Assault Squads are the Space Marines' hand-to-hand combat specialist units. Marines are powerful fighters able to best almost any opponent in the bloody close-quarters fighting that is such a prominent feature of warfare in the 41st Millennium. The squad illustrated is the 7th Assault Squad of the Ultramarines 2nd Company. The shoulder pad trims are in the company colour of yellow. Each of the Marines wears the crossed arrows Assault badge on their right shoulder pad. This is overwritten with the squad number in black.

SPACE MARINE JUMP PACK The Space Marine jump pack is essentially a pair of powerful jet turbines with gyroscopic stabilisers and flight control devices. This gives the wearer a limited flight capability. This does not allow for any complex aerial manoeuvres but does enable the Marine to make penetrating leaps into enemy lines or be deployed from low-flying Thunderhawk gunships. This particular jump pack design is one that has served the needs of the Assault Squads for many centuries.

Each Assault Squad consists of up to ten battle-brothers of whom one will be the unit leader or Sergeant. All of the Marines in the Squad excel at lose quarters fighting having received additional specialist training and having had plenty of experience.

The Sergeant is a Marine who has undergone additional special training in leadership and tactics. He may have fought enough battles to qualify as a Veteran. Such warriors are often promoted to special command duties or transferred to the 1st Company. Veteran Sergeants are highly valued by the Company Captain as they improve the capabilities of the Squads under his command. The Sergeant's badge of rank is a red skull displayed on the left shoulder pad and he is further distinguished by his red helmet. Veteran Sergeants wear a red helmet with a white stripe.

All of the Squad fight with a weapon in each hand, usually this is a pistol and sword combination but is not uncommon for them to use mauls, axes, power fists and other more exotic close combat weapons. Individual Chapters favour particular weapons for their Assault Squads but the majority stick to the classic pairing of bolt pistol and chainsword. The whole Squad will also carry Frag grenades (wide area, fragmentation blast) and/or Krak grenades (tightly focused, armour piercing blast). Other grenade types are occasionally used on special missions but are generally restricted to officers and squad leaders.

Some of the Marines may have fought enough battles to earn Veteran status. They may continue to serve with the Assault Squad for a short time but eventually they will be promoted to special duties (see Command Squad) or advanced to the 1st Veteran Company. In this way the ranks of the elite company are replenished. In the Ultramarines Chapter Veterans are distinguished by their white helmets.

The Assault Squad's role in battle is to strike hard and fast at vulnerable points in the enemy's formation and overwhelm their opponents in the ensuing melee. Jump packs give the Squad incredible speed and manoeuvrability and the Assault Marines are experts in using them. However the Assault Squads can also fight as bike or land speeder squadrons or indeed be deployed from just abdfit any of the Marines' transport vehicles. This all-round proficiency gives a commanding officer great flexibility in deciding how, when and where to use the awesome fighting power of his Assault Squads.

All ranks	Battle-brother	Sergeant

The badge of rank for an Ultramarines Sergeant is a red skull. This is displayed on his left shoulder pad in combination with the Chapter symbol. In addition the Sergeant wears a red helmet. Veteran Sergeant wear a red helmet with a white stripe. These markings are not used by all of the Codex Chapters. Some Chapters use the red skull badge but may display it on the Marine's helmet or kneepad. Other commonly used Sergeant's badges include laurel wreaths stripes and name scrolls.

ASSAULT WEAPONS

Veteran Sergeant variant: note white stripe	Veteran variant: note white helmet

Squad Sergeant