Warhammer 40K: How to Use Vanguard Marines In Your Army

So you want to pick up that “new” Space Marine Vanguard Task force for your army?  Here’s what to do with them.

Introduced back in 2019, the Vanguard Task force was a group of Marines, many in Phobos armor, that acted as infiltrators. When first introduced in the Shadowspear boxed set, they didn’t really make a ton of sense. However they’ve since become a real part of the Marine army. Recently GW has announced that they are re-releasing the Vanguard Task Force box. This is important to some players as the box is one of the only ways to get some of these units. Today let’s take a look at the Vanguard Task Force units in this box and how you can use them in your army.

Infiltrators

The core of the box is built around 10 Infiltrators. Unlike the normal Infiltrator Squad box, the ones in the Vanguard box cannot be built as the more useful Incursors. However, Infiltrators do have their uses. They are a fairly durable unit with standard Marine resilience and a 6+ FNP. In fact, they are the tank-yiest of the Phobos units. Their big thing is the Omni-scramblers – which forces enemy units to set up outside of 12″ of them. This doesn’t just affect deep strike, but also units coming on the table from the side edges. It’s a pretty useful rule and does protect them from being charged or flamed out of Deep Strike.

Combined with Infiltrate this makes them a very useful unit for board control.  They may not kill a ton of units, but they can be used to grab objectives and funnel enemy units. Protecting your backfield from deep strike charges can be pretty good.

Suppressor Squad

Suppressors are a weird unit, and this box is pretty much the only way to get them. Now finally after years of meh, they aren’t bad. But they do really lack synergy with their own abilities. They have deep strike, fly and a 12″ move, which makes them want to be a fast and mobile unit. However, their main weapon is a heavy autocannon and they really want to sit still to use it. Their autocannon is a pretty solid weapon with decent shots, S and D2. The big downside is its only AP -1. Still, with their mobility it is easy to hit what you want with Suppressors.

They also have a really solid debuf in Suppression Fire, which gives one enemy unit hit by them a -1 to hit for a turn. This affects them both in shoot and melee. -1 is pretty great and can be very effective when used on powerful enemy units. The big downside is that the debuff goes away if the Suppressors die, and they aren’t that hard to kill. This is where you can use their mobility to try and hide from the bulk of the enemy army and tag an important unit with the -1. All they have to do is hit, and even when moving, they should be able to do that.

Eliminators

The reissued box also comes with a unit of Eliminators. Now this box only comes with the Bolt Sniper Rifle option. This isn’t that bad, as it is almost always what you want to take  over the Las-fusil. But this does prevent you from taking the bolt carbine on the sergeant, which is a decent option. Eliminators are likely the best unit in this box, as they are a solid sniper unit. While they don’t get a ton of shots they are hyper-accurate, have good AP and D and get devastating wounds. A unit of them can fairly easily pick out important characters in weaker armies, such as Guard, or even Eldar and take them down. Even against harder-to-kill characters, they are great for putting a few wounds on them or picking off wounded ones. These are a solid addition to an army.

Lieutenant In Phobos Armour

Lastly, the Vanguard box comes with a Lieutenant in Phobos Armour. The only unit he can lead in this box in the Infiltrators, but he’s a very flexible and useful model. In the Infiltrators, he adds a nice bit of extra bunch, both in shooting and combat, not only with his own decent weapons’, but through giving out Lethal Hits. More importantly, he lets the unit move after shooting. This makes the already pretty mobile infiltrators even more so. They can really easily position themselves in the best spot to deny Deep Strikes with this rule. They can also do the old shoot and then scoot behind cover trick. It’s not just for Eldar anymore. Overall he’s a decently useful addition to the force and a Space Marine army.

Let us know how you use the Vanguard Marines, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.