"good" space marines...?

[Hrothgar]

I've also had an eye on this chapter, which may interest you:
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Relictors#.T4eSZ7d5mc0
The Relictors are renegade marines who, like the Soul Drinkers, were excommunicated. They were hunted down brutally by the Grey Knights but not destroyed entirely.

I am really a fan of their minimalist grey and black color scheme. They don't look like their colors were borrowed from the seventies.  

I really like your idea of dark brown armor with metallic bolts. Sounds very industrial and serious looking. You might also want to consider painting a few other select bits (ie the backpack nozzles) metallic to help frame the figure.

[B. Basiliscus]

That's a neat faction, simple dull colors always seem more threatening to me than bright blinding ones. Decided that I'm DEFINITELY going with my own chapter, because I can't get over how cool these guys look in my mind's eye.

I was thinking of taking chaos space marine back packs and adding elements of the normal marine backpacks, since the chaos pack's back part seems more fitting than those of the normal marines, but the jets on them don't match well to the theme.
I think that some bronze would go well somewhere on their armor, and I'm DEFINITELY going to be incorporating parts from the chaos marine Raptors for a jumper unit - assuming that's the correct term and that I can do it. The Iron Warrior conversion parts will probably see some usage too - the chest plates look sweet.

Just gotta figure out a name and then wait for a decade or so to sporadically buy figures when I remember the project...
Star Sharks sounds pretty damn satisfying at the moment.

[goon3423]

I wont go on long about it but I too recommend you look into the Soul Drinkers, they have a small series of books that are the only 40k fluff I still read anymore since escaping the grip of the beast  . Soul Drinkers have a fun backstory & due to the rampant mutations in the chapter there is a lot of cool conversions to be had.

[Roebeast45]

I'd like to address the question of 'why go with the fluff?' just to say that I like fluff. I'm a big fluff guy. Lore is my bread and butter, and I tend to play things or with things based on their fantasy histories because it means I won't have to waste precious time thinking up things that aren't for MY fantasy settings. My mind forces me to come up with convoluted lore when there isn't any, and I unfortunately have a hard time enjoying myself when there isn't some default knowledge available. So yeah, I like fluffy stuff. 

Some people call it "fluff", I call it the only real reason to roll dice and move toy men around. Without backstory none of the mechanics of a game matters. It's the soul of a game.

[Gun bunny]

Non-chaos rogue space marines are called renegades, and i would think be subject to hatred by more "toe to the line" marine chapters. keep in mind marines are subjected to psycho-conditioning weekly(fluff). Any unit out of contact with the imperium would find their ability to think for them selves coming back. Oh by the way i have seen teeth on a beaky before but as personal art not unit art. my favorite was a skull on the beaky it was cool as you could only make it out if the marine was looking at you 
if you get the chance read/look at a rouge trader edition rule book you will be surprised at how much cooler it is(back then it was use any figure or model you had, assign stats and go!) their first vehicle was a triceratops zoid toy!
anyway i am getting dangerously close to a rant here. so good luck and post pics soon .

[James Holloway]

Fluff-wise, it's a little more challenging. The whole point of the 40K universe is that it's the kind of universe fascists believe in; the state is under siege by evil, any deviation from the norm is flirting with disaster, enemies are literally subhumans who can't be reasoned with. The background is full of examples of people who start out wanting democracy or lower taxes and wind up worshipping Chaos. The setting is hopelessly corrupted by evil; it has to be, in order to make the brutal forces of state repression the good guys by comparison.

I guess there's the Tau, who have always sat a little uneasily in the setting, but there's also evidence that they're not as perfect as they'd like to believe they are. In general, the setting isn't built to have unequivocal good guys, although of course it's your game and you can do whatever you like with it. You'll just find that the fluff fights you a bit in that area.

[sleep when Im lead]

I can't say that I have had anything to do with Space Marines for a long time. Not since Rogue Trader. That said I have a few ideas.

Firstly there is a generic RPG called Savage Worlds which has a background called Necroplis. It is essentially space marines against the undead (not really necrons but close enough). Perhaps there is something in there for you.

Another idea would be to take something from history and make it a marine chapter. Things as diverse as Wat Tyler and the peasents revolt, the roman legions, or even crusading knights who were originally there to protect pilgrims. Even templars might make a nice choice.

[Too Bo Coo]

if you get the chance read/look at a rouge trader edition rule book you will be surprised at how much cooler it is(back then it was use any figure or model you had, assign stats and go!) their first vehicle was a triceratops zoid toy!
anyway i am getting dangerously close to a rant here. so good luck and post pics soon .

My home made chapter was with the originalo Mark 6 plastics, they were an AWESOME set, 30 figs for less than 20 bucks, and fully poseable.  The only downside, true 25mm...  But painting the skull motif was a piece of cake!  All my troops had it.

[Red Orc]

...

I'd like to address the question of 'why go with the fluff?' just to say that I like fluff. I'm a big fluff guy. Lore is my bread and butter, and I tend to play things or with things based on their fantasy histories because it means I won't have to waste precious time thinking up things that aren't for MY fantasy settings. My mind forces me to come up with convoluted lore when there isn't any, and I unfortunately have a hard time enjoying myself when there isn't some default knowledge available. So yeah, I like fluffy stuff.  ...

You will have problems then. If you want 1-fluff and 2-Space Marines not to be psychopaths, fascists, murderers and racists, then you'll have a hard time reconciling those wishes in standard IIIrd-Vth edition 40k. You can do it in Ist ed (Rogue Trader); in the original edition, Space Marines were more like Starship Troopers and Dune marines (Mobile Infantry or Sardukkar Legions or whatever). I don't know what was happening in IInd ed, so can't help there.

You could play it as if what the Space Marines think about themselves is true - perhaps they are noble knights standing for truth and brotherhood and all that. In which case one of the more noble-but-flawed chapters like the Blood Angels might be better than the Ultramarines let's say.

But; because someone mentioned Tolkien earlier, which has good guys and bad guys, not just lots of bad guys, I'm going to say that 'good' and 'bad' are a matter of perspective. I think in Tolkien, we only get things from the Hobbits' (and their Elven and Dwarven allies') perspective, so LotR is a piece of Elvo-Dwarven propaganda designed to justify their genocidal war against the peaceful Goblins. Maybe.

You can apply the same principle to 40k. Maybe the so-called 'Chaos' Legions are really like the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars - the good guys fighting the horrific Galactic Empire ruled by evil sorcerers and subjugated by vast clone-armies. You can take the whole fluff and stand it on its head. There are Chaos chapters like the Word Bearers who started as the Imperium's most religious unit but realised that the Emperor had betrayed them, so they turned against him - sadly, and with great regret. Anyone who says otherwise is just a victim of revisionist Imperium propaganda. The Alpha Legion have a strange game-plan that involves plots within plots within plots, no-one is totally sure of their motives but they have on occassion aided the Imperial forces when they calculate that its in their interests.

In short, almost any Chaos chapter can be made into 'good' guys by re-defining what the Imperium is. As long as the Imperiuim is 'bad', and we agree it is which is why you're having this dilemma in the first place, then those fighting against it can be labelled as 'good', without too much violence to the fluff (anything that contradicts the notion, just being Imperialist propaganda).

...Back to the artistic standpoint, I may go with a dark metallic brown as the main power armor bits and give them a bunch of steel rivets all over. Kind of want to emphasize a WWII fighter plane theme because it seems cool. Can I get some feedback there too?...

How about the Iron Warriors Chaos Legion then? They're usually painted up in silver but often it's kinda rusty. You could go very rusty... they're a very tech-orientated legion, with a lot of tanks and heavy weaponry. Metallic brown with rivets sounds like it would fit that really well. They might even be renegade Iron Warriors, who refuse to worship the Chaos Gods but have been cast out from the Imperium and are hunted by both sides if you don't want to go down the 'good=evil, evil=good' route. After all, if loyalists can turn to Chaos and also chapters can be excommunicated but remain loyal, then logically not all groups of marines labelled as 'Chaos traitors' necessarily have to actually worship the Chaos gods. Sometimes the Administratum gets it wrong. Perhaps your marines stayed loyal to the Emperor all those umpteen centuries ago, nicked a battle-barge from their traitorous former brethren, and disappeared to the outer reaches to continue fighting for humanity against all and any threats, while surviving by piracy against humanity's enemies, without ever succumbing to the taint of Chaos.

Just some things to consider anyway. Hope some of it is of use.

[LeadAsbestos]

Heretics. The lot of you.

Burn!!!


 

[B. Basiliscus]

I'm honestly surprised that heresy wasn't cried earlier. 

I was looking over the iron warriors for a little while and thought they were really badass - that industrial color scheme is magnificent. Easily one of my favorite chapters of marine that I've found in my research. Do to the Iron Warriors have specific faction rules that I could use for my legion, or do all space marine chapters go by the same book?

Are marine forces required to have a psycher unit? Should I probably have one to tussle with things like Eldar and other psycher marines?
Would I have to submit to the will of the chaos gods, or could my marine wizard guy master the warp himself? The fanfiction that turned me onto this says that a sorcerer doesn't have to pledge fealty to a daemon, but that's a fanfiction and I should get my information straight from the horses mouth instead...
if you followed the link, "horses mouth" should have new meaning...

[Too Bo Coo]

Here is the real issue you may have if you don't reconcile the 'cannon' end of the equation, who will play with you if you have a totally 'made up' chapter?  I tried an 'undead' chapter once, I took some rules already given in an old WD, and made a nice Marine/half skeleton army.  Then I suffered months of whiners who balked anytime a 'special house rule' came up.  No complaints on the detriments, but most people would say, "Ah, that's just cheating", so I dropped it and went back to a bland cannon army.

So if you want more than just a painting exercise, you'll need to reconcile the GW cannon with what you want to do.

[B. Basiliscus]

I'll more than likely be using canon army rules, and I'm well aware that many Warhammer players are big bawling babies when things don't go their way.

[Too Bo Coo]

I'll more than likely be using canon army rules, and I'm well aware that many Warhammer players are big bawling babies when things don't go their way.

I avoid playing with anyone younger than 21, that's my first rule.  And GW games have TONS of children....

That said, I played their games for over a decade and found great enjoyment, met wonderful people who even over an ocean I remain friends with, and all of the modeling experience too boot.

But like any hobby, a few great people, a few awful ones and just a lot of regular people.  If you want to play games, then GW is not a bad way to go simply for their market share....

[manatic]

Another way to stay true to fluff is to build a Heresy era army. According to current canon (the Horus Heresy series of books), back in the 30,000s the Imperium was more about subjugation than mindless, religious genocide. The Heresy era WH universe is approximately a million times more interesting than the present state.