The Minotaurs are needed in the setting. (LOTS OF SPOILERS)
Over the last few days I have noticed on Reddit that people on reddit keep doing this: "Minotaurs vs [First Founding Chapter]". Personally, I think it's a bit of an unfair matchup (Because these are chapters designed by the Emperor himself) which I see as a part of the hate culture around the Minotaurs that goes beyond normal Space Marine criticisms. In the same light, we can see the Marines Malevolent and the Carcharadons who have confirmed reports of committing crimes against Space Marine Chapters and civilians alike and should be given the same amount of hate. Such Chapters are vital for the story because they represent what happens when even the "Good Guys" are pushed too far but still remain part of Humanity.
Here are my other points:
- The Space Wolves analogy: Minotaurs operate kinda like the 30k Space Wolves in alot of ways. They believe themselves to be superior and are the government's executioners for their time periods against other Space Marines(People love Leman being the Emperor's executioner while Moloc is despised and they ready to point out his flaws even more than Russ who committed bigger mistakes). Leman Russ decimated Prospero because of Horus deception. Asterion Moloc decimated the Lamenters and Inceptors because, like Russ, they were given the order. If the Wolves are as tactical geniuses as they claim to be, why fall for Horus and not double check even if you hate the person you will attack?
Also, the Wolves attacked Imperial Forces during the Months of Shame. The Minotaurs attacked Imperial Forces in Regent's Shadow. The Blood Ravens attacked Imperial Forces on Kaurava. The Dark Angels are the Dark Angels. Yet all these chapters are still standing. Space Marine chapters have a tendency to attack Imperial Forces so the idea that only the Minotaurs should be exterminated would make sense if ALL chapters would be forced to pay for their crimes to the Imperium. Which leads me to:
Corruption. The Imperium of Man is by far one of the most corrupt governments in literature. Nothing in the Imperium is fair and a government tool meant to keep the other institutions of that government in check is of course pandered and placed above consequences. It makes sense to hate the Minotaurs for it. But once again, all Chapters have a tendency to place themselves above Imperial Law and do as they see fit. And many fans do not bat an eye. That tendency of being douchebags is par for the course in Space Marine culture with exceptions (there are always exceptions.).
Necessity: As I've mentioned, Space Marines often put themselves above law and mostly get away with it. I believe Guilliman also keeps these troublemakers around cause he needs every single asset he can get his hands on cause things are not looking good (Perturabo coming back, The Great Rift and Xenos everywhere). If the troublemaker can crush a rebelling Chapter Master and not cause a massive reduction in resources, I think he would keep them around. Also, according to Regent's Shadow, Guilliman has placed loyal High Lords so by default Moloc and his Marines listen to him. P.S: If Guilliman wanted them gone, he would have declared them traitors and he'd have all of Terra in his arsenal (+ Some very happy Fists).
In conclusion, I believe the Minotaurs do deserve some hate for their actions, especially for their controversial actions during the Badab War but they should be given a fair balance of hate and praise for their role in the imperium since they are often the ones who deal with rebelling chapters that's where their specialties lie. As for being an edgy writer's OC's, Space Wolves can be placed in the same boat if we examine their characteristics side by side. Also, the whole of 40k lore suffers from these type of issues so it's not a Minotaurs only issue.
I am open for discussions and I hope the comments will be civil for a discussion in which people hate for the fun of it and not examine an issue where not even the Grey Knights receive this amount of hate. And they are ordered to keep BIG E ON THE GOLDEN THRONE.
Obviously I have not mentioned everything and if I made a mistake, feel free to discuss in the comments.