Editing Robin Cruddace (section)

==And then, Codex: Space Marines==
When Cruddace was revealed as the writer of the new Codex: Space Marines, there was much moaning at how badly they were going to be nerfed. In amongst all the complaining about how stupid the Centurions looked, the doomsayers spoke of an age when Vanilla Marines would be amongst the worst Codices in the game.

And then, it was released, and there was much confusion.

Unlike Cruddace's Imperial Guard, or the Eldar and Tau Empire books that had been released recently, it wasn't overpowered against the others. Unlike Cruddace's Tyranids, or the recently produced Chaos Space Marines, it was neither underpowered nor monobuild. There was shock and confusion. For the first time in a long while, there was a Codex that was neither [[rape]] nor [[fail]]. It was... ''good''.

The Chapter Tactics, whilst having [[White Scars|some]] more powerful than [[Raven Guard|others]], were all valid choices that could have decent army lists written for them. The Black Templars took few casualties during the transfer. The fluff ([[Skub|with]] [[Black Templars|a few]] [[Iron Hands|exceptions]]) was well-written and portrayed every Chapter faithfully (with the obvious exception being Ultra-wank in every non-Ultra Chapter's story). Most of the options in each slot could be taken in a good army list. It was ''good''.

What this indicates regarding Cruddace's writing ability is unknown.  There are several views which can be loosely grouped together.  The first view is since he has demonstrated bias towards Imperium factions, especially those with tanks (It is very convenient that the Imperial Guard [his favorite army] can now bring a larger allied Space Marine force WITH all their vehicles, and that transports can be taken for free in a certain detachment), this codex is a work of selfish favoritism.  The second relates, as Space Marines have long been Games Workshop's Creator's Pet/Cash Cow; GW could have been looking over Cruddace's shoulder while he wrote the codex to ensure their pet stayed at the top like they want.  The third is a case of Occam's Razor, where Cruddace's talents have been [[Level|improving]] over time with practice or he had a flash of brilliance resulting in the codex being better-than-average for him. Another possibility may be the fact that GW is finally doing actual playtesting. 

As ever, get the facts straight and draw your own conclusions.