[15Whiskey]

i get that the ywere one of the first races but so were eldar werent they? why is it space marines have 6 times as many books at least that in lore or publications in the rule book, it also seems like their getting the most models the largest slection of chapters and well they are just good. 3+ saves on an average trooper with good T and good weapons sounds good to me! they can be shooty or can be assaulty (mmm salty)

i think the main argument would be that their the most popular but id say that the huge amount of art and writing on them as well as the large list of interesting chapters was the chick and came well before the everyone being space marines "egg"

there are even two flavors of space marines the sweet and salty kettle space marines and the sour and crunchy chaos who have equally as much lore.

why do you think this is? or am i just crazy and have a hate in me for marines? (I'm army)

cheers

[Hairy Grim]

It's probably more about the customers. All the little kids simply LOVE the idea of a guy in unstoppable armour with overpowered weaponry. Also; they're human, thus making them the centrepoint of the game (IG aren't included as they aren't as futuristically 'cool', they're too 'normal').

EDIT: as for Chaos, they're meant to be exactly the same as Space Marines, it just depends if the children prefer being 'bad guys'.

Hopefully I don't seem like I'm race/GW-bashing here. :-\

[Anubis]

they are also expensive to field so you get less for your points.. its all swings and roundabouts. space marines are easier for people to adhere to.. superhuman heros to drag the normal imperial guard men out of their dire moments... they are the shining light at the end of the tunnel for humanity, even tho they arent really human anymore lol. Oh the irony.

[knightperson]

The Space Marines are sort of what the game was designed around. 40k breaks down to "The mighty super-soldiers of the galaxy-spanning empire of humanity" vs "all the evil things out there that want to destroy them". It's sort of an accident that some players think aliens are cooler than even super-humans.

Also, if I remember right the Necrons are the oldest race, followed by the Eldar, if you're talking fluff and history of the 41st millenium. In terms of who had rules and models first, I think the earliest version of 40k was space marines and tyranids (Space Hulk). I would guess chaos marines, maybe guard, and orcs came shortly after, with dark eldar, light eldar, and tau being fairly recent.

[Anubis]

no necrons are an ancient race, but slaan are the oldest.

[majonga]

Originally Posted by knightperson

The Space Marines are sort of what the game was designed around. 40k breaks down to "The mighty super-soldiers of the galaxy-spanning empire of humanity" vs "all the evil things out there that want to destroy them". It's sort of an accident that some players think aliens are cooler than even super-humans.

Also, if I remember right the Necrons are the oldest race, followed by the Eldar, if you're talking fluff and history of the 41st millenium. In terms of who had rules and models first, I think the earliest version of 40k was space marines and tyranids (Space Hulk). I would guess chaos marines, maybe guard, and orcs came shortly after, with dark eldar, light eldar, and tau being fairly recent.

no space hulk is 1989 & 1991.

of the races that survive Rogue Trader (1987) there are:
Space Marines
Forces of the Imperium
Eldar
Tyranids
Orks

[hr]

Space marines are Games Workshop's headliners, when you think 40k you think a picture of a space marine. they are what made rogue trader, and subsequently 40k popular. They are the easiest of the races to play, and are very attractive to new players. GW wants to make money, so they cater to the largest demand, since most people play SM and most new players start with SM, GW builds on that.

Essentially it is because they bring in the most capitol. I'm not complaining here, i actually don't even play marines (unless you count CSM) it's just that from a buisiness perspective, it pays to promote Space Marines. So that why the get so much publicity.

from a fluff point of view, i agree with the above. What is it that people find attractive about fantasy? well i would say it's the character that just can't be killed, the guy that can take on just about anybody, the hero you can win out against impossible odds. that is exactly what a space marine is. Space marines are popular (and therefore GW's cover boys) becuase they are amazingly cool, I don't play them, but i know that just about everyone in the 40k universe want's to be a SM even if they'd never admit it.

[Mandalorian]

They are the product that sells more. You promote the product that sells more therefore racking in more money and hopfully more profit. Plain and simple. Space Marines just happened to be the best seller because they are more relatable to humans so a customer is more likely to buy something that is relatable to them then something that isn't.

It is all about the money in the end dude. That is all that it is.

[Anubis]

I dont even think its that thought out that its their money maker.
Its something people have always adhered to and its just their own stamp on a superhero.
Also, yes, eldar were one of the first races. Elves in space! (not as bad as the dwarves in space that were around then too... Squats... they didnt last long lol)
Chaos and Renegade Space Marines have also been around from Rogue Trader onwards, with as much fluff about them as the 'good' Space Marines. In fact, at times I have often felt they get more attention than the good guys.

[Wargamer]

You are mistaken, Anubis. Whilst the Warp was present in Rogue Trader, along with various Warp Creatures / Daemons / etc. the faction we know as Chaos did not exist in any way, shape or form.

In Rogue Trader, there was no mention of the Chaos Gods. There was no 'Horus Heresy'. There were no Chaos Marines. Indeed, the Space Marines themselves still operated in Legions. In many ways, Rogue Trader appears to be set in the 31st Millennium, not the 41st.

You also need to remember how the game has evolved. "Space Dwarfs" (as Squats were officially known at one point) died a death during 2nd Edition. GW just shut up about them and that was that.

Eldar very nearly went the same way. In Rogue Trader they were Space Elves with a Pirate fetish... more akin to Dark Eldar than anything else. Rogue Trader mentioned Craftworlds, but there was no distinction. Not until White Dwarf 127 (a hallowed tome indeed!). WD 127 created the Craftworlds as we know them today, introducing Farseers, Warlocks, Aspect Warriors, Exarchs and the Avatar of Khaine. Around the same time (probably a bit before, in fact) we also learned of the Harlequins. They had their own army list.
Despite all this, Eldar did nearly go the way of the Squat. It was the emergence of the Falcon Grav-tank that saved them.
Dark Eldar seem to have popped up out of nowhere upon release of 3rd Edition. I don't know when the references to Exodites began, but Corsairs almost certainly came out of BFG. Rasmus of EO fame created an 'Eldritch Raiders' Codex to represent Yriel's pirate band, taking a lot of influence from the Rogue Trader era. Many fans of the Corsair faction take a similar approach to Rasmus, seeing them as a sort of 'mid-ground' between Craftworld and Dark Kin, with a big dollop of extravagance on top.

I don't know where Chaos actually came from, or when, but it was big. Chaos has always had more attention than any other army. Trust me on that. Look at the expansions; Realm of Chaos and Lost and The Damned are arguably the Satanic Bibles of the 40K universe, and even more recently we've seen serious love given to Chaos; in 5th Edition Warhammer, Chaos had three books (Mortal, Beast, Daemon). In 6th, they still got two books (Warriors and Beasts, the former also including Daemons), and could mix them freely. On the 40K side, the 4th Ed. Chaos Codex was disturbing, essentially having about 8 different Army Lists inside of it.
Chaos arguably get more song and dance about them than any other faction.

[Anubis]

daemons and the warp powers were mentioned, it just wasnt termed chaos.. but for all intents and purposes it was. We jsut werent supposed to know that much about it as rogue trader was written from the perspective of an imperial not always privy to knowledge. Renegade marines were certainly mentioned in there.
But yes.. the chaos thing was expanded shortly after Rogue Trader with its own book. But all it did was give it a proper name and expand the things we DIDNT already know. They were hinted at.