It occurs to me that there should be a rule that every Kill Team (and indeed any group of three or more Marines) must include at least one Marine with a trait named Tall, even for a Space Marine.
There should probably be some kind of bonus if every Marine has it.
Okay? And the point of that is?
Why? Are Space Marines too much alike otherwise?
Alex
In any group of Marines, it is inevitable that one will be described as 'tall, even for a Space Marine'. There is probably a drinking game for it.
I am suggesting a need to formalise the process of deciding which of the PC marines is so described. Possibly by a vote. Or maybe you could switch who is the 'tall, even for a Space Marine' Marine every session. There could be a counter or card to remind people who is the officially designated Tall Marine.
Alternatively, you could just decide that all Marines are tall, even for Space Marines.
So this is supposed to be a sarcastic pun about 40k fiction then?
Okay.
AluminiumWolf said:
In any group of Marines, it is inevitable that one will be described as 'tall, even for a Space Marine'. There is probably a drinking game for it.
THE HORUS HERESY DRINKING GAME
Read a Horus Heresy novel and knock back a shot every time one of the following happens:-
Any more additions to the list?
Drink whenever:
A Spacemarine gets a distant look in his eye, as he pi$$es into his catheter mid-conversation.
A Spacemarine holds a door open for a female character and says 'after you', purely so he can check out her a$$.
A Primarch says "Sorry, what? I completely zoned out there for a minute."
An Astartes on watch duty smokes a cigarette.
An Astartes asks "What's for dinner?"
A Marine flirts with a fellow marine.
A Marine trips over, and fellow Marines laugh at him.
A Marine expresses the desire to own a kitten.
Primarchs make small talk amongst themselves about sporting events and the weather.
Marines discuss their sex lives with each other.
A Salamander uses the N word, while conversing to another Salamander.
A Space Wolf remarks that it's cold, and he wish he'd bought a scarf.
A Marine flips the bird at someone.
Any marine fist-bumps another or says 'Hell Yeah' after unleashing a particularly effective burst of heavy weapon fire, or having detonated large amounts of explosives.
Siranui said:
Drink whenever:
A Spacemarine gets a distant look in his eye, as he pi$$es into his catheter mid-conversation.
A Spacemarine holds a door open for a female character and says 'after you', purely so he can check out her a$$.
A Primarch says "Sorry, what? I completely zoned out there for a minute."
An Astartes on watch duty smokes a cigarette.
An Astartes asks "What's for dinner?"
A Marine flirts with a fellow marine.
A Marine trips over, and fellow Marines laugh at him.
A Marine expresses the desire to own a kitten.
Primarchs make small talk amongst themselves about sporting events and the weather.
Marines discuss their sex lives with each other.
A Salamander uses the N word, while conversing to another Salamander.
A Space Wolf remarks that it's cold, and he wish he'd bought a scarf.
A Marine flips the bird at someone.
Any marine fist-bumps another or says 'Hell Yeah' after unleashing a particularly effective burst of heavy weapon fire, or having detonated large amounts of explosives.
Sounds like a drinking game sponsored by Alcoholics Anonymous.
Unless you play it with /tg/ fanfics, in which case you better submit your application for a liver transplant before you start playing.
Lightbringer said:
AluminiumWolf said:
In any group of Marines, it is inevitable that one will be described as 'tall, even for a Space Marine'. There is probably a drinking game for it.
THE HORUS HERESY DRINKING GAME
Read a Horus Heresy novel and knock back a shot every time one of the following happens:-
Any more additions to the list?
Good thing I already finished Fulgrim... since I'm pretty sure ALL of those are in there. Multiple times.
Are there references to widely variable height in "modern"-set Space Marine novels? I can only recall seeing them in the Horus Heresy series. I may be wrong, but it was my impression that the HH writers were trying to imply that Astartes were more individualized "back in the day" and have become more standardized over time...?
Google shows me
'Kemen – tall even for a Space Marine' from the Conquest of Amageddon novel.
'Grimnar is a giant of a figure, tall even for a Space Marine' from the First War for Armageddon pdf.
'Pelles was tall, even for a Space Marine, standing over two and a half metres in his power armour, but towering over the iron-commander, like some leviathan' from the Iron Hands novel.
And the Storm Warden Captain in Achilus Assault is described as 'a remorseless giant of a man, tall even for a Space Marine and exceptionally skilled with his ancient hand-and-a-half power sword Widowmaker'.
I suspect you will find that even modern Marines tend to be tall even for a Space Marine.
Lightbringer said:
AluminiumWolf said:
In any group of Marines, it is inevitable that one will be described as 'tall, even for a Space Marine'. There is probably a drinking game for it.
THE HORUS HERESY DRINKING GAME
Read a Horus Heresy novel and knock back a shot every time one of the following happens:-
Any more additions to the list?
Lightbringer said:
AluminiumWolf said:
In any group of Marines, it is inevitable that one will be described as 'tall, even for a Space Marine'. There is probably a drinking game for it.
THE HORUS HERESY DRINKING GAME
Read a Horus Heresy novel and knock back a shot every time one of the following happens:-
Any more additions to the list?
Ha! I've just started re-reading the HH series from the beginning, and had I known of this drinking game earlier, there is a strong chance I'd be dead from alcohol poisoning now.
AluminiumWolf said:
Google shows me
'Kemen – tall even for a Space Marine' from the Conquest of Amageddon novel.
'Grimnar is a giant of a figure, tall even for a Space Marine' from the First War for Armageddon pdf.
'Pelles was tall, even for a Space Marine, standing over two and a half metres in his power armour, but towering over the iron-commander, like some leviathan' from the Iron Hands novel.
And the Storm Warden Captain in Achilus Assault is described as 'a remorseless giant of a man, tall even for a Space Marine and exceptionally skilled with his ancient hand-and-a-half power sword Widowmaker'.
I suspect you will find that even modern Marines tend to be tall even for a Space Marine.
Don't forget the one in the "Ultramarine" books who was so "tall, even for a space marine," he had to have his power armour made out of terminator armour.
herichimo said:
AluminiumWolf said:
Google shows me
'Kemen – tall even for a Space Marine' from the Conquest of Amageddon novel.
'Grimnar is a giant of a figure, tall even for a Space Marine' from the First War for Armageddon pdf.
'Pelles was tall, even for a Space Marine, standing over two and a half metres in his power armour, but towering over the iron-commander, like some leviathan' from the Iron Hands novel.
And the Storm Warden Captain in Achilus Assault is described as 'a remorseless giant of a man, tall even for a Space Marine and exceptionally skilled with his ancient hand-and-a-half power sword Widowmaker'.
I suspect you will find that even modern Marines tend to be tall even for a Space Marine.
Don't forget the one in the "Ultramarine" books who was so "tall, even for a space marine," he had to have his power armour made out of terminator armour.
There is one of those in the Space Wolves Omnibus. He was so tall his armor was made from bit of leftover Terminator Armor. Uniquely, he was also... I don't want to say fat, but round.
I think you're referring to Veteran Sergeant Pasanius Lysane.
It takes a special kind of "Tall, even for a Space Marine" for your power armor to have to be fashioned out of salvaged Terminator armor, though I suppose a lot of the armor had to be shaved out since even Terminators contain normal-sized Astartes inside...
Montva said:
I think you're referring to Veteran Sergeant Pasanius Lysane.
It takes a special kind of "Tall, even for a Space Marine" for your power armor to have to be fashioned out of salvaged Terminator armor, though I suppose a lot of the armor had to be shaved out since even Terminators contain normal-sized Astartes inside...
Apparently not. Some sources conflict [ofc], but it is in the lore that space marines grow as they age. By the time they are veteran status and can wear terminator armor they have grown almost a foot. This might account for something. It could also be full of crap too, but it does offer at least some explanation.
DJSunhammer said:
I don't think that's ever been mentioned in an "official" source.
The only place I've ever read that in my many years of reading GW material was on Phil Sibbering's fansite, but there is the slim chance that I missed something somewhere, I will admit.
I agree with Montva. I love Phil Sibberling's stuff, and a lot of the ideas he comes up with are very attractive, but marines growing constantly throughout the course of their lifetimes doesn't make much sense to me. By this reasoning, older marines like Dante would be enormous...and they're obviously not.
The current background (as opposed to BL fiction) suggests that some marines respond to their genetic enhancement by growing very large, but that the vast majority don't. Most marines seem to be in the 6' 6" - 7' 0" height range.
Lightbringer said:
I agree with Montva. I love Phil Sibberling's stuff, and a lot of the ideas he comes up with are very attractive, but marines growing constantly throughout the course of their lifetimes doesn't make much sense to me. By this reasoning, older marines like Dante would be enormous...and they're obviously not.
The current background (as opposed to BL fiction) suggests that some marines respond to their genetic enhancement by growing very large, but that the vast majority don't. Most marines seem to be in the 6' 6" - 7' 0" height range.
While I won't disagree with the current background assessment, your reasoning for dismissal above is flawed. that Sibberling guy's stuff implies a near-plateauing of height after a certain amount of age, such that a marine that grows a foot in the first first 100 years might grow a few inches in the next 100, and much less the 100 years after, in continuum.
Mathematically speaking, the limit as time approaches infinity will actually be a set height, merely growing infinitesimally. Such a marine might be 1 or 2 inches taller than he was 500 years in. Frankly, the numbers are all guesswork. The concept is workable, though.
That said? I find it more likely that the Emperor would work within biological frameworks to help do his building for him, and thus I find it much more likely the implanting process acts like a second adolescence in regards to changes in the most basic of bodily makeup. 100 years in, I wouldn't expect more than a slight leathering of features - no physiological changes not brought on by outside sources.
___Edit - aside from the mutations normal in the geneseed. =P