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Emperors Faithful wrote:

Melissia is making many good points here.

No.

Emperors Faithful wrote:
@1hadhq: Assassins come in many forms, Death Cult assasins are cheaper than chips, and Melissa stated that he did not necessarily mean Oficio Assasinorium operatives.

It doesnt matter how many types of assassins are included in these false claims.
Still those assassins are either rare and not dirt cheap or they sucessfully escape the =I= and so they don't have access to enough of them. In both cases, Assassins are not always available.

Most of the Black Library novels I have read draw a clear picture for us that:

To the citizens of the Imperium the Emperor is God, the Primarchs are/were his archangels, and the Marines are the angels.

Almost all of these saints we keep hearing about are a local John, Harry or Betsy who supposedly did some fantastic trick long ago, the power to do so bestowed upon them by (faith in) the Emperor, and have been promoted to sainthood for the sake of connecting the far away God-Emperor to something local the populace can grasp and relate to. They are nothing more than tools in the process of propaganda, brainwashing and keeping the populace in check.

At the end of the day the one and only important subject of worship is the Emperor. Ultimately he is the one being worshipped, whether it be indirectly through a saint or directly. Logically, the Imperial church is putting emphasis on worshipping the God and not his angels, since the Marine chapters are still an active force in the galaxy. Obviously you can't have people running around worshipping military factions in a religious way. This can never lead to anything good. Saints on the other hand can be safely worshipped in a religious way (in the capacity of being loyal servants themselves, of course). They are long dead and pose no potential threat whatsoever. The pecking order has to be perfectly clear.

So, both Marines and saints are the Emperor's faithful servants. They both intentionally have a different purpose in relations with the populace, but neither can ever be called unimportant to the common folk.

Everywhere you look on Imperial worlds there are buildings and places, like dignitary builings or simple city squares, where tapestries show the Primarchs and their Marines in historic (battle) scenes, or statues of Marines "standing guard, watching over the people". Remember that it was the Marines who conquered most worlds of the Imperium. Not saint Harry. The people of a world are being made very aware of this. And above all else they are made aware that the Marines did it for the beloved God-Emperor.

Also, throughout the Imperium most of the systems are within a sphere of protection of a Marine chapter homeworld. For example the Space Wolves actively patrol several systems which are within their assigned area around Fenris, and whenever there is trouble they are being made aware immediately. If the local planetary defence forces and/or local Guard regiments require assistance they send forces in. The inhabitants of these systems/worlds know damn well which Marine chapter serves as their protector, even if they don't actually walk among them on a daily base.

It is said that for many Imperial citizens seeing a Marine with their own eyes is considered the highlight of their life because it is like looking upon part of the Emperor himself. They don't worship them religiously, but they do idolize them as their divine protectors. The latter is not necessarily more or less important than the former, and vice versa, just different. They operate side by side instead of one having to be > the other.

Source: a buttload of Black Library books.

1hadhq wrote:It doesnt matter how many types of assassins are included in these false claims.

An assassin, plain and simple, is "a murderer (especially one who kills a prominent political figure) who kills by a surprise attack and often is hired to do the deed". Assassination is considered a normal and perfectly legitimate tool amongst the nobility of most Imperial worlds. Underworld bosses hire assassins to deal with particularly troublesome people, as well.

Source for this is Dark Heresy, amongst other books (I believe such an assassin was suggested in the first Cain book as well).

Well, of course you have assassins and you have assassins.

If you need somebody really important assassinated you'll usually need a really good assassin, because the more important the individual the better protected he or she usually is. Inquisition trained/made assassins are of course viewed as the best around, but some of the other very influential factions have their own secret top of the bill assassins too. Through backstage politics an Inquisition assassin can very well end up doing a job for someone outside of the Inquisition.

I am not sure what you people are arguing about here though

I'm not entirely sure either anymore. I was mostly opposing the idea that somehow Marines are OMGWTFBBQ important to every citizen in the Imperium...

They don't call Space Marines the Angels of Death for nothing. They really are the Imperium's equivalent of mythical angels. There are (approxiamatley) 1 million worlds in the Imperium and (appoximatley) 1 million Sapce Marines. Every world may have 1 mystical super being looking out for it: a Guardian Angel.

We as readers observing from the outside know different. Cadia has 20 chapters assigned to it (or something). And they are entire sectors the imperium wouldn't lift a finger to save because of its strategic insignificance.

It true 99.99% of humans have never and will never see an Astartes. But should they, they react the same way we would upon seeing a winged angel with flaming sword: in awe, but also pretty freaked out.

Melissia wrote:An assassin, plain and simple, is "a murderer (especially one who kills a prominent political figure) who kills by a surprise attack and often is hired to do the deed". Assassination is considered a normal and perfectly legitimate tool amongst the nobility of most Imperial worlds. Underworld bosses hire assassins to deal with particularly troublesome people, as well.

Source for this is Dark Heresy, amongst other books (I believe such an assassin was suggested in the first Cain book as well).

More variants to choose from change what?
I know what an assassins is, where the name stems from and the questionable ideas of imperial nobility arent completly new to me.
And still, any source i know of had rather the Inquisitor going him/herself for the kill than trust an assassin.

TBD wrote:
I am not sure what you people are arguing about here though

Me too.

1hadhq wrote:I know what an assassins is, where the name stems from and the questionable ideas of imperial nobility arent completly new to me.
And still, any source i know of had rather the Inquisitor going him/herself for the kill than trust an assassin.

Some Inquisitors are very hands-on, while some prefer to be in the shadows pulling strings. Just the same as some Inquisitors prefer to burst out into the open and inspire fear into the populace, while others never leave a trace of their presence.

Effectively, each Inquisitor is unique. Some of them come from the ranks of the Imperial Guard; others from the Adepta Sororitas; others from the nobility; others from the common people. Still others from the vast ranks of the adepts of the Adeptus Terra and the Administratum, and still others from lower places such as the scum of an underhive gang society. Pretty much the only groups that Inquisitors DON'T come from are the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Ordo Assassinorum temples.

But it would be awesome if there was an Adeptus Mechanicus Inquisitor!

Emperors Faithful wrote:@Rashim: Troll calling troll?

Melissia is making many good points here. I for one agree with him/her. The Ecclesiarchy has a bone or two to pick the the SM, as they have thier own seperate creed concerning the Emperor. Why would the Ecclesiarchy put much effort into blowing the SM trumpet? Melissia is correct in arguing that SM are more of a legend or myth. Gogsnik's point that 'Jesus is important and we don't see him!' doesn't hold up here. Imperial Citizens don't beatify Space Marines, they get second hand rumours and word spreads, but they don't worship them like they do the saints, which is a better comparison to Gogsniks point.

I only troll GWAR!, and that is because it is hilarious. Most of the time I am a contributing member of this community =P.

On Topic for the off topic (lol), I completely disagree with Melissia's opinion on importance. Fluff wise, the Space Marines are known by just about everyone, whether it be mythology or actually seeing one in person. The fact that they are known of in some form across the whole Imperium says something. If Melissia wants citing from books, I have the whole BL on my shelf. AFAIK, the Eisenhorn/Ravenor series have quite a few civilians making statements of awe at actually seeing that Marines are real, and Gaunts Ghost's series have a few examples of someone seeing a myth in person.

This debate overall is not really going to show one side being more important than the other. The best metaphor for Gaurds vs SPHESS MEHRINES is the IG are the hand, while the SM's are the scalpel.

As far as the concept of worshiping goes, Melissia and Emperor have it down, and while this part of the conversation is important to their argument, I see it as just another factor in whom is more important than whom. The Imperium is like a (badly) greased machine, all the parts are moving together in (horrible) unison.

Either way, I'm sure I missed some points, or screwed up, because I'm @ work and had to scroll through some of the long Walls of texts. In the end, I'm glad to see some form of intellectual debating coming from Emperors Faithful and Melissia. Don't see that to often in 40k Background X.D!

Actually I think it would. The comment about the Imperium slowly dying off without Space Marines is true-- but so is the Imperium simply ceasing to exist without IG/PDF. Space Marines cannot defend the Imperium as a whole (there's not enough of them), but the Guard can, and does, and goes on the offensive besides-- they have far more than enough units for that.

That was my entire point with that comment.

Melissia wrote:Actually I think it would. The comment about the Imperium slowly dying off without Space Marines is true-- but so is the Imperium simply ceasing to exist without IG/PDF. Space Marines cannot defend the Imperium as a whole (there's not enough of them), but the Guard can, and does, and goes on the offensive besides-- they have far more than enough units for that.

That was my entire point with that comment.

Yes. Yes space marines could. Either way, the imperium would slowly wither away. You just have to pick between IG or SM dying.

Inquisitor_Syphonious wrote:

Melissia wrote:Without the Space Marines, the Imperium would simply cease to exist. Without the Guard, the Imperium might wither away.

Fixed.

Anyhoo, they're important to the lives of the average citizen in a way, without the space marines, they would not be there. They may not have saved their lives, though they have saved the lives of their ancestors for sure.

Although I disagree with Melissa (I think without Space Marines, the Imperium would have collapsed; for example, remember Hive Fleet Behemoth?), there is no question of the Guard being important. Without the Guard, the Imperium would have completely imploded. There is no way for an Imperium with less Astartes than there are planets to survive without the Guard.

Inquisitor_Syphonious wrote:

Melissia wrote:Actually I think it would. The comment about the Imperium slowly dying off without Space Marines is true-- but so is the Imperium simply ceasing to exist without IG/PDF. Space Marines cannot defend the Imperium as a whole (there's not enough of them), but the Guard can, and does, and goes on the offensive besides-- they have far more than enough units for that.

That was my entire point with that comment.

Yes. Yes space marines could. Either way, the imperium would slowly wither away. You just have to pick between IG or SM dying.

Eye of Terror. Defended by Cadia. What do you think happens if the Guard disappears overnight?

Bad things.

There are not enough Space Marines to even assign 10 to every planet. That's the problem: Space Marines precise and deadly, but they cannot cover the Imperium in the same way hundreds of billions of Guardsmen can.

Melissia wrote:Actually I think it would. The comment about the Imperium slowly dying off without Space Marines is true-- but so is the Imperium simply ceasing to exist without IG/PDF. Space Marines cannot defend the Imperium as a whole (there's not enough of them), but the Guard can, and does, and goes on the offensive besides-- they have far more than enough units for that.

That was my entire point with that comment.

I see that when I re-read your original posts. It is the people responding to it that throw me off. I feel silly now.

I still feel that without either one, the Imperium is a lost cause. Argument is silly @ this point. Peoples responses to you posts are hurting my head.

MY original post about trolling was directed at the people who were directing their posts towards you and not really doing anything with their posts. I agree with the need for citation when talking about fluff, and just in general. When you say something, you need to default back to SOMETHING to make your statements valid. That is what upset me, was the fact that you asked for citation and you were given none each time you asked =P.

Uff...that took a long time to read.

Why not just say, lets agree on disagreeing.

The current facts are pretty simple:

- Are SM known to the Imperial populace? YES
- Are they worshipped as saints? NO (with some exceptions already mentioned) sure there are statues of SM all over the place, but in most cases they are honouring a hero, not a saint.
- It is true that the vast majority of the common populace will never see a space marine? YES, but still they know they exist.
- Do they play a major part on the populace daily life? not really. People only seem give due importance to SM when the IG/PDF are getting their butts turned inside out by some xenos or heretical force.

Obviously this is just the general sum up of the fluff as one cannot predict how each person will reach upon seeing a space marine in front of him.

The most common reactions are as follows:
- Relief (because they are here to save them from the bad guys);
- Hope (that they will be saved by the SM);
- Fear (Because they are huge, and their armour is stronger that their cars/houses);
- Hysteria (because if SM are on their planet something nasty is comming);
- Courage (SM are here, the finest warriors of the Big E, with them here nothing can happen to us, CHARGE! *smell of burnt flesh and the sound of an ork burnaboy giggling**SM facepalms and keeps shooting*);
- Faith (The emperor's finest are here, "The Emperor has not forsaken us!";
- their pants (I just had to add this, I was getting too serious)

As for quotations read pretty much any BL book regarding SM (I suggest "Sons of Dorn" and "Rynn's World")

I'm actually of the opinion that the Imperium could like work better with fewer Space Marine chapters, and certainly a mountainload of restrictions placed upon them.

The bare resources and manpower just to equip a single SM chapter with wargear, defences and a fleet(!) is monumental. You could likely muster segmentum fleet with those resources alone. Their independance is a problem as well, many CSM are not still the same fighters from the Horus Heresy. Swathes of them are small warbands or even entire chapters of SM that have gone rouge. In essence, the Imperium is providing the only major source of new CSM recruits.

I know this post is going to result in heavy SM lover outrage, but IMHO, the resources dedicated to the founding of many new SM chapters would be better spent on the strengthening of more coventional Imperial Guard and Navy forces.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@Rashim: Mellissia has often quoted or sourced from the Ciaphas Cain books amongst others.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh yeah, the Dark Heresy books. Haven't read those, so I can't confirm.

well, you do make a fair point. It takes a lot of resources to maintain chapters, but there again they are needed.

But anyway how could the IG be further improved with marine resources?

They have more tanks with better weapons, overall they have a larger fleet already.

The only way I can see IG improving is by:
1) giving them weapons instead of flashlights;
2) Replace the origami armours with proper armour
3) Use genetic manipulation to grow a pair of balls on the guardsmen so the commissars don't have to keep shooting them to keep the moral up

And if you do this, guess what, you'll pretty much end up with space marines. lol

As for your marines turning to chaos point, you seem to be neglecting the fact that IG also turns chaos (they just tend to die very fast, so you don't hear that much about their brave, heretical deeds).

Finally one question remains, if the empire was to cut on the number of SM chapters what would they do with the extra marines?
Send them to unemployment and have them live off the Imperial citizens taxes?

Emperors Faithful wrote:@Rashim: Mellissia has often quoted or sourced from the Ciaphas Cain books amongst others.

I'm not arguing his citation. I'm saying that I was irked by him asking for citation from other people, and them just blowing him off or /ignoring him.

@Rashim: Oh sorry, I thought you were saying that he wasn't giving any citations.

@Krauser: Firstly, you could almost double the size of the Imperial Navy by rediriecting the construction of SM ships into the Navy. Instead of better Guardsmen, I'd be arguing for MOAR!!! The reason that heretical guardsmen die off quickly is explained in the IG codex. If an IG regiment goes rouge, they're stuck on planet, they're only an Infnatry/Artillery/Armoured regiment. They're only one facet and can be defeated easily enough by a combined force. Likewise, an Imperial ship that rebels can't resupply or secure resources as they have no form of actually aquiring or securing the materials needed planetside.

With SM, they are entirely independant forces, so when a few with thier own ship go loose, they are a mobile force that can't be easily hunted down, making getting to a 'friendlier' CSM area or going off on thier own mission easier. And if it's a whole chapter, it's going to take a while to muster the forces you'd need to have a hope of stopping them while they run willy-nilly.

Rashim wrote:

Emperors Faithful wrote:@Rashim: Mellissia has often quoted or sourced from the Ciaphas Cain books amongst others.

I'm not arguing his citation. I'm saying that I was irked by him asking for citation from other people, and them just blowing him off or /ignoring him.

I was asking for SPECIFIC citations. Saying "I cite the fluff in general" isn't helpful in any way whatsoever, and therefor I ignore it.

I used the Ciaphas Cain books because they actually show some interaction with the populace, whereas most Marine books do not. And Dark Heresy is, of course, a very good reference for anything civilian related and the operation of the Inquisition in general at the lower levels (And yes, it is canon, it was worked on by Dan Abnett and Andy Hoare amongst others).

Also, SHE.

Emperors Faithful wrote:
@Krauser: Firstly, you could almost double the size of the Imperial Navy by rediriecting the construction of SM ships into the Navy. Instead of better Guardsmen, I'd be arguing for MOAR!!! The reason that heretical guardsmen die off quickly is explained in the IG codex. If an IG regiment goes rouge, they're stuck on planet, they're only an Infnatry/Artillery/Armoured regiment. They're only one facet and can be defeated easily enough by a combined force. Likewise, an Imperial ship that rebels can't resupply or secure resources as they have no form of actually aquiring or securing the materials needed planetside.

With SM, they are entirely independant forces, so when a few with thier own ship go loose, they are a mobile force that can't be easily hunted down, making getting to a 'friendlier' CSM area or going off on thier own mission easier. And if it's a whole chapter, it's going to take a while to muster the forces you'd need to have a hope of stopping them while they run willy-nilly.

Those are all assumptions.
You'd simply be destroying the elite, which in a way helps with morale as fluff wise IG tend to hold the line better when marines are fighting by their side.

What would the point be in diverting resources from the astartes to Imperial navy? They can both do the same function and astartes tend to do it better with boarding actions and such. If I remember correctly High Marshal Helbrecht was the one in charge of the Imperial fleet fighting over Armageddon, just an example.

So why not send the resources and effort put into Imperial Navy and IG to the astartes to have even more chapters? Because it would be stupid, that's why, same as doing the opposite.
The Imperium needs both astartes and IG.

And truth be told currently the Imperium has more than enough resources to keep these numbers up.
Plus I thon't really think that IG numbers are stagnant, they increase everyday, and if they increase its because there's enough spare equipment for such hence your point becomes obsolete.

The Astartes do BOARDING ACTIONS better, but then arguably any power armored troops could do the same... IE Sisters, whom are seemingly designed for such close-ranged combat as boarding and urban warfare, unlike Marines whom are adapted to all kinds of warfare.

As for the rest of naval warfare, the Imperial Navy does everything else better than the Astartes.

Emperors Faithful wrote:I'm actually of the opinion that the Imperium could like work better with fewer Space Marine chapters, and certainly a mountainload of restrictions placed upon them.

The bare resources and manpower just to equip a single SM chapter with wargear, defences and a fleet(!) is monumental. You could likely muster segmentum fleet with those resources alone. Their independance is a problem as well, many CSM are not still the same fighters from the Horus Heresy. Swathes of them are small warbands or even entire chapters of SM that have gone rouge. In essence, the Imperium is providing the only major source of new CSM recruits.

I know this post is going to result in heavy SM lover outrage, but IMHO, the resources dedicated to the founding of many new SM chapters would be better spent on the strengthening of more coventional Imperial Guard and Navy forces.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@Rashim: Mellissia has often quoted or sourced from the Ciaphas Cain books amongst others.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh yeah, the Dark Heresy books. Haven't read those, so I can't confirm.

Space marine outfit themselves.

all the Impierium does is provide a Starter pack of Geneseed and a few ships. another chapter supplies a few Dozen veterans and some equipment.

after that the marines pick a new homeworld as a recruitment center and a nearby Forge world to get supplies from.

power armour may be, relatively, difficult to produce, but its production probably doesn't compare to outfitting billions of guardsmen.


my reference is the SM codex and lexicanum for those who want to know.

Melissia wrote:The Astartes do BOARDING ACTIONS better, but then arguably any power armored troops could do the same... IE Sisters, whom are seemingly designed for such close-ranged combat as boarding and urban warfare, unlike Marines whom are adapted to all kinds of warfare.

As for the rest of naval warfare, the Imperial Navy does everything else better than the Astartes.

Right, the factions in cause were astartes and IG, so no point in bringing sisters into the argument.

As for the rest of naval warfare, Imperial Navy does NOT do everything better than Astartes, their vessels are equivalent, the only navy advantage is firepower in numbers.

And to be honest you seem so obsessed with SoB that you neglect that there the existance of fleet based chapters, of Navy commanders handing over fleet command to Astartes commanders and other likewise events.

Krauser wrote:As for the rest of naval warfare, Imperial Navy does NOT do everything better than Astartes, their vessels are equivalent, the only navy advantage is firepower in numbers.

Exactly as I said: "everything else".

You're so blinded by my supposed fanaticism that you can't see you're agreeing with me

Melissia wrote:

Krauser wrote:As for the rest of naval warfare, Imperial Navy does NOT do everything better than Astartes, their vessels are equivalent, the only navy advantage is firepower in numbers.

Exactly as I said: "everything else".

You're so blinded by my supposed fanaticism that you can't see you're agreeing with me

Can't believe you're trying to use such a vague argument as "everything else", honestely from some of your post I've read I've though arguing with you would be more challenging
As far as I know naval warfare englobes both boarding actions and vessel firefights.
the imperial navy can muster more vessels than a REGULAR chapter hence getting more overall firepower. Absolutely true.

But if you want to talk about fanaticism, well, as one fanatic to another I can tell you that any fleet based chapter (BT for example) they can muster pretty much the same amount of firepower as Imperial Navy.

Emperors Faithful wrote:The bare resources and manpower just to equip a single SM chapter with wargear, defences and a fleet(!) is monumental. You could likely muster segmentum fleet with those resources alone.

Pure speculation, you have no evidence either way to say if a fledling chapter requires more or less resources than a Navy Fleet.

Their independance is a problem as well, many CSM are not still the same fighters from the Horus Heresy. Swathes of them are small warbands or even entire chapters of SM that have gone rogue. In essence, the Imperium is providing the only major source of new CSM recruits.

There are many, many more non-Astartes who turn to the worship of Chaos, the Imperium provides most of them too so your logic here is redundant.

Melissia wrote:The Astartes do BOARDING ACTIONS better, but then arguably any power armored troops could do the same... IE Sisters, whom are seemingly designed for such close-ranged combat as boarding and urban warfare, unlike Marines whom are adapted to all kinds of warfare.

As for the rest of naval warfare, the Imperial Navy does everything else better than the Astartes.

Except that the Sororitas have no real fleet assets to speak of, number only a few thousand across the whole Imperium and are not concerned with these kinds of actions anyway being as they are a form of religious police and not a true military force.

As for the Navy, they are supposed to be better than the Astartes, that was Guilliman's intention afterall.

Grey Templar wrote:...another chapter supplies a few Dozen veterans and some equipment.

That's just fan speculation.

after that the marines pick a new homeworld as a recruitment center and a nearby Forge world to get supplies from.

Unless they're a fleet based chapter of course.


All of these arguments are based on Materialistic and Rationalist points of view when the Imperium and its various bodies function based on faith and convention and in military terms the tenets of the Codex Astartes.

Also Space Marines foundings take place only when necessary, ie when conventional Naval or Guard battlegroups are incapable or not as useful. Chapters are not created at the expense of the Navy or Guard but when the High Lords determine they are needed.

Emperors Faithful wrote: Firstly, you could almost double the size of the Imperial Navy by rediriecting the construction of SM ships into the Navy.

Has the imperial navy to few ships?
Or just unable captains so they suffer unneccessary losses.
Also, how about a source of the amount of new space marine ships. IIRC the space marine vessels were old in every single piece of fluff. There must be new to replace losses. But arguing unknown numbers would allow to redirect enough ressources to double the
size of the Imperial navy?

Emperors Faithful wrote:
Instead of better Guardsmen, I'd be arguing for MOAR!!!

More?
Did Tactica Imperialis change to a RTS-source book?
The Imperium does have enough Guardsmen. Rulebook,5th ed, page 138. Nice map of the IG's strongholds/recrutement.
Count the numbers and then we may speak again.

Emperors Faithful wrote:
an Imperial ship that rebels can't resupply or secure resources as they have no form of actually aquiring or securing the materials needed planetside.

On the contrary, planetary officials have to support the long range patrols of the imperial navy.
Ships generally pick up new crews and supplys on their course. They are not restricted to the naval bases.
I suggest "Relentless" a book about an imperial cruiser and his officers rebelling against their new captain.

Gogsnik wrote:Except that the Sororitas have no real fleet assets to speak of, number only a few thousand across the whole Imperium and are not concerned with these kinds of actions anyway being as they are a form of religious police and not a true military force.

1: That is apparently not an issue, seeing as Sororitas travel and deploy throughout the galaxy in many wars of faith and Imperial crusades. That we do not know how they do so is irrelevant to the fact that they do. Examples being 1000 Sisters taking over 100 worlds in C:WH in a single crusade. This would have taken a lot of space travel.

2: You're taking the bare minimum interpretation of the numbers. However, no such exact numbers are given. I personally believe there are tens of millions of Sisters in the galaxy, if not more. After all, the Sisters are the army of the Ecclesiarchy, and wherever the Imperium is, so, too are the agents of the Ecclesiarchy. And as there is no upper limit to the number of Sisters, I estimate that in order to truly enforce the Ecclesiarchy's will across the galaxy, there would need to be this many at a bare minimum... even a minor shrine in the Calixis subsector had twenty Battle Sisters not including novitiates, and it wasn't even a base for the Militant Orders (it was a training facility for the Sisters Famulous). A few thousand Sisters makes no sense, and while you can choose to interpret it that way, it's very illogical given the purpose of the Sisters-- to protect the faithful and propogate the Imperial Church's Wars of Faith (including the various Imperial crusades such as the Sabbat Worlds crusade, and defense of worlds such as Cadia).

3: Then you are ignorant of their fluff. Wherever there are heretics, Sisters can be there killing them. Wherever there are xenos threatening the lives and spiritual purity of the Imperium's citizens, the Sisters can be there killing them. Wherever the warp's minions show their vile presence, the Sisters can be there killing them. Whether or not these heretics are in space, or on the ground, it does not matter. Indeed, the Sisters are actually equipped specifically for fighting in the void, it even says so in C:WH (in describing their helmets).

On the importance/notability of Space Marines:

I think there is evidence that at least the big figures of the Space Marines are pretty well known amongst the normal populace. I can't speak for other figures specifically by at the very least the Space Wolves Codex has this to say about Logan Grimnar

To say that Logan is popular is to say the stars in the night sky are plentiful. He is warrior king of the space wolves, a wise and cunning leader of men whose adulation borders upon worship on many Imperial Worlds.

This seems to hint at the fact that Imperial Worlds are not only aware of the Space Marines, but certain particular notable individuals attain somewhat celebrity status. I suppose it's possible that Logan and the Wolves are the one great exception to the rule but seeing as how they're a chapter that's on the fringe of Imperial acceptably it seems to me a mainstream chapter would have an even greater following.