Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-4851119-20140118095944/@comment-86.155.215.82-20150120134049

It's one thing to absorb something when they know they are staying, because they have nothing to go back to, any changes are long time. Spaces can be made to accommadate, they marines can be less resistent to change as they know they need to adapt. It is entirely another to try to bolt on a extra unit from elsewhere, when it is likely that eventually they will leave.

If marines can have selective mind wiping, after various event such as assisting fend of chaos assaults etc and marines can use mental re-conditioning to development from recruit to marine...why can't this occur to a dispossed bunch of marines too? It can of course.

As I say, no one ever said that it was the fully trained, experienced marines, it could well be the fresh out the box newbies, less set in their ways (and the legions) or even just the recruits, who are to all intensive purposes, blank slates. This would make merging easier.

I'm talking about the drop site survivors who gave the Emperors Children and Iron Warriors a hard time in Angel Exterminatus etc They died but they achieved goals.

It's been a good few years since i read the book but no where does it refer to the medrengard loyalists fighting just a single incident, it pitches it at long term asymetric warefare.

And of course the Raven Guard compared to the Salamanders would stick out like a sore thumb from each other but a un-armoured, middle of the line legion would cope. Not all legions and not all marines are excessively different.

You just have to look at the large number of instances in the lore you so faithfully cling too, that speak of marines working in tamdem, of small pockets added to larger forces, showing successful joint operations to see that their is enough common ground to allow for merges.

Your use of the available lore is a good thing if used correctly but it is likened to sitting in a dark room with a elephant. You can touch a little at a time and work out bits of it, but you will always have a incomplete understanding of that elephant. If the next novel confirms the Ultramaines took some marines in, are you going to refuse them? No, because put it this way. If characters in the books even believe the rumours or think it possible enough, and they would know alot more than us on the details, then way can you discount the possibilty, whe you are working from seconded hand information. You will always be in a position of knowledge weakness as GWS will keep you there by only writing what they want you to know.

There is a lack of positive evidence, but actually very little negative evidence, it is very much left open to potential. This is especially so as we don't know the conditions of any merge i.e. no one said it merged tens of thousands into the hundred thousands of the ultramarines, it might have only been a few thousand. That many in a large legion would get lost fairly easily, especially if spread around the various companies.

You can not 100% say that genetics would make them stand out and as far as not having the codex, that is a double edged sword really, can help and hinder a merge. But flying a thunderhawk, striping a bolter, maintaining a given mark of armour, clearing a room, setting up a ambush would all be stand stuff really. So most marines probably have 80-90% common traing. The rest is the indivdualisation of the chapter. If this were not true, how would organisation such as the Death Watch, who use codex compliant and not alike, allow high performace, joint operations.

Face it, be mature, it is a possibilty. No one even said it would be easy but it could occur.