One interesting Space Marine army list stood out at the LVO and didn’t do too bad at all. Going against the grain of the meta, it may deserve a closer look.
Spotted as one of the higher-up lists in the leaderboards of the 2020 LVO, was an Imperial Fist army from Malik Amin-Rubio. This entire army composition stuck out like a sore thumb, and its’ uniqueness combined with how well it did has earned it a closer look!
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we can look back at the event as if we were there ourselves.
Malik Amin-Rubio: Imperial Fists
Without any delay here’s the list. We’ve actually covered this list in detail earlier and you should take a look at it if you missed it. But going through what this army has to offer, it’s essentially a brutal non-LOS-needing artillery smackdown. Bringing three Thunderfire Cannons, a regular Whirlwind and two Whirlwind Scorpiuses, about half of the list was able to sit back out of LOS and lob shots relentlessly all game.
Meanwhile, five total gunships zoomed up the board and absolutely unloaded into the enemy with a total of ten autocannons collectively. Remember that Imperial Fists ignore any kind of cover as well so Eliminators and Sniper Scouts were probably the first to go. All of these units are good…But when you look at the Legacy of Dorn Doctrine bonus, this list rises to a whole new level of offensive output.
Multiplying Your Force Two-Fold
If you noticed, almost every weapon in the list (aside from a few obligatory characters) had the Heavy keyword. Meaning that as long as they shot at a Vehicle, they would add 1 point of damage to the shot. When you start to consider all of this massed firepower doing D3+1 damage from the Thunderfire Cannons (which by the way, can shoot twice) as well as the flat 3 damage from the Whirlwinds, and finally, the 60 2-damage assault cannon shots, this list is the ultimate wound-plinker.
Going up against Knights, Admech, Necrons, and other vehicle-heavy armies, this list was able to sit out of the direct fire while steadily chipping away wounds on key threats. Something completely alien to most Space Marine lists but especially Imperial Fists as their most popular bread and butter are Heavy Bolter Centurions for the mortal wound bomb.
Overall, this is an awesome Space Marine army list that goes to show sometimes going all-in on a unique unit can really pay-off.
After checking out the way this list worked, will you be experimenting with some less-popular units out of the Marine codex? What’s the best way to deal with this army if you went against it?
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
