Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Strange... the majority (at my games workshop) play the imperial guard and the orks. space marines is at the same level as popularity as tau/elder etc..

Space Marines are 40k more than anything else in 40k is 40k.

Much of a muchness, really.

Because they're SPEHSS MAHREENS! From SPEHSS!

And GW advertises the hell out of it. And they think small children will say "Oh, look daddy, superhuman soldiers bigass guns, can I have some?" and lo and behold another SPEHSS MAHREEN player joins the ranks. Even if he doesn't continue to play the profit was still there for the set/s bought.

In addition, the timeless cliche bandwagon must be hopped upon. Like a rabbit, into a hole, following its nose in a search for candy.

Rico.

You dont have that many models to move around.. when I think about moving my foot orks I face palm who can be bothered.

Noisy_Marine wrote:Also, you scare me

Luna's Gamer picture also scares me.

Now, imagine your a kid you walk into this weird shop, and you see these awesome toys, with big guns, and are all for good and beating evil and being nice, so your parents want you to have them instead of the rapiest with spikes, which your dog will choke on.

Alot of the space marines bought are the Little kids, you gotta see it from there point of view.

Its a very violent game, we know all about the horrible things space marines do, but the parents dont,and they would prefer space marines, to stupid orcs thats only want to fight, doesnt teach much of a leason realy?

Yeah, add in to all the above reasons that people that use stuff that is effective against Space Marines get bullied by a large percentage of the population into not taking the stuff that is effective or else they're bad people.

i remember overhearing once in my local GW, that the reason space marines are pushed so much, is because unfortunatly 90% or so of every player has at one point owned a marine army

whatwhat wrote:Space Marines are 40k more than anything else in 40k is 40k.

QFT. I don't know why so many internet tough guys can't see how obvious that is.

*sigh*

I dunno, it's probably just that I'm not cool enough to play DE.

Now, imagine your a kid you walk into this weird shop, and you see these awesome toys, with big guns, and are all for good and beating evil and being nice, so your parents want you to have them instead of the rapiest with spikes, which your dog will choke on.

Alot of the space marines bought are the Little kids, you gotta see it from there point of view.

Its a very violent game, we know all about the horrible things space marines do, but the parents dont,and they would prefer space marines, to stupid orcs thats only want to fight, doesnt teach much of a leason realy?

No it's not.

Hordini wrote: For example, the current Dark Eldar codex is around 10 years old now, at this point.

Oh, stop making us blush! You are far too kind.

So what your saying is that parents would rather have a bunch of space marines who are basically racist(I mean they shoot any thing not human!)instead of a race like the tau who welcome differences?

Hahah REPENT REPENT!

Blackmoor wrote:This question always gets asked.

There are a lot of reasons for it like:

They are in the starter set.

They are everyone’s first army.

They are cheap.

They have a lot of options.

They are humans so people can relate to them.

For the most part they come (or at least originate) from Earth.

They are a very forgiving army on the table top.

They are easy to paint.

"They are everyone’s first army." Um no they deffinately are not, however they are incredibly common as all the started sets include marines.

"They are cheap." Cheap and GW are never synonymous so I am unsure what you mean by this.... I mean sure you can take a Sm squad and load it to the gills with war gear and have only say 4-5 squads in your army 150-300 dollars but by no means is that cheap...

"They are humans so people can relate to them." This one thing is what drove me to play any race but humans, and I know a number of players who feel the same.

"They are easy to paint." Anything can be easy to pain depending on your intended paint scheme and or attention to detail, however Marines can also be some of the MOST DIFFICULT models to paint in the GW line as makign them life like and not cartoony is a chore.

I hate space marines and guard. I hate that my CSMs are now SMs with spikes thanks to the latest POS codex.

Power armor is such that Space Marines are among the easiest models to get away with very simple paint schemes on without looking like you're just being lazy or have zero skill. Thus, it's a very good introductory army from a painting perspective (a novice painter can field an army that doesn't look embarrassing).

Low model count is great for people who aren't looking forward to painting or even assembling a horde. If you don't think this is a factor, ask yourself how many partially-painted, unpainted, or even barely assembled armies you see at stores/groups that don't crack down on this hard. Some people play the game for the table-play, and are happy to skip or get away with as little of the hobby aspect as possible.

High points:dollar ratio equals a cheap army, even if the way GW prices means that they're some of the more expensive plastic models on a per-model basis. Thus, it's a very common gateway army, and probably among the safest ways to try out the hobby without going broke on something you're unsure you'll enjoy.

Starter sets address all of these problems, especially recently. Black Reach is a good, well-rounded box for marines (unlike the orc half, which is much more lopsided and will require supplementing much more for 90% of the armies out there). It's dead easy to assemble, and it's a great bargain -- a fact amplified by the many people who are happy to chop them up and sell them on secondary markets.

The boxes offered and the units in the codex match up, making it *really* easy to flip through a codex in the store as a newbie, and identify what you need to buy. Compare to necrons, or sisters, where generic models do double duty as different units depending on equipment choices and points values.

Marines are all-arounders. They've got a stat-line and weapons that make it harder to utterly screw yourself if you deploy a unit in the wrong spot, and make it easier to react to things you didn't anticipate. Again, making it a good army for people who haven't been playing for years. Despite this, they have depth to challenge yourself.. the learning curve may be shallower, but it doesn't plateau at an uncompetitive level.

They are among the most relateable armies, particularly if you're not well-versed in the fluff. They're human guys in armor protecting the weaker members of their race from the bad people who want to wipe them out. People read that, and they say "oh, they're knights in space."

Space marines are among the easiest armies to learn the rules with. You can start out with an army list that can perform solidly without complicating yourself with crazy rules like monstrous creatures, alternate infantry types, and vehicles. Have somebody teach you about 6" movement phase, shooting, assaulting, and armor saves, and you're good for a dozen games of footslogging, if you want.

And finally, they have accumulated so many options and variants over the years, that even players of more exotic armies can find something that appeals to them about Space Marines, so even if you start with a non-MEQ army, when your 3rd or 4th rolls around, it's no less likely that you won't find something appealing in them. Bike armies? Check. Jump pack armies? Blood Angels will do you. Terminator armies? Dark Angels have it covered. CC-specialized? You can manage it a number of different ways. The variety in ways to play Space Marines means that everybody can find some appeal in them.

Hordini wrote:

garret wrote:Another thing is that there consitent in stats.

What do you mean? Consistently good? Yeah, they are almost always a solid army, and can often compete in the upper tier. Although there are plenty of other armies that do well in tournaments too...

No, he means, Same T, S, LD(same with an HQ), and so on. Most rank and file troops are the same so you have to memorize one statline and you're good to go.

how do you count the csm?

I asked the guy who runs my FLGS, his reply was that Space Marines are guaranteed sellers. Kids pick up 40k in swarms and say if ten friends come in, the usual scenario is they all want the "Bestest-best", they all buy marines.

Out of those ten kids who hang out together and buy Tactical squads together, only 1-3 of them will be repeat customers, who buy something other than the SMs. So for his point of view its easier to sell the Marines.

deadratman wrote:Seems like no one has respect for the other races. I mean necrons and eldar are awesome. Same with every race. I mean there is like 5 SM players(which will be including me but it will be my fourth army) ing for every 1 ork player.

I play nids,SM, orks and eldar (selling the eldar though) but I know what you mean. Do you know how hard it is to sell eldar and tau stuff nowadays? lol

I have recently be contaminated by the SM force, the god-awesome BA. But it is my 3rd army after guard then Witch Hunters.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Good God Luna! There's a limit of channing I'm sure most people can tollerate, but half-human/half-Carnifexes with huge wangs does not enter into that limit!!

Would anime hurry up and die already...

I just love the way people who dont play marines think they are so superior due the the imagined extra skill they possess. Add in the feelings that they have been hard done by GW. Boo hoo. Lets all shed a tear at their self rightiousness and the fact they play with sub standard armies.

beef wrote:I just love the way people who dont play marines think they are so superior due the the imagined extra skill they possess. Add in the feelings that they have been hard done by GW. Boo hoo. Lets all shed a tear at their self rightiousness and the fact they play with sub standard armies.

Was this really needed? Even if we have "sub standard armies", it's our game too. I've seen Dark Eldar kick the living crap out of SMs and they didn't have a flashy new codex to back them up. The 40k is a game of skill, even more so when you're playing an army that was designed for a core rule-book that's now been rendered ancient.

And face it, without the other "sub standard armies" it would get boring fast. GW is screwing their customers by focusing on the MEQs. And you are being immature here.

Personally, I don't like the SMs. Never played them, never painted them, not interested. Never play human characters in D&D either. I enjoy fantasy and Scifi games because I get to be something other than human.

In my mind playing SMs "because they're human" is like using godmode on a PC game and calling yourself "l33t" because you clocked the game. Play the Guard, because that's who you'd really be.

And painting them? Psssh... Slap two or three colors on them and they're done. Orks are at least 3 colours before you even get to the weapons and clothes. Not interested. My Painter's ADD would get sick of it by the 3rd marine.

Who cares really? let people pick what army they want and enjoy the game, if there are so many space marine players then you all know what to gear your armies for

I picked them up again (Ultramarines at that) because i love the fluff and played them when i was younger, so yeah i have a soft spot. Their style and looks do it for me.

If they don't for you just play your bugs/girls(eldar and SOB) or greenies etc.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Please someone edit the title of this thread. The assault on the English language is driving me mad.

EDIT: MODQUISITION TITLE EDIT FOR THE GOOD OF HUMANITY


Automatically Appended Next Post:

beef wrote:I just love the way people who dont play marines think they are so superior due the the imagined extra skill they possess. Add in the feelings that they have been hard done by GW. Boo hoo. Lets all shed a tear at their self rightiousness and the fact they play with sub standard armies.

My demons love playing marines. They taste delicious.

Because regardless of how good they are compared to somebody else, Space Marines are cool.

Because it seems that SM and Orks are the only races GW promote to new players so most players start as SM. Not all though, I was introduced by a friend, looked on the internet, found Daemonhunters and Necrons - et voila, I want them I said.

Guard would be a lot more popular if they produced more variations like Vostroyans etc and these were plastic and interchangeable. Forgeworld has led the way here though and the guard are becoming more interesting what with the valkyrie, super heavies etc but still has a ways to go. In plastic there is still no artillery or stormtroopers and while there is now a plastic HQ unit, that's been tempered by halving the number of troops you get in the infantry boxes. Space marines for what they are, are cheaper than guard to buy, overall marine armies are cheaper because more of their units are available in plastic and you need less units overall.