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Have there ever been any instances of Marines just getting tired of fighting and going off to try to live a different life? I'm not referring to renegades who leave the Imperium to do their own thing, but those who stay loyal but those who, for whatever reason, just don't want to serve anymore and put down their bolter.

The closest thing a marine gets to putting down a bolter is being interred in a dreadnought.

Basically, no. If a marine survives long enough, they're usually also getting promoted throughout, and might end up assigned to recruiting, or training oversight, or other "behind the lines" duties that the chapter requires.

But afaik, marines cannot just "retire" or walk away from their chapter, nor would they want to.

I doubt any have, as that would be a failure of their psycho-indoctrination and conditioning. Several Apothecaries have stepped away from the battlefield to study (mostly Nurgle's) diseases (going back to Meric Voyen from the Eisenstein).

"Don't want to serve any more" is the same thing as going renegade as far as the Imperium is concerned.

I would think that for many chapters if a marine didn't want to fight anymore they'd have enough seniority to get placed in some sort of training position back on the homeworld/ship/wherever they're based.

Especially if they had some sort of specialized skill - an apothecary could oversee the recruit implantation process, a techmarine the production/delivery of vehicles etc.

It’s a shame you’re not counting renegades as there are two interesting side characters in Manflayer, one who is only mentioned by name.

Herik Stympalos was an EC apothecary who appears to simply want to be left alone to his own devices. He looked after one of Bile’s bolt holes for his clones and built a massive aviary with thousands of species of birds in it. The guy just really really liked birds. He was living a relatively peaceful existence until the DE came a knocking.

The second is Narvo Quin. A marine who has quite literally retired and gone off to live in the woods.

As for loyalists- I seem to recall it being mentioned in the SW codex that those that are no longer combat capable are in charge of training recruits etc. It is debatable if a SM can even die of old age to begin with, as most are either killed or have disease take them first.

 Grimtuff wrote:
As for loyalists- I seem to recall it being mentioned in the SW codex that those that are no longer combat capable are in charge of training recruits etc. It is debatable if a SM can even die of old age to begin with, as most are either killed or have disease take them first.

Yeah, that's true of other Chapters too - the Marine equivalent of a desk job, really. And yes, Marines can indeed die of old age - if they couldn't, the Blood Angels' longevity wouldn't be notable.
They certainly do live for hundreds of years though, I remember one piece of fluff citing Calgar as having been Chapter Master for 300 years - and that was in a previous edition, so before the Great Rift, Roboute's return, and his crossing the Rubicon.

Loyalist half of the Fallen, for one. It went, well, poorly.

Also, seeing even so fanatical and hard to replace chapter as Grey Knights allows members to basically retire and tend to various function of their fortress, I can't see why other chapters wouldn't do that. Though, to be fair, 'retired' Grey Knights do stuff you really want to keep secret from normal humans, so they might see things differently.

I don't know about marines.

However I know that eventually the custodes retire to become 'eyes of the emperor' who are literally custodians retired from their duty.

Plus, valdor just walked off

The problem is that chapters rely mostly on harvesting progenoid glands from dead brothers to create new ones. Allowing a marine to leave completely cuts off that lineage.

It’s a big galaxy and anything is possible, but the Astartes are literally a “blood in, blood out” organization.

 Polonius wrote:
The problem is that chapters rely mostly on harvesting progenoid glands from dead brothers to create new ones. Allowing a marine to leave completely cuts off that lineage.

Not strictly true.
The progenoids take time to mature, but are harvestable before death. But this seems to be somewhat overlooked in favour of giving Apothecaries something more to do on the front lines, both in books and on tabletop.

Lexicanum wrote:Phase 18: There are two of these glands, one situated in the neck and the other within the chest cavity. These glands are vitally important and represent the future of the Chapter, as the only way new gene-seed can be produced is by reproducing it within the bodies of the Marines themselves. This is the implant's only purpose. The glands absorb genetic material from the other implanted organs. When they have matured, each gland will have developed a single gene-seed corresponding to each of the zygotes which have been implanted into the Marine. These take time (5 years in the first case, 10 in the latter)[1][2a][3] to mature into gene-seed. The gene-seed can then be extracted and used to create more Space Marines.

"only in death does duty end"

BrianDavion wrote:
"only in death does duty end"

Doing paper work is still a duty.

Grimtuff brings up a good point I think. I vaguely remember something about renegades being marines who got their humanity back. Obviously that’s not the common case but I can definitely see there being renegades who just want to live peacefully and so desert and retire.

I can see a salamander too old or badly wounded to fight retiring to Nocturne to be a sage and advisor to a village, look for signs of heresy or corruption, tell the young stories of his days as a marine, advice people on what signs of wrongness to look for, etc.

 Super Ready wrote:

Yeah, that's true of other Chapters too - the Marine equivalent of a desk job, really. And yes, Marines can indeed die of old age - if they couldn't, the Blood Angels' longevity wouldn't be notable.
They certainly do live for hundreds of years though, I remember one piece of fluff citing Calgar as having been Chapter Master for 300 years - and that was in a previous edition, so before the Great Rift, Roboute's return, and his crossing the Rubicon.

In the Horus Heresy novel The Crimson King Hathor Maat, a Thousand Sons captain and the head of the Pavoni (Biomancers) of the legion explicitly states as much. With his powers he can literally observe his own cells slowly decaying over time and notes that, although he'll certainly live hundreds of years longer than any mortal through natural means, he will eventually die of old age. He also considers it the only thing he fears, not the death itself, but the slow decay as his body grows ever more feeble.

Leaving one's chapter might happen, but mosty by going renegades: either stopping the fight in fleeing to find a concealed, peaceful place to live the rest of his days, or turning coat and becoming a traitor (Chaos or not) which, freeing him of any duty pretty much allows the marine to do what he wishes. But should he ever be found back by the imperium it'll be his death sentence.

Their may be very few chapters that let marines retire, the Salamanders might be one such chapter, but it would be very rare instances solely depending on peculiar chapter traditions.

Leaving the comabt companies on the other hand sounds absolutly plausible, their are probably logistic/administrative/training duties that must be taken by a space marine so that an old space marine veteran my continue to serve his chapter from a backseat if he wishes, in particular in hte Grey Knights... Which might not spare him combatting entirely depending on the chapter's manpower and sutiation. The blood raven's for exemple might have had to scrap the barrel.

Anyhow marines asking for retirement from their chapter must be rare indeed, since they've been strongly conditionned all along, and i guess most would rahter hold n serving their chapter even if not on the frontline anymore.

However from a hobby perspective if you want to imagine marines retiring, there are many sound ways to make it happen if you wish anyway. 40k is a sandbox after all.

Marines don't have free will. They'd never consider it.

Depends on what yoy mean by retire. The badab war marines sertanly changed proffesion if nothing else. But there is very few places hunted marines can go.

Probably there are many of desk job marines out there. Psykers and mechanical marines probably have something they need doing.

Marines working for inquisitors that have died could also be left with no fornal ties.

Yes it happens a fair amount, marines become too injured and are "retired" to overseeing training, marines that just want to walk away and somehow manage to get separated from their chapter end up as renegades, walking away is much much easier for Chaos marines or Renegade chapters of course.

Keep in mind that a marine chapter is by design not something you're going to just walk away from normally. the term "chapter cult" is honestly pretty telling here. much like a cult a Marine is purposefully taken away from his family etc and all ties are severed, etc his fellows in the chapter are his brothers etc. walking away from a chapter wouldn't be easy because it's your LIFE, everyone and everything you know as a Marine is inherantly tied up in it

 DarknessEternal wrote:
Marines don't have free will. They'd never consider it.

I have to disagree on this - while the indoctrination means that a great many would never consider it, or would very quickly dismiss the thought - if they had no free will, you'd never get any renegades.

 Super Ready wrote:

 DarknessEternal wrote:
Marines don't have free will. They'd never consider it.

I have to disagree on this - while the indoctrination means that a great many would never consider it, or would very quickly dismiss the thought - if they had no free will, you'd never get any renegades.

Yep. It's a huge part of the narrative that their conditioning can be broken, whether it's personal decisions or outside influences.

It is not unumagineble to picture a marine stranded on a habitable plannet or spasestation after some conflict went wrong for 50 terra years or more. I do not know if that would count as retierment, but he would have a different outlook on life once picked up. If he was found by non-marines I coulf see the marine moving on in life.

 Matt Swain wrote:
I can see a salamander too old or badly wounded to fight retiring to Nocturne to be a sage and advisor to a village, look for signs of heresy or corruption, tell the young stories of his days as a marine, advice people on what signs of wrongness to look for, etc.

Agreed. I can see an old/wounded Salamander spending more time with civilians on Nocturne acting as a teacher/advisor/sage, than with active "marine service", (because chillin' on Nocturne with the civilians is what Salamanders do in general), but he'd never stop being a Marine, and if the chapter called he would do whatever they wanted of him.

The closest you'll get is either interred in a dreadnought, become crippled but not life threateningly and probably end up as some sort of FNG recruiter/trainer, or become a Blackshield.

IIRC Salamandbros who become disgraced or feeble go to meet their deaths in glory in the fiery deserts of Nocturne.

In my own headcanon, really old marines who might become a detriment in combat (200-300 years old) basically get a choice, they can:
Get a less physical job in the fleet, recruiting, early training, etc.
OR
They can become "detached service Marines" like in the old Traveler RPG for Scout characters.
Basically, the Marine gives up his powered armor, and acts as an emissary/scout outside of the Chapter. He is the one who goes and finds out about where the next war is, who the humans of note are, act as forward deployed elements of the Chapter in secret, etc.
Sure the Marines are all about shock and awe, death from above, angels of death, etc. but they are also not stupid and they have to know about the galaxy in some way. The Emperor's Tarot is only going to tell them so much.
Granted, this is a chapter specific thing, so chapters like the Minotaurs, Space Sharks, Flesh Tearers wouldn't even think to do such a thing.
Again, headcanon.

-STS

Edit: I sort of adopted this from the Deathwatch series of games (Rites of War, specifically) from Fantasy Flight. The Kill Marine with the Chosen Representative talent is sort of what I am describing.

 Grimtuff wrote:
It’s a shame you’re not counting renegades as there are two interesting side characters in Manflayer, one who is only mentioned by name.

Herik Stympalos was an EC apothecary who appears to simply want to be left alone to his own devices. He looked after one of Bile’s bolt holes for his clones and built a massive aviary with thousands of species of birds in it. The guy just really really liked birds. He was living a relatively peaceful existence until the DE came a knocking.

The second is Narvo Quin. A marine who has quite literally retired and gone off to live in the woods.

As for loyalists- I seem to recall it being mentioned in the SW codex that those that are no longer combat capable are in charge of training recruits etc. It is debatable if a SM can even die of old age to begin with, as most are either killed or have disease take them first.

I didn't know about Herik, that's fascinating. My idea of a renegade SM is someone who becomes a pirate (not Red Corsairs-style) or a mercenary who fights for anyone. It would be interesting to see the personal lives and interests of Marines when they are not on the battlefield.

Funnily enough, the average daily routine of a Marine was covered in the 3rd ed Codex. It's going to vary between Chapters of course, but here ya go:
https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Daily_rituals_of_a_Space_Marine