Editing Space Marines (section)

==How strong Space Marines are==
Fanboys and opponents constantly argue how strong Astartes are. This entails unfavorable comparisons to super soldiers like Custodians and Thunder Warriors, or comparisons to Ogryns and Imperial Assassins. The crunch can give reasonable estimates, but things like tabletop balancing show its limitations as broad indicators of performance (Guard officers have more wounds than Astartes recruits, although this could be argued as a tabletop representation of plot armour). Thus, it's often a matter of conjecture how far an abbreviated statistic translates into a hypothetical comparison; Strength 4 is weaker than Strength 5, but "Strength" can apply variously to lifting/pressing strength instead of striking force, hence why power-lifters don't necessarily make the best cage fighters.

The fluff (and writer) subject Astartes potency to many fluctuations, from absolute gods of battle to DOW1 opening redshirts levels of incompetence. Fans, BL and Codex writers all agree that Astartes are extremely powerful and resilient, with great tactical acumen (see [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMGRa4_UjE4 Astartes - Part Three] ). Most fans agree this representation of them is more canon than most video game trailers (looking at you DOW 3). Astartes Pt.3 shows their post-human skill and advanced equipment are a cut-above even the more competent (renegade) guardsmen.

It is not difficult to create super soldiers in the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. Examples going as far back as the early Great Crusade show that humans can be brought up to near-Astartes strength through various surgeries that do not involve gene-seed. Presently, just about every militant Imperial arm has their own equivalent of super soldiers, ranging from the Ordo Hereticus and the [[Sisters of Battle]] to the Adeptus Mechanicus with their various [[Skitarii]] forces. Some cultures (such as Necromunda's [[House Goliath]]) even have the facilities and resources to enhance their ''entire'' population with superhuman strength, and even create some individual members with levels of bulk and savagery that outright exceed Space Marines, so when reduced to sheer combat potential a Space Marine doesn't appear to be that special.

A Space Marine's true "strength" lies not with his muscle power or his resistance to injury but in the fact that he is trained and drilled to fight at optimal strength, regardless of whatever battlefield he finds himself in. A Space Marine is capable of fighting centuries-long campaigns, eating toxic foods, surviving in irradiated environments with little to no atmosphere, not requiring sleep, not worrying about the effects of zero-gravity, and more. If he is lost without resupply he can consume the genetic information of local fauna or his enemies to survive, else he can enter hibernation until he is recovered. If he is injured, the wound will seal in mere moments, preventing further damage through blood loss or infection. If he is killed his progenoid glands can be used to create more Space Marines in his place. More importantly, he is disciplined to a level far beyond the scope of an ordinary human soldier and is highly resistant to the psychological trauma inherent to participating in long, bloody wars. Even if you took away his size and muscle power, a Space Marine ''still'' ought to be one of the finest soldiers in existence.

There is also the added benefit that ''outside'' of combat situations, many Space Marines can generally find ways to make themselves useful in ways that roid-raging, uber warriors would find difficult: both [[Fulgrim]] and [[Sanguinius]] encouraged their sons to excel as artists and artisans; the [[Iron Warriors]] and the [[Thousand Sons]] ''(before the Heresy)'' were pretty good architects or scholars; and [[Vulkan]] and his sons were generally quite cool bros. This is [[Lion El'Jonson|not]] [[Angron|the]] [[Konrad Curze|rule]], but it shows how Space Marines ''could'' potentially have adapted to life during peacetime after their task was done.

None of these things translate to tabletop rules so they typically get discounted when trying to compare one to the other, but the context of a fight can be supremely important. For instance, an Ogryn certainly could not survive underwater or in methane atmospheres and would choke to death before the fight even began. It is unclear if other superhuman lines can do all of these things: Custodians are most likely equal if not superior to Astartes in most respects, but they are far more difficult to produce than Space Marines and are too valuable to waste on standard military operations. Thunder Warriors certainly couldn't do everything (and indeed were never intended to survive past the Unification Wars), while Assassins are subject to different upgrades that are more niche to their function. All of them might be physically more powerful than a Space Marine, but either take up more resources to create or are simply unsuited for other tasks.