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This seems to be the hot topic of the week and we were argueing about it at my local GW today.

What do you think?

Average is about 9', but the range between short members of "short" chapters and tall members of "tall" chapters probable ranges up to a maximum of just over 10'...

I always thought is was the decelleration from surviving repeated pod-drops that made some SM shorter than 10ft?

Like normal men there is a natural variation of height among SMs, but each chapter was less variation within it because of the commonality of the geneseed.

I don't have proof, but I believe that "Stealth" chapters like the Raven Guard are specially selected for lower height, and average under nine feet, however most SMs are certainly nine to ten feet tall, and the tallest are over ten.

ya marines are tall but some how games work shop made imp gaurd the same size?

They want to make them feel better.

Eldrad wrote:ya marines are tall but some how games work shop made imp gaurd the same size?

To fit a standard Troop Unit into the sprue frame size produced by the plastic moulding equipment.

Usually they are 8 feet tall,but FFG as always has to downgrade 40k and their marines are 7 feet tall,but it depends on the marine.

i guess 9ft since I only have the 3 choices but I thought they were 7ft tall....8ft in armor?

9 feet. 3 metres= roughly nine feet

I dunno what's up with this obsession with them being 10 feet tall. There's multiple examples of them being approximately 3 metres tall.

Samus_aran115 wrote:9 feet. 3 metres= roughly nine feet

I dunno what's up with this obsession with them being 10 feet tall. There's multiple examples of them being approximately 3 metres tall.

Souldrinker novels.
Majority of other sources say that they are 8 feet tall.

Guys, I think you're missing the most reliable source, as Monster Rain Pointed out, which is wikipedia:

Wikipedia:

While the bulk of humanity's military power is found in the Imperial Guard, the Space Marines(Adeptus Astartes)– giant, 10 foot tall, genetically-enhanced super-soldiers with world-destroying firepower and unswerving, fanatical loyalty to the Emperor of Mankind – are the most famous.[6]

Accolade wrote:Guys, I think you're missing the most reliable source, as Monster Rain Pointed out, which is wikipedia:

Wikipedia:

While the bulk of humanity's military power is found in the Imperial Guard, the Space Marines(Adeptus Astartes)– giant, 10 foot tall, genetically-enhanced super-soldiers with world-destroying firepower and unswerving, fanatical loyalty to the Emperor of Mankind – are the most famous.[6]

I don't trust wikipedia because everyone can edit it.
Provide quote from a official source.

Samus_aran115 wrote:3 metres= roughly nine feet

3 metres ≈ 10 feet

1" = 0.0254m
1' = 12"
10' = 120"
120*0.0254 = 3.048m

Ulver wrote:

Samus_aran115 wrote:3 metres= roughly nine feet

3 metres = 10 feet

1" = 0.0254m
1' = 12"
10' = 120"
120*0.0254 = 3.048m

Then why is a meter-stick three feet long? huh?

I thought Horus Heresy novels said about 8 ft, but I'm not positive

Samus_aran115 wrote:Then why is a meter-stick three feet long? huh?

It isn't.

A metre stick is approx 3'4".

Space Marines are 10 feet tall.

As has already been aptly pointed out, they are constantly being described as 3 meters tall. That's closer to 10 feet than it is to 9.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

IvanTih wrote:

Accolade wrote:Guys, I think you're missing the most reliable source, as Monster Rain Pointed out, which is wikipedia:

Wikipedia:

While the bulk of humanity's military power is found in the Imperial Guard, the Space Marines(Adeptus Astartes)– giant, 10 foot tall, genetically-enhanced super-soldiers with world-destroying firepower and unswerving, fanatical loyalty to the Emperor of Mankind – are the most famous.[6]

I don't trust wikipedia because everyone can edit it.
Provide quote from a official source.

Oh, like that abomination you cite whenever the subject of comparative in-universe weapon technology comes up?

Samus_aran115 wrote:9 feet. 3 metres= roughly nine feet

I dunno what's up with this obsession with them being 10 feet tall. There's multiple examples of them being approximately 3 metres tall.

A metre is 39.37 inches, so three metres is much nearer 10 feet than nine. (9.85 feet, roughly.)

I think that is a reasonable average. Some are smaller and some are larger. The armour probably adds another four inches.

9 feet tall.
one chapter has been recorded to have 11 feet tall marines.(Black Dragons I believe)

The poll options are so limited that I don't think any decent results can be drawn from it. It's like asking "Are humans 1.75m or 2m tall?".

I personally see marines as being 7′ tall, maybe a bit over, since "seven to seven foot six" is the figure Jes Goodwin has bandied about at times. This is corroborated by stuff like Raphael Van Lierop (producer for the upcoming Space Marine game) describing Marines as being "seven-foot tall" and Deathwatch saying Marines are "slightly over 2.1 metres tall" (which would be just under 7′).
Of course, the fluff is all over the place. Each author has his own view, and it often seems that they're just 'one-upping' each other. Abnett usually has Marines about a metre taller than humans, with Loken being "two and a half metres tall" (~8′2″) in Horus Rising. Swallow has his Blood Angels at "well over two metres", Reynolds' Word Bearers are, in both Power and Terminator armour, less than 3 metres tall, while Counter uses 3 metres as the benchmark for his Soul Drinkers.

So really, the 'official' background is all over the place; there's certainly no figure that's "constantly" used. Any height from 6′8″ to around 10′ is supported by something, the only definite thing is that Astartes are taller than humans.

I'm just reading the First heretic, and its funny, because this size thing has come up in the story as well.

Interestingly, regardig the Emperor himself, considering this particular discord comes from the same author, within two pages of each other, where in one paragraph he states the Emp is "just a man"...suggesting man sized! in relation to his Custodes, and in the next the Emp is described as a giant.

Anyway, the whole thing got me thinking. I wonder why GW decided that Marines have to be taller than "standard" humans anyway? I mean, certainly you'd expect the Marines to be physically dominating, but I'd imagine something like Arnie Terminator, or Superman type physique, but why this obsession with giganticism?!?

Some will say its becuase of all the organs and such like, but then, consider the Assassin temples, and what their operatives can do, and they're described as normal heght....

Monster Rain wrote:Space Marines are 10 feet tall.

As has already been aptly pointed out, they are constantly being described as 3 meters tall. That's closer to 10 feet than it is to 9.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

IvanTih wrote:

Accolade wrote:Guys, I think you're missing the most reliable source, as Monster Rain Pointed out, which is wikipedia:

Wikipedia:

While the bulk of humanity's military power is found in the Imperial Guard, the Space Marines(Adeptus Astartes)– giant, 10 foot tall, genetically-enhanced super-soldiers with world-destroying firepower and unswerving, fanatical loyalty to the Emperor of Mankind – are the most famous.[6]

I don't trust wikipedia because everyone can edit it.
Provide quote from a official source.

Oh, like that abomination you cite whenever the subject of comparative in-universe weapon technology comes up?

That abomination is a respected 40k analyser.
Now provide quote or you concede.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Delephont wrote:I'm just reading the First heretic, and its funny, because this size thing has come up in the story as well.

Interestingly, regardig the Emperor himself, considering this particular discord comes from the same author, within two pages of each other, where in one paragraph he states the Emp is "just a man"...suggesting man sized! in relation to his Custodes, and in the next the Emp is described as a giant.

Anyway, the whole thing got me thinking. I wonder why GW decided that Marines have to be taller than "standard" humans anyway? I mean, certainly you'd expect the Marines to be physically dominating, but I'd imagine something like Arnie Terminator, or Superman type physique, but why this obsession with giganticism?!?

Some will say its becuase of all the organs and such like, but then, consider the Assassin temples, and what their operatives can do, and they're described as normal heght....

Those assasins don't do quite well against Astartes IIRC in Nemesis.

Argh imp scale... where's the metric???

I think 2m is already quite daunting, but I am inclined to say 3m's. Mainly because I'm a short asian, so anything bigger than me is probably regular sized.

I think SM have to be huge to stand out from the crowd and show 'dem baddies who's boss. Plus it's pretty cool to have a 3m (10ft?) giant move faster than Usain Bolt.

blazinpsycho&typhooni wrote:Argh imp scale... where's the metric???

I think 2m is already quite daunting, but I am inclined to say 3m's. Mainly because I'm a short asian, so anything bigger than me is probably regular sized.

I think SM have to be huge to stand out from the crowd and show 'dem baddies who's boss. Plus it's pretty cool to have a 3m (10ft?) giant move faster than Usain Bolt.

One Marine was running 40 km/h and was still accelerating.

IvanTih wrote:

blazinpsycho&typhooni wrote:Argh imp scale... where's the metric???

I think 2m is already quite daunting, but I am inclined to say 3m's. Mainly because I'm a short asian, so anything bigger than me is probably regular sized.

I think SM have to be huge to stand out from the crowd and show 'dem baddies who's boss. Plus it's pretty cool to have a 3m (10ft?) giant move faster than Usain Bolt.

One Marine was running 40 km/h and was still accelerating.

Lordy Lordy....

and wasn't there something in the Iron Snakes novel, about how long they could hold their breath?

I was under the impression that they were 8' tall.
No one commented on several posts where I made that assumption.
No one afaik made any comment in the True Scale conversion threads

Now they are 10'.
It feels like this figure has been plucked out of the air.
Sorry even if it is the fluff, and would be grateful of citations, am not impressed by the hyperbolic stature.

Delephont wrote:...
Anyway, the whole thing got me thinking. I wonder why GW decided that Marines have to be taller than "standard" humans anyway? I mean, certainly you'd expect the Marines to be physically dominating, but I'd imagine something like Arnie Terminator, or Superman type physique, but why this obsession with giganticism?!?

Some will say its becuase of all the organs and such like, but then, consider the Assassin temples, and what their operatives can do, and they're described as normal heght....

Heresy!

Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:I was under the impression that they were 8' tall.
No one commented on several posts where I made that assumption.
No one afaik made any comment in the True Scale conversion threads

Now they are 10'.
It feels like this figure has been plucked out of the air.
Sorry even if it is the fluff, and would be grateful of citations, am not impressed by the hyperbolic stature.

Perhaps maybe lexicanum can be of assistance? That's the only source I know besides fluff.
I think it's the mentality that bigger is better, or badder, that is why people think they are larger than life. If you look at a lot of the artwork surrounding 40k, you see that the SM dwarfs a regular citizen. And sometimes people just don't understand the scale of these numbers.

Are there any Halo reach fans out there? If there are, have any of you seen the life sized statues of noble one? They're huge. and I'd guess about 2.5metres tall. For me, that's what the size of SM should be.

When you consider that an extra 2' from for example 6' to 8' is a 33% increase in height.
That does not take into account the extra body mass that is also accrued by the process.

That is already a significant extra bulk.
An increase to 10' is an increase of 2/3rds!
The volume will rise at an even greater rate proportionally, as I understand it. Before the extra bulk of the marinification process is included.