You could do skitarii,
Inquisitorial stormtroopers
Catachans
Kasrkins
Space marine scouts
And also as an aside, why the fuck WOULDNT space marines wear fuckhuge armour? They're literally astronauts with giant guns. They need hordes of life support equipment to make them hardy as hell given the circumstances. Sorry if they don't look sleek like all the new iSoldier bullshit nowadays.
Hey I actually really like the way this guy looks. He looks like he reveilles and does pushups then goes on to use actual tactics in combat. I guess unlike the Black Templars, he knows that LARPing as a knight in the far future, to the point of speaking ye olde english, makes you look like a humongous faggot and also a ween despite ostensibly being a super soldier.
play other setting you fuck wit
Skitarii seem a bit too religious although I appreciate the radioactive weaponry. I guess by stormtroopers you mean Militarum Tempestus? Those dudes actually seem cool too although the dress is definitely WW1 again.
Raptor Space Marines actually seem really cool so far although I am very bummed they call each other "brothers". But I would not actually feel bad about having this mini here.
Okay, no. 40k just is not for you.
It isn't. We could try suggesting alternative armies but at this point you're missing the entire premise.
Try other settings, Infinity seems to be the suggested game here. But really, just not 40k. It would be like playing Engine Heart and complaining about everything being a confused and alone civilian robot instead of killdroids.
Fun fact: Astra Militarum is whoever and whatever you want them to be.
Cadian Shock Troopers specialize in maneuver warfare and modern tactics like we use in the 21st century, if that tickles your fancy.
And of course, every fucking regiment does something differently. They're all total badasses, but every regiment was deliberately trained and equipped to do one thing in order to make them interdependent on regiments that do other stuff.
>RL Marines
>having grit, guts, or honor
Kek.
That said, 40K is simply not your game. Play Infinity or Dropzone Commander. Ariadna in Infinity and the UCM in Dropzone are right up your alley.
Make an Elysian drop troop regiment, that should satisfy your requirements.
Of couse, they get slaughtered a lot, but such is life.
>and also don't like WW1 style ass backwards 18th to early 20th century gunline trench warfare like the Astra Militarum,
They do pretty much every other form of warfare as well, OP. You'd know that if you ever looked into the fluff for the IG. They have whole regiments devoted explicitly to close combat, to HALO Drop-troopers, to massed armored companies to hit-and-run forces. The only reason you see gunline-style artwork is because it makes for better artwork.
>Skitarii seem a bit too religious
Nigga the whole setting is religious, because it turns out gods are real. NOT being religious in some form is the height of idiocy in this universe.