# Age limit of Space Marine recruiting



## heliosmj12 (Mar 30, 2008)

Is there any fluff about the age limit of recruiting for Space Marine chapters?
I was reading through the rule book fluff and It says they would only recruit people young enough to accept the new organs and gene-seed. I was thinking that it could have been at 20 years. If they had sped up growth then they would have probably been fully grown by the age of five (like the storm troopers in Star Wars Ep2 show us).


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## Digg40k (Sep 7, 2008)

Most fluff has it at very young indeed, however some has it during the teenage years. If you consider DA fluff though, the old comrades and knights of the Lion took the trials and the implantations as fully grown men.

I don't think there is a solid answer to your question however, one thing can be agreed on is that the younger the supplicants are the more likely they are to accept the new organs and geneseed.


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## Praxiss (Aug 13, 2009)

/Agree.

From what i have read (admittedly not as much as some) Sm candiadates can be tested after they are fulla dults, but the chances of accepting the geneseed and implants go down the older you are (hence Luther was older and coudl not accept the implants). Presumably, if you were older and in perfect health then you might be accepted.


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## Skye (Oct 22, 2008)

In the Dark Angels book they mentioned Luther being too old to be inplanted with a geneseed. All he got was genetic enhancements.
....Makes me wonder....did the Lion's comrades have to take in his geneseed? That seems...so personal! :shok:


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## revenant13 (Feb 15, 2008)

i always assumed in had to be in their early to mid teen years. makes sense if you think about it. at that age youre still growing and with the geneseed it makes you grow in a different fashion\direction, youre not being _forced_ to grow. When youre an adult youve stopped growing (for the most part) so a geneseed would force growth that isnt present anymore making it very painful. something about that is mentioned in _Tales of Heresy_. when space wolves were recruiting from fenris a lot of the adult applicants were killed (like only 1 in every 100 or 1000 survived the change).


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## Talos (Aug 4, 2008)

In the New space wolf codex in the Iron fathers bit it talks about to be an iron father you have to make your way to there forges and then build a weapon.
There is a story of one guy who goes off to do this, he was already a giant in this town and a very skilled blacksmith.
This made me think he is quite alot older than the normal people the SM recruit. I cant see a teen being a skilled blacksmith or viewed as a giant.


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## heliosmj12 (Mar 30, 2008)

By the sounds of it each chapter, obviously, has different recruiting ages.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

I think if you look at the HH novels, it mentions in various places, especially where warriors from a primarchs home world are being initiated, that fully developed adults can undergo the surgery and implantations, but the risk of failure and death is a lot higher. So, instead of risking this, as a rule the chapters prefer to take adolescents. I think in the Soul Drinkers novels they took in several recruits that weren't far off adulthood, so maybe desperation might drive a chapter to recruit from older stock.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

Generally, the surgeries are easier and safer on younger recruits-- most Chapters don't recruit anyone older than their early teens. A noteworthy example are the Space Wolves, who recruit badly injured warriors off of Fenresian battlefields-- it'd be reasonable for those individuals to be in their late teens. Chapters tend to look for late pre-teen/early teens as recruits, since they're old enough to theoretically handle the trials they face to prove their worthiness, but young enough that the surgeries aren't almost always fatal. 

Recruitment practices following the Heresy changed significantly-- training of Space Marines was formerly a rather fast ordeal in order to keep the Legions at full strength. Contemporary practices put an aspirant through trial for nearly a decade before they serve in the Scout Company, which may last up to another decade. In many cases, a warrior will only be initiated into the Chapter following their novicehood and tenure in the 10th Company no sooner than their thirtieth year.


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## Fire starter Pyro (Apr 1, 2009)

Im sure i read some where that recruits had to be in the early stage of pubity as their bodies can only accept the changes fully as a part of pubity, after they are tested for compatability.

as for the DA im sure it mentions that the technology of creating Astartes like soliders (im suer it mentions that they 'arn't full marines) was lost after the HH.


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## Skye (Oct 22, 2008)

revenant13 said:


> i always assumed in had to be in their early to mid teen years. makes sense if you think about it. at that age youre still growing and with the geneseed it makes you grow in a different fashiondirection, youre not being _forced_ to grow. When youre an adult youve stopped growing (for the most part) so a geneseed would force growth that isnt present anymore making it very painful. something about that is mentioned in _Tales of Heresy_. when space wolves were recruiting from fenris a lot of the adult applicants were killed (like only 1 in every 100 or 1000 survived the change).


Also if you read the Blood Angels books, they talk a lot about the trials. Methinks the main char. was 14.
Also I have read that it is VERY painful. The Black Templars trials have to do with continuous combat, during the transformation, with no weapons.... In one I read about how the main char. had to kill a man that had been rejected by the geneseed and had been turned into a monser.


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## CaptianEzekyleAbbadon (Feb 6, 2009)

i mean in the space wolves omnibus when Ragnar first becomes a space wolf he is only in his teens. i think he was only 15-16.












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## Fungus (Jul 17, 2009)

it's a prepubescent thing usually, it means they have a better chance of accepting the geneseed and enhancements. and I think Ragnar was 14 at the time of his acceptance and he was in early stages of puberty. :grin:


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## Lucio (Aug 10, 2009)

Is there a minimum age? I don't know what the laws are on the various planets but if there is any abortion or like process there are potential space marines that can be raised by the chapter.


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