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For space marines as science fiction characters in general, see space marine
In the table-top wargame Warhammer 40,000, the Space Marines are easily the most commonly played force in the game. This is because the troops are generally individually effective, with above-average firepower, close-range combat ability and baroque powered armour.
The Space Marines, also known as the Adeptus Astartes, are enhanced human beings with new organs placed into them that make them better fighters than a normal human. Space Marines are divided into Chapters, with approximately 1,000 members when the Chapter is at full strength. The Chaos Space Marines have unlimited maximum numbers, as they are divided into Legions, not Chapters. The Space Marines are called in during an extreme emergency.
One could make a comparison between the Space Marines and various knightly orders in medieval Europe. For example, the Black Templars Chapter bears more than a passing resemblance to the Knights Templar.
There is a large fanbase for the Space Marines. The good points are that they are tough individually, but they are expensive points-wise. They have a generally well-received back story. Quite a few of the more popular Chapters are close-combat oriented, as close combat can make or break a game in Warhammer 40,000 (enjoyment to some, a flaw to others).
Space Marine Induction, Genetic Modification, and Biology
The biology of a member of the Adeptus Astartes is vastly superior to that of a normal human. Effectively, their abilities are so superior to those of an average human that it warrants their title of 'superhuman'.
Gene-seed
To understand the anatomy, biology, and physiology of an Adeptus Astartes Space Marine, one must understand Gene-seed. Without gene-seed, the very existence of a Space Marine would be impossible. Gene-seed is ostensibly cultivated DNA from a Chapter Primarch. It is the essence of the Chapter and with it carries each Marine's characteristics; mental, physical, spiritual, martial, and fraternal. It is also one of nineteen implants surgically installed into an Iniate.
Gene-seed is subject to degradation, the most obvious of which being the flaws inherent in the Blood Angels' gene-seed(manifested through the Black Rage and Red Thirst).
Induction
Different Space Marine Chapters have different ways of inducting recruits. Most are drawn from the Chapter's home world. This is often a Death world, due to the hardiness of the human population there. This ensures only the toughest candidates, as survival on a Death world is a tooth and nail struggle. Out of this small percentage of candidates, even less are satisfactory recruits for the rigors of training and treatment one must undergo to become a full-fledged Brother-Marine. First and foremost, a Potential must be male, as the gene-seed and zygote are synchronized to male hormones. The three following requirements also apply:
1. Recruits must be fairly young, as the implants must be able to coordinate with natural growth hormones to stimulate various physiological features of a Space Marine.
2. Much like a blood transfusion, there must be compatibility between the Recruit and the implants otherwise organ failure and subsequent death is inevitable.
3. The mental state of a potential Marine must also be susceptible to the various training and psycho-conditioning regimes of the Chapter and is therefore a third consideration.
These three main criteria bar all except a miniscule percentage of people(even moreso when considering the galaxy-spanning civilization of the Imperium of Mankind) from becoming Space Marines. If all tests prove successful, the Potential becomes a Neophyte. At this stage, implantation, psycho-conditioning, and physical training are undertaken. Each stage in this stage has its own dangers, ensuring only the truly worthy become Champions of the Imperium. After this the Neophyte becomes an Iniate, undertakes his Rites of Fire and joins the other Brother-Marines in the battle ranks.
Implantation
Nineteen organs are implanted in a Neophyte to further bolster his combat and survival ability should he live to become a Brother-Marine. Each implant has a high margin of catastrophic failure and so a small number of Neophytes live to become Initiates.
Some Marines don't suvive the training.A Space Marine must learn to use all the tools of death.They must learn all close-combat skills to survive the gloriuos battles.If a Marine must not have any mutation from the Eye Of Terror
1. Secondary Heart - This is the first and least difficult implant to install. The secondary heart has the obvious benefit of increasing blood supply and is even able to support full life functions in the event the original heart is rendered incapacitated.
2. Ossmudula - This implant serves to strengthen the skeleton of a Brother-Marine. Two years following the surgery, the Marine's skeleton will be exponentially stronger, with a fused rib cage.
3. Biscopea - Implanted into the chest cavity, this implant bolsters muscle growth throughout the Marine's body
4. Haemastamen - Implanted into a main blood vessel, this serves in conjunction with Implants two and three. It alters the Marine's blood composition to a higher level of efficiency.
5. Larraman's Organ - This organ serves the purpose a platelets, only in a quicker, more powerful magnitude. When a Marine is wounded, Larraman Cells are released, attached to leukocytes. At the site of the injury, they form scar tissue in a matter of seconds, effectively preventing massive blood loss and/or infection.
6. Catalepsean Node - Implanted into the back of the brain, this implant remains dormant until a Marine is deprived of sleep. Under normal circumstances, Marines sleep just like normal humans, but when deprived of it, the Node can switch off certain functions to gain rest. While it cannot replace normal Circadian rhythms, it effectively allows the Marine to rest while active.
7. Preomnor - Effectively a decontamination chamber inside the chest cavity, the Preomnor is able to assess possible poison/toxic risks of ingested materials and neutralize these toxins, if need be. The Preomnor enables the Marine to eat inedibles that would normally render a human ill or deceased.
8. Omophagea - Implanted into the spinal cord, this organ is designed to absorb DNA relative to experience or memory. This enables the Marine to gain information, in a survival or tactical sense, simply by eating an indigenous to an alien world or situation.
9. Multi-lung - The multi-lung is a 'third' lung, able to absorb oxygen from environments poor in oxygen. Breathing is accomplished through a sphincter in the trachea. A similar muscle closes in toxic environments and oxygen is absorbed by filtering out the poisonous elements.
10. Occulobe - Essentially, this organ enhances a Marine's eyesight, granting him vision considered exceptional and the ability to see normally in low-light environment.
11. Lyman's Ear - As well as rendering a Marine immune to dizziness and nausea(see Cochlea), it enables a Marine to filter out 'white noise', as a conscious act.
12. Sus-an Membrane - This allows a Marine to enter a catatonic state, coma-like in appearance. It allows a mortally wounded Brother to survive. The longest recorded period of this state was Brother Silas Err of the Dark Angels for 567 years.
13. Melanochrome - Linked to pigment cells in skin, this allows the Marine's skin to shield him from dangerous levels of radiation.
14. Oolitic Kidney - This organ works in conjunction with the Secondary Heart, filtering blood and removing toxins from the blood.
15. Neuroglottis - This organ allows a Marine to assess a wide variety of things simply by taste. From poisons to chemicals to animals, a Marine can even track its quarry, by taste alone.
16. Mucranoid - Altering sweat glands, this organ secretes an oily substance that coats the skin, protecting it from extreme temperatures and to some extent, vacuum environments.
17. Betcher's Gland - Implanted into multiple locations inside a Marine's mouth, these glands transforms a Marine's saliva into corrosive, blinding acid.
18. Progenoids - Implanted into both the neck and chest cavity, these serve to cultivate gene-seed and to safeguard the continuity of a Chapter.
19. The Black Carapace - The last and possibly most important of all implants, this neuroreactive material is implanted directly under the skin. After a few hours, the material hardens and interlinks with the Marine's own nervous system. Points are then cut into the Carapace which allows a Marine to directly interface with his Power Armor.
More to come
Space Marine Weapons and Equipment
As the elite fighting arm of the Imperium, Space Marines are equipped with some of the best weapons the Imperium has.
Boltguns
The standard weapon of the Space Marines is the boltgun, also known as a bolter. A bolter is a heavy gun that fires rocket-propelled rounds with mass-reactive explosive payloads. Bolters are made in both pistol and rifle form, as well as the machinegun-like heavy bolter. Terminator Armor is often equipped with a double-barrelled storm bolter.
Assault Cannons
Assault cannons are the miniguns of Warhammer 40K, they are more powerful than the Heavy Bolters.
Flamers
Flamers are basically Flame Throwers that shoot napalm. They come in three forms; one-handed, two-handed and Heavy-Flamers.
Lascannons
Unlike the Imperial Guard, the Space Marines don't make as much use of laser weapons. The major exception to that rule is the Lascannon, a heavy laser weapon capable of blowing holes in tanks with a single shot.
Plasma Weapons
The Space Marines make good use of the temperamental plasma weapons, in pistol and rifle form. Heavy plasma cannons are also widely used, particularly by the Dark Angels chapter. The Imperium's plasma weapons have poor cooling, and thus build up dangerous levels of heat with continuous operation.Plasma Cannons are held like the heavy bolters.Two handed.
Rocket Launchers
Rocket Launchers have a capacity to fire two types of missiles, krak and frag.
Krak rockets are simple warheads that can take out a single unit while frag rockets use a template and can thus take out multiple units.Rocket Launchers cannot fire once moved.
Power Armor
Possibly the most prominent feature of the Space Marines is their armor, a heavy suit of powered armor that enhances a Space Marine's already superhuman strength, as well as allows them to easily withstand fire than could kill a normal human.
Terminator Armor
Tactical Dreadnought ("Terminator") Armor was originally developed for boarding missions, and sports heavy forward armor. The First Company of each Space Marine Chapter uses Terminator armor extensively, and only those Marines who earn the crux terminatus are permitted to wear it.
Dreadnoughts
Valiant Marines who fall, but do not die, in battle are often interred in Dreadnought Armor, a twenty-foot-tall walking tank, equipped with life-support systems to maintain the Marine indefinitely (at least one Dreadnought's occupant fell during the Horus Heresy and still lives in the 41st millennium) and an array of weapons. Like Terminator Armour, the Dreadnought is heavily-defended against frontal assaults.
Rhino
A fast troop transport, a Rhino can hold up to ten Marines in cramped conditions. The Rhino generally mounts a single storm bolter and is lightly armored. The chasis of the Rhino is very durable, and serves as the basis for other Space Marine vehicles.
Razorback
A Razorback is a variant of the Rhino that sacrifices troop capacity for firepower. Razorbacks are typically armed with twin-linked Heavy Bolters or Lascannons, and are excellent for adding firepower to smaller squads.
Predator
The Predator is heavily-armored variant that, rather than act as a transport, is instead a light tank. Armed with either an Autocannon or twin-linked Lascannon. It can also have Heavy Bolters or Lascannons mounted on side mountings.
Whirlwind
Being a mobile force, the Space Marines have little need for artillery. However, when it is called for, they can utilize the Whirlwind, which is armed with a long-range missile launcher, and can bombard enemy positions in preparation for attack.
Vindicator
When attacking fortified positions, Space Marines use the Vindicator, which fills nearly the entire chassis with the massive, snub-nosed Demolisher Cannon, capable of blasting through the thickest walls. This weapon has proven so effective that the Iron Warriors Traitor legion makes it a point to scavenge these for their own use whenever possible.
Land Speeder
Incredibly fast, the double-seat Land Speeder ground-effect vehicle is used to attack enemy fortfications and heavy weapons from the air. Although it is well-armed it has little armour and relies on speed and rapid strikes for protection.
Land Raider
The Land Raider is one of the most powerful tanks in the Imperium's army. It can transport troops into battle, carries enough weapons to blast it's way though nearly any defense, and has armor thick enough to withstand lascannon fire.
Land Raiders are also equiped with a Machine Spirit, an Artificial Intelligence crafted by the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Machine Spirit is smart enough to move the tank and fight even without a crew.
Land Raiders were once used by all branches of the Imperium's armed forces, but after the Horus Heresy, their use was restricted to the Space Marines and the Inquisition.
Land Raider Crusader
The Land Raider Crusader is the identical to the standard Land Raider, but is built more specifically to breach strongholds and provide short-ranged, anti-infantry suppourt. The Crusader was originally developed by the Black Templars chapter, but was eventually authorized for use by other Chapters(whom, it should be noted, had already been using them for some time beforehand).
The Land Raider Crusader is armed with a hull-mounted twin-linked Assault Cannon turret, and sponsoon-mounted Hurricane Bolters(essentially six bolters linked together). It's also equipped with a Multi-Melta to burn through armored walls, and its front is studded with fragmentation launchers to assist the troops disembarking from it's front ramp.
Space Marine chapters
First Founding Chapters
The First Founding Chapters are the heirs of the original 20 Space Marine Legions. Of the original legions, nine turned to the forces of Chaos, and two are either destroyed or lost.
Loyalists
Traitors (Chaos Space Marines)
Successor Chapters
After the Horus Heresy, it was determined that the Legions were too powerful, and they were broken up into Chapters. Subsequently, the Imperium created new Chapters of Space Marines, using gene-seed sampled from existing ones. Many of these successor chapters still keep the memory of their progenitor legion or chapter, and maintain their methods of operation and battle.
Examples of Successor Chapters include:
- Angels of Vengeance
- Black Templars
- Blood Ravens
- Crimson Fists
- Deathwatch
- Flesh Tearers
- Howling Griffons
- Lamenters: an unfortunate chapter of Space Marines who took part, on the losing side, in the Badab War, before being devastated by the Tyranids.
- Rainbow Warriors
- Raptors
- Relictors
- Scythes of the Emperor: a Chapter of Space Marines who were all but destroyed by the Tyranids. Their armour was black and yellow, with a yellow scythe symbol on the shoulder panels.
- Sons of Guilliman: A Chapter of Space Marines that originally were a part of the Ultramarines.
- Scions of Dorn
- Storm Lords
- Vultures
- White Consuls
Unknown origin
There are two other chapters of unknown origin in addition to the first founding chapters and their successors, these are:
Space Marines in Dawn of War
The Space Marines are a central race in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, and the only one playable in the Single-Player Campaign. Their race has few disadvantages, and is very balanced overall.
Infantry Units
- Servitor
- Scout Squad
- Tactical Marine Squad
- Assault Marine Squad
- Terminator Squad
- Assault Terminator Squad
Vehicle Units
- Rhino APC
- Whirlwind Missile Launcher
- Land Speeder
- Dreadnought
- Hellfire Dreadnought
- Predator Tank
- Land Raider
Hero Units
- Force Commander -- The Space Marine Force Commander is patterned after Captain Gabriel Angelos, Commander of the 3rd Company of the Blood Ravens chapter, during his final confrontation with the Daemon Prince Sindri. He is armed with a Bolt Pistol and a Daemonhammer, a weapon normally used only by the Ordo Malleus.
- Librarian -- The Space Marine Librarian is based off Librarian Isador of the Blood Ravens.
- Apothecary -- Up to four Apothacaries may be created and attached to Tactical, Scout, Terminator, or Assualt Terminator squads, where they increase the rate of regeneration for all soldiers nearby.
Emporer's Champion -- This would be one of the most strongest units you may get.The only power it has is in close-combat (Note this unit is not in Dawn of War)
Structures
- Space Marine HQ
- Chapel-Barracks
- Armory
- Heavy Bolter Turret
- Machine Cult
- Sacred Artifact
- Orbital Relay
External links
Bolter and Chainsword (http://www.bolterandchainsword.com) - Space Marines discussion board
Liber Astartes (http://www.thewarp.net/war/liber/Index.html) - Space Marine chapter listings
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