Goatboy here with some 40K advice on how Space Marine players can take out the newest menace on the tabletop – big knights.
Goatboy here and I have done the Chaos combos you can do versus Knights, the Xenos combos, and now let’s look at three Marine combos you can do. I think Marines have a ton of power when dealing with Knights as Oath of Moment plus rules that cascade off of vehicles/characters creates a really rough combo for one of the big boys to deal with. When the basic Bolter can pile on a ton of damage through rerolls and +1 to wound you start to see how the big guys might have some big trouble when they see the Space Marines across the table top.
Space Wolves – Send In the Blood Claws!
Army – Space Wolves
Detachment – Saga of the Beastslayer
Rules – Oath of Moment, Legendary Slayers
Datasheets – Just about anything in the Space Wolf Book but lets says a Blood Claw unit with Wolf Guard Battle Leader
Stratagem – Unbridled Ferocity
Do you know what Knights don’t like? Big ole pile of units with a plethora of Space Wolves Lethal Hits. Do you know what else they don’t like? Being able to reroll all those hits and try to cascade into more Lethal Hits. The 20 man unit of Blood Claws will come in with 80 attacks that will most likely be rerolling to hit with Lethal and Sustained hits. You then utilize Unbridled Ferocity to get +1 to wound which should get ya a ton of damage that the Knight has to roll out. You have 80 attacks that give ya 54 hits on the first throw which gives you 9 lethal hits (plus 9 attacks). You could reroll all the non 6’s to try and get more Lethal Hits. If we do that we have another 8 hits. This gives you 17 lethal hits. You end up throwing 64 dice to wound on 5’s which leads you to getting another 13 wounds. You throw in some damage from before and you got a pile of saves the giant knight needs to take as well as a pile of OC 2 bodies that probably took the point away from them. You can even burn another CP to have Armor of Contempt as the Knight won’t have nearly as much damage coming back. Next turn you do it again and watch as you pile on the wounds for the Emperor.
Blood Angels – Embrace the Black Rage Brothers!
Army – Blood Angels
Detachment – Liberator Assault Group
Stratagem – Red Rampage Stratagem
Datasheets – Death Company Marines, Chaplain
This is a pretty simple one as the regular Blood Angels Death Company got a nice point drop so you could easily pile out the wounds to an enemy unit. You have option to get Lethal hits plus Lance, multiple avenues for more damage, and rerolls for days that should allow you to pile out the wounds and cause any Chaos or Imperial Knight player to rethink getting to close. Plus as a lot of events have been using better “assault” terrain you can easily hide around the table and get ready to pounce on the enemy. It isn’t nearly as many attacks as the one above but with all the built in synergies you can see how this could be a really insanely cheap and small unit that can wreck face.
Space Marines – Big Guns Never Tire!
Army – Space Marines
Detachment – Ironstorm Spearhead
Stratagem – Mercy is Weakness, Target Augury Web, Oath of Moment
Datasheets – Gladiator Lancer, Ballistus Dreadnought, Predator Annihilator, Repulsor Executioner
Look you can take a big tank list and just go to town with a pile of rules and abilities. All the Space Marines Datasheets listed have some form of Reroll and with Oath of Moment they can get full rerolls and plus 1 to wound versus the targeted option. It is a powerful slew of abilities especially when dealing with an army that won’t have a ton of options on the table. The Marine player should be able to pick the best one to “deal” with and move on to the next each turn. It is the way with shooting Marines right now as anything with large choices of army investment will be “bullied” by the Marine player as they move, set up, and pick who deserves their shooting attention.
Really the trick I think for Marines right now will be utilizing Oath of Moment, getting options for rerolls, and pushing Lethal/Sustained hits to try and “break” the math in the match up. I really think the army and all the versions are well set up to take advantage of big monsters vehicles that are easy to charge and deal with. I get the feeling each Team army in any team event will have 2-3 Knight Hunters that are designed to give the Knight players a headache whoever they choose to battle against.
For the Emperor!
Thomas Reidy, aka Goatboy, the ever-evil member of BoLS. I do arts, play 40k, and even paint a lot of stuff. I have been playing Warhammer 40K since the 1990s, and have won multiple national events including Adepticon and GW GTs. I’ve been writing for BoLS for 15 years. Look at my Instagram to see what I am working on – or working on for someone. I am always doing something hobby related.