FIRST ON THE BEACH
SPACE MARINE SHIPS
After having bought a Games workshop space marines fleet pack I got to thinking about the fluff and the theory.. As nice a model as the Battle Barge is , I am wondering if there really is an argument for space marine fleets with anything bigger than a cruiser.. The real marines are merely the dry water arm of the wet water Navy.. In The "wet" navy the marines provide a guard complement and a small combat arm. The real life marine arm has few ships. The navy gets them in there and the navy gets them out again.. Everything they have is designed to fit into that concept.. For major conflicts ,they are part of the navy on water and the army on land and the major elements are supplied by those arms.. The only time they are expected to operate alone are in local brushfires. That's how I see clean up operations against chaos infestations, rebel governors etc.. seems to me that if the marines are in a situation requiring a battleship then they are already in way above their heads and its time to call in the navy... I see the possibility of marines needing some mobility in my 40K galaxy so I decided SM fleets should consist of the an adapted medium cruiser, strike cruisers, some escorts and a cut down version of the goliath transport equipped with swarms of thunderhawks... If you are in a situation or points total requiring BBs then use imperial BBs in support. So thats the way I went.
Now I also very much liked the idea of marines integral to naval vessels so I decided that the empire of the Golgotha galaxy would have two classes of marines. the first would of course be the biologically enhanced space marine as depicted by the games workshop 6mm marine figures. These are just too nice not to use and the superbly trained naval marines who would be stationed on warships as small sections once again the idea was reinforced by my love of the 6mm GZG space marine figures that I had converted to GW heavy weapons.
GW MARINES GZG MARINES
Having set the scene I went to work on the fleets .. Here are the resultant ships.
Because "The Sons of The dead earth claim" terra as their home planet and Imperial law allows no chapter to settle on earth, the Sons at founding made their base on an ancient fortress once part of earths defence system. The huge towering rock has powerful but slow engines allowing it a degree of movement and an ability to use the warp in the same fashion as the Ramillies fortresses. "The rock" as the chapter refer to it, is a stark, heavily armed home for the chapter. Bristling with weapons batteries, lances, bombard cannon, torpedoes and a launch ability for hordes of thunderhawks the rock is the core of the marines fleet & a secure base when the going gets tough.For more photos and full details of the rock go to
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The rock has 3 fire arcs. Assume a clockwise 360 degree arc with 0 degrees being directly forward. The arcs described would be
Port fire arc 270 to 45 degrees
starboard arc 315 to 90 degrees
Forward arc 315 to 45 degrees.
POINTS |
TYPE/HITS |
SPEED | TURNS |
SHIELDS | ARMOUR |
TURRETS |
|||
? |
Defence 18 |
5 |
45 |
5 |
6+ |
5 |
|||
| ARMAMENT | RANGE/SPEED |
FIREPOWER/STR |
FIRE ARC |
||||||
| LAUNCH BAYS | THUNDERHAWKS |
4 SQUADRONS |
- |
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| STARBOARD WEAPONS BATTERIES | 60 |
12 |
STARBOARD |
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| STARBOARD LANCE BATTERIES | 60 |
4 |
STARBOARD |
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| PORT WEAPONS BATTERIES | 60 |
12 |
PORT |
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| PORT LANCE BATTERIES |
60 |
4 |
PORT |
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| FORTRESS BOMBARD CANNON |
45 |
8 |
P/S/F |
||||||
| PROW TORPEDOES | 30 |
2 X 6 |
FRONT |
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| SPECIAL | |||||||||
| Treat as defence target. | |||||||||
| Can move 0 to 5 or turn. It may not both move and turn in the same phase. For movement purposes it ignores blast markers and the effects of crippling. | |||||||||
| Can only use BFI or reload special orders. | |||||||||
| Torpdedo salvos can be fired in different directios | |||||||||
| May fire boarding torpedoes and as they are space marines will have +1 on their hit and run attacks | |||||||||
| Bombardment cannons fire as weapons batteries but always hit on a 4 or more regardless of armour even ordnance | |||||||||
| Bombardment cannons inflict criticals on rolls of 4 or more | |||||||||
| Enemy hit and run attacks deduct one from their die roll. | |||||||||
| Add +2 to boarding roll | |||||||||
| ORDNANCE TYPE | CAPACITY |
| Thunderhawks | 20 squads |
The rock has its own critical hits chart. Go to for full details.
NOTE:_ The rock is immensely powerful. It has 60/24 wbs, 60/8 lances, 45/8 bombard cannon and 12 torpedoes in the front arc.
THE GOLI
The Goli is an enormous armed transport capable of transporting a marine force with the capacity to invade and capture a planet.. The Goli can carry the marines , their armour and any supporting titans they may have.. In a space battle the ship can hold its own at long range because of the bombardment cannon and the clouds of ordnance it can launch..
Where the Goli really comes into its own is in planetary assault it will open the four enormous hold bays and disgorge drop pods and drop ships and all the encumbrances of an invading force in the twinkling of an eye.. Based on the ancient Goliath transports the Goli is a cut down version with added bombardment cannons and torpedoes..
THE GOLI ASSAULT TRANSPORT
POINTS |
TYPE/HITS |
SPEED | TURNS |
SHIELDS | ARMOUR |
TURRETS |
|||
420 |
BB 16 |
20 |
45 |
5 |
5+ |
5 |
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| ARMAMENT | RANGE/SPEED |
FIREPOWER/STR |
FIRE ARC |
||||||
| PORT LAUNCH BAY | THUNDERHAWKS |
3 SQUADRONS |
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| STARBOARD LAUNCH BAY | THUNDERHAWKS |
3 SQUADRONS |
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| PROW LAUNCH BAY | THUNDERHAWKS |
2 SQUADRONS |
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| PROW BOMBARDMENT CANNON | 30 |
8 |
FRONT |
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| PROW TORPEDOES | 30 |
6 |
FRONT |
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| SPECIAL | |||||||||
| Ship is difficult to manoeuvre and cannot use come to new heading orders.. | |||||||||
| In a planetary assault the goli earns 4 planetary assault points rather than one.. | |||||||||
| A goli can be used for exterminatus needing to roll 3+ rather than 4+ | |||||||||
| May fire boarding torpedoes and as they are space marines will have +1 on their hit and run attacks | |||||||||
| Bombardment cannons fire as weapons batteries but always hit on a 4 or more regardless of armour even ordnance | |||||||||
| Bombardment cannons inflict criticals on rolls of 4 or more | |||||||||
| Enemy hit and run attacks deduct one from their die roll. | |||||||||
| Add +2 to boarding roll | |||||||||
| ORDNANCE TYPE | CAPACITY |
| Thunderhawks | 9 squads |
SPACE MARINE ASSAULT CRUISER..
"Noah ben Shalek!" boomed the voice of marine artificer Kaan. Noah flinched and glanced at the superhuman creature that addressed him.. Huge , bronzed and battle scarred artificer Kaan was a perfect specimen of gene engineered humanity.. Noah on the other hand was a short, dumpy, ugly pot smoking ship builder. Both had their value to the empire.. The marines had brought him the ruined hulks of a tyrant and a strike cruiser for rebuilding. They had expected two barely functioning vessels . He had given them one excellent product..
"Noah ben shalek!!!" said Kaan again. "It's a wonderful vessel and my order will make good use of it.. We have for centuries felt that something was missing from our fleets and you have shown us what it was!!".. The medium cruiser "mankind’s revenge" drifted lazily from the fitting out bays. Shorter than the standard empire cruiser the assault cruiser was powerfully armed and would be deadly in combat.
In the name of the sons of the dead earth, I discharge your commission and accept delivery of the vessel!"..." may the emperors blessing be upon you". With that he walked to the shuttle.. As he entered the hatch he turned and smiled.. "Shalek a time for decisions is approaching.. Sedition and treason are rife.. Choose wisely little shipbuilder!! Choose wisely.."
Noah ben Shalek shivered in fear.. If the empire new of the Shalom fleet and his part in it’s construction , he was a dead man.. However that was the future and living was now... He reached for another joint and dreamed of his next project.
SPACE MARINE ASSAULT CRUISER
POINTS |
TYPE/HITS |
SPEED | TURNS |
SHIELDS | ARMOUR |
TURRETS |
|||
220 |
Cruiser 8 |
25 |
45 |
2 |
6+ |
2 |
|||
| ARMAMENT | RANGE/ SPEED |
FIREPOWER/STR |
FIRE ARC |
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| PORT WEAPONS BATTERY | 45 |
6 |
LEFT |
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| STARBOARD WEAPONS BATTERY | 45 |
6 |
RIGHT |
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| DORSAL BOMBARDMENT CANNON | 30 |
6 |
L/R/F |
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| PROW LAUNCH BAY | THUNDER HAWKS |
3 SQUADS |
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| SPECIAL | |||||||||
| Bombardment cannons fire as weapons batteries but always hit on a 4 or more regardless of armour even ordnance | |||||||||
| Bombardment cannons inflict criticals on rolls of 4 or more | |||||||||
| Enemy hit and run attacks deduct one from their die roll. | |||||||||
| Add +2 to boarding roll | |||||||||
| ORDNANCE TYPE | CAPACITY |
| Thunderhawks | 4 squads |
The model
Assemble as tyrant but cut off prow and final two weapons bays.. ie leave 6 instead of 8 Weapons showing.. add small plastic bulkhead to front of hull and pin and glue the strike cruiser prow to this bulkhead..
Cut off plastic wings trimming back to hull..
Make flare shields and stick on flat surface created by removing wings so as to shield the engines.
cut dauntless wings in half and pin and glue below the engine reactor housing ie the bulge under the bridge..
Use a bridge of choice and glue to rear weapons mount..
Glue suitably modified lance turrets to ex bridge mounting and the forward weapons mount.. to represent anti ordnance weapons and bombard cannons..
POINTS |
TYPE/HITS |
SPEED |
TURNS |
SHIELDS | ARMOUR |
TURRETS |
|||
145 |
CRUISER 6 |
25 CMS |
90 |
1 |
6+ |
1 |
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| ARMAMENT | RANGE/SPEED |
FIREPOWER/STR |
FIRE ARC |
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| PORT WEAPONS BATTERY | 30 CMS |
4 |
LEFT |
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| STARBOARD WEAPONS BATTERY | 30 CMS |
4 |
RIGHT |
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| PROW LAUNCH BAY | THUNDERHAWKS 20CMS |
2 SQUADRONS |
- |
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| PROW BOMBARDMENT CANNON | 30 CMS |
3 |
FRONT |
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| SPECIAL | |||||||||
| Bombardment cannons fire as weapons batteries but always hit on a 4 or more regardless of armour even ordnance | |||||||||
| Bombardment cannons inflict criticals on rolls of 4 or more | |||||||||
| Enemy hit and run attacks deduct one from their die roll. | |||||||||
| Add +2 to boarding roll | |||||||||
| ORDNANCE TYPE | CAPACITY |
| Thunderhawks | 4 squads |
Because of the nature of their tasks the SM chapters need a differtent breed of escorts to those used by the imperial fleet. Specifically they must possess speed and agility characteristics matching that of their larger companions.
The Archer class is designed to harass and annoy the enemy in conjunction with the chapters's Thunderhawks, driving them onto the bombard cannon of the fleets main armament.
Archer Class destroyer |
Space marine
escorts |
POINTS |
TYPE/HITS |
SPEED |
TURNS |
SHIELDS | ARMOUR |
TURRETS |
|||
40 |
escort 1 |
35 |
90 |
1 |
5+ |
1 |
|||
| ARMAMENT | RANGE/SPEED |
FIREPOWER/STR |
FIRE ARC |
||||||
| PROW TORPEDOES | 30 |
3 |
FRONT |
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| SPECIAL | |||||||||
| May fire boarding torpedoes and as they are space marines will have +1 on their hit and run attacks | |||||||||
| Enemy hit and run attacks deduct one from their die roll. | |||||||||
| Add +2 to boarding roll | |||||||||
SM Escorts on the cheap
Although the forge world SM escorts are wonderful little models at 3 pounds each, they are not cheap. As a result of my many conversions I had lots of sword bodies in the bits box. After some experimentation I produced these . At 1.25 pounds each I think its a fair trade off of quality against price and it helps empty the bits box!!!
To make the models I simply flattened the outer face of the ventral mounts and added the wings. flatten and square off the front face of the hull. make simple SM shape prow and pin to the front og the hull. A lick of paint and it's done. I use these as torpedo escorts. They have no beams but have 3 torps!!!!
