Their actual narratives, though, are a breath of fresh air. For instance, of the 11 Imperial Armour books released, 7 have included space marines in situations where they could lose (IA9 and IA10 don't count, since no matter who won the Badab War, space marines would both win and lose). On Taros, Beta Anphelion, Vraks, and Kastorel-Novem space marines are written like actual commandos, and regularly either lose or get pasted (albeit heroically) when they aren't used as commandos, and sometimes getting pasted (albeit heroically) even when they are. Only in IA11 do space marines appear without significant loss, and even then they contribute like commandos.