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Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Elites Unit Guide – PRIME

10 Minute Read
Nov 11 2020

Today let’s continue our in-depth look at the massive roster of Space Marine units and how to use them. Today we talk ELITES.

If you haven’t heard, Space Marines have a brand new Codex with a truly staggering amount of units. Such a massive roster (and that’s just the units in the main codex) can be overwhelming. Luckily Marines are overall a fairly forgiving army. Still, skill is required to make an excellent list. We looked at Marine HQs and Troops, today let’s continue our deep dive into the army and its datasheets, taking a look at the massive roster and how to best use them.

Elites

Servitors

Servitors are semi-autonomous beings that normally accompany a Techmarine. They are a bit odd as they are listed in the HQ section, but are elites, so I’ve chosen to talk about them here. For each Techmarine you have you can take one 4 man unit of servitors without using up a slot. For base stats they are a pretty horrible unit, with a single wound S and T 3 and 5+ WS and BS. They are armed with servo arms, that make them S6 AP -2 and D3, and two of them can take either a heavy bolter, multi-melta, or plasma cannon. If they are within 6″ of a Techmarine they get to me BS and WS 4+. Servitors used to be a cheap way to get some extra heavy weapons into your army, but in the current state of 40K don’t seem worth it. They die really easily, don’t benefit from most buffs, and aren’t really needed as Marines have plenty of heavy weapon access now. This is a unit to skip.

Company Champion 

The Company Champion is a minor character elite unit. While this guy has been kind of meh in the past, he’s been majorly buffed in the new book, and serves as a pretty good anti-character model. For stats he’s got about what you’d expect from a Marine, though a 2+ WS and 4 W and 4 Attack makes him as good as many other armies HQs. His combat shield gives him a 2+/5++ and the buffed master-crafted power sword is solid.

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He also comes with a host of special rules. Honour or Deathmakes him better at heroic interventions. Martial Superiority lets him fight first if near an enemy character. Command Squad means he doesn’t take up a force org slot if you have a command squad. On top of this, he can be upgraded with the Chapter Command rules.

For a mere 15 pts, you can upgrade a Company Champion to a Chapter Champion. This gives him a -1 to be hit in melee, lets him re-roll wounds against enemy characters, and buffs him to A5 and LD 9. He also gets access to a warlord trait that lets nearby units reroll charges and a relic that replaces his sword for +3S -3 AP and D3.

At a budget 70 pts the Company Champion is a pretty effective combat character, even if you don’t give them a relic or trait. With a base of 5 attacks, it’s pretty easy to get them up to 7-8 on the charge, hitting on 2s and re-rolling wounds. This guy can put the hurt onto an enemy character or take a chunk out of a squad of MEQ with ease. With a ride range of transport options he’s a great pocket combat beast and seems well worth consideration for a list.

Scout Squad

 

Scouts are the lightest Marine infantry unit. Their stats are similar to the Marine troop choices with the exception of being only 1 wound and having a 4+ save. Like Tactical Marines they have a single attack. For weapons they have a few options, from standard bolters, to shotguns, to sniper rifles, to combat knives and bolt pistols. One model can take either a missile launcher or heavy bolter and the Sergeant can take a melee weapon.

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For special rules they have both concealed positions and outflank. They can also take a Camo Cloak to gain an additional +1 to saves in cover. When they were TROOPS, Scouts used to be a mainstay of Marine armies, but they’ve fallen out of favor,. They are one of the least durable units in the army and don’t put out a ton of damage. They are, like Infiltrators and Incursurs useful for board control. As a cheap unit you can take a number of them and deploy them forward for area denial and some tricks, but that’s all they are at this point, a trick unit, that won’t add a lot of value once combat starts.

Primaris Apothecary 

The Primaris Apothecary is a powerful support character. He’s got normal Marine stats with an outstanding 5 wounds and 4 attacks. For weapons, he’s armed with a pair of powerful pistols, though one only has a 3 inch range. Combat however isn’t his forte, as you are taking him his two abilities.

Combat Restoratives allows you to heal one friendly <chapter> infantry or biker model for d3 wounds at the end of your movement phase, which can be great for keeping characters alive. Narthecium gives him a 3″ aura that provides 6+ FNP to infantry and bikes (importantly not restricted to core). This is super solid and hidden in a block of friendly units can make already durable Marines even more of a pain to kill.

For 15 pts one Apothecary can also be upgraded to a Chief Apothecary. At base this lets you use Combat Restoratives twice a turn, which can be pretty powerful if you are running lots of characters or bikes that need healing. It also gives you access to the Selfless Healer Warlord Trait which is very powerful. This trait has two effects. The first makes your combat restoratives heal a flat 3 wounds, letting you heal 6 wounds a turn, which is really good. As an additional effect using the Combat Revival Stratagem costs 0 CP.

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Combat Revival lets you bring back to life an Infantry of Biker model in a unit within 3″ of you at the end of the movement phase. This can be used even on an 8 wound Invader ATV. It’s quite possible you’d want to use this every turn, so the Trait could save you up to 5 CP. All told a Chief Apothecary can bring one unit back to life a turn and heal up to 6 wounds, while also giving nearby units a 6+++ save. (He also gets access to a relic pistol which you should ignore).

Apothecaries are a super-powerful unit that acts as a major force multiplier if used right. While position is key to them, since they have shorted ranged effects, having one around can literally save you hundreds of points in lost models. Pretty much any army, especially one with a lot of infantry, should strongly consider taking an Apothecary and likely wants to upgrade them to a Chief.

Apothecary

This is the classic Marine version of the Apothecary. He’s got one less attack and wound and worse weapons than the Primaris Apothecary but other than that has the same rules and can be upgraded to a Chief. He also has the Command Squad so if you happen to be taking a Command Squad he doesn’t take up a slot. At only 5 points less than a Primaris one he’s significantly worse in weapons and stats and normally one to avoid. I’d only take him if you wanted a classic Marine for some reason, either for transport options or fluff or you are taking advantage of the Command Squad rule. Or if you need more than 3 Apothecaries in your army. He’s still good, just not as good as the Primaris one.

Company Ancient

Ancients are another powerful support character Marines have access to. The Company version has standard classic Marine support character stats and basic weapons that can be upgraded by picking a combi-weapon or melee weapon. They also have the Command Squad rule. All pretty run of the mill so far.

The reason to take an Ancient is for the Astartes Banner. This gives them a 6-inch aura that gives friendly CORE units +1 LD. In addition, when a model is killed in those units on a 4+ they can either make a single close combat attack or shoot with one ranged weapon. This is a very powerful ability given the huge number of Marine core units. It can not only allow Intercessors to fire their bolt rifles, but could allow a Hellblaster to fire his gun, or a Marine to throw a grenade. Given that you can make either a single combat attack or fire a weapon to full effect, it’s much better for shooting, but in either case, it’s giving you free damage when your models die which is rock solid.

For 20 pts an Ancient can be upgraded to a Chapter Ancient. This gives them the Chapter Banner rule allowing them to gives a CORE unit +1 attack each round, which again is just super powerful. They also get access to the Steadfast Example Warlord Trait which gives all Core units within 6″ obsec and if they already have it they count as double. This rule is super powerful for controlling objectives and thus winning games. Lastly, they can take the Pennant of the Fallen relic which allows models to make 2 attacks instead of one when using the Astartes Banner rule, which is pretty great for close combat armies.

On top of all this Ancient have access to a number of other relic banners in various supplements. They are a super-powerful unit that can massively boost your army’s damage output for very little. While the basic Chapter Ancient is one of the worse versions,  you will want to strongly consider taking an Ancient of some kind, and likely upgrading them to a Chapter Ancient.

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Primaris Ancient 

Similar to the Chapter Ancient the Primaris version loses the command squad rule and gains +1 Wound and Attack and the Primaris keyword. He also loses weapon options and comes with a bolt rifle. He still does all the same Ancient stuff you want and can be upgraded to a Chapter Ancient. As this is a model you want to keep alive I think getting the extra wound makes him superior to the Chapter Ancient, unless you need to fit him in a certain transport.

Bladeguard Ancient 

The Bladeguard Ancient has identical stats to the Primaris one, and also has the Primaris keyword. He does not have a bolt rifle, being armed only with a heavy bolt pistol. He does all the same Ancient things but gets an additional rule Deeds of Heroism. This gives friendly <chapter> Bladeguard units within 6″ +1 to hit in melee. This is a guy you’d only consider taking if you have a ton of Bladeguard that he can buff. If so he’ll work wonders, if not he’s not worth the extra points. Dark Angels also love him as, unlike the previous two Ancients he gets the Deathwing keyword (all of them get the Wolf Guard keyword in a Space Wolf Army).

Ancient in Terminator Armour 

Here we have the fourth and final type of Ancient. He is a classic Marine so doesn’t have the Primaris keyword.  As a Terminator he does have 5 wounds and a 2+/5++. He also is armed with a storm bolter and power fist and gets some other options is if he is either a Dark Angel or Blood Angel. As a Terminator, he can deep strike and gains both the Deathwing and Wolf Guard keywords if in the right army. Aside from that, he does the same Anceint things as the others.

Though he’s the most expensive (25 pts more than a Company Ancient, and bit less than the others) he is also the most durable and killy of the Ancients and is likely to stick around longer. While he moves slower than the others at 5″, the option to deep strike means you can both keep him safe on turn one (though you might be missing the best banner turns) and drop him right where you need him. After the Primaris Ancient I think he’s the second-best option as he gives you durability and flexibility in a lot of situations. Like all the Ancients he has his role and you’ll really want to think about bringing one, or more, of the four along with you.

Veteran Intercessor Squad 

Veteran Intercessors are an upgraded version of the regular Intercessor Squad.  For an extra 2 pts a model they gain +1 attack and LD but lose objective secured. They have the same weapon and upgrade options as a regular Intercessor Squad and can also be armed as an Assault Intercessor Squad.

An extra attack for only 2 pts is pretty amazing and gives the unit 4 attacks on the charge, 5 if they are run as Assault Intercessors, which is double the output of a lot of other units, coming in with 51 attacks on the charge, 6 of which can be thunder hammers is powerful. Losing obsec on the other hand is a pretty big trade-off and makes them a bit more of an iffy choice. They do pair really well with a Chapter Anceint who can grant them obsec with their warlord trait and even give them an extra attack, really ramping them up. A single squad with Auto bolt rifles, could rapid-fire for 60 shots (plus for grenade shots so possibly 84 shots) then charge in for 51 attacks, giving this lone unit that cost less than 250 pts, 135 shooting/CC attacks in one turn, which is super solid. This is a unit you won’t want to take all the time but is one to consider.

That’s all for this time folks, tune in next time as we go over more units. 

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Author: Abe Apfel
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