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I was putting together a Space Marine Commander and thought about putting a JP on his back, realising then, that JP and capes would not work well together in the flammable sense despite it looking kinda cool. Not really a practical option.
What is your opinion on practicality issues like these? Are there any MAJOR ones which bug you such as guns pointing at irregular angles or strange positioning?

That's always struck me as odd, too, in a way that reminds me of the "no cape" rule in The Incredibles.

Most other things that would normally annoy me can be forgiven for the sake of "the rule of cool", to be honest.

Imperial Fist colour scheme. Blood Angels colour scheme. Many, many, many other colour schemes, why? Because everyone knows bright yellow is impossible to spot in a jungle...

I guess those capes are made from 100% Asbestos :p

What annoys me the most is the utter lack of an understanding for the logistical challenges involved in the deployment of any sizeable imperial guard regiment. Going by even world war I standards they'd need a whole fleet just to feed those guys.

JohnnoM wrote:Imperial Fist colour scheme. Blood Angels colour scheme. Many, many, many other colour schemes, why? Because everyone knows bright yellow is impossible to spot in a jungle...

Space Marines have highly distinctive colour schemes for a reason. It is so that during the chaos and confusion of battle they are able to easily identify their fellow battle brother. Scouts still maintain the ability to camouflage themselves when they need to and tactical terrain cover is usless on a marine considering they deploy strait for Drop Pods which aren't exactly a covert entry.

Another thing that bugs me sometimes is unpainted/un-drilled barrel holes. It doesn't really matter though if you're less into the painting aspect and are just in it for the game.

What annoys me the most is the utter lack of an understanding for the logistical challenges involved in the deployment of any sizeable imperial guard regiment. Going by even world war I standards they'd need a whole fleet just to feed those guys.

The Imperial Navy does have vessels entirely dedicated to the transportation of food or other materials. The transports the IG rides in when crossing the stars aren't small, either, and might actually have entire decks given over to the creation and processing of food. Between hydroponics, vat-grown meats, storage vaults the size of skyscrapers and rendering the dead into corpse-starch, you can keep a force of people fed for a rather long time.

Beat me to it Psienesis.

Recycling is one of the major wonders of the 40k Universe IMO. EVERYTHING is recycled (not on all worlds, but on Ships and Hive Worlds for example), this allows a totally different take on logistics than we have now.

I'd imagine that the fists would more often than not be enduring seiges so the yellow wouldn't really hurt. Also true story is that the special forces in real life actually had a pink humvee at one time. Pink apparently makes an excellent camo color at dusk/night. (unfortunately the men didn't like it so they had to dump the damn thing)

The British even had it as an official naval color during the 1940's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountbatten_pink

These strange colors have plenty of historical backing.

Also, I'm assuming such as in the ultramarines books, they could cover up their bright colors when needed with capes/cloaks.

I guess in the grim darkness of the far future recycling has become a big thing. Orks loot, Tyranids consume bio-mass, and even Necrons make use of older technology rather than tossing it out

sudojoe wrote:I'd imagine that the fists would more often than not be enduring seiges so the yellow wouldn't really hurt. Also true story is that the special forces in real life actually had a pink humvee at one time. Pink apparently makes an excellent camo color at dusk/night. (unfortunately the men didn't like it so they had to dump the damn thing)

AFAIK the Pink Panther was a beloved vehicle of the British SAS...
We also had pink spitfires...

Colours and camo are odd, camo can look horrible when out of its environment but can work perfectly in its environment...

There is a quote from the old 40k red book (from rogue trader)
"Camouflage is the colour of cowardice"

Space Marines are shock troops.
They want to be seen.

The only thing that truly bugs me are the six lasgun sponsons on the back of chimeras. They can't aim low enough to hit anything most of the time because the tracks are in the way. And if you put track guards on them the only they can aim at are aircraft, which we all know lasguns wontbe killing anytime soon

It just seems like lazy/ terrible design. Other than that though I love the look of the tanks. Just wish that one little thing was fixed.

Considering that there are witches and other "unrealistic" things in the game, it's pretty clear the game is designed to look cool over being realistic. My advice: stop trolling.

Inquisitor Ehrenstein wrote:Considering that there are witches and other "unrealistic" things in the game, it's pretty clear the game is designed to look cool over being realistic. My advice: stop trolling.

It's not trolling...

You could try the pre heresy jump packs. They stick out a little farther back, and look like they would be more forgiving with a cape. Plus they themselves look pretty cool.

chapter house has them:
http://chapterhousestudios.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=85_131&product_id=69

The capes are actually there to protect from the Jetwash

Space marines without their helmets. I don't care how cool you look, safety first. I make sure all my space marine models have helmets.

I use helmets because I can't paint skin.

The thing that bugs me is unpainted/half built models- especially the "best armies". I hate when 8 year olds turn up with unprimed Paladins with no arms and expecting games. Or a horde of fantasy with no painting done. I would never purposefully play with with unpainted minis if possible. I get mine primed at a GW store who do it out back, so if I turn up and a kid asks for a game before I can paint or prime a model that is the exception. Once paint touches it, it shall hit the battlefield complete or not at all.

At the level of technology and the construction capabilities of all the factions in the game practicality is the least of concerns for the most part.

One only has to look to the Imperium and the over the top grandiosity of most construction to see that they do what they feel like with little regard for our 21st century sensibilities.

Practicality exists within the factions, of course, but in no sense does it resemble something set by our limits.