Chapter selection

687 Views 6 Replies 7 Participants Last post by RJSuperfreaky, Feb 7, 2006

Belannaer

Discussion Starter · Feb 4, 2006

Hey, I'm new to 40K, and have decided to chose Space Marines. Now all I need to do is choose a chapter, but I don't know anything about them. If anyone could tell me a bit about each of them, it'd be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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The_Outsider

· #2 · Feb 4, 2006

Here's a brief summary of some of the named chapters:-

Ultramarines
These guys are as standard as any chapter there is, nothing sets them apart from any other 'codex' chapter.

Dark angels
These guys are primrily shooty, they have access to lots of plasma weapons because they are one of the first chapters. Their first and second companies have different organisation than other codex chapters.

The first company is known as the deathwing and is made up excluisvely of terminators. Their second company are known as the ravenwing, all these guys ride bikes or landspeeders.

Blood angels
These guys are mainly assault based, they get the death company, basically some marines who are hell bent on killing. Every unit in the army has the risk of runnig straight after the enemy in game, they get a few abilities they make them nasty in hand-to hand.

Black templars
Possibly the most assaulty army there is. Practically everything they have can be geared to hand-to-hand combat. They have little heavy support when compared to other space marine chapters.

Space wolves
These guys are very assault based, they generally get a lot of attacks and have a few abilities. They can be made into a shooty force but you miss out on their awesome commanders.

White scars
These guys are very skilled bike riders. Most of their chapter is based around lightning raids on bikes. Naturally they need to be geared to close combat, but they can have fairly nasty shooty lists.

Raven guard
These guys focus on infiltrating and assault, they like to get close and then strike with maximum force, generally assaulty but can easily be shooty as well.

Imperial fists
These guys are as codex as the Ultrmarines, though they do specialise in sieges a bit more.

Thats a summary of the main chapters, if you wish to know more just ask, i'm sure anyone (including myself) will be willing to help.

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The_Wandering_Ace

· #3 · Feb 7, 2006

Well, The_Outsider covered most of the major chapters, but you can also make your own chapter with fluff,etc. which makes your army unique.
As well, other known chapters are the:
- Iron Hands, who are tech-marine focused.
and
- Grey Knights, who are a different codex altogether, but nonetheless are space marines, just with psychic abilities and an urge to kill all things daemon.

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Sabe

· #4 · Feb 7, 2006 (Edited)

Ultramarines
These guys are as standard as any chapter there is, nothing sets them apart from any other 'codex' chapter.

Umm...you forgot. they get *****in' command squads and the ability to field an extra power weapon in their tac squds via honor guard detached members. If you are a traditional good guy/wanna impress the girls kind of person this is for you. There main color is blue.

Dark angels
These guys are primrily shooty, they have access to lots of plasma weapons because they are one of the first chapters. Their first and second companies have different organisation than other codex chapters.
The first company is known as the deathwing and is made up excluisvely of terminators. Their second company are known as the ravenwing, all these guys ride bikes or landspeeders.

Aside from their special companies DA are one of the best shooty armies you can have for a SM. If your a gothicy, goodguy/bad attitude kind of person this is the chapter for you. Their main color is dark green. Or white if you play Deathwing or Black if you play Ravenwing.

Blood angels
These guys are mainly assault based, they get the death company, basically some marines who are hell bent on killing. Every unit in the army has the risk of runnig straight after the enemy in game, they get a few abilities they make them nasty in hand-to hand.

You like blood do you? Your blonde? Well then here ya go. These guys are sometimes risky to play with but they have a lot of nice units and lot of nice abilities. Unsurprisingly their main color is Red.

Black templars
Possibly the most assaulty army there is. Practically everything they have can be geared to hand-to-hand combat. They have little heavy support when compared to other space marine chapters.

They aren't actually all HtH...in fact if you build your army completely hth with these guys you'll probably lose. But if you like knightley orders and the idea of burning heretics, these are for you. Their main color is Black with White shoulder guards.

Space wolves
These guys are very assault based, they generally get a lot of attacks and have a few abilities. They can be made into a shooty force but you miss out on their awesome commanders.

Wowsers...these guys get all sorts of fun toys to play with, they are probably the most different from the standard marine and can pack a hell of a CC punch whilst holding down the fort with their shooters. Like vikings? Like winning? All yours. Their main color is a bluish grey.

White scars
These guys are very skilled bike riders. Most of their chapter is based around lightning raids on bikes. Naturally they need to be geared to close combat, but they can have fairly nasty shooty lists.

A tough list to be succesful with, but if you can get the hang of them you'll likely win a lot of games based soley on the fact that you can outmanouever an F-16. These guys are also strongly based on far east culture, and have strong links to Ancient mongolia. If you liked Genghis Khan, you'll like these guys. Their main color is White

Raven guard
These guys focus on infiltrating and assault, they like to get close and then strike with maximum force, generally assaulty but can easily be shooty as well.

A very fun army to play, these guys focus on being fast and stealthy. They also have great, dark storylines and really make you feel cool. You liked Hellsing? You liked Pitch black? These are your army of choice. Their main(and pretty much only) color is Black.

Imperial fists
These guys are as codex as the Ultrmarines, though they do specialise in sieges a bit more.

I really feel that sentence doesn't do them justice. These guys are like The fanatics of space marines. Faith, honor and crazy firepower are what they are all about. I know...the yellow is kinda a turn off, but their fluff is next to none and when you squish an opponent with a yellow army it makes them feel that much more inadequete. If you attend church regularly, if you like being the give-it-all hero, then these are for you. As you may have guessed, their main color is Yellow.

------------

And two more that were missed.

Iron Hands
These guys are all about the machines, they constantly strive for perfection, which they believe is best achieved through the powers of machines. If you like drill sergeants, cyborgs and relentlessness then you'll fit in just fine with these guys. Their main color is again Black, though silver is often well featured as well.

Salamanders
These are the big black guys of the imperium, coolness at its max. They are calm and steady, and like fire to boot. If your the level headed member of your group, or like fire, then you'll probably like these guys the best. Their main color is Green.

Ofcourse your always welcome to make your own chapter as well, they will invariably be a succesor chapter of one the ones listed above but they will have their own traits(from the codex) and backround(from your mind) to go with them. Creating your own chapter can be very rewarding as you get to pick all the colors, heraldry and history of your chapter, as well as there special rules from the Traits section of the SM codex. But if you find that task a bit daunting then the First Founding Chapters are listed above. NOTE: the Black Templars are not actually a First Founding Chapter, they are a Succesor of the Imperial Fists.

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Zephyr_the_AzureWind

· #5 · Feb 7, 2006

They've covered the major ones but I have a few still

*Scythes of the Emperor
No special rules for them but they do exist in Space marine fluff, their signature weapon of death is a scythe so to create an army of them means power weapons made to look like scythes.

*Raptors
Jungle-fighting chapter that was a second founding from the Raven Guard.

*Crimson Fists
A second founding from the Imperial fists....weakend chapter currently but are veteran ork hunters.

*Deathwatch space marines
Alien hunters.....I believe they are releasing a codex for them this year. they are black and are part of the inquisiton basically to hunt down xenos.

there are still lots of other chapters not mentioned yet

creating a chapter is probably cooler though unless there is a special rule you want.......if you still want a theme make it a second or third founding of the chapter you like........

RAVEN GUARD RULES! *sorry I had to throw it out there.....my Ravenclaws are my pride and joy*

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Corianis

· #6 · Feb 7, 2006

If you do decide to go with Scythes of the Emperor, you'll want a fair few scout units and not many Terminators or Dreadnoughts. The chapter got wiped out almost to a man during one of the Tyranid Incursions (not the current one, I think it was the one before that).

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RJSuperfreaky

· #7 · Feb 7, 2006

Just to augment the Crimson Fists- These guys are dark, dark blue with red hands. Their chapter was nearly annihilated by orks (and a poorly timed chapter headquarters explosion). Yet still they fought on and won. These guys are like the Imperial Fists (who they are offshoots of), but are the chapter with its back against the wall who keeps on fighting. Plus their colors are SOOOO cool.

Grey Knights are like the "Delta Force" of Space Marines. They hit harder, shoot more than your average marine, and can field psychic powers. That being said, they also come in smaller numbers without all the support vehicles and speeders and such. Hard to play due to low numbers of minis for an army, but conversely easier to paint for the same reasons.

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