Need help choosing a Space Marines chapter

[Joe Pineapples]

Ah, Crimson Fists? No pelts, Scoring Sternguard, not big on bikes, no pink or purple, on the whole a well rounded chapter without the whole flagellation/ I'm not worthy fluff you get with Imperial Fists and Black Templars.

[ElectricPaladin]

Not coming from the play aspect but rather the fluff aspect I would definitely say Blood Angels. You may struggle with them playing competitive games but once you get into the fluff they are the best chapter. EASILY.

Everyone picks on them for being emo pretty boys, but they have the most depth and character. They are a hero that is struggling to stay a hero. The other chapters lack that, I think. Like the Wolves they take their job of protecting mankind seriously, but they have the Flaw that makes them instinctively want to do the opposite of that. That they fight their instinct to do their job makes for the best story.

Dark Angels have the struggle but aren't as heroic (they'll kill anyone or do anything to keep their secret)
Space Wolves are written by a ten year old- "my guys are the best at everything and their only flaw just makes them better" Real 'my weakness is strong' type kitsch
Ultramarines (and most other codex chapters) and their successors are boring. No flaws, no struggles, no character. Though Raven Guard can be pretty cool, especially if you played up their slow gene degradation.

The Blood Angels are all about saving mankind but struggle with how delicious mankind is (the liquid stuff inside of them) And if you particularly like an aspect of their flaw, you can play a successor chapter that focusses on that;
Blood Angels for the nobility/ pomp
Flesh Tearers for the rage
Blood Drinkers for the thirst (and once you read Death of Integrity...oh my god the possibilities for story games are absurd)
Angels Sanguine for the secrecy
Angels Encarmine for the hubris/ pride.

Choose character and story, choose Blood Angels.

I'd like to second this. I love the heroic and tragic element of the Blood Angels. More than any other chapter, the Blood Angels - and to a varying degree, their successors, want to be nice. No other chapter embodies that desire - for some, like the Salamanders, it's pretty easy, while others, like the Black Templars, have no interest in mercy or compassion - as much as the Blood Angels do. Sanguinius was an Astarte's Primarch, in the sense that he knew the names and daily concerns of his men. He wept for them when they died in battle.

The Blood Angels want to fight for mankind out of pure, heroic selflessness.

But the are cursed. Damned by powers beyond their control or comprehension. They thirst for blood like some kind of warp-spawned nightmare. They must struggle every day with the desire to give in, to become a monster. Only in battle can they give voice to the screaming rage that has burrowed deep into their souls. They take refuge in pride, in all the pomp and ritual afforded to them as the Emperor's Astartes... but that isn't enough to hold the beast at bay.

Personally, I dig it. The Space Wolves don't really struggle against any kind of curse. The Dark Angels are - ultimately - arrogant jerks who could just let it go already and disavow the crimes of a previous generation, but for their pride. But the Blood Angels... they're tragic. They will fight to the last Astartes to protect humanity, but in the end, they must also protect humanity from themselves.

That's part of how I play my Knights of Blood, though their rage is the rage of the purist - of the idealist. In my force's personal fluff, their "bloodsoaked rampage" was basically them deciding that they were no longer going to limit their depredations to xenos and Chaos and started slaughtering anyone they viewed as unjust or corrupt, including planetary governments and inquisitors. That's what got them excommunicated, but they see that as no reason to stop!

[vigbrand]

I would suggest the Blood Ravens or one of their founding relatives. I like them..close-combat is their forte, and the scouts company is the only one usually using bikes. They do have TONS of Librarians and such as they are one of the heaviest pysker enhanced chapter I know off, other than the Grey Knights. What codex to use I cant really say as the only ones I am familiar with is Grey Knights, Ultramaries, and the Furry Space Wolves, who I like. Good luck!

[DariusAPB]

I'm not going to say what I think is best for you, but rather will give my reasoning. First of all. I hate painting red. There goes Blood Angels. Painting black is as boring as Sin, there goes templars. My first army was all black and suckily painted, this was 2nd ed. Next was Dark Angels, shooty space marines are my style. I started Crimson fists due to Pedro and sternguad in 5th and they are great, consider Sentinels of Terra for close order bolters, and Lysander is a close combat BEAST.. My current Space marine chapter (though my Crimson fists are updated) are the Raptors - mechanized with razorbacks. Lias has proven to be a fantastic psychological weapon against my opponents with his special rules and the rending bolters is sweet. This said these guys are very ranged combat orientated, still i'd recommend them. I'd like to point out that while some chapters have better synergy than others you always have options on how to play, so really you can just pick a colour scheme and then pick a chapter tactics. Then use what you want to use. I see a lot of people have suggested Carchrodons also, very good choice based on your criteria.

One question I gotta ask is what kind of game do you want to play, Mechanized, drop pod assault, jump packs, terminator heavy, veteran heavy, scout heavy? Are you wanting to lead with a Special character, chaplain, librarian, Master of the forge? I get you like assault, so Templars, Blood Angels, Wolf wolf wolves, and Carchadons are nice. If you like space magic, then Mantis warriors have a neat special character, as do the Ultramarines. Mantis Warriors also have some neat rules for assault. If you want a holy crusade motif, then Templars are awesome (I just hate their colour scheme - boring to paint).

[chadsteam]

Black Templars! One of my favorite twists on the standard Space Marine unit is taking a 16 model unit and assaulting out of a Land Raider Crusader. This close combat unit consists of 10 Marines (Initiates), 5 Scouts (Neophytes) and the Emperor's Champion. You can substitute with a Chaplain or Techmarine to fit your play style. The rest of your army can be made up of a variety of units to fit what you are looking for. You are not locked down to one list or play style to be successful.

[DavidTQ]

You really don't have to use the specified models and "fluff" to go with a codex to run that codex.

Personally I love Wolf pelts , I also love dark angel robes. I hate the baby blue space wolf colours. I therefore came up with my own chapter. and to be fair creating its back story is a really interesting part of the hobby for me.

I came up with what I wanted visually and then created their story around that. So my chapter is way out by the maelstrom, at some point they have had a schism within the chapter so half the chapter are ferocious barbarian (space wolves) and the other half ultra pious emperor worshippers.

There was an entire company lost within the warp (hazards of the maelstrom) half of which turned to slaneesh worship and the other half hunting them (giving me a nice little slaneesh noise marine army \ fallen and a space wolves 13th company).

Their home world is a feral human outpost in the midst of a massive ork empire (lots of them out near the maelstrom), the recruits are selected from regular humans who manage to kill an ork in hand to hand combat taking their axe as a trophy (my army features massive amounts of ork axe conversions).

My armies colours are based around the old snot green with some weathering effects (the more slaaneshi marines having some flourescent greens on a black base..) Having the same colours across the different factions of the army allows me to swap models between armies at will.

I can run codex dark angels, space wolves, space marines and chaos with the same models all very much what you see is what you get. And I have an army with my own character.

[The Imperial Fist]

Back when Dark Angels were made obsolete by C:SM in 4th I decided to start collecting a new chapter. My only criteria was not Ultramarines. The choice ended up being made by fluff. I love the fluff of both the Black Templars and Imperial Fists. Both match my own personality in certain ways but in the end I think the Fists more so. Guys that never back down from a fight, no matter the odds or cost. Stubborn and intractible. Tougher than the average marine (see HH books for references from Fabius on that). Not to mention they were there with the Emperor on Terra for the final battle, Sigismund is my single favourite character in 40k.

[Ezaviel]

I am kind of suprised no one suggested Raven Guard.

Strike from the Shadows: They get scout and stealth in the first turn. So they can reposition after deployment, and get bonus cover saves in the first turn.
Winged Deliverance: Jump pack marines get to reroll Hammer of Wrath, and they can charge with their jump packs.

They wear black armour with white details, and are a stealth specialist army.

From Lexicanium:
The Raven Guard are known for hitting weak points in enemy defences hard and they perform lightning strike upon locations of tactical importance to cripple their enemy. The Raven Guard disdain the notion of recklessly charging into enemy ranks. This differentiates their tactics from those of the Blood Angels. The Raven Guard rely heavily on their Scouts for pinpointing enemy positions and to scout for good drop sites. Because of their hit and run tactics they also make extensive use of Assault Squads. The Tactical Squads of the Raven Guard are often deployed via Thunderhawks or Drop Pods. The favorite weapons of the Raven Guard Commanders are the Lightning Claws and it is a common sight that their command squads also come equiped with these weapons in addition to their Jump Packs.

Raven Guard Captains are fiercely independent, and it's incredibly rare for the chapter to fight as a whole. Individual companies are completely autonomous and are quick to lend their aid to imperial commanders across the galaxy, with or without the sanction of their Chapter Master. Such behaviour has led to some to question the Raven Guard's soundness, but most recognise that such fluidity of command proves the presence of formidable discipline, not its absence.

Due to their specialised combat style, the Raven Guard makes less use of heavier vehicles and tanks (such as the Land Raider and Predator) than most chapters.

I guess we are ignoring them because they can be said to overly focus on Assault Marines?

[Killingtimegaming]

I would say start a chapter that you don't see a lot in your gaming circles. In mine I don't see a lot of crimson fists or salamanders. I have also never seen an aurora chapter.

[Nabterayl]

I'd been avoiding Raven Guard myself because I wasn't sure how the OP feels about assault marines, yeah.