Okay we touched on why the cutlass could be important enough to warrant every Marine knowing how to use one so we are ready to do this thing. The Marines are carried aboard naval ships; secure navy bases and guard starports. First thing I am going to change is removing the general guarding starports role. Starports are going to be civilian commercial installations and guarded by civilians also you would have squad sized independent units spread all over D and E starports across the imperium and that makes no sense.
Moving on to the tables the first thing we see is the Marines have the highest enlistment number in the game (only Doctors match it) which could indicate a smaller highly selective force. I am going with the key quality being political reliability. The Imperium has the Marines watching the Navy to make it harder for the next Admiral Plankwell. I don't see this as a SOLSEC kind of explicit mission though more along the lines of indoctrination, sorry, service history stories. What is and isn't a lawful order; idealized role of the military in the Imperium and how it is the responsibility and sacred duty of the armed forces to guard against internal as well as external threats (the Marines are just better at it). Why would the emperor lose sleep over the Navy? It is the only branch that can threaten the Imperium rather than just a world the unit is stationed on. As for DM's to enlist the minor preference is for quick thinking and a major bonus for a high strength.
They get shot at more than other services with only the semi-suicidal Scouts having a higher Survival roll. Endurance gives the bonus on this roll. This goes along with my premise of the reliable service in that the Marines get sent in first because they will do what is in the Imperium's interest and then a more permanent solution is put in place if need be. Being able to operate on less sleep and resist supply deprivations is handy if you are a member of a smaller force operating in hostile territory.
Commissions are hard to come by and again we see the military forces preference for knowing facts as the DM comes from EDU but anyone with the standard schooling should be able to get the bonus.
Promotion is also difficult and it matters who your family is as the DM comes from SOC although being from a moderately well off family is good enough.
Reenlistment is, like the Navy, not a sure thing.
As stated above every Marine has Cutlass - 1 and on earning a Commission they get Revolver -1 a more mechanically reliable sidearm than an automatic pistol.
The cash table has an oddity in that the lowest roll is twice what the naval character would earn and the two highest rolls are less than the corresponding naval reward.
The material table is the same as the Navy with 1 distinct difference Marines get a +2 INT and a +1 EDU which is the reverse of the Navy. So throughout their service Marines are trained more on reacting to a situation rather than rote knowledge of a topic.
The Personal Development table only allows for improvement of the three physical characteristics adding Gambling; Brawling and Blade Combat in place of the mental and social characteristics. This has the effect that either a Marine can use 3 tables or all 4 decided at the generation of characteristics which is why I am house ruling in the ability to always replace a skill roll with +1 EDU. Gambling I was going to gloss over as we all know what it is but on reflection I think I will use it to add another detail to the Imperium. The state encourages gambling in its population. My own state in the US has a very profitable lottery and I can see the Imperium doing the same kinds of things. I already hinted that the TAS benefit was awarded like a lottery so why not make it official? I don't see penny ante poker in the barracks giving you a 3,000 to 10,000 cr bump on each cash roll either. Brawling and Blade Combat are reasonable considering what the Marines are supposed to do.
Again I think of the Service Skill table as those things the Marines consider core skills to carry out their mission and we have ATV; Vacc Suit; 2x Gun Combat and 2x Blade Combat. ATV I am looking askance at because I think it is a left over from the 1977 set of rules and should be Vehicle skill. I (oddly considering the boulders of salt I accept elsewhere) have trouble with something covering Wheeled and Tracked Vehicles in the same skill when they are split elsewhere. Vacc Suit makes sense as does Gun Combat. Blade Combat only deserves another mention because it is more commonly gained than Gun Combat.
The first Advanced Education table has Vehicle; Mechanical; Electronic; Tactics; Blade and Gun Combat. Vehicle as I said is more sensible to me than ATV which by the way you can't select when you get Vehicle. I had thought Ship's Boat was available under Vehicle but it does not appear to be so. Mechanical and Electronics are fine, someone has to fix stuff. Tactics is also a necessary skill. Gun and Blade don't need any further discussion.
The 8+ Advanced Education table has Medical; 2x Tactics; Computer; Leader; and Admin. The only standout here is Leader and it is only worth mentioning because it isn't a naval skill. So my premise of some paranoia concerning the Navy holds merit. The military knows how to train for leadership potential and chooses not to emphasize it for naval officers.
I have problems with the skill set available to the Marines. It is missing 2 skills I am not willing to buy the Marines wouldn't have, Ship's Boat and Forward Observer. They are supposed to board enemy ships and/or assault enemy worlds but they can't fly themselves there or call in fire support? I think not. I also think they should have Gunnery as I am not planning on using Book 4 so artillery isn't an available skill otherwise. So I am replacing ATV with Ship's Boat and the second Blade Combat with Forward Observer this leaves an equal frequency of Gun and Blade Combat in the tables. I like the idea of Gunnery but I am not sure what it would replace although I am leaning toward it belonging on the 8+ table I don't want to eliminate anything or reduce the chance of Tactics. Any opinions?
Now to try and sum that all up. The Marines look for Imperial patriots and subtly encourage them to watch out for the other branches rising up. Their missions are either boarding actions in deep space or being outnumbered defending bases or being the first to assault an enemy world. They are also oriented toward psychological warfare by emphasizing closing to hand to hand and hacking people up. They place little emphasis on non-combat skills preferring to focus on killing or getting to a place where people need killing.
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