a question about space marine design

[No Such Agency]

I generally agree with those of you who think Marines are over-embellished. I know some painters enjoy the challenge of an elaborate suit of armour, but I personally prefer a \"cleaner\" design now. When I see a mini with a lot of little separate details of this type I really have little desire to paint it, knowing a lot of my time would be spent on them as opposed to making more fundamental aspects of the figure look good. This goes for Marines, the newer space orcs etc. IMO a Marine champion or commander could be better distinguished by a customized armour design, with a few medals, seals etc. for character. \"Maximus\" on this site is a good example of this. He\'s not buried under detail, but there\'s enough to make him visually interesting.

However, as far as \"realism\" goes, who are we kidding? Tabletop gaming at ~25 mm scale is not going to \"accurately\" simulate futuristic combat with high-energy weapons anyway, the action is too concentrated (except maybe down-and-dirty urban combat, e.g. the end of \"Saving Private Ryan\"). Even now, tanks can kill at ranges of ten kilometers, not meters! Now I\'m not faulting gamers in any way, after all who has a table 10x10 meters to play on? (actually at 25-28 mm scale 14 m = 1 km) But saying, for example, \"back banners are unrealistic\" is futile, especially since most of the characters flying them are so powerful you\'d need a Broadside battlesuit to \"snipe\" at them anyway... It\'s important to have an army that looks cool, right? Practicalities can be dealt with in the rules.

 

[Jericho]

Sorry if I jumped to conclusions, Badaab, but you did seem like you were rather disgusted with the other chapters\' game rules... and there\'s really no need for that. Personally I think they just encourage the character of the army more than anything

 

[halon]

You can use background and fluff to explain away any inconsistancies in the presentation of the figures but practicality will always end up ruling out. If you look at the progression of armor through the ages decorative armor progressed to smooth armor because it doesn\'t catch sword edges. Who want\'s their neck /arm/leg/whatever broken because they have something sticking off thier armor? 40K is still ruled by hand to hand fighting. The practicalities of the fighting style should have forced the armor to change to smooth form fitting like the vindicare assasin uses. So, since I don\'t think the marines look very realistic I play Imperial Guard Cadians/Catachan instead. They still have their problems, just not as many.

 

[commanderbob]

Ok, the trinkets have to go. i\'ll say that much. but remember, some trinkets are worth it. take marneus calgar for example: you probably could lose the funky knife, the yarn thingy, the cape, the banner, and the other useless crap; and you will still have the gauntlets of ultramar. otherwise the space marines are pretty darn good as they are

oh and by the way, how do you guys get pics/animations by your name? email me at chriskimble@attbi.com

 

[Sand Rat]

One More thing

Ok, I\'ve thought about it a little more, and have come up with a couple of other things that bother me. There are just too many things that could be considered shot traps or other features that would direct fire or weapons blows at vital areas - joints in particular, especially on those figures with oversized shoulder pads.

 

[commanderbob]

Ok, I hav enough info on avatars now, thanks, but just DON\'T SEND ME ANY MORE!!!!!! thank you

 

[No Such Agency]

The Imperial Commission on Armour Design has concluded that the importance of wearing skulls, wings and other Imperial sigils, and looking scary as %@#!, outweigh any hypothetical tactical disadvantages which could be inherent in Space Marine armour design. All suggestions to the contrary will be considered Heresy. That will be all.

 

[Undying]

<H1>SHORT!!!</H1>
yes kiddies thats right marines are to short. When you look at their artwork they tower over EVERYTHING so why the hell are the minis so short they\'r midgets!

well thats the onl problem i have with them, though i think my point fits into the argument about all their gubbinz as they look like they shouldn\'t be able to carry it all only bcuz\' they are 2 1/2-3 ft. too short. :flame:

 

[Sturmhalo]

Ok, all the trinkets and baubles that tend to festoon a Space Marine can be a bit annoying but it is quite feasable that they could be worn into battle. Just look at 20th century history. German troops during WW2 wore most of their decorations in the field as a sign of their own personal heroism or feats.

Someone made a point about ammo pouches and the like. The old style models from the mid to late 80\'s all have pouches to a greater or lesser degree on them but I think GW have since forgotten about those little practicalities of warfare.

 

[wightzombie]

lol

no such agencys latter post was hella funny. thx for the tidbits of respones and comments, ill be drawing all this weekend around the house and up at my aunts, hopefully ill have one or two scans of some future warriors of my own by then and posted up here by sunday or monday.

 

[Jericho]

Originally posted by Undying
<H1>SHORT!!!</H1>
yes kiddies thats right marines are to short. When you look at their artwork they tower over EVERYTHING so why the hell are the minis so short they\'r midgets!

well thats the onl problem i have with them, though i think my point fits into the argument about all their gubbinz as they look like they shouldn\'t be able to carry it all only bcuz\' they are 2 1/2-3 ft. too short. :flame:

Personally I don\'t agree with this. The main reason 40k models are pretty out of proportion is because they have never done a \"standard\" human plastic. The Imperial Guard models are simply larger than they ought to be. They throw everything out of whack. The Eldar don\'t look tall next to them (which they should), the Marines don\'t look that imposing next to them (which they definitely should), etc.

According to a certain Jes Goodwin, the new Cadian models coming out for next spring/summer/whatever are a proper scale human for 40k. So these next to Marines will look closer to the \"real\" scale. None of the steroid junkie Catachan styles on this one

Oh, and if you want big Marines, check out the Inquisitor models. The Artemis stands at around 75mm compared to the 54mm on the other ones. That\'s more like it

 

[JARGON0101]

I\'ve always wondered how a human, even genetically modified, could possibly fit in Space Marine armor too!
What do I think is a more realistic version? The Space Marine Scout! For overall realism and battlefield practicallity, the scout looks right to me.

 

[Hiemdal]

I\'m not going to split hairs over this... it is fantasy after all.

...but I would like to know how a #Space Marine in full power armour is supposed to get in and out of the top hatches of a Rhino????

And why would Rhino jockeys need full armour when they are sitting inside a tank? Scouts sacrifice most of thier armour for better freedom of movement. Shouldn\'t the drivers of armoured vehicles have thier own (soft) uniform?

Or at least make the hatches big enough for shoulder pads!!!