# Do the Space Marines And Imperial Guard Get along?



## Bigbossbalrog

Hi ive been Lurking here for some time And this question has been In my head for while! Do the imperial Guard and Space marines get along? And if so, do they respect each other?


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## GeneralSturnn

I'd think they'd get along when fight side by side, but most Guardsmen don't like Space Marines(feeling that Space Marines, same as Storm Trooper's) are glory hogs, just when the Imperial Guard has lost millions of men, the Space Marines show up and "steal" the glory right from under the Guard.


How do you think you would feel if you spent the past few months fighting real hard, then some power armored badass walks in, and kills the guys you've been fighting so hard, how would that make you feel? he let you sweat for all that period, when HE could have come in the very beginning and won it for you.


Some Space Marines regard Guardsmen(basically all normal Humans) as fodder, others highly prize normal Humans, and try their hardest to protect them.

Some Chapter's wouldn't bat an eyelash to destroy a Human population to stop whatever it was killing them from spreading, others would try their hardest to save who they could, and kill just the infected/tainted if no cure could be found.


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## Phoebus

Most Guardsmen in most novels seems to view the Space Marines as semi-divine "Angels of Death" and treat them accordingly.

The view Space Marines hold of the Imperial Guard varies, Chapter by Chapter. Some Chapters see the Guard as frail mortals who had best stay out of their way as they prosecute the Emperor's foes. Others view them as (overall) brave, loyal men and women whose courage and resolve is to be admired precisely because they are so weak and frail.

GeneralSturnn is certainly entitled to his opinion, but I have a hard time remembering the last 40k story where that kind of mentality was shown for Guardsmen.

Cheers,
P.


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## Lord Khorne

I wouldn't say Guardsmen resent Space Marines, I'd say they'd revere them. Take for example the reaction of Guardmen in the game 'Space Marine' they are like 'I'm happy to die now I've seen a space marine'.


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## yoyoyo12365

And, Space Marines are (depending on the chapter) often very high and mighty, and think much less of their human counterparts as warriors, often believing themselves to be the third most perfect form of warrior, following the Primarchs and, before them, the Emperor himself.

EDIT: Well, not most... But some.


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## GeneralSturnn

Phoebus said:


> Most Guardsmen in most novels seems to view the Space Marines as semi-divine "Angels of Death" and treat them accordingly.
> 
> The view Space Marines hold of the Imperial Guard varies, Chapter by Chapter. Some Chapters see the Guard as frail mortals who had best stay out of their way as they prosecute the Emperor's foes. Others view them as (overall) brave, loyal men and women whose courage and resolve is to be admired precisely because they are so weak and frail.
> 
> GeneralSturnn is certainly entitled to his opinion, but I have a hard time remembering the last 40k story where that kind of mentality was shown for Guardsmen.
> 
> Cheers,
> P.


I was putting more of an assumption of that when the Guard are on the attack, they wouldn't like having to sweat it out on a long campaign than someone comes in and steals it, but I guess they might be happy.

Though I'm sure Guardsmen would be quite happy to receive Space Marines, and expect quite a bit out of them during a fight(afterall, I'm sure Guardsmen hear stories about the super human feats of a Space Marine don't they?)

Of course, do Space Marines ever intervene on their own if the Guard were charged to take a system? or would they have to be requisitioned to fight alongside the Guard?


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## Baron Spikey

GeneralSturnn said:


> Of course, do Space Marines ever intervene on their own if the Guard were charged to take a system? or would they have to be requisitioned to fight alongside the Guard?


No such as thing as 'requisitioning' Space Marines, an Imperial Guard commander can ask for aid but the Astartes are just as likely to say 'No' as 'Yes'.

A lot of the time Space Marines act under their own volition, because they decided that the War was worthy of their intervention.


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## Bigbossbalrog

Ah so a good deal of Guardsmen Envy them? And view them as gods....Thats actually Funny.....


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## Phoebus

I don't know about envy. As much as knight or a peasant infantryman of the 12th century AD could envy Saint George if he was alive and fighting alongside them, I suppose.


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## Zion

From what I've gathered most humans revere and fear Space Marines since they're the instruments of the Emperor's will, and his creation.

As for the other way around....it depends on the chapter. Salamanders for example believe that human life isn't anything to be wasted.


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## the_man_with_plan

I'm pretty sure Phoebus has the right idea. the space marines are called "angels of death" for a reason. When all hope is lost, they descend from on high(drop pods), and smite the foes of the emperor. if you were a guardsman cowering in trench, and space marines arrived and destroyed the enemy without breaking a sweat, you'd think they were pretty damn holy. now the commanders, the ones who've never even seen the front lines and sit in their space ships plotting the campaign, THEY might resent the glory stealing of the space marines, but the infantry men, cowering in the muddy trenches, would be dropping to their knees and praising the god emperor for the arrival of the space marines.


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## 13illfred

The mere sight of space marines also touches many imperial guardsmen spiritually. The Imperial religion demands that untold trillions of citizens exhert and sacrifice themselves for a deity depicted in works of art. The Emperor himself created the space marines and those that witness them come the closest to seeing him than they ever will.


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## Moonschwine

It's a mixed view. You have to take into account that the fluff you read features alot of Guard and Space Marine encounters. However in the general "setting" of 40K encounters with Space Marines are meant to be ludicrously rare (discounting those who "share" a planet / system with a chapter, but even then, statistically this is a tiny fraction of the Imperium's population).

The average imperial citizen only hears the tales and the (false) Imperial Propoganda / Rumours about Space Marines through their entire lives. Imperial Guardsmen are these same citizen, and even for them it's very unlikely to come across a Space Marine unless they are on some Crusade, Happen to respond to aid request, or in a messed up situation enough to warrant the Astartes to show up. To many Imperial Guardsmen, Space Marines are myths, legends and for all intensive purposes - both divine saviours (showing up and kicking ass) and Bad Omens (stuffs so FUBAR the Astartes are needed) at the same time. So when they finally meet and see one there is inevitable awe (Marines are what lions are to cats and adults are to children) but also a natural fear (holy crap why are they here).

Marines on the other hand vary. Depending on chapter, doctrine, birthplace, training and so fourth. Some outright disregard the value of human lives (thinking Grey Knights here) - they only care that humanity as a whole survives; if you need to kill a hundred million, so be it. Most show disinterest (Blood Ravens, Ultramarines) - if they can preserve life they will, if they have to sacrifice it, so is the way of things. Some (Lamenters, Salamanders) hold human life as valuable and try and protect and preserve as much as they can.

Now; when the Guard and Marines meet. It's anyone's guess since it varies from marine to marine. But Generally Marines are built for one purpose - as weapons of war / mankind. They live to fight and die in the name of the Imperium. They are trained and enhanced to perfection in the crafts of death and have endless strength and stamina, in turn they are armoured and geared with divine weaponry made of the best technologies and mythical artefacts. And to top it off they live hundreds of years to fight in countless battles against uncountable numbers of enemies, spit acid, shrug off life-crippling wounds, have memory absorbing zombie-powers and if necessary can survive in the vacuum of space temporarily. 

Guardsmen on the other have none of this; maybe one or two guys live long enough to see an officer Comission and some very rare cases get Juve-Vat treatments, but otherwise the average Guardsmen is just as disposable as a bolt round. Inevitably when you place what is effectively a Demi-God of War next to a Rank and File Solider, there's going to be a clash of personalities.


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