Q&A: Space Marines

Q: What was the rationale behind making Terminators marines with a save, as opposed to marines with hero status (particularly as Ork Nobz now outclass Terminators in close combat)?

A: We felt it better reflected their abilities (Terminators are primarily shooters, Ork Nobz primarily assault troops). Also Terminators just aren't as good in close combat as Space Marine Assault squads, while Nobz are amongst the most effective assault troops in the Ork army. As a house rule, allowing players to upgrade Terminators to assault troops would be fine, but converting the miniatures to show the Thunder Hammers etc might be rather fiddly!

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Q: How many stands of Terminators can a Land Raider or Rhino carry? The rules list them as Transport (2), therefore 2 units, even of Terminators (as there are no special exceptions for them). However, in Warhammer 40k there is only enough room for 5 models of terminators in either.

A: Strictly by the rules, two stands can be carried. As a house rule for those willing to put up with the extra complexity, only allow one stand, as per Warhammer 40K.

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Q: List members are still having trouble figuring out how to buy commanders for their armies. For each of the forces below, please indicate whether any and or all of the options are legal to purchase as the detachment's original commander.

A: Lots of people have asked me this question in lots of different ways, but basically I think the issues come down to whether you can purchase any unit as a commander for +25 for the marines, and do the Eldar have to add 25 points to their Farseers if they want to use them as HQ units or is this already figured in? I can understand the confusion, and it has to be said that the army book could have been clearer on this subject. The problem seem to have come about because late in playtesting we decided to allow any units to be HQs (so that players didn't *have* to field Captains, etc), and although the army lists were changed, not all of the examples were updated. This is one of the major problem with writing rules, because at the time of writing you don't have one rulebook, you have a whole bunch of computer files on several different computers. Making sure that every single file gets updated is a complete nightmare, and things like this always seem to slip through (though you should see the number of errors we do catch). But I digress; on to the specific questions...

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Q: Space Marine Detachments:

1. Any marine unit at +25 points to the basic cost.
2. Captain at 25 points.
3. Captain at 25+25=50 points.
4. Librarian at 35 points.
5. Librarian at 35+25=60 points.

A: a.