Salamanders or Night Lords

[gmaleron]

Hey guys, I am starting to get into the Horus Heresy and everything that goes with it but now I am having issue deciding which Legion to field! In my local meta there are several armies, all of them appear to be from the Traitor Legions (due to the fact most of the Loyalists have not been done yet) and they have encouraged me to join in. Now currently for 40k I play Elysian Drop Troops and Farsight Enclave Tau, with that in mind Ive come up with the following:

 

Night Lords:

 

Pro: Evil Legion, different from my good armies

Con: More expensive $ wise

Pro: Awesome Models

Con: Similar playstyle to m Elysians (alpha strikish is how id run them)

Pro: Evil Batman Primarch

 

Salamanders:

 

Pro: Pyroclasts are awesome!!

Con: Another good army

Pro: Different style (heavy armor list)

Con: Second Imperial Army

Pro: Cheaper

 

Just wanted to see your guys opinions on the matter and hear your input as to why I should go one Legion or the other from both a fluff and gameplay standpoint. Thank you for posting and helping a new player out!

[caladancid]

What are you using to determine $ cost? Seems like they would be about the same.

 

I would vote for Vulcan being a pro for Salamanders, best Primarch so far imo.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Sallies if for no other reason than I have rarely ever seen a HH XVIII Legion army and we're flooded with Night Lords.

[cowboy3569]

This ones easy  - both! :)

 

Id start with the Sallies first though, less specialist troops required to get off the ground for their ROW if you want to use it.

[grand_master85]

Well, I'll happily throw my vote to the XVIIIth Legion. We Sons of Bulkan don't have a great showing on the forums, and there are masses of Night Lords players out there. It's up to you of course which you choose, you don't want to do an army you don't enjoy.

 

I will say the Salamanders have some fantastic rules though. Awesome background. The Fire Drakes are easily the hardest Terminators out there, and certainly compete for hardest unit. Vulkan is a total beast and they're a really fun Legio to paint.

 

And here's a few older photos of my Vulkan mini (added some extra flames on the armour since):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gab]

I feel your pain. Seriously.

 

I haven't started building or painting yet but have lost count of how many times I've changed my mind about which legion.

 

Easy part for me is they must be loyalists, but the dilemma is they can still be from the traitor legions!

 

Then I see posts like this and g_m85's post above and then I want to do sallies!!!

 

If you've narrowed it down to just the two legions I would look to build the bare minimum of each (hq and 2 troops) and then start adding what you feel like purchasing/building/painting.

 

I should follow my own advice and do IF, Sallies and Iron Hands.

[Marshal Loss]

I'd go with Night Lords. Similar playstyle to your Elysians in concept, but they're Space Marines and the Legion list is full of options so you'll be surprised how different it runs in practice. Additionally, the dark and evil look with trophies etc will help to differentiate it from your other armies, which I'd wager aren't covered in trophies

[Xin Ceithan]

Just do both ....

Play VIIIth

..standing smugly over Salamander casualities...

 

Now, excuse me while I retreat behind this Contemptor ;)

[grand_master85]

Having recently played a game against Night Lords and watching both the Fire Drakes and Vulkan tear through their army, and then watching my Pyroclasts do something ridiculous like 60+ wounds to a single tactical squad....yeah, I love my Sals :-)

Tbf, there's nothing stopping you doing, say, one of the two as your main force, and then the others as Allies. That's what I did so I have my main Salamanders army and enough Alpha Legion to pose as an allied detachment :_)

[gmaleron]

I actually never considered putting in an ally, and that's great to hear! Mind if I ask what your Salamander army list is? Wont lie, ive had a sudden interest in Raven Guard as well so make it 3 legions I am considering...but would love to hear you try and sway me over to the Sallies! And how big of an allied detachment do you get?

[grand_master85]

Well, my 3k roughly consists of:

Rite of War: The Covenant of Fire

LoW
Primarch: Vulkan of the Salamanders

5 Firedrake Terminator Bodyguard in a Spartan Assault Tank transport

HQ

Consul (either a Master of Signals whoi sits with the Volkite Culivern Squad or a Primus Medicae who joins the Fire Drakes)

Elite
2 Rapier Laser Destroyer Arrays
Mortis-Contemptor with TLLC

Troops

2 10-man Tactical Squads in rhinos toting Heavy Flamers
10-man Pyroclasts Squad

Fast Attack
Storm Eagle (either as AA alongside the Mortis-Contemptor or transport for the Pyroclasts, depending on the mission)
 

Heavy Support
9-man Heavy Support Squad with Volkite Culiverns in a rhino toting a Heavy Flamer (these guys will either loan their rhino out to the Pyroclasts on the first turn if the Pyros aren't using the Storm Eagle)
Sicaran Venator
Whirlwind Scorpius

I havn't played for a good couple of months or so now, so that's a rough list. It seems very light on troops for 3k, however it's rare that they find themselves too outnumbered. The amount of shots the Volkite Culiverns can put out, alongside the Master of Signals who gives them +1BS when not dropping his d3 Bombardment, can be obscene, espcially with the Deflagrate rule. The Rite of War isn't necessary, I just use it to get Move Through Cover on all my troops and vehicles, and to make my Pyroclasts Troops (if I don't want this RoW, which stops you having more than one non-Legion Champion Consul, you can just use the Pyroclasts as a regular Flamer squad to fill out a non-compulsory troops choice).

I also have a few other things I can add in depending on what I fancy. I also have:

Praetor with MC Power Fist and Dragonscale Storm Shield
10 Cataphractii Terminators with Power Fists and 2x Heavy Flamers
Another Rapier with LDA
20 more Tactical marines for if i fancy 2 blocks of 20 Tactical marines instead of the Rhino Rush
Typhon Siege Tank

My allies atm are Alpha Legion, consisting of a Praetor who can be any Consul, a Mortis-Contemptor, 15 Tactical Marines (and Rhino), 10 Recon Marines, and a Sicaran Battle Tank. I'm working on slowly building up a Solar Auxilia force to initially be allies for the Salamanders but will be an army in their own right eventually.