Ok I haven't played a game of 40k in at least 10 years, probably a fair bit longer than that. Back then, at least in the group I played with, I don't remember this massive glut of codexes and alternate rules sources. Looking at some of them though, I like a couple of the FW chapters - especially the Raptors. Are the FW Marine chapters generally accepted? Including at tournaments and GTs?

Also, while I like the Raptor fluff and rules, I'm not fond of the paint scheme I don't think. If I paint an alternate colour as a succesor chaptor or something could I still use the Raptor SC? Or get away with calling myself Raptors with an alternate paint scheme? Sorry for the barrage of questions... Just want to make sure I'm making the right choices as I plan out this project, thanks for any feedback!