It’s typically considered quite difficult to become a Space Marine. You can’t just be the toughest 10-year-old in your village; you have to be the hardest-brawling pre-teen in the whole region. Then you’ll meet all the other children selected by the Angels for their over-the-top belligerence. Perhaps you’ll have to fight them to prove your mettle, or perhaps you’ll have to work together to face insurmountable challenges. Either way, the mortality rate is extremely high.
And that’s before you have a single iota of transhuman gene-therapy. If you pass the gruelling selection process, you enter years of organ-implantation, body-modification, psycho-conditioning, and an intensive course of space bootcamp. Survive all that – far from a given – and you still aren’t a Space Marine.
No, to really prove you’re worthy of a place in the Chapter’s ranks, you’ll need to pick up some light armour, a shotgun, and a rugged pair of combat trousers, and head off to make your mark on some of the most dangerous missions open to the Adeptus Astartes. Yep, you’re a Space Marine Scout.
Scout Squads have been part of Space Marine lore for roughly as long as there have been Space Marines. With their lighter armour, tactical visors, and nifty mohawks, these stealthy youngbloods have been hitting the dirt upon distant objectives for decades.
The new Scouts are taller and leaner, but they keep the carapace armour and other classical accoutrements of the Space Marine neophyte. It’s all there – you’ve got a choice of boltguns, Astartes shotguns, or pistols and combat knives for each of the rank’n’file, with plenty of accessories and heads sporting a fresh trim.
Those who need to sneak heavier firepower onto the battlefield will find options for gunners lugging missile launchers or heavy bolters, as well as a cloaked sniper for picking off enemy CHARACTERS. Everything a youngblood needs to prove themselves to the Chapter!
That’s not all from the Adeptus Astartes revealed today – you can find all the rest of the Nova reveals here.
