I'm curious about your favorite chapters. I started getting into Warhammer 40k through the Dawn of War games and I have only recently bought the Dark Vengeance starter. Do you guys mind telling me which Chapter is your favorite and why?

Mine are the Ultramarines. They are my favorite because I kind of see them as "Jack-of-all-trades, but masters at none." They are also tactical geniuses (probably better than some, but definitely not the best!) Also, out of all the chapter's I feel like I relate to them the most. Anyway, I feel no more need to go into details about them, seeing as many 40k fans are kind of tired of them XD

Remember, I'm asking for your FAVORITE Chapter. Meaning this is all personal opinion. Let's respect each other here.

White Scars - Mongols in SPAAAAAAACE.

Carcharodons - Over the top brutality. Look them up on Lexicanum.

Black Templars - Even with the retcons that I'm not crazy about having slowly piled up over the years, they're still the awesome crusaders that continue what the Emperor started 10,000 years ago.

Dark Angels - The flipside to the bombastic nature of the Black Templars, mainly like them for their monastic style and effective "Legion all but in name" aspect.

Not that my user name here and avatar et-al aren't enough of a clue, but Blood Angels.

I love the duality of their nature, and their Primarch Sanguinius was as close to a 'good guy' as you can get, with the Primarch Vulcan also being very high up there as well.

Everything about them, from their history, their fluff, to their looks, aesthetically and also color scheme, I just really enjoy the chapter.

That's mine. Take it easy for now.

-Red__Thirst-

Angry marines always angry!

Dark Angels all the way. Mostly I like the models, plus they get some stuff no other chapter has (like Interrogator-chaplains). I also like how their color scheme is 3 in one (Greenwing, Ravenwing, Deathwing). Their fluff is pretty awesome too, I dig the whole "big, dark secret" thing they've got going on.

Top 3 (1 is best, 3 is 'least')

1) Carcharodons! - 'Cause their fluff is awesome, and they were my first 100% fully painted army (1st and 2nd companies in full)
2) Imperial Fists/Crimson Fists/Black Templars - Again, 'cause their fluff is amazing.... I may just like Imperial Fists and their successors a lot for some reason.
3) Space Wolves or Salamanders - Space marines who aren't dicks and have humanity. I like it.

lowest 3 (1 is most hated, 3 is 'least)

1) Dark Angels - feth. These. Guys. Team killing, legion building ass holes who embody everything wrong with the Imperium.
2) Marines Malevolent - Again, just massive dicks
3) tie between UM and 30k Space Wolves - I blame ward for the first half, and them being donkey-caves for the second half.

Homebrew chapters aside; I love Blood Angels first and foremost for their desire of perfection and aesthetic. Close second is Iron Hands, love their machine-obsessed aesthetic (and I like them for their connection to the Emperor's Children during the Great Crusade), they come second because black is so boring to paint.

Iron Warriors. Masters of Siege, Brutal, Emotionless(Very pretty... )

White Scars are my number one, their tribal nature is just what fits. I love fast hitting armies so that is fun. but its their motif I like the most and why I play them.
My second would be the minotaurs, man are they fun

But if loyalist I love the Dark Angels fluff and just the "we're suuuuuper loyal, but we keep al the best toys for ourselves (The ONLY jetbike left, all of the plasmas, all of the power swords, etc.). Oh and if we notice some 'important chaos lords' anywhere in the everywhere, screw you guys we need to kill it, youre on your own." Or the fact that their homeworld isma flying fortress.

Wolves for me. Space vikings with some awesome books written about them. Ultramarines have some awesome fluff also, and so do the fists and successors.

Thousand Sons because great backstory. They tried to help the Emperor but the Emperor forsaked them.

Iron Hands, Emperor's Children and Dark Angels are good too. Most least I like Wolves.

The Carcharodons Astra and the Minotaurs are my choices, just for the sheer brutality they exhibit. They exist merely to serve The Emperor and only crush the opposition of the Imperium.
Third favorite would be the Iron Hands. They're reasonable to replace fleshy bits with more durable material where necessary.

The lamest by far is the Space Wolves. They're total hypocrites that decide they know what's best for everyone.

Blood Angels - Despite my unhealthy obsession with SM bikes and my favorite Primarch being Vulkan. The Blood Angels are my chapter.

To understand why, you need to know I won a single game on 2nd edition 40k. It was a 500 pt game and I was using Orks. So when I say it was a bad edition for me you'll understand. Towards the end of 2nd I was playing Imperial Guard and getting my face kicked in regularly by a Jerk with Necrons. They were obscene in 2nd. I was ready to quit 40k permanently when 3rd dropped. Liking what I saw I decided to try Marines for the first time. Nothing really changed until I saw the brand new Baal Predator in White Dwarf. I was enamored. I still don't know why that tank grabbed me the way it did, but it was a model I really wanted. So I got it and some Death Company, and for the first time I was able to win some games. It wasn't just the rhino rush, I found my style of play. None of my 2nd edition armies clicked with me the way the Sons of Baal had. And to add the cherry on top, when I played the Jerk again after his Necrons were updated, I crushed him twice in a row.

Since then I tried other chapters; White Scars during the end of 3rd, Drop Pod marines in 4th, and Space Wolves in 5th. But I always come back to Baal every edition.

A couple of years ago we tried 2nd edition again for the hell of it. My Blood Angels won the game.

I like a few of them, honestly in no particular order:

Black Dragons: A Cursed Chapter who use their mutations as weapons, pretty awesome in my opinion!

Salamanders: Burn everything!!

Space Wolves: Vikings and Werewolves in space!!

I love the Space Wolves when they are presented as vikings in space. People who sit around in dark halls with wooden walls, lit only by firelight in the middle of a space ship. Telling stories of the dead, singing songs, huddling around the fire as they listen to stories of evil magics that can't be killed to indulge in that most human of instincts they can not feel when fighting things that they can kill, fear. I love it when they are hunters, stalking large beasts on Fenris, I love it when they are presented as professional, merciless warriors wearing animal pelts (including bears and whatnot, not just wolves) and fetishes and totems. I also love them as the Emperor's executioners, the marines who play up their ferocity and don't shy away from brutality in order to scare other loyalists. To present themselves as a reason not to turn traitor because if you do THEY will be the ones coming for you and that is a TERRIFYING thought.

Seeing them as the beer drinking, wild hairdo, wolf pelt wearing, wolf riding, wolf soldiers of the wolf times... god I hate what GW has done to them.

Honorable mentions to Raven Guard and Black Templars since I haven't seen them ruined yet.

Blood Angels. I love the baroque armor they use and their emphasis on speed. That and their duality between noble protectors and crazed killers.

Minotaurs... they love beating up on Space Marines.

Dark Angels - the secrets, the lies, the obsession. All the questionable things they do to protect their darkest secret from others is done so they could continue to serve the Imperium. Though it certainly might seem the opposite sometimes, I think The Unforgiven are the most loyal of all The Emperor's servants.

Astral Claws. Huron had the ability to actually think for himself and broke ties with the Imperium and had the charisma to be an iron handed tyrant and STILL turn multiple Chapters against the Imperium. Continuing their story as the Red Corsairs just adds more flavor to it, but thr Astral Claws were the beginning.

I like the space wolves, although the whole wolf thing has jumped the shark. I think their designs are nice and the models pretty good, may i say...of the wolves at least.

I quite like the imperial fists too. The yellows a bit garish though. Pre-HH world eaters i like also, being defended from every savage tribe old earth had to offer.

Older fluff Black Templar with their disregard of the Codex Astartes, preference for close combat, and never ending crusading to fight the enemies of the Emperior. The Emperior's Champion is an awesome piece of fluff as well as their crusader squad structure which puts the neophytes fighting along side their initiate mentors. Ten thousand plus year crusade is just badass as well as using the crusade as a loophole to have numbers well above the 1000 marine mark for a single chapter. Great color scheme and symbol adds to their cool factor. Sadly the table top rules for them are lacking and they don't really function well as codex space marine isn't really designed for an assault army.

Space Wolves are currently my favorite "chapter" as they generally operate against the grain of the mary sue space marines and are an army that can both shoot as well as get stuck into close combat. While the wolfy wolf wolves of the wolf fang is a bit annoying and uninspired (GW has a bad time with naming things lately) the visual aesthetic of space vikings is really cool. Definitely my favorite Space Marine army on the table top. Its also fun to think of them as being the rowdy Vikings/Scandinavian frat boys who love to drink and feast just as much as they love to have glorious combat. Personal fluff for my Space Wolves is that this group is on a booze cruise of parting, fighting, and possibly looking to pick up some sisters of battle.

Aside from my own homebrew Chapter, it would have to be Space Wolves. They know that they are the protectors of the Imperium, going so far as to sacrifice themselves to save Imperial Citizens. I always liked the idea of Viking-werewolf-Astartes on giant wolves but the character of the Chapter is what appeals to me the most.

An example: I remember a bit from the 5th edition Space Wolf book where Logan Grimnar ordered sevearl Grey Hunters to reinforce a planet that was getting overrun by Tyranids. The Grey Hunters helped train the local citizens a bit in order to hold off the Tyranids long enough to get the last of the citizens off world. Or how about the time that Logan Grimnar blew a grear, big raspberry at the Administratum by promoting and honoring Space Wolves who disobeyed orders to protect citizens.

And with the Inquisition and Dark Angels now ganging up on the Space Wolves in the Curse of the Wulfen book, I like the Space Wolves even more (and the Dark Angels even less). There's just something I like about good guys doing the right thing despite the orders from the superiors.

Honorable mention from me includes Salamanders, Iron Hands, and White Scars. Salamanders for the fluff and draconic themes, the Iron Hands for the game play, and the White Scars for being just plain neat.

Dark Angels - the secrecy, the devotion are cool traits and the fact that they operate nigh completely alone, as well as not just having marines on bikes, but dedicated squads that that's all they do (Deathwing, Ravenwing). That and I like playing the anti-hero, I like that my characters are flawed and not completely Mary Sue, and the fact that every other Legion is jealous of the First

Blood Ravens. Dawn of War was my first exposure to the 40k universe, and as I got into it, I started seeing just how much GW loves to shove "Space Marines are awesome" down our throats. Blood Ravens are kind of the anti-Space Marines in this regard since the other chapters hate them. Also, they have a nice color scheme.

Raven Guard.
In a universe this grimdark, They are the only ones really competing with Salamanders for the "Not donkey-caves" trophy.

And Raven Guard have Jump packs, and the coolest helmets

harkequin wrote:
Raven Guard.
In a universe this grimdark, They are the only ones really competing with Salamanders for the "Not donkey-caves" trophy.

And Raven Guard have Jump packs, and the coolest helmets

Space Wolves and Blood Angels do as well.

Jump Packs are the best though.

 casvalremdeikun wrote:

harkequin wrote:
Raven Guard.
In a universe this grimdark, They are the only ones really competing with Salamanders for the "Not donkey-caves" trophy.

And Raven Guard have Jump packs, and the coolest helmets

Space Wolves and Blood Angels do as well.

Jump Packs are the best though.

To be fair my second favorite chapter is Blood angels. Raven Guard have better helmets.
I don't think I've ever seen a space wolf with a jump pack. Not saying they don't exist but, I actually don't know if they do.

Salamanders. Their placement of their duty to the citizens of the Imperium above their personal honor gives them a sincerity that other chapters lack.

 EnTyme wrote:
Blood Ravens. Dawn of War was my first exposure to the 40k universe, and as I got into it, I started seeing just how much GW loves to shove "Space Marines are awesome" down our throats. Blood Ravens are kind of the anti-Space Marines in this regard since the other chapters hate them. Also, they have a nice color scheme.

Commander Indrick Boreale takes the ham to levels I can only dream about. Captain Apollo Diomedes taking a distant but still impressive second on the Smithfield rankings.

Blood Ravens and Imperial Fists.

I love the Blood Ravens fluff and story, while I could do without some of the characters from the games. They got my drive for Collecting Marines going again and it has been on fire ever since.

And because of them I got into the Imperial fists honestly, I'd do a lot of counts as conversions and most of the time I'd end up using IF characters like Lysander representing Angelos, with customized model, and then I ended up using the IF chapter tactics the most when they came about, which kind of lead me into researchingresearching more about the actual Imperial Fists and they really grew on me strongly.

Salamanders.

They've got some great themes and motifs without beating you over the head with them, like other flagship chapters. Plenty of drake imagery, but nothing too excessive. Plenty of heat/fire association, and the ties to smithing, but nothing ridiculous. And then there's how they are the most "human" of the Astartes, but again it doesn't go to extremes. They feel real and fleshed out without having that "Mary Sue/Gary Stu" quality to them.

Plus, I've always dug that paint scheme. Simple, but damn does it pop!

Ultramarines

I love the idea of a combat force operating as a well oiled machine using logical strategy and combined arms tactics. I love the adherence to combat doctrine. Guilliman wrote the book! And the sons of Guilliman are the Ultramarines!!

I think a lot of people misunderstand Guilliman. I have read on here people call him more of a politician that a warrior. I think out of all the Primarchs he is the greatest warrior. I base that off of this theory:

"Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics."
- Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC (Commandant of the Marine Corps) noted in 1980

Out of all the Primarchs he was without a doubt the most accomplished Logistician. Just look at the size of the of their original legions and the number of planets for which they are responsible. Logistics baby! Logistics!!

I also think their tactical doctrine is the most effective. Not the in game 'tactical doctrine' of rerolling misses but the actual theory of combined arms tactics. A maneuver element (tactical marines) supported by heavy weapons (devastator marines) and fast skirmishers / assaulters (assault marines). Backed up by armor and air power wherever applicable. Use all the tools in the toolbox!!

Also the Ultramarines personify professionalism in soldiery.

I appreciate all of these things the most out of any of the other first founding chapters.

Blood Ravens. Dawn of War 1 is what introduced me to the Warhammer 40k universe. You never forget your first.

I'm not as familiar with the loyalist chapters as I'd like, but from what I've read on past perusals of Lexicanum, I'd always thought the Flesh Tearers seemed pretty interesting. I really need to find the books though (there were books about the Flesh Tearers weren't there?). Carcharodons struck my fancy for similar reasons that the Flesh Tearers did, but suffer from the same problem of I have little fluff to go off of. Iron Hands would probably be high on my list if I knew more than that they liked bionics and were buddy-buddy with the AdMech. As it stands, Space Wolves as they're portrayed in Prospero Burns would probably be my favorite.

I think I gotta go with salamanders. They've got a really cool unique feel to them, and they seem like the only real "heroes" the imperium has.

I'm a little surprised that so many people think the space wolves are such nice guys. Maybe I'm missing some vital piece of fluff, but they've always seemed like the biggest hypocrites out there with their hatred of psykers, but not their psykers. Sorry, but I just don't buy their "world spirit" nonsense. They're channeling the warp, weather they want to accept it or not.

Then again, I'm pretty biased because I've always like the Thousand Sons, and I think their story is one of the most tragic in all 40k.

Celestial Lions - They stood up to the Inquisition for the sake of the Imperium and its people, suffered for it, and fought loyally in the face of utter annihilation. Where other chapters bent the knee in the face of the implicit threat of the Inquisition, where other chapters turned rogue under the same treatment, they only asked that the Black Templars, fellow sons of Dorn would mark their passing and remember them.

Black Templars - I love the whole backstory of fleet based crusades and ignoring the Codex Astartes. I also like the fact that they just want to get in the enemies face.

Raven Guard - I love the idea of stealth combat and hit and run tactics.

Space Wolves being my very first army or Imperial Fists, always liked their disciplined approach to warfare.

I have to adjust my initial picks: Carcharodons, White Scars, Space Wolves, Black Templars, and Salamanders.

Black Templars. Angry Teutonic knights in space with a preference for sharp/blunt/chainsawed objects. Whats not to like? The Emperors champion concept is also really badass and lets you go wild with kitbashing/converting.

Honorable mention to Blood Angels. Im not big into vampire stuff but they have amazing models and a cool colourscheme. It was a serious toss up between them and BT when i started out, i might still do a small force of them.

Raven Guard are thoroughly good chaps. They're clever, practical, philanthropic and they have a cool motif. Same goes for Salamanders.

First Legion, what isn't there to like? Best bikes in the Space Marine armor with hussar wings with the elites swinging horseman power hammers. Company Masters running around with badass tournament crests straight out of the Codex de Manesse leading veterans of robed elite brethren on mysterious crusades against Chaos, leaving no witnesses to speak of regarding their missions. A downright fetish for plasma weapons on everything, making them extremely effective against traitor Astartes coupled with largely unrivaled fleet assets.

My favorite is BA.

The reasons are DC, fast transports and vehicles, Furioso Dreads, and Tacticals with heavy flamers.

Blood Angels.

Their history, current story, Death Company, Primarch, how they look. I only started playing 40k a few years ago, but when I was growing up, I always played as Blood Angels in the Space Crusade boardgame and a family friend gave me a nice hardcover copy of the first edition rulebook of Warhammer 40,000 and from there I found that Blood Angels were my favourite Space Marine chapter. I never played the tabletop game of 40k at the time, but I still had a soft spot for the Sons of Sanguinius.

Raptors: The reasonable Marines

Exorcists: Pretty badass daemon fighters

Carchadons: So malevolent, violent and unrepentant, they feel like the closest things to angry marines in the fluff.

Always have been an Ultramarine fan since waaaaay back before they became the super Mary Sues.

I enjoy their original fluff in that they are masters of the codex and are able to exact incredible amounts of damage on their opponent, but can easily be blindsided when something goes awry. Additionally their roman style and the fact that they are the least distopian of all the Imperium has always been something to admire. Bonus, the Ultramarines novels by Graham McNeill are also pretty fun to read!

Hmmm... Chapter or Legion or can it be both?

Chapter: Dark Angels (if you count them as SM since they have their own codex) because of their background story. It is one of the better ones that I've read so far.
Legion: World Eaters because, pre-heresy, they were seemingly the most deadly and fearless legion out there. Even during the heresy, the few that weren't aware of Angron's plans for his legion were the first to step out and fight in a no win situation to make sure their squad mates/teammates lived to fight another day.

SG

Dark Angles, because I liked their background.

Black Templars, because they were unique.

The rest were kinda meh. Although I played Ultras (along with most other noobs) way back in the day so I still have a soft spot for the Smurfs.

Blood Angels for me. Like their playstyle (or at least, what the Raven Guard stole from us!) and their fluff. Death Company sold it for me though.

Dark Angels
Iron Hands (pre supplement)
Blood angels

Crimson Fists. Love the comeback kid aspect to their fluff. Kantor is a beast in the book. Founding chaptermaster also awesome cool minis both. Wish you could represent their need to retrieve gene-seed at any cost in game. Like the red scorpions med sgts. And to top it off the paint scheme is a marvel when done well.

 Kellevil wrote:
Ultramarines

I love the idea of a combat force operating as a well oiled machine using logical strategy and combined arms tactics. I love the adherence to combat doctrine. Guilliman wrote the book! And the sons of Guilliman are the Ultramarines!!

I think a lot of people misunderstand Guilliman. I have read on here people call him more of a politician that a warrior. I think out of all the Primarchs he is the greatest warrior. I base that off of this theory:

"Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics."
- Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC (Commandant of the Marine Corps) noted in 1980

Out of all the Primarchs he was without a doubt the most accomplished Logistician. Just look at the size of the of their original legions and the number of planets for which they are responsible. Logistics baby! Logistics!!

I also think their tactical doctrine is the most effective. Not the in game 'tactical doctrine' of rerolling misses but the actual theory of combined arms tactics. A maneuver element (tactical marines) supported by heavy weapons (devastator marines) and fast skirmishers / assaulters (assault marines). Backed up by armor and air power wherever applicable. Use all the tools in the toolbox!!

Also the Ultramarines personify professionalism in soldiery.

I appreciate all of these things the most out of any of the other first founding chapters.

This, plus their sector is one of the best places to live for ordinary imperial citizens. The only thing they lack is democracy.

Oh man, tough choice.My first choice is Imperial Fists. Seige warfare specialists, Battle to the last mentality, to never retreat, and never surrender.
close 2nd is Dark Angels' Ravenwing and Deathwing. The perfect Hammer and Anvil combination. Determination to hunt their fallen brothers one by one. Secrecy and Willingness to uphold their inner circles of trust and knowledge.

Blood Raven.
"That's totally a gift, not at all stolen"

Astral Knights - an almost forgotten chapter who went out with a bang - no pun intended.

Raven Guard - 7 foot tall stealth experts in power armor, and an awesome paint scheme.

Fell in love with Ultramarines when I first started. Always loved the clean look and feel to their colors. I like a lot of the fluff about them too.

Next would be Space Wolves. Great fluff and cool models. Love the wolf icons and their savage look. Wolves are my favorite animal too so I naturally had interest in them.

Besides loyalists, I loved Iron Warriors when I played with Chaos. Never really like the tenticles on most CSM, so the IW clean metallic look did it for me. Cool fluff as well.

Last is another traitor legion, Alpha Legion. I like the fluff behind them. Color scheme was meh but I really liked reading about them. Really just a cool legion.

Oh and World Eaters. Savage.

The concept of a 'which is your favourite faction' thread that's not 'just for fun' intrigues me.

Also, Mantis Warriors.

Star Phantoms because of the "No words, just death" vibe they give off. I'm basing my homebrew chapter off of their geneseed stock

Dark Angels because they are 100% LOYAL AND ABSOLUTELY PERFECT and they have Dark Green armour (and thus, look badass).

Blood Angels, just love the colour scheme and the background. The idea that they are a codex chapter with little differences (going back a bit).

Imperial Fists, I started because I saw a painted squad and they looked awesome. As you read into them further they just become more and more awesome.

Probably no coincidence that I've ended up with two of the chapters that were standing at the walls of Terra at the end.

THE FLESH IS WEAK!!!

Scythes of the Emperor because my 'Nids ate them all!

Space Wolves because vikings in space.

Regardless of what GW has done to them recently, they will always be vikings in space in my own head cannon.

Ultramarines get slot of unwarranted flak just because of one codex five years ago. For feth sake just get over it, they are just like any other chapter, and they don't even follow all the tenets of the Codex; which is the point. The codex wasn't written to dictate, it was written with the intention that commanders would use the knowledge in the book and introduce new strategies and twists on it.

So Jesus, stop hating on the boys in blue.

That said, Blood Angels suck, they're practically Khorne worshippers at this point, and their players do not stop banging on about their codex! IT'S ALMOST AS IF GW WONT DO ANYTHING. [/sarcasm]

But one chapter that can go and feth themselves, and they are the Marines Malevolent.

Space wolves is my favorite for a number of reasons. The wolf is my favorite animal and my favorite movie monster type has always been werewolves or Lycans if you prefer which you can imagine, once I saw curse of the wulfen I just went bananas. Werewolf space marines is just beyond awesome. But I digress. I liked the idea of Space vikings, but what really got me was the fluff behind the space wolves. The references to Norse mythology and the harshness of there recruitment method was just so cool to me. what solidified it for me was this. i was always labeled as a bit of a rebel my whole life, the kind of guy that didn't conform and went against the grain and did his own thing which is essentially what the space wolves did when they told guilliman to take his codex and shove it. We're space wolves and we do things our way. That's what ultimately attracted me to the chapter.

 TheCrusadeSmurf wrote:
Ultramarines get slot of unwarranted flak just because of one codex five years ago. For feth sake just get over it, they are just like any other chapter, and they don't even follow all the tenets of the Codex; which is the point. The codex wasn't written to dictate, it was written with the intention that commanders would use the knowledge in the book and introduce new strategies and twists on it.

So Jesus, stop hating on the boys in blue.

I don't think I've ever heard Jesus hating on the Ultramarines. Source?

Salamanders will always have my love. I like how all of them are the most, "commoner," of the Space Marines. They're expected to perform community service at Nocturne's settlements, manufacture and maintain their own equipment, and will actually put civilian lives as a priority instead of following an, "ends justifying the means," mindset.

 the_kraken wrote:

 TheCrusadeSmurf wrote:
Ultramarines get slot of unwarranted flak just because of one codex five years ago. For feth sake just get over it, they are just like any other chapter, and they don't even follow all the tenets of the Codex; which is the point. The codex wasn't written to dictate, it was written with the intention that commanders would use the knowledge in the book and introduce new strategies and twists on it.

So Jesus, stop hating on the boys in blue.

I don't think I've ever heard Jesus hating on the Ultramarines. Source?

Codex : Angry Catholic Puritans,
He has PE: Ultramarines.

Since this for fun. My absolute favorite Chapter is Angry Marines. Their Codex is hilarious, and the models people have painted are amazing especially their stormraven.
*This codex is not for the feint of heart. For they make Khorne berserkers look civil by comparison*

It has to be the Minotaurs for me.
Awesome fluff from Forgeworld, have access to rarer tech, awesome chapter master and other characters, great colour scheme (and iconography based on Greek mythology). Also they hate everyone, amd normally work in full chapter strength.
The only negative thing about them is that they are a little bit special snowflake.

Imperial Fists, for a multitude of reasons:

- They are down to Earth and humble. meaning that they will accept tasks that most other Chapters would think to be beneath a Space Marine.
- They never give up, even when annihilation seems likely.
- They are almost immune to pain.
- They have a f***huge spaceship as a Fortress-Monastery
- Boltguns. Boltguns everywhere.

The only problem I have with that is the yellow paint-job, which I think looks ridiculous.

 TheCrusadeSmurf wrote:

 the_kraken wrote:

 TheCrusadeSmurf wrote:
Ultramarines get slot of unwarranted flak just because of one codex five years ago. For feth sake just get over it, they are just like any other chapter, and they don't even follow all the tenets of the Codex; which is the point. The codex wasn't written to dictate, it was written with the intention that commanders would use the knowledge in the book and introduce new strategies and twists on it.

So Jesus, stop hating on the boys in blue.

I don't think I've ever heard Jesus hating on the Ultramarines. Source?

Codex : Angry Catholic Puritans,
He has PE: Ultramarines.

You made my day, sir. Thank you.

My absolute favourite are the imperial fists - I like the fact that they have plenty of character without having a specific theme (e.g. space romans) - for this reason they are the true vanilla marines in my eyes. Love the fluff, the characters, even love the colour (yeah, banana yellow has grown on me), but most of all I adore their their stoicism - their never back down mentality that gives off the "you're going to lose ten men for every one of ours you kill". To be honest I have a weak spot for all the sons of Dorn, they're just so badass!

Other chapters that I think are cool:
Minotaurs - Spartan theme, absolute brutality, cool colour scheme
Dark angels - LOVE the whole unforgiven idea. Also terminators with flails.
Flesh tearers - amazing colour scheme
Howling Griffons - IMO the best named out of ALL the chapters.

Gah, there's too many... Although any chapter that defended the imperial palace from chaos has a huge plus in my books

There are only two chapters I like. Blood Ravens and Imperial Fists. Everyone else is bleh. And Space Marines in general are kinda boring to me honestly. I got into 40k for the Xenos and enemies.

Deathwatch is also cool, but if I was running the show no ultramarines allowed in our club with a sign written in crayon.

Crimson Fists. They look badass and refuse to die. I'd also like the feeling of collecting an army of them from the ground up just like Kantor is doing.

I've been an Ultramarine from the word go - from a battle report between them and the brand new Orky codex in WD178 (I think it was?).
I think I like them for the same reason I prefer Superman (Christopher Reeve Superman at least) to Batman.
You can keep your moping around in hooded robes. You can keep your terrible curses, you can keep your decorating your armour with bits of dead wolf (fur is murder!).
I'll be over here killing bad guys in the name the Emperor!

Also blue is totally my fav colour...

Minotaurs
Ultramarines
Black Templars

All appeal to different historical periods which I enjoy.

 jonolikespie wrote:
I love the Space Wolves when they are presented as vikings in space. People who sit around in dark halls with wooden walls, lit only by firelight in the middle of a space ship. Telling stories of the dead, singing songs, huddling around the fire as they listen to stories of evil magics that can't be killed to indulge in that most human of instincts they can not feel when fighting things that they can kill, fear. I love it when they are hunters, stalking large beasts on Fenris, I love it when they are presented as professional, merciless warriors wearing animal pelts (including bears and whatnot, not just wolves) and fetishes and totems. I also love them as the Emperor's executioners, the marines who play up their ferocity and don't shy away from brutality in order to scare other loyalists. To present themselves as a reason not to turn traitor because if you do THEY will be the ones coming for you and that is a TERRIFYING thought.

Seeing them as the beer drinking, wild hairdo, wolf pelt wearing, wolf riding, wolf soldiers of the wolf times... god I hate what GW has done to them.

Honorable mentions to Raven Guard and Black Templars since I haven't seen them ruined yet.

So much this...
I like all Chapters a lot, but the Space Wolves have always been my favourite.

Dark Angels, i was first drawn towards Space Wolves and Ultramarines but after getting Dark Angels stuff i found the fluff to really draw me in, sure a lot of the Dark Angels knowledge is highly secret but that just makes it more interesting to me, also the whole First Legion thing has a great ring to it, not only that the hunt for the fallen also is really cool to me

Lamenters take the cake for me. They keep fighting on against all the odds and are willing to die for civilians, at one point losing a significant chunk of their chapter to evacuate a planet of civilians, until the civilians asked them to stop and save themselves. Then when the Ultramarines tried to give them an iron halo as a reward for a job well done, they refused the honor because they didn't feel that they had succeeded. Now the ultra marines dislike them. stuck up pricks.

Dark Angels for sure, love their colors and theme (love the medieval/crusader type theme they have), plus their fluff is great. You gotta love the fact that they're heretiiiii.... I MEAN THE MOST LOYAL OF ALL THE SPACE MARINES EVER.

Sounds cliche, but I've been playing since Rogue Trader. The Ultramarines.

I like that they don't have any cliches, and their Greco-Roman influences are subdued. Being the "Regular Marines" is an upside for them; t doesn't make them "boring". Space Marines don't need silly tropes like being Space Vikings or Space Knights, or something. They don't have some nonsensical "specialization" like siege or close combat, which is good because specialist Space Marines are worthless when you think about it.

Except when Graham McNeill writes about them, because he has zero understanding of warfare and how to write military fiction, which leads to ridiculously contradictory depictions of how the Ultramarines fight compared to how a successful military would fight.

I always have, and always bill be a diehard Ultramarine fan. I just love their Greco-Roman influence (it's subdued, but it's there), and I just love how they are the jack-of-all trades Marines. They really can do it all, and I love that

Kharne the Befriender wrote:Star Phantoms because of the "No words, just death" vibe they give off. I'm basing my homebrew chapter off of their geneseed stock

Captain Joystick wrote:Celestial Lions - They stood up to the Inquisition for the sake of the Imperium and its people, suffered for it, and fought loyally in the face of utter annihilation. Where other chapters bent the knee in the face of the implicit threat of the Inquisition, where other chapters turned rogue under the same treatment, they only asked that the Black Templars, fellow sons of Dorn would mark their passing and remember them.

Hell yes. Great and rare chapters to play. Thank you for being the few! Lamenters are pretty sweet too. Same with the guy with mantis warriors, emp scythes and sharkpeople. Gotta give them all a shoutout

Personally:

Firehawks - they are the most cursed chapter, lost two homeworlds, got a star fortress and then lost it in the warp, becoming the legion of the damned. Forced to help their allies in the most desperate hour, the firehawks long ago, were despised by their own battle brothers for their willingness to perform exterminatus declarations on civilian planets whose guilt was not clear. (how they were rewarded with a 2nd homeworld) ....and the fact they would leave their battle brothers to die, in favour of not needlessly throwing away lives in order to make a violent countercharge. THEY ARE BRUTAL. Whole worlds put to the sword and flame. Not even the mighty inquisition has access to the Mannus Irae documents. This secret purge was carried out by 5 chapters. The Firehawks, Silver Skulls, and Charnel Guard are the only two named. Two of the chapters were left from being revealed, and my belief, mainly because they are 2 founding chapters that headed the sector wide exterminatus. I went with them because they are one of the orignal rouge trader chapters and their symbol is a nuclear mushroom cloud.

One solid and near confirmed guess is the Iron Hands, who font give a flying feth about human lives and would calculably extinguish human lives to their most effectiveness, weakening the enemies forces as much as possible before overwhelming the survivors.

Iron hands - Dudes who think the human form is flawed and weak and can be augumented and built to a better function. I am a mechanical engineer so this speaks to me. My first space marine army and it approaches 25,000 points.

I think the Ultramarines have the best paint job, the Salamanders have the coolest tabletop rules, and the Dark Angels declared the space furries to be heretics, so they get major cool points.

But they're all sort of lame.

I wanted to like Dark Angels but the 6th edition codex fluff was so bad, lol. "Lion E'Jonson, which means, Lion, Son of the Forest," baaaahaahahaha.

 TedNugent wrote:
Lion El'Jonson

This and Roboute Guilliman are easily the two worst names ever placed into any fluff ever.

Imperial fists. They're brightly colored, love defending things (I'm a big fan of building big forts you have to protect), have a weird relationship with pain that they totally promise isn't heretical at all guys. Seriously, nothing Slaaneshi going on here! Plus, their primarch is Rogal Dorn. That is a kickass name. It just sounds stalwart.

Try saying it out loud.

Rogal... Dorn.

Black Templars. I'm always drawn to the fanatical zealot factions.

TEMPLARS!

Not so much because of their current fluff (which is awesome in itself) but because of how they came to be:

The man himself, Sigismund, first Emperor's Champion, the most badass duelist of the heresy era, forsaken by his primarch, upon getting split from his legion, takes the most zealot imperial fists and as a sign of ULTIMATE devotion to the Emperor and His ideals, declares a NEVER-ENDING crusade.

An oath yet unbroken to this day, 10000 years later.

Also, has anyone read the Talons of Horus? Sigismund was the only guy who believed in his gut the Chaos Marines would come back after the Scouring and actively searched for Abbaddon (to his demise).

Close second for the Imperial Fists, they held the literal wall.

 Kellevil wrote:

Also the Ultramarines personify professionalism in soldiery.

I appreciate all of these things the most out of any of the other first founding chapters.

They censure their own for thinking outside of the box.
They value backward combat practices above actual defensive technology- Ventris looked at walls fortified with void field generators and thought that in Ultramar such technological crutches would be unnecessary because the walls would be manned with faithful citizens of Ultramar.
TWICE, Ultramarines have tried to fight duels with Iron Warrior champions.

Graham McNeill wrote:Fight me?' said Honsou, spreading his arms to encompass his warriors. 'You think we're going to fight a duel? My warriors and I outnumber you ten to one! What makes you think I'd give you a chance to trade blows with me?' The Iron Warriors aimed their weapons at them, knowing that blood was soon to be spilled here, but waiting for their master's command before unleashing death.

The other one ran in sword held high and got melta'd.

Ultramarines are religious nutjobs worshipping 'courage and honour' over professional soldiery or original thought.
Their success lies in the fact that
1: Daddy lucked into landing in a big interplanetary empire
2: Daddy wrote a book about war that holds up against more situations than it doesn't. This book includes his research into the tactics of better legions.

That's no reason to dislike them though, in a universe with blood thirsty vampire angels and Marines Malevolent, I'd just hesitate to call them professional or reasonable soldiers.

 the_kraken wrote:

 TedNugent wrote:
Lion El'Jonson

This and Roboute Guilliman are easily the two worst names ever placed into any fluff ever.

Corvus Corax, Angron and Ferrus Manus beg to differ.

 Lammikkovalas wrote:

 the_kraken wrote:

 TedNugent wrote:
Lion El'Jonson

This and Roboute Guilliman are easily the two worst names ever placed into any fluff ever.

Corvus Corax, Angron and Ferrus Manus beg to differ.

I assume everyone knows that Lion El' Jonson is a direct reference to the gay poet Lionel Jonson, who wrote the poem 'The Dark Angel'. The whole unspoken dark secret of their past was supposed to be a reference to homophobia in Victorian England before they filled the gap with the Fallen.

No love for the gk? I Cant say it's my favourite but it's up there with space wolfs salamanders.

Just something about the purity and self sacrifice, there mere presence is hurt full for bad things in the warp. There elite style and secrecy. Willing to do what is necessary to destory chaos and protect the imperium!
Just wish they had more models/fluf.

Salamders bit the same as just good chapter, with awesome flames!
Space wolf, is space Vikings riding wolf's how awesome do you want it?!

Black Templars.

Followed by Imperial Fists.

Favourite Traitor Legion is Iron Warriors.

Honourable mentions go to Celestial Lions and Iron Knights (there may be a theme emerging, here...)

 =Angel= wrote:

 Lammikkovalas wrote:

 the_kraken wrote:

 TedNugent wrote:
Lion El'Jonson

This and Roboute Guilliman are easily the two worst names ever placed into any fluff ever.

Corvus Corax, Angron and Ferrus Manus beg to differ.

Spoiler:

Ok, you got me there. That typical inquisitor easily beats any of the ones I mentioned. But then again, RT was full of crazy gak like that so it's almost to be expected to come across true gems like Obiwan.

That can't be real.

 Lammikkovalas wrote:

 the_kraken wrote:

 TedNugent wrote:
Lion El'Jonson

This and Roboute Guilliman are easily the two worst names ever placed into any fluff ever.

Corvus Corax, Angron and Ferrus Manus beg to differ.

Perturabo is greatly perturbed about being ignored yet again...

 Iron_Captain wrote:

 Lammikkovalas wrote:

 the_kraken wrote:

 TedNugent wrote:
Lion El'Jonson

This and Roboute Guilliman are easily the two worst names ever placed into any fluff ever.

Corvus Corax, Angron and Ferrus Manus beg to differ.

Perturabo is greatly perturbed about being ignored yet again...

Perty-boy shouldn't be that upset. I think that his name is kinda awful too but those three of his brothers are on a whole new level of stupid names. The name of the primarch of the Raven Guard is the latin name of the common raven? What the gak?

 Lammikkovalas wrote:

 Iron_Captain wrote:

 Lammikkovalas wrote:

 the_kraken wrote:

 TedNugent wrote:
Lion El'Jonson

This and Roboute Guilliman are easily the two worst names ever placed into any fluff ever.

Corvus Corax, Angron and Ferrus Manus beg to differ.

Perturabo is greatly perturbed about being ignored yet again...

Perty-boy shouldn't be that upset. I think that his name is kinda awful too but those three of his brothers are on a whole new level of stupid names. The name of the primarch of the Raven Guard is the latin name of the common raven? What the gak?

Lets not forget Ferrums Manus -latin iron hands.

Iron Hands, Primarch of the Iron Hands, had metal hands.

Blood Angels.

Fast vehicles, Black Rage, librarian Dreadnoughts, jump packs everywhere, scary emotionless gold masks, secret vampire tendencies... and Mephiston!!!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Not to mention Sanguinius is a great guy and seriously bad ass.

 Lammikkovalas wrote:

 the_kraken wrote:

 TedNugent wrote:
Lion El'Jonson

This and Roboute Guilliman are easily the two worst names ever placed into any fluff ever.

Corvus Corax, Angron and Ferrus Manus beg to differ.

I don't know enough about CC to comment but Angron was named as a gladiator so a fearsome, brutal name makes sense. Ferrus Manus is pretty goofy too but easy to salvage. Just say he was renamed after he slew the dragon and then went on to name his legion as an extension of himself, his space marines as a part of himself.

Death watch it combines the best of all the chapters

Can we re-do this post, but with a poll? It'll help keep track as I'm interested in the numbers!

Although a lot of chapters are really cool, celestial lions and black Templars come to mind, I still love my space wolves. They're probably my favourite because I started with them and I've got that bond now, lol. They've also got a charm to them, they're unique in their Nordic ways, I just really like thay culture. Oh, and they stand up agaisnt the arses of the imperium. (Referring to the months of shame)

Except that the Inquisition was right, of course.

I would like the Iron Hands, but I hate their motto.

Blood Ravens and Imperial Fists.

Raven Guard mostly, I like playing with usually around ¼ or ½ points of Ravenwing as well. At times just run Raven Guard or Ravenwing depending on my mood. The rest of DA is not to my liking anymore(Save Cypher depending on how you take the fluff hes kind of an oddity). Far as Traitor stuff goes Emperors Children, Cypher. I just like speed and mobility, close combat initiative advantages are also tasty. I have a thing for elite scout forces, close combat, guerrilla units and hit & run tactics. I do also extensively enjoy the fluff of all of the above as well.

My true love is Dark Eldar though... but this topic is just marines...