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Is there a generally accepted rule if you play a custom space marine chapter when it comes to the chapter tactics? Do you take the Ultramarine doctrine or you just choose whatever you want?

Choose whatever you want, how you paint your models or write your fluff has nothing to do with their rules.

Right but if you painted your models as Dark Angels or Black Templars you'd be expected to play with their specific rules right?

JadeDoo wrote:
Right but if you painted your models as Dark Angels or Black Templars you'd be expected to play with their specific rules right?

Nope. Obviously your Winged Swords (Salamanders successor chapter) and White Crosses (Raven Guard successor chapter) would use the appropriate chapter tactics. How your models are painted is completely irrelevant from a rules point of view.

basicly you could sit down with a company of ultramarines and say you're using Imperial fists chapter tactics and for the most part people'll be cool with it

 Peregrine wrote:

JadeDoo wrote:
Right but if you painted your models as Dark Angels or Black Templars you'd be expected to play with their specific rules right?

Nope. Obviously your Winged Swords (Salamanders successor chapter) and White Crosses (Raven Guard successor chapter) would use the appropriate chapter tactics. How your models are painted is completely irrelevant from a rules point of view.

Which is attitude that leads to chapter jumping whatever happens to be most powerful at the time.

Ah the times when chapters were selected on what was most interesting for the player and not what's most powerful. Stupid chapter tactics. Led to this and also generates unfluffy armies.

I do like the added chapter tactics and I wouldn't have issue if someone that wants to play with different chapter tactics. With that said I do prefer it if people play within the chapter tactics rather than throw some Dark Angel Deathwing down and use Iron hand chapter tactics per say. Additionally if you make your custom chapter, Ultramarine chapter tactics are the default.

At least this was how it used to be when I played 40k back in 3rd and 4th edition, not sure what the generally accepted rule is now since I am just starting to get back into it.

tneva82 wrote:
Which is attitude that leads to chapter jumping whatever happens to be most powerful at the time.

So what? What's wrong with building good lists?


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JadeDoo wrote:
With that said I do prefer it if people play within the chapter tactics rather than throw some Dark Angel Deathwing down and use Iron hand chapter tactics per say.

Are you talking about using the DA terminator models with the Iron Hands rules, or someone trying to apply chapter tactics to a unit taken from the DA codex rules-wise? The first is legal, the second is not.

Additionally if you make your custom chapter, Ultramarine chapter tactics are the default.

No such rule exists. There is no default chapter tactics for inventing your own chapter.

Ultramarine tactics are only the default if your chapter is an ultramarine successor.

In general the rule will be as long as you are consistent. People may have a problem if every week you're changing your chapter tactics to whatever the flavor of the month that is because it breaks immersion and makes you out to be a power gaming douchebag. Most people won't care as long as you aren't doing it purely to power game

Paint your SM army in an ambiguous colour scheme, and you get to use any chapter tactics you like.
It would be polite to put a sign out telling your opponent which one you have chosen, to save any confusion.

 Skinnereal wrote:
Paint your SM army in an ambiguous colour scheme, and you get to use any chapter tactics you like.
It would be polite to put a sign out telling your opponent which one you have chosen, to save any confusion.

Yeah, that definitely needs to be something you state up front and then stick with. "I have my own chapter, I'm using XYZ tactics for this game". If you're consistent it shouldn't be an issue. There only can be potential issues when you are using the specialized chapters rules, because they have special units/equipment. But if its just something out of the regular codex, I doubt anyone will have a real problem if one week you use Imperial Fists tactics and the next week you use White Scars or whatever, as long as you keep it correct during the game.

in my experiance it's not a problem, I've run my Ultramarines as Imperial fists before simply because I didn't wanna be bothered with tracking the various tactics per turn etc.

Pick whatever you want.

JadeDoo wrote:
Is there a generally accepted rule if you play a custom space marine chapter when it comes to the chapter tactics?

There are no rules, so pick what ever you want. My marines vary between Iron Hands CT, or White Scars, depending on whether I'm going tank heavy, or assault marines/bikes.

The only thing I will discourage is running a list with multiple different armies but having them all painted the same. "These ultramarines are fists, these ultramarines are space wolves, these ultramarines are dark angels" is not fun to play against.