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How do Space Marine Chapters recruit the galaxys best warriors? Do they hold copetitions? Do they recruit guardsmen? Makes you think that IG were given the short straw (which they were) and forced to be cannonfodders. So how do they recruit people?

Well recruitment varys from chapter to chapter but they only usually recruit from worlds around their home worlds and sometimes very very very very rarley they will take a guardsmen and turn him into a space marine if he is a incredibly skilled warrior and he has to be of the right age they cant be to old

Each Chapter has it's own methods of recruitment but usually they employ some way to guage the prowess of warriors.

The Blood Angels for instance hold tournaments where prospects fight each other. The Space Wolves on the other hand pick out those warriors that have performed valiantly in the general tribal warfare on Fenris.

Guardsmen are not recruited as they are generally too old to take part in the implantation process. Also, Space Marines worlds are not required to provide a tithe of Guardsmen so the Chapter always gets the pick of the best and brightest; not that those individuals necessarily get conscripted into the Guard, any old scum will do.

I tought they wur tested

most hold some sort of tournament or some way to distingush the best warriors after that the apothracaries test them for genetic stability and compatability

That terrible 'Creation of a Space Marine' science-rape fluff said they had to be pre-pubescent to be turned... but that can be safely ignored as the majority of the fluff contradicts it. The only instance I can think of it being followed was in Descent of Angels, another science-rapetastic book (it also had a docked 10-ton spaceship being pulled out an airlock by the air whooshing past it...).

Abnett had the Black Templars throw a bunch of savages together in a pit to fight it out, picking out the best fighters to become Astartes. King had the Space Wolves recruit seemingly based on which viking raider stereotype behaved the most stereotypically viking. Goto had a guardsmen recruited by the Blood Ravens, because he was generally brave (read, stupid) and at one point jumped onto a CSM's shoulders and shot it repeatedly in the head with a hellgun (oh, that Goto!). That's just off the top of my head, and they were all very clearly adult.

Sons of Dorn by Chris Roberson kinda covers how the Imperial fists go about it and is not a bad read.

In general it seems to be that they pick young ish candidates as the process is more successful I've only ever seen a age mentioned in one of the HH books and it was Garro talking about before he was recruited as a space marine and he said he was 15 summers so i assume that would make him about 15 years old.

Rube wrote:That terrible 'Creation of a Space Marine' science-rape fluff said they had to be pre-pubescent to be turned.

It has always been the case (over twenty years) that adolescents are required as the implants only work if the body is still growing.

selection of an initiate

Phase 1: usually some sort of physical test. Tribal warfare, gladiator bouts, exceptional feats. Survival rate is under 20%. winners are genetested, those who pass go to phase 2

phase 2: More genetesting. heavy training and conditioning. first indoctrinations of chapter rites. survival rate around 35-40% tops.

Phase 3: first implants. indoctrination continues. Casuality rate drops as most who survive to this point are tough

Phase 4: Geneseed implants, casuality rate increases due to chance of Gene-rejection. more conditioning.

Phase 5: final implants. final aspirants enter scout company.

Phase 6: black carapace. full battle brother.

Yah, something along the lines of implanting the organs during puberty so that they grow with the host. Although, It really varies from chapter to chapter on how they do it.

soo you basically have to be in the right place at the right time to even be considered for SM recruitment?

Yep.

And food for thought for the people saying how all these things performed by IG must have been fully mature... look at the past and in some older cultures. It is perfectly feasible and indeed likely to have 13 year olds and above on the battle field. As soon as they start becoming a man they fight. Our society has extended adolescence in effect possibly because we have to learn more. (I recall Romeo being 15 and Juliet being 13 in the original Shakespeare after all. Need to double check english lit notes for that but it's about right for the era.)

The Ultramarines on the other hand recruit from special training academies where prospective youths train from a young age (not sure how old they start at) and in the case of the Iron Hands they have a test of survival ending in combat.

on lexicanum i read something along the lines that salamanders have to kill a salamander (beast) as a trial to be recruited.