The eternal war of the Empire against Chaos is one of the central points of Warhammer 40,000. Although there is no clear winner in the grand scheme of things, at least in the narrative, the “good” Space Marines repeatedly succeed in battle against their treacherous counterparts. There are good reasons for this, as lore-savvy users know.
From the outside, it may seem like an old-fashioned trope that the chivalrous Space Marines are always victorious. They face the traitors. During the Great Crusade, the Horus Heresy in the 31st millennium, half of all Space Marine legions fractured and now follow Chaos and its four gods.
But there is no “good” or “evil” in Warhammer. Everyone is nasty in their own way, even among Space Marines there is constant racism – or: speciesism – and often a fanatical loyalty to the absolutist regime.
For newcomers, it still seems that the Imperium of Man is “the good guys” in the story. This is partly because many of the tales are about the Imperium and the Space Marines and are written from this perspective.
On Reddit, a user noticed this and now wonders how the modern Adeptus Astartes can so easily defeat their heretical brothers. This is often the case in many stories – even though Chaos is also popular among players.
Veterans respond and explain that there isn’t necessarily a certain bias behind it, but rather valid lore reasons.
The Great Crusade was already 10,000 years ago:
What Chaos Space Marines learned was modern 10,000 years ago
The perhaps most important point why Chaos Space Marines are inferior to their loyal brothers lies, according to many fans, in the training. The training at Chaos is, after all, more than poor.
Here, clones, slaves, or lab-grown boys are simply stuffed with the appropriate means, mutating into Space Marines – perhaps – and then they are put into armor. Done. They lack training and discipline.
Another major point is described in the top comment: Tactics. Most (still) living Chaos Marines of the original traitor legions learned to fight over 10,000 years ago, in the times of the Crusades and the Heresy.
Back then, the legions still had 10,000 members or more. Behind a Space Marine stood thousands of brothers for support:
In the universe, Chaos Marines have lost their discipline and coordination. They fight as a one-man army. It also helps that they were trained in Crusade-era tactics. They could rely on tens of thousands of brothers supporting them.
The Codex Astartes, blunt as it is, is meant to optimize tactics for small units and teach them to fight in massive numerical inferiority. A Space Marine from the Great Crusade era is a jump soldier; a 40k Space Marine belongs to the elite special forces.
Matthius81 on Reddit
Loyal Space Marines are the absolute elite
In the comments, dozens of users cite various reasons why battles in Warhammer 40,000 often turn out in favor of the Imperial forces, especially the Space Marines. One of the most important: Chaos Space Marines are by far not as well trained.
Space Marines are genetically engineered superhumans equipped with additional organs, hardened bones, and super senses. Chaos Space Marines have that too, but their training differs fundamentally:
- A potential Astartes must first undergo hard trials before being accepted into the ranks of the Space Marines.
- After that, he serves as a scout in the 10th company and learns the art of war for years, decades, or centuries.
- If he becomes better and more important, survives all that, he may rise to the 9th and 8th companies, followed by the 7th and 6th – all still reserves of a chapter.
- Only from there does it go up to the active companies of the 2nd to 4th companies – and with a bit of luck, eventually to the veterans of the 1st.
By the way: Women can also pass the trials to become Astartes and even succeed, but they cannot become Space Marines. However, particularly gifted female aspirants often receive recommendations to be accepted into the Adepta Sororitas, warrior nuns with powers nearly equal to those of Space Marines.
Although the training of the Adeptus Astartes is not completely uniform and some induction rituals differ significantly, the discipline imparted is generally similar across all chapters.
Chaos has no interest in competition
Another user explains: In pure “man-to-man” combat, a Chaos Space Marine could likely defeat a comparable loyalist. 10,000 years of experience and the – albeit somewhat limited – support of the Chaos gods is a significant advantage.
However, as soon as it comes to larger battles, the loyal Astartes are superior again, simply because they fight for each other and not against one another. Because that’s exactly what happens in Chaos, where many followers are solely focused on personal strength or the strength of their own unit.
A personal power position should not be jeopardized by making subordinates stronger – success is encouraged among Space Marines. If another unit of Chaos Marines is defeated, it was evidently weak, and they can use its resources for themselves, so there’s no reason to support them.
Chaos is inherently self-destructive, because if one of their forces were ever to win, there would be no more Chaos, but order. It is in their own interest to sabotage other Chaos gods if necessary. This happens rarely with Space Marines.
Ultimately, however, part of the stories is simply dictated by “plot armor”; that is, certain characters may not die because the story would otherwise make no sense or be boring.
If you want to get an impression of how Space Marines and their treacherous brothers fight against each other, there are countless books about it. The Horus Heresy alone includes over 60 works. For an easier entry, we have tips for you here: There are over 350 books about Warhammer 40,000 – here are the 15 best to get you started in the world
