What Chaos space marine is most popular according to you?

[Darth Mustard]

Hi,

 

need your help, brothers

I´m having trouble fixing my mind on one theme

 

What is the most popular chaos space marines army according to you?

I collected few chaos sm models here in Shanghai and since I´m not a player and can´t keep them since I´m regularly moving I wanted to build a one themed army that I´ll probably end up selling.

I´m not afraid of conversion, kit bashing, green stuffing or whatevering so throw me your snot and your best. :D

I´ve been out of the lobby for years so any help on background of a specific army or ways things should be done these days would be greatly appreciate. 

 

please save the living ancestor that I feel like.

 

cheers,

 

xiexie

[Brother Heinrich]

Well given the current rules you do see a lot of Nurgle-themed armies like Death Guard and whatnot. On this forum though I'd say Iron Warriors and Night Lords are some the most frequently done armies. Are you looking for whats basically going to have the best chance of selling once you're done?

[Darth Mustard]

Big fan of your work Maestro Heinrich,

I´m looking for inspiration, motivation, support, ideas, challenges because I want to have fun with it but the best chances of selling should be taken in consideration of course.

Night Lords seem popular: the death and macabre appearance call for a lot of conversion. I´m not so sold on the red wings. 

One factor though is that to get bits and parts here in China is a challenge by itself...

[dragon950]

Nurgle was great before the new demon codex came out because the mark of nurgle of chaos space marines counted for epidemius's kill count.  But that was changed because it was too good.

 

I would think that slaneesh space marines would sell if you got them looking good.

[Disciple of Caliban Sgt]

Crimson Slaughter seems to slowly becoming more popular but definitely Nurgle Themed or Khorne. From what I've found this is the only place that has a large Night Lords population (though my buddy loves them) and Iron Warriors also seem to be a bit rare everywhere but here that I've found.

 

For me Crimson Slaughter but by far not the most popular.

 

DoC

[Forté]

It's a tough one really. Ones I often see on here are Night Lords, Iron Warriors, and Death Guard.

 

Personally though, there's a few questions you need to ask yourself before starting a force.

 

1. Do I like the sound (fluff) of that army? Ie. terror casing Night Lords, siege breaking IW, blood spilling WE, etc.

 

2. Do I like the colour scheme and would I like it enough to paint an army that way?

 

3. How do I want the army to play?

 

If I did Iron Warriors or Black Legion I'd get bored painting steel or black across multiple units and vehicles. I've gone for an Emperors Children warband because I like the fluff and descriptions of them and because I've decided to just go a bit nuts with the colours. Otherwise it would have been Night Lords as I love the scheme and their way of waging war.

 

And I used the word 'warband' on purpose. Basically, if you have a paint scheme in your head and ideas for a name, what you would like to use and anything extra. Go for it. Throw the book out the window. You want to paint them green with pink lightning and gold helmets because you think it would look good, go for it. Just because GW has set out a few forces it doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to those at all.

[deathspectersgt7]

The hounds of purgitory.

[Darth Mustard]

@ dragon950 I love papa Nurgle. It’s probably the easiest way to paint models because you can always pretend that you meant it to be neglected or dirty cause it’s Nurgle after all.

The Nurgle style might be too military to my taste but it can be easy to paint.

I still have difficulties to understand how a rotting or decaying sm can be menacing. Some armies I saw the conversions were just snot and rotten big bellies sm. I’d like my csm to be mean and chaotic but I do have a bunch of zombies.

Slaneesh is one of the contenders. Once again a mean slaneesh would work. I have a bunch of deamonettes.

@ Disciple of Caliban Sgt

Never heard of the Crimson Slaugter before but there is quite a lot of background. GW new marketing vector for CSM?  Korne is a contender but I’ll have to put my twist on it. To me a Khorne warband would be close combat only and fast attack. I don’t know if in terms of gameplay that would work. What do you guys think?

@ forte

First of all, thank you for being so active on the forum. I’ve been lurking for quite some time and your activity is tremendous for the community.

But you’re not making it easier there, Brother :)

Warband is a great idea. I’m tempted by the discipline that painters have behind a whole army. I’m pretty sure that my GW ADD would strike me down though.

1 Like all the sounds that might be my problem. Slaneesh is a great tempter. Lot of kit bashing but I don’t have access to a bits store here in China and chances are that my parcel will never get to my address because of the custom or the inefficiency of the post office.

 

2 Can I repeat over and over the same colour with the same quality? great question

 

3 I like night lords. Maybe having my own twist on it. The color scheme is challenging. The red wing and lightning I don’t know. But I think they could sale. Definitely would go grimmer and more vampire style. I don’t know about their way of waging war (instilling terror?)

Iron warriors I agree that it can get pretty boring to paint but it might be pretty fast to paint too. It’s hard to see any spirit or character coming from the regiments of this army.

Slaneesh could be great but really tricky too. Would my interpretation of Slaneesh seduce a potential buyer? I want a disturbing brutal snake like slaneesh.

A Khorne warband could be fun. It would mean rushing troop and highly dynamic models. Not a big fan of blood splatters though. Is it a must have for a selling Khorne army? Is a close combat army playable? A static Khorne CSM with a bolt gun seems strange to me.

Tzeentch : I don’t see many armies following that god. An Egyptian style army not following the direct “I’m a giant bee” 1000 sons theme would interest anyone?

Nurgle It would be an early decaying CSM warband with zombies and flamers. Bringer of pestilence. With muties based on skaven models. Lots of gaz masks

I forgot the name of the CSM in charge of the cults but that could be an option. I really like the idea of a Dark cult that Brother Heinrich painted for his friends; the hooded terminators are spot on.

 

So ADD or ADHD ?

 

@ deathspectersgt7

Never heard of the The hounds of purgitory.

 

So as you can read my mind is going in all directions. That’s why your opinion and suggestions are important.

Should I just do a unit of everything that comes into my mind? Or characters like a Sergeant or a hero? But I don’t know the rules so I don’t know what would be codex or look cool on a character.

 

Do you think buyers would be interested in just a squad or a character? Or should I present a minimum package like a playable warband minimum? in which case I'm in trouble since I played only the 2nd edition.  

[Scribe]

Death Guard has been solid for 3 editions. As long as its + toughness your good to go.

 

Emperors Children had a bit of a rise but quickly seems to have burned out.

 

World Eaters have a group thats never going to quit.

 

BnC has a HUGE Night Lords following, its really unmatched in the other forums I frequent.

 

Black Legion has some love over at Warseer, with a few of the best logs for that Legion.

 

The least played is easily Thousand Sons.

[Forté]

Cheers for the compliment.

 

I notice you often mention about people buying your choice of paint scheme. Painting for profit would be a totally different approach because it would more be working out what is more likely to sell over what you would want to have on a shelf at home and put on the gaming table.

 

If you look through the WIP area you'll find loads of fantastic armies which are a labour of love for those working on them and they put so much personality and time into them. But likely never sell them. Where ones I've seen sold on CMoN are often to a good standard but usually lack those little details and extras that people put into their own forces.

 

This is a useful site. Has a lot of the fluff just for the different legions and warbands. And some images too.

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Portal:Chaos#.U0UcnDNwbFo

 

Good luck deciding.

[Darth Mustard]

@ Scribe of Khorne

Thanks

It helps.

 

@ Forte

I''ll have to sell them or if they find no client to donate them to a local club or something. I like the modeling part of the hobby. I don't play and I can't collect since I don't have a space and I'm traveling often. I lost so many things while moving from a country to another that I'd rather find a descent (even sad) way of letting them go :)

When I moved to the US in 2005 I got rid of all the bits, parts, tools that I collected for many years. This stuff take space and a legitimate affective value that I can afford these days. I had nearly every 40 k army around and many from other brands. My friends ran a hobby/rpg shop so temptation was great.

So yes the main idea is to find a theme, a project to work on, use the goodwill and the interaction of B&B to keep motivated and push to completion.

and move to another project or country :)

[Forté]

Well, with that being the case I'd look at the more popular legions. Black Legion, Night Lords, Iron Warriors, World Eaters, or Death Guard. Those would be easier to sell on once you've had your modelling fix.

 

Honestly though, I couldn't do what you have been. I hate getting rid of models I've worked on. Good luck with it and you know us lot will always chip in with comments ;)

[Disciple of Caliban Sgt]

Crimson Slaughter is supposedly a Unmarked Warband. They were "tainted" or cursed by Khorne and have the red Khorne colors but supposedly they are similar to black legion. I don't have the codex yet but from what I gather (or how I like to think of it) they were corrupted by Khorne so some of them obviously would be devote to Khorne while others I see having an extreme hate on for the Blood God for cursing them so they would go to a different God as a bit of the finger to Khorne.

 

This lets you collect something with a bit of everything or anything in between if you don't like red or the paint scheme I see not wanting to take them but from what I hear about the rules they seem better than the CSM codex. I personally didn't care and decided on Crimson Slaughter when I saw the DV set thought they were cool. So when they came out with a supplement I was happy. As the others have stated if you want a ton of background best to go with one of the established legions you like.

DoC

[Chaeron]

I'm biased by having played both since time immemorial, but Death Guard and Iron Warriors are naturally the obvious way to go...

 

...he says to his Thousand Sons, World Eaters and Emperors Children forces.

[incinerator950]

Nurgle themed armies and Death Guard are going very strong simply because of how good Plague Marines have been for three editions.  Gameplay wise, you have a lot of people who have been playing like the Black Legion since 5th (our 4th) since they removed restrictions on unit compositions for cult units and gods, as only a paint job seems to facilitate Warbands and Legion heraldry.  6th supplements have larger followings of people who mask Black Legion/Crimson Slaughter as counts as armies, but for the most part, Night Lords, Word Bearers, and Iron Warriors have an amazing following. 

As I don't follow off the forum very much and spend some time with Chaeron on Nurgle forums, I've seen a very healthy amount of Night Lords on Space Marine (game). 

[Astartes-ULTRA]

Most legion armies are quite popular here but I'd probably choose:

 

Word Bearers as they have great potential for kitbashing and characterfull conversions for some great looking marines

 

Alpha Legion is a true challenge but great. Cold and stark is hard to capture with paint but different and eye-catching.

 

Both of which make good use of cultists, a characterfull addition to any CSM force.

[Darth Mustard]

So in all the response I've got so far it seems :

 

1. Papa Nurgle is taking the lead. Solid playability and big community. As anyone saw an Death Guard army that is not rotten to the core? Do they use zombies or mutants as cultists?
2. Iron Warriors are in second position. The painting theme is easy but, to me, and once again I don't know the rules and the background, they look pretty generic CSM. I remember them being kind of siege specialists, right? What can I do
3. Crimson slaughter are a generic CSM with which I can't go wrong, right? Just need to love red
4. Black legion same as Crimson Slaughter. Black and easy. I would need to find a way to make them different though. maybe more feral ?
5. World Eaters, full frontal, red c&c CSM. My only problem are the khorne helmets? How can you run with something like that on. :) they are no regular tactical squads in their warbands right? I'll check Kraut's hunt for answers
6. Word bearer, chaos cult worshipper seems interested for conversion and impurity seals. Darker red than the Crimson?
7. Night Lords, the forum's favorites, I like the idea of a dark grim inspiring fear aspect. Are the lightning and red wings compulsory?
8. Alpha legion : I remember the concept of John Blanche suggesting viking kind of inspiration for conversion but they are kind of infiltration troops right or are they running cults?

So that's 8 possibilities... humm. decisions, decisions, decisions

Can you guys help me to narrow it down?

I can make cultists, zombies, mutants to go along the chosen CSM

[Brother Heinrich]

If you want unique Nurgle inspiration, my hands-down favorite Nurgle army Lucky No.5's Mariner's Blight warband. They have an awesome Lovecraftian feel to them that really sets them apart and conveys some of the awesome possibilities that Nurgle can encompass. 

 

Linky Mc'Link
 

[Astartes-ULTRA]

Word Bearers were the first heretics to turn to Chaos and have some fantastic artwork to inspire you, like the pic of the hordes of chained slaves and worshippers being herded by Chaos Space Marines for example. They are the main Chaos force in almost every computer game and a major rival to the Ultramarines.

 

The deeper red, steel and brass, heretical script, symbols, subtle yet in-theme kitbashing using posessed parts for mutations and basic armour parts. They strike me as daemons in power armour, heading a dark and twisted version of the imperial cult offering bloody sacrifices to the dark gods modelled with plenty of books, purity seals, icons, candles, flaming skulls/braziers as well as the usual load of spikes/horns/skulls.

 

Definately overlooked and worth thinking of doing :)

[Darth Mustard]

@ Astartes-ULTRA

Yeah Word Bearers are in the back of my skull at this moment and it's all Brother Heinrich's fault. The converted termnitators that is painting for his friend are really inspiring.

 

@ Brother Heinrich

Really great Mariners warband !

Really good idea the Chtullu style. In a way very close to gothic GW spirit.

thank you for the link. very refreshing to find such original armies !!!

If you have others I'm more than interested

[Brother Heinrich]

@ Astartes-ULTRA

Yeah Word Bearers are in the back of my skull at this moment and it's all Brother Heinrich's fault. The converted termnitators that is painting for his friend are really inspiring.

 

@ Brother Heinrich

Really great Mariners warband !

Really good idea the Chtullu style. In a way very close to gothic GW spirit.

thank you for the link. very refreshing to find such original armies !!!

If you have others I'm more than interested

 

Well if you like Word Bearers, Rovient's blog over on Warseer is another fantastic one.

 

Word Bearers - 21st Host

[Darth Mustard]

really cool

I really like the idea he had for the painting of the last head

symbols and tatoos are great !!

[Darth Mustard]

Got to ask

Why aren't there more Tzeench CSM armies built and played?

Do the rules not favor The Lord of Change?

I see mostly undivided, nurgle and Khorne and then Slaneesh but rarely Tzeench unless it's purely a demonic list.

Please keep in mind that I don't know the rules. :)

 

Got to ask

Why aren't there more Tzeench CSM armies built and played?

Do the rules not favor The Lord of Change?

I see mostly undivided, nurgle and Khorne and then Slaneesh but rarely Tzeench unless it's purely a demonic list.

Please keep in mind that I don't know the rules. :)

[Forté]

Got to ask

Why aren't there more Tzeench CSM armies built and played?

Do the rules not favor The Lord of Change?

I see mostly undivided, nurgle and Khorne and then Slaneesh but rarely Tzeench unless it's purely a demonic list.

Please keep in mind that I don't know the rules. :)

Think it is mostly rules based there. They can be points heavy too.

[Excessus]

Got to ask

Why aren't there more Tzeench CSM armies built and played?

Do the rules not favor The Lord of Change?

I see mostly undivided, nurgle and Khorne and then Slaneesh but rarely Tzeench unless it's purely a demonic list.

Please keep in mind that I don't know the rules.

Crappy rules! I'd definitely play my Thousand Sons more if they had good rules (that's actually in accordance to their fluff) and weren't so insanely expensive to run...