De'Aynes Spotters Guide to GothicImperial Space Marines
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For information on
what the De'Aynes Spotters Guide to Gothic is, and how to submit your vessels to the guide, click here (opens a new window). | |||||
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Xenos and Traitors becoming an epidemic? Are you wondering about the best way to bring the righteousness of fire to the heathen masses of the enemy? Are your battle brothers struggling against tough odds? Find out about the machineries of retribution open to the Marine commander at the: De'Aynes Gallery. | |||||
Imperial Space Marines - Masters of the Stars
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Development of the Fleet The Imperial Space Marines were the obvious additional fleet for the game, but pose a bit of a problem. The Space Marines are very small in numbers, and do not deal much in Space Warfare. Initially, two vessels were made available to the Space Marine player, representing a Marine contingent attached to an Imperial Navy fleet. The Battle Barge and Strike Cruiser were used to deliver Marines into assault positions, most often to invade a planet. Players who wished to construct a Marine fleet were also able to use the three Imperial escorts, but these were given a Marine crew with boarding advantages and a slight points increase. Later, Forge World produced a number of new models, escorts dedicated to the Marine player, and these then replaced the Imperial Navy escorts previously described. With the advent of the Hunter, Gladius and Nova, the Marine fleet became an independant force. Later still, Fanatic produced miniatures of their own to represent these same three escort vessels, making the Imperial Marines (currently) the only fleet in the game to have two distinct miniatures to represent their (escort) ships. While the lack of plastic vessels makes the Space Marine fleet more expensive than both the Imperial and Chaos fleets, the relatively high points cost of the vessels, in particular the Battle Barge, makes the fleet smaller than most, cutting the cost a little. | |||||
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Characteristics of the Fleet An Imperial Space Marine fleet has a very different composition to other fleets in the Gothic game. A typical fleet will consist of a single Battle Barge, a couple of Strike Cruisers and the rest of the fleet made up with Escorts. Marines in Gothic do not behave in the same way as Marines in 40K. They are not the 'beginners army' or basic force that can be relied on and are forgiving to the new player. Marines are not space warfare specialists, and dont have the numbers required to become a viable space force. They require careful attention to play and have a style more similar to the Eldar fleet than the Imperial Navy. The Marines are designed to perform lightening fast raids, hitting a portion of the enemy fast and hard and not getting bogged down in a brawl. The Marine Escorts work in a very similar way to their Imperial Navy counterparts, but have the advantage of the higher Marine leadership, which should not be underestimated. They can be relied upon to achieve the special orders when required, and relied on to reload. The Capital vessels of the Marine fleet generally compare unfavourably to the Imperial Navy. Marines only have two types of ships in this class, and of these the Battle Barge is expensive enough to limit its numbers in all but the largest games. This limits the fleet in terms of flexibility and means that it fares badly in a stand up fight, with the vessels lacking the punch available to other ships of the same size. Additionally, the Marine fleet lacks a cruiser typical to other fleets, with the Battle Barge being relative to a Battleship and the Strike Cruiser being the equivalent of a light cruiser. The Marine fleet has a limited number of attack craft, but these are all comprised of Thunderhawks. These craft are very good at clearing enemy ordnance, remaining in play on a 4+ in the same way as Eldar craft. However, they are unable to perform bombing runs, limited to fighter roles or hit and run attacks. And with the capital vessels able to launch a relatively small number of craft each, this limits the size of the squadrons available to the player. The Marine fleet has the advantage of good close range firepower, although the general weapons range of the fleet is only 30cm, and the fact that both of the capital vessels have the capacity to launch attack craft. The Marines are also adept in boarding actions, and these should be taken advantage of as often as possible, with the possible exception of Orks as the enemy. However, the fleet are not the fastest in the game, and while it needs to make the best use of position and to outflank the enemy, if caught in an unfavourable position it becomes extremely vulnerable. Additionally, the vessels are underpowered, or expensive for their stats, and so are often outnumbered. The Marine fleet needs to work in concert, keeping the vessels together and making the best use of terrain features and obstacles to the enemies firepower. The Marine Bombardment Cannon can be a powerful tool, able to inflcit serious damage and also being in the front aspect of the Marine vessels, making the Marines able to shoot in the direction that they are moving. Aside from the 6+ armour value, the Marine vessels can find themselves quite vulnerable, being protected by relatively few shields and turrets. Reload your ordnance continuously, and it is often a good idea to save your rerolls for any reloading mishaps which may occur. In general, the Marine fleet is a difficult one to play, and should be left to those players who are more experienced, or those who look for a challenge, but in the right hands the fleet of the Adeptus Astartes can be devastating. | |||||
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Top of Page Scribed by: CyberShadow, with the help of the Gothic Yahoo Group |