"Of the Tactical Space Marine, bedrock of his Chapter and paragon to his brothers, I shall tell thee. He shall be steeped in the lore of battle and schooled in all manner of weapon and strategy. With combat blade, boltgun and grenade he shall assail the foe. But these are mere tools: a Tactical Space Marine's true weapons are his courage, his wits and his dedication to his brothers. He will bring his foe to battle in a manner and time of his choosing, never himself caught unready or ill-prepared for the task at hand. In defence he shall be stalwart as the mountain, a bulwark stood firm against the enemies of Man. In attack he shall strike with the wrath of the Immortal Emperor, felling the foe without mercy, remorse or fear."
- — The teachings of Roboute Guilliman, the Apocrypha of Skaros
A Tactical Squad of the Ultramarines Space Marine Chapter advance
A Tactical Marine is a Space Marine who is equipped to fight using a variety of ranged weapons across a broad range of combat conditions and is part of a ten-Marine unit called a Tactical Squad. Tactical Squads are the most common type of Space Marine squad in a given company and form the mainstay of a Space Marine Chapter. Like their Assault Marine counterparts, the members of a Tactical Squad can be tough as nails. The Chaos Space Marines also use Tactical Marines, though they have smaller access to weapons, are more vicious in melee combat and are usually lead by Aspiring Champions of Chaos.
A Sergeant, a Marine who has undergone additional special training in leadership and tactics, leads the squad. He has the option to use a wider variety of weapons in combat, with most Sergeants opting for a bolt pistol and a Chainsword. The Sergeant may have fought enough battles to qualify as a Veteran of his Chapter. Veterans are often promoted to special command duties or transferred to serve in the elite First Company of a Codex Astartes-compliant Chapter. Sergeants are normally indicated on the battlefield by a red-coloured helmet. Veteran Sergeants also add a white stripe to their red helmets to denote this elite status.
In addition to the Sergeant, the Tactical Squad is comprised of up to nine other Battle-Brothers. These men are armed with the Space Marines' traditional weapon, the bolt gun. Space Marines have access to all manner of Imperial weaponry but it is with the bolt gun that they feel most comfortable and with which they have had the most training. Bolters are icons to the Space Marines and feature prominently in the monumental and armorial art of their Chapter. Each weapon is well cared for. It is blessed and prayed for before combat and competently cleaned and serviced afterwards.
Two of the Battle-Brothers in a Tactical Squad may be chosen to carry other weapons into combat. One Marine may be designated a Heavy Weapon Trooper and will carry one of the three types of heavy weapons available to the squad. These are the Heavy Bolter, the Lascannon and the Missile Launcher. These options dramatically improve the tactical flexibility of the squad and improve its chances of success in a wide variety of situations. This is equally true of the Special Weapon Trooper who may be chosen to carry one of the following weapons: Flamer, Meltagun or Plasma gun.
The whole squad will also usually carry grenades of which the most common types are Frag grenades or Krak grenades (producing an armour-piercing blast, intended for use against vehicles). Other grenade types are occasionally used on special missions but are generally restricted to Space Marine officers and squad leaders.
Some of the Battle-Brothers of a Tactical Squad may have fought enough battles to earn Veteran Marine status. These Marines many continue to serve with the Tactical Squad for a short time but eventually they will be promoted to special duties such as service in the Command Squad or advanced to serve in the elite First Company of the Chapter which is comprised wholly of Veterans. In this way the ranks of that elite company are replenished. To display their status, Veterans of most Chapters commonly wear white helmets.
Space Marines are versatile warriors and the Tactical Squad exploits this quality, allowing it to fulfill a wide variety of combat roles for a Chapter. The Tactical Squad organization delineated here has proven to be extremely effective in whatever combat situation it has encountered across more than ten millennia of vicious interstellar warfare.
Wargear
Optional Wargear
- Flamer
- Meltagun
- Plasma Gun
- Choice of Heavy Weapon, including Heavy Bolter, Multi-Melta, Missile Launcher, Plasma Cannon or Lascannon
- Choice of Close Combat Weapon, including Chainsword, Combi-melta, Combi-flamer or Combi-plasma gun
- Plasma Pistol
- Power Weapon
- Power Fist
- Melta Bomb
Optional Wargear, Sergeant Only
- Chainsword
- Combi-melta, -flamer or -plasma
- Storm Bolter
- Plasma Pistol
- Power Weapons
- Power Fist
- Melta Bombs
- Teleport Homer
Sources
- Codex: Blood Angels (5th Edition), pp. 24, 88
- Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition), pp. 25, 84
- Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pp. 59, 134
- Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition), p. 34
- Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition), pp. 26, 89
- Deathwatch: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 84-86
- Insignium Astartes, p. 18.
- Ultramarines: The Omnibus (Novel) by Graham McNeill