The Return of a Classic.

In the beginning there was a man named Stelek and one day he had a bright idea...he called it 'Best-of'...This was the wonderful idea of taking the 'best' unit 'of' each FOC section and spamming as many of that unit as you could.

Here's a visual example of the concept for reference purposes,

This revolutionary concept was then adopted by many people, most of which claimed they'd been doing lists like that all along ;-)

The first list along these lines was either the following or a very close approximation...

1750 Pts - Space Marines Roster - Original 'Best Of' List.

HQ: Master of the Forge (1#, 120 pts)

1 Master of the Forge @ 120 pts (Conversion Beamer)

Troops: Scout Squad (6#, 163 pts)

5 Scout Squad @ 163 pts (Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle x3; Heavy Bolter w/Hellfire Shells; Sergeant Telion)

1 Sergeant Telion

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 105 pts)

1 Dreadnought @ 105 pts

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 105 pts)

1 Dreadnought @ 105 pts

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 105 pts)

1 Dreadnought @ 105 pts

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 205 pts)

9 Tactical Squad @ 205 pts (Flamer; Multi-Melta; Rhino)

1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)

1 Rhino (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter)

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 205 pts)

9 Tactical Squad @ 205 pts (Flamer; Multi-Melta; Rhino)

1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)

1 Rhino (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter)

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 205 pts)

9 Tactical Squad @ 205 pts (Flamer; Multi-Melta; Rhino)

1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)

1 Rhino (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (2#, 140 pts)

2 Land Speeder Squadron @ 140 pts (Multi-Melta x2; Heavy Flamer x2)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (2#, 140 pts)

2 Land Speeder Squadron @ 140 pts (Multi-Melta x2; Heavy Flamer x2)

Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 85 pts)

1 Predator @ 85 pts (Heavy Bolter (each side))

Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 85 pts)

1 Predator @ 85 pts (Heavy Bolter (each side))

Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 85 pts)

1 Predator @ 85 pts (Heavy Bolter (each side))

Total Roster Cost: 1748

Of course back then nobody was meched up so there was usually insufficient anti-vehicle fire-power in the opposing army to destroy all your vehicles before you destroyed all of his.

Telion's squad also had to pay for their own Camo-Cloaks rather than now (after the FAQ) where apparently Telion just yells at them till they hide better...

Sorry girls...try again...

Where was I? okay now I remember...

Is this list still viable today?

I think it is...though a few minor tweaks wouldn't hurt...

1750 Pts - Space Marines Roster - Original 'Best Of' List - Updated

HQ: Space Marine Librarian (1#, 100 pts)

1 Space Marine Librarian @ 100 pts (...in Power Armour; Null Zone; The Gate of Infinity)

1 ...in Power Armour

HQ: Master of the Forge (1#, 120 pts)

1 Master of the Forge @ 120 pts (Conversion Beamer)

Troops: Scout Squad (7#, 161 pts)

6 Scout Squad @ 161 pts (Sniper Rifle x3; Missile Launcher; Sergeant Telion)

1 Sergeant Telion

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 125 pts)

1 Dreadnought @ 125 pts (Twin Linked Autocannon; Twin Linked Autocannon)

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 125 pts)

1 Dreadnought @ 125 pts (Twin Linked Autocannon; Twin Linked Autocannon)

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 125 pts)

1 Dreadnought @ 125 pts (Twin Linked Autocannon; Twin Linked Autocannon)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 175 pts)

4 Tactical Squad @ 175 pts (Razorback)

1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Combi-Flamer x1)

1 Razorback (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Lascannon and TL Plasmagun)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 175 pts)

4 Tactical Squad @ 175 pts (Razorback)

1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Combi-Flamer x1)

1 Razorback (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Lascannon and TL Plasmagun)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 175 pts)

4 Tactical Squad @ 175 pts (Razorback)

1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Combi-Flamer x1)

1 Razorback (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Lascannon and TL Plasmagun)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 70 pts)

1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 70 pts (Multi-Melta x1; Heavy Flamer x1)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 70 pts)

1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 70 pts (Multi-Melta x1; Heavy Flamer x1)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 70 pts)

1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 70 pts (Multi-Melta x1; Heavy Flamer x1)

Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 85 pts)

1 Predator @ 85 pts (Heavy Bolter (each side))

Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 85 pts)

1 Predator @ 85 pts (Heavy Bolter (each side))

Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 85 pts)

1 Predator @ 85 pts (Heavy Bolter (each side))

Total Roster Cost: 1746

So we've added a Librarian for some psychic defense.

The world of 5th edition still has buildings that we can 'bolster' (+1 to Cover Save) so our Scout Squad gets a 2+ Save (Due Telion passing his Stealth rule onto the unit thanks to the 40K rulebook Ver 1.1 FAQ) so the Master of the Forge stays. He still has his Conversion Beamer which gives us impressive long range shots from the safety of his bolstered building with his ablative Scout Squad wounds with Telion helping out when necessary. He can also still repair a vehicle on a 5+ even without his Servo Harness and we have quite a few vehicles in this list ;-)

We swap our Melta bunker Rhino's for some Razorbacks and spread out our Speeders into 3 individual units as these have a smaller cross section than a pair which makes them better for deep-striking in. They can of course start on the board and rely on their 'Flat-Out' move to give them a cover save.

Our Dreadnoughts become 'Dakka' Dreads or 'Rifleman' Dreadnoughts depending on what internet forum you use for your buzzwords ;-)

Predators stay in their unchanged 'lots of shots for not many points' role.

Of course the original probably still works fairly well so maybe I should dig it out for nostalgia purposes...

Thoughts, Comments and new inventive nicknames for units are (as usual) most welcome.