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egor71 wrote:Angry mareenz.

+1 They're pure Awesome

I said the Templars because of the sheer number of bodies they can throw at something. Also that the Imperial fist successors are said to stick together, so they'd be back by the Imperial fists (And their giant space fortress thing) and the remains of the Crimson fists (Not numberes but a lot of veterans).
After that Wolves because they're just well Vikings with Power armor, TDA with crazy weapons.

Ultramarines, in a chapter war if we do it like that, they have the largest amount of area they control, so they can quickly up their recruit numbers very fast, not to mention having support form some of the best PDF and Guard forces outside of Cadia and BTW, their successor chapters tend to be simply offshoots of Ultramar, they would support the ultramarines in a war, which means a lot of marines, possibly more than the black templars and/or SW

Captain Roderick wrote:I thought each Space Wolf 'Great Company' was the same size as a chapter of normal marines? Doesn't that give them the same numbers as the BT's?

And a Pre-Heresy Legion was tens of thousands strong, not hundreds of thousands. Unless that's been retconned from Codex Chaos 2nd Ed.

nah, a great company is like 1200-1300 but there's 12 of them.

It's been said that the Emperor's children were the smallest legion at 80,000 Marines.

I'd say Space Wolves.
They have the largest concentration of marines (BT may be bigger, but are scattered).
They have, like the UM, the loyalty of the worlds around them after protecting basically their sector from chaos incursions that make it past Cadia, ork Waaaghs and what-have-you for ten millennia (and being pretty close to the Eye), have helped Cadia more often than any other chapter.
to complement this, they have Logan Grimnar, the "most beloved warrior and chapter master in the Galaxy".
Ties to their "own" navigator house, but most chapters have a similar arrangement.
They have the Fang. You know, the most impregnable fortress in the Imperium outside the Imperial Palace on Terra?
And they have enough balls to tell the Imperium to f*ck off if it suits their purposes.

Never thought I'd say anything else than BT, seeing as I play them...


Grey Knights. The Chamber Militants of the Ordo Malleus would obviously get the support of the entire Ordo, if not the entire Inquisition. Plus, they kick ass on their own.

Well if your going to get into the non-space marine assets Ultramarines have their own mini-empire. No other chapter can say that.

AlmightyWalrus wrote:Never thought I'd say anything else than BT, seeing as I play them...


Grey Knights. The Chamber Militants of the Ordo Malleus would obviously get the support of the entire Ordo, if not the entire Inquisition. Plus, they kick ass on their own.

Agreed. They do have around 3000 marines.

This discussion asked who was the most powerful Space Marine Chapter, meaning nothing but Marines.

This counts out Custodes, as they are NOT ASTARTES. They're superior in every way and have their own section in Imperial Doctrine for a reason.

This also counts out the Ultramar System and Fenris-controlled Space since none of that counts as a Marine.

Getting down to it, circumstance says who's the strongest. Black Templar would be top dogs, but they are so spread out it would be all too easy to take them out bit by bit. Ultramarines and any Codex chapter is out as well. They are simply too small in force to be counted and are following guidelines that are exploited by other Chapters.

This brings it down to, realistically, three, and I can't believe who I'm about to side with on this one.

Space Wolves are big, they're centered, and they have more fighting spirit than any Chapter, aside from Grey Knights. They're incredibly strong and do shet their way. They have numbers, yes, but they like the elite training the Grey Knights have and the sheer zeal the Dark Angels have. That's right, those damn emo's are determined.

Grey Knigths are everything the Space Wolves are and more. They're controlled, heavily equipped, and frankly much more specific in their work. With a nice set of special weapons in each squad, something the Space Wolves have in the codex but not in the fluff, makes them a bit better than Space Wolves. Couple that with each of them carrying weapons that are better than normal chainswords and such, and you can see why Space Wolves are left in the dust.

Dark Angels, however, are what take the cake. Seems funny when you think about it but listen. Each of their successor chapters aren't truly seperate. They still answer the the original Dark Angels and do their bidding. Couple that with superior numbers all around, and the sheer amount of bikes and termie suits, you can see why they are on top, even if most will disagree. Frankly, I'd say if it came down to it and Dark Angels needed to take in every 'successor' chapter, they'd outnumber BT easily.

Well, as a BFG nut, I have to point out that fluff-wise the Black Templars have the largest and most diverse fleet of any SM chapter. So, in strategic terms of fighting a campaign over inter-stellar distances, I think the BT have an edge because of that.

Ruckdog wrote:Well, as a BFG nut, I have to point out that fluff-wise the Black Templars have the largest and most diverse fleet of any SM chapter. So, in strategic terms of fighting a campaign over inter-stellar distances, I think the BT have an edge because of that.

But i think Ultramarines have there own mini-imperial-navy. They have there own mini-imperial guard.

Well, per the fluff, the Ultramarines are the arch-typical codex chapter, and the codex requires them to thus have a limited fleet of 2-3 battle barges and a few dozen strike cruisers. They had IN allies during the defense of McCragge, but that doesn't mean they have actual control over any Imperial Navy assets. Black Templars, on the other hand, are a non-codex chapter and are entirely space-based. Hence, they have a much larger fleet.

Templars have the numbers.
Wolves have the... well they're the wolves.
GKs are the Emperor's Will made manifest.

I'd love to see all three of them drop down and assault Octarius. (The place where the 'Nids and the Orks are fighting).

nah, a great company is like 1200-1300 but there's 12 of them.

Actually this is not right. the space wolves codex states that blackmanes great company is second to grimnars, and has ALMOST 200 battle brothers....

I would have to vote for the BT or DA for all of the reasons statd previously.

SonofTerra wrote:

nah, a great company is like 1200-1300 but there's 12 of them.

Actually this is not right. the space wolves codex states that blackmanes great company is second to grimnars, and has ALMOST 200 battle brothers....

I would have to vote for the BT or DA for all of the reasons statd previously.

Oh, I meant to say 120-130 per company. But ya 200 sounds about right. The smaller ones are probably about 130 though. SW don't have a scout company like other chapters.

The answer is ultra marines..

They have a normal sized chapter.. But they also have the allegiance of dozens of other chapters who recognize calgar as their spiritual liege.

5k (BT) vs 12k (Smurfs and friends) So Ultra marines.

If you discount "Friends" and just go on pure chapter badassery then Space wolves. Thats my gut feeling. Also they have the greatest plot armor in the Imperium of man.