Space Marines

This article is awesome. Do not fuck it up.

WE ARE THE EMPRAH'S FUREH! Also, Beakie.

For the vidya gaem, please see: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

"Give me a hundred Space Marines. Or failing that give me a thousand other troops."

– Attributed to Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists

"They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give of themselves to me. Like clay I shall mould them, and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be of iron will and steely muscle. In great armour shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns will they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease, no sickness will blight them. They will have tactics, strategies and machines so that no foe can best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity. They are my Space Marines and they shall know no fear."

– The God-Emperor of Mankind

The Space Marines, also known as SPESS MEHREENS (or Marinelets or (canonically) Firstborn now that the Chadmarines are here) and canonically named the Adeptus Astartes are an army in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. They are bio-enhanced super soldiers clad in Power Armour, and are generally regarded as the toughest warriors to ever serve the Emperor (except for the Adeptus Custodes and Imperial Assassins). The average Space Marine is around eight feet tall. They used to be seven feet in the old fluff, but Dan Abnett and the rest of Games Workshop have a hard-on for gigantism (though they have addressed the problems real-life gigantism can cause by throwing in more bio-engineering) so they jacked them up a foot, though RPGs from Fantasy Flight Games and games by THQ scaled them back to the more reasonable seven feet. Although do note that the height of Marines can vary greatly; some can even reach ten feet, like Asterion Moloc. "Giant gods of war" is far more believable, considering their insane feats and ability for a handful of them to face down an Ork WAAAGH!!! and Tyranid Hive Fleets, yet still make a major difference. Probably due to Warp bullshit the Emperor likely coded into their gene-seed. Especially since Astartes seem to indefinitely grow in power (but not size) with age to the point of killing things that honestly should be invincible to a mere Marine.

Internally, they have bones that can repel anything short of a boltgun round and can breathe underwater even without their helmets on because they have a third (artificial/augmetic) lung. They can also breathe all but the most potent of toxic fumes with little to no damage to their respiratory system, have two hearts, and live for hundreds of years (they may be functionally immortal, but they usually die in battle after a few centuries, so nobody can be sure, although a Salamander was found in armor fused to his ship and he was ten thousand years old and alive and aware...and batshit insane for having only his brothers’ corpses to look at for ten millennia and his body had severely atrophied). They are vastly more powerful in their official descriptions than they actually are in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game (although the Marines statted in Dark Heresy or Rogue Trader (RPG) are walking rapemachines, and the player character Marines in Deathwatch are hard as nails). Much like the Chaos Space Marines are the 40k successors of the Warriors of Chaos, Space Marines are the 40k successors of Warrior Priests, right down to their BALD. Portrayals range from hardcore but plausible super-soldiers to shameless Mary Sues who could fight off Batman with one hand and the Joker with the other, considering their fluff feats and the things they defeat, defeating Batman and the Joker while missing all his limbs would be completely unsurprising for an Astartes. Although occasionally, they serve to make other galactic forces seem superior. More like the Ineptes Astartes.

They account for approximately 35% of the playable armies (counting chaos space marines) in 40k, over 21.4% (yeah, I thought that was a pretty conservative estimate too) of played armies among the 40k fandom (factoring in that people can collect and play more than one 40k army), and as of October 2010, receive about 50% or more of new releases. While there are many, many chapters that you can choose from, the actual armies basically boil down to six main choices: Dark Angels, Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Grey Knights, Legion of the Damned (barely), Deathwatch, Black Templars (previously) and everybody else (with the Chaos Space Marines accounting for three more codexes). Everyone who's a successor of the first two choices follows their codex and generally share their units, while the "everybody else" just follows the generic Space Marine codex. Don't let the promotional art fool you, though; the Space Marine army isn't exclusively Ultramarines. It used to be that you also had individual codices the Black Templars, but they got folded into the generic Space Marine army. At least they still get special chapter-specific units, which is more than can be said for the likes of the Salamanders or other important yet still-neglected chapters. But nooo, the Ultramarines need every type of special character...

Contrary to that, fluff-wise Space Marines are amongst the smallest factions in the game. With Loyalist Marines combined they number just above one million in a galaxy where the Imperium alone has more or less a million honest to God inhabited worlds (deepshit colonies with a population of only a few million may or may not be included in that number). In fact, any single capital-class space ship may have a population higher than the entirety of Marines in the Galaxy. Furthermore, Marine armies are extremely fractured, very rarely deployed at above a company per war zone. GW never cared to explain how forces so small could have such a huge impact on the battlefields, when Orks, Guard, and Tyranids could field their troops in the millions, and Chaos can convert entire populations of planets (which is often tens of billions), though by rubbing two brain-cells together we can imagine a combination of them being just that powerful and focusing on opening opportunities for their strike cruiser or battlebarge to blow everyone up. Regardless, everything that is something in the setting has a tendency to at least have a bit Space Marines in it, if they aren't flat-out the protagonists. Expect enormous campaigns to revolve around a few companies, regardless of the involved numbers of Guardsmen and enemy xenos and chaotic characters, and the Marines to be the key to victory in any given war.

It should be noted that per "Fall of Cadia," a certain armless failure mustered a force of CSM ten times the size of the original Legion (i.e. Luna Wolves) for the 13th Black Crusade. So yeah, no wonder the poor Cadians didn't stand a chance—although technically, Abaddon only won because he flung the remains of a Blackstone Fortress at the planet's surface.

Geedubs has a hard-on for Space Marines. Between the writers favoritism and the "Spots the Space Marine" fiasco, it's gotten to the point where they should seek professional help.

THIS JUST IN: THE SPACE MARINES JUST GOT AN SKUBPGRADE! See Primaris Marines

History

Marine with half his FUCKING face missing, skulls in the wall, bolter laying ready, and servitors with hoods swinging censers. Ladies and gents, Warhammer 40k.

After the end of the Age of Strife, the Emperor of Mankind (overachieving at it's finest) wanted to reunite humanity in a Great Crusade across the galaxy, and he realized that in order to do this he would need one epic-ass army and equally epic generals to lead it. He created the Primarchs, his sons, to be his generals, and let me tell you, these guys were some of the most insanely powerful badasses in all the lore of 40k, and that is saying something. (There is a story in which one of them snaps a fucking Bloodthirster's spine over his knee.) From their DNA, he created the Legiones Astartes, the first Space Marines. Their first task was to locate their Primarchs, because the Gods of Chaos had scattered them across the galaxy in an attempt to foil the Emperor's efforts at human reunification (they were basically just butt-hurt that they didn't have some baddass buttfucking sons; Slaanesh approved!). All of the Primarchs were eventually recovered and reunited with their respective legions, but then, at the height of the Space Marines' power, disaster struck. Horus, the Emperor's most trusted Primarch, fell to Chaos and turned traitor along with his legion, the Luna Wolves, and several others followed suit. After much sorrow, pain, and civil warring, the Emperor killed Horus personally (Daddy issues at their finest yet again), but was mortally wounded in the process, which is why he is now a zombie being kept alive by the technologies of the Golden Throne (Undead Heresy?). The traitor legions, who are now known as the Chaos Space Marines TRAITOR ASTARTES, were defeated and pushed back to the Eye of Terror. All of the Primarchs that did not fall to Chaos during the Horus Heresy either disappeared or were killed, and until very recently, none remained to lead the Space Marines. (Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultrasmurfs, long enshrined and (according to some people) healing in stasis has recently been revived after ten thousand years). In addition, after the Heresy, the Legions were mostly split into smaller "Chapters" of up to a thousand Marines according to the teachings of the Codex Astartes (although some Chapters, such as the Space Wolves and the Black Templars, do not follow Astartes orthodoxy and maintain forces in much greater numbers, and some chapters go so far as to form almost legion-strength forces.)

The Space Marines are most commonly looked upon as warrior-monks, generally referring to each other as "Brother", "Battle Brother" or some variation thereof based on rank, spending most or all of their time training, in battle, or venerating the Emperor. However, no two Chapters are exactly alike, and many differ wildly from the standard perception of the Marines. The Space Wolves, as one example, appear to be much less disciplined than most other Chapters, maintaining a much larger force than permitted by the Codex and frequently having great feasts with much merriment and drinking (the Space Wolves happen to produce the only intoxicating beverage known to have any effect on Marine physiology, and which liquefies the innards of non-Astartes). Their attitude toward others in the Imperium can also differ greatly from Chapter to Chapter or even from marine to marine. Some are very idealistic, believing very strongly in their role as protectors of humanity (such as the Celestial Lions or the Salamanders). Others, like the Black Templars, tend to disregard the ordinary elements of the Imperium, and emphasize much more their role as a weapon against its enemies. And some are just angry.

Their attitude towards the Emperor can also vary. Although they are typically believed to worship him as a deity like most of the rest of the Imperium, the Space Marines are, by virtue of their gene-seeds, derived from the Primarchs and hence the Emperor himself, making them much closer to him than most humans. In fact, many of the Space Marine chapters' beliefs maintain some of the old Imperial Truth that the Emperor was not a god, but simply the greatest of mortal men, worthy of praise and veneration but not a deity proper. Although it is true that the majority of the Chapters certainly venerate him in an orthodox manner, others just scream his name a lot because that's tradition.The exact degree of Emperor-worship in the Space Marine chapters is a bit mushy. Some openly refer to the Emperor as the God-Emperor while others are outright contemptuous of the idea. Captain Zachariah Kersh, later Chapter Master, was such a nah-sayer but was converted by his experiences during the destruction of the Cholercaust on Certus-Minor. This could mean that among the various Chapters the exact degree of veneration of the Emperor could be entirely a personal choice rather than explicit doctrine. But again the inconsistencies therein make it hard to judge. Alternatively to this theme being a result of lazy writers is that it is in fact a clever but under-developed effect of the progression of the plot of Warhammer 40k. Such that by the end of the 41st millennium, things are so awful that even the Space Marines seek resolve in the worship of the God-Emperor..

The great Papa Smurf hisself.

Space Marines are generally regarded as having something of an "unfair advantage" in the tabletop, mainly because every young 40k player has a strong liking for them, and almost every unit in the listings has at least a 3+ armor save, making them rather hard to kill, especially when considering armies such as the Blood Angels have models that allow players to roll an additional "Feel No Pain" 4+ save if they fail the 3+ one. The problem is that it took 3 Space Marine Chapter books in 5th Edition to come up with a Space Marine Codex framework that didn't suck (almost nothing in C:SW is non-competitive or poorly priced), which is why Long Fangs are usually 50 points cheaper than their Space Marine counterparts, while being twice as effective. Why are Devastators supposedly more expensive? Combat tactics. Yeah, you're never going to use it. The Ultramarines in particular are an extremely popular choice of Space Marine Chapter, and their blue design coupled with the small size of the miniatures often leads to them being referred to as "Smurfs." Thanks to Indrick Boreale, the Space Marines in general are frequently called "Spess Mehreens," or variations to that effect. The Space Marines of today look very different from the glory days of Rogue Trader, when they earned the nickname "beakies" because of their signature helmets.

Denizens of /tg/ are prone to claiming a wide variety of things about the Space Marines, usually about their sexual activity (or lack thereof), ranging from assertions that the genitalia of a Space Marine is nonfunctional to claims that they are castrated during the creation process. They never have any supporting evidence for these theories and it is not clear whether or not Space Marines are allowed to have sex, which Chapters would allow them to have sex, if they even can have sex, if they're still capable of normal human reproduction, or what bits they may or may not still possess. Still, that doesn't stop anyone from stating their personal opinion as if it were fact. The most revealed is that a female Inquisitorial henchwoman got an eyeful of a naked Grey Knight novice and was rather impressed by what she saw. The Grey Knight, naturally, had no idea why she seemed so interested.

An interesting point to note is that right below this segment on the right is an image of a Marine with a loin-cloth. If there is no modesty to protect, why protect it? One suspects that the reason Marines aren't afforded the luxury of sex (aside from distraction from serving the Emperor), is that they'd kill whatever unfortunate woman or xenos livestock they take a fancy to. The point is, due to psychological conditioning and likely the sterilizing effects of the augmentation process, followed by a century plus of service to the Emperor in radiation and toxic filled environments, they are simply disinclined towards it, and wouldn't result in any more meat-shields for the Emperor's glorious wars regardless, thus only serving the arch-hedonist.

Creation

From deranged lab-experiment to fucking awesome.

Knowing just what the fuck was waiting for humanity in space, the Emperor of Mankind designed the gene-seed, nineteen special organs to enhance the regular human body to keep the Space Marines going when fighting these monstrosities. Over a series of several years, human adolescents, dubbed aspirants, are selected through a rigorous process which varies from Chapter to Chapter. They are always male, with cited reasons including that Astartes are basically clones of their Primarchs, and by extension the Emperor, and that the geneseed requires portions of the Y-chromosome to function. When their training goes to the next stage, the aspirants are implanted with the initial gene-seed. They then become neophytes, Space Marines in training. As the gene-seed is implanted into them, the neophytes also go through hypnotic conditioning to hone their responses. By the time they're done, the subject has few impulses beyond fighting and killing in the name of the Emperor (it's sometimes thought that this is what kills their sex drive) and most of their memories of their earlier lives are all but forgotten. The only mental frailties remaining are a "fear" (ATSKNF notwithstanding) of failure and experiencing notable stress when severely injured or crippled, as they are no longer able to fulfill their function.

After receiving all these organs and conditioning, it's highly arguable if a Space Marine still qualifies as human. Though the Imperium of Man has basic "kill on sight" orders for most non-humans and venerates the "Holy Human Form", the topic of whether or not Space Marines violate this edict is ignored, mostly because they were designed by the Emperor and thus considered holy creations. There is also an understandable hesitance to declare war on the only thing standing between the Imperium and the unfathomable evil of the Chaos Gods. Arguably Marines are no less human than those of the Mechanicum, just with organic implants instead of bionics, and cog boys still count as 100% right and proper humans (even if most of them consider themselves a separate species or at least "humans 2.0").

In fact, this religious need to adhere to the Holy Human Form may be why the Emperor designed the gene-seed to be a bio-enhancement project and not a genetic modification one; all of a Space Marine's inhuman abilities are a result of the artificially engineered organs shoved into their bodies during their creation, either directly (the secondary heart or multi-lung) or indirectly (the Ossmodula, which alters their hormone balance and makes their skeleton growth go berserk). Consequently, this means a Space Marine would technically pass a genetic scan of being "human" better than an abhuman like an Ogryn or Ratling would. The holiness of the Human Form came long before the Horus Heresy, so this theory is likely, anyways. Besides, the Emperor did attempt genetic modification but it proved either too expensive (Thunder Warriors) or resulted in unrecorded disasters. Gene Bio-enhancements are also much more conductive to mass-production. Of course, so long as the genetics are merely added to the human genome instead of (drastically) changing the genome, then it can easily be argued the enhancements are no different than using technological tools like auspex or lasguns.

Yes, this tramples all over the spirit of the law (not really, adding to something is just that; addition) whilst technically adhering to the letter, but it's hardly unique -- see the Ecclesiarchy having its own army of power-armored gun-toting nuns despite being formally forbidden to have "men" under arms.

Another theory is that the Space Marines were designed this way for more symbolic reasons. Done this way Marines retain a link to humanity; all were born human, no more than any other citizen. They became more through science and training but they aren't some new species or a warrior caste. As Marines they are beyond humans but they know where they came from. The regular citizens see the Marines as the best of humanity, proxies for the Emperor's power. The Marines remember humans are their kin and while they are more than human they are still the same species, all coming from the same root. The power vested in them doesn't pass by blood, it passes by merit and a normal citizen can still aspire to become an Astartes even if it's a long shot. The Emperor's whole deal was based around humanity, so he built something that could be a symbol to all humanity. He could have bred a new war species but he altered us because his dream of the Imperium was the dream of humanity. Symbolic difference, sure, but it matters. There's a reason Space Marines are venerated not feared.

Incidentally, bio-enhancements like the gene-seed are actually more controllable than a genetic enhancing procedure would be, since the resultant outcome is more predictable, more easily mass-produced, and it means that even if a Space Marine could have kids, they would in all likelihood not be different from ordinary humans, since their abilities aren't tied to them on a genetic level, though they would be far more likely to become Space Marines since some amount of genetic compatibility is required.

It is also noteworthy that as a possibly unintended side effect of their geneseed, Space Marines are enormously well endowed. This is evidenced in the first book of the Horus Heresy series, whereby a Remembrancer described a naked Captain Loken as being "equine." Of course out of all the chapters, only Space Wolves ever seem to take advantage of this factor.

How strong Space Marines are

Fanboys and opponents constantly argue how strong Astartes are. This entails unfavorable comparisons to super soldiers like Custodians and Thunder Warriors, or comparisons to Ogryns and Imperial Assassins. The crunch can give reasonable estimates, but things like tabletop balancing show its limitations as broad indicators of performance (Guard officers have more wounds than Astartes recruits!). Thus, it's often a matter of conjecture how far an abbreviated statistic translates into a hypothetical comparison; Strength 4 is weaker than Strength 5, but "Strength" can apply variously to lifting/pressing strength instead of striking force, hence why power-lifters don't necessarily make the best cage fighters.

The fluff (and writer) subject Astartes potency to many fluctuations, from absolute gods of battle to DOW1 opening redshirts levels of incompetence. Fans, BL and Codex writers all agree that Astartes are extremely powerful and resilient, with great tactical acumen (see Astartes - Part Three ). Most fans agree this representation of them is more canon than most video game trailers (looking at you DOW 3). Astartes Pt.3 shows their post-human skill and advanced equipment are a cut-above even the more competent (renegade) guardsmen.

It is not difficult to create super soldiers in the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. Examples going as far back as the early Great Crusade show that humans can be brought up to near-Astartes (or equivalent) strength through various surgeries that do not involve gene-seed. Presently, just about every militant Imperial arm has their own equivalent of super soldiers, ranging from the Ordo Hereticus and the Sisters of Battle to the Adeptus Mechanicus with their various Skitarii forces. Some cultures (such as Necromunda's House Goliath) even have the facilities and resources to enhance their throwaway population to levels of bulk and savagery that outright exceed Space Marines, so when reduced to sheer combat potential a Space Marine doesn't appear to be that special.

A Space Marine's true "strength" lies not with his muscle power or his resistance to injury but in the fact that he is trained and drilled to fight at optimal strength, regardless of whatever battlefield he finds himself in. A Space Marine is capable of fighting centuries-long campaigns, eating toxic foods, surviving in irradiated environments with little to no atmosphere, not requiring sleep, not worrying about the effects of zero-gravity, and more. If he is lost without resupply he can consume the genetic information of local fauna or his enemies to survive, else he can enter hibernation until he is recovered. If he is injured, the wound will seal in mere moments, preventing further damage through blood loss or infection. If he is killed his progenoid glands can be used to create more Space Marines in his place. More importantly, he is disciplined to a level far beyond the scope of an ordinary human soldier and is highly resistant to the psychological trauma inherent to participating in long, bloody wars.

None of these things translate to tabletop rules so they typically get discounted when trying to compare one to the other, but the context of a fight can be supremely important. For instance, an Ogryn certainly could not survive underwater or in methane atmospheres and would choke to death before the fight even began. It is unclear if other superhuman lines can do all of these things: Custodians are most likely equal if not superior to Astartes in most respects, but they are far more difficult to produce than Space Marines and are too valuable to waste on standard military operations. Thunder Warriors certainly couldn't do everything (and indeed were never intended to survive past the Unification Wars), while Assassins are subject to different upgrades that are more niche to their function. All of them might be physically more powerful than a Space Marine, but either take up more resources to create or are simply unsuited for other tasks.

The Lifespan Debate

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

The lifespan for Astartes is something of a tricky subject. Because although Astartes refer to normal humans as “mortals” and their daddies and Big E never said they were wrong to and although a Salamander from the Great Crusade was found fused by his armor to his ship’s deck (and insane from boredom) ten thousand years later, some dumb bitches don’t want the demigods to be demigods. Probably the same people who imagine Astartes as similar to Halo’s Spartans despite the examples of handfuls of Space Marines butchering entire armies of super aliens and daemons from literally Hell itself (sometimes one and the same). While it’s made clear that Space Marines live many centuries longer than normal humans, exactly how long they’re supposed to live has never really been elaborated on; and furthermore, keep in mind that the middle age of the upper-class Imperial citizens is circa 3 centuries or so. It doesn’t help that there has never been a Space Marine shown or described to have ever died of anything resembling old age, and that different chapter bloodlines (and writers) each appear to handle aging differently. So there really isn’t any kind of baseline to work with here. Perhaps most central to the issue is the question of whether or not Astartes are biologically immortal. Of course, there’s also the question or whether or not gene-seed from a Primarch instead of hand-me-down man juice makes a difference.

On the “for” side, both Dan Abnett and Graham McNeill claim that Astartes are indeed immortal, and that although they might physically age (grey hair, wrinkles, etc.) it is only skin deep and they are in just as good physical condition as when they first joined the Astartes, only dying when they are killed. Nick Kyme also appears to be a believer in the immortal point of view (though more in a sitting-stone-gathers-moss-and-lasts-forever kind of way), as in his Salamanders series, an Astartes survivor from the Horus-friggin-Heresy was found in a crashed and buried Salamanders starship. His armor had melded into the metal of the ship and he could no longer move, but he was alive. He had apparently been sitting there watching over the empty, ancient suits of armor from his fallen brothers for ten thousand years. He was also borderline crazy from all the memories filling his head (thanks eidetic memory, but then if he had human memory he'd have Alzheimers or something) and his vocal cords and muscles were desiccated, but the latter are implied to be due to atrophy from inactivity more than anything else so that doesn't count. Nick Kyme also touched on the subject in Fall of Damnos, with a Tactical Sergeant remarking that he did not know himself if Astartes could die of old age, or that even if they could he had never heard of it happening - indeed, it would be a dishonor to the warrior lifestyle of a Space Marine to do so. The Night Lords series by Aaron Dembski-Bowden is another in the "for" catagory, at least in that the Astartes refer to humans as "mortals," and Talos, at just 300 years old, is apparently considered young for a Crusade-era, unwarped traitor Space Marine. David Annandale has also made allusions to the longevity of the Astartes. In ‘The Death of Antagonis’ Brother Nithigg of the Black Dragons chapter is noted by Sergeant (later Captain) Volos to be ‘at least 1000’, and showing no signs of slowing down or decrease in combat efficiency.

On the “against” side, the Blood Angels are specifically noted for having exceptionally long, but limited lifespans, namely a 1000 years give or take, and Marines from other Chapters don’t live nearly as long. This has been reaffirmed in the current Blood Angels Codex, and it should be noted that it was written by GW's biggest Space Marine fanboy. Yes, even Ward says Space Marines can die of old age. Even Abnett has flip-flopped a bit on it, with Brothers of the Snake (admittedly his first time writing Space Marines) portraying the apothecary Khiron as starting to slow down with his advanced age and not being quite as fit as he used to be. The Space Wolves also have a dedicated unit representing their more senior members in the Long Fangs. While the canis helix certainly plays a part in their aging, it is also implicit that these warriors represent a more traditional "warrior elder." Maybe most importantly, a highly plot-relevant fact about the duel between Abaddon and Sigismund is that everyone present, Abaddon included, agreed that if Sigismund had not been slowed down by his age, he would have been the clear victor, and Abaddon only managed to fight him to a near-mutual-kill draw because he had been protected from aging by living in the Eye of Terror. Other things you can handwave or retcon, but the Black Templar vs the Black Legate is as close to sacrosanct as you get.

Unsurprisingly, BL tends to be inconsistent with their lore. There's 2 reasons for this. 1st is because some gamers would think less of the Space Marines if they could die of old age, which Gee Dubs doesn't want. 2nd is because GW seems to agree that not dying of old age would be great. However, they wouldn't want to anger the part of the fanbase that doesn't want Astartes to be biologically immortal, so GW must be deliberately vague on this. This is retarded because the god-like mystique comes from their immortality. Removing immortality would demote the Astartes from demigods to super-special forces, lacking much of their awe. Woop-dee-fucking-doo. The people who don't want the Astartes to be immortal are whiny bitches who want their own armies to seem more impressive by dragging the Astartes down to a mortal level. Which is pathetic and probably heretical.

Others have tried to argue that biological immortality would limit the incentives for Heretic Astartes to seek demonhood, but these people fail to make a key distinction. The inability to die of old age doesn't remove the threat of injury or death. On the other hand, ascending to demonhood leaves you unbound to physics and immune to death, instead being banished for a time. For those wondering, Chaos Marines who remember the Horus Heresy but lack demonhood aren't considered for this debate due to warp fuckery. The Night Lords and Alpha Legion are an exception since their location lacks warp-taint, but it's unknown if any of them are from the Horus Heresy.

Regardless, the true measure of an Astartes is their killing potential. If Astartes can die of old age, they'll more likely die in battle before age takes its toll. If age DOES take its toll, then the loss of potency due to old age will get them killed anyway. However, being slowed down by old age doesn't count as dying of old age. General estimates place the average Astartes life expectancy at 400-500 years, becoming a venerable elder and certified badass if they exceed this span.

On a more grimdark note, the Horus Heresy series shows that Astartes are vulnerable to mental traumas like PTSD thanks to a lifetime of war in the meat grinder. It's possible that instead of old age, it's the weight of mental trauma that slows them down. Dan Abnett never wrote those books of course, who believes that Big E wouldn't make super soldiers vulnerable to mental trauma (no galactic ruler worth their salt would allow such ailments to happen if they can prevent it). Others have argued that mental trauma is endured in training, and continues until they become proper Astartes hardened to such struggles.

Space Marine Chapters

We honestly can't tell whether this is a dude or a chick, so you'll just have to make a guess and face the consequences.

• Aurora Chapter - Institutionally lazily named.
• Astral Claws - Institutionally secessionist.
• Astral Knights - Institutionally crazy awesome, but totally dead.
• Alpha Legion - Institutionally closet loyalists
• Avenging Sons - Institutionally makes their enemies look good.
• Black Dragons - Institutionally taking their cue from Wolverine.
• Black Templars - Institutionally crusaders.
• Blood Angels - Institutionally unstable.
• Blood Ravens - Institutionally relic hunters Obsessive Kleptomaniacs.
• Celebrants - Institutionally gradient.
• Celestial Lions - Institutionally suffering losses from Ork Snipers.
• Crimson Fists - Institutionally Spanish.
• Dark Angels - - Institutionally mysterious Loyal Traitors? LOYAL WITHOUT QUESTION FROM FOUNDING UNTIL DESTRUCTION.
• Dark Hands - - Institutionally... wait have these guys done anything other then face the Hrud and a couple of Orks?
• Dark Hunters - Institutionally grim of grim marines.
• Death Spectres - Institutionally albino.
• Deathwatch - Institutionally, intentionally and professionally xenocidal. Employed by the Inquisition, recruited from other Chapters.
• Doom Eagles - Institutionally doomed.
• Emperor's Shadow - Institutionally Japanese.
• Emperor's Spears - Institutionally a work in progress.
• Excoriators - Institutionally ugly.
• Executioners - Institutionally honorable.
• Exorcists - Institutionally possessed and exorcised.
• Flesh Tearers - Institutionally RIP AND TEAR.
• Flesh Eaters - Institutionally cannibals.
• Flame Falcons - Institutionally ON FIRE. ALL OF THEM.
• Fire Angels - Institutionally religious BUT ALSO ON FIRE.
• Fire Lords - Institutionally burny, possibly more so than the Salamanders (see below).
• Genesis Chapter - Institutionally Ultramarines.
• Grey Knights - Institutionally killing Daemons.
• Guardians of the Covenant - Institutionally record-keeping Catholic space monks.
• Hammers of Dorn - Institutionally trolling the Ultramarines.
• Hospitallers - Institutionally religious.
• Howling Griffons - Institutionally Black Templars wannabes.
• Ichor Angels - Institutionally screaming about chaos
• Imperial Fists - Institutionally fortifying this position.
• Invaders - Institutionally trading blows with Eldar.
• Iron Hands - Institutionally angry cyborgs.
• Iron Snakes - Institutionally Texas Rangers.
• Lamenters - Institutionally unlucky.
• Legion of the Damned - Institutionally undead WHILE ON FIRE!
• Marines Errant - Institutionally being actual marines.
• Marines Malevolent - Institutionally MASSIVE assholes.
• Mantis Warriors - Institutionally misdirecting.
• Mentors - Institutionally academic. Has not been heard from for a long time.
• Minotaurs - Institutionally mysteriously paranoid teamkilling dicks. They are suspected to be in league with the High Lords of Terra as an attempt to police the Adeptus Astartes. Cause that'll work.
• Mortifactors - Institutionally Skulls and Bones.
• Novamarines - Institutionally hating Xenos.
• Raptors - Institutionally reasonable and shooty.
• Raven Guard - Institutionally tricksy and speedy.
• Rainbow Warriors - Institutionally gay not appearing in this game.
• Red Scorpions - Institutionally pure.
• Red Talons - Institutionally bloodthirsty, and red.
• Relictors - Institutionally radical.
• Salamanders - Institutionally burny. Also, surprisingly nice for all their... fiery nature.
• Sable Swords - Institutionally heirs to the Astral Knights.
• Scythes of the Emperor - Institutionally NOT DEAD YET.
• Shadow Wolves - Institutionally made up by AD-B for his wife, and wiped out in a book he wrote.
• Silver Skulls - Institutionally shamanistic.
• Sons of Medusa - Institutionally lime green.
• Sons of the Phoenix - Institutionally totally not the Emperor's Children.
• Soul Drinkers - Institutionally rebellious.
• Space Sharks - Institutionally SHARKY, BITCH!
• Space Wolves - Institutionally Swedish,(Bjork Bjork Bjork)
• Star Phantoms - Institutionally SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER!.
• Storm Wardens - Institutionally Celtic.
• Ultramarines - Institutionally orthodox Matt Ward Cultists.
• Unnumbered Sons - Institutionally without identity.
• White Scars - Institutionally Mongolian.
• Valedictors - Institutionally gone, so forget it.

Space Marine Chapter Masters

Tiny head syndrome is a common side effect of the augmentations

• Marneus Calgar - Chapter Master of the Ultramarines. Received the rank by having the most plot armor, nowadays he has become Guilliman's aide in running Ultramar.
• Dante - Chapter Master of the Blood Angels. Beware!!!!. Dante is watching you! Received the rank for being so old and always wearing a mask, he looks like a man entering his sixties without it.
• Logan Grimnar - Great Wolf of the Space Wolves. Is the wolfiest of all the wolf lords without being a furry, also, he cares a lot for the average baseline human.
• Azrael - Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels. Best at VANQUISHING FOUL TRAITORS FROM OTHER LEGIONS.
• Vorn Hagen - Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists. Appointed as Chapter Master out of pity because he was the second best candidate in line for the job, and the TRUE HERO had turned it down so he could continue doing what he does best (namely make servants of Chaos cry with a generous appliance of Thunder Hammer to the face). Died in the Second Battle of Terra and was replaced by Gregor Dessian.
• Jubal Khan - Chapter Master of the White Scars. Proved his speediness by outracing a bike mounted captain wearing only rollerskates. Was abducted by the Red Corsairs and tortured to the point that he is permanently crippled and forced to survive strapped to life support systems in the Chapter's Fortress Monastery.
• Tu'Shan - Master of the Fire Drakes, de-Facto Chapter Master of the Salamanders. Forged the burniest flamer.
• Kardan Stronos - Chapter Master of the Iron Hands(sort of). Was actually democratically elected for diplomatic reasons, temporarily. It's complicated.
• Corvin Severax - Former Chapter Master of the Raven Guard, nicknamed "Master of Shadows". Got the job by being the sneakiest of the sneaky Marines (they were looking for him to officially grant him the rank until the last day). Unfortunately some blue-skinned bitch had him killed in the Damocles Gulf (ironically by being even sneakier and trickier then him).
• Kayvaan Shrike - Formerly Captain of the Raven Guard's third company, and all-around badass that get shit done in his Primarch's time-honored way (i.e. sneak up to a motherfucker and shred him with Lightning Claws before vanishing again). Shrike was decided unanimously to be Severax' successor when the latter suffered from an unfortunate severe overdose of Tau gunline; only adding to his awesome.
• Kaldor Draigo - Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights and one of Matt Ward's Special Snowflakes. Honored for being the single biggest Mary Sue in the whole damn setting by being able to survive in the Warp unprotected and uncorrupted. Fortunately, later authors have been working to tone him down and give him an actual personality.
• Helbrecht - High Marshall of the Black Templars. Was voted High Marshall for being the angriest of the not Angry Marines. Has a tsundere relation with Imotekh the Stormlord
• Pedro Kantor - Chapter Master of the Crimson Fists. Got the most votes (read: all three) during the election.
• Gabriel Seth - Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers. Ripped and tore the most during the Chapter Master audition (also kicked one of the judges in the balls), he is a bit tsundere for Dante while still being totally bros with him.
• Azariah Kyras - Former Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens who was killed for being a filthy, despicable, traitorous, no good follower of Chaos. Later replaced by Gabriel Angelos.
• Gabriel Angelos, a totally cool dude who had to deal with Kyras heresy, as well as Baldeale's incompetence and having his recruiting worlds invaded by the Tyranids.
• Sarpedon - Chapter Master of the Soul Drinkers Also, a (bottom) half giant spider mutant. Got all his friends killed for trying to do the right thing. Rookie Grimdark mistake, kid.
• Carab Culln - Lord High Commander of the Red Scorpions. Got promoted after the last one was killed. Then got himself mortally wounded and was interred in a Leviathan Dreadnought. Suceeded by Casan Sabius.
• Artekus Bardane - Chapter Master of the Relictors. Collects and uses Chaos artifacts better then anyone in the Chapter.
• Asterion Moloc - Chapter Master of the Minotaurs. No clue how he got the job, our inquiries were met with death threats and top level cease and desist orders. Has a laser-shooting pimp cane and won't mind sacrificing his own people to get the job done.
• Lugft Huron - Chapter Master of the Astral Claws. Got the rank by being absolutely awesome, unfortunately he overdid it and caused the Badab War.
• Lias Issodon - Chapter Master of the Raptors. The most reasonable of the not-reasonable marines.
• Tyberos the Red Wake - Chapter Master of the Space Sharks, or at least assumed to be. He was the leader of the Carcharodons during the Badab War, but his exact rank was never confirmed until 8th Edition. Still showed the best technique when it came to applying RIP AND TEAR to heretic asses, assisted by his LIGHTNING CLAW CHAINFISTS.
• Omadon Tiresias - Chapter Master of the Star Phantoms. Blinded by warp storms during the evacuation of the Star Phantom home world, he forsook his own sight to save the relics of his Chapter.
• Malakim Phoros - Chapter Master of the Lamenters. Not happy with his Chapter being constantly shat upon and sided with Huron during the Badab War. Ohh, you poor man. Despite being utterly screwed and dicked with due to unbelievably bad fortune AND struggling with crippling depression and cynicism, the guy refuses to give up faith in his fellow man. Naturally, it only makes things worse.
• Lord Magyar - Chapter Master of Mortifactors. His artificer armor is made from bone entirely, and though the rule Slow and Purposeful is no more, he definitely IS slow and purposeful. He wears a relic power scythe. He is at least 700 years old.

Rivalries

Everyone hates the Minotaurs

While normally above mortal shortcomings, the greatest flaw of the Space Marines is their hubris. They are immensely proud warriors who do not take kindly to having their honor slighted. Some take mental note of this for a later date while others take the more direct approach. This has created some notable rivalries between the various Chapters, some of which date back to the Great Crusade.

• Space Wolves and Dark Angels - The Space Wolves and Dark Angels have a rather tumultuous and sometimes violent rivalry, but in a way their Legions truly reflect the relationship between brothers. The rivalry itself stems from a confrontation between their Primarchs that stemmed from the different cultures the Primarchs had come up in. During a joint operation between the Wolves and the Dark Angels, the planet's ruler had insulted Russ personally, so Russ resolved to slay him personally. The Lion tried to cut Russ in on his deep strike plan, but Russ would have none of it. He didn't want to defeat the enemy, he wanted to utterly crush them. Frustrated with his brother's lack of cooperation, the Lion launched his strike without the Wolves' help, and Russ fought his way into the planetary ruler's palace just in time to watch the Lion behead him. Furious, Russ threw down his weapons and punched the Lion, starting a lengthy fist fight that only ended when Russ started laughing upon realizing how pointless the fight was and how stupid he'd been. Thinking that Russ was laughing at him, the Lion punched Russ unconscious. When Russ awoke he sought out the Lion to make amends, but he had already departed with his fleet. Though the two would work together again, the Lion was rather unforgiving (oh the irony) towards Russ. To Russ the Lion seemed the antagonist. After all, in the halls of Fenris a brawl between angry brothers was hardly unusual. When the fight ended you'd toast each other and drink away the bruises and move on. To the Lion Russ seemed at fault. After all, in the knightly orders of Caliban striking one's brothers was not done: petty infighting could not be tolerated when monsters slavered at the gate. As is so often the case between brothers, both were at fault and neither would back down. To this day the Space Wolves and Dark Angels (and their successor Chapters) will fight (usually) non-lethal honor duels to "settle the score," though "the score" has never really been agreed on. Occasionally tensions between the two Chapters will boil over into open warfare which is often caused by Fallen Angels TRAITORS UNASSOCIATED WITH THE DARK ANGELS hiding amidst the Space Wolves' protectorate worlds, using the tensions to their advantage. Finally it's worth noting that even though the two (former) Legions often fight, they never show that rivalry to the wider Imperium, and they'll set aside their rivalry whenever they need to get shit done together. Their rivalry is in question now, though, as after the Great Rift opened the Unforgiven came and beat the shit out of Magnus’s army invading Fenris. Originally they thought the sudden explosion of Wulfen numbers meant that the Space Wolves either fell to Chaos, were too mutated to recover and needed a mercy killing, or that there would hardly be any left and just Wulfen remained. Unlike when the last time they showed up at Fenris and attacked the Space Wolves in the belief the Wolves had turned or something, this time the Dark Angels were wary of being used and found out that their assumption was wrong before they could fuck up and thus avoided epic team-killing and instead the First Legion slammed into the daemons and traitor Marines like the Emperor’s own banhammer.

• Ultramarines and the Word Bearers - The Ultramarines are pissed off at the Word Bearers for a great many things: 1) They turned traitor during what was supposed to be an exercise to patch up their poor relations after the Castigation of Lorgar; 2) They used millions of cultists as meat shields during the Battle of Calth, which the Ultramarines saw as dishonorable and disgusting; 3) They almost destroyed Calth; and finally 4) The battle of Calth was the first battle of the Heresy for the Ultramarines as a whole, meaning that while they were chilling and waiting to go kill some Orks, the Word Bearers suddenly turned around and slaughtered a fuckload of them without warning. They managed to pull through in the end and win by the skins of their teeth, but it was a gigantic blow to the Ultramarines, who now had to fight off a vengeful Legion out of nowhere with almost half their Legion dead, their fleet crippled, and the fucking sun of the planet they were on flooding it with deadly radiation. Not to mention the giant Warp storm that cut them off from the rest of the Imperium, which coincidentally formed at the exact time the Word Bearers attacked...

• Ultramarines and the Alpha Legion - The Alpha Legion led the Ultramarines halfway across the galaxy on a fool's errand that ultimately ensured they were nowhere near the Imperial Palace during the Horus Heresy. Adding insult to injury, they inflicted enormous casualties on the Ultramarines, and though they succeeded in killing Alpharius (or did they?), the Alpha Legion's command structure was so decentralized that it did little to affect them.

• Ultramarines and the Black Templars (also the Imperial Fists, the Crimson Fists, the Space Wolves, and the Salamanders) - When Roboute Guilliman tried to force the Codex Astartes on the Space Marine Legions after the Horus Heresy, some Legions - most notably the Imperial Fists - outright refused, not wanting their legions to be broken down into smaller Chapters. Rogal Dorn called Guilliman a coward, while Guilliman called Dorn a rebel. The Space Wolves and the Salamanders ended up backing Dorn, while the Raven Guard and the White Scars supported Guilliman. The rivalry became so intense that the Imperial Navy even fired on the Imperial Fist strike cruiser Terrible Angel, and it seemed that the Space Marines would war against one another once again. Finally, Rogal Dorn yielded to prevent another war and broke his legion into the Black Templars and the Crimson Fists. As the Ultramarines still were wary of the loyalties of the Imperial Fists and their successors, Sigismund - the first Emperor's Champion and the man that Dorn had appointed to be the Black Templars Chapter Master - declared a 10,000 year crusade in the Emperor's name to prove their loyalty. Even though tensions have since cooled between the Ultramarines and the other Chapters, the Ultramarines are still suspicious about (read: sticking their nose into the business of) the Black Templars as they still refuse to conform to the Codex Astartes, and won't tell the Ultramarines just how huge their Chapter is. In short, Sigismund and Leman Russ told Guilliman where he can shove his Codex Astartes, and he's all anal pained about it.

• Ultramarines and the Iron Warriors - Uriel Ventris and Pasanius Lysane, of the Ultramarines, were sworn to a Death Oath by their Chapter Master Marneus Calgar as punishment for violating the Codex Astartes (specifically, because they had abandoned the rest of their company to assist a Deathwatch Kill-team during the Battle of Tarsus Ultra). Their mission: find and destroy the Daemonculaba. The quest took the Ultramarines pair to the nightmarish Daemon World of Medrengard, within the Eye of Terror itself. Medrengard was the homeworld of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion. It was also the location of Honsou, the evil Iron Warriors Warsmith who oversaw the Daemonculaba project from within his fortress, Khalan-Ghol. The Ultramarines were successful in destroying the Daemonculaba, and were also able to bring ruination to Khalan-Ghol and Honsou's forces. Uriel Ventris also managed to shoot Honsou in the head. Unfortunately, the Warsmith survived the headshot. Upon realizing the extent of the damage Uriel had caused, Honsou swore revenge and also the utter annihilation of Ultramar. Honsou was aware that before he ever dealt with Uriel Ventris, the Ultramarines spent years and countless resources and lives to repel a Tyranid incursion at Tarsis Ultra. Honsou thus unleashed a plan which destroyed every living thing on Tarsis Ultra, and reduced the planet itself to a lifeless rock. Destroying the planet provided no strategic gain to the Iron Warriors; Honsou carried out his horrific genocide simply to spite Uriel Ventris and the Ultramarines. Following this, the Iron Warriors use an army won from the Red Corsairs to free the Daemon Prince M'kar, and invade Ultramar. Though the "Bloodborn" army is beaten back, the Ultramarines lost over one third of their battle-brothers in the attempt, leaving them open to attack for the first time since the First Tyrannic War and unable to properly participate in the Imperial counter-offensive for the 13th Black Crusade. The Ultramarines and the Iron Warriors have thus become bitter enemies-- with Uriel Ventris and Honsou in particular becoming sworn foes.

• Ultramarines and the Hammers of Dorn - The Hammers adhere rigidly to the Codex Astartes, to the point where they point out any deviations from the codex by the Ultramarines. According to the Hammers of Dorn, Guilliman may have had the genius to pen the codex, but the sons of Dorn are the only ones that can bring out its full potential.

• Ultramarines and the Minotaurs - While the Minotaurs are hated by everyone the Ultramarines have a special grudge against them, due to the Euxine Incident during the Macharian Heresy. During the heresy the loyalist Doom Warriors and Inceptors chapters were busy fighting each other over a matter of honor, and refused to stop and aid Imperial forces. The Minotaurs were sent to quell the dispute, which they did in their usual manner. They attacked both sides in force, nearly destroying them both. The Doom Warriors were badly beaten and forced into a barely-organized retreat almost immediately. The Inceptors weren't so lucky. With no way to withdraw they suffered the full onslaught of the Minotaurs and finally surrendered with less then 100 Marines left. The honored 2nd Founding Chapter was subsequently robbed of most of their Chapter relics, the Minotaurs stealing them right off their dead bodies, including their flagship, a relic of the Great Crusade. This brought them a great deal of hatred from the Ultramarines and their successors, who have since forbidden the Minotaurs from entering Ultramar and seek vengeance whenever the opportunity arises.

• Blood Angels and the World Eaters - Both constantly compete for superiority in melee combat and also the angriest motherfucking berserker full of rage.

• Raven Guard and White Scars - Supposedly dates back to a huge fucking argument between Corax and Jaghatai Khan, where the two had a massive spat over the proper use of rapid-reaction forces. Corax insisted they be used as part of infiltration and deep-strike units, and Jaghatai insisted they were to be on the front lines - the two never really saw eye-to-eye, Corax seeing Jaghatai as devastatingly effective, but with the tactical sense of a drunken Space Wolf, and Jaghatai seeing Corax as too cautious and tactical for proper man-fighting. The two would eventually make up after the Horus Heresy, and both the Raven Guard and White Scars would be forced to ally on several occasions - most notably during the infamous Hunt for Voldorius - but an intense rivalry over whose fast-attack doctrine is better persists to this day, and the two factions are still kind of assholes to one another as a result.

• Blood Angels and the Black Legion - Considering that Horus killed their Primarch (who, before the Heresy, were closer than any other Primarchs) which resulted in them suffering from the Black Rage which eventually causes every descendant of Sanguinius to have visions of being killed by Horus, the Blood Angels probably despise the Black Legion to the point of pure obsession. Also as a rule, the Blood Angels have a special hatred for the owner of the Talon of Horus, since it killed their father sexy angel daddy.

• World Eaters and the Grey Knights - Angron was banished back to the Warp by Grey Knights during the first battle of Armageddon, which resulted in the World Eaters' defeat. Angron has since been resurfacing, and has sworn revenge.

• Raven Guard and the Black Legion (also the Word Bearers, Night Lords, Iron Warriors, and Alpha Legion) - The Raven Guard were the second hardest hit by the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V (the Salamanders got hit worse, but there weren't really enough survivors to hold a grudge). Though all of the traitor legions except the Thousand Sons were involved, the Raven Guard holds a special hatred for the former Luna Wolves and Horus, a hatred which has transferred over to Abaddon and the Black Legion. That said, the Raven Guard go absolutely murderous on any of the Legions who turned on them at Istvaan V.

• Grey Knights and the Space Wolves - Officially, there really isn't a rivalry at all. Because officially the Grey Knights don't exist. Unofficially, during the First War for Armageddon, Grey Knights were ordered to fire on dozens of civilian ships because there was a fraction of a shadow of smidgen of a chance that they were tainted by Chaos. The Space Wolves decided this was pretty dickish, and protected the civilians. Naturally, the Inquisition made it worse. Then old Loggy chops a Grey Knight Grand Master's head off and kills four Justicars, the ugly downward spiral of WTF!?s started there. Eventually, an understanding was reached where the remaining civvies weren't murdered but just mindwiped a bit and Inquisitorial ships would never again come to Fenris or the Wolves would tear them a new asshole. Officially unofficially, the Grey Knights are angry that another Chapter was given even shittier writing than they got.

• Imperial Fists and the Iron Warriors - Imagine their rivalry akin to World War I. The Imperial Fists are the Brits who love making defenses, while the Iron Warriors are the Germans who also love making defenses but also love destroying stuff. Also, Perturabo hated Rogal Dorn for being Daddy's golden boy and his constant boasting of the fortifications of the Imperial Palace. Perturabo eventually bested Dorn and the Imperial Fists by making a huge space fortress that Dorn then tried to attack in an effort to bring Perturabo to justice. Inside the fortress was nothing but inwardly-faced gunlines, meaning the entire thing was a trap and wound up cutting down enormous numbers of the Imperial Fists before they could retreat. The Imperial Fists were too fierce for the Iron Warriors to destroy without making the ultimate sacrifice however, proving that they get shit done. Perturabo, naturally, found his plan fucking hilarious.

• Thousand Sons and the Space Wolves - The Space Wolves despised the Red Sorcerers for their practice of magic, and initially didn't question a goddamned thing after Horus had intentionally given the Wolves incorrect orders (to destroy the Thousand Sons, as opposed to taking Magnus to stand trial). Perhaps the dumbest part of their rivalry is that when they actually showed up at Prospero, Leman Russ felt guilty about just slaughtering the Thousand Sons, so he tried to call Magnus to ask him to stand down so that they could take him in peacefully. Magnus, having assumed Leman Russ was here to kill him had refused to take any calls (and not only prevented his Legion from communicating with the Wolves, but gathered them all so they'd be easier to slaughter) which ended up pissing off the Wolves again and ensuring the Thousand Sons were nearly completely wiped out. Despite this being entirely preventable by their Primarch (on top of causing their fall to Tzeentch) and engineered by Horus (with the Wolves being completely ignorant about it) they still blame the Wolves anyway instead of those other two. The Sons would nonetheless resurface to attack the Space Wolves: they led a siege on their homeworld and succeeded in causing considerable damage before being driven off; during this offensive they managed to destroy a series of laboratories, including one that held an entire generation worth of the Space Wolves' Gene-Seed (as well as the cure for the Wulfen curse), and Magnus himself was responsible for killing the Space Wolves' Chapter Master.

• White Scars and the Space Wolves - Thousand Sons were the biggest bros of the Scars during the Great Crusade, their Primarchs were total bros too, so when they figured out that Wolves destroyed Prospero, killed most of the (still totally loyal) Thousand Sons and Magnus forced the surviving ones into going heretic (and the Wolves don't even feel any guilt or remorse about their role), none were surprised the Scars kept a huge grudge against the Space Yiffs. Also during the Crusade, the Scars hated being compared to the Wolves because of the apparent link to barbarism. The Wolves themselves also have a thing or two to say about the multiple times Scars hadn't come to help when they could, starting from when they left the Wolves alone against an entire Alpha Legion fleet.

• Iron Hands and the Emperor's Children - Prior to the Heresy, Fulgrim and Ferrus Manus were extremely close friends. Their bond ran so deep that even as Fulgrim declared his intentions of joining the forces of Chaos to Ferrus, asking him to join him in overthrowing the Emperor, Ferrus couldn't open fire on his brother's ship. Naturally, this had some rather nasty effects in the long term, not least of which was Fulgrim decapitating the Gorgon with his own sword. The Iron Hands did not take kindly to this. Also, getting all repressed and logical over the next 10,000 years caused Slaanesh to take breaking them as a challenge.

• World Eaters and The Emperor's Children - In addition to following rival deities, the Emperor's Children lost huge numbers of troops to the World Eaters at Skalthrax. Really, all you need to know is that Kharn and a Flamer were involved, and that before this incident, the World Eaters were a much more coordinated force.
  • World Eaters and World Eaters - This event caused the World Eaters to break up into warbands.

• Emperor's Children and the Iron Warriors - Given that Fulgrim tried to sacrifice Peturabo's soul to Slaanesh to fuel his ascension to Daemon Prince...
  • Emperor's Children and absolutely everyone else - Due to their disturbing habits of enslaving populations and/or stealing other Legion's servants to be used as... partners for some memorable parties, absolutely everyone tend to avoid them like walking STD's.

• Dark Angels and FOUL TRAITORS - Do not get between them and a FOUL TRAITOR TO THE IMPERIUM WHO CERTAINLY HAS NO CONNECTION TO THE SONS OF THE LION. It can only end in tears.

• Thousand Sons and World Eaters: Khorne hates sorcery, and so the World Eaters hate the Sons. Sadly for the World Eaters, they're usually well out of the Sons' league; the Thousand Sons tend to pick conflicts selectively, which means the followers of Khorne have rarely even had the chance to fight them. Also, it doesn't do much to appease Khorne's bloodlust, since there is no blood or skulls to offer, just dust. Then again, there are some exceptions, namely Iskandar Khayon and Lheorvine Ukris, who were total bros, and they were the guys that founded the Black Legion along with Abaddon.

• Blood Ravens and EVERYONE: Apart from Captain Titus of the Ultramarines, almost every Marine Chapter mentioned in having contact with the Blood Ravens have not been on good terms. Most likely due to their rampant kleptomania. This animosity extends beyond the Space Marines, and into the rest of the Imperium as well; Imperial Guard forces hate them for exterminating the Kronus Liberators, the Mechanicus hates them stealing archeotech, the Ecclisiarchy hates them for their psykers, and the Inquisition doesn't like them for their secrecy.

• Blood Angels and the Emperor's Children - Fabius Bile stole the blood of Sanguinius from the Blood Angels' Fortress-Monastery as part of a plot to make a clone of the God-Emperor. As the neophyte initiation process for the Blood Angels requires the consumption of some of the aforementioned blood, the Blood Angels and all their Successor Chapters have sworn to find and kill Bile at all costs. (For a while, it looked like they succeeded—that is, until they found out that Bile had begun cloning himself.)

• Iron Hands and Raven Guard and Salamanders - The Iron Hands are still pissy about the whole Isstvan V thing. They believe that had the Salamanders and Raven Guard followed their Primarch Ferrus Manus they would have won at the Dropsite Massacre. Completely overlooking the fact that they were surprised, surrounded, outgunned and outnumbered nearly 3 to 1. They don't like the Raven Guard in particular for their use of stealth and subterfuge, and also for having a pretty much identical color scheme. The Salamanders aren't too keen about the Iron Hands belief of "purging the weak" and usual disregard for civilian casualties and sometimes their own Marines. The Raven Guard and Salamanders never pulled any of this bullshit with each other, though, and remain close allies, if for nothing other than the Hands constantly being dicks to both of them.

• Marines Malevolent and Salamanders - What happens when the galaxy's greatest assholes meet the galaxy's greatest humanitarian Marines? Hilarity, that's what. The hate fueled rivalry that was first widely known came during the Third War for Armageddon where a squad of Marines Malevolent used their Whirlwinds to fire upon an Ork-occupied camp, when they knew that the camp contained hundreds of Imperial civilian hostages, mostly women and children. Oh and guess what their response was, something to do with "Meh, we only serve the Emprah only" and "We didn't know there were "that" many civilians." As you can imagine, this both horrified and royally pissed off the Salamanders, and when these two Chapters met again after the war, Chapter Master Tu'Shan, to put it simply, bitch-slapped the Captain of the Marines Malevolent in front of everybody in the city, prompting much sniggering and cheering among both Guardsmen and civilians alike. Because of such reaction to complete dickwads, the Salamanders were considered as the Heroes of Armageddon by popular vote.

• Aurora Chapter and the Emperor's Spears - Fought each other over matters of honor and the Ultramarines judged Aurora Chapter was right, which soured relations of the Emperor's Spears with their primogenitor. Tensions have since lessened but the two Chapters still refuse to fight together.

Bros To the End

As there are several Chapters and Legions who despise one another, there's a few that get along damned well.

• Raven Guard, Salamanders, and Iron Hands - True since the Great Crusade, where these three found they worked extremely well in-concert - The Raven Guard acting as the advance and cutting off critical locations and eliminating command units, the Salamanders in providing the heavy punch to follow this up, and the Iron Hands providing the tide of firepower to support both. That being said, the Iron Hands' relationship with the Raven Guard and the Salamanders has deteriorated since the Horus Heresy; they believe that had their allies not retreated from the Drop Site Massacre, Ferrus Manus would not have been killed and Horus would have been defeated before he could pose a threat to the Imperium. (It doesn't take a genius to realize that this would have just led to the complete annihilation of their Legions in practice.) It's not really clear if the Hands still fight alongside their former best bros in the 41st millennium, but given the whole "feeding a Raven Guard company to psyker Orks for lulz" thing, it doesn't seem likely.

• Salamanders and Blood Angels - Though the Salamanders are friendly with most Chapters anyway (and them hating you being a good indication of you being a huge asshole), they're particularly tight with the Blood Angels. Both Chapters are some of the few in the Imperium that actually go out of their way for civilians and put them before pride and glory in battle. This became particularly evident during the Second War of Armageddon, when both fought side-by-side against the Orks and when Dante publicly honored Tu'Shan for his bravery during the war and bitch-slapping the Marines Malevolent Captain.

• Imperial Fists and Imperial Fists successors - Doctrinal differences and martial angst aside, the sons of Dorn have always been on good terms with each other. Whenever a crisis threatens Terra that is too great for a single Chapter, the Imperial Fists and their successors unite to put an end to that threat, such as The War of The Beast, and the Second Siege of Terra to put Goge Vandire in his place. Every century, they also come together for an epic swordfighting tournament called the Feast of Blades.

• Blood Angels, White Scars and Imperial Fists - All three fought and died in the defence of the Imperial Palace. Broforce = very yes.

• Ultramarines and Imperial Fists - Similar to the Space Wolves and Dark Angels above, beef about the Codex aside, the two Chapters have always been on very good terms. (I guess the above segment regarding the Ultramarines firing on the Imperial Fists ship is just swept under the rug).

• Dark Angels and Dark Angel successors - THE DARK ANGELS HAVE NO SUCH RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR SUCCESSOR CHAPTERS. RUMORS THAT DARK ANGEL SUCCESSORS ARE STILL UNDER DIRECT COMMAND FROM THEIR PARENT CHAPTER, EFFECTIVELY STILL MAKING THEM FUNCTION AS A LEGION, ARE OBVIOUSLY LIES AND SLANDER FABRICATED BY THE FOUL HERETICS OF CHAOS, AS SUCH AN ACT WOULD BREAK THE GUIDELINES OF THE CODEX ASTARTES, WHICH LOYAL CHAPTERS WOULD NOT DO-*BLAM*

• Astral Claws, Lamenters and Mantis Warriors - When the Maelstrom zone needed to be conquered, the High Lords of Terra create the "Maelstrom Warders", an alliance formed by all these chapters (and the Charnel Guards, who later were withdrawn) to pacify and control the sector, and they got shit done! At some point, the Chapter Master of the Astral Claws, Lugft Huron, believed the Imperium wasn't helping enough, declared himself "the Tyrant of Badab" and sucession from the Imperium. Both the Lamenters and the Mantis Warriors followed suit, as they were both under command of the Astral Claws and were honorbound to them, as well some agreeing that the Imperium was bullying the Astral Claws for no reason. The rest is history.

• Thousand Sons and Word Bearers {Pre-Heresy.} - Lorgar was the closest Primarch-buddy of Magnus, due to the scholarly nature of both. They went separate ways after the Heresy though, probably because Magnus learned who really was behind the Burning of Prospero all along.

• Thousand Sons and White Scars {Pre-Heresy.} - As above, The Khan respected his scholarly brother and would have helped him if he was present at Nikaea.

• Iron Hands and Emperor's Children {Pre-Heresy.} - The culmination of the aforementioned close friendship between the Gorgon and the Phoenix would be a tragic foreshadowing of the fate of the Warmaster and the Great Angel's friendship.

• Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus and Blood Angels {Pre-Heresy.} - Horus and Sanguinius were the closest two Primarchs before the Heresy, and this extended to their Legions. This went to the point where Horus still wished he had Sanguinius on his side after having given himself over to the Dark Gods fully, and Sanguinius was willing to die if it meant that his brother could be saved even if only through death. This just makes the rivalry between the Black Legion and The Angelic Host that much more sad.

• Ultramarines and Genesis Chapter - Super close ties due to Genesis Chapter being Ultramarines reserve for Marines. They patrol the galaxy together.

Official /tg/ Space Marine Chapters

THE RAPE TRAIN HAS NO BRAKES!!!

One of /tg/'s favorite pastimes is creating new and exciting Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes based on silly concepts. /tg/'s homebrew Chapters include:

• Adeptus Orthodontus
• Angry Marines
• Bald Marines
• Alpha Sigma Sigma
• Butthurt Marines
• Classy Marines
• Censor Marines
• Comedy Marines
• Disco Marines
• Dorf Marines
• Drunk Marines
• Emperor's Hammers
• Emperor's Paragons
• Galactic Partridges
• Golden Aquilas
• Inside-Out Marines
• Lazy Marines
• Manly Marines
• Metal Marines
• Mexicarines
• Mole Marines
• Obstinate Marines
• Pathetic Marines
• Pretty Marines
• Reasonable Marines
• Red Skeletons
• Scary Marines
• Silly Marines
• Dream Warriors
• Star Shanks
• Elderly Marines

As you can see, /tg/ has a problem with creativity.

Second Founding of /tg/ Space Marine Chapters

After the release of Deathwatch: Rites of Battle, /tg/ quickly flung itself at the Chapter creation rules and began to produce a second wave of /tg/ Chapters. Noticeably more serious business than the previous Chapters, these Spess Mahreens range from the widely popular Emperor's Nightmare, to the derpy Flesh Helms.

• Abyssal Jaws - Institutionally sharky.
• Argent Strix - Institutionally hungry.
• Black Locks - Institutionally corsair.
• Blood Jaguars - Institutionally Aztec.
• Brotherhood of the Gauntlet - Institutionally Arabic Ghazi.
• Brotherhood of the Megalith - Institutionally rocky.
• Conservators - Institutionally poor and under-equipped. It's what happens when you piss of the Mechanicus.
• Deep Ones - Institutionally aquatic and environmentally resistant.
• Desert Fangs - Institutionally Angry Marines taken seriously.
• Dionysus Revelers - Institutionally cannibal drunks.
• Dune Walkers - Institutionally Arabic Nomads.
• Emperor's Bears - Institutionally lost.
• Emperor's Nightmare - Institutionally Sleepy Marines taken seriously.
• Eyes of Mordred - Institutionally Scary Marines taken seriously.
• Flesh Helms - Institutionally Imperial Guard of the Adeptus Astartes.
• Guardians Exemplar - Institutionally equal to the Marines Malevolent.
• Ice Serpents - Institutionally mechanized for war.
• Ice Wraiths - Institutionally cyborg-ice-vampire-yeti-riders.
• Knights Inductor - Institutionally Reasonable Marines taken seriously. Also MARY SUES, don't mention them on /tg/. You'll just cause a shitstorm
• Knights Repentant - Institutionally UTTERLY LOYAL and true pre-heresy Word Bearers.
• Lumbermarines - Institutionally lumberjacks.
• Rising Sons - Institutionally BANZAI!!!
• Screaming Eagles - Institutionally 'MURICAN!!! FUCK YEAH!
• Talons of Corvus - Institutionally a more heroic Nod.
• The Sovereign's Appraisal - Institutionally loyal and sympathetic despite mutations, being declared renegade, Slaanesh trying to seduce them and the Ultramarines and their successors trying to terminate them.
• War Brothers - Institutionally not giving a damn about what the Dark Angels want from them.
• The Adeptus Estates - Institutionally home building.
• Mourning Sons - Institutionally shedding Manly Tears.
• Star Krakens - Institutionally Viking, yet not THAT Viking. Plus one of the biggest of shits that /tg/ has done right. AND HOW!
• Space Knights - Institutionally dour.
• Solar Rangers - Institutionally Jesus Christ, they're sneaky!

The second wave WOULD show improvements to creativity... If they didn't use a RPG system as a crutch, among other issues.

Trivia

Name

The name Adeptus Astartes is usually portrayed as meaning Star Adepts. However the name "Astarte" is actually a goddess of fertility, love, war, sex and sexuality from the Eastern Mediterranean regions during the Bronze Age. Somewhat meta considering that the Emprah was also from that region (Anatolia) around the same time period. He may have been horny and/or romantically interested in the idea of a badass God-Empress and named his sons to symbolically show this using a language that only he and Ollanius Pius are the speakers of besides dead people and three of the Ruinous Powers (unlikely given the Emperor was anti-theistic and anti-religious), or this is just the Emperor keeping himself sane by engaging in humor he knows only one loyal person will get, which does not include his last two friends. No wonder the Emprah doesn't smile much. Ironic given that the Astartes is an all-male organization.

However, much as with the Land Raider, a more prosaic explanation was provided in the novel The Great Work, which features flashbacks from the memories of Ezekiel Sedayne (the guy who headed up the development team for the Black Carapace). The project’s coordinator was a mortal woman named Amar Astarte, who was the most accomplished geneticist of the time outside of the Emepror and the Selenite Gene-witches. Following the theft of the Primarchs, Astartes feared that the Space Marines, without the supply of genetic materials from their Primarchs, would fall into deterioration like the Thunder Warriors. And so she blew up the Legions' gene-vault alongside herself; however, the Emperor had already known of this and made several copies of the vault elsewhere.

See Also

• Beakie - When the Spehss mahrens were awesome looking.

• Chaplain - The spiritual leaders of the space marines.

• Female Space Marines- Records officially decommissioned and terminated by the Inquisition on the grounds of Heresy, there is nothing here trust us. E-Commissars will blam you from your monitor when attempting to access said heretical records.

• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine- The official game of Pauldrons (despite the fact that the pauldrons in this game are smaller than they should be)

• Space Marines Tactics

• Guidelines of the Space Marines

• Despite the considerable amount of hate at the space marines nowadays, they can still be awesome.

• Grail Knights - The Warhammer Fantasy equivalent.

• Stormcast Eternals (AKA, Ground Marines), their Warhammer: Age of Sigmar equivalent.

• Terminator

• Apothecary

• Techmarine

• Librarian

• Scout

• Kill Marine of Deathwatch

• Codex Astartes

• Space Marine Chapter

• Space Marine Chapter Creation Tables

• Renegade Space Marine Chapter Creation Table - For when you hate both the Imperium and Chaos.

External Links

• The Emperor's speech on the Space Marines
• WH40k Wikia on Astartes
• Lexicanum on Space Marines
• Wikipedia Article
• The Commandments of the Space Marine
• Rap song dedicated to the mighty-ass space marines.
• Another rap dedicated to the mighty-ass space marines.
• Emperor's quote about the Space Marines in a remix done from If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device glory.
• What is to be a space marine, in thrash metal version!

Gallery

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  Drill Abbots hate him!

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  Build a Marine Workshop

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  Pauldronius

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  EEECK!

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  Steel Rain in action!

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  Don't fuck with Reasonable Marines.

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  Brick by brick we shall conquer.

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  Apparently, marines DO in fact have tiny heads.

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  I'm in ur w0mb, fertulizan yo eggz

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  What historians didn't want you to believe

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  A matter of some contention.

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  Taking a page from their fallen brothers.

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  Rule 63 Primarchs are the most popular girls at HS40K

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  A rare glimpse at a Space Marine without his awesome pauldrons on

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  Space Marines and ridiculous suits of armour go hand in hand.

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  Brother Campbell brings a world into Imperial compliance.

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  Indrick Boreale nearly turned Space Marines into the laughing stock of the entire franchise.

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  Space Marines as depicted during the dark ages of GW art (aka 2nd Edition)

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  The scary thing is that this isn't fan art, seriously, this was an official GW product.

• Now gather around children as I recount to you the exploits of the Emperor's chosen...

  Now gather around children as I recount to you the exploits of the Emperor's chosen...

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  The Space Wizards of Warpwarts have mastered the art of profecting the power of the warp through small wooden sticks. How they refrain from breaking them is a mystery.

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  Hump the heretic, penetrate the mutant, cum in the alie-*BLAM* SLAANESH WORSHIPPER!