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I'm curious. How do other players relate their army to their fluff?

Are you running a fully customized chapter with its own name and color scheme (with "counts as" rules for whatever codex they are running?

Do you play an existing chapter (Ultramarines, Space Wolves, etc) in name, but come up with your custom fluff for their individual company, leaders, etc?

Or do you attempt to use your army to recreate existing fluff (i.e. "I play Ultramarines 2nd Company and they are lead by Cato Sicarius because he's the Second Company captain.")

Canon chapters get more street cred.

Existing chapter, and I stick to the lore very carefully.

Ultramarines, btw.

The timeline of my Blood Ravens army's story takes place in late M42. So while I stick to the fluff as much as possible I do have my own characters and stuff.

I stick to the lore of an existing Chapter, but given that my Invaders are basically only known for suicidally reckless assaults and having a Sergeant Incursa in the First Company, I have pretty much free reign to do as I please.

i miss a Fully custom chapter with own rules choice.
But I field them as vanilla marines if people don't like custom made chapters.

I have a DIY and a huge Ultramarine force, guess I'm both?

A flully fleshed out D.I.Y. but I don't bore people by telling them about my chapter, and expect the same courtesy in return.

I run two groups of Marines. The first are Salamanders, but I have my own characters. The second is a custom chapter. (For which I won an award.) I use the custom chapter for my Ultramarines, since I like fielding allied detachments with my Sallies.

Generally, I try to use established armies. My Blood Angels, Grey Knights, Imperial Guard, and Dark Eldar factions are all from established groups within the 40k fluff. My Tau are my only army that I made up myself.

I usually tend to stick to the fluff unless the game system itself doesn't permit it.

Like having my Blood Angels 2nd Company having more Assault Squads than the two the fluff dictates. Though there are some people who play pretty close to the fluff and they have an average rate of winning.

Well, I plan to start a custom Chapter. They're descended from the Raven Guard, and look and behave like that, but all its characters and specifics are customised.

I stick to the fluff, but it doesn't stick with me.

Ultramarines 3rd Company, Captain Ardias, commanding.

Both.

I have both Ultramarines and a DIY warband of CSM. The Ultramarines I don't really do much lore for, rather sticking to what's established, but my CSM I went over their entire structure and named many of the HQ options I have for the army. I didn't vote, as they all pertain to me to some degree.

i'm a chaos player, and i know you asked SM players, though i feel like it should extend to us too. anywho in case you wanted to know (and even if you don't) i run a completely self made chapter of sorts. my HQ's all have their own names and some of the units have a fleshed out background as well. i think it makes games more interesting when i can add to the history with tales of great victories and (usually) defeat

My Chaos Space marines are renegades that left Abadon's Black Crusades to go do that voodoo that they do so well.

sorry, didn't mean to post again, don't know how to delete it

I play both SM and CSM. Custom made chapter / warband.

Dark Angel successor chapter.

I like using a chapter that according to fluff exists but has little of it's own fluff, allows me to make them feel more like my own. Also I'm usually terrible at making my own colour scheme.

I think I've went from pre existing chapter to custom chapter to pre existing chapter again.

First Ultramarines because I didn't know other chapters existed at the time.
Then a custom army that... didn't end well (space marine clowns. What was I thinking? )
Then went to Salamanders to give the chapter a much better paint job.
I never removed the paint when repainting the chapters however so one of my tactical squads has three coats of paint on it.

Now I just call the army I field a strike force. Most fluff for the strike force comes from battles that they have been in.

I like making my own Company (Battle Company) within an established Chapter. Unfortunately for me, the fluff hole of the 3rd Company of the Imperial Fists just got filled so unless I claim to have been from a different 'time period' than those listed in Sentinels of Terra Supplement, I probably should use the rules in that book.

I voted a Create your own Army/Chapter and utilize the cutom built characters I make from kit bashing with profiles that are from each codex. It doesn't limit me to any play style and will make the game more interesting/lasting for me as a fluff player. My opponents really like my idea and are actually going to model there space marine army from my Legion. I have more of the back story at home and have the four companies lore and character names already done up. It's pretty cool and I plan to paint all 3000+ of my marines!


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Seraphim Legion....Seraphim are Angels (Space Marines) and guard God (God-Emperor) in the old bible. Basically, able to make any Space Marine army from any Codex I want and not be restricted to a certain color, army type, special characters, or tatics! A completely win-win situation for me The Seraphim Legion do not follow the regular doctine that Gulliman wrote but instead specialize in a certain combat style and each Company is lead by a Lord. Presently, there are four companies and four Lords....

I have a General (Company Master) who has had to specialize and master all of the four companies under his control. Additionally, General Marcus can lead any of these four companies in the fashion of their combat style and should be loaded out in their particular armour. Here are the four companies under General Marcus's control....

Strike Force - Drop Pod Assault w/Tacticals & Sternguard
- Leader is Lord Malik (Vulkan) (Salamanders & Space Wolves)

The Ironwing - Mobile Warfare w/Bikes, Land Speeders, and Aerial Combat
- Leader is Lord Theoden (Khan or Bike Captain) (White Scars & Ravenwing)

Storm Guard - Heavy Support w/Terminators, Armor, & Devstators
- Leader is Lord ??? (???, Belial, or Logan) (Iron Hands, Deathwing, or Wolf Guard)

Shadow Warriors - Jump Speciality w/Sang Guard, Assault Marines, & Vanguard
- Leader is Lord ??? (Dante or Shrike) (Blood Angels or Raven Guard)

It's a work in progress but what do you all think? Something that I could work with or do you think someone would say it's cheese??? Basically, this home grown brew is allowing me to play whatever army I want and allies when ever I want.....

Mr. Raynor

I do my own chapter.

Mostly existing. But use different chapters with same color including custom ones to justify the chapter tactics.

I mostly refuse to buy and paint a whole new army when it was completely legal in 5th.

If you write your own fluff, Games Workshop can never ruin it.

I played Ultramarines back in the long lost days of 2nd Edition when they were awesome.

Then Graham McNeill happened. Somebody let a guy who had no idea what he was doing or talking about take the helm of the hobby's central Space Marine chapter.

And thus was my custom chapter's fluff born.


Though, it must be said that customer chapter fluff is a dangerous line to tread, because they can very easily become pretty lame fan fiction full of extra special snowflake Marines+1.

Since I've always been a fan of the mechanicus and it's subsidiaries (nameley techmarines), and the fact that I've always ended up playing as an IH techmarine in deathwatch games, seeing them not only get official rules recognition, but some super cool ones at that, starting a small force of them just seemed to click. Decided to go with clan Avernii, mostly so I have an excuse to get Morlock terminators from FW if they ever come out, and because I think their clan iconography is pretty awesome. Only downside is that for some reason painting their guns white is a huge pain for me right now, and their super-cool clan iconigraphy is the only one not on any of the GW/FW transfer sheets/etched brass/other stuff. Soon I'll either get frustrated and torch the whole lot of them, or I'll get REALLY good at painting little fanged skulls inside of cogs!

I always prefer to create my own chapter/regiment/craftworld/whatever. I find using one of the pre-made ones to be limiting. Not just in fluff but in paint scheme. Doesn't really let you use your imagination or artistic ability if your just cookie cuttering out a copy of someone elses stuff.

I created my own chapter waaaaaaaaay back in 2nd Edition, and I've been using them ever since. I run a fairly basic vanilla codex force, though... I don't even use special characters in my SM army. But I've given them their own fluff and history (much of it based on actual games my friends and I played back in the day).