Marines_SC_Banner2_sm — Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

The first competitive season for 40k has arrived, with War Zone: Nachmund giving us new points, missions, secondary objectives, and rules to contemplate. These rules represent a major shake-up for competitive 40k and to help you make sense of it all, we’re going through each faction and talking about how things have changed for them and how they might compete. Today we’re talking about the Adeptus Astartes.

Faction Overview

Space Marines – even when you remove the original supplement chapters like the Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Deathwatch, and Dark Angels – are one of the game’s broadest factions. Coming into the release of War Zone Nachmund we had seen some Space Marine armies on the rise, with Iron Hands and Black Templars in particular showing that they can be competitive at the top end of the spectrum, while Dark Angels, Space Wolves, White Scars, Blood Angels, and Salamanders all had varying degrees of power. That said, this level of performance was often propped up by some key units, the most notable of them being the Volkite Contemptor, Redemptor Dreadnought, and the Primaris Bike Chaplain, both of which ate increases in the new points update.

Then there are the soup and secondary changes to consider; being able to take only one faction secondary really only affects Dark Angels, who would sometimes double-up on Oaths of Moment and Death on the Wind or Stubborn Defiance. Now they’ll have to pick one. The rest of the faction secondaries for Space Marine chapters saw little use, and Oaths of Moment has always been the best of the options available to Marines. The subfaction changes also likely won’t matter much given how competitive armies are structured, though if Crusher Stampede armies continue to dominate we could see Marine armies taking an Ultramarines Detachment with Tigurius and Tyrannic War Veterans, who have the ULTRAMARINES keyword hard-coded into their datasheets.

But ultimately the outlook is pretty bleak right now for Marines; the meta is currently dominated by T’au and Custodes, the latter of which in particular just do everything Marines want to do but better. With the top Marine armies having been nerfed through some key point changes, things only got worse.

The Points Changes

The point changes were not kind to Space Marines, who did not need point hikes but got them anyway on three of their most important units: Primaris Bike Chaplains (+10), Redemptors (+10) and Volkite Contemptors (+20) all went up substantially, requiring that many lists find points they just didn’t have. Meanwhile units seeing no use – notably Devastator Centurions (-15), Storm Speeders (-10), and Gladiator Tanks (-15) saw significant dips, though only Gladiators have a solid shot of seeing play at the moment. This kind of seesaw of internal balance has a particular GW logic to it – we saw similar changes in Death Guard and Sisters – where “overperforming” units in a codex are nerfed and underperforming ones are buffed, without anyone really thinking through the whole logic chain of whether the two things are equivalent to each other.

On the chapter-specific front, Dark Angels made out the best here, seeing drops to Ravenwing Black Knights that essentially make their power picks free (-5), Darktalons (-15), and Nephilim (-15) that encourage them to see use, though how much that will happen in a post-T’au meta is unclear. Space Wolves had a significant increase on jump pack Wolf Guard (+2) that brings them back into line with Vanguard Veterans after being forgotten last time, and drops on Thunderwolf Cavalry, plus Wulfen and their wargear that will spark some interesting conversation. On the Blood Angels’ side of things Death Company units and Mephiston got a bit cheaper, which is nice but unlikely to be enough to help one of the worst-performing subfactions.

The New Missions

The missions in Nachmund are a mixed bag. On the one hand, they don’t give Space Marines any new Secondary options, and the changes to the existing secondaries and new emphasis on actions makes things significantly harder for more elite armies with small model-count units to get things done, especially if an opponent only has to take 1-2 Marines out of a 5-man squad to prevent them from scoring Engage or being able to complete an action. On the other hand, there are a whopping 6 missions with center-of-the-battlefield objectives now, and that’s great news for armies running Oaths of Moment and Stranglehold, particularly Black Templars armies going hard on nigh-indestructible Terminators and Bladeguard Veterans supported by an Apothecary.

Chapter-Specific Thoughts

All of this comes back to the fact that Space Marines aren’t one army but rather 9-10, each with different strengths. We’re not going to cover them all in enormous depth here, but we are going to offer some thoughts on how each will play and need to adjust to the new environment.

Iron Hands

Innes: Iron Hands Successors builds have been pretty popular towards the end of CA21, and I don’t see any cause for that to change in the new packet. Redemptors and Contemptors have gone up in points, but Iron Hands provide so many buffs to them (particularly March of the Ancients for the Contemptor) that if you were running them before, very little has changed due to the points increases. It may be a little more tenable to run the Librarian to provide your Redemptors a 5+ Invulnerable save again with the diminishing of Grey Knights, which was already a pretty good matchup for Iron Hands.

Iron Hands are also very well positioned to use the vehicle points decreases as Calculated Fury plus Master Artisans allows vehicles like the Gladiator and Storm Speeder to have unparalleled damage compared to other Marine chapters, while the Ironstone can keep an important single vehicle trucking. As an army that loves to abuse Oaths Of Moment, the increase in central objectives also helps Iron Hands get off the ground and I don’t expect to see them doing significantly worse than before off the back of these changes.

Dark Angels

Chase: My beloved Dangels have been hit pretty hard by this change purely from only being able to only pick one secondary from our codexes. Competitive players have been using Oaths of Moment as well as Stubborn Defiance as go-to secondaries and their play style may have to change a little bit. Right now, our forces have been rolling out very heavy in the realm of the Terminators and holding that mid-table presence. What I see changing is not Oaths from our secondary choices, but Stubborn Defiance. Oaths of moment provide our forces with an almost guaranteed 15 points. Take that against the slightly harder Stubborn Defiance, and it’s a no brainer. We are seeing ways of turning off obsec, or armies using units to challenge our home objectives purely to reset the obsec counter.

As far as point increases and decreases, the only one that is worth truly mentioning is Black Knights going down 5 points. This essentially enables them to buy their Corvus hammers for “free!” Honestly, they needed to make the hammers free as well. Black Knights at 35 points a model feels a bit like a steal, if they had some sort of close combat option. No chainswords, guys? Really?

Finally, for those of you who prefer your Dark Angels a bit more unique in my Outer Circle world, the Dark Talon and the Nephlim Jetifighter went down in cost! These two aircraft are staples for the majority of the lists I play, and to say that they were overcosted was a bit of an understatement. The Nephilim Jetfighter is basically unusable for regular Dark Angels since it has no support, whereas the Dark Talon could hover and can benefit from the Dark Angels chapter tactic. Will we see these units flooding onto the tables? No. Though, I could see min-units of Black Knights showing up again for some quick and durable engage points.

Black Templars

TheChirurgeon: The newest release of Space Marines were still hit by the points changes, and tended to depend more heavily on bike Chaplains. But the army’s key pieces – Assault Terminators with the Crux Obsidian and an Apothecary, Vanguard Veterans, and the named characters – didn’t change in costs and are still available to build around. Similar to other melee builds of Marines, Black Templars are easily outranged by T’au and potentially outfought by Custodes, and while the amount of time armies spend fighting over the middle of the table will increase, this may not benefit Templars as much as you’d expect – losing Redemptors as ranged support hurts. That said, of all the Marine armies the Black Templars are probably in the best position to weather some of the changes, owing to having the newest book. They’ve certainly seen the most initial success in the Nachmund meta.

Space Wolves

JONK: The Wolves were probably one of the armies that was hit hardest by the points changes, while they basically moved sideways on the single secondary per codex rule. I say “sideways” because this is actually a stealth buff for most Wolves players as it stops them from choosing one of the horrible secondaries from the Wolves book. Keep it simple: Oaths of Moment. The changes to missions honestly worry me as a wolves player; the new missions are more dynamic and require you to be out on the table doing actions and killing units off objectives to dominate the table and then hold this advantage through more turns than you previously needed to. Wolves thrived on projecting threat, bullying people away from objectives and dominating the board early on then holding on in the late game. Fewer points per turn for holding primaries means you’re likely to score fewer primary points per game on average. That means things will need to change to change to compete in this new world.

Army construction-wise, Wolves relied on the Redemptors, Primaris Bike Chaplain and Wolf Guard; these are core units and the points increases here basically make you drop 2 cyberwolves from the list right off the top. Speak with any top-tier wolves player and they will explain to you in depth how important those cyberwolves are to the lists.

Overall I think Wolves will see a decline in win rate for the foreseeable future when you combine all of this together. But that’s how it goes; it’s time for Wolves players to go back to the drawing board and find something that will work in this new game – that’s half the fun of the game in the first place.

White Scars

Innes: White Scars have been in a rough place for a while, and a lot of success that I was seeing was off the back of the two Dread Chassis which were hit in the points changes. With Hunter’s Fusilade as a mobility tool and the general fighting power of White Scars they provided solid shooting to back up the late game brawling of the army. In a meta where the game starts getting punchy much earlier, and your shooting is more expensive, I definitely think these changes hurt White Scars quite a lot. As a struggling army that’s never what you want to hear, but very little of what White Scars want to do lines up with the meta at present, despite what I assume will be an increase in midfield brawling.

White Scars struggle when put on the defensive and so many armies outrange their combat threat that you relied on Dreadnought shooting to force the closing, and losing 30-60 points out of those builds will generally cost you a full combat unit due to the high price of Marines. Overall sad times for the White Scars.

Deathwatch

Rob: Ultimately the points changes don’t affect Deathwatch as much as other Marine chapters owing to the fact that recent Deathwatch armies had begun to focus more on the Kill Team Strike Force army of renown, which doesn’t take dreadnoughts and may only sport a single Primaris Chaplain on Bike. The Redemptor-heavy builds of the faction will need some rethinking however, as they’re losing too many points in an army that’s already straining to get as many models as it can with the points it has. But finding 10 points for a Bike Chaplain? Very doable. The problem – same as with most of these – is that marines just aren’t quite good enough to cut it in the current meta.

Building Some Lists

With that out of the way, let’s look at some lists for the Adeptus Astartes that have seen success since the Nachmund changeover. Of course, true success at the GT level in a meta dominated by T’au and Custodes is a bit too much to ask at the moment, bu there have still been some lists that have almost gotten there, and are likely to put up a respectable fight when played well.

Deathwatch

Michael Costello took this list to a 6-1 finish at the 2022 Beachhead Brawl. It runs off the Kill Team Strike Force Army of Renown and is Michael’s latest iteration on the list. The list includes three big, nasty Proteus teams as the core, then a dakka-heavy Aquila Indomitor team to hose down things like Crusher Stampede nasties, and a new addition of a Spectrus team, which adds a bit of flexibility and some more first-turn charge potential when dealing with super-deadly shooting armies like Tau.

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Imperium – Adeptus Astartes – Deathwatch) [107 PL, 8CP, 2,000pts] ++

Army of Renown – Kill Team Strike Force
Chapter Selection: Deathwatch
Stratagem: Relics of the Chapter [-1CP]: Number of Extra Relics [-1CP]

+ HQ [18 PL, -2CP, 360pts] +

Captain on Bike [6 PL, -1CP, 115pts]: Dominus Aegis, Frag & Krak grenades, Lightning Claw [5pts], Storm shield [10pts], Stratagem: Hero of the Chapter [-1CP], Twin boltgun
. 5. Castellan of the Black Vault: Master-Crafted Weapon

Primaris Chaplain on Bike [7 PL, -1CP, 150pts]: 5. Recitation of Focus, 6. Canticle of Hate (Aura), 6. The Ties That Bind (Aura), Absolver Bolt pistol, Chapter Command: Master of Sanctity [1 PL, 25pts], Crozius arcanum, Frag & Krak grenades, Litany of Hate, Stratagem: A Vigil Unmatched [-1CP], The Beacon Angelis, Twin Bolt rifle, Warlord, Wise Orator

Primaris Librarian [5 PL, 95pts]: 1. Premorphic Resonance, 2. Fortified With Contempt, Bolt pistol, Force sword, Frag & Krak grenades

+ Troops [89 PL, -1CP, 1,640pts] +

Indomitor Kill Team [20 PL, 375pts]: Aquila [1 PL, 15pts]
. 4x Aggressor w/ Boltstorm Gauntlets/Fragstorm Launcher [8 PL, 180pts]: 4x Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets, 4x Fragstorm Grenade Launcher [20pts]
. Heavy Intercessor Sergeant [28pts]: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Hellstorm Bolt Rifle
. 4x Heavy Intercessor w/ Hellstorm Bolt Rifle [8 PL, 112pts]: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades, 4x Hellstorm Bolt Rifle
. Inceptor w/ Assault Bolters [2 PL, 40pts]: 2x Assault Bolters

Proteus Kill Team [18 PL, 335pts]: Dominatus [1 PL, 20pts], Jump Packs [1 PL, 3pts]
. Black Shield [1 PL, 37pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Thunder hammer [12pts]
. Deathwatch Terminator [2 PL, 43pts]
. . Thunder hammer and Storm shield [10pts]: Storm shield, Thunder hammer [10pts]
. Deathwatch Terminator [2 PL, 43pts]
. . Thunder hammer and Storm shield [10pts]: Storm shield, Thunder hammer [10pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Deathwatch Combi-flamer [5pts], Frag & Krak grenades
. Vanguard Veteran [2 PL, 24pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Veteran Biker [2 PL, 30pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Watch Sergeant [35pts]: Frag & Krak grenades, Heavy thunder hammer [15pts]

Proteus Kill Team [19 PL, 345pts]: Jump Packs [1 PL, 3pts], Malleus [2 PL, 30pts]
. Black Shield [1 PL, 37pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Thunder hammer [12pts]
. Deathwatch Terminator [2 PL, 43pts]
. . Thunder hammer and Storm shield [10pts]: Storm shield, Thunder hammer [10pts]
. Deathwatch Terminator [2 PL, 43pts]
. . Thunder hammer and Storm shield [10pts]: Storm shield, Thunder hammer [10pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Meltagun [5pts]
. Vanguard Veteran [2 PL, 24pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Veteran Biker [2 PL, 30pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Watch Sergeant [35pts]: Frag & Krak grenades, Heavy thunder hammer [15pts]

Proteus Kill Team [18 PL, 335pts]: Dominatus [1 PL, 20pts], Jump Packs [1 PL, 3pts]
. Black Shield [1 PL, 37pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Thunder hammer [12pts]
. Deathwatch Terminator [2 PL, 43pts]
. . Thunder hammer and Storm shield [10pts]: Storm shield, Thunder hammer [10pts]
. Deathwatch Terminator [2 PL, 43pts]
. . Thunder hammer and Storm shield [10pts]: Storm shield, Thunder hammer [10pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Deathwatch Veteran [1 PL, 25pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Deathwatch Combi-flamer [5pts], Frag & Krak grenades
. Vanguard Veteran [2 PL, 24pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield [5pts]
. Veteran Biker [2 PL, 30pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Watch Sergeant [35pts]: Frag & Krak grenades, Heavy thunder hammer [15pts]

Spectrus Kill Team [14 PL, -1CP, 250pts]: Aquila [1 PL, 15pts]
. 5x Incursor [5 PL, 105pts]: 5x Bolt pistol, 5x Frag & Krak grenades, 5x Occulus bolt carbine, 5x Paired Combat Blades
. 3x Infiltrator [3 PL, 72pts]: 3x Bolt pistol, 3x Frag & Krak grenades, 3x Marksman bolt carbine
. Infiltrator Helix Adept [1 PL, 34pts]: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Marksman bolt carbine
. Infiltrator Sergeant [-1CP, 24pts]: 2. Lord of Deceit, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Marksman bolt carbine, Stratagem: Honoured Veteran of the Watch [-1CP]

++ Total: [107 PL, 8CP, 2,000pts] ++

Space Wolves

Jaime Paris took this Space Wolves Successors list to a 5-2 finish at the 2022 Beachhead Brawl. It’s particularly notable for the inclusion of Wulfen, where it takes two squads to move quickly and hit hard. The Wulfen are interesting in that they can’t perform actions so they’re all offense here. They also help offset the increases to the Wolf Guard and bike chaplain.

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Imperium – Adeptus Astartes – Space Wolves) [105 PL, 7CP, 2,000pts] ++

Chapter Selector: Born Heroes , Custom Chapter, Space Wolves Successor, Whirlwind of Rage

A Trophy Bestowed [-1CP]
Stratagem: Relics of the Chapter [-1CP]: Number of Extra Relics
Thane of the Retinue [-1CP]

+ HQ +

Chapter Master [8 PL, -1CP, 175pts]: Chapter Command: Chapter Master, Combi-melta, Hunter, Jump Pack, Rites of War, Stratagem: Warrior of Legend, The Armour of Russ, Thunder hammer, Warlord

Primaris Chaplain on Bike [7 PL, -1CP, 150pts]: 4. Mantra of Strength, 6. Canticle of Hate (Aura), Benediction of Fury, Chapter Command: Master of Sanctity, Stratagem: Hero of the Chapter, Wise Orator

+ Troops +

Assault Intercessor Squad [5 PL, 95pts]
. 4x Assault Intercessor: 4x Astartes Chainsword, 4x Frag & Krak grenades, 4x Heavy Bolt Pistol
. Assault Intercessor Sgt: Astartes Chainsword, Heavy Bolt Pistol

Incursor Squad [5 PL, 105pts]
. 4x Incursor: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades, 4x Occulus bolt carbine, 4x Paired combat blades
. Incursor Sergeant

Infiltrator Squad [6 PL, 120pts]
. 4x Infiltrator: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades, 4x Marksman bolt carbine
. Infiltrator Sergeant

+ Elites +

Scout Squad [4 PL, 90pts]
. Scout Sergeant: Astartes shotgun, Combi-melta
. 3x Scout w/Shotgun: 3x Astartes shotgun, 3x Bolt pistol, 3x Frag & Krak grenades
. Scout w/Special weapon: Meltagun

Wolf Guard [7 PL, 154pts]: Jump Pack
. Wolf Guard: Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Wolf Guard: Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Wolf Guard: Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Wolf Guard: Astartes Chainsword, Lightning Claw
. Wolf Guard Pack Leader: Lightning Claw, Thunder hammer

Wolf Guard [7 PL, 158pts]: Jump Pack
. Wolf Guard: Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Wolf Guard: Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Wolf Guard: Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Wolf Guard: Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Wolf Guard Pack Leader: Lightning Claw, Thunder hammer

Wulfen [8 PL, 145pts]
. Wulfen Pack Leader: Wulfen Frost claws
. 4x Wulfen w/ thunder hammer & storm shield: 4x Storm Shield, 4x Thunder Hammer

+ Fast Attack +

Cyberwolves [1 PL, 15pts]: Cyberwolf

+ Heavy Support +

Eliminator Squad [5 PL, 85pts]: Las Fusil
. Eliminator Sergeant: Instigator Bolt Carbine, Morkai’s Teeth Bolts
. 2x Eliminators: 2x Bolt pistol, 2x Camo cloak, 2x Frag & Krak grenades

Eradicator Squad [14 PL, 205pts]: Heavy melta rifle
. 2x Eradicator: 2x Bolt pistol
. Eradicator Sgt
. Eradicator with MM: Multi-melta

Long Fangs [11 PL, 203pts]: Armorium Cherub
. Long Fang: Multi-melta
. Long Fang: Multi-melta
. Long Fang: Multi-melta
. Long Fang: Multi-melta
. Long Fang: Grav-cannon
. Long Fang Pack Leader: Astartes Chainsword
. . Boltgun and Bolt Pistol

+ Dedicated Transport +

Drop Pod [4 PL, 70pts]: Storm bolter

Land Speeder Storm [3 PL, 55pts]

++ Total: [105 PL, 7CP, 2,000pts] ++