bolt Carbines, grenades (120 points, 5 PL)

 

Heavy Support (4 PL, 84 points)

Eliminator Squad "Arcus"; Eliminator Sergeant with Camo Cloak and Las Fusil; 2x Eliminators with Bolt Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloak, Frag/Krak grenades (84 points, 4 PL)

 

Total: 1496 points, 73 PL

 

My thoughts:

 

This is a much more balanced list than the 1000 point list I made for him. It builds on the 1k list, but with models he already has (he bought two "start collecting" boxes of Space Marines and I tried to use all of those models in the lists), so I don't know how it'll perform on the table. My gut says it should do fairly well; it has a lot of shooty elements, some dedicated assault elements that either have the transport to get in close or can deep strike behind enemy lines, and - for the most part - it doesn't lack mobility or flexibility and has a more reasonable balance of death star to everything else. It still uses MSU for the infantry though, and I'm not sure how I feel about three-model squads. Basically, anything that can kill marines will have a field day with the small units and forced morale saves due to taking losses (does ATSKNF still prevent them from falling back/running away? I'm not sure and my friend took his rulebooks with him when he left for the weekend).

 

Here's the 2000 point list:

 

2000 points Codex: Space Marines (105 PL)

 

HQ (6 PL, 106 points)

Terminator Captain; Storm Bolter, Relic Blade, The Honor Vehement, Warlord, Iron Resolve (106 points, 6PL)

 

Elites (36 PL, 697 points)

Venerable Dreadnought "Enterius"; Twin Autocannon, Dreadnought CCW w/ Storm Bolter (122 points, 6 PL)

(Transport) Lucius Pattern Dreadnought Drop Pod (6PL, 80 points)

 

Terminator Assault Squad "Mortuus"; Sergeant with LCx2, Teleport Homer, 4x Terminator Assault Marines with LCx2 (165 points, 9 PL - Captain rides with these guys)

(Transport) Stormraven Gunship; Twin Assault Cannons, Hurricane Bolter x2, Stormstrike Missile Launcher x2, Typhoon Missile Launcher (330 points, 15 PL) 

 

Fast Attack (24 PL, 319 points)

Suppressor Squad "Muscare"; Sergeant with Accelerator Autocannon, Grav-chute, Frag/Krak grenades, 2x Suppressors with Accelerator Autocannons, Grav-chute, grenades (90 points, 4 PL)

 

Land Speeder Tempest Wing "Volitus"; 2x Land Speeder Tempest with Assault Cannon, Tempest Salvo Launcher (16 PL, 174 points)

 

Land Speeder "Velocitus"; 1x Land Speeder with Heavy Bolter (4 PL, 55 points)

 

Troops (23 PL, 519 points)

Tactical Squad "Decimus": 3x Boltgun/BP+CCW, 1x Grav Gun, 1x Sgt w/ Grav Pistol+Power Maul, Frag/Krak grenades (82 points, 4 PL)

(Transport) Razorback w/ TL Lascannon, Hunter-Killer Missile (116 points, 5 PL)

 

Tactical Squad "Deimos": 3x Boltgun/BP+CCW, 1x Plasma Gun, 1x Sgt w/ Plasma Pistol+Power Fist, Frag/Krak grenades (85 points, 4 PL)

(Transport) Razorback w/ TL Lascannon, Hunter-Killer Missile (116 points, 5 PL)

 

Infiltrator Squad "Furtivus"; Infiltrator Sergeant with Marksman Bolt Carbine, Frag/Krak grenades; Infiltrator Helix Adept with Marksman Bolt Carbine, Frag/Krak grenades; 3x Infiltrators with Marksman Bolt Carbines, grenades (120 points, 5 PL)

 

Heavy Support (16 PL, 359 points)

Eliminator Squad "Arcus"; Eliminator Sergeant with Camo Cloak and Las Fusil; 2x Eliminators with Bolt Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloak, Frag/Krak grenades (84 points, 4 PL)

 

Predator with Predator Autocannon, Lascannon x2, Hunter-Killer Missile, Storm Bolter (183 points, 8 PL)

 

Thunderfire Cannon; Techmarine Gunner with Bolt Pistol, Servo-Harness, Plasma Cutter, Flamer, Servo-Arm x2; Thunderfire Cannon (92 points, 4 PL)

 

Total: 2000 points, 105 PL

 

My thoughts: This takes the previous list and builds more speed into it and some more long-range punch. Predators and speeders are tried-and-true Space Marine staples that I don't think will ever go out of style; plus, my roommate said (and I quote), "I want a tank. Put a tank in the army" so I gave him a tank, heh. I think he wanted a Vindicator, but those things always die on turn one, in my experience, and are little more than expensive fire magnets. So I gave him a Predator instead.

 

As far as how it'll perform on the tabletop, again, I don't know, but my gut says "pretty good". It has long range punch that'll pose a credible threat to monstrous critters and vehicles alike, snipers to take down enemy characters, objective-sitters, and enough speed to put what he needs where he needs it, whether that be assault cannon and heavy bolter fire (the vanilla speeder is just there to make up points and provide a target; when I'd put everything in the list, I was at 1945/2000 points and speeders with heavy bolters just so happen to be 55 points), tough CQC specialists, or even just delivering objective sitters to various points on the table, the list has it all.

 

The downside, still, is a low model count - including vehicles, there are only thirty-six models in the entire list. And at 2000 points, that's a major problem, especially when facing down blobs of guardsmen, cultists, or bugs, and when facing opponents with weapons that'll turn even Space Marines into a fine red mist or a thin layer of paste on the ground. I tried to make up for that with things that have heavy weight of fire (autocannons, assault cannons, and heavy bolters abound!), but it's a lot more fragile than I'd like and generally lacks models to absorb incoming damage while protecting what it needs to protect.

 

And since none of the FLGS' in my area are hosting games right now due to COVID, we can't exactly just go down there and play games with proxies or store armies to see how it'll perform.

 

Edit to add: forgot to mention who the Captain is attached to. Fixed!

Edited August 1, 2020 by PD78