The Space Marine Problem

 

Or “how to ruin something through repetition”

This article is like the fifth iteration of an article that I write every time there's an editorial about Space Marines on BLOS, or a new rulebook for them is announced. And a new one has been. A completely new Space Marine codex was just revealed, with new units, the controversial Bolter Discipline rule, and a new rule giving them a bonus attack in the first round of combat. I have no actual reason to believe this will be less than a quality product. GW has been pretty good in 8^th edition, and nobody actually has this book in hand. So, fingers crossed. The thing is though, I do feel that a lot of unwarranted complaining has preceded this announcement, and I'd hate to think this was influencing the design process. To get my own bias up front, I play Orks, I basically could not run a shooty army until I got a codex, which was a long wait, but it was worth it(1). This means I only have, um, limited sympathy for people complaining about their army being flawed, when they were first in line for new releases. I also find this sort of article to be an unproductive and inherently negative use of my time, but once it's published, I can put it down, and move on. I have clouds to yell at. So lets get into this, The Space Marine Problem.

The Problem, as expressed by the Internet

Since 8^th edition launched there has been a general feeling that Space Marines are underpowered in some quarters. There is not a single issue highlighted, more a general feeling that things aren't right. Some point to the fact Marines now suffer penalties to their armour save, and are proportionally more vulnerable to Mortal Wounds. Some complain that bolters do not ignore armour saves of light infantry. Some feel that 8^th edition favours generally favours quantity over quality, as templates have been removed for simplicities sake. Some point to marines generally not being better performers in the tournament scene. Some point enviously at other factions, which may actually do something better than a marine. Some point at the open nature of 8^th ed allowing for things like “Imperial Soup”, where you mix and match and remove the unpopular beakies. Stuff like regular Tactical Marines have been unpopular for a while, often ignored in favour of the cheaper Scouts. As I say, its rarely one agreed complaint. Meanwhile, the response from people not currently playing a Marine faction is along the lines of “What? You've been the company favourite forever, adapt.” None of viewpoints are completely without merit, some more than others TBH, but its ultimately missing The Space Marine Problem.

What's Actually Wrong

So, here's the actual problem. Its not a matter of how this faction in all its variety is designed, nor of game mechanics, its more appearances. Space Marines are described as the best of the best, the closest thing the setting has to superheroes, rare and special. They are positioned as the starter army, with 40K designed around them. They have also become, over time, a majority of the forces in the game. This has created something of a conflict between their key concepts and how to play. Tactics 101? Tool your army to murder Space Marines, and you'll probably be OK. However, there is an unavoidable assumption that Marines should be the best army, special, but they absolutely cannot be that and ubiquitous at the same time. Sliced bread is pretty amazing, objectively, but do you care since its everywhere? This is not a problem of things being underpowered, this is a problem of mediocrity through over-exposure. If, say, Astra Militarium was the defacto default and given the same focus, Marines would look utterly spectacular in the comparison. The rules as they are do back that up. If we go straight to the bottom and compare Conscripts with Tactical Marines, the beakies trounce the cannon fodder. Some stats are actually double, nothing is worse, and the area where the beakies match the plebs is foot speed. You do pay for this, but well, you should, shouldn't you?(2) Actually competent Guardsmen fair a little better, but it's still a case where there is an overt gap in capabilities. So why don't we judge Marines higher in the army rankings? Why are they reputedly poor performers in tournaments? It certainly not because they lack in other areas, they are very well-supported. It's because everything else is judged against them as a baseline, and everyone knows how to beat them. This is The Space Marine Problem, and it will not be solved by just making units “better”, or applying an army-wide special rule, as GW seems to be doing.

The Why
This is ultimately a problem of GWs own making. They always favoured beakies, but things didn't really get out of hand until 3rd edition, an admittedly bloody long time ago, but there we are. It was during this period GW favoured the "mini-dex" concept where there was a single major Beakie codex which would receive a supplement to make more specific chapters. This grew into the Index Astartes series of articles, and is the forerunner to army variants found in the modern 8th Ed codex, although it would take 20 odd years before this applied to everyone. GW now had an easy to do a 40k release, just to apply a new special rule to the Marines and add a new model or three , and you're done. Easy money in the sort term. The long term effect was that Marines became the default, these new armies pushed non-beakies to the back of the queue for support, and marine players would begin to squabble jealously over who got what hat. Each subset of the Marine faction assumes, on some level, that they are the best Marines and there's such overlap between them. The first codex the Blood Angels got was shared with the Dark Angels. Does every first founding chapter/legion deserve its own book? Should Deathwatch be its own thing? Should maybe they and Grey Knights be under the Inquisition banner? With so much overlap in rules and models, does this not become like picking between flavours of potato crisp? If, just if, GW had been more restrained, this would be less of an issue. And now, things have gone full circle, with the mini-dex concept returning for this new release. 

To their credit, GW has demonstrated the self-awareness to address these problems, as there's evidence of it long term. Notably, the Black Templars and Salamanders got rolled back into the main Marine rules, and it would be hard to argue with a straight-face that Space Wolves aren't their own thing. Their most recent attempt is the entire Primaris concept, which is proving to be something of a long term revamp of the army from the foundations up. Its too early to say if this will work, and speculation enters the realm of tinfoil hats and chemtrails. On the one hand, this would bring Beakies closer towards their fictional depictions, but what its mainly done so far is highlight the “weaknesses” of the traditional Marine. Almost, as if, GW wants Marine fans to buy a completely new army? Right now, what they mainly do though is add yet more units to a faction already very well-equipped to the point of redundancy. It is FAR too early to tell what the new Codex will mean for the faction, but if they are getting a new bonus rule for the Fight Phase, one hopes for a price increase. Even so, none of this doesn't actually address The Space Marine Problem. Should GW update all Space Marine factions to Primaris, or otherwise rebalance things with their new codex, that would leave us in exactly the same position of beakie over-exposure, and potentially over-correcting versus other factions. Remember, the tactics you would use to defeat Primaris are the same as other forms beakies; they are good, but they are still ultimately a small/quality force with no special resistances to anti-tank guns and Mortal Wound effects. They are fated to be the new average.

The Solution

I dunno, is there one? Fanbases are notoriously hard to please. One possibility I've already hinted at is to put the toothpaste back in the tube, and simply release marines less often. Yes, they sell, but that's confirmation bias at work. If only marines are sold, only marines sell. Let the diehards have the Horus Heresy setting, and start amalgamating these chaps into omnibuses. If this seems unfair, well, its still more in the way of spin-offs than your average Xenos race gets. Alternatively, people could gain some self-awareness and realise how “first world problems” this all is and accept Marines can't be the entire game. But that's probably even less likely than the first solution. Whatever, I'm done being grumpy now.....

Mind you, I'd loot this walker.

Foot notes

1. Then there was the 7^th ed book, but lets not get sidetracked.
2. If you think the answer is “no”, maybe you should stop reading.