Hey everyone, Reecius here on a continued Space Marine tactical bender! We’re continuing to talk about White Scars and another list that has been working for us, and which will hopefully inspire you. As always, check the Tactics Corner for more great articles.
If you want to read the first part of this article which breaks down all of the various strengths and weaknesses of the White Scars, click here.
So, after more testing and fun playing White Scars, who I really think are a great army to play and don’t get the love they deserve. Here’s the list we’ve had some success with and why.
| Unit | Force Org | Cost | # | Total | Weapons | Cost | # | Total | Total |
| Battalion | White Scars | Command Points | 3 | 691 | |||||
| Captain on Bike | HQ | 98 | 1 | 98 | Thunder Hammer | 22 | 1 | 22 | |
| 0 | Storm Shield | 15 | 1 | 15 | |||||
| 0 | Twin Bolter | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Lieutenant with Jump Pack | HQ | 78 | 1 | 78 | Power Axe | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| 0 | Master Crafted Bolter | 3 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Scouts | Troops | 11 | 5 | 55 | 0 | ||||
| Scouts | Troops | 11 | 5 | 55 | 0 | ||||
| Scouts | Troops | 11 | 5 | 55 | 0 | ||||
| Assault Squad | Fast | 16 | 5 | 80 | Plasma Pistols | 7 | 3 | 21 | |
| Assault Squad | Fast | 16 | 5 | 80 | Plasma Pistols | 7 | 3 | 21 | |
| Assault Squad | Fast | 16 | 5 | 80 | Plasma Pistols | 7 | 3 | 21 | |
| Battalion | White Scars | Command Points | 3 | 467 | |||||
| Captain with Jump Pack | HQ | 93 | 1 | 93 | Master Crafted Bolter | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| Lieutenant with Jump Pack | HQ | 78 | 1 | 78 | Power Axe | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| 0 | Master Crafted Bolter | 3 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Intercessors | Troops | 18 | 5 | 90 | Bolt Rifle | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 0 | Power Sword | 4 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| 0 | Auxiliary Grenade | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Intercessors | Troops | 18 | 5 | 90 | Bolt Rifle | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 0 | Power Sword | 4 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| 0 | Auxiliary Grenade | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Intercessors | Troops | 18 | 5 | 90 | Bolt Rifle | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 0 | Power Sword | 4 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| 0 | Auxiliary Grenade | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Battalion | White Scars | Command Points | 3 | 839 | |||||
| Captain with Jump Pack | HQ | 93 | 1 | 93 | Combi-melta | 19 | 1 | 19 | |
| 0 | Thunder Hammer | 22 | 1 | 22 | |||||
| Librarian with Jump Pack | HQ | 116 | 1 | 116 | Force Sword | 12 | 1 | 12 | |
| Tactical Squad | Troops | 13 | 5 | 65 | Heavy Bolter | 10 | 1 | 10 | |
| Tactical Squad | Troops | 13 | 5 | 65 | Heavy Bolter | 10 | 1 | 10 | |
| Tactical Squad | Troops | 13 | 5 | 65 | Missile Launcher | 25 | 1 | 25 | |
| Thunderfire Cannon | Heavy | 55 | 1 | 55 | 0 | ||||
| Thunderfire Gunner | 26 | 1 | 26 | Servo-arm | 12 | 2 | 24 | ||
| 0 | Flamer | 9 | 1 | 9 | |||||
| 0 | Plasma Cutter | 7 | 1 | 7 | |||||
| Vanguard Veterans w/ J.Packs | Elites | 18 | 6 | 108 | 0 | ||||
| Vanguard Veterans w/ J.Packs | Elites | 18 | 6 | 108 | 0 | ||||
| Totals | 80 | 1723 | 274 | 1997 | |||||
| Command Points: | 12 | Detachments: | 3 |
So what makes it work? What we’ve found is that one of the real key strengths of the Space Marines are their characters. This list leans in to them quite a bit, giving you a lot of hitting power in them. You’ve got 3 Captains, all of whom have different and effective kit. The Biker Captain does what he does as explained in this article. What makes him extra awesome in a White Scars army though, is their stratagem Born in the Saddle allowing him to move+advance+shoot+charge if he wants to. That is very strong, and allows him to go 20″ and still charge. Plus, the ability to leave combat and still charge is incredible. Per usual, you go with the Shield Eternal on him and typically make him the Warlord with the Iron Resolve Warlord Trait.
The Captain with the T.Hammer and Combi-melta hits just as hard but doesn’t have the defense. The Combi-melta is a nice touch on the Captain due to how incredibly accurate it is and on a model that can jump in and out of combat and still shoot and charge due to being White Scars, you get a lot of bang for your buck with him. The Captain with the Chainsword swaps it out for the Teeth of Terra which makes him a cheap and effective melee character with a lot of attacks. This compliments his Master-crafted Bolter which is a surprisingly good weapon! the Libarian provides your Smite defense with Psychic Fortress and can boost characters with abilities like Might of Heroes or go for Null Zone where needed.
The Lieutenants provide multiple re-roll 1’s to wound bubbles to compliment the re-rolls 1’s to hit from the Captains. They are also decent melee combatants and per usual, they all move fluidly in and out of combat, disrupting enemy movement and shooting.
You see the standard issue troops in this list which I have explained at length, previously. Scouts for screening, creating space and grabbing forward objectives. Tactical Squads for holding rear objectives and boxing out your deployment zone and using the Hellfire Rounds and Flakk Missile strat. Intercessors whom we’ve found to work really well with White Scars, advance and take objectives in the mid-field. They’re good at mid-range firefights and surprisingly good in assault. With the ability to slip out and still charge another unit, they make good use of the White Scars CTs and are tough enough to hold mid-field if not being focused on which your characters and assault elements should be able to help with. With 3 Battalions you also get a solid 12 CP which helps a ton for making best use of Space Marine strats.
And as explained previously the Assault Marines and Vanguard Vets provide both an escort for the Characters and additional means to gum up your opponent, freely engaging units in combat but able to leave and still shoot and charge thereafter. The Assault Marines also pack in 9 Plasma Pistols between them which with the re-rolls of 1 to hit and wound the Characters provide, can deal a lot of damage on the drop or as they flow through the enemy army. Vanguard Vets with double Chainswords throw out a ton of attacks and help to plow through screen units that you cannot simply move over. And of course, lastly the Thunderfire Cannon for leveraging the Tremor Shells strat which is simply too good not to take.
This list has been surprisingly effective. While it has its weaknesses, it is super fun to play and very mobile. As you have 10 units to deep-strike and 11 on the table, you can put a ton of them in reserves if you want to. Although often, I find you do it only if you need to such as when facing a tough alpha strike shooting army. You want to apply pressure, using the Assault Marines and Vanguard Vets to screen the Characters who will do most of the damage in your list. Keeping in mind that your best asset is the ability to charge, engage multiple units in melee to deny them a shooting phase and interfere with their movement, then leave and go deeper into enemy lines to do it again and take out key enemy units. It is very useful when you get the hang of it. You just need to be mindful that you don’t have a lot of disposable bodies and your assault elements can start to fold quickly. However, when you bring it all together correctly you have a crazy slippery army that can deny your opponent multiple shooting phases and stop them from executing their own plans while your objective scoring elements win the mission.
Mostly though, the list is just fun! What do you all think?
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