Ultramarines Tactics

Chapter's military doctrine from the "Codex Astartes"

HQ

Force Commander

Above average Weapon Skill and Ballistic, high Leadership, he can also be given wargear to strengthen his defense and attack.

Commander

Same advantages as the Force Commander, but with one less Wound and a lower points cost.  Useful in smaller games.

Leader

Basically a Veteran Sergeant that can be used in small games as your army commander.

Librarian

Same stats as a Commander, with the psychic power Smite, same points cost as the Force Commander.

Chaplain

Same stats as a Commander, equipped with a crozius arcanum (a power weapon) and rosarius (4+ invulnerable save).  The Chaplain can also be equipped with a Holy Relic which can be used in one turn to give all Space Marines within 2D6" +1 Attack aiding hand to hand ability.  I believe the Chaplain is better used without a Command Squad so he can join an Assault Squad.

Command Squad

This is a body guard for your Command characters and they are also a very useful Tactical Squad.  You may upgrade one figure to an Apothecary by giving it the special Apothecary wargear (a very useful upgrade), you can also upgrade one figure to a Standard Bearer which I advise you to do.  If your leader has Terminator Honours and you upgrade your Sergeant to a Veteran Sergeant, you can give the squad Terminator Honours, making them excellent Assault troops.  The decision whether to give your Command Squad heavy weapons depends on how you plan to use your Command Squad.   Command Squads can also be given a Rhino, a Razorback, or a Land Raider (this is one way to get an extra Land Raider into your force) for transport.   Remember, though, a Razorback can only carry six.

Elites

Terminator Squad

Terminators are equipped with Tactical Dreadnought Armour, giving them a 2+ save.   All Terminators have Terminator Honours, giving them +1 Attack, which is included in their profile.  The Terminator Sergeant carries a power sword and stormbolter, and the troopers are armed with power fists and stormbolters.  You have the option to upgrade any model's power fist to a chainfist, which gives them a greater Armour Penetration for attacking tanks and vehicles.  You also can upgrade one of your Terminator troopers with a heavy weapon.  The assault cannon is useful for laying down a fusillade (multiple shots) of firepower.  The heavy flamer is useful for close in fighting, especially against horde troops that are closely packed.  The cyclone missile launcher gives you the versatility of choosing krak missiles for anti-vehicle or frag missiles for anti-personnel.  You may also give your Terminator Sergeant additional equipment from the Space Marine Armoury.  The Terminators have the Deep Strike ability, which under certain circumstances allows them to deploy in enemy territory.  The Terminators have two drawbacks:  They may not advance, and they have a high points cost.  Also, remember that a power fist always strikes last against normal weapons and power weapons.  Remember, Terminator heavy weapons can move and fire.

Terminator Assault Squad

Terminators are equipped with Tactical Dreadnought Armour, giving them a 2+ save.   All Terminators have Terminator Honours, giving them +1 Attack, which is included in their profile.  The Terminator Sergeant carries a power sword and stormbolter, and the troopers are armed with either lightning claws or a thunder hammer and storm shield.   You have the option to exchange the close combat weapons for power fist and stormbolter if you wish on any figure, and the powerfist may then be upgraded to a chainfist.  These troops are best used for assaulting tough hand to hand opponents, but always remember that the thunder hammer, power fists, and chainfists against normal weapons and power weapons will always strike last.  They also have the Deep Strike rule.  These troops have the same drawbacks as the standard Terminator Squad.   The no advance hinders Terminator Assault Squads much more severely than it does Terminator Tactical Squads.  A few things to remember are that thunder hammers automatically get the 'Crew Shaken' result when attacking vehicles, plus any models that are wounded but not killed by the Thunder Hammer may not strike again until the end of the next assault phase, and the Storm Shield gives a 4+ invulnerable save in close combat.   You can make your Terminator Assault Squads more flexible by mixing in some figures with stormbolter and power fist or chainfist.

Dreadnought

The Dreadnought has in its favor the fact that it is an armoured walker that is totally enclosed, giving good armour protection.  It has its left arm equipped with a Dreadnought close combat weapon that has a built-in storm bolter.  The right arm may be equipped with a heavy weapon.  Twin linked lascannons are devastating anti-tank weapons.  Twin linked heavy bolters will do a good job of cutting down enemy personnel.  The multi-melta is a good all-purpose weapon, having great Armour Penetration, its one shortcoming is the fact it is short ranged.  Plasma cannon is a very good if somewhat unreliable weapon capable of taking out heavy armoured vehicles, and large numbers of troops.  Twin linked autocannon is a good versatile weapon with Strength 7, AP 4, and 2 shots that you can re-roll misses on, this weapon can often be better than the assault cannon, it also has twice the range of an assault cannon!  You can upgrade the storm bolter to a heavy flamer, giving more close-range killing ability against horde troops.  You can also upgrade the close combat weapon arm to a missile launcher, creating a true Tactical Dreadnought.  The Dreadnought can also be given limited vehicle upgrades.  The Dreadnought gives you a versatile weapon that can be used both for ranged firepower and assaults.  Remember, in close combat the Dreadnought strikes with a S10 hit, so they can be used very effectively in assaults.

Space Marine Veteran Squad

You can arm your Veteran Squad for either a Tactical role with a bolter, or for an Assault role with close combat weapon and bolt pistol.  If you plan to use the Squad in a Tactical role, you can give one of the figures a heavy weapon (missile launcher, heavy bolter, or lascannon) and one figure a special weapon.  If you plan to use them in an Assault role, I would only give them a special weapon (meltagun, plasma gun, or flamer).  You may give the entire squad frag grenades and/or krak grenades at additional cost.  One Veteran Space Marine may be upgraded to a Veteran Sergeant, which I recommend.  If you wish to make them a really tough Assault squad, and you have upgraded one Marine to a Veteran Sergeant, you can give them Terminator Honours adding one extra Attack, which will give them with their close combat weapon three attacks.  The squad may also be given a Rhino or a Razorback for transport.   Remember, though, a Razorback can only carry six.  The drawback for these troops is high points value.

Troops

Space Marine Tactical Squad

These are the all-around best value troops you have.  They are armed with bolters, and the Sergeant may replace his bolter with a bolt pistol and close combat weapon.   You may upgrade one Space Marine to carry a heavy weapon (heavy bolter, which is good for killing enemy troops; missile launcher, which gives you the versatility of choosing either krak or frag missiles; or lascannon, for killing enemy vehicles).   You can also give one Space Marine one of the following:  a flamer, good for killing close-packed troops at short range; a meltagun, which is good for killing heavy armoured troops or vehicles at close range; plasma gun, a versatile weapon capable of killing troops in heavy armour and with its Strength 7 the ability to kill all but the heaviest armoured vehicles at short range.  You may give your squad frag and/or krak grenades at additional cost.  You may also upgrade your Sergeant to Veteran status, giving the squad better Leadership and the sergeant an extra attack.  Tactical Squads give you versatility and they can stand up to most troops in hand to hand.  Their weakness is that if they are charged they only have one close combat attack.  Also, remember that if any member of the squad moves, the heavy weapon cannot fire.   Tactical Squads can also be given a Rhino or a Razorback for transport.   Remember, though, a Razorback can only carry six.

Scout Squad

Scout Squads are best used as sharp shooters, or to disrupt the advance of your enemy and channel him toward your other troops.  Scout Squads are infiltrators, meaning they can use the Infiltration rule when the mission allows Infiltrators.  Scouts get to roll an extra D6 when rolling to move through difficult terrain, meaning they have more versatile movement than most troops.  The Scout Squad comes equipped with bolt pistol and close combat weapon.  You can replace the bolt pistol and close combat weapon on any model in the squad with a Sniper Rifle at additional cost, or with a bolter or shotgun at no additional cost.  Up to one model in the Squad may be armed with a heavy weapon, though they cost more than they do for Tacticals (heavy bolter, which is good for killing enemy troops; missile launcher, which gives you the versatility of choosing either krak or frag missiles; or autocannon, which gives you a versatile multi-shot weapon capable of taking out troops or vehicles).  The needle sniper rifle is one of the most deadly weapons on a 40K battllefield, it always hits on a 2+, and always wounds on a 4+, and has a range of 36", it also can cause an enemy squad to be pinned if any wound is caused.  My favorite use of Scout Squads is as snipers and sharp shooters armed with the sniper rifle.  These can strike fear in your opponent and he will avoid the Scouts' sniper rifle fire, which can be used to your advantage to get your opponent to move as you wish him to.  Their only major weakness is that they have lighter armour than your normal Marines, but if they are set up in cover as they should be, this should be no problem.  A heavy weapon such as a missile launcher can be very useful in a Scout Squad for long ranged shots at enemy troops.

Tranports

The Rhino is a very useful transport vehicle for your squads and may carry up to ten Space Marines and may not carry Terminators.  It is armed with a storm bolter, but it has only light armour.  You may give it vehicle upgrades from the Space Marine Armoury.

The Razorback is a Rhino that has been modified and has an open turret mounting twin-linked heavy bolters (very good for killing enemy troops, especially enemy troops in large masses) which may be upgraded to one of the following:  twin-linked lascannon, which is very good for killing vehicles; multi-melta, which gives you a short ranged but devastating anti-tank weapon which can also be used as an anti-personnel weapon; or you can upgrade it with a lascannon and twin-linked plasma guns (this is the option that comes with the Razorback kits now available), this is a favorite of mine, as you have the lascannon for killing vehicles and the plasma guns to use against troops.  You may also give the Razorback vehicles upgrades from the Space Marine Armoury.  The Razorback may only transport six Marines and may not carry Terminators.

I would always give my transports smoke launchers, as these will definitely increase your transports' survivability.  At the low cost for extra armour, it is also a very good deal.  A stormbolter upgrade will really improve the capabilities of your Rhino.   The other vehicle upgrades are more or less useful in different scenarios, and according to the amount of terrain on the battlefield.

Fast Attack

Assault Squads

Assault Squads are armed with bolt pistol, close combat weapons, and frag grenades.   They are also equipped with jump packs.  The jump pack gives them rapid movement to get into close combat, it will also allow them to use the Deep Strike rule in scenarios where it is allowed.  You may also equip the entire squad with krak grenades and/or melta bombs to give them a close assault ability against tanks.  Up to two of the squad may also be given plasma pistols at an additional cost.  You may upgrade the Sergeant to a Veteran Sergeant and he may be equipped with additional equipment from the Space Marine Armoury.  You may remove the jump packs, which will lower the cost of the Space Marines to 15 points.  This is often a useful option, especially if you are the Defender.  Also remember Assault Squads with jump packs can make advancing moves of 3D6" and they can also fall back 3D6".  This makes for good flexibility of your Assault troops.

Bike Squadron

Each bike is fitted with twin-linked bolters, and each Marine biker is armed with a bolt pistol.  Up to two Space Marines in the squadron may be armed with one of the following:  flamer, good against close-packed infantry; meltagun, good agaisnt vehicles and heavy armoured troops; plasma gun, versatility, good against both light armoured vehicles and troops.  All of these weapons are short ranged.  You may upgrade the Sergeant to have a close combat weapon at +1 point, a useful upgrade.   You may also upgrade the Sergeant to Veteran status at additional points cost.   The Veteran Sergeant may be given additional equipment from the Space Marine Armoury.  The Bike Squadron may include on Attack Bike.  The Attack Bike is armed with au heavy bolter which may be upgraded to a multi-melta for additional points.   Bike Squadrons are best used for flanking attacks and hit and run attacks.   Their additional Toughness gives them fair survivability, but they should not be subjected to enemy fire needlessly.  Use cover to your advantage when closing with the enemy.  Plan your route for your bikes to take advantage of any available cover in their area of operation.  They are also good for sending with task forces that are assigned to taking and holding objectives.  The main advantages of Bike Squadrons are their speed and maneuverability.

Attack Bike Squadron

Each bike is armed with twin-linked bolters and a pintle-mounted heavy bolter, both Space Marine riders are armed with a bolt pistol.  Each Attack Bike can replace its heavy bolter with a multi-melta at additional cost.  Attack Bike Squadrons are best used on the flanks to give mobile firepower to your flanking maneuvers, they are also good for sending with task forces that are assigned to taking and holding objectives.  As with Bike Squadrons, the additional Toughness aids in their survivability, and the Attack Bike also has the advantage of a 2+ armour save.  The main advantages of Attack Bike Squadrons are their speed and maneuverability.  As I said for Bike Squadrons, use the terrain to your advantage and do not expose your bikes to the enemy fire until you must.

Scout Bike Squadrons

These are basically Bike Squadrons with one less save (4+), that can reroll difficult terrain tests, and can have grenades: frag for assaulting troops in cover, and krak for assaulting vehicles.  As with the Bike Squadron, the Sergeant can be upgraded to Veteran status and given wargear from the Space Marine Armoury.  Being able to move through difficult terrain more easily than the standard Bike Squadrons can give them more flexibility in maneuver than the Bike Squadron has.  Myself, I prefer the standard Bike Squadron for most missions, but the Scout Bike Squadron can be useful for taking out your opponent's vehicles that set back in his rear areas lobbing barrages at you.

Land Speeder Squadron

The Space Marine Land Speeder is fast, it's maneuverable, it's not slowed down by terrain, it has all of the advantages of other fast skimmers, and it is not considered Open-Topped because of the Space Marines' power armour.  Also, if the Land Speeder moves over 6" any Penetrating Hits count as Glancing Hits.  The Land Speeder can move up to 12" and still fire one guns, making for good chances to use them to make flanking attacks and set up crossfires.  The standard Speeder is equipped with a heavy bolter which may be upgraded to a multi-melta at additional cost.   This is a good, versatile, low points cost fast skimmer.

Land Speeder Tornado

A Land Speeder that carries two heavy weapons, heavy bolter plus heavy flamer.   The heavy bolter may be upgraded to a multi-melta, and the heavy flamer may be upgraded to an assault cannon.

Land Speeder Typhoon

A Land Speeder armed with a heavy bolter plus twin-linked Typhoon Missile Launcher.   The heavy bolter may be upraded to a multi-melta.

Land Speeders are great for making flanking runs deep behind enemy lines.  At high speed they can only be hit with a glancing blow, which aids their survivability, and when in position they can delived significant firepower.  Their drawback is a low Armour Value.

Heavy Support

Devastator Squads

Devastators are armed with bolters and the Sergeant may exchange his bolter for a bolt pistol and close combat weapon.  Up to four of the squad may be given heavy weapons.   You should tailor your heavy weapons choices to the role you assign to your Devastator Squads.  If you are going to use the Devastator Squads for long range firepower, there is no sense in giving some of them short ranged weapons.  If you are going to use them mainly for killing enemy troops, I would advise a combination of missile launchers and heavy bolters.  For killing tanks, lascannons at long range; for medium range you can go with the plasma cannon and give yourself more versatility; when terrain is very heavy and most shots will be at short range nothing can beat the multi-melta.   I usually use a squad of Devs armed with a combination of lascannons and missile launchers to give me both the ability to kill vehicles and troops at long rane.  I use my Devastators in a supporting role to cover the battlefield with fire while the rest of my army advances.  I also use them to support Tactical troops in defensive positions.  The drawbacks for Devastators are high points cost, and the inability to move and fire.

Predator Annihilator

The Annihilator is armed with a turret mounted twin-linked lascannon, great for killing heavily armoured enemy vehicles and such things as Daemons, etc.  The Annihilator has the option to upgrade with two side sponsons armed with either heavy bolters or lascannons at additional cost.  You must decide how you are going to use the Annihilator and whether the upgrades are actually cost effective.  If the Annihilator is going to set still and fire at long range the lascannon sponson upgrade is viable.  But if you plan to assault with the Annihilator, sponsons are probably not a good buy.  The Annihilator may have vehicle upgrades from the Space Marine Armoury.  The drawback for the Annihilator is the same as for any Space Marine tank - the inability to move and still fire more than one weapon.

Predator Destructor

The Destructor is armed with a turret-mounted autocannon, a good versatile weapon useful against both vehicles and troops.  It may be upgraded with two side sponsons armed with either heavy bolters or lascannons.  Again, you must make the same decision you had to make with the Annihilator.  If you plan to use your Destructor as an anti-personnel tank, the heavy bolters may be a good option for you.  If you are looking for an all-around tank, the lascannons may be a good option for you.  The Destructor may have vehicle upgrades from the Space Marine Armoury.  The drawback for the Destructor is the same as for any Space Marine tank - the inability to move and still fire more than one weapon.

Vindicator

The Vindicator is armed with a Demolisher Cannon mounted in its hull, which gives a limited arc of fire, has a short range, and means the vehicle may not move and fire at all.  The Demolisher Cannon puts out devastating firepower, but only at 24".   It is capable of killing any vehicle and has an AP2.  It also uses a blast template.  It is also equipped with a pintle-mounted stormbolter.  The Vindicator can be given vehicle upgrades from the Space Marine Armoury.  The drawbacks for the Vindicator are limited arc of fire, limited range and the inability to move and fire.  The Vindicator is best used in a defensive position and in cover (hull down).

Land Raider

The Land Raider is armed with twin-linked lascannons in each of two side sponson, and forward firing twin-linked heavy bolters.  The Land Raider may be given vehicle upgrades from the Space Marine Armoury.  The Land Raider may transport up to ten Space Marines or five Space Marine Terminators.  The Land Raider has very heavy armour all around, giving it a good survivability.  It has very strong tank killing ability, and good troop killing ability with its twin-linked heavy bolters.  Its drawbacks are the inability to fire more than one weapon if it moves and a very high points cost.  Also, it usually becomes your opponent's primary target, which can be an advantage, because the Land Raider can soak up a lot of firepower before its destroyed, and if  your enemy is concentrating on it your other vehicles and troops have a better chance of accomplishing their missions.

Whirlwind

A Whirlwind is armed with a turret-mounted missile launcher.  This missile launcher has a 48" range, and is a barrage weapon that does not need a line of sight.   You must guess your range though.  With its Strength 5 and its blast marker, plus the ability to pin troops, the Whirlwind is a very useful weapon in any Marine army.   It can set back in your deployment area behind cover and lob missiles at your opponent while also providing a vehicle to the control of that are of the battlefield.   The Whirlwind can be given upgrades from the Space Marine Armoury.  The drawback with the Whirlwind is low armour value, an inability to move and shoot (which is not much of a hindrance to this vehicle), and the fact it has no anti-troop weapon except its long-range ordnance weapon.  The Whirlwind should be defended by a Marine Squad.

Missions
Planetfall Mission

Attacker:

In this mission the attacking Marines all use Deep Strike, and the defenders use Hidden Setup.  For the attacking forces, Assault Squads may be taken as troops, the only troops you can take as Fast Attack are Land Speeders.   Even troops not otherwise allowed to deepstrike in the attacking force are allowed to used Deep Strike for this mission.  The objective of this mission is for the attacking Space Marines to kill all of the defender's HQ units and score the most Victory Points.  Any other result is a victory for the defender.  As the attacker, you should take forces that can survive the first turn after Deep Strike.   For this mission Tactical Terminator Squads, Veteran Space Marine Squads, and Tactical Squads supporting Assault Squads are your best choice.  As you have no heavies, your Tactical Squads will have to take this role, you will also have to rely heavily on your Dreadnoughtsas you have no tanks.  The problem facing you in this mission is the fact that you do not know where your opponent has set up, hence you have no idea of exactly where he will set up his HQ units.  You can get some idea by studying the terrain, but a smart opponent will use areas that aren't so obvious for deploying his HQ.  Your best chance is to deply in an area that will give you some protection from being caught in a withering crossfire and will be centrally enough located to give you the ability to respond to whatever sections of the battlefield you must, which means you must be able to reach all four sides of the battlefield at least with weapons fire.  In this mission it is to your interest to concentrate as much of your forces as possible to eliminating your opponent's HQ units.  One good way to do this is to weaken them with weapons fire and then assault them with your Assault Marines.  This is one place the Veteran Squads will come in very handy.  At all times support your other squads, as you will be surrounded.  Try to be set up in such a way that squads can cover each other's backs and flanks, and use whatever cover you can for the same purpose.   Remember to maintain this covering fire as you advance on the enemy.

Defenders:

The tactic for the defenders is simple.  Set up your main force concentrated to late down as much firepower to its front as possible, and set up independent squads such as Scouts and Tacticals on the other sides of the battlefield to give flank and rear fire on your enemy and keep him off balance and weaken his ability to concentrat on your main force.

Standard Missions
Cleanse Mission

In this mission the battlefield is divided into four quarters, and the mission objective is to hold the most quarters at the end of the battle.  One gambit to use if you are the one that rolls the low score is to set a unit up as close to the center of the table as you can, as this will force your opponent to set up far back in his deployment zone to obey the 18" rule.  A tank is a good unit for this purpose, as you must set up your Heavy Support first.  Keep a strong holding force in your own quarter, and send another fairly strong force to contest your opponent's quarter.   Send smaller forces such as Bike Squads or Land Speeder Squadrons to contest the other two quarters.  You might also want to send a Terminator Squad into one of these quarters if the points permit.  The object is to hold at least one quarter and deny control of the other three quarters to your opponent.  It doesn't matter if he ends up with more troops than you at the end of the battle, as long as you control more territory.  One trick to pull on this mission is to set up a Whirlwind behind cover in your deployment zone where it can lob missile barrages into the other three corners as needed.

Night Fight Mission

In this mission it's even more important to deploy a tank or other unit as close to the center as you can if you get the low roll, as this will force your opponent to set up 24" back from this unit, and will give you a distinct advantage in the coming battle.  In this battle you can use your Infiltrators, so use those Scouts with needle sniper rifles to move quickly into the non-claimed quarters before the start of the game and sharp shoot at the enemy troops trying to move into them.   Otherwise, the same tactics that work in the Cleanse Mission work in this one.

Patrol Mission

In this mission the objective is to score the highest Victory Points, pure and simple.  If I won the toss in this one, I would choose the corner deployment zone, and I would concentrate my fire and attack on one end of the enemy's battle line.   Use heavy weapons, your Dreadnoughts, and tnks to literally blow away that section of the enemy's battle line.  I would use two basic force groups in this mission, one a long-range firepower group to support the other group, which I would make up of fast moving assault capable troops.  Remember at all times the objective of this mission is to gain the most Victory Points while limiting the points you lose.  Do not make your assault too soon, wait until your support fire has had a chance to weaken the enemy sufficiently.  Keep a small group of very fast troops such as bikes in reserve to be a reaction force to aid your units in whatever part of the battlefield they are needed.   Even a single Land Speeder can be of immense help in this role.  Concentrate on the high VP targets with your big guns.

Recon Mission

In this mission, you can deploy up to 18" onto the table, along one of the two sides.  It's important in this mission to set up using the best use of terrain so that you can lay down fire to cover the whole length of the battlefield.   You must keep your opponent out of your deployment zone while you must get units into your opponent's deployment zone.  Use Devastator Squads, Tactical Squads, Tanks, and Dreadnoughts to defend your deployment zone.  Set up a task force of fast vehicles such as Bike Squadrons, Land Speeder Squadrons, and even tanks to rush across the board using terrain to get into your opponent's deployment zone.  If you can do this in such a way as to have your opponent under fire from two different directions the job of winning the game will be made much easier.  This is one of the cases where I would recommend a Land Raider to take part in the task force assigned to penetrate the enemy's deployment zone.  You can beef up your tanks and increase their survivability with wargear such as added armour, and with wargear such as smoke dischargers.

Rescue Mission

In this mission, you take six counters numbered 1-6 and mix them up with the numbers facing down so that neither player knows which counter has which number on it.   Then the six counters are placed one at a time alternating between players until all six are placed.  These are placed in the central area of the battlefield with no counter closer than 12" to a board edge.  You then roll a D6 to find out which counter is the objective.  You still do not look at the counters though.  After this is done both players roll to see who will choose to deploy where, with the player who rolls the highest choosing where he will deploy.  Again, in this mission I would choose the corner set up if I rolled highest.  Wherever you set up, the best tactic in this mission is a sweeping advance trying to capture as many objective counters as possible, hoping to get the true objective counter.  Holding back a reserve task force of fast vehicles and troops to rush onto the battlefield in the later stages of the battle can be a decisive maneuver if it is used at the right place and if you are able to bring it on in a timely fashion.  This is not a mission where standing back and shooting will work.  You need to carry the battle to the enemy and collect as many of the tokens as you can.  Even then luck plays a big part in this mission.

Tactics provided by: