Ultramarines are Romans, not Greeks IIRC. Anyhow, you could go with Persians, Carthaginians, Celts, Goths, Incas, Trojans etc etc. Pretty much pick any and you can apply their principles to a Space Marine Chapter.

E.g. Carthaginians: Reliance on heavy tanks (i.e. elephants), split into various 'tribes' under a warlord/captain type thing.

And so on.

 

Some of these Civs have a great history and many legends which you could incorporate in a chapter, but I just don't 'feel' it.

Carthaginians are a good idea though, I'm putting that one on my list. Thanks.

 

You could go for mayan marines but the could only be played in apocolypse games at the end of 2012.

Other ideas are zulu's or native americans

 

Apache's, I could see that working out, putting it on my list, thanks!

 

A good one that will almost certainly be unique would be a Maori/Polynesian theme.

They have a very clear warrior culture and the designs of the the Tikki's and Face Tattoos could make for some awesome looking mini's.

+1 for Zulu's too, African colours would look great !

 

+1 for Maori! Have you ever SEEN a Haka?

Most badass tradition ever, seriously. I can envision a total assault theme.

Alternatively: I've yet to see a Russian/Slavic themed chapter.

 

This thread has me thinking of a few different ideas now myself. I am working on a IG allies list and may try to paint my radioman as a navajo codetalker

 

The Imbangala. Probably one of the more brutish and cruel societies I have read about. The wikipedia page does not really do them justice. In short, they were a "tribe" of Angolans that were used by the Portuguese to subjugate the indigenous population of Angola.

They were slave traders and marauders that plundered neighboring tribes, stealing their children and inducting them into the tribe through a combination of corporal punishment, threats, etc. Children born into the tribe were killed outright, so the Imbangala could only survive through constant warfare. They also got wasted on a form of alcohol that was made by cutting down trees and allowing everything to ferment inside over several weeks.

Clearly, this would not be a "nice" Space Marine chapter. They would probably be on par with the Carcharodons . Come to think of it, the Carcharodons have all sorts of tribal markings on their Power Armor and could be modeled after the Maori.

 

hmmm, isn't deathwing from the DA native american based?

 

What makes you say that? They have some feathers and stuff but I wouldn't compare them to any native tribe. Am I being ignorant or missing something?

Anyway this is my current list:

Aztecs/Mayans
Native Americans (Apache tribe mostly.)
Carthaginians

Still need to check a few out.

 

According to a friend of mine, who's been in this game from the early beginnings, the Deathwing were based on Native American influences. To further support this he told me that there is an old Deathwing novel to support his claim. However, I'm guessing that after a while that influence may have fallen by the wayside.

I like the Apache idea. I think a red scheme lke the Uruk-hai flesh one on the GW site under the painting guide would look good.

 

That shit is ancient; at the same time roughly that Sigmar was a Primarch, and Chaos Warriors in Fantasy could take Space Marines with Bolters and Chainswords; along with "Space Marine" and "Eye of Terror" novels; they are not exactly chewing-cow and shitting-dog any more.

Spanish Conquistadors; static gunlines and infantry blocks supported by light cavalry.

Norman/Frank Knights; Oddly I've yet to see this done. Sure the Black Templars are similar, but hardly "cavalry" flavoured.

Samurai; there is very little actually around for Samurai pieces which makes it a little hard, but fluffwise, they are very popular; Mantis Warriors seem to extol a bit of their virtues (read Goto's Mantis Short; its not brilliant but it is fairly decent).

Atlantis/Greek Pantheon; while the Ultra's showcase City-States/Athens, and Minotaurs do Sparta, very little of the Mythology outside of the Minotaur comes across. Perhaps a link to the Alpha Legion with the Hydra; alternatively Lion; (see Celestial Lion below). I like the idea of a Chapter using Trident a bit like Poseidon. The other method is "Troy"; with Achilles etc.

Celestial Lions; this struck me as I was writing earlier; the Nemian Lion (i think; one of the tasks/trials of hercules); there is little fluff of them aside from the Armageddon war; there are few Astral Claws shoulder pads which could help; see Huron's model.

Lastly; Turkish/Ottoman Janissaries; they steal candidates from other chapters and then train them inti their own soldiers; like some sort of "ebil" Deathwatch.

 

That shit is ancient; at the same time roughly that Sigmar was a Primarch, and Chaos Warriors in Fantasy could take Space Marines with Bolters and Chainswords; along with "Space Marine" and "Eye of Terror" novels; they are not exactly chewing-cow and shitting-dog any more.

Vaz, what are you talking about?

 

I'd like to see a chapter based off of vlad the impaler's army.

Read about him.

 

Thst is blood angels/flesh tearers.

 

I think an army based off Parthia (Mainly featuring purple with infantry being supported by very fast archer cav and the fearsome cataphractii) would be cool to see. Either them or perhaps a Rennaissance style army (with an emphasis on science by having lots of hi-tec gadgets and new contraptions).

 

Deathwing being Indians in Space.

 

Librarian Two-Heads-Talking for example.....

 

It is correct that the Deathwing thing is from an old novel called Deathwing.

Spoiler:

Back then they only had one planet which they recruited from. When a small contingent arrived there, they found out that their "relatives" had been enslaved by a genestealer cult.

The terminators were just a squad or something. They decided to take the fight to the cult, instead of reporting back to the Imperium. Had they done this, their people would probably have gotten exterminated. And would it turn out that way, the Dark Angels would have lost their cultural past, having to find new people to recruit from.

So these few terminators enacted an ancient ritual from their culture, which meant that they painted their bodies (armour) bone white, to symbolise that they were already dead men, and that they had accepted this fact.

And finally, the people living on this planet, were portrayed as being native american indians.

I am using celtic/pictish names for my World Eater warband.

 

I came up with a white scar successor called the Jade Sabres who were based on ancient china when there was loads old dynasties.

 

This conversation about Native Americans has me wondering why not use Indians? The subcontinent is a cultural treasure trove.

 

What about Ninja Marines that exell at infiltration? They have an elite option that only wear scout armour for higher mobility and agility. They train soley in close combat and have an improved stateline with WS5 BS4 S4 T4 W1 I5 A2 Ld9 Sv4+ Spec rules.
Hensōjutsu (Stone techniques) = These marines exell at being hidden and springing ambushes. They got the Scout and stealth special rules. More, they do not suffer much penalties for going to ground.

I do not have my rule book right now so I do't know exactly how the Go to Ground works for the moment but something that makes it more favorable for them

 

You could also look for some shinto influence for some cool ideas. The kama spirts bound to the weapons for reverence though might lead to chaos....

 

And there you have a constant battle of will within the Chapter as they try to avoid "treading the dark path"

 

I would love to see something based on Vikings. Especially since GW's own interpretation (Space Wolves) is really, really, horribly, utterly bad at that parallel.

If anyone's familiar with the Conan universe, it would basically have to be a lot more Vanir and a lot less Cimmerian. It's like GW had Vikings and Celts way confused, or maybe even intentionally intertwined them in a failed effort to be cute.