Some of the #warmongers may recall a week or so ago I was asking what draws you to a particular Space Marine Chapter, this was all brought on by the imminent release of the new Space Marines Codex and miniatures as well as my own penchant for never doing anything simple.
Let me explain where my train of thought came from. It started with a comment on twitter made by I believe @RTGamer about creating a Celtic themed Space Marine Chapter. As some of you may realise from recent posts I have a bit of a wet spot for Scibor Monstrous Miniatures who do a range of sci-fi Knights which are Celtic themed as well as some familiar looking themed shoulder pads.
My brain was ticking and after a quick chat with Phil over a few days, I acquired a copy of the Space Wolves Codex to base my home-brew chapter on and the long arduous task of deciding on a name began and to be honest I think is still going on.
Anyway I digress. Doing all this got me to thinking why is it I find myself so drawn to this idea more than any of the other chapters that already exist? Way back when, I had a thing for the Dark Angels but they seem to of changed ever so slightly in essence since my departure and return to the hobby, and I just don’t feel the love any more.
So why do we pick the chapters we do? Is it the background fluff that really stirs you to collect a certain chapter? Is it a particular book from the Black Library that reaches down your trousers and has a good rummage? I know @LemonPainting was influenced towards the Salamanders after reading Nick Kymes books. [Because Nick Kyme's fucking awesome - Ed.]
“@Mat_Mac @TheShellCase the books by @NickKyme were a huge influence on me doing salamanders probably the same with the Gaunt’s Ghosts books. If the books weren’t so good I would have gone back to a homemade chapter or no marines at all.”
I know this feeling well myself, as after listening to the Garro audio dramas recently I really wanted to do a Grey Knights army, I also know Phil was inspired by the background fluff for the Ultramarines to collect his First and Fifth companies. I also think he wanted to prove a point about that Ultramarines aren’t just for kids and can look good.
Then there’s the colour scheme. Do you collect Imperial Fists because yellow is your favourite colour, or you like the specific challenge of the paint scheme which is why you went with the Legion of the Damned or maybe you choose that particular chapter because it would be a quick army to put together?
@OmegaSupreme80 picked his Crimson fists because he liked the colour scheme as well as the background fluff:
“@Mat_Mac @TheShellCase Picked Crimson Fists due to combination of colour scheme, background and Kantor’s model (love it!)”
He was also drawn to them because of a certain model. This may be why you are now fielding an army of Black Templars, because you just had to have the Emperors Champion model. With Forge World giving us even more choice how does this influence you into choosing what you’re going to field do you like me find yourself flipping through web pages of miniatures thinking how you could create your own characters for your chosen army, taking inspiration from something you’ve read to create a figure that appears in a certain story. Do you want to field the Grey Knights but have Nathaniel Garro leading them into battle against a Daemon horde?
Or is it simply like @OmegaSupreme80′s reason for loving the Space Wolves because they are Vikings…in…SPACE! His exact words I promise.
Maybe you’re drawn to their sensibilities and feel some sort of bond with the essence of the Chapter the fearless honour of the Blood Angels or the Clandestine practices of the Dark Angels.
Whatever the reason, those of us that feel the lure of the power armoured post human are drawn to a particular style of Space Marine Chapter whether, like me, you want to create your own because something has inspired you or you just want to make life difficult for yourself. Or you find a certain empathy for one of the existing Chapters for some reason or another whether it’s a kick ass model or striking colour scheme. We all have a story to tell as to why we chose what we did, and I realise as I write this that it’s not just limited to why we choose our Space Marine chapter but why we choose the Army we do be it Eldar, Necron, Tyranid or any army for any game. There’s just something about them that resonates with us.
I would really like to hear from any of you as to your reasons to why you field what you do and maybe do a follow-up to this post just think it would be interesting to see what it is that makes us tick.
So what’s in a name or the colour scheme or that particular model that made you choose the army you did?
And don’t forget to enter the Create a Space Marine Chapter competition to tell your own story!
