Greeting, fellow world-class cryptozoologists! Today, I restart my review of the Space Marines codex. I abruptly stopped writing these reviews in the fall because I couldn’t really make sense of 40k anymore at that time. Now that I think I’ve found my footing again, I feel I can pick things up where I left off. That said, I’m going to approach things a bit differently: instead of tackling the remaining unit entries in the order in which they appear in the codex (as I was doing, previously), I’m going to start by reviewing what I feel are the most important/best units in the book. I hope to eventually get around to reviewing them all, but at least the important stuff should get a look within a reasonable timeframe. I may also revisit some of my previous articles to correct and/or expand them where appropriate.

And with that, I’m going to begin with what is undoubtedly the best Space Marines Troops choice (and one of the best in the game, truth be told) and one of the most important units in the codex: Scouts.

As you likely know, Scouts follow the standard Space Marine statline (M6, S & T4, BS and WS 3+, Ld 7, A1) with the notable exception that they only have a 4+ Armour Save. This naturally makes them significantly (50%) more vulnerable to small arms compared to their power-armoured brethren; however, in conjunction with their cheaper point cost (11 pts per model), this diminishes the relative impact of weapons with good AP. After all, there’s not a great deal of difference between no save and a 6+ save. You can improve their survivability by purchasing Camo Cloaks for them (improving their cover bonus by 1) for 2 pts per model, but given that these guys will almost always be deployed forward and not necessarily in cover, there’s rarely a good reason to do this. Cloaks would be a lot more useful if they provided a negative to-hit modifier instead, which just makes sense when you think about it… although Raven Guard Scouts would be hella annoying to remove, then.

In addition to his Bolt Pistol, each Scout has access to a pretty considerable array of weapon options: Boltgun, Astartes Shotgun, Sniper Rifle and Combat Blade. The most commonly used of these is the standard Bolter, as it allows the Scouts to take some potshots at the enemy from their forward position without increasing their cost unnecessarily. Shotguns and Combat Blades, while also free, do not offer the same versatility… but given that the primary purpose of Scouts is – as we shall discuss further below – to act as a speedbump and/or cower on forward objectives, that is a minor consideration. The final option – Sniper Rifles – is both too costly (4 pts a pop) and incongruent with the Scouts’ role (as defined above) to be a legitimate option. In addition to the individual weapon options, one Scout in the squad (regardless of unit size) can purchase either a Heavy Bolter or Missile Launcher to supplement the unit’s damage output. While having the option to make use of either the Hellfire Shells or Flakk Missiles Stratagems might seem like an attractive proposition, Scouts will – again – usually be in a bad spot to utilize these abilities, so best to save those points and give the heavy weapons to some other unit. Finally, the squad’s Sergeant has access to the usual options a sergeant has. The most you are likely going to see is a Storm Bolter (given its high cost-effectiveness); some have suggested Combi-Flamers (for the auto-hit overwatch) but they are too expensive in my book. I personally don’t bother with any upgrades at all.

While different weapon options and a cheap(ish) cost are nice, what makes Scouts REALLY shine is their Concealed Position rule, which states that Scouts Squads may be deployed anywhere on the board that is more than 9 inches away from the opponent’s deployment zone and any enemy models. What that allows is 1) deploying on the midfield objectives in advance to get an early start on accumulating VPs and (more importantly) 2) extending your screen well-forward of your deployment zone, giving you more time to delay, disrupt and defeat your opponent’s advance and/or give enemy deep-strikers a hard time.

The fact that Scouts are deployed this way during the Deployment Phase has advantages and disadvantages. Unlike Rangers that deploy just before the first turn begins, your opponent will know exactly where your Scouts will be and can deploy to attempt to minimise their effect; you will also not be able to avoid getting them shot at if you don’t have the first turn. On the flipside, deploying before Rangers and other units that share their ability means that they won’t be able to deploy forward if you did your job right, boxing your opponent in his deployment zone and creating a landing zone for your own deep strikers as close as possible to the enemy army. All in all, the pros outweigh the cons.

As already stated, Scouts are a Troops choice. This means that they gain the Objective Secured rule in a pure Space Marines detachment. This is nifty but unfortunately, Scouts are often the first thing to die in your army, so the frequency at which you’ll be able to leverage that is bound to be relatively low. That said, in those instances that your opponent has nothing in his army that necessitates sacrificing your newbie Astartes in a screening role, you can infiltrate the rookies unto/near objectives in cover/out of LoS and force your opponent to work extra hard to deal with them. Another corollary of the Scouts’ Troop-ness is that they make using Battalion Detachments a doubly attractive proposition: you get good units and extra Command Points to boot!

To round out the above, Scout Squads have access to the ubiquitous Marine infantry special rules: And They Shall Know No Fear (ATSKNF) and Combat Squads. Generally, Scout Squads will operate in Multiple Small Units (MSU) which will reduce the impact of the first and totally disable the second. That said, one could make the case that at least one squad in your army should be at full size; that way, if you opponent has Scouts of his own or a unit that deploys similarly (Nurglings, for example), you will be able to carve out a greater piece of midfield real estate to deny to your opponent. If you happen not to need that, you can use Combat Squads to split the unit into two 5-men squads.

Your choice of Chapter Tactic is unlikely to have a significant impact on how you employ your Scouts, as their role is pretty well-defined. Naturally, some CTs are more helpful to the squad than others: Ultramarines allows them to fall back from the nigh-inevitable charges they will be the target of and still shoot, Raven Guard will make the ” hide in cover” Scouts that much more difficult to remove, Iron Hands will allow them to tie up the enemy assaulters up a wee bit longer and Sallies will make a potential combi-weapon on the Sergeant a more attractive idea.

All in all, Scouts are a fantastic unit. The strategic effect they have on the game is far deeper than their relatively low cost would suggest. Marine players (and all Imperial players, to be frank) that don’t have some are doing themselves a disfavour, in my view.

This concludes this article; I hope you have found it useful. Check back in a few days for the next installment of this review series.

Cheers!