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How many people play Space Marines ?

3K views 27 replies 24 participants last post by  Burn the Herectic 
#1 ·
what i would like to know how many people play as space marines as opposed to other armies and why they are they primary focus of every new thing, there not that interesting anyways and also whats so attractive about them other than there universal 3+ save
 
#3 ·
They are one of the most forgiving armies, with an extremely balanced force, and special rules that are really good. Plus they got a semi-recent Codex update, so they are being advertised really heavily. It is mainly because so many new people use them, and there are lots of new people around.
 
#4 ·
the mini's are also relitively cheap, well at least compared to my first choice army sisters of battle. because i don't have alot of money i'm most likely going to start a crusade of black templars! i'd also have to disagree with you i find the spacemarines fluff to be very interesting, but damn, there alot of em'! :( though i also hate how they are the focus of everthing
 
#5 ·
This has been talked about infinite times. It is all about the realitively easy assembly, painting, armor save, good guns, and they are the best to learn on because of their lack of special equipment and rules. They are also the defenders of humanity. That is why they are picked first. Don't complain about there being to many SM armies though because if it weren't for SM there wouldn't be as many players out there. Most people start on SM and then move on to other armies when they have the rules down.
 
#6 ·
:mellow: I totally agree, they are the most forgiving race to play for a new player and they are the most marketed army out there, Gameswork shop pushes the spacemarines down everyone's throats when you are new and looking to join 40k. They are one of the cheapest armies to start out on considering you don't really ever need to field anything other then plastic marines, you don't need tanks or dreadnoughts if you don't got the money for them. They have a amazing stat line for just the basic marine, they have good gun and great save plus great fluff, can be converted hundreds of diff ways painted the way you want and arn't as strict as other armies on what you must field to win.

After most of the new Space marine players get there armies around 1000points to 1500points they move on to a diff army either because of boredom or friends telling them they should cuz marines are boring. Go to a Grand tournament sometime not many space marine players there at all. I have played 40k for bout 10years now been playing them for as long as i can remember, if there played right they are a force to be wreckoned with if they are played poorly they are still a match for any army out there. :shifty:
 
#8 · (Edited)
I believe I read somewhere that 70% of all armies were marines of some sort (Imp, Chaos, DH). Codex Marines are the most common army for a number of reasons: they're the poster boys of GW, they come in the starter set, they have good weapons/stats, there are numerous types of them, etc. However there is a reason that most people seem to overlook: they're the closest thing to standard scifi in 40k. Face it when someone says scifi orks, elves, and daemons don't eactly spring to mind. Guys in big powered battle armor with big guns do however; it's just a natural leap to make.
 
#10 ·
Like worlf_pack, there too many but i can understand them.THe space marine are way too balance stats and rule so beginer start with them because they think they own after seeing IG stats or ork stats. I begin with space marine because my friend was telling me that eldar,ork and dark eldar suck hard but after seeing some other player playing them i think is was my friend who suck. After that, i sell all my sm ( it taked me only 1 week to sell it all :) ) and i change to ork and now im thinking about a DH army, better fluff than space marine :)
 
#11 ·
space marines make up about 32% of tournaments.. And "space marine clones" make up about 20% (chaos and demon hunters). If you throw in necrons you're almost up to 60% of armies have 4ws, 4bs, 4s, 4t and a 3+ save. So yes, a lot of people play space marines and that 32% is a lot higher in casual games to be sure
 
#13 · (Edited)
Space Marines are simply easier to use and the natural choice for a beginner. More often than not they move on later. Most of my warhammer friends played SM first then moved on to Eldar or Tyranids. Of course, I started with Marines and stuck with them, but that's just because they're the right army for me, I guess.

I will agree that there is far too much focus on the SM at the moment, new Codex aside. The Eldar need a codex update, and there's hints that Orks are getting a look soon. Of course, they've got to update all the Chapter codexes and then there's the Alien Hunters. They've got a lot ahead of them in terms of updates.
 
#14 ·
I dont play space marines because their a beginners army, i play them because of the stlye in which i fight. I fight much better with a group of hardened veterans that a bagizillion runts. This is why i
1. play astartes
2. play alot of kill team

also many people play rines because of their magic 3+ saves.

personally i reckon that there are too many SM and not enough IG, this ratio should be reversed
 
#15 ·
I like all the fluff of the marines. Probably why I started with SW that and much more forgiving if I screwed up like everyone here has said. But as you get more experienced you have more fun and venture out. Orks were big for a while, tau, DE have a core of players, and of course eldar. We'll probably see SM's be first for quite a while so all we can do as none SM players are beat them, and show some newbies were more fun. lol jk of course to all the sm players out there.
 
#16 ·
...P (bolt pistol)
O-l-< (a space marine lying on his side dead)
+---- (chapter standerd)

.......X
>==-|- (Necron Destoryer)
.......------

This is what I think about most SM players, young one in praticular. They hide behind their stats and think they are the best until they fight Necrons. Then they cry when their Rhinos and Tanks die in one round of combat with Wrriors or Destoryers. Then they get all upset about it saying I'm cheep. Then they go bad to stopming other beginers who play things like 'Nids, Orks, Eldar and such, ignoring the fact its the same situation.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I play Space Marines because I love the fluff. The first bit of Warhammer I ever saw as a big cardboard cutout of an Ultrmarine in a hobby store, and I instantly loved Space Marines. The armour was awesome and the gun rocked. So then I pick up a book and read. Turns out the guy in the cool armour was a badass Space Knight that went around fearlessly smiting aliens for his Empror, relentlessly stalking those that have betrayed him across the stars. He was relentless, remourseless, unstopably determined, and at the same time he was loyal, unshakably faithful to the God-Emperor, and would gladly give his life to keep normal humans from being eaten by space bugs. I bought my first box of marines like a week later.
I also play marines because of posts like these. I slap a Blood Angel army down on the table and The Eldar player across from me smirks. Amid taunts of "Oh god Space Marines." and "Must be some new guy." I do my best to outsmart and outmanuever the other guy. To me it's not a victory unless at least one person says "Wow.I didn't expect that." or " I didn't know Space Marines could do that.".Even if I lose, it won't be because my marines where "cheesy" or "predictable". Just because I'm a Space Marine player doesn't mean I just push my guys across the board with my finger up my nose and rely on the 3+ save to see me though. I'm all for style over substance. If you can't look good winning, you're not winning. :cool:
 
#18 ·
A SM army wont turn a bad player into a decent player, they just are relatively immune to making massively *bad* armies that a lot of newer players and fluff based players do

The problem with SMs is that a lot of people make very very mediocre marine armies and never really advance to the higher levels because they're so easy to play compared to other armies.
 
#19 ·
Osaria said:
...P (bolt pistol)
O-l-< (a space marine lying on his side dead)
+---- (chapter standerd)

.......X
>==-|- (Necron Destoryer)
.......------

This is what I think about most SM players, young one in praticular. They hide behind their stats and think they are the best until they fight Necrons. Then they cry when their Rhinos and Tanks die in one round of combat with Wrriors or Destoryers. Then they get all upset about it saying I'm cheep. Then they go bad to stopming other beginers who play things like 'Nids, Orks, Eldar and such, ignoring the fact its the same situation.
Except any ****ing SM player worth his Tactical Marines would figure out a way of attacking Necrons that didn't involve tanks. Fighting Necrons with tanks is like fighting Genestealers in close combat. You don't do it. You use high-strength template and plasma weapons to take out any unit noted as a Necron and win by the Phase Out rule. It's always worked for me.

And Necrons are in exactly the same position as SM. They have a good armour save, are very forgiving to new players, and a lot of people think they're cheese.
 
#20 ·
^_^ Space marines are basically the choice of all NooBs but don't make the mistake thinking that all who play space marines are crappy and NooBish, :huh: why is it that many people think there is no strat with space marines>? I think its the NooBs that get beat by a very good space marine player who uses tactics and non cheese armies in a tournament that makes the haters mad. :cool: There just cool to customize they look great and there the defenders of Humanity, just wait till a few of the other codex's get redone all the people that switch armies with codex's will be gone from space marines. O and noone crys like a person who has just been smoked by a "NooB" space marine player. :shifty:
 
#21 ·
I have about 2500 points of Blood Angels.

As I have stated elsewhere, I like Space Marines, not least because without Space Marines there would be no Games Workshop. Games Workshop doesn't just happen and if makes mistakes like NOT promoting the 'sexiest' army then it would lose market share and before you know it, its gone forever.

Yes, they can be played fairly easily at a Noob level, but they also repay subtle and tactical use as you gain experiance and insight. If anyone here seeks to put them down as a cheesy army or just for noobs, then they just have not got the brains to realise their full potential.
 
#22 ·
I agree

Kirasu said:
A SM army wont turn a bad player into a decent player, they just are relatively immune to making massively *bad* armies that a lot of newer players and fluff based players do

The problem with SMs is that a lot of people make very very mediocre marine armies and never really advance to the higher levels because they're so easy to play compared to other armies.
I'd agree with this statement 100%. Now SM players are gonna get upset over whats been said so far, I tell people just to relax because even most non Sm players right now probably started with them. Are they tough to use, yes like any other army you have to learn to use them to your style of playing. And dice rolling plays a big part. some times your the person with the bolter and somedays your the one laying on the ground. Like orks I think sm have a lot of versatility and you could do pretty much anything you want to.
 
#23 ·
I collect space marines

I collect space marines and i think that they can take a lot of ordinary fire and still stand and fight. :p They also have a great armour save which is gush.
 
#24 ·
Well, I collect Ultramarines *hides from incoming rotten fruit* but rather unusually not as my first army. My first was infact the Imperial Guard, and i collected space marines because they are a nice army to look at. They are a complete contrasts to my feeble little Guardsmen, and as I wanted to stick to the Imperium, so no Chaos or Necrons, Space Marines were the natural choice (I have a small Grey Knight force aswell). In my opinion, the Space Marines CAN be a boring army, but only if you make them that way. New people to the game know nothing better than to build a boring army, as they follow all the advice Games Workshop lays down for them. However, people like myself, who aren;t collecting them as a first army, or people who have collected Marines for years, know better, can utilise different tactics and make things more interesting. Yes there are too many BORING space marine players, but I think the aim should be not to stop people collecting Space Marines, but to change the way that they are collected.
 
#25 ·
When I first got into 40K, I bought Wolves because they looked cool! I also liked that they had a Leman Russ tank, and the their Long Fang squads can split fire. I now play mostly Tau, but I still got about 4000 pts of Wolves waiting to surprise my friend! =^.^=
 
#26 ·
I'm another 2nd army marine. I started with eldar. Ah possibly the 2 most hated races in 40k boring and cheese.
I did it because not only is it a huge difference in playing style but because of fluff. The eldar have some of my favourite background, but its all set in stone, it seems more out of place to create from the ether another craftworld, were not as dead as you think. With marines i was able to select a new colour scheme and create a back history for my chapter and make them part of history.
And yes they can be boring, i've fielded armies that with traits constist of devestators almost exclusively and sat at the far board edge rolling buckets of heavy weapon dice.
But also you can make all infiltrating close range killers and impossibly small elite forces outnumbered 5-10 to 1. The glory of marines are in the cinematics for me, looking at the board and seeing your men stroll through the thickest of fire unscathed, standing to the last man holding the objective, for me there lies the joy of marines, fluff and set pieces.....
 
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