Basically, any
infantry deployed primarily from a
spacecraft, whether for
landings or
boarding actions.
Whether
hero,
supporting character, or
cannon fodder, he (or she; the future is often
equal-opportunity) is the
square-jawed, heavily armed defender of
humanity against...well, whichever
slavering,
insectoid race is threatening it this week.
The standard defining piece of
equipment is an
assault rifle. It has an unending
clip of
ammunition (running out only when it's
dramatic or in between fights), has totally
ridiculous rates of fire (possible due to the unending clip of ammunition), and is effective exactly in
proportion to the importance of the one using it. (As we all know, inexperienced civilian
protagonists can quickly gun down enemies that a squad of cannon fodder space marines have trouble with.)
Space marines also get the coolest
gadgets. Whether it's
Warhammer's
invincible tanks,
Heinlein's
spiffy suits of jumping armor, or
Alien's
dropships and
smartguns, space marines always have, if not the greatest achievements of human technology, at least the
coolest achievements of human
technology.
The collective
mental image of space marines as
generic stalwart soldiers is oft-used in
video games. Many a game has a near-personality-less space marine as the
protagonist, probably owing to the original examples of
Doom and
Quake (although the nameless hero of
Marathon nicely fits the
archetype.)
See also: colonial marines,
stormtrooper
Space marines, or the Adeptus Astartes, figure prominently in the world of
Games Workshop's
Warhammer 40K. They are the primary offensive and rapid-reactionary force of the
Imperium of Man. (Defensive roles are generally dealt with by the
Imperial Guard, although long-term campaigns are generally joint efforts.) Stronger, tougher, better-trained, and better armed and armored than the average human soldier, they are
elite in every sense of the word.
The history of the space marines is the history of the Imperium. The founder of the space marines is the eponymous
Emperor, as a part of the First Crusade, approximately 15000 years before the present in the
Warhammer 40K universe (or c. 25000
AD), after unifying
Earth. He had the most skilled
geneticists craft 20 near-perfect men based on himself as a
template (although they aren't clones; they were all quite different, and most lacked his
psyker talents). At some point in the childhood of these men, they were kidnapped and scattered across the galaxy. (Who exactly did this is awfully
vague, and probably isn't even decided yet.)
Undaunted by this setback, the Emperor undertook the First Crusade, beginning his unification of the scattered remnants of mankind. (Before that was the
Dark Age of Man, brought on by warp storms preventing
interstellar travel) Using the first 20
Legions of space marines, created by implanting organs based on the unique
physiology of the
Primarchs, he conquered an ever-expanding territory, one by one being united with his wayward "sons," each of whom had had quite an effect on their new homes. (Most of them had already conquered them.) As each
Primarch was rediscovered, they were assigned command of a
Legion, which each would tailor to their
personality and style of
combat.
The
Space Marine Legions and their
Primarchs
- Dark Angels - Lion El'Jonson
- All records destroyed
- Emperor's Children - Fulgrim*
- Iron Warriors - Perturabo*
- White Scars - Jaghatai Khan
- Space Wolves - Leman Russ
- Imperial Fists - Rogal Dorn
- Night Lords - Night Haunter*
- Blood Angels - Sanguinius
- Iron Hands - Ferrus Manus
- All records destroyed
- World Eaters - Angron*
- Ultramarines - Roboute Guilliman
- Death Guard - Mortarion*
- Thousand Sons - Magnus the Red*
- Lunar Wolves** - Horus*
- Word Bearers - Lorgar*
- Salamanders - Vulkan
- Raven Guard - Corax
- Alpha Legion - Alpharius*
* - Turned traitor in the Horus Heresy.
** - Renamed Sons of Horus in Horus's honor, and Black Legion when Horus's body was destroyed.
This doubles as a metanode for the space marine legions and the Primarchs. /msg me if you post a new node for one.
This lasted until the
Horus Heresy. After the Heresy, Roboute Guilliman wrote the Codex Astartes, dividing up the remaining
Legions into smaller
Chapters and setting up a system of
heraldry, as well asserting their continuing
autonomy. One chapter kept the name and heraldry of each
Legion, and the remainder took new colors. This
reorganization is known as the First Founding. (Later foundings were
schisms from existing chapters.)
After this, space marines are organized into
independant Chapters of 1000 marines, plus a variable number of noncombatant auxiliaries. (The exact number of Chapters is deliberately
vague to allow for player-created Chapters and future expansion, but the number
alluded to by Games Workshop is about 1000.)
The Codex Astartes, besides ordering the separation of the old Legions into Chapters, also set up a system of heradry and organization for the chapters. While most Chapters modify this system in some way, it's still the
template that the grand majority of chapters at least begin with. (A notable exception is the Space Wolves, as Leman Russ's considerable respect as a
leader and
dynamic personality spared the chapter any serious
reorganization.)
A "
codex" Chapter, as conforming Chapters are known, is organized into 10 companies. The first company is composed of elite veterans, often fielded wearing
Terminator armor or using other specialized equipment, like
Land Raiders.
The second through fifth companies are
battle companies, composed of a balance of
tactical,
assault, and
devastator (heavy weapons) squads. These companies are assigned
transport vehicles, and often are fielded with attached heavy vehicles or
Dreadnoughts from the vehicle pool.
The sixth through ninth companies are reserve companies, composed only of one type of squad. Often, these companies will be equipped for unusual battle situations, or with unusual equipment (all
bikes, for example). Generally, though, they are used for
reinforcements or garrisons.
The tenth company is a bit of a special case, composed entirely of scouts and their trainers (generally veteran marines with a
drill sergeant or
mentoring personality, depending on the style of the Chapter.) The size of this company fluctuates quite often, with new waves of recruiting and generally
massive casualties, both from the geneseed implanting process and from dangerous
scouting missions.
Sources:
Warhammer 40K main
rulebook third edition, Codex Ultramarines, Codex Space Marines, numerous issues of
White Dwarf, www.gamesworkshop.com
Information on the recruiting and geneseed implantation of space marines to come at a later date. That date being when I find it somewhere.
Warhammer 40K, besides a complex and sometime contradictory setting, is also a game. Here is a quick summary of the basic stats of a space marine, useful if nothing else in historical interest.
(If anyone has the basic stats for a space marine in Rogue Trader, Space Marine/Titan Legions, or Epic 40K, /msg amib please. It would be much appreciated.
Warhammer 40K 2nd Edition
25 points
M4 WS4 BS4 S4 T4 A1 I4 W1 LD8
Equipment:
Bolter, bolt pistol, frag and krak
grenades,
power armor
Special rules:
Rapid fire - can fire twice with bolt weapons after not moving in the move phase
Break tests - marines that fail a LD test aren't broken, but are instead
shaken. Shaken troops make not move towards the enemy, but can fight normally, and
rally just like broken troops. (Shaken troops break if they fail another LD test.)
Marines in 2nd. Ed. were quite possibly one of the
weakest armies, short of possibly Sisters of Battle or
Necrons. Lacking the exploitability of Space Wolves, and marginalized by later Codices (
Blood Angels and
Chaos in particular), Ultramarines (the standard marines) had little going for them.
Given all that, a marine army that used its best units (
tooled-up Captains and
Veteran squads to name two) could still see some success.
Warhammer 40K 3rd Edition
15 points
WS4 BS4 S4 T4 A1 I4 W1 LD8 Save 3+
Equipment:
Bolter
Special rules:
And They Shall Know No Fear - When a marine unit fails a
morale check, it does a normal fallback move, with the exception that it rallies automatically, with no roll at the end of the move, regardless of
casualties. (The unit has to be in coherancy and at least 6" from any enemies.)
Marines in 3rd Ed. are far more
effective. With the new
emphasis on armor saves, as well as the new
focus on squad-to-squad combat, the
flexible,
well-rounded space marine units are
effective in almost all situations. This flexibility come at a
price: space marines cost the most points of any of the races in WH40K.