Which space marine chapter to collect?

[Crusader]

Hi everyone, advice needed if anyone has any suggestions.

Im kinda new to this 40k stuff after a long absence (2nd addition was the last version of 40k i played)
Iv'e decided to collect a space marine chapter and have picked up the new codex which seems to have some cool new stuff in it, especially the Ultramarines with their characters but i'm a bit put off by the fact that they seem to be every newbies chapter of choice.

Anyone have any suggestions for other chapters worth looking at? i thought maybe Black Templars but any advice/suggestions are welcome.

[IBBoard]

It depends on what kind of army you want to collect. If you like the style of Ultramarines then you can always try to make them a bit more unique (although there's a limited scope). Black Templars are good for zealots, heraldic influence and the oddities like the mixed Neophyte/Initiate squads. Blood Angels are good for assault-heavy armies. Space Wolves are good for conversions and a different assault focus. Dark Angels are good for having a more stoic fire base, or a speed (Ravenwing) focus, or some unique elites (Deathwing).

So, what style of army are you looking for within the Space Marine range?

[Kjetil136]

There are many chapters out there that can fit into to almost any players style. One place that is great for looking up chapters and general information is Lexicanum.

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/List_of_Space_Marine_Chapters

I have lost many an hour getting lost in the pages of information.

[Crusader]

So, what style of army are you looking for within the Space Marine range?

I'm looking for more an assault based army (up close and personal always much more fun) rather than a "shooty" army, the black templars look pretty interesting with the heraldic side of things and the marshalls and castellans etc (although not being able to use scouts or librarians is a bit of a shame).

Does anyone know if i would be able to use the new sterngaurd and vangaurd veterans with a Black Templar army?

[IBBoard]

You can kinda use scouts, but they're Neophytes within your main squads. As for Librarians, well, you can never trust a psyker anyway

Given that the Black Templars created the Crusader pattern Land Raider (and IIRC used to be the only chapter who could use it) and that they had a combat-oriented special rule (something about counter-charges?) then they'd be a more zealous-in-a-stoic-way combat army. Blood Angels would give you more of an all-out combat force with a blood lust. Dark Angels and Salamanders are definitely out, though, as they are fairly shooty-oriented.

In terms of the Sternguard and Vanguard, at the least you could use them as special models in place of their vanilla version, but I suspect the Black Templars and other chapters with special codexes won't be able to release them until GW either a) put a "Chapter Approved" update in White Dwarf or on the website, or b) re-release the chapter-specific codex.

The other alternative is the list Kjetil suggested. Find a chapter you like the look of and create an army from there. Your troop selection can help support a general background story and strategic style, plus you get a more unique army than by picking a well-known chapter.

[Crusader]

As for Librarians, well, you can never trust a psyker anyway

Lol yeah, too much temptation from the powers of the warp

Thanks for all the advice, looks like i have a fair bit of reading to do.

[IBBoard]

Just as an update, I finally read the October UK White Dwarf and read about the Sternguard/Vanguard. From what I gathered in there it looks like they're just "foot Veterans" or "jetpack veterans", since the old veterans weren't all that interesting. If that's the case then you'll still need GW to release something like a Chapter Approved, but I don't see why they couldn't be used at your opponent's approval.

The only thing is that they've apparently tried to make Codex chapters unique in their own way, rather than a base that special chapters add on top of, so it's possible that the old veterans (which hardly anyone bothered with for the extra points, especially on foot) will still be available for non-Codex chapters while Codex chapters get the Van/Sternguard as their own 'unique' unit type.

They do have some FAQs on the GW site but nothing in them seems to cover Stern/Vanguard.

[Crusader]

Yeah i had a quick look on the GW site but like you said they don't really cover the veterans, white dwarf wasn't much help, nor is the new space marines codex.

After much reading and deliberation (and not being able to make up my mind) iv'e decided to go ahead and make up my own chapter, more room for some fun customisation

Haven't thought of a name yet but the look is going to be based around the black templar & dark angels chapters, i really like the iconography of them both what with the mix of the cloaks and armour, i think it could look pretty cool if done right.

[IBBoard]

Hopefully enough people will write/call in with questions and they'll clarify it in some way. Given that most of the old codex books were based on the Codex codex (or at least used to be - I don't know about the latest version) then it seems like a bit of an oversight. I guess that if the codex is self-contained then the Codex changes won't affect the army.

In terms of custom chapters, they definitely do have their advantages. It's normally more fun to paint and play when it's your own creation as it's unique to you and you've got more control. The mix of Templar and Dark Angel sounds interesting, and I agree that the cloaks probably would look good with the armour. Good luck with the conversions

[Crusader]

Quick update,

Haven't been able to do much lately with the whole army collecting thing as iv'e had a few problems with work (well being made redundant actually, damn credit crunch!)

Iv'e managed to narrow down a name....The Fists of Dorn, obviously a descendant chapter from the imperial fists (like the black templars), next is figuring out a colour scheme, i'm thinking along the lines of mainly black but trying to incorporate some yellow as a nod to the Imperial fist history, i'll possibly make the shoulderpads yellow or something but i'll let you know.

[stfas]

isn't there already a chapter named "Fists of Dorn"?

[IBBoard]

Nothing official that I've ever seen. It looks like GW used it as a title for a Crimson Fists showcase (ref) and someone else has already coined it before (ref) but there's nothing stopping there being two interpretations and there doesn't seem to be anything official.

[Crusader]

Doh! thought i had an origional one there guess its hard to keep track of all these chapters cropping up

[IBBoard]

It's always difficult to get original names for Space Marine chapters since there are a lot of them that have been mentioned by name, or people gravitate to Marine armies. Just because it's not original doesn't mean you shouldn't use it - you can still do your own personal take on the chapter

[Acheron143]

I personally couldn't choose, so I bought a mix of units and painted them black with offwhite/grey/white piping. Which let me pretend they were 2 different chapters, one of which was the black templar, the other which escapes me at the moment. I think its the Iron Hand? (sorry been about a year since I pulled out WH 40k) or just a generic one I made with a relatively simple make your own chapter set up. Which meant I only had a one squad of neophytes and one librarian and one squad of scouts that weren't interchangable entirely.