And? There were in total the same amount of them. What is the significance of the fact that overarching organisations of SM became smaller?
Because they were showing up as actual armies as part of a campaign that was fighting on few enough fronts for them to actually be able to show up a lot of the time? They were a much larger and more relevant part of the Imperial war machine at that point than they were millennia later after the Imperium grew through Rogue Traders and further crusades, industrial worlds were built up, and forge worlds were recovered.
Is there any acknowledgement in-setting that this idea makes no sense?
No, just like there’s no acknowledgement that orks are very silly comic relief characters. The setting is written extremely drily, even when it’s talking about the extra big linebacker mutants with redundant spleens (actual lore) who drool acid (actual lore), eat their enemies’ brains to gain their knowledge (actual lore), have photochromic skin that makes their complexion instantly adapt to whatever light level they’re in so they don’t have to worry about sunburns or vitamin D (actual lore), and fight with chainsaws and rocket launching machine guns. Even if Space Marine fanboys have tried making them less silly in more recent editions they’re still an absolute shitpost of a concept, and the fact that everyone in-universe thinks they’re really cool and invincible and holy even though they’re these dorky dipshits who constantly lose all the time is an amazing gag.
But all that is kind of getting away from my original point, which was that the Imperium itself does “just make tanks instead,” and it makes absolutely absurd numbers of them because of its huge scale. Space Marines only get made by the tiny independent Space Marine chapter-states that are allied with but entirely independent of the Imperium, and in the overarching scale of the setting they don’t ever really show up or do much of anything compared to mundane human armies despite their prominence in the lore.
Because they were showing up as actual armies as part of a campaign that was fighting on few enough fronts for them to actually be able to show up a lot of the time?
A bunch of separate forces, stationed in different places, etc. are going to be able to participate in a wider range of conflicts.
If you are making a claim that there are fewer conflicts in 40k than there are in pre-Heresy era, I’m going to ask for a source.
No
In which case it seems very much like what you said was just your headcanon that is not supported by the official material.
Even if Space Marine fanboys have tried making them less silly in more recent editions they’re still an absolute shitpost of a concept
I.e. they fit much better with the pre-3rd edition version of the setting? I agree. And my point has been from the start that they make no sense in a setting that takes itself seriously.
But all that is kind of getting away from my original point, which was that the Imperium itself does “just make tanks instead,”
But it doesn’t. In both the pre-Heresy and 40k eras they do make more SM, and even develop the Primaris version instead of just using the resources for more actually useful stuff.
Space Marines only get made by the tiny independent Space Marine chapter-states that are allied with but entirely independent of the Imperium
Their relation to the wider Imperium is closer to being pseudo-feudal vassals of the Imperial government. I wouldn’t call them ‘entirely independent’.
OTOH, this is not particularly relevant to the topic, and is more of a nitpick.
Because they were showing up as actual armies as part of a campaign that was fighting on few enough fronts for them to actually be able to show up a lot of the time? They were a much larger and more relevant part of the Imperial war machine at that point than they were millennia later after the Imperium grew through Rogue Traders and further crusades, industrial worlds were built up, and forge worlds were recovered.
No, just like there’s no acknowledgement that orks are very silly comic relief characters. The setting is written extremely drily, even when it’s talking about the extra big linebacker mutants with redundant spleens (actual lore) who drool acid (actual lore), eat their enemies’ brains to gain their knowledge (actual lore), have photochromic skin that makes their complexion instantly adapt to whatever light level they’re in so they don’t have to worry about sunburns or vitamin D (actual lore), and fight with chainsaws and rocket launching machine guns. Even if Space Marine fanboys have tried making them less silly in more recent editions they’re still an absolute shitpost of a concept, and the fact that everyone in-universe thinks they’re really cool and invincible and holy even though they’re these dorky dipshits who constantly lose all the time is an amazing gag.
But all that is kind of getting away from my original point, which was that the Imperium itself does “just make tanks instead,” and it makes absolutely absurd numbers of them because of its huge scale. Space Marines only get made by the tiny independent Space Marine chapter-states that are allied with but entirely independent of the Imperium, and in the overarching scale of the setting they don’t ever really show up or do much of anything compared to mundane human armies despite their prominence in the lore.
A bunch of separate forces, stationed in different places, etc. are going to be able to participate in a wider range of conflicts.
If you are making a claim that there are fewer conflicts in 40k than there are in pre-Heresy era, I’m going to ask for a source.
In which case it seems very much like what you said was just your headcanon that is not supported by the official material.
I.e. they fit much better with the pre-3rd edition version of the setting? I agree. And my point has been from the start that they make no sense in a setting that takes itself seriously.
But it doesn’t. In both the pre-Heresy and 40k eras they do make more SM, and even develop the Primaris version instead of just using the resources for more actually useful stuff.
Their relation to the wider Imperium is closer to being pseudo-feudal vassals of the Imperial government. I wouldn’t call them ‘entirely independent’.
OTOH, this is not particularly relevant to the topic, and is more of a nitpick.