ADEPTUS ASTARTES
"They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give of themselves to me. Like clay I shall mould them and in the furnace of war I shall forge them. They shall be of iron will and steely sinew. In great armour I shall clad them and with the mightiest weapons shall they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight them. They shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity. They are my Space Marines...and they shall know no fear."
— The Emperor of Mankind
The Adeptus Astartes (commonly known as Space Marines, and colloquially as Angels of Death) are one of the most elite and feared fighting forces in the Imperium of Man. The primary unit of organisation in the 41st millenium is the Chapter, a self-contained army fully equipped with its own transport, non-combatant support staff, etc. There are around a thousand Chapters, each comprising a thousand Space Marines. There are far too few Space Marines to form the Imperium's main military forces; instead they operate as highly mobile strike forces. They are entrusted with the most dangerous missions, such as lightning raids behind enemy lines, infiltration, and tunnel fighting. Through selection, training, and conditioning, Marines are physically, mentally, and spiritually superior to any other Imperial soldier.
Astartes Special Rules
Combat Doctrines
When the Adeptus Astartes fight alongside their battle brothers they employ a strict set of combat doctrines.
If your army is Battle-forged and is composed of Adeptus Astartes units, those units gain a bonus (see below) depending on which combat doctrine is active for your army. You can activate any of the doctrines below, but only once per game, and can only activate one doctrine a turn. The benefits of the doctrine last until the end of the turn.
- DEVASTATOR DOCTRINE: Affected models can re-roll To Hit rolls of 1 for weapons with either the Heavy or Ordinance keywords.
- TACTICAL DOCTRINE: Affected models can re-roll To Hit rolls of 1 for any weapon firing Rapid Fire, or Assault keywords.
- ASSAULT DOCTRINE: Affected models can re-roll To Hit rolls of 1 for weapons in close-combat, as well as Pistol keywords.
And They Shall Know No Fear
The Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes stand unafraid before the greatest terrors of the galaxy.
When a Morale or LD test is taken for this unit, you can re-roll one or both of the dice results.
Combat Squads
It is sound doctrine for Space Marine units to remain flexible, splitting into two entities as the tactical situation dictates.
A full strength, ten-man unit with this special rule can break down into two five-man units, called combat squads, considered to be two five-man squads of the same type. For example, a ten-man Tactical Squad can split into two five-man Tactical Squads using the Combat Squads special rule.
