Space Marines are more or less the poster children of the Warhammer 40,000 universe and that has held true with the Warhammer 40,000 Conquest Living Card Game. In my first article, Buying Guide – The Basics, I talked about the LCG format and how to get started in general, today I’m going to focus on getting started with Space Marines in particular.
General
Space Marines are possibly the easiest faction to pick up and play as a new player. They have sturdy units, good damage prevention, solid combat tricks, and great options available in their ally factions. New players will find Space Marines exciting if they enjoy long lasting units, the ability to deploy units on the fly, and minor control abilities.
Core Sets
In general Space Marines have an exceptional selection of cards right out of the game’s first box. I think the best recommendation to make if Marines are your faction of choice is to start out with a full set of 3 core sets. This will give you a really wide breadth of the factions best options.
Howl of Blackmane (Warlord Cycle)
The core set provides so many excellent options the jumping right into the next warlord is actually very easy to do. This War Pack will give you the signature squad for Ragnar Blackmane and let you experiment with a new play style.
Cato
Captain Cato Sicarius is the faction’s core set warlord. Style wise Cato is generally quite good at almost any strategy you want to take. His ability means you can afford to play a slightly more expensive deck than most other warlords. His signature squad has a variety of powerful control effects that apply to a number of circumstances. All told he makes an excellent starting point.
Core Sets
Since Cato is great at playing a variety of styles the core set really helps you fill out those options. I would say that owning 3 core set boxes is a top priority for this warlord.
Gift of the Ethereals (Walord Cycle)
If you aren’t quite ready to go all in with 3 core sets or if you already have and you’re ready to expand further my next suggestion would be Gift of the Ethereals. This War Pack brings with it one of the most powerful Space Marine events, Crushing Blow. You also get White Scars Bikers, an excellent 3 cost unit expanding out the variety of options to use with Drop Pod Assault in the core set. There are also a few other cards to expand your deck building options
Descendants of Isha (Warlord Cycle)
The last War Pack of the Warlord Cycle, Decendants of Isha fills a lot of holes that were remaining in each of the factions. For Space Marines this includes Space Wolves Predator and Primal Howl. Cato himself provides a reasonable number of resources over the course of a game and since most warlords will have no qualms taking Cato face on you can use often use Primal Howl to fill in your card draw. Space Wolves Predator on the other hand is a great big toy that lets you bully opponents. These of course aren’t the only new options you’ll get, the pack comes with more options both in faction and from allies.
Ragnar
Space Marines second warlord, Ragnar Blackmane, was released in the first War Pack of the Warlord cycle. His style is much more aggresive than Cato’s, allowing Ragnar to bully and sometimes even assassinate opposing warlords. Even with this he can work quite well with very similar decks to Cato, as well as radically different focusses.
Howl of Blackmane (Warlord Cycle)
This War Pack is a bit of a no brainer if a player is interested in playing Ragnar as it is the product he comes in. Fortunately if you already have a couple core sets this is all you will need to get started with our Fenrisian Space Marine.
Gift of the Ethereals (Warlord Cycle)
This War Pack provides much of the same benefit to Ragnar as it does for Cato. Ragnar though is likely to make much greater use of both White Scars Biker and Crushing Blow. Because Blackmane is able to bully and threaten a warlord kill, both cards become much more versatile.
Zogwort’s Curse (Warlord Cycle)
In my oppinion the most effective ally to Ragnar is the Astra Militarum, and one of the best packs for AM is Zogwort’s Curse. For Blackmane the Tallarn Raiders provide an excellent 1 cost army that adds to your command prescense and your combat pressure. Staging Ground also comes in the War Pack and add to the surprise and flexibility of the deck. Finally the War Pack comes with several other cards that, while not the most competitive cards, will add variety to your deck building options.