Yep, its another, help me choose a legion.

[Strata]

While i've been on the fence about it for a while now, with the release of 7th edition i've decided that its due time now to jump forward, or back, as the case may be, into a Heresy era army.  I've done my homework, and been looking thought Books 1,2, and 3 to get some thoughts and ideas, as well as looking though some of the frankly amazing armys that i've seen here, and quite frankly, i find myself stuck in which way to proceed from here.

 

First, abit of back ground on me, and the styles of armys that i've played in the past.  I started in 40k back alittle more then ten years ago, With my first army, the Tau, So as you can imagine, i've long since been in the mindset of the gunline. My forces expanded afew years from there into fourth edition space marines, a mix of tactical squads in rhinos, assault marines, and afew tanks, not very effective, but hey, i was young.  I tried my hand at Nids, never quite enjoyed them, so i was quick to move on. After afew accidents involving high floridian heat in summer, stuff being left outside in said heat, and a nasty run in with my mother's car.. i was left to start from scratch. Currently i have a 1500 point force of dark eldar, Fully mechanized, and majority of it kitted for ranged.  So as you can see, Ranged has always been a major factor of my forces.

 

My first task that i've set for myself has been deciding, Loyalist, or Traitor? My initial thought had been leaning in the direction of one of the traitor legions, as i've not really done a chaos aligned force before. I know which traitor legions i simply have no interest in, Namely the four legions out of Betrayal, Night Lords, and Alpha Legion, and even though there are no rules yet, Thousand Sons.  Out of those, the Emperors Children and Alpha Legion are still sitting on the fence for possible thought, though the Alpha's seem too popular lately, which may be enough of a push to put them back with the others.  This leaves me looking at the potential of Word Bearers, and the Iron Warriors. With the word bearers im not sure what sort of theme fits with them to take advantage of their unique traits, but the fact that they are the ones who brought about the heresy in the first place, that appeals to me.  Iron Warriors, their grim resolve, methodical methods to war, and the tyrant terminator squads.. 10 cyclone missile launchers in a single squad.. Yes please!  Now, what you ask, is keeping me from simply going with one of these two traitor legions? My local gaming scene. Out of eight or so heresy players its ALL Traitor legions. Not a single loyalist.. so that does push the thought of going loyalist alittle higher then it might have been otherwise.

 

Now then, The Loyalists. Of the unreleased legions so far, The Wolves are a thought, i'd read the space wolfs books from black library and enjoyed the way they were portrayed. But, call me shallow.. or perhaps just impatient, But i would like existing rules.  Salamanders. These guys are at the forefront for the Loyalists. I love how they view humanity as something to be protected eith everything they have, not just a secondary objective. The tight knit brotherhood, high levels of craftsmenship, and Vulcan, what an amazing looking figure. The only thing i cant really figure out is the best use of the Pyroclasts. Iron Hands have some nice bonuses to them, But ive been alittle disillusioned by them ever since they lost the terminator squad leaders from 40k oh so long ago. Imperial Fists, I did a largeish sized force of them about the time their last codex came out all designed to resell.. i don't really fancy painting all that yellow again, but i like their background fluff, and how their rite of war interacts with breacher squads (And it  is breachers they have to take right, NOT their phalanx warders?) its an interesting set up. Then there's Raven Guard. I'll admit i've never really given them much of a look before. Stealth and Marines never really clicked in my eyes before.

 

So, that's about where i stand right now in my travels into the Heresy. Divided between Loyalist and Traitor, both on accounts of their own merits, and the local scene.  

[Pyromancer]

It seems like you like Salamanders, Iron warriors and Word Bearers the most, as you seemed most positive about them. As for the issue of all the traitor legions, you could always make a loyalist IW or WB army. Some WB that were far in the depth of space, away from the imperium and missed the events of Monarchia and the downfall of the legion, thusly still worshiping the Emperor, and when they return they decide to join with the loyalists? Some IW from a garrison planet that feel abandoned by their primarch and legion? Or you could also do some Salamanders, as you seem to like them quite a bit, and they are naturally loyalist. Any choice you make, good luck, and welcome to the 30th millenium!

[Dono1979]

Honestly if you are caught between a number of legions, grab a few units from each and play a few games of Strike Force where you can mix and match the legions pretty freely. It will give you a taste for it, in both play style and painting, you might hate painting one particular unit and can then eliminate that legion all together, you might enjoy painting another one, but really dont like the traits that they come with leaving you with the winner.

[OneOfOneThousand]

Just from the language you've used I would go for either the Word Bearers or the Salamanders. In your description of those, you go into the Legion aspect and their style without focussing on model usage (Pyroclasts aside) For the others, you've given a bit more away in terms of your incentive to use them from a capability point of view.

 

In my mind, the legion choice comes down to one thing - your personality and how the legion you choose provides the link to that. I personally gravitate towards Spec ops style combat in other things outside of 30K - Splinter Cell on the Xbox for example, or playing COD with a Sniper Rifle and camo. That led me to the Raven Guard (and Alpha Legion which is my other legion, I do both) as it resonates with my preferences for warfare.

 

My brother on the other hand is pragmatic to a fault, scientific and calculating. The result, Iron Warriors for him.

 

It did take me a significant amount of time, and two false starts with World Eaters and Emperors Children to come to that realisation though so it isnt easy!

[Phoros]

Some WB that were far in the depth of space, away from the imperium and missed the events of Monarchia and the downfall of the legion, thusly still worshiping the Emperor, and when they return they decide to join with the loyalists? Some IW from a garrison planet that feel abandoned by their primarch and legion?

 

Well, he said that he liked the WBs thanks to their being the instigators of the heresy, so that probably wouldn't fit. Loyalist Iron Warriors with Salamander allies, perhaps?

[Pyromancer]

 

Some WB that were far in the depth of space, away from the imperium and missed the events of Monarchia and the downfall of the legion, thusly still worshiping the Emperor, and when they return they decide to join with the loyalists? Some IW from a garrison planet that feel abandoned by their primarch and legion?

 

 

Well, he said that he liked the WBs thanks to their being the instigators of the heresy, so that probably wouldn't fit. Loyalist Iron Warriors with Salamander allies, perhaps?

Must have missed that sorry! :)

[Strata]

After giving it abit more thought, and seeing what it is you guys have to say, I think that the sons of nocturne will be the legion that i start building up. I haven't really seen many people on here building them up, So once i place an order, i think that i'll be keeping a log of their progress.  I'm giving a thought of some Mk III, and MK IV armor, and afew rapiers as my first order.

[Tyrannicide]

Please go with an olive drab green color. It's so perfect on FW's armor kits. 

[Relict]

I would advise Word Bearers for Traitor and Salamanders for Loyalist. 

 

Word Bearers:

- Lots of interesting fluff, with them being the original instigators and conspirators of the Horus Heresy.

- Good unique characters (Lorgar, Erebus, Kor Phaeron, and maybe Argel Tal in the near future. Ashen Circle already available, with gorgeous sculpts for the Gal Vorbak coming up). 

- A less common Legion on the tabletop, at least on this forum (just look at how many Night Lords and World Eaters there are already!).

- Possibility of incorporating daemonic allies in the near future. 

- A large, organized Legion with many different specialities (each Chapter having a different tactica). You could go for a company of airborne assault troops, a heavy infantry company with plenty of armor support, or a fanatical cult of daemon summoners and sorcerers. 

 

Salamanders:

- Appealing color scheme. The green would look excellent indeed on the many, many beautiful vehicle models from FW.

- A great sculpt for the Primarch. 

- A must if you like flamers. 

[OneOfOneThousand]

Yep, agree on the Salamaders olive colour scheme - i've never been a fan of the Technicolour green (snot green I think old GW terms?) and the dark green makes them look that much more gritty. The Pyroclasts I love - so much so i've bought a squad just to paint up

Keep us posted - the shattered legions need all the support we can get!

[Strata]

I had been planning on using something closer to Forge World's color scheme then GW's bright green, i agree that it looks better, and gives the Salamanders a darker more enjoyable look. At the moment im working to put togeather a 1500 point list to start of as a basis, using their Rite im planning mass of infantry for some moves though cover shenanagins. Any recomendations on how to back up the planned 15 man tactical squads?

[OneOfOneThousand]

Outriders or Jetbikes would be good to harry the flanks from a tactical perspective, although with the Sallies traditionally not enjoying the saddle I think something that provides covering fire and to take heat away from your advancing tacs would be good. Heavy Support squads with autocannons offer a nice punch for the price.

 

An apothecary unit spread across your tacticals would be good. With 15 men, you are adding to the effectiveness of the unit wide FNP.

 

Finally, Firedrakes - they have to be coming out soon as they've been spotted so a unit of 5 with dragonscale storm shields and hammers will make any opponent think twice!

[Strata]

So i've dug out one of my mk VII marines and did a quick test scheme on it as a base line model for, I think that i can display them here, So i'll give it a shot and see.

 

Im still going over ways in my mind to make use of the salamander's rite of war, what might work, and what wont im still trying to figure out.  Flamer/Melta support squads dont seem like they would be of much use in a foot slogging style list, but that's what im aiming to do to start off with, maybe im missing something in reguards to that. The Pyroclast's seem to suffer from the same issue, short ranged fire power, and no real transport in my proposed list.  The only vehicle's im really even planning on at the moment up to 1500 points are a twin set of Whirlwind Scorpius to bombard from the back lines.

 

[KJB]

Really nice green you have there - How did you do it?

[Strata]

The formula for the green was as follows

 

Base coat with castellan green, layer Loren green, wash athonian camoshade, relayer Loren green, layer straken green, wash athonian camoshade, line highlight straken green.