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I'm plaining on buying the assualt on black reach soon becuase i plan on making an ork army and i wouldnt mind a marine one either since they come in the boxs. My problem is what type of marines to make. I know theres multiple kinds but im not sure how they differ as far as play style and or fluff. the only store i have in my location is somewhat striked on looking through the codex before you buy it, but if i dont know what type of marines to go with how do i know what codex to buy if i cant give them a look through. does he expect me to buy all of em? Anyway was wondering if someone could give me a rundown on the different kinds of marine chapters so i have an idea on what im in for before i decide on whcih to go. My friend and i guess you would call him mentor runs a full blood angels list so i probly wont go with them just cuase who wants to play against the same army you do all the time. any help would be great thanks guys.

Well you have your standard Space Marines codex, which is the go-to book for default chapters. When in doubt, this is the book that will let you do the most different things. Lots of special characters conveying special rules to your army and stuff.

Then there are the codici of the 'deviating' chapters if you will. These are Space Wolves, the aforementioned Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Black Templar and Grey Knights (and if you're into it, I suppose you could also convert the AoBR stuff to Chaos Space Marines) They all have different strengths and weaknesses, but are all much more specific in what they do than the standard codex.

To get a feel for all the different ways you can go I'd advise:
1. go to games workshop.com, browse the store to get a feel of the look of the different armies, read some articles on all the chapters. (do take everything here with salt to taste as all the articles are of course written to make you buy their stuff)
2. Find some P&M blogs here on Dakka that cover the stuff you're interested in to see what different people do with the different chapters. Also there's a lot of good articles here that provide a more objective critique of all the codici.

Also there are legends (just saying what rumours I've come across) that some dastardly scoundrels have made all these books, how do I put this, part of the world's largest library if you catch my drift.
disclaimer:this poster and dakkadakka do not condone this course of action and you will burn in hell if you take it.

If you're just starting, I'd recommend using a Codex: Space Marine army. Get the codex and look at all the different kind of armies you can get. Imperial Fists and Crimson Fists are very shooty armies, Salamanders focus on Flamers and Meltas, White scars are speedy, Raven Guard are close-combat focused... Oh, and there are the Ultramarines, but I wouldn'tgo for them. Yes, you can make a very flexible list with them, but most people consider them donkey-caves, Mary Sues, elitists, etc.

Stick with the standard Space Marine codex. You can do just about any kind of army with it, and the rules are the easiest to follow generally. Also, nobody will accuse you of taking the flavor of the month Marine army or whatever.

Talk to the store owner and explain your situation. Buying Black Reach is more money for him than a single SM codex, so tell him you'd like to look through and see what kind of artwork you'd like, plus what playstyle you like from the book's rules, and promise you will buy the book you decide upon. If he agrees, he's making a good managerial decision. If he says no, look it up on GWs website and buy directly from them, as a stubborn owner who refuses you to inspect product in order to make your decision on what to buy doesn't deserve your business.

Go to GW's website, read articles on different chapters and look at the models, because if you don't like the fluff of the chapter or how the models look, you're not goin to like playin the army. Personally my fav chapters are Dark Angels(dark/mysterious past and Deathwing), Space Wolves(space vikings), and Blood Angels(Death Company ftw).
P.S. you could also go with TiB's idea of convertin to chaos... BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD

Buy C:SM then make up your own chapter! Then you decide what play style you like. if you're already going to play orks, maybe you could try having a different style with your marines?

K ill just buy a codex space marine when i have some spare cash. I mainly like the orks but thats no reason to let the space marines sit on a shelf right. not sure what i would prefer as far as space marines go. only played one game so far. Store owner is ok. he doesnt like people looking through the books unless they're already bought. He seems to not like it when people closely inspect the blisters either. Strange especially when i keep hearing that GW is having issues with their finecast stuff. Some how i dont think my LGS is going to be to happy if i have to sort through/return mutiple blisters becuase of bad product. Wish there was a closer GW store. closest for me is like 4 hours away i think.

Seeing as no one has, I will actually answer the question you asked: (BTW I personally only play C:SM, so the info on other books is second hand)

Codex: Space Marines- commonly referred to as "vanilla" marines, this is the book that all the others are based on. It is very flexible and allows you to make just about any kind of army you would like. The special characters add special abilities to your army, allowing you to build a very unique army. Special characters include: Lysander (Imperial Fists), Pedro Kantor (Crimson Fists), Marneus Calgar (Ultramarines), Vulkan He'stan (Salamanders) and Korsarro Khan (White Scars) [might have missed a few]. Overall, this book will never be a bad choice.

Blood Angels- Very assault oriented. They can take assault marines as troop choices, giving them some of the fastest troops in the game. Other highlights include Mephiston, arguably the strongest single character in the game; Death Company, extremely powerful assault marines; Baal Predators, fast, close-range oriented predators that are FA slots; DOA, an army wide tactic that allows you to deep strike the entire army.

Space Wolves- A short ranged army. The entire army has counter-attack, and BP/CCW. Other highlights include Long Fangs, equal parts feared and hated, they are an extremely powerful heavy support option that can and will dominate games; Logan Grimnar, the head wolf, logan allows you to take terminators as troop choices; Wolf Guard, allowed to be taken as sergeants in your tactical squads, allowing a TDA model in a PA unit. Warning! Space Wolves are considered by many to be over-powered at the moment, and many players will groan at you simply for playing with them. Proceed at your own risk

Dark Angels- Plasma and terminators. Dark Angels are able to get more plasma than other marines, though without much of a point advantage. Dark Angels are also known for the Deathwing: an all terminator army. This book is dated, however it was bolstered by an FAQ/Errata not too long ago.

Black Templar- Another close combat oriented army. Black templar can also get Terminator armor everywhere, and almost all units can select land raiders as dedicated transports. Also dated, but was bolstered by the same FAQ/Errata as the dark angels.

Grey Knights- the newest of the codices, they are a medium to close range army. Grey knights are the most elite of the space marines, and therefore will have the least amount of bodies on the field. Highlights include Paladins, two wound terminators that can take all sorts of fun toys; Psyfleman Dreads, these are either regular dreadnoughts or ven dreads that have TL-autocannons and psybolt ammo giving them str8, which is extremely deadly against any army; a multitude of special characters, there are some extremely powerful special characters in here, all of which can wreck face and have some very special abilities, admittedly I don't know them well enough to name them. While they are the new kids on the block, they are considered very powerful right now.

Chaos Space Marines- strong in close combat and customizable. The CSM book is showing its age, and is IMO the weakest of the SM books right now. However if you like your marines with a spikey flair go for it. Highlights include heavy weapons on terminators, allowing your termies to take full advantage of their relentless; Obliterators, heavy support guys that have a multitude of heavy weapons; Icons of chaos, these can be added to your squads to give them special abilities from their gods, allows customizability of your squads.


So there you have it, all the marine books in a nut shell. This list is not all inclusive, and people who actually play the special types will tell you more. But like others have said, go with vanilla first, then branch out.

Just start with a normal chapter if your a neewbee...