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Appeal of the Dark angels


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My first introduction to Warhammer was the original Space Hulk game for the PC way back in the early 90s some time. My brother decided he wanted to play Tyranids so I decided to play Space Marines. Guy in the store suggested that since he was Tyranids, and I liked the PC game to play Dark Angels.

 

I absolutely hate the white though so despite starting as Dark Angels I created my own chapter (The Lamented) that wore black armor with green robes while the terminators were in all black. Maybe one of these days I'll start DA back up. But they'll likely use SW or UM rules.

  • 1 year later...

At first, I'm a huge star wars fans and it was the Robes, but after reading the codex and the back story, I was hooked and couldn't imagine playing anything else.

I made a group of Black Templar once, and repainted them about a month later to be dark angels.

 

We we're the first, we are the best, and We are the "Bad Guys" of the good guys...if that makes sense.

That and my first game, Belial killed 6 people by himself, so that was a factor as well...

Terminators and Dreadnoughts are my favorite models for SM's. DA has plenty of both. They were my first pick when I started 40k about 10 months ago. All the naysayers though steered me away from them. I play them now though as I always have wanted to.

Always loved the background fluff of the Deathwing. The story of how they painted their armor white because they thought they would die preventing a Genestealer infestation and ended up victorious always resonated with me. Even though the fluff has gotten away from it, I always enjoyed how the Deathwing historically had been presented with a sort of Native American feel to them (though since they've gotten away from that, I'm glad that I never modeled that Terminator Sgt with a feather headdress as I always intended).

 

When GW brought out the robed DA marines in 3rd edition, the look of those models sealed the deal and I was all in on Dark Angels.

First = Best pretty much only in the Imperium, where the older something is, the better it is. Before Matt Ward-isms, the Dark Angels had the purest geneseed (which is always why it was a mystery why there aren't more DA successors than there are). It's also well known that they are the only Loyal legion from the Great Crusade to be undefeated (2nd only to the Luna Wolves).

 

I started about 10 years back with 3rd edition, my friend who got me into the game had the 3rd ed Dark Angels Codex and the Blood Angels codex... I proceeded to read them both, like the fluff for them both, and decided that, I really liked Terminators (before they got their 5+ invuln save upgrade) more than DeathCompany heh. I proceeded to... use the Blood Angels codex to paint my new Dark Angels successor entirely by accident... heh. Been a red & black painted dark angels player ever since <.< >.> It's much less wierd now that some other successors have red in their scheme lol.

The coolest colour scheme of the big 5, as someone mentioned before in this same thread. Back on 2nd ed things were really really bright, and coming from militar modelling strong bright reds and blues werent much of my taste ;)

Anyway, as I started reading and deepening in the circles of the unforgiven, I liked them more and more, all those swords and a heritage of chivalry gone wrong... never felt tempted to play another chapter... Except for Grey Knights, who are even more chivalresque and gone right :D:D:D

Hello There

 

I chose the DA for 2 reasons. When I first started back in the late 80's / early 90's, they were the poster boys of cool. And I am firm devotee of the Deathwing and Ravenwing. The Da's unique chapter structure and ability to field a terminator army was (Before the metagame super codex's of late) a tremendous advantage.

 

And also the fluff. As everyone here has said, the brooding, shadowy, and single-minded stubborness of the Dark Angels are hard not to like...

 

Cheers and Happy Hunting

When I started with 2nd Edition, I waffled a lot on what chapter I wanted to play. I actually eventually decided based on reading both material from Rogue Trader and from the Angels of Death codex. I liked the color of the Dark Angels back in Rogue Trader, and so I figured I'd read up on them for 2nd Edition. Originally, I didn't like the color change, and to some extent I still don't (which is why I don't play the Dark Angels themselves), but I did like the new fluff, so I stuck with the Chapter. Also, from the Angels of Death codex, I realized that while the Blood Angels represented death by virtue of being "space vampires", the Dark Angels didn't seem to have a direct connection to death per se, unless you consider that they seem to directly be the actual Angels of Death, such as the original legion colors, the Deathwing, the black colors of the Ravenwing and the raven being a representative of death, etc. Coupled with their secretive nature, being the first Legion, the sword iconography (somewhat lending to a knightly feel) and the generic Plains Indian stylings, they just seemed to be awesome.

 

I personally like the idea of the Space Wolves, because I like the wolf iconography, etc, but I really can't stand the fluff that GW came up with for them. I would probably play them, if they weren't savages and if they had a better mechanism to change fluff for new chapters. When 3rd Edition came out, I was really disappointed in GW also, in that they somewhat duplicated the Dark Angels in the guise of the Black Templars, although the BT are multiple times more insane and angry and use the Maltese Cross instead of the winged sword (and the winged sword is an infinitely icon).

 

All in all, the Dark Angels/Unforgiven are far and away the most interesting and, in most ways, best representative of what a Space Marine is. :)

For me it was the minis. I thought cool, robes. It sounds so stupid for men in armour to wear robes, I looked more into it. Then I read the fluff and I loved it. Secrative. Being the first. Almsot teetering on the edge. Or did we? Maybe we are really Fallen, hunting down the true Dark Angels so the secret doesn't come out. It can go both ways. I love it.

 

Then the DA minis are done excellent. Very very good quality I believe. Characters seem great, that when reading other fluff and codex, it just doesn't inspire me. This is whith the 4th edtion codex to boot. I started with 4th edtion codex, and slowly learning the fluff behind DA and finding out that no other army can beat it.

 

For some reason UM fluff seems so over the top, while the DA fluff doesn't go over the top.

When I started 40K in 1989, I picked up the RT rulebook, a box of Beakies, a box of TWO Land Raiders, and headed home for a read. In the RT book there was a small fluff box on pages 138 - 139 describing the celebration of the Feast of Malediction by the Dark Angels. It mentioned this annual event celebrating the founding of the Chapter by Lyyn Elgonsen at the beginning of the Imperial Crusades, the status of the Dark Angels as the first chapter, founded by the Emperor Himself. It mentioned the title of the Dark Angel Chapter Master - "Custodian" - acknowledging the Emperor as the true leader of the chapter.

 

I was sold.

 

And the color scheme - black armor, red details - was easy for my minimal skills to replicate.

 

I still grit my teeth when I have to paint my beloved I Legion in *shudder* forest green...

 

+1... though I still paint them black.

Their number one appeal to me off the bat was Terminator Armies. After that I slowly developed a liking for their flaws. They aren't over the top compared to say Ultramarines or now Blood Angels. Granted, I only use the codex now for Deathwing, I use C:SM for Battle companies, but I feel that's alright.

 

I was very tempted to play Space Wolves though when they came out. I started playing literally a month before Space Wolves came out and I loved the codex so much I bought it. I have never used it though, despite how much I love the fluff, the units, and the over all feel. Vikings in space is pretty sick, but I have a feeling the next Dark Angel codex will appeal to me even more. I absolutely hated the Blood Angels codex though, and still do.

 

However, with Grey Knights approaching I may have to invest in a third army now (my second army is Tau), because the only reason I didn't pick up Grey Knights was the expense, and because I couldn't really use the Assault on Black Reach models in the army easily.

People keep saying Termies. I didn't know DA were a Termie army. I always liked the PA DA. This is what drew me into them. I love the DA and I wanted mine black for some reason. It was a bonus when I found out that is what they started out with.

 

I also like how DA have 3 different colours. Bone White for DW, Black for DW, and DA Green, (We even have our own paint named after us. Who else has this? LOL OK UM Do as well, and SW but nobody else that I know of.) for the PA companies.

I remember vaguely why I choose DA... and it was because they were easy to paint :o

 

Played quite a few games at 3rd edition and basically stopped when Maccrage came out. My beloved assault marines were not so good anymore.

 

The models I like: terminators and assault marines...though I'm starting to like the bikes.

 

One thing I don't like: way too many DA players are too "tight-headed" on how things HAVE to be and LIVE by the fluff... which I think loses felxibility and a lot of the fun of playing and painting/modelling.

I got into the DA with the Space Hulk supplement Deathwing in 1990, and further in with Storm of Vengeance. I still run the Third Company, which I now have in its entirety, 20-odd years gone, though my new Master is named Tahariel. I had to retire Belial from the ranks of the Third with his promotion to Master of the Deathwing in 2007.

 

In fact, I'm playing the Third Company in the campaign my group is getting underway, and am really looking forward to it.

For me it's the 2 fetish models I just love, that and the feel of a hidden background, as someone above said, the bad guys of the good guys has a ring to it.

 

Terminators... check

Always been a fasinating unit, as far back as the first space hulk box and the 2nd edition Angels of Death codex.

Something about the unstoppable unit of thick armoured guys spilling out bullets while a hale of firepower just bounces of the armour is just to cool.

(Even if their rules have not always made them as indestructable as they should be fluffwise.)

Now we are at 25 termies painted, 3 characters and about 30 or so unpainted....

 

Bikes... check.

I grew into using bikes in 4th somewhere, and I already used the DA codex so the next step was logical.

Sadly the old bikers did not yet come with the superb ravenwing sprues we have now, so I do not have all bikes with the ravenwing wings on the bike fronts.

I did get the older ravenwing boxed set, with my first landspeeder tornado, (Metal old one, I now have 3) a number of bikes (5 or so I think?) and a chaplain on a bike.

Now these models don't have the ravenwing rules, but then they where the ravenwing box. :-D

I'm at about 30+ something bikes now and 5 attack bikes, 4 plastic speeders, 2 metal ones (done) and one in bits in a box..

 

Offcourse I also have more in models, tacticals, devastators, rhinos, whirlwinds etc. but it's the above two that really do it for me.

I started out in 3rd ed and had 2 friends playing Blood Angels always talking about how awesome they were with the death company and all that. But when I went into the store to pick up the Space Marine battlebox (10 man tac squad, 5 termies, 3 bikes and a landspeeder), I saw the cover of the DA minidex with the chaplain on the front surrounded by his brethren and I was in love. I went home that night and started building and eventually painting and then bought more and more and more. Now over 10 years later I have the full battle company of brothers, 30+ termies and almost 30 bikes, plus a bunch of characters, scouts up the wazoo, and speeders.

 

All of my friends have switched and collected other armies to the point where they all own at least 3 1500 point armies, but I am the only one that stayed true to my first choice. And now I can rock 8k+ points by myself, of one army in an Apocalypse game. AND IT LOOKS AWESOME!!!

I was in my stroppy teenage years when i began collecting my Dark Angels and their appeal to me was their noble facade that hides a dark and terrible soul. It's how i felt at the time, typical miserable teen trying to be normal before the rest of the world while hiding the darkness i felt inside. These days i just love the fact that they are loyal to the core but will do literally anything to protect their secret.

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