What is vanilla

[foostoofoo]

So Ive heard a lot of people say vanilla marines. So what exactly is vanilla

[Abominable Plague Marine]

I would say anything that uses the Space Marine Codex without use of Special Characters to alter Chapter Tactics and such.

[Grabnutz]

Can the current Space Marine Codex really be said to be 'vanilla'? Even a brief reading will realize that this is Codex Ultramarines (and successor chapters).

I much preferred the Traits system of the previous Codex where you could create your own unique, yet not overbalanced Chapter.

[jeffersonian000]

Vanilla is the finest of the flavors.

SJ

[Abominable Plague Marine]

Even a brief reading will realize that this is Codex Ultramarines (and successor chapters).

haha, agreed, dont forget though it was the Ultramarine Primarch who wrote the Codex Astartes. Personally Ive got no problem with it.

[Grabnutz]

haha, agreed, dont forget though it was the Ultramarine Primarch who wrote the Codex Astartes. Personally Ive got no problem with it.

And you call yourself a Plague Marine

[lobster-overlord]

Ultramarines are Ultravanilla since they wrote the book.

I first heard the term while playing 3rd ed, and so I've always associated it with the old 3rd ed plastics "plug and play" marines that came in that box, the ones with the one static pose with the gun that plugs into the holes on the front, so I still call my three squads of those specifically the "vanilla" squads.

I look at it that if you build your army using the codex, without much in the way of mods; no conversions, no forgeworld, no special tricks, then they qualify as Vanilla, no matter the edition of the codex. Once you deviate, then you get your other flavors... Right now mine are cream-cicles.

[Culven]

I look at it that if you build your army using the codex, without much in the way of mods; no conversions, no forgeworld, no special tricks, then they qualify as Vanilla, no matter the edition of the codex. Once you deviate, then you get your other flavors... Right now mine are cream-cicles.

I have never heard of someone identifying an army as "vanilla" based upon the models. In my experience, it always referred to the rules used for the army. For example, Vanilla Marines were simply selected from Codex: Space Marines without the use use of any Traits. Similarly, a Vanillia IG army was selected from Codex: Imperial Guard without using any Doctrines to add "flavour" to the army. I think with the new codex format, vanilla armies would be those that don't use any of the special characters that add an army-specific flavour to the army.

[DuskRaider]

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla native to Mexico. Etymologically, vanilla derives from the Spanish word "vainilla", little pod. Originally cultivated by Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican peoples, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés is credited with introducing both the spice and chocolate to Europe in the 1520s. Attempts to cultivate the vanilla plant outside Mexico and Central America proved futile because of the symbiotic relationship between the tlilxochitl vine that produced the vanilla orchid and the local species of Melipona bee; it wasn't until 1837 that Belgian botanist Charles François Antoine Morren discovered this fact and pioneered a method of artificially pollinating the plant. Unfortunately, the method proved financially unworkable and was not deployed commercially. In 1841, a 12-year-old French-owned slave by the name of Edmond Albius, who lived on Île Bourbon, discovered the plant could be hand pollinated, allowing global cultivation of the plant.

There are currently three major cultivars of vanilla grown globally, all derived from a species originally found in Mesoamerica, including parts of modern day Mexico. The various subspecies are Vanilla planifolia (syn. V. fragrans), grown on Madagascar, Réunion and other tropical areas along the Indian Ocean; V. tahitensis, grown in the South Pacific; and V. pompona, found in the West Indies, Central and South America. The majority of the world's vanilla is the V. planifolia variety, more commonly known as "Madagascar-Bourbon" vanilla, which is produced in a small region of Madagascar and in Indonesia.

Vanilla is the second most expensive spice after saffron, due to the extensive labor required to grow the vanilla seed pods. Despite the expense, it is highly valued for its flavor, which author Frederic Rosengarten, Jr. described in The Book of Spices as "pure, spicy, and delicate" and its complex floral aroma depicted as a "peculiar bouquet." Regardless of its high cost, vanilla is widely used in both commercial and domestic baking, perfume manufacture and aromatherapy.

Sorry, couldn't help it after reading the title

[Aldramelech]

Vanilla= Simple, uncomplicated, basic. Originally U.S. Military slang.