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Title.

In the Lore Grey Knights don't exist.

The answer to "who are the coolest Space Marines?" is generally "whose Codex are you reading right now?"

Custodes would be the most elite space marines, if you can consider them space marines.

Grey Knights would come in second. They used to be (back in 5th edition anyway) the strongest marines you could play, with all of them having base STR6 attacks, and all attacks ignoring armor saves, and Grandmasters 1 hit killing literally any non-vehicle.

 SeanDavid1991 wrote:
In the Lore Grey Knights don't exist.

I believe that this is the correct answer (though I'd need to double check my lore).

SG

Most "elite" would probably go to the Deathwatch. Greyknights tend to crumple around null fields and the like, which Deathwatch have in droves.

That is not true. In fluff they often fight in places that dampen magic or psychic powers a lot better, then any mortal null fields.
If GK wouldn't be able to deal with anti psykers stuff, they wouldn't be able to deal with khorn demons. In fluff of course.

Are Grey Knights the most elite chapter? Well, they are if you ask Matt Ward...

Grey Knights are an elite all-psyker solution to a daemonic problem, the chamber militant of the ordo malleus, and anyone who finds out about their existence typically ends up dead/mind-wiped/sterilised for good measure.
While the Deathwatch lend themselves more to special covert ops, knowledge of their existence isn't an auto-death sentence.

Custodes aren't space marines.

Moved to the correct forum.

I think at this point Games Workshop has made THE MOST L33T SPESS MARINES so many times that it has become utterly impossible to pin any one chapter down as truly "the best".

Grey knights are marines so mariney they're all librarians.

Deathwatch are marines so mariney they're all veterans and they all get to have whatever weapons they want.

Ultramarines are marines so mariney they've got eyes that change colors according to their mood and all the other marine chapters instantly fall in love with them when they move into town and start going to high school.

Deathwing are marines so mariney they're all terminators.

White Scars, no, Raven Guard, no, Raven WING (the other black armored raven-themed space marine chapter with rules and model support) are marines so mariney they're all bikers and they've got SPECIAL SUPER BIKES and a special super jetbike, THE LAST ONE!!!1!!!

Primaris are marines so mariney they grew an inch taller, started wearing COD black ops merch, and spun around and took a giant steaming dump on the imperium being technologically regressive.

Custodes are marines so mariney they're not even marines, they have guns in their axes and bolters in their facemasks, swords that Square Enix characters would think are a little much and grenade launchers in their codpieces, they spun around 720 degrees and took a steaming dump on the Primaris Marines' steaming dump because psyche melon-fether we've ALL got jetbikes how bout that? What technological regression we can't hear you over the sound of us being so bright and shiny and perfect and heroic and enlightened and advanced (Tau def don't fit into the aesthetic of 40k definitely not grimdark enough GW pls squat).

So at this point it's pretty much a six...seven...no, eight way tie for mariniest marine if you count the latest step in 40k's descent into saturday morning cartoonhood "not marines" and in their own category.

I say they are.

Deathwatch are picked from the elite of normal Marines, but beyond that (and some choice equipment and training/experience), they're probably on the tier of a 1st Company Veteran in most Chapters.

Primaris, whilst more powerful and armed with better gear than standard Marines, are still just enhancements on the standard Marine form. A lack of psychic powers and the same training and combat doctrines as standard Astartes puts them lower than my top pick.

Custodes aren't Space Marines any more than Space Marines are Scions. Their physiology is too different to be counted as the same kind of thing. If we define a Space Marine as having the various standard organs (even if they work or not, and not including the Primaris exclusive ones as compulsory), then the Custodes do not fulfill that description.

The Grey Knights are the most elite for several reasons:
Their combat doctrine (daemon-killing enhancement, but able to fight nearly any opponent to the same degree any Astartes can, as well as vast libraries and resources)
Their equipment (they have a forge solely dedicated to them, and they are one of the few factions that can have an entire Chapter of Terminators, plus their ready access to force weapons and vehicles/starships)
Their recruitment/enhancements (picked from psykers, so already better than standard marines, and implanted with higher quality geneseed than even Ultramarines, rumoured from the Emperor's own stock)
Their political standing (untouchable by nearly any other Imperial organisation, and effectively able to act with impunity, killing/mindwiping those who even know of their existence)

Grey Knights are about as good as a Space Marine gets. Of course, in my opinion, Custodes are better fighters, but that ignores the Grey Knight's psychic potential, but Custodes aren't Space Marines.

I think it depends who the enemy is. The Grey Knights are extremely effective at fighting Chaos, but don't drill endlessly to defeat the T'au. Versus T'au, they might be mediocre when compared to a dedicated anti-T'au Deathwatch force.

Context matters.

Besides, the most elite Marines are the Alpha Legion.

Yea.

Grey Knights can and do fight demons more commonly than regular marines. They are said to be on par with custodes when they (The grey knights) are fighting together in squads. Custodes are not space marines.

So yes grey knights are the 'best' space marines in terms of power.

Yes they clearly are.

I love how several posters noted Custodes are not Marines, which while technically correct (the best kind of correct), I think the_scotsman put it best:

the_scotsman wrote:
Custodes are marines so mariney they're not even marines.

On the surface, Custards are basically Marines, so Mariney in theme and function, that we can certainly discuss them in a topic about the most Elite Marines.
Any armoured Imperial super human is a Space Marine, thus Custo-bois would be the tippy-top most Elite in that category

But taking them out of the running due to "technicalities", yeah GKs are the next best thing

-

By the definition of Elite as being the most rar, then in the fluff, yes they are. All other chapters have a hugely increased recruitment pool compared to Grey Knights.

Also are Custodes technically a Chapter?

Custodes are to Space Marines what Space Marines are to Bonobos. They are on such a different level it's pointless to compare them.

Space Marines are mass produced chaff, a temporary tool that should have been discarded long ago like the Thunder Warriors before them.

 BaconCatBug wrote:
Custodes are to Space Marines what Space Marines are to Bonobos. They are on such a different level it's pointless to compare them.

Space Marines are mass produced chaff, a temporary tool that should have been discarded long ago like the Thunder Warriors before them.

Keep drinking that space marine circlejerk kool-aid. Just wait until next edition they release ULTRACHADINODES, mega super time traveling clones of the EMPEROR HIMSELF, recruited only from psychic perpetuals who have spent at least 6000 years as space marine chapter masters.

They will be to Custodes what Custodes are to ameobas!

Yes. Though it’s an unfair comparison since they’re a nische task force. If you want to debate most elite space marine chapter then leaving out grey knights and the deathwatch is probably a good idea.

I would say yes. To be chosen to be a space marine applicant puts you in the top 1% percent of a planets male population. To actually make it through the whole process puts you in a more elite category. Add on top of that being both a pysker and having the force of will to constantly combat chaos and your at such a small percentage it's not worth putting in numbers.

In many ways yes they are. Also, I would say that they are arguably the most ruthless post-Heresy chapter, doing everything up and to and including murder to keep any real knowledge of Chaos a secret, and not giving a damn about civilian casualties, such as when they killed thousands shooting down escape shuttles in an effort to kill the Changeling (and it didn't even work).

There are more than a thousand Grey knights, and most other chapters have less than that (10*100 is what the codex dictates). Salamanders are even less at 6*120 iirc... So they're more elite I guess?

 Horst wrote:
Custodes would be the most elite space marines, if you can consider them space marines.
.

which anyone who is remotaly family with the lore doesn't. they're no more space marines then sisters of battle are

I think they are most elite loyal marine chapter. Still their force is quite small so they are not most powerful chapter.

Their ruthlessness and secretively are par with Dark Angels. I do not know which one is more elite, Deathwing or Grey Knights.

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:
I say they are.

Deathwatch are picked from the elite of normal Marines, but beyond that (and some choice equipment and training/experience), they're probably on the tier of a 1st Company Veteran in most Chapters.

Primaris, whilst more powerful and armed with better gear than standard Marines, are still just enhancements on the standard Marine form. A lack of psychic powers and the same training and combat doctrines as standard Astartes puts them lower than my top pick.

Custodes aren't Space Marines any more than Space Marines are Scions. Their physiology is too different to be counted as the same kind of thing. If we define a Space Marine as having the various standard organs (even if they work or not, and not including the Primaris exclusive ones as compulsory), then the Custodes do not fulfill that description.

The Grey Knights are the most elite for several reasons:
Their combat doctrine (daemon-killing enhancement, but able to fight nearly any opponent to the same degree any Astartes can, as well as vast libraries and resources)
Their equipment (they have a forge solely dedicated to them, and they are one of the few factions that can have an entire Chapter of Terminators, plus their ready access to force weapons and vehicles/starships)
Their recruitment/enhancements (picked from psykers, so already better than standard marines, and implanted with higher quality geneseed than even Ultramarines, rumoured from the Emperor's own stock)
Their political standing (untouchable by nearly any other Imperial organisation, and effectively able to act with impunity, killing/mindwiping those who even know of their existence)




Grey Knights are about as good as a Space Marine gets. Of course, in my opinion, Custodes are better fighters, but that ignores the Grey Knight's psychic potential, but Custodes aren't Space Marines.

Wrong answer. GK's are still paying for Matt Wards gary stu fanfiction. So that right there makes them not elite.

The only true answer is...…………….Alpha Legion.

the_scotsman wrote:

Custodes are marines so mariney they're not even marines, they have guns in their axes and bolters in their facemasks, swords that Square Enix characters would think are a little much and grenade launchers in their codpieces, they spun around 720 degrees and took a steaming dump on the Primaris Marines' steaming dump because psyche melon-fether we've ALL got jetbikes how bout that? What technological regression we can't hear you over the sound of us being so bright and shiny and perfect and heroic and enlightened and advanced (Tau def don't fit into the aesthetic of 40k definitely not grimdark enough GW pls squat).

I honestly do not...have...words...Don Cheadle. Pure win there.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:


The only true answer is...…………….Alpha Legion.

The GK wish they were as 'mariny' as the AL...or is that what Alpharius would like you to believe???

They are not that much better then regular space marines except better equipment, more authoraty, better mental training and they can all kill you with their brain. Does that awnser it?

Alpha Legion Deathwatch Black Shield is probably the most high speed low drag operator operating operationally within the best of the best of the best elite Astartes operations.

"Their ruthlessness and secretively are par with Dark Angels. I do not know which one is more elite, Deathwing or Grey Knights."
I thought this thread was only about Loyalists?