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We all know that space marines in the current period are warrior monks who go through years of deliberate conditioning and indoctrination. It seems logical that this is a result of the Horus Heresy when almost half the legions turned on their erstwhile leader.

But what were space marines like BEFORE the Heresy, were they just normal grunts given the captain america treatment?

What would happen, and how would both parties react, if a strike cruiser that got caught in a warp storm during the great crusade, turned up in the current timeline? what differences would there be in training and general outlook? what would they think of the IoM ??

madtankbloke wrote:
We all know that space marines in the current period are warrior monks who go through years of deliberate conditioning and indoctrination. It seems logical that this is a result of the Horus Heresy when almost half the legions turned on their erstwhile leader.

But what were space marines like BEFORE the Heresy, were they just normal grunts given the captain america treatment?

What would happen, and how would both parties react, if a strike cruiser that got caught in a warp storm during the great crusade, turned up in the current timeline? what differences would there be in training and general outlook? what would they think of the IoM ??

http://www.blacklibrary.com/horus-heresy

Space Marines weren't as spectacular before the Heresy, they were revered as the greatest soldiers of mankind yes but were more identifiable, prevalent, and known. Remberancers would report about them in the press, they had identities, and they were not seen as the scions of a god.

I'd compare them to Spartans from Halo in the Great Crusade era.

Well, in the HH books during the Great Crusade parts, they're still the giant 'roid monsters slaughtering everything and everyone that gets in their way that we all know and love today, they're just not at all mystical or worshipful (OK, Word Bearers, yes) and from some of the fluff, the CSM who have been around since the old days consider the current crop to have fallen far from the tree in terms of ability.

Given that they were questing to spread the Imperial Truth to wipe out religion, mysticism and general hocus pocus as well as unifying mankind, I doubt the "out of time" Marines would care much for what the Imperium has become.

Prior to that, Thunder Warriors.

The Word Bearer's Legion back in 30K were like the 40K marines of the current period. The Emperor ordered the human civilization they had built on Monarchia to be destroyed.

The humans of Monarchia had been taught by the Word Bearers to revere the Emperor as the God of Mankind. They had statues that venerated him, churches dedicated to his devotion. Essentially Monarchia was like the current Imperium.
The Emperor ordered it destroyed as it went against his goal of creating an Empire based on atheism (no religion).

Pre-Heresy marines would likely attack the current Imperium as heretics at first. They would be easy to convince to join the forces of chaos. They wouldn't know about chaos but they would believe the chaos agents that told them that the Imperium had become corrupted by religion.
It would be harder for the Imperials to persuade them to join as the Imperium has gone against much of what it stood for during the Great Crusade.

40K Marines don't worship the Emperor as a god. Only the regular Imperium does that. Space Marines still follow their original beliefs and have their own cults that don't venerate the Emperor as a god.

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:
40K Marines don't worship the Emperor as a god. Only the regular Imperium does that. Space Marines still follow their original beliefs and have their own cults that don't venerate the Emperor as a god.

I believe there is one Space Marine chapter that does worship the Big E as a god. I don't remember their name, but I know it starts with red.

Fotherington-Thomas wrote:
Well, in the HH books during the Great Crusade parts, they're still the giant 'roid monsters slaughtering everything and everyone that gets in their way that we all know and love today, they're just not at all mystical or worshipful (OK, Word Bearers, yes) and from some of the fluff, the CSM who have been around since the old days consider the current crop to have fallen far from the tree in terms of ability.

Given that they were questing to spread the Imperial Truth to wipe out religion, mysticism and general hocus pocus as well as unifying mankind, I doubt the "out of time" Marines would care much for what the Imperium has become.

Prior to that, Thunder Warriors.

They weren't mystical but they still look all shiny and decorated as if they fell out of a bad JRPG