Are pre heresy EC more popular?

[DarkMark]

Hi,

It seems, at least to me, that when an EC army pops up on painting threads it is invariably a pre heresy one. Do you think this is true, or not?

 

Do you collect pre heresy only, after the fall, or even both? Perhaps you could explain your choice.

 

I thought it'd be interesting to hear other's ideas on the subject.

 

:tu:

[Eerie]

I think pre-heresy armies have become all the rage in recent years. Back in 2006 when I quit the hobby I had never seen a single pre-heresy army either in person or on the internet boards. When I rejoined the 40k-community last year it suddenly was full of them. Must have something to do with these books, what was their name again :) (I'm just kiddin of course).

 

No seriously, I think it's mainly three reasons:

1.) We know much more about the pre-heresy EC's than about their 40k counterparts. They have full length novels dedicated to them, this makes people interested in them. Many people build a pre-heresy army after reading an HH novel about them. Details about the 40k EC are very scarce, compared to that.

 

2.) As pre-heresy armies are loyal marines, you can play them with Codex:Space Marines, which is much more popular than the Chaos codex.

 

3.) Pre-Heresy armies is something that attracts people who delight in customizing their armies with special bits, awesome paint jobs and jaw dropping green stuff conversions. These armies get shown around in the internets. An off-the-shelf Noise Marines army with a standard paint job might be deemed not interesting enough to post on an internet board. Thus we have an overrepresentation of the pre-heresy armies.

[AekoldHelbrass]

Yes, looks like HH series made them more popular then fallen EC ever were. But as for me they are completely different armies and cannot be compared like that. It's the same as comparing to Black Templars with Emperor's Fists, they have the same gene-seed but they represent different ideas and armies.

[Kierdale]

It would be interesting if someone modelled the same army, once Pre-Horus Heresy and one 40K-era. Of course, most of the rank and file would probably be different, but with the officer models you could really show the change in their characters.

[Beachymike123]

It would be interesting if someone modelled the same army, once Pre-Horus Heresy and one 40K-era. Of course, most of the rank and file would probably be different, but with the officer models you could really show the change in their characters.

thank you, now i have an excuse to paint a new chaos army but do something different. watch this space.....

[The_son_of_Dorn]

Pre Heresy EC rate very highly in my books as the HYPER leathal elite. smaller chapter but fierce dedication to perfection and being the ultimate warriors. Kinda like and extravagent version of a spartan.

[Brother Nihm]

For what it is worth, there were just as many PH EC armies here before 2007. The reason you see more of them now, compared to regular Chaos EC is (I'll wager) that something happened in 2007 that mostly did away with post-heresy EC armies.. :tu:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, that something was the current Codex and the way Gav & Cavatore ham-fistedly obliterated/invalidated EC army builds and models.

[the jeske]

yep that is more or less it . I havent seen someone other then me playing EC [as with my own eyes , I think I did see at least a few people trying to start EC] for like 2 years , maybe more . EC suck and how cool or uncool an army looks like pales in the face of it being bad on the table top. people may play a good army with bad looking models[they may not like it] , they will not play something that is crap. Considering a pre heresy EC army gives someone a lot of options for both painting/modeling and list build its nothing special that there are more armies like that , then actual chaos sm . there are probably more loyalist EC armies then chaos EC right now .

 

 

 

is it realy 2007 ? we are with this dex for 4 years. god that is brutal .

[NemFX]

Short answer: Yep.

 

Longerish answer: Yes, they are. The preheresy EC are really one of the more human chapters. Their desire to be perfect, or at least the closest they can to their image of perfection, is entirely relatable. They are one of the most culturally rich chapters that doesn't stray into fantasy territory.

 

While you can certainly relate to the Blood Angels for their similar desire for perfection and artistry, they are essentially space vampires. *

While you can relate to the Space Wolves and their violent and drunken ways, they are essentially space vikings and space werewolves.*

 

I can go on for about half of the legions, but ultimately, the EC are afflicted with the human desire to better themselves, which I think we all can identify with. You see them making strives to be the best, coming from fairly humble beginnings and managing to become if not the best, then certainly very close to it, which is very inspirational. Unfortunately, it's also a case of schauddenfreud for us, because we know they will fail.

 

* Okay, someone has to make a Twillight parody of this.

[Doghouse]

In my experience I think that's because the traitor chapters, for the most part, have completely different colour schemes to what they have now as opposed to many of the loyalist chapters that are basically the same as they are now but just in older armour.

When the new era of heresy armies emerged the Emperor's Children, Thousand Sons, World Eaters and Death Guard were the guys to collect because they are a radical departure to how we know them now and so a lot easier to show that they were in fact a Great Crusade era army.

The loyalist's on the other hand needed a lot of work before the FW kits came out to show that they were pre-heresy.

[Marshal Wilhelm]

I'm in agreeance with Doghouse.

 

Also bear in mind, that if someone is going to do a Pre-Heresy force, is he going to do a force that just looks or feels almost like a normal 40K one, or one that actually rewards everything he does [ie, paint scheme, use of particular miniatures, etc.] or one that rewards little of his efforts [use of particular miniatures]?

 

UM look the same, pre and post.

As do: SW, RG, IF, Salamanders, IH, BA, SW & WS.

 

Only the DA have a different scheme pre and post. That makes pre-Heresy DA fresh. All the other Imperials are mostly just sporting different armour marks.

 

EC look different, pre and post.

As do: Warhounds ~ World Eaters, Dusk Raiders ~ Death Guard, TS, Luna Wolves ~ Sons of Horus ~ Black Legion, WB, AL.

 

Though you could say AL are fairly similar pre and post....

However, IW & NL practically didn't change.

 

So for dudes wanting to do something fresh:

DA, WE, DG, SoH and WB are all the biggest bang for buck in effort.

 

Imagine painstakingly making a pre-Heresy, say, UM force with all the marks of armour and weapons, etc. and dudes say "Oh, cool, 4th company. Which one is Ventris?" :(

;)

 

Or you could do something distinct like the handsome purple and gold scheme of the EC ;)

 

And the other thing, that which only lasts a while can be seen as most precious. We only have the pre-Heresy dudes for some two centuries. We have the pos-Heresy guys for 10K years. The goodness of the Loyalists rolled on after the Heresy, so the pre' is little different from the post'. But the goodness of the Traitors was fleeting, like early morning mist before the rising of the sun. Therefore it is highly desirable.

 

And lastly, most dudes want to think of themselves as being good, or for good things. This is why there are more Imperial players than Chaos [regardless of Dex quality]. So a chance to be the good version of a faction that is essentially one of the baddies, is also an opportunity for dudes who like something about the baddies, but don't want be 'not good'.

 

:)

[Rain]

There are not more Imperial players because people want to be good. There are more Imperial players because Space Marines are the face of GW. They are on the covers of the PC games, they are the statues that stand next to the doors of stores. Intro games are played with Space Marines, every boxed set has come with Space Marines.

 

Even for more experienced players they are the most developed faction, individual chapters often have more fluff than entire races, and they offer an enormously wide range of aesthetic and gameplay styles all under the umbrella of "Space Marines". Oh and they are cyborg space Nazis, so I don't know about the particular moral norms that you subscribe to but that's not particularly good as far as I understand it.