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I know it will vary a lot between individuals, but I would like to know.
Approximately how long does it take for a Space Marine to advance through the ranks and become a Veteran?
How old would an average Veteran, Captain or Chapter Master be?
If anyone has any information, even if it's very vague, I will be very grateful.

They have to take part in a bunch of battles, or do some really heroic stuff.

In other places I've seen numbers put up (but no official backing behind them) that say between seventy and one hundred years. I think somewhere around the seventy-five or eighty mark would be reasonable for a Veteran, and I would look at any Vet younger than sixty with suspicion. An even hundred is probably about right for a Captain, and a hundred and ten for a Chapter Master. Those figures are primarily based off of my opinion and anecdotal evidence.

Thanks Jimsolo, I wasn't expecting exact official figures, this is very useful.

I always figured that twenty years of service would get you from Scout through Devastator/Assault Marine to full battle-brother and fifty years would net you veterancy. Any Captain with less than a hundred years' experience, and any Chapter Master with less than a buck fifty, would probably be considered young and inexperienced.

The only cool chapter masters are over 2000 years. That is, only Dante.

Dante wears nipple armour and thus is exculded from coolness competitions.
Anyway we all know Grimnar is the coolest Chapter Master.

thenoobbomb wrote:The only cool chapter masters are over 2000 years. That is, only Dante.

Hey, what about Pedro Kantor? He's clearly Mexican, and that makes him cool.

A lot of this also depends on loss rates throughout the Chapter. Not only would you have to master the necessary skills to move on, but you won't be advanced if there's no slot for you. Using real war as an example, I imagine a higher percentage of losses would come from leaders and new battle brothers. Once you've survived even a single encounter with a given enemy, your odds of survival would go up dramatically. That is, until you make sergeant and are forced to lead from the front, at which point you may as well have a bullseye painted on you. So there are likely plenty of opportunities for new marines to move up from the reserve companies, and at least the occasional opening for a new sergeant or captain in spite of their skill and experience. This leaves a solid, stable core of experienced marines to flesh out the squads and get some battles under their belts.

Seeing as captains are usually described as having survived "hundreds of battles", let's say a veteran has seen around 100 campaigns. I can't imagine a marine being deployed more often than 5-10 times per year, just due to logistics, travel, and time in warzones. Probably fewer while in the reserves and more while in the battle companies. From this I think 15-20 years is actually a reasonable amount of time to at least be an experienced tactical marine. Then you just have to keep doing your duty until you're recognized for valor or whatever and moved up to command of a squad, or even to the 1st company. A marine could probably make sergeant or veteran by the time they're 50 or 60.

Then there are the old timers, where you have a marine who simply doesn't have the leadership skills to advance, and hasn't been recognized for veterancy. Who knows how old they might be, or in what position their advance stopped.

Having said all that, your path to veterancy might be a circuitous one as you hit every possible stop on the way, or you might make veteran after a single supremely heroic and skillful act when you're fresh from the reserve companies (I have seen that mentioned once). But I'll say on average, 50+ for veterans or sergeants, and 80 to 100 for captains.

Well, considering that space marines can live to be four to five hundred years easily, and that less than 20% of an average chapter is veterans, the death rate of a marines in combat has to be rather tremendous if they become a veteran in their sixties.. I'd say veterans are usually over hundred years of old.

I agree with most of the above, but I would have thought that a Chapter Master would have around 250 years behind him.

I think this varies hugely from chapter to chapter. Battle experience, tactical understanding and the mastery of chapter politics will all influence how long it takes to become a captain. And as for veterans I recon about 80 to 100 years, and as for chapter masters well anywhere from 250 to 350 years. Pluss having lead several sucsessful campagins

I see there's quite a lot of debate about this. All of these figures were what I was thinking. The only thing I ever found pertaining to this was something in one of the books in the 2009 Space Hulk where it said something about terminators being over 100. I think other vets might enter about the 70-90 mark.

How old do we reckon marneus calgar is? he's like the chapter master to end all chapter masters. I'm guessing 250 at least.

Hellwolf wrote:How old do we reckon marneus calgar is? he's like the chapter master to end all chapter masters. I'm guessing 250 at least.

Chaplain Cassius is the oldest Ultramarine in active service at close to 400 years of age, and he always refers to his Chapter Master as "young Calgar". UM just don't live very long, it seems.

I really don't see there being and correlation between age and veteran status or rank.

Is someone is constantly doing heroic acts during battles, he's going to have earned veteran status. Whether he's been a Marine for 50 years or 200 years makes no difference. If he earns the title, he earns it.

Same with rank. A marine could be 300 years old and have no leadership acumen, and thus hasn't even been promoted to squad sergeant. And incredibly averge Space Marine, who is still in a tactical squad, yet is incredibly reliable in that position.

Age shouldn't really have anything to do with it.

purplefood wrote:Dante wears nipple armour and thus is exculded from coolness competitions.
Anyway we all know Grimnar is the coolest Chapter Master.

Grimnar?


Id rather put a Furioso Dreadnought in charge of the space wolves.
Even though a Furioso isnt a Space Wolve.
Actually, thats the reason one should be in charge of them.

thenoobbomb wrote:

purplefood wrote:Dante wears nipple armour and thus is exculded from coolness competitions.
Anyway we all know Grimnar is the coolest Chapter Master.

Grimnar?


Id rather put a Furioso Dreadnought in charge of the space wolves.
Even though a Furioso isnt a Space Wolve.
Actually, thats the reason one should be in charge of them.

Grimnar saved Armageddon from a Daemon Primarch.
He led the Space Marines during the 13th Black Crusade.
Grimnar is hands down one of the best Chapter Masters.

purplefood wrote:Dante wears nipple armour and thus is exculded from coolness competitions.
Anyway we all know Grimnar is the coolest Chapter Master.

I don't know... The nipple armour is what attracted me to Blood Angels and that, along with the wings, deathmasks and hair, is what defines their awesome angelic aesthetic.

purplefood wrote:
Grimnar saved Armageddon from a Daemon Primarch.

Yeah, because the strike force of a hundred Grey Knight Terminators that struck down Angron totally didn't help...

Love how off-topic this has got. Anyway, nipple armour sucks, everything else the blood angels do is epic, though (Apart from the Sanguinor, Master of the Nipples)

AlmightyWalrus wrote:

purplefood wrote:
Grimnar saved Armageddon from a Daemon Primarch.

Yeah, because the strike force of a hundred Grey Knight Terminators that struck down Angron totally didn't help...

Yeah but who led the defense against the rest of Angron's horde?
Grimnar saved the planet, the GK killed a daemon primarch. 1:1 IMO.

Nah, killing the Daemon Primarch destroyed the hordes

thenoobbomb wrote:Nah, killing the Daemon Primarch destroyed the hordes

The Wolves did all the legwork.

I keep saying that a Furioso would have to lead the wolves.
Or atleast Bjorn the Fell handed, he is cool.

Grimnar is far more badass than a Furisio.

Dante wears nipple armour and thus is exculded from coolness competitions.

QFT.This made my day

purplefood wrote:Dante wears nipple armour and thus is exculded from coolness competitions.

Hope you dont mind if I sig this.

purplefood wrote:Dante wears nipple armour and thus is exculded from coolness competitions.

Actually, upon closer inspection, he doesn't. There's a winged drop of blood on his torso, so no sculpted nipples.

purplefood wrote:

thenoobbomb wrote:Nah, killing the Daemon Primarch destroyed the hordes

The Wolves did all the legwork.

The Imperial Guard did all the legwork, bolstered and "inspired" by Logan Grimnar.
Brother Captain Aurelian himself slew Angron but in the process of doing so lost not only most of his men but also his life and his soul.
Sadly today's Grey Knights no longer even mentions him.