The Imperium of Man is beset on all sides by predatory aliens, insidious heretics, and the corruption of warp-spawned daemons. Survival against such all-consuming threats is naught but a glimmer of hope in a galaxy of endless darkness, but between the last bastions of mankind and total annihilation stand a thin line of genetically enhanced warriors who hold back the tide with bolter and blade.
They are the Angels of Death. They are the Space Marines. And they shall know no fear.
Here’s everything you need to know if you’re thinking of starting an army of these awe-inspiring super-soldiers.
New to the world of Warhammer 40,000? This quick-fire primer will get you up to speed on the mighty Space Marines – what they are, how they look, and the way they play on the tabletop.
Space Marines are the finest soldiers available to the Imperium, enhanced beyond human limits by arcane science and honed to a razor’s edge over centuries of combat experience. They are giants of flesh and metal, standing taller and broader than the burliest of humans and encased in distinctive suits of power armour.
To the rest of mankind, they are the Angels of Death – the God-Emperor’s will made manifest, and much of Humanity will go their entire lives without seeing one. For their numbers are few compared to the endless legions of the Astra Militarum, and such is their power that Space Marines are deployed only in times of direst need.
A single Space Marine is the equal of entire squads of regular human troops, with their prodigious strength and speed augmented by sophisticated power armour – heavy suits of steel and ceramite laced with artificial musculature which boosts the wearer's already considerable strength and protects them from harm. Much of their natural strength comes from a grim infusion of artificial organs implanted during their training, which give them the power to endure any temperature, survive grievous wounds, and even spit acid.
Despite this, comparatively few of these warriors exist in the galaxy, organised into Chapters of no more than 1,000 Space Marines. Each Chapter is a self-sufficient brotherhood with a distinct culture and identity, and even colour schemes for their armour and vehicles – like the royal blue and gold of the Ultramarines and the deep crimson of the Blood Angels. Over the millennia since their inception they’ve earned accolades across a thousand worlds and their foes have rightly come to fear them.
Although they wield a wide assortment of weapons in battle, Space Marines are known for two above all others: the bolter and the chainsword. The former is a term that refers to a variety of rifles, carbines, and pistols which fire explosive rounds that detonate microseconds after penetrating their enemy’s armour, while the latter is exactly what it sounds like – a fearsome blade with a whirring assembly of vicious teeth.
In combat, Space Marines are an awe-inspiring sight to behold, moving with uncanny speed and grace for a being their size. They are relentless on the attack and immovable on defence, striking like a thunderbolt before withdrawing as quickly as they arrived, and atop it all they are completely and utterly without fear.
On the tabletop, the innate power and durability of the Space Marines makes them both an ideal faction for beginners and highly rewarding for veterans. The vast array of units at their disposal allows them to adapt to any kind of play style imaginable, while the lower model count compared to swarming factions like the Tyranids and Orks means you can assemble and paint your army quite quickly..
Intercessors are the foundation on which Space Marine armies are built, each carrying a trusty bolt rifle into battle. Several different variants exist, such as durable Heavy Intercessors with thicker armour or chainsword-armed Assault Intercessors which specialise in close combat. Whichever you prefer to field, all are excellent at controlling vital objectives.
There are also powerful veteran units who have access to the strongest weapons and armour. The most feared of these are the Terminators, who wear hulking, near-impervious suits of armour and wield crackling power fists that can tear apart heavily armoured enemies – a frightening enough prospect to face at the best of times, and that’s before they teleport from orbit directly into the middle of the enemy battleline.
Space Marine armies are rightly famed for the quality of their infantry, but they’re also supported by a wide range of vehicles from tanks and speeders to gunships and artillery platforms. In dire circumstances, they even deploy one or more of the fearsome Dreadnoughts – colossal combat walkers piloted by the crippled remains of a renowned hero of the Chapter – to smash defensive lines with overwhelming force and firepower.
Thanks to their adaptability and innate hardiness, Space Marines are a forgiving force to play and easy to assemble into a versatile and capable fighting force. It’s no surprise that they’re among the most popular factions in Warhammer 40,000.
Combat Patrol is a game mode perfect for beginners and veterans alike, where bite-sized forces clash in fast paced and finely balanced games. The elite nature of the Space Marines means their patrol is one of the more compact forces, but in return they pack some incredibly strong and durable units that can shrug off enemy attacks with impunity.
Named Strike Force Octavius, this Combat Patrol is centred around the heavily armoured duo of Captain Octavius and Librarian Tantus – the former an experienced leader and tactician, while the latter uses arcane psychic powers to wrack the enemy with lightning and twist the flow of time itself. Their Terminator bodyguards are fearsome close combat troops with a significant ranged punch of their own, while the Infernus Squad bathes the battlefield in searing flame to root out any foe foolish enough to hide.
As Strike Force Octavius is frequently outnumbered, they prefer to destroy the enemy’s strongest units first before cleaning up whatever’s left over. By swearing an Oath of Moment – a do-or-die pledge to accomplish great deeds – they put all of their considerable might into the eradication of a single troublesome target, and few things in the galaxy can stand up to such a concentrated attack.
All you need to deploy Strike Force Octavius is a few dice, a ruler, and the downloadable rules below – the Core Rules show you how to play the game, the Combat Patrol Datasheets provide a balanced army that’s ready to play, and the Combat Patrol Missions give you some thrilling objectives to fight over!
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Each Space Marine Chapter is given free rein to paint their armour however they wish, and this has given rise to a vast array of different colour schemes. This means that, while several established Chapters do have particular colours they’re known for, you’re completely free to paint yours however you like, safe in the knowledge that it’ll fit right into the Warhammer 40,000 background.
If you’re looking for a few early ideas, the Ultramarines are a great place to start. These are the blue-and-gold armoured Space Marines you may have seen on books and boxes of miniatures, and the Infernus Marines + Paint Set gives you just the colours you need to start practising their distinctive palette.
To help you get your Space Marines looking their best, the paint experts at Citadel Colour have brewed up a list of their recommended paints. You can use these along with the simple step-by-step guides below to go from grey plastic to technicolour masterpiece in no time at all.
For those who want to get their miniatures onto the tabletop as quickly as possible, the Warhammer Painting team have also concocted a quick how-to guide using a minimum of paints and simple techniques to get yours Battle Ready in no time.
Once you’ve played your first few Combat Patrol games and have a taste for the 41st Millennium, you may be wondering: “Where do I go next?”
First off, you’ll want to pick up Codex: Space Marines – this essential book is packed with loads of background lore detailing the history of the Space Marines, their tactics and organisation, and the most legendary Chapters known throughout the Imperium. In addition, a comprehensive rules section details over 90 units available to the faction, and a multitude of exciting ways to play them.
With such a vast array of units at your disposal, it can be tricky deciding which ones you want to add to your army first. Luckily, you can’t go wrong with a solid core of Intercessors – these front-line troops are a great compromise between cost, firepower, and durability. As we touched upon earlier, they also specialise in holding the objectives that you’ll need to win games.
The Company Heroes are a perfect bodyguard for your Captain and beautiful miniatures to paint, while the Bladeguard Veterans take everything that’s good about a Space Marine and add powerful swords, impregnable shields, and devastating close combat skills. They are also good candidates for improving your painting skills, as they retain much of the armour you’ll be familiar with while adding small details and cloth robes that provide extra flair and allow you to enhance your painting techniques.
The Space Marine motor pool is equally packed and boasts some of the most advanced technology in the Imperium. Some vehicles glide over blasted battlefields on floating grav engines, like the versatile Gladiator tank – a great pick for new players as it can be assembled in three different ways to combat many different enemy types, such as the specialist tank-hunting Valiant variant.
If speed is more to your liking, Storm Speeders trade a measure of protection for a significant boost in movement range, and can also be built in three different configurations depending on what targets you expect to come up against. Other vehicles like the Repulsor Executioner go the other way, doubling down on armour and packing overwhelming firepower at the cost of agility, while also being able to transport a few key troops around the board.
Ultimately, the best miniatures are always the ones you like the most, and with over 90 units to choose from you’ll want to spend some time looking through the gorgeous miniatures galleries in Codex: Space Marines for ideas. Add a new unit or three to your Combat Patrol, give them a bold colour scheme with the help of the Paint + Tools Set, and soon you’ll be on your way to your first full-size games of Warhammer 40,000.
Space Marines are among the most popular characters featured in Warhammer novels, and their books are fantastic sources of high-octane action, gripping drama, and awesome one-liners. For Glory and Honour is a great place to start as it contains three full novels by popular Black Library authors Andy Clark, Josh Reynolds, and Ian St. Martin, telling stories from very different perspectives as the Angels of Death tackle the greatest upheaval the Imperium has suffered in millennia.
Several series also focus around the exploits of particularly renowned characters, like The Uriel Ventris Chronicles by Graham McNeill. This epic, long-running series follows the eponymous Ultramarines Captain on critical missions against almost every foe the Imperium has faced, and so is a great way to experience the vast universe of Warhammer 40,000 from a Space Marine perspective.
Their status as mankind’s greatest defenders means the Space Marines are always found at the centre of history’s most pivotal events, and Dark Imperium by Guy Haley recounts one of the most critical to the galaxy’s current state of affairs. The Primarch Roboute Guilliman – one of the Emperor’s own sons and the supreme commander of the Ultramarines Chapter – has returned after millennia in stasis, and the Indomitus Crusade he launches is the backdrop for much of the action you’ll find in Codex: Space Marines.
If you’re still mulling over which Chapter you want your Space Marines to hail from – whether it’s an established group or one of your own devising – The Successors: A Space Marine Anthology is an excellent way to experience the many different ways Chapters live and fight. Its 13 short stories show how even the rigorously trained Angels of Death can end up with very different attitudes towards their duty, and how their unique cultures can end up making them markedly different warriors from each other.
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