Elite/Tactical Marine Squad/Strategy

Stats • Leveling • Weapons • Abilities • Upgrades • Strategy

Tactical Marines are the backbone of the Space Marine army, throughout almost the entire game.  One of the toughest tier 1 squads around, they can dominate the field and outlast enemies.  However, for all their strengths, they are a very generalist unit.  They're not the fastest or the most damaging, and even weapon upgrades can't mitigate that completely.  Still, they are able to fit to whatever situation requires them and can lightly counter almost every unit the enemy can throw out.

Tier 1

Tactical Marines should generally be your first purchase of the game, unless you have some whacky shenanigans in mind.  Once out, use them to bully other units; they're some of the best skirmishers in the game and can outshoot anything once in heavy cover.  When fighting heavy infantry, make sure to use Kraken bolts before they can get to cover to get the most use out of the ability.  If you find yourself facing a group of light ranged infantry, you can even force melee combat on them.  Tactical marines take 40% les damage from melee and do an impressive amount of melee damage which can force an opposing squad off.  Of course, when enemy brings their own melee squads out, consider fleeing if you don't have support coming.  Flee immediately when a source of power melee comes around, like Banshees or commanders.

Flamers can be purchased in tier 1, and are a very useful tool for burning down generators.  In Elite, they also have enough range to be used in a traditional firefight, doing more damage to bunched up, high-model units than a bolter would.

Tier 2

Once tier 2 comes around, there is almost no reason not to give your squad a Sergeant.  He adds to the durability of a squad, does more damage in both melee and ranged combat, and give the ability And They Shall Know No Fear.  These cement them in a position of immovable objects on the battlefield.  Also at tier 2, the plasma gun and the missile launcher are ready to be brought into action.  The plasma gun is a very useful tool in combating armies with a lot of heavy infantry, and with Kraken Bolts allows the squad to deal an impressive amount of damage.  The missile launcher is, of course, for doing heavy damage to vehicles.  It's not quite strong enough to bring most vehicles down on its own, but compliments melta bombs and lascannons snares quite well.

Another option is the change the squad completely, upgrading them to Sternguard Veterans.  Be aware, however, that the squad loses all levels and wargear when upgraded, so it may pay to keep your original squad of Tactical Marines if they've been doing well.  You can always buy another, fresh squad and keep the one that you invested in in their original state.

Tier 3

Tier three is where Tactical marines start to fall behind.  They do not directly counter any units, and many of the tier 3 units that your enemy can throw out are simply stronger than they can deal with.  With more health than can be easily picked off, and enough damage to overwhelm the Tactical marines considerable health pool, your marines may struggle to keep up.  Thankfully, And They Shall Know No Fear is still a very useful tool in keeping them standing, and they can still weigh in against units that are too much trouble for them to handle alone.  If you've allowed the squad to level up a few times, they will still be able to take to the field with success.

Of note at this stage is their capture speed, 50% higher than other units.  If victory points are an issue, their health pool and And They Shall Know No Fear will allow them to survive a risky capture.