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Because they are cheap, easy to play, and well-supported, plus they have the superficial appearance of being the "good guys." I'm sure lots of kids grab other armies, get their ass handed to them because most other armies have higher learning curves, and either quit the hobby or take up Marines.

I would disagree with the many easy to paint/assemble remarks though. If you are just talking AoBR then sure, but if they actually get more units the assembly is much more complex. I know my buddy plays eldar and he was fully assembled in a day, because of so much metal and less part options. As far as painting, they are very easy to make an alright looking army, but if you want a headturning army all those extra parts take forever.

Wings of Purity wrote:But now why some of us are being "racist" to them?

Because they steal our women, take our jobs, and lower the tone of good neighborhoods.

I started playing a year ago and chose Tau. I played it for about half a year but realized I wanted more different play styles. That's when I started an SM army.

I enjoy playing them, the fluff is fun and the models are great. Oh, I'm 38y old

LoL, LoL...

Marines are one of the first armies you are exposed to. They are in all the starter sets (well, all the ones I've saw) and they are GW's best sellers. In my IG Omnibus the intro basically says that space marines are the greatest army ever so every newbie should play them.

It comes down to six points:

-Space Marines are the most heavily advertised and appear in the starter set.
-Marines are easy to assemble.
-Ultramarines are quick and easy to paint. This means that little kids can have armies that look half-decent.
-Really easy to customise and make unique.
-Forgiving to play and easy to win with.
-Simply that their saves mean only 66% the time your guy doesn't die when he's wounded.

Smurfs?

Gargamel thought he could turn Smurfs into gold - but Games Workshop actually did it.

How did they?I always wonder how games wrokshop attracted so many people

Because every little kid loves the big giant armored space hero fighting the enemies of the Imperium and hitting enemies over the head with chainsaws.
Fluffwise, they're probably the most overglorified army in 40k, and this means little kids love them.
Same reason why little kids like Transformers- big armored robots shooting lazors and hitting eachother with big, flashy weapons. SM are that minus robots.
Greetsz,
Mr. Self Destruct

Nightsbane wrote: I would disagree with the many easy to paint/assemble remarks though. If you are just talking AoBR then sure, but if they actually get more units the assembly is much more complex. I know my buddy plays eldar and he was fully assembled in a day, because of so much metal and less part options. As far as painting, they are very easy to make an alright looking army, but if you want a headturning army all those extra parts take forever.

True. For something easy to assemble, they require conversion work on every weapon! Easy to paint, YES

Azezel wrote:Gargamel thought he could turn Smurfs into gold - but Games Workshop actually did it.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Wings of Purity wrote:Smurfs?

I'm glad you saw my hidden message.

Also, consider that marines are very much painted as the heroes in a substantial amount of the fluff. Many kids would love to play the heroes. It's kinda like asking why one might play the cops in "cops'n'robbers."

One word...

DREADNOUGHTS

Personally I'm not a fan of regular marines (terminators are a different story), the generic and faceless armoured suits just don't give off the same warm cuddly vibe of a face eating tyranid gaunt.

I started with Dark Eldar. I learned 40k the hard way. Then I spammed Warriors with Lances. Then people didn't want to play.

I started with the lovely creatures known as 'Tyranids'. I never really saw the appeal of SM, but then again I've always prefered to be 'the bad guy', my LotR army is evil and I recently started a CSM army because it's good to be bad.

The amount of kids at my local GW who play SM make up more than half of the total WH40k players at the store. In the beginner games it's not even Imperium Vs. Chaos and Xenos, it's Space Marines Vs. everybody else. Even the occasional Witch Hunters and Daemon Hunters players fight on the side of the Heretics...

i started with IG. but thts because tht was the army my brother got for me before i started. either way it took me 4 years to get interested in any form of SM.

I've seen plenty of kids start with other armies. I think your corollary needs reworking. It isn't that "kids always play Space Marines" but rather "New players always play Space Marines," which is especially so when they are new to the hobby itself (as opposed to just the game). Obviously, most kids don't have experience with wargaming, so most kids also fit into the "new player" category.

They are cool, they are smooth abd they are the good ones. What else for a kid?

Space marines are human... kids like to emulate those like themselves. They can easier identify with Humans... besides, they do have a cool look to them. I can tell you that my son quickly chose orks for his first army...although he does love them in WoW as well...I am raising a monster!!

Because most 40k players are young kids.

Well, they come in the starter set, which is always a plus. Most of the range is plastic. The models themselves are fairly nice in way that they're relatively easy to paint and make them look descent, but they can be as difficult to paint (and as detailed) as you like. In game, the high toughness and armour save makes Marines relatively forgiving. You can still lose with them, but you generally don't lose as quickly as with some of the other armies when thing go sideways.

You couple that with the tonne of media and army books for them and you've got part of the recipe. The other part of it is that the gigantic marine dudes are fairly human as the armies go; makes them more accessible at first glance than some of the other armies.

Theres alot of animosity between some of the more veteran players and space marine players, its just not a "conessuires" army, they're a jack of all trades, and quite good at everything. The seasoned players with the different armies (like myself) scoff at the 10 yr old with the wonky, glue covered marines.

Until they beat us.

Dammit Space Marines.

"...And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling Space Marines!"

OoieGoie wrote:GW sells kid 40k kit. Kit has orks and SM's. Pretty much everyone likes the SM's right away. Runs out of house and buys more SM's.

What, theres more armies?

Thats how I remember it anyway. Until I ran into Eldar *throws marines in bin*.

GW throws SM's in your face. No wonder people buy em.

This is pretty much the problem. People starting the game don't even know that there are a dozen other, better options. By the time they find out, they've already invested in SMs.

And Killkrazy has a valid point as well. The concept behind Space Marines is heavily influenced by homo-eroticism. Children experience curiosity of such things as their bodies begin to change.

Archonate wrote:

OoieGoie wrote:GW sells kid 40k kit. Kit has orks and SM's. Pretty much everyone likes the SM's right away. Runs out of house and buys more SM's.

What, theres more armies?

Thats how I remember it anyway. Until I ran into Eldar *throws marines in bin*.

GW throws SM's in your face. No wonder people buy em.

This is pretty much the problem. People starting the game don't even know that there are a dozen other, better options. By the time they find out, they've already invested in SMs.

And Killkrazy has a valid point as well. The concept behind Space Marines is heavily influenced by homo-eroticism. Children experience curiosity of such things as their bodies begin to change.

As someone with a degree in philosophy and psychology let me be the first to tell you...sometimes it's just about badasses blowing **** up. You really don't need to try and read so deeply into everything...

CynthiaCM wrote:I wasn't a kid when I got into 40K in '91 (I was 18), but I can tell you why I started with Space Marines: the Land Raider and Rhino tanks. Seriously. I saw them advertised in Dragon Magazine and was instantly attracted to them. So, when I actually bought the old 1st edition book, I darted right toward collecting the Marines. Yeah, I know that's kind of lame, but it's the truth.

Same here, although it was a couple of years before you - they were the only faction with tanks!

Of course, I had to wait a decade for third edition to come along and make them worth using....

Well, every kid who gets AoBR, plays both armies, but hang on... Kid thinks 'I always lose with Orks, why?' but kid doesn't realise, Orks have 100 pts less than Spuds, so there you have it, because of the massive point difference in AoBR kids are more inclined to choose the Potato Marines

Tyranid Horde wrote:Well, every kid who gets AoBR, plays both armies, but hang on... Kid thinks 'I always lose with Orks, why?' but kid doesn't realise, Orks have 100 pts less than Spuds, so there you have it, because of the massive point difference in AoBR kids are more inclined to choose the Potato Marines

I thought I was the only one cynical enough to believe that.

GW intentionally designed AoBR to make the Marines look better? Oh what a god damned surprise.

Tyranid Horde wrote:Well, every kid who gets AoBR, plays both armies, but hang on... Kid thinks 'I always lose with Orks, why?' but kid doesn't realise, Orks have 100 pts less than Spuds, so there you have it, because of the massive point difference in AoBR kids are more inclined to choose the Potato Marines

This is the story behind EVERY starter box since 2nd edition. Why GW insists on making all its money from one product is a mystery. Money is money whether it comes from SM sales or (insert non-SM army) sales. Though people who don't want SMs might buy (insert non-SM army), if only (insert non-SM army) got a little more attention...