Thinking of starting

[Uprising]

So I have start to amass a small amount of Horus Heresy models, and wondering what would it take to get a small army up and running.  I currently have 

15 tact marines(10 mark 3, 5 mark phobus, i think)  

1 mark 3 Apoc

1 predator 

1 gamesday boarding captain

 

I am leaning towards Death Guard, Salamander, or night lords for various reasons, but, I am also wondering how/why you choose your legion.  Thanks for your time and reading.  

[Kol Saresk]

Well, it all started with Lord of the Night. First love and all that. But honestly, the Night Lords just struck a chord with me and no matter where my thoughts strayed, they kept coming back to the Broken Legion.

[Russ Brother 92]

Mine is similar to Kols except I went for the 'brutish & manly' ;) in the Iron Hands - after all destroying other nations and species is a great way to get a-head ;) in life. and as my sire Ferrus found out - never EVER trust the poncy-dancer in pink with your favourite sword...

[Moonstalker]

I chose Luna Wolves mostly on aesthetics.  I would not have chosen Sons of Horus for the same reason - I don't like all the spikey bits, top knots, seafoam green armor, etc.  But I like the Luna Wolf iconography and color scheme, and I can get behind the Roman feel of the legion when it was young.  I'm also not that big on the Cthonian influence and culture, so my company's fluff and loyalist bent fit well with a mid-Crusade force largely made up of Terrans and whose leaders would be old like Iacton Qruze, men who saw the end of Unification and remember the old ways of their Legion.

 

The Crusade might seem a little boring to some people.  Personally, I find 40k boring.  It's been grimdark and stagnant for far too long.  It's great to get such detailed information from FW and BL about the Heresy, but I enjoy the brief moment in 'history' when things actually looked positive for Humanity.

[The boater]

I chose to start with the sons of horus because I liked how they looked and figured the sea foam green would be a good challenge to tackle.

 

Next I am going with salamanders, iron warriors, or imperial fist due to fluff reasons. I like the three of em though honestly it'll probably be the latter two at the same time when the third book comes out.

 

Pick one that you like or that fits your character.

 

-The Boater

[GhostMalone]

I went for legions that fit my nature;

 

Anger and hot headedness- WE

Suspicion resilience and a bit of an off putting personality- DG

 

Next will probably be the NL- a cold sadistic nature with tendencies to be self loathing

[Kol Saresk]

It's not cold! It's warm, like the feel of arterial spray.

[GhostMalone]

:P

 

It's more like the warmth of a knife slipping between the ribs whilst a hand chokes the dying screams from your throat as slowly the knife punctures your arterial veins in your chest cavity.

[Scribe]

When I started, it was World Eaters and Blood Angels. I dont know why, but thats what I picked up and ran with. I have gone all over the map, but my World Eaters are so near and dear, that I actually walk away from them out of pain over the rules (hi CSM...)

 

I always come back though...

[DuskRaider]

I chose Death Guard because I've played a DG army for over a decade. Just seemed kind of natural to do a Heresy Era force. 

[Conn Eremon]

My introduction to Warhammer 40k was initially the Blud Rehvins, but for some reason I never latched onto them as "my" faction, though they did solidify my interests in the Spess Mehreens. However, the likes of Abnett and his books on emaciated hauntings forced me to rethink my stance, and I ended up becoming more and more a "Imperium of Man" fan rather than just plain "Space Marine" fan.

But I would say the Dawn of War series left an indelible mark on me, because it had a single feature that would define a single aspect of Warhammer 40k as the most singularly awesome thing about it. That feature was the Army Painter, and that aspect was DIY.

Sure, I could use the pre-made schemes and play the Ultramarines, who are awesome, or the Salamanders, who are also awesome, or the Raven Guard, who are just plain awesome, or the Space Wolves, also awesome, or the Iron Hands, who are okay. Or the Iyanden Eldar, or the Farsight Enclaves, or the Behemoth Hivefleet.

But screw that! Let's add some of my favorite shade of green onto that Marine, then let's go with some reddish-orange, because it'd really stand out with the green and looks awesome. What am I going to name this scheme? Let's go with Emerald Tigers! Because green and reddish-orange, and :cuss you, that's why. But it was this feature of Dawn of War that I loved to mess around with the most, and I really only played the game to put them to use. Then, with my imagination flowing, I decided to put story to these bad boys. Some of which I have begun posting here to the forum, but I have on my laptop DIYs for eleven of 40k's factions, with a total of 61 DIY projects all across. If there's a faction, I'm going to invent a new color scheme, name it and expand on them. Period. I may absolutely love the Tanith First and Only. But I have seven Imperial Guard regiments raised from Fir Magnata that I care about more. I love each and every single First Founding Chapter of Space Marines, and many of their successors, but I love my twenty nine Chapters more, especially my top eleven, which are specifically founded from each of those former Legions. And because I'm a huge fan of Aurelius Rex's Dornian Heresy, as well as being part of two other similar projects of my own, everything I have doesn't just have fluff accounting for their existence in canon, but they each have alternative identities in each of those alternative universes. Meaning I have 61 projects, each one having four different iterations. So I have 244 DIY projects, and twenty thousand years worth of an entire galaxy to aid in populating.

Good god I have no life.

What was the question again? Oh, right. Why did you choose your Legions. Can't help you, because I can't choose any one Legion and I don't wargame. I love them all too much, and I especially love my wallet's ability to have cash stay in it. However, perhaps I can help you choose among your three by telling you my first encounters with them.

Death Guard - I actually don't remember my first look at the Death Guard, but like with most Chaos Space Marines they are permanently placed in the "villains" category for me. And they work so well there. The Death Guard, even pre-Heresy, are the ultimate destroyers. They are the slow, creeping decay of all things, given horrific life and unleashed upon us. They're great villains, because they represent inevitability. There's no victory against them, there is only brief respite. They are the dead that cannot be killed.

Salamanders - I was reading my first Space Marine Codex when I discovered the Salamanders. By that point, I had decided I was firmly a Space Wolves fanboy. I had read the Ragnar books, hilarious reads, and damn it, Space Vikings with Wolves are cool. But then I reached the Raven Guard depiction in the book, and immediately the Space Wolves got toppled. Practical Marine behavior? What beautiful nonsense is this? Then I turned the page and found Salamanders, and my life got turned upside down. Salamanders were the beginning of the end of being a single faction's fan. I couldn't decide if I wanted to follow the Raven Guard, or the Salamanders. Practical Marines, or Nice Marines? Solid Snakes in Power Armor, or Marines who came from Hell and looked like it, but dedicated their extended post-human lives to the protection of humanity? I mean, come on. They have families. The deathworld of Nocturne might as well be a paradise world, because nowhere else in the Imperium of Man is a struggling family going to have a Marine pop in just to check on them and make sure everything is okay, and not leave until it is. I know many people don't like have a group that is too clearly a "good guy" faction in their 40k, but :cuss you, the Salamanders are bros.

 

Night Lords - Next to the Black Legion and the Word Bearers, the Night Lords are among my favorite of the Traitor Legions. They aren't just terrifying, they make being terrifying a god damned art. They will hit a Hive World of billions, and use every single kill they make a weapon to invoke even more terror into those they have not yet killed, only to end it in a way that makes certain that the invoked terror survives the death of the world and spreads to other worlds. The Death Guard may be the Legion of viruses, but the Night Lords are the only to ones to make fear a plague of pandemic proportions. No one else can make terror an extinction level event. That is beyond terrifying. The English language doesn't have the right to word to describe the kind of fear the Night Lords can trigger. You know a Traitor Legion is hitting your world? Man those walls, boys. Give them Hell! You know the Traitor Legion is the Night Lords? :cuss your pants, boys. We're going to Hell!

[TheForgottenAngel]

I initially chose the Imperial Fists because I'm a Black Templar (once a BT always a BT). I still intend to do a small detachment of them focused on Sigismund and his elite warriors. However as time progressed and I read more and more of the HH novels I fell in love with the Dark Angels, the actual history that they wrought as the 1st Legion founded, the controversial past, their knightly history on Caliban and of course tragedy that befell our beloved leader Luth...err...the Lion.

[Kol Saresk]

Luther the Lion? ;)

[TheForgottenAngel]

Nothing to see here...

I really like the Arthurian Knights in space theme the Dark Angels have. More importantly the supporting characters are awesome, Luther was so charismatic that Loken even saw glimpses of Horus before his fall while reminiscing in a cell on Caliban. Not to mention Descent of Angels where Luther and Lion were still close before what happened on the ship. If you haven't listened to the Audio series with Grey Angel I highly recommend it. Cypher is a loyal Dark Angel, his methods are secret but so it must be, especially in the 41st Millennium. That is why I love the Dark Angels, so may sweet sweet conversion opportunities and fluff to expand on.

[Vazzy]

I picked the Ultramarines do to their pragmatic nature, kindness towards humans, and Roman themes. I love the ideas of Theoretical and Practical, which ahve made the transfer to Real life as well. They're the everymarine, not truly special in any which way, but I like that, and can get into that mindset. I've tired to do other armies but Luciel Fidelitas and his Hammers always call me back

[Durfast Spiritwolf]

I'm a long term Space Wolves player and had a Great Crusade era force already. However, I didn't want to run a vanilla list whilst waiting for the Prospero book. I wanted a themed army and that meant one covered in Betrayal when I started about 10 months ago. I liked World Eaters, Sons of Horus, and Death Guard, but then the opportunity came to buy a half painted Death Guard starter force at less than cost price. Decision made!

 

They have provided me with a lot of fun and I'm still adding to them, I recommend you go with whatever excites you the most, all the lists are great :)

[facmanpob]

I like the moral ambiguity of the First Legion.

Pragmatic above all others, they do not hesitate to take tough decisions against their own or others when necessary in order to achieve their objectives. Edict of Nikea? "I'm not going to die at the hand of a warp daemon while my psykers stand by twiddling their thumbs due to some vain attempt to curb the excesses of the Thousand Sons". But how can you be loyal to the Emperor when you are ready to break his direct orders? Because that is what a true Commander does... he follows orders up until the point they become ridiculous, and then in the absence of a higher authority to refer to he makes up his own mind to break them. Only a fool like Dorn would follow orders to the letter long after they have stopped making sense!

But their innate secrecy and lack of trust and empathy clouds that decision making, however, and loyalties are not always obvious. Who is Cypher working for? Luther? The Lion? Both? Neither?

There is so much to work with in making up your own stories and ideas, permeating across 10,000 years from the Great Crusade all the way up to the 'present day'.

P.S. I'm not really anti-Dorn, I actually like the IF, but he is a stickler for protocol....

[Kol Saresk]

But Dorn doesn't even follow the Edict. :teehee:

[facmanpob]

But Dorn doesn't even follow the Edict.

Yeah, well, most of them don't secretly.... at least the Lion made the effort initially

[Kol Saresk]

The Lion, Guilliman, Curze(surprisingly), Mortarion, Ferrus Manus, Vulkan and Sanguinius are the only Primarchs I believe to have been shown to actually have ever followed the Edict. Maybe Khan. I say maybe because being a Stormseer also meant having responsibilities outside being a Librarian, such as being in charge of the recruitment process and being a watchful eye over Chogoris. So as long a they relinquished their roles as Librarians, the Stormseers could just assume their other responsibilities and still remain Stormseers. And I'm not familiar with the particulars of Scars yet so I could be wntirely wrong on how it all worked out with them.

[Russ Brother 92]

and then you had Russ (sod the Edict - we don't technically have 'Librarians' we have Rune Priests so it doesn't apply to us) and Magnus - "how can we not use sorcery when it's 80-90% of what we are and what we do?!?

 

Others who broke it (The Lion and Fulgrim) probably figured "hey it's not that bad..." or "hey we NEED the psykers!!"

[Kol Saresk]

and then you had Russ (sod the Edict - we don't technically have 'Librarians' we have Rune Priests so it doesn't apply to us) and Magnus - "how can we not use sorcery when it's 80-90% of what we are and what we do?!?

 

Others who broke it (The Lion and Fulgrim) probably figured "hey it's not that bad..." or "hey we NEED the psykers!!"

Well I'm pretty sure that by the end of the Heresy, everyone will be breaking it in some form or another. But like Pre-Heresy, you had Dorn and Angron segregating the Librarians from the rest of the Legion instead reintegrating them into the rank and file. You also had the Alpha Legion and Word Bearers who continued to not only use them in secret, but conduct research that would have made Magnus shudder(Pre-Razing). And I think if I wanted to, I could make a comprehensive list of who obeyed and up to what point at this point and time in the Heresy.

[Barabbas Sogalon]

I chose Death Guard because I like the nature of the legion with their attritional warfare and use of forbidden weaponry. And they are a relieving contrast from the "bling bling" of 40k. After reading about the Dusk Raiders and Crysos Morturg in Betrayal I decided to make them loyalists.

[spu00sed]

Angron just ignored the librarians, even before the edict.

 

I think he would just be mildly surprised each time he saw one of them

 

"Hmm..."

 

"My lord?"

 

" I thought you had died?"

 

"No my lord, there are twelve of us...."

 

"Whatever, go and give someone else a headache and don't bother me until you have died"

[Kol Saresk]

Still segregation.