Space Marine General

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**DeadlySquirrel**

So instead of a new "Why do Spacee Marines do x" or "What does implant y do" thread popping up every week, I thought we could all post that stuff here and not fill the forum with easily answered questions... When one question is sufficiently answered, we will move onto the next.

Here's mine, can SM breathe under water?

**Crazyterran**

Yes. The Multi Lung allows space marines to breathe water.

**English Assassin**

DeadlySquirrel wrote:So instead of a new "Why do Spacee Marines do x" or "What does implant y do" thread popping up every week, I thought we could all post that stuff here and not fill the forum with easily answered questions... When one question is sufficiently answered, we will move onto the next.

Here's mine, can SM breathe under water?

Good idea. Since I have the Codex Imperialis open on my desk, I shall kick off the answers. "Multi-lung: Space Marines have three lungs and can close off their normal lungs in favour of the bio-engineered multi-lung. The multi-lung allows the Marine to breathe poisonous atmospheres or even water."

And I have a question too: do ranks other than 'Brother', 'Sergeant', 'Captain' and 'Master' (or equivalents) exist in the post-Heresy Adeptus Astartes?

**Ignatius**

Well there is apothecary and chaplain. They do seem to value their veteran brothers and first company marines more so than that of the regulars (obviously). Dreadnaughts are seen as mentors and all knowing entities that questions fall back to, but in terms of actually having multiple other ranks, I see no place in fluff that contradicts the idea that the entire organization is run more through democracy and discussion than so other organizational structures.

**DeadlySquirrel**

But the Space Sharks had to modify their helmets to allow them to breathe the moisture heavy air of some deathworld...

There are Veteran Sergeants aswell IIRC.

**Crazyterran**

DeadlySquirrel wrote:But the Space Sharks had to modify their helmets to allow them to breathe the moisture heavy air of some deathworld...

There are Veteran Sergeants aswell IIRC.

Forge World writing. It says in the Codex: Space Marine - 5th Edition that that Multi Lung allows Space Marines to: "breathe poisonous atmospheres or even water."

**nurgl**

I still giggle when i hear Space Sharks...
But that makes me wonder, what other funny sounding chapters are there?

**Zakiriel**

@crazyterran

Uh no, that was the Raptors chapter.

**blazinpsycho&typhooni**

Iron Snakes, read something about marines drowning, cause they can only hold their breath for 45 mins or so.

**Coolyo294**

nurgl wrote:I still giggle when i hear Space Sharks...
But that makes me wonder, what other funny sounding chapters are there?

Rainbow Warriors.

**AtariAssasin**

In the Heroes of the Space Marines book some of the Chaos Marines basically crawl around the outside of a space hulk without helmets.... So I'd imagine water isn't a problem.

**Crazyterran**

Zakiriel wrote:@crazyterran

Uh no, that was the Raptors chapter.

Uh, im looking at the Codex right now, and it says that the Multi lung allows all space marines to breathe poisonous atmosphere and water.

But, clearly, you are right and the codex is wrong.

**blazinpsycho&typhooni**

Crazyterran wrote:
Zakiriel wrote:@crazyterran

Uh no, that was the Raptors chapter.

Uh, im looking at the Codex right now, and it says that the Multi lung allows all space marines to breath poisonous atmosphere and water.

But, clearly, you are right and the codex is wrong.

Now now... keep it civil

**Zakiriel**

@crazyterran You seem to be responding to the wrong part of your comment that I urged correction on. That being about the modified helmets and your assertion about it being the Space Sharks that did that. It was in fact in the Raptors chapter fluff.

969.M41 - While en-route to assault the Ork world of Gramnia Major in the Segmentum Solar as part of the crusade against the Arch Maniac of Calverna the Raptors ships are thrown off course while traveling through the warp. When they emerged, the chapter is forced to crash land their battered ships on the nearest planet, the Death World of Jemadal.2 Jemadal is an orb of dense, slimy jungle, stagnant and dank to a suffocating degree and teeming with voracious predators and carnivorous plants. The atmosphere of the planet is so heavily saturated with moisture that the air is literally suffocating. Previous attempts to terraform the planet by the Adeptus Mechanicus had been abandoned centuries before and to survive an hour on Jemadal is an achievement. The world is also infested with predators and each day the Raptors come under attack from swarms of carnivorous beasts and bat-winged creatures that could kill an ordinary man with a single bite.2 As the breathable air in the Raptors armour begins to run out and the oxygen supplies dwindle, the Chapter's Techmarines desperately seek a solution. The Techmarines are able to modify the breathing apparatus of the Power Armour helmets to incorporate an osmotic gill that filters the oxygen from the heavily moisturised air. This modification proves highly effective and the Raptors are able to subsist on a diet of indigenous plants and fungi.2

976.M41 - After surviving on Jemadal for seven years the Raptors are rescued from the Death World by the Ultramarine Battle Barge Rath's Honour.2

**Brother Coa**

DeadlySquirrel wrote:But the Space Sharks had to modify their helmets to allow them to breathe the moisture heavy air of some deathworld...

There are Veteran Sergeants aswell IIRC.

Just being able to bread poisonous air doesn't mean that they can breathe one of the most powerful poisonous. In the galaxy there is probably air with such powerful toxic that it can kill even Astartes without much trouble.

**Pilau Rice**

nurgl wrote:I still giggle when i hear Space Sharks...
But that makes me wonder, what other funny sounding chapters are there?

Space Wolves

**Randomonioum**

Or theres always the thought that that chapters gene seed has degraded, and the multilung doesn't work any more? It wouldn't be the first mutation to occur, and certainly not the strangest.

**English Assassin**

I'd attribute the inconsistency to poor authorial fact-checking, but if we desperately wanted to reconcile the fluff, the simplest answer would be to assume that even the Astartes cannot function at peak efficiency or for very extended periods using only their single mechanical lung.

**Tiarna Fuilteach**

English Assassin wrote:I'd attribute the inconsistency to poor authorial fact-checking, but if we desperately wanted to reconcile the fluff, the simplest answer would be to assume that even the Astartes cannot function at peak efficiency or for very extended periods using only their single mechanical lung.

Maybe its something like the mechanical lung can only be the main one used for a protracted period as more would make their other lungs unable to function again

**Jimsolo**

I think Randomonioum and EngAssassin both have good responses. I've always wondered if civilians clamor to do the 'civilain jobs' for a Chapter, like cooking, cleaning, and sewing Space Marine sized pajamas, or if they are conscripted against their will. Do they get to go home? Is it like a job, or is it like getting abducted and enslaved?

**DeadlySquirrel**

The Lexicanuum page for the Space Sharks says it was THEY who modified their helmets due to moisture. It states the source as being from the Taros Campaign IA book.

A lot of the chapters have funny names, the vast majority infact. That, or they're just stupid and cliché.

**English Assassin**

Good question. I would expects it to vary greatly by Chapter; serving the Ultramarines is probably a highly-prized honour, serving, say, the Carcharodons or the Marines Malevolent probably less so. I seem to recall it having been stated that some Chapters employ their failed aspirants (those whose failure did not cost them their lives, anyway) as servants.

As to their status, I don't recall it ever really being discussed, but they are commonly referred to as "serfs" which doesn't bode well for the range of freedom available to them.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

DeadlySquirrel wrote:A lot of the chapters have funny names, the vast majority infact. That, or they're just stupid and cliché.

Very true; most Chapter names are the sort of thing which might have sounded cool in the 1980s, but really don't today. (By the way, cliché is a noun, the adjective is clichéd.)

**Jimsolo**

Honestly, so do most armed forces that give themselves a colorful appelation. I kind of thought it was a throwback to heraldric traditions, and then to the colorful regiment names that grew out of them.

**English Assassin**

That's a fair point, Warhammer 40,000 - as it generally does - just turns the principle up to eleven. (Moreover, the names of Astartes Chapters are hardly the only element of the game universe to seem a little silly when thought about in isolation; men travel the galaxy in colossal starships to fight each other at close quarters with chainsaws, after all.)

**thestormlord**

the thunder bees, snarling giants and stealth panthers.

**Jimsolo**

I'm not trying to start a flame war, I've just never seen this answered in any Games Workshop or Black Library publication. What's the official reason there are no female Space Marines? is it a sexist thing on the part of the Imperium, or some kind of "the genetic upgrades don't work with the double X chromosome," or what? Just curious, no judgements.

**blazinpsycho&typhooni**

Jimsolo wrote:I'm not trying to start a flame war, I've just never seen this answered in any Games Workshop or Black Library publication. What's the official reason there are no female Space Marines? is it a sexist thing on the part of the Imperium, or some kind of "the genetic upgrades don't work with the double X chromosome," or what? Just curious, no judgements.

Probably the second one... the whole thing about hormones and big muscly men rather than big muscly women......

**Anfauglir**

Jimsolo wrote:I'm not trying to start a flame war, I've just never seen this answered in any Games Workshop or Black Library publication. What's the official reason there are no female Space Marines? is it a sexist thing on the part of the Imperium, or some kind of "the genetic upgrades don't work with the double X chromosome," or what? Just curious, no judgements.

Probably because wargaming and miniature collecting are both fairly male-centric hobbies, and because when 40K and Space Marines were thought up, it was a bunch of guys thinking about how cool a futuristic version of WHFB would be, and because anything war or soldier related at all is more often than not very male-centric. I doubt it's any deeper than that, to be honest. If you think about it, even today you don't get female soldiers on the front lines (in most western armed forces, at least - I think, anyway, maybe I'm more ignorant about it than I think I am).

**Arturius**

The in-universe explanation is that the hormonal and genetic components of the implants only work with men. (Or, more accurately, boys.)

**Crazyterran**

Zakiriel wrote:@crazyterran You seem to be responding to the wrong part of your comment that I urged correction on. That being about the modified helmets and your assertion about it being the Space Sharks that did that. It was in fact in the Raptors chapter fluff.

969.M41 - While en-route to assault the Ork world of Gramnia Major in the Segmentum Solar as part of the crusade against the Arch Maniac of Calverna the Raptors ships are thrown off course while traveling through the warp. When they emerged, the chapter is forced to crash land their battered ships on the nearest planet, the Death World of Jemadal.2 Jemadal is an orb of dense, slimy jungle, stagnant and dank to a suffocating degree and teeming with voracious predators and carnivorous plants. The atmosphere of the planet is so heavily saturated with moisture that the air is literally suffocating. Previous attempts to terraform the planet by the Adeptus Mechanicus had been abandoned centuries before and to survive an hour on Jemadal is an achievement. The world is also infested with predators and each day the Raptors come under attack from swarms of carnivorous beasts and bat-winged creatures that could kill an ordinary man with a single bite.2 As the breathable air in the Raptors armour begins to run out and the oxygen supplies dwindle, the Chapter's Techmarines desperately seek a solution. The Techmarines are able to modify the breathing apparatus of the Power Armour helmets to incorporate an osmotic gill that filters the oxygen from the heavily moisturised air. This modification proves highly effective and the Raptors are able to subsist on a diet of indigenous plants and fungi.2

976.M41 - After surviving on Jemadal for seven years the Raptors are rescued from the Death World by the Ultramarine Battle Barge Rath's Honour.2

Oh.

I didn't state that, then, it was the guy i was quoting.