I see a lot of discussion in this forum about how to play a Space Marine. The funny  thing I see however is that they are typically going off of standard Codex rules. Thats the beauty of the Black Templars - They don't go off of the standard Space Marine codex. I know there are some people here who have a local hobby store, so go check out the Black Templar codex next time you go - they are radically different from the standard Space Marine chapters. I am mostly going from memory here so a few bits and peices may be incorrect, but the biggest difference is troop choices. For instance:

Neophytes vs Scouts and Tactical Marines.

As far as I know, the BT don't usually utilize scouts or tacticle marines. Instead, they have what are referred to as "Neophytes." Kind of a combination of the two. They both go into combat together, as one squad. A BT, once trained, becomes a Neophyte, somewhat like what a Bloodclaw is to a Space Wolf (The new recruits of the Chapter). Except the Neophyte can be dressed in either Scout or Powered Armor. They still utilize wide arrays of weaponry and equipment - Powerfists, Bolters, chainswords so on. So, as playing a Black Templar Space Marine, It would be logical to assume you are able to still wear Space Marine equipment without becoming a full fledged Space Marine, or at  least "lower grade" power armor. Once fully accepted however, they can fulfill a number of different roles - Assault Marines, for example. Wearing full powered armor but utilizing Jump Packs. After continually to prove himself in battle, he can be accepted as a Sword Brethren, pretty much the Veteran's of the 1st company. They still have their Chaplains (which would be awesome to play as) and Castellans, which act as Captains. And just because they are a Captain won't precisely mean that they "must" lead a Company -  but can just otherwise be a more powerful class. And they all still have their Terminator armor fluff, but because they arn't based off the standard Space Marine rules, they can likely be highly customized. It's not unheard of to see patch-work armor on a Black Templar Neophyte.

For those unfamilier with the Lore of the BT, they are based off of medieval crusaders during the 11th to 13th centuries. They are made to resemble Knightly orders. So from this you can expect heraldry, tabards, so on and so forth.

In a nutshell, what I am expecting is starting off as a Neophyte, and once hitting a particular level, you're character can branch off to whatever specilization you prefer - From going to assault and specializing in Jump Packs, Go the route of Sword Brethren, or still stay as a Ranged Specialist. Or even maybe become a Chaplain or Castellan.

I see such a wide array of possible ways to play as the Space Marine Class which many different branching Paths. The possible depth is quite astounding, and after doing some research on the Chapter,  my expectations have again been raised.

The only thing that bothers me is it would have been nice to support play as other Marine chapters in some form.  I understand that it's far simpler from a narrative standpoint to base the game off a single chapter, but come on, Black Templars?  Sure, they are THQ's pet chapter, but there are SOOO many other chapters with a depth of lore and background 1,000 times more deep.  Lots of fans just wont be content if there Space Wolves, Ultramarines, Grey Knights, Dark Angels are not in game.

I can see them offering other space marine bits for the Black Templars - its not unheard of to see chapters using equipment from other chapters. The chapter masters, captains, and what have you can still be on good terms with others, and thus can "gift" equipment.

In Dawn of War 2, they had weapons and equipment that were "related" to other chapters. An epic axe in DOW2 was made for Ragnar Blackmane out of good will, and had an icey space-wolfy look to it.

Good points all, this is almost certainly the reason that this chapter was chosen by the devs, however you also fail to mention that the Black Templars are particularly noted for specialising in close combat and for having an exceptional (even within the Adeptus astartes) hatred for Xenos and Mutants, to the extent of not having librarians because psykers are mutants.

In a background that will place them [the Black Templars] in a close alliance with the imperial guard, and a likely loose alliance with Eldar, they will be expected to bear close and regular contact with imperial psykers (to the extent of forming squads with them!) and suffer not only Xenos, but Xenos psykers, to live... A very uncomfortable position for them to be in and Vigil had better be damn sure to have a great reason why this is the case and constantly play on how strained these alliances are!

Black templars are thq's pet chapter?! surely you mean the Blood Ravens Dmosed?

 Shows how much i know about the BT chapter. As for the alliance can nayoen tlel me if Imperium is in itself counting as a faction? If so Guardsmen and Templars may be the two we are looking at with chaos and orks on the other end. If they hate zenos as much as it seems i don;t think an Eldar army will be on the Imperiums side for this; and is anyone else hoping that if we did have eldar/Imperium peace for DMO that we are restricted from visiting the others home bases? I don't think either would allow man/zenos on their home no matter the political standing.

 I can see them working with some Guardsmen unit that has few mutant units within; but while they certainly wouldn't like it i doubt they would refuse to work with a Cadian Guard unit because it had a ratling or an Ogryn in its ranks. Going to need to pick up a copy of the BT codex next chance i get.

"FOR IN THE GRIM DARKNESS OF THE FAR FUTURE THERE IS ONLY WAR" Plain and simple there is no need to have alies between no factions! Why is that its bcz they all hate each other they have never alied before in any of Warhammer 40k games and they should not alied them now for the MMO that will kill the lore

Originally posted by MysticBeast

"FOR IN THE GRIM DARKNESS OF THE FAR FUTURE THERE IS ONLY WAR" Plain and simple there is no need to have alies between no factions! Why is that its bcz they all hate each other they have never alied before in any of Warhammer 40k games and they should not alied them now for the MMO that will kill the lore

Some have in fact allied together in lore. You can bet your ass the Imperial Guard has allied with the Space marines, and even the Eldar have had some sort of relationship with the Imperium. 

In the scheme of the Warhammer 40k universe The Black Templars are the "New Kids on the Block". They have usurped over 20 years of WH40K lore for the sake of making GW more money.

 So please do not champion them as canon. The  Black Templars are nothing more than the "Temple Whorse"  of the new face of Games Workshop. A face that has no problem pimping out the corpse of their forefathers to turn a quick buck.

Originally posted by Tardcore

In the scheme of the Warhammer 40k universe The Black Templars are the "New Kids on the Block". They have usurped over 20 years of WH40K lore for the sake of making GW more money.

 So please do not champion them as canon. The  Black Templars are nothing more than the "Temple Whorse"  of the new face of Games Workshop. A face that has no problem pimping out the corpse of their forefathers to turn a quick buck.

 New kids on the block? Since when? Black Templars have been around for years. They are even in the original lore since the 2nd founding, when the Imperial Fists gave way to the Crimson Fists and Black Templars. They've been around for a very, very long time.

A shame i won't be able to play a Blood Angel, at least I don't think. But If i recall (on an interview on eurogamer) they intend on adding more chapters in expansions or major patches perhaps?

Originally posted by Dnomsed

The only thing that bothers me is it would have been nice to support play as other Marine chapters in some form.  I understand that it's far simpler from a narrative standpoint to base the game off a single chapter, but come on, Black Templars?  Sure, they are THQ's pet chapter, but there are SOOO many other chapters with a depth of lore and background 1,000 times more deep.  Lots of fans just wont be content if there Space Wolves, Ultramarines, Grey Knights, Dark Angels are not in game.

And so it begins... this is a big hurdle for choosing a well established IP for an MMO: The devs getting out their scalpels and grafting different things together or seemingly throwing a bloody mess out as fans watch on in horrid fascination!

Ok, melodramatics aside, I agree as a fan I'd prefer Dark Angels, Eldar, Tau, Tyranids in some fashion or other with multiple factions that "hate" each other for really interesting lore reasons.

Yes they said that they will not release all the factions at the begging and that they will be adding them later, also they will add new chapters and all kinds of new stuff to the game! I mean if they do things right they can be adding so much stuff to WH40K sense its entire lore is huge, different planets, all kinds of stuff to the game can be added if they do things right!!

Originally posted by MysticBeast

Yes they said that they will not release all the factions at the begging and that they will be adding them later, also they will add new chapters and all kinds of new stuff to the game! I mean if they do things right they can be adding so much stuff to WH40K sense its entire lore is huge, different planets, all kinds of stuff to the game can be added if they do things right!!

 Actually, I think they said the other chapters will be "represented" in some way. NPC's more likely. Although with a game of this scope, it's not unreasonable to think that they will add other playable chapters sometime in the future. And not just for Space Marines either - They can add different groups for Eldar and Chaos legions as well. Just to add some more flavor - focusing solely on space marines would be a very, very, VERY bad move.

Originally posted by MysticBeast

Yes they said that they will not release all the factions at the begging and that they will be adding them later, also they will add new chapters and all kinds of new stuff to the game! I mean if they do things right they can be adding so much stuff to WH40K sense its entire lore is huge, different planets, all kinds of stuff to the game can be added if they do things right!!

Just because it's in the IP doesn't mean it has to be in this game. Not every planet can be a tomb world in the tyranids path that space marines recruit from which the tau are trying to annex and has indigenous orks that raised a waaaagh who are covering for the chaos space marines that are trying to unleash a demon from his prison and is thus doomed because the Inquisition is going to come and perform an exterminatus on it. The galaxy is a pretty big place, not everyone can have a presence in every fight at every corner of the galaxy.

Also, there's plenty of room for alliances of opportunity in 40k. If a farseer contacts an imperial guard regiment and says they want to help them kill Orks and Chaos, do you think the guard are going to flip them the bird and try taking them all on at the same time? Or even if the Eldar would attempt the same thing? Stop jumping to conclusions that a faction in 40k means that once this fight is over the Imperium and Eldar are going to stop hating each other. This isn't world of warcraft.

"Just because it's in the IP doesn't mean it has to be in this game. Not every planet can be a tomb world in the tyranids path that space marines recruit from which the tau are trying to annex and has indigenous orks that raised a waaaagh who are covering for the chaos space marines that are trying to unleash a demon from his prison and is thus doomed because the Inquisition is going to come and perform an exterminatus on it. The galaxy is a pretty big place, not everyone can have a presence in every fight at every corner of the galaxy.

Also, there's plenty of room for alliances of opportunity in 40k. If a farseer contacts an imperial guard regiment and says they want to help them kill Orks and Chaos, do you think the guard are going to flip them the bird and try taking them all on at the same time? Or even if the Eldar would attempt the same thing? Stop jumping to conclusions that a faction in 40k means that once this fight is over the Imperium and Eldar are going to stop hating each other. This isn't world of warcraft."

Well i never said that they will stop hating each other! As you can read in my previous post, i just said that they will be adding dif. stuff to the game later, thats all i said. me personally will be playing an ork if they are avaible to be chosen

Originally posted by Tardcore

In the scheme of the Warhammer 40k universe The Black Templars are the "New Kids on the Block". They have usurped over 20 years of WH40K lore for the sake of making GW more money.

 So please do not champion them as canon. The  Black Templars are nothing more than the "Temple Whorse"  of the new face of Games Workshop. A face that has no problem pimping out the corpse of their forefathers to turn a quick buck.

They're the what now? :)

Dude, there hasn't been a new model for Black Templars in years, and their codex is a horribly outdated 4th edition crapfest. They're not new-anything mate. ;)

Back OT: Granted, though, they are a curious choice for promoting Dark Millenium, when there's plenty other more popular chapters. I thought THQ's pet chapter were the Blood Ravens anyway.

Still, I'm guessing we'll see a few chapters represented.

Originally posted by korvass

Originally posted by Tardcore

In the scheme of the Warhammer 40k universe The Black Templars are the "New Kids on the Block". They have usurped over 20 years of WH40K lore for the sake of making GW more money.

 So please do not champion them as canon. The  Black Templars are nothing more than the "Temple Whorse"  of the new face of Games Workshop. A face that has no problem pimping out the corpse of their forefathers to turn a quick buck.

They're the what now? :)

Dude, there hasn't been a new model for Black Templars in years, and their codex is a horribly outdated 4th edition crapfest. They're not new-anything mate. ;)

Back OT: Granted, though, they are a curious choice for promoting Dark Millenium, when there's plenty other more popular chapters. I thought THQ's pet chapter were the Blood Ravens anyway.

Still, I'm guessing we'll see a few chapters represented.

Actually the BT just got a new codex released. They are supposedly the bomb-diggity right now.

And the BT really make sense in terms of going into an MMO. They're lore really fits it all better then the rest. They can be shooty, they can be very close combat oriented, and they are all over the place.

 Grey nights got the codex update and BT seem to be lacking highly in units. From a design standpoint i can see them being designed with the express purpose of making money instead of adding to the IP.

 Fro ma design stand point:

A) based on TEMPALRS! most nerds have an orgasm thinking about knightly orders such as them.

B) Have no set limit on marines in the chapter; so that having 5,000 marines in the game will not be odd.

C) They have no fortress world only a large fleet of battle barges so they might be able to do mroe with the base.

 Not a fan of them though.

Originally posted by freakishbean

Originally posted by korvass

Originally posted by Tardcore

In the scheme of the Warhammer 40k universe The Black Templars are the "New Kids on the Block". They have usurped over 20 years of WH40K lore for the sake of making GW more money.

 So please do not champion them as canon. The  Black Templars are nothing more than the "Temple Whorse"  of the new face of Games Workshop. A face that has no problem pimping out the corpse of their forefathers to turn a quick buck.

They're the what now? :)

Dude, there hasn't been a new model for Black Templars in years, and their codex is a horribly outdated 4th edition crapfest. They're not new-anything mate. ;)

Back OT: Granted, though, they are a curious choice for promoting Dark Millenium, when there's plenty other more popular chapters. I thought THQ's pet chapter were the Blood Ravens anyway.

Still, I'm guessing we'll see a few chapters represented.

Actually the BT just got a new codex released. They are supposedly the bomb-diggity right now.

And the BT really make sense in terms of going into an MMO. They're lore really fits it all better then the rest. They can be shooty, they can be very close combat oriented, and they are all over the place.

Yeah, I think you mean Grey Knights. :)

Unless they released some 5th Edition .pdf update or something. I work in a gaming store, and haven't seen any new BT stuff in a while.

I think they will be used in DMO because they are a good example of Space Marines at their most zealous. Probably easier for non-40K fans to relate to, compared to the boys in blue or red. Knights Templar and all that jazz..

It's all good. As long as they play better online than their table-top counterparts. ;)

eldar only allies with imperium of man in a time of need. but they do not ever show love for each other. eldar uses the imperium to thier advantage.

Orkz only ally with chaos for a good fight. because chaos are pussies compared to the imperium . Orkz like a good fight. Though chaos also supplies orkz with the weapons. like the big huge monster things which orkz ride on the back of.