Why play the non-Cult Legions

[minigun762]

This isn't a tactical question, instead I'm curious why people want to play with the non-Cult Legions. The reason I ask is because from a background perspective, those other Legions aren't far removed from the Loyalist.

So I'm wondering what about those groups draws you into playing them versus a similar Loyalist unit.

 

Is it their background and history?

Is not not wanting to be yet another Space Marine player?

The color scheme?

[brew city envoy]

They play for 2 things.

 

1. the fluff. the fluff is cool. make your own just how you want it or use the coolest one you can find

 

2. the pretty colors. (like orange) the colors are both attractive, and stylish.

[Zeller]

3. I'd prefer not playing one of the cult legions and being stuck with the cookie cutter units that are metal-plastic hybrids and comparatively expensive.

[Lay]

What's so fascinating about bunny ears or a pharao fetish?

[Imperialis_Dominatus]

Or a lack of hygiene? Or a sex/drugs/rock'n'roll obsession? :rolleyes:

 

I think what Lay might be trying to say is that anythings sounds less interesting when you take a single mundane aspect of a being and present it as the basis of its existence.

 

This isn't a tactical question, instead I'm curious why people want to play with the non-Cult Legions. The reason I ask is because from a background perspective, those other Legions aren't far removed from the Loyalist.

 

Can I see that qualified? I really don't see it. Black Legion are about as far from, say, Ultramarines as you can get.

[minigun762]

This isn't a tactical question, instead I'm curious why people want to play with the non-Cult Legions. The reason I ask is because from a background perspective, those other Legions aren't far removed from the Loyalist.

 

Can I see that qualified? I really don't see it. Black Legion are about as far from, say, Ultramarines as you can get.

 

In the sense that they are not 100% dedicated to a particular being who shapes their behaviors so completely as the Cult Legions are.

Of course as I say that, I realize that they are dedicated to one particular being who does shape their behaviors and he's on the golden toilet.

 

EDIT: I guess a better way to describe it is that the other Legions and Renegade Chapters are still more human compared to the Cult Legions who function more like their respective Daemons, but even thats not the perfect way of describing it.

[Zeruel]

I like the fluff and honestly I find undivided Legions to have more character and personality. They seem to have more drive and ambition to rise in power. The vibe I get form all the cult legions is that they're just some lackey to their god of choice. They also typically have a style of warfare that's more unique and fun to play around with. I mean Khorne just rushes for combat, Nurgle marches up the field just taking shots etc... Word Bearers corrupt and turn allies against each other, they insight rebellion, summon daemons and so forth. Night Lords (who are my Legion of choice) use fear as a weapon. Instead of just running at them shouting blood for the blood god they kill enemy morale and pick them off at leisure, striking from the shadows, using hit and run attacks and spreading panic, and I could make cases for Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors and Black Legion as well. I just find their methods and ideology more interesting and easier to play around with when coming up with my own back stories. Making up back story for a Khorne Lord basically always comes down to he was good at killing things while armies like Alpha Legion, Night Lords, Word Bearers etc are much more open to use any means they see fit. A Khorne lord would act with the traits depicted in Khorne, undivided is so open they could be anything.

 

Of course now I'm just dragging this on but it's kind of hard to put it into words why I prefer undivided.

[Cornelias]

during my time playing 40k i've had several chaos armies.................

 

 

1. my original black legion( 2nd edition) the ultimate bad guys i just had to play them B)

 

2. night lords ( 3rd edition) my painting skills matured and i loved the colour scheme ^_^

 

3. Iron warriors ( 3rd and 3.5) a change in tactics! while my night lords were very mobile and fast attack orientated i decided i fancied a more stand and shoot army and it was easy and quick enough to get a new army painted and board ready...

 

4. death cult of the primogenitor ( 3.5,4,5) my bile enhanced army came about due to the uprising in iron warriors armies, i decided i would try a theme army that while maybe wasn't the most competitive on paper really stood out and was fun to play! i had a great time both painting/converting and playing this army and really surprised me with how well it done vs almost any enemy. probably playing such an out the box army taught me more about tactics than any other ( although i had my fair share of epic disasters)

 

5. return to my black legion ( present) my new project, not really sure why i returned to black legion although it was probably nostalgia. i plan to build this army like no other with almost all models converted in some way and with some guidelines placed on myself.

 

back to your original question about the non cult legions, i've always built my armies to be flexible with units i can drop in and drop out dependent on which army i am playing against. while the fluff and background for the cult legions is fantastic, each of the 4 play a certain way and you become pigeon holed into a particular playstyle, while this can and clearly does appeal to a great many people (i'm not knocking it) it's just not the way for me, especially now with the way our codex works.....

 

if they release cult dex's for the big 4 i'd happily play one but to do so atm is selling yourself short. i really wish they would because i'd love to spend some serious cash on some forge world models and go to town on a new army :D

[The Master]

4. death cult of the primogenitor ( 3.5,4,5) my bile enhanced army came about due to the uprising in iron warriors armies, i decided i would try a theme army that while maybe wasn't the most competitive on paper really stood out and was fun to play! i had a great time both painting/converting and playing this army and really surprised me with how well it done vs almost any enemy. probably playing such an out the box army taught me more about tactics than any other ( although i had my fair share of epic disasters)

 

What sort of conversions did you do, as I am considering a similar army but I am stuck for ideas?

 

- Back on topic

 

I played the not cult legion for their fluff opportunities, my original Alpha Legion was styled on the traditional Bond villain, i.e. totally incompetent but fun to play, I even gave him a cat familiar – I used Huron Blackheart counts as.

[Brother Drakist]

I have always felt that when you create your "own" 40k army that you can add a lot of character to a force that is yours. Some times it is satisfying to come up with your own color scheme and backstory as it allows you to expand the 40k universe in your own way. Heck, even as I am painting up my Black legion army I am often thinking "Hmmm this color/combo would look great!" Somtimes I must stop myself from dropping my stuff in the Simple Green.

[Iron_Chaos_Brute]

Because I used to get Basalisks and Vindicators.

[CelestialSon]

Bah! No need for dedicated legions. It's like if a legion/chapter doesn't specialize in some over the top area they aren't worth anything. I play undivided because my Sons of Horus fight for the Warmaster, no the gods.

[Cale]

Each of the Legions have some gimmick or thingy about them that has the potential to endear them to some group of people. To be honest, the complete devotion to a particular god doesn't even routinely rank among the most interesting gimicks, as far as I'm concerned. World eaters, for instance, are positively lame--far more so than Alpha Legion or Night Lords, or Word Bearers. I mean, I like Kharne, but Angon is just a failure. Every other primarch managed to do well for himself--some starting from no more than Angron was given. Angron, though, didn't even manage to escape from his enslavement.. Even his name is lame. He has one--one--distinguishing feature, and that is that he is angry. It doesn't really get more lame than that. I like Khorne, but the World Eaters really let their god down, fluffwise.

 

Personally, I play chaos instead of Loyalists because I like the second special weapon and the chainsword. I just love the rules for regular ole' chaos space marine squads. They're exactly what I want my units to be.

 

As far as fluff justifications go, though, I like the Word Bearers the best. The idea that Chaos Worship is actually what is best for humanity appeals to me.

[minigun762]

As far as fluff justifications go, though, I like the Word Bearers the best. The idea that Chaos Worship is actually what is best for humanity appeals to me.

 

 

That is a cool element of them, Word Bearers themselves have always interested me alot simply because they're trying to rebuild a Chaos Imperium in essence, as they see its the only way to survive a violent and dangerous galaxy.

 

 

Currently I've fallen for the Iron Warriors because they 1) have a pragmatic view of Chaos, they know it uses them and they use it 2) focus on making nearly invincible fortresses and crushing the enemies' and 3) Titans!

[Rain]

I've always had a soft spot for Iron Warriors and Night Lords because they are just murderous nihilists. No principles, no illusions of duty or a higher cause, just killing because it's fun, and because nobody can stop them. The god aligned legions are too much like automata (quite literally in the 1k sons case) and lack the personality of the secular legions.

[Legatus]

I mean, I like Kharne, but Angon is just a failure. Every other primarch managed to do well for himself--some starting from no more than Angron was given. Angron, though, didn't even manage to escape from his enslavement.. Even his name is lame. He has one--one--distinguishing feature, and that is that he is angry. It doesn't really get more lame than that.

Now, that's not entirely fair. Angron was attacked and attempted to be assassinated by xenos (persumably Eldar) when he was young, and was left mortally wounded. He was found by members of the local nobility and nurtured back to health, but he was also implanted with bio-neural brain implants in the process. He never had a chance to become a great leader and develope the full potential of a primarch. He was made into what he became by his captors.

[CelestialSon]

Oh no, Angron [i[was[/i] cool, until he hooked up with the blood god. Then he just became the biggest of all loud, chest thumping, axe swinging jerks. Angron torn between his duty to the Emperor and his resentment of the Emperor for removing him from his slave army, and chastising him for the neuro implants in his legion... that's interesting.

 

Even cult units within larger, undivided legions are cooler than the idea of an entire legion full of cult troops, but that's just my opinion. Though i am not a fan of Word Bearers, i will say how Ben Counter handled them in Daemonworld was pretty interesting. How he handled them in Battle for the Abyss made them seem like fist shaking religious nut types, instead of actually being enlightened by chaos, which was always their thing.

 

Nothing, anywhere, anytime from any author or player will ever make Fulgrim or the Emperor's Children interesting. The book Fulgrim almost ruined all of 40k for me, it was that bad.

[minigun762]

Though i am not a fan of Word Bearers, i will say how Ben Counter handled them in Daemonworld was pretty interesting. How he handled them in Battle for the Abyss made them seem like fist shaking religious nut types, instead of actually being enlightened by chaos, which was always their thing.

 

I didn't think Battle for the Abyss was quite as horrible as everyone mentioned, but it wasn't as good as the first few Horus Heresy ones by any stretch of the imagination. In Daemonworld the Word Bearers are depicted as professionals with a faith that strengthens their resolve. They're basically a reflection of Loyalist Marines, bringing a righteous fury against their opponents. The Dark Apostle book also supported this impression of professionalism and fanaticism.

The Word Bearers from Battle for the Abyss seemed more like idiotic cannon fodder, but then again it makes sense that they might not be as zealous as the later Word Bearers as they've only recently turned.

 

Rain: Its kind interesting you mention that, because I was rereading Storm of Iron and it gives the impression that Honsou still believes that uniting mankind under Chaos is the only way to protect them all. I had thought that mentality was more Word Bearerish.

[The Nephilim]

This isn't a tactical question, instead I'm curious why people want to play with the non-Cult Legions. The reason I ask is because from a background perspective, those other Legions aren't far removed from the Loyalist.

 

Read your fluff sir.