Undecided about Chaos Undivided

[Captain Tezdal]

Well....I've been a chaos player for quite a while, having a large World Eaters army, a small Emperor's Children Army, and some Thousand Sons just for the heck of it.... I've never really gotten into an Undivided legion, so I've been trying to decide on which to start. I like the Background of the Black Legion, the whole tear out their throats tactical ideal....but I just don't dig the black scheme....I also like the Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors etc....so how did you folks pick your undivided army? What makes each legion stand out for You? Just thought post this, see what attracts you good Traitorous folks to your legions....and see if the Chaos gods will inspire me to choose.

 

Edit: I also find the Red Corsairs somewhat interesting, with their mixmash of renegades, AARGH

[Hyaenidae]

Well, I just thought of my own personal good side and personality...and flipped it 180 degrees, while avoiding an individual god's worship. I chose the total opposite of who I am, and have never regreted it, as it's been quite fun playing "evil me". I live by a code of loyalty, duty, honesty, and respect, and fully support laws like the Geneva Conventions. So I chose a Legion that assasinates high-ranking officials, poisons wells, sabotage's equipment, weaves elaborate lies and misinformation, builds insurgent cells, and slits throats in the dark behind the foe's own walls...without them knowing til it's too late. The Alpha Legion just fit. Really though, go with what jumps out at you, and don't restrict yourself. Hell, I had a buddy who read that bit of fluff about Constintanius in the C: CSM codex, and build a whole freakin' army of renegades and pirates in different colors of loyalist chapters. Best of luck with your decision, brother.

 

Edit: Don't mind me, I typed something stupid, lol. Fixed now.

[Candleshoes]

Far and away, The Alpha Legion is my favorite undivided Legion, and Alpharius-Omegon my favorite Primarch. Why they are my favorite can be seen by looking a little closer at what makes up Alpharius. Get ready, long post.

 

For one who takes his rightful place at the side of the Emperor a mere two decades before the start of the Heresy, one might say he is in the most difficult place compared to all his brothers. He will never match the experience and battlefield command of the Lion, he will never match the honor rolls of Guilliman or the campaign totality of Russ. He will never pacify as many worlds as Dorn, or be capable of building greatness with his hands like Ferrus. He will never understand humanity like Vulkan, or see the world with Sanguinius’ heart. His perfection is far cry from what is attained in battle by Fulgrim, his fury no match for Angron, his ways not as driven and ruthless as Kurze.

 

The list of faults only gets bigger, what is left for the youngest son? What glory awaits the one who has neither the relationship with his father the others have, nor the time in life and crusade to amass the godlike achievements by his elder brothers?

 

He is argued to be the smartest Primarch of all, not in terms of knowledge possessed (a crown Magnus wears vainly) but how he actively uses his mind, and applies it against everyone and everything. Pure, un-adulterated cunning given form, with a mind so quick and so sharp, you had best not allow any of your own faults or pride make themselves known, even then, he'll know you’re lying. (Think of the classic Sherlock Holmes).

 

He is control. He is restraint. He kills with ruthless efficiency, how much and with what force needed, well determined by him ever before the conflict was known to you. There is a reason he only keeps his council with direct Blood, as truth is everything to equals, and truth is the only currency among secret keepers. He knows where his loyalty lies, whether or not you do, whether or not you understand. His actions are his own. He is planning, he is study, he is subtlety, he deals in whispers, falsehoods, myths, fears, confusion, hate, and weakness. He is raw potential, sheathed till the moment. The death he deals is not only against the body, but of the mind, the heart, and the soul… take those away from any man, nay, a Primarch even, and they will collapse as a husk like corpse. Few even among Primarchs could take so much away from an enemy, fewer still, able to justify such behavior and retain control.

 

He is the only Primarch who asked Why. He was the only one capable of understanding the answer.

 

The Imperial Fist Captain Sigismund in Horus Rising once scratched the surface, "Peace is a vain wish. Our crusade may one day adopt another name, but it will never truly end. In the far future, there is only war... how innocent you are." These views are not that of an unloyal astartes, but rather very intelligent ones. There is much to be said about the few Legions who took pride in philosophically asking "why" about larger issues, and still fought, whether or not they agreed with the answer.

 

Also, here is a Tarot explanation I kept from a while back (The Lovers/Gemini):

 

An extremely quick mind that loves complexity and is easily bored. He will show curiosity in anything and everything, but will probably also display a short attention span and a constant desire to move on to the next challenge. He is likely to treat everything as a purely intellectual pursuit, and may go as far as turning any task into a complex mental challenge without any thought for practicality.

 

He will be social and good with people, but mostly as an excuse to find out what makes them tick. He will quickly move on from people who bore him, and may have difficulty forming any truly deep bond.

 

Lacking deep bonds or the desire to think over one thing too much, he runs the risk of becoming superficial or even self-contradictory. He may even be deliberately contradictory, or do other things, just to see how people react.

 

Constantly curious and lively, he may well project a particularly youthful or even childlike demeanor.

 

He forms a trio with Ferrus Manus and the Corax focused on understanding of the universe. Alpharius gathers information and forms theories, Ferrus evaluates those ideas and decides on the best path, and Corax attempts to implement that plan for the good of mankind. This trio in turn represents three aspects of the personality of the Emperor (and arguably Magnus).

 

At best, highly intelligent and adaptable, lively, articulate and sociable.

 

At worst, impractical, over complicates everything, superficial, childish, indecisive and self-contradictory.

[Warsmith Aznable]

I started out Chaos Undivided, then leaned toward pure Khorne, then split the difference with a DIY group that was Undivided but heavily leaning toward Khorne.

 

Starting out I wasn't all that into the idea of doing a "pre-made" Legion, determined to do something "my own". But after reading many, many Black Library books in a short period of time, and immersing myself in source material, I slowly developed an interest in the Iron Warriors. The book Storm of Iron helped a lot, along with the snazzy hazard stripes, but more than anything I really liked the idea of stoic soldiers methodically grinding an enemy's defenses down and then suddenly unleashing berserk fury at just the right moment. The brutal inevitability of an Iron Warrior siege, the fatalistic resolve of the average battle brother, the pride in the craft and the lust for the moment. And the war engines. The lovely, lovely war engines...

 

I just read through the fluff of each Legion, everywhere from Lexicanum to BL novels to old codices, and eventually one tugged at my imagination more firmly than the others, and the next thing I knew I was creating a way to incorporate them into what I had already done along with planning an entirely separate force as a side project.

[chillin]

First thing that got my attention @ BL was the paint scheme, I actually like the sharp contrast of black and silver. Also in the 3.0 C:csm all the pic's of BL figs happened to show them with battle axes, that with the black paint scheme I thought gave them a real "gothic" look that I liked. Then I read the little 3-4 paragraphs of fluff on the Bl that was in the 3.0 dex; used to be the Empire's vanguard legion, concured more then any other legion in the name of the emperor. Then the fall from grace, the legion of Horus, then after the heresy and banishment to the eye of terror was almost completely destroyed. From almost total destruction they are trying to reestablish themselves once again as the most powerful legion but this time using chaos as a weapon. I just liked the story. Liked the paint scheme, liked the fluff... BL fan boy ever since.

[Supreme Overlord]

I like almost all the Chaos Legions. Given the time and money, I would gladly build ridiculously large armies of ridiculously awesome chaos marines. However, time is not something I have a never-ending supply of, and for now, I can only dream of having an army of each.

 

For now I'll stick with my beloved Word Bearers, but I may end up building an army of Iron Warriors, Night Lords, Death Guard, Alpha Legion, or Thousand Sons sometime soon too. I just like the traitor legions, I like their fluff, I like their look. Seeing as the Legion fluff was close to nonexistant in the current codex, I was a bit PO'ed, but my dedication to the Legions is stronger than any loyalist's devotion to the Emperor.

 

Every traitor Legion and every traitor Primarch is cool (except for Emperor's Children...they are just funny to me), but they are all cool in different ways. You will struggle very hard to choose between them if you're anything like me when I had to choose. Just read fluff and look at shiny models until one of the Undivided seems cooler than the rest. If all else fails, you can always do a Black Crusade army, with squads from different Legions.

 

For me, the Word Bearers are the coolest of the cool. I myself am an atheist, but I just have this deep fascination with religion and its impact on culture. The Word Bearers are religious fanatics, but at the same time, are hateful traitors, and superhuman killing machines. The way they were betrayed by the Emperor, and then decided to choose their own path is just awesome. Plus, who doesn't like the whole "burn the heretics" thing that is oh-so-common in the 40k universe? (only this time, its the Imperials who are the infidels)

 

You should think about what sort of units you want to include, too. For example, if you want a Daemon Prince, Iron Warriors are probably out, and so are Night Lords and Alpha Legion if you want to do a "purist" army.

 

By the way, Lorgar is always looking for new recruits. ;) (check sig for a cool WB sound clip) Choose wisely, and enjoy defeating the slaves of the Corpse Emperor without being confined to a single Chaos God.

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

Black Legion from the get-go. I cheat by adding auxilia from other Legions into my Grand Company so I get to tap all the potential sweetness without any of the drawbacks, in addition to having a dirt easy paint scheme. :P

 

I'm working on some actual World Eaters right now, though. . .much more complicated in the paint department. <_<

[Brother Nathan]

i Like the iron warriors. paint scheme is realitively easy. but other than that its the fluff. how they were turne makes me more sympathetic to them. and i dont really like the chaos gods. also i hate mutations. tenticles etc are not me. the lucius i made is holding a whip for example. also they still have the full appearences of marines, but their corruption is inside. iron within, iron without. cold and not caring. also if you want you can still use bezerkers etc as the fluff sugests that the undivided still use some with specific abilitys. iron warriors just strike me as a force thats happy to use any tool they can to make war. and theres not an overly done gw view on them so theres plenty of wiggle room unlike with the loyalists. hopefully ill get plenty of conversion experience with them tyring to do bionics.

[chillin]

, in addition to having a dirt easy paint scheme. :P

 

Yeah my BL paint scheme was easy when I started years ago, but it has gotten more and more involved over the years, with different layers of paint, shading, drybrush, inks, etc, until it is now as much of a pain in the arse as any other paint scheme :cuss . But I do get quite a few compliments, so that's kool :D . That's the good thing about BL paint scheme, it's a simple paint scheme that looks good, but you can make it more technicnal as your skills improve.

[Captain Tezdal]

, in addition to having a dirt easy paint scheme. :P

 

Yeah my BL paint scheme was easy when I started years ago, but it has gotten more and more involved over the years, with different layers of paint, shading, drybrush, inks, etc, until it is now as much of a pain in the arse as any other paint scheme :cuss . But I do get quite a few compliments, so that's kool :D . That's the good thing about BL paint scheme, it's a simple paint scheme that looks good, but you can make it more technicnal as your skills improve.

 

I've actually found it hard to get a really good looking black without being flat, but others find it easy as pie...IDK

[modernangelofdeath]

Personly i leaned towards the word bearers after i played DOW Dark Crusade, i tried playing with chaos and got stuck with them. also my friend and i had been having battles around that time (my loyalists vs his chaos) and i just liked the look of them. Really i thought that the mix of religion and pure evil stood out for me, that and the idea of being able to use a book as a weapon! Like others have already said just go with what seems right to you.

[Xeonic]

I read Storm of Iron. I have since learned to love how awesome hazard stripes and loathe hazard stripes for how stupid they are to paint.

I was previously going to start world eaters, but I have grown even more attached to my Iron Warriors since I started painting them up.

I almost started Night Lords after reading Soul Hunter though.

 

Yea, a reasonably well written book is all it takes to sway me.

[Notanoob]

Personally I like Alpha Legion and the Night Lords.

 

The first piece of BL literature that I read was Legion, and despite not entirely understanding it, I was hooked on the idea of pragmatic, cunning and devious marines. These guys were just too smart for everyone else, and kicked their asses while avoiding Chaos. They plan ahead many times over without going to Tzeentch for help, and have everyone thinking their primarch is dead, even though there are two and you can't tell a big captain from a Primarch. That, plus the mysterious purpose they have, the unknown motive make them seem that much cooler.

 

Night Lords, on the other hand, seem to be an emblem of 40k. Overly brutal, violent and gory. They are wicked murderous monsters who you have every reason to be scared :cussless of. While AL give you jitters when you figure out their plan, NL send you packing once you know their in the same solar system. They are so over the top devastating that they get special mention over the already grimdark factions packed into this universe. Really, you can just spend time thinking up in loving detail how they are going to cut up the next guy, how they are going to eviscerate him and disable him, but leave him alive just long enough for him to let you know that you're completely screwed.

[Captain Tezdal]

Right now I'm leaning towards Iron Warriors, always loved the IW fluff and paintscheme, just way back during 3.5 everyone and their mother played em, but BL and NL are still on the table too. I like Word Bearers, just not ready to commit to another red army....anyway, great thread, I always find it interesting why people like their legion.

[Rik Riorik]

How can I not throw in a little sales pitch for my beloved Legion?

 

I picked Word Bearers after years of not committing to an army having had small forces of both Blood Angels and an Imperial Guard Penal Legion the first of which I played very little with and the second I only did fluff for and started assembling a bit but never played.

 

I had always been interested in the Word Bearers since I first read about them in their Index Astartes article in my first ever White Dwarf. The combination of zealous faith and warrior monkhood with a tragic story drew me in. To me the Word Bearers more than any other force combines the grimdark and the gothic which I find highly compelling concepts. The Bearers of the Word with their dark rituals, communing with the occult and daemonic for me represent everything I always liked about movies of dark secret societies plotting the rise of the satanic or other darker gods. For me there is a Lovecratian feel about them. They know the secrets of reality that lingers in the dark places and seek their ascension.

 

Apart from that there is something compelling about the army. Here you have a force that is distinct in that they are lead by something different than the other Chaos forces. Like the Iron Warriors have their Warsmiths, the Thousands Sons have their Sorceror Lords of immense psychic power the sons of Lorgar have their Dark Apostles, a name that sums up what the Legion is about. Not only that but thid lends itself very well to making something different, modelling wise, from the standard Chaos Lord.

 

The Legion also has strong conceptd that you can use when modelling. Religious texts, daemonic possession, occult pernaphenalia and the dark warrior monk are all things that really should be explored when modelling up your force.

 

That is why I chose my Legion :-).

[Midgard]

My own choice, the Word Bearers, were decided on due to A D-B's "The First Heretic" and Anthony Reynolds' Word Bearers trilogy. That is, I am yet to paint my rudimentary force (which also includes a Sorcerer and Plague Marines - but as I get more models, I will shift it towards "pure" WB force, with Possessed, the Anointed Terminators, Chaos Land Raiders, and a Dark Apostle to lead it), but they will be Word Bearers once I get to it this month.

 

Plus they provide for a nice color change from my loyalist Raven Guard.

[Captain Tezdal]

After long and hard thought, and a few test miniatures, I've decided to do Iron Warriors. I still like Black Legion, but I can't do justice to a really good looking black. I love the Iron Warriors fluff, paint-scheme e.t.c... So without further ado "Iron Within, Iron Without"

[Shas'o R'Vre]

After long and hard thought, and a few test miniatures, I've decided to do Iron Warriors. I still like Black Legion, but I can't do justice to a really good looking black. I love the Iron Warriors fluff, paint-scheme e.t.c... So without further ado "Iron Within, Iron Without"

Welcome to the club!

[hushrong]

EDIT: See that you went with Iron Warriors!

 

Hope to see your Grand Company in the hear future!

[Captain Tezdal]

EDIT: See that you went with Iron Warriors!

 

Hope to see your Grand Company in the hear future!

 

Well will be a while before I actually start building, got a ton World Eaters recently stripped and up for a more modern paint job. Expect my questions as a budding Iron Warrior to start popping up soon though.

[Shas'o R'Vre]

Expect my questions as a budding Iron Warrior to start popping up soon though.

Yes, they ARE all out to get you, and yes, you CAN hide inside the bastion until that old guy stops staring at you.

[subtlebrush]

I say go with what strikes you the most. What your evil side can relate to the most. Read up on the individual Legions/Renegades through Lexicanum or read some of the awesome BL novels like Legion, Dark Apostle, Blood Gorgons and Soul Hunter or wait for Blood Reaver (as there's some goodness for the Red Corsairs in there as well as in the Silver Skulls novel shortly after that) just to name a few. Immerse yourself in everything evil and choose what sort of evil you like the most. For instance, I love evil characters who fully immerse themselves in all that Chaos has to give them like Word Bearers and Blood Gorgons. I'm of the evil mind that if you've got the Chaos gods behind you then well anyone in your way is just :tu: under your boots. I love the evil marines who don't care who you are, what Chapter you are from, you get in my way and you will die a slow/ fast painful death depending on my mood at the time. Hope that helps!

 

Mr.Malevolent

[BlkTom]

Heh... I loved the Emperor's Children but hate noise marines. You know, they have 4 Codexs of Imperial Marines, you think Chaos Marines could have gotten at least 2-3 books (2 gods in a book and then a undivided book). Oh well...have to work with what you get I suppose.

 

Good luck with your Iron Warriors!

[Trel]

I like all the Undivided Legions, but I seem to always come back to the Black Legion. Their story is very complex. They were the best and brightest of the Legions. Their primarch was beloved by all. ... then they were the ones to fail. They led all the others into failure. Their primarch was killed.

 

Alone among the Legions they can't even look to their primach for inspiration anymore, since he's now a symbol of colossal failure to them. (Hence, the name change.)

 

For someone used to being at the top, spending any amount of time at the bottom is unbearable. The Black Legion, then, have this fantastic need to validate themselves, and prove everyone else wrong; but there's an inescapable desperation underlying their motivation. There's a sense that if they can secure victory, then they can point to themselves and say, "Sure, it may take ten thousand years, but we always get the job done and none of you other putzes could."

 

For the Black Legion, it's no longer about worship, or ambition, or agenda. It's just about winning, at all costs and using all tools available.

 

Of course, black is still really tricky to paint. :)