The Legion For You: Part Two, Electric Boogaloo!

[Spagunk]

Depending on your own interpretation, there is always the Black Shield route. Black Shields represent anything that DOESN'T fit a specific legion. There are even some that break legion traditions and bring in all different marines to form a brotherhood who still hold some form of regimented coherence.

 

So you could still do Alpha Legion but aren't following their progenitor's behavior and operate on their own accord and whims. Something to consider.

Rules wise you're probably going to be handicapped a bit since there are only a few black shield rules and they aren't completely malleable towards one legion or another. Either way, have fun seeing what to come up with.

Edited November 22, 2020 by Spagunk

[Lucerne]

Hello, fine HH folks. So, 4 years ago now, I bought myself two boxes of Betrayal at Calth, but they've been sat on my shelf ever since because I just can't settle on a legion. I've considered every legion more than once, drafted list after list, written more test fluff than my keyboard could handle, but I always end up back at square one. The crux of the issue is, I actually know what legion I want to play, but I don't feel like I can play them. The legion in question is the Alpha Legion. They captured my imagination long ago; I spend more time pouring over Twentieth Legion project logs here than any other and my heart races whenever I read stories and fluff about them. I love the idea of the prideful young upstarts as they were originally outlined in their IA article; the guys with unshakable - if perhaps misplaced - faith in themselves and their abilities, but who never had the chance to prove it - determined to show everyone else just how good they are, even if that means embracing Chaos and going to war with the galaxy.

 

The trouble is, every time I come back to them, Forgeworld's fluff gets in the way. And I actually don't mind what FW did with them, it's pretty good (although Abnett isn't forgiven for the whole 'maybe they're actually secret loyalists' thing). But as someone who is far more invested in the lore and narrative side of the hobby than actually gaming, the modern day Alpha Legion is antithetical to my needs as a hobbyist. I would like to be able to model a company or some kind of fixed unit, to trace their rise and fall over the course of the Heresy, and to convert each model - giving them each their own name, their own backstory, their own identity. And how FW has written the Alpha Legion, as a legion that doesn't have fixed companies, where everything is so fluid and malleable, where legionnaires are faceless and everyone is 'Alpharius', I don't feel like I can do the project I would want to do with them. So this leads me to look into other legions, only to realise I'm nowhere near as passionate about them as the Twentieth, and so I return to them, find the same roadblock, and the cycle continues. And I'd rather it didn't continue for another four years...

 

I know this might seem silly, but try as I might I can't get myself out of this bind. There are certain things that I can ignore or headcannon away (like the secret loyalist thing, or them incredulously dropping out of the war early in Slaves to Darkness), but through FW and BL the whole "I am Alpharius" shtick has become the core of what the modern legion is now, and it's not something I can look past. So, as a departure from the traditional 'what legion should I play?' question, I'd like to ask: how can I play the legion I want to play? Can anyone help me brainstorm a scenario in which there might be some kind of fixed Alpha Legion company/detachment/taskforce, which could conceivably operate from day one of the Heresy right through to the end, and where everyone is an individual and not just another Alpharius clone? I don't really like the 'they're all old Terrans who don't jive well with their new Primarch' cop-out, but I like the idea of some kind of specialist detachment where its members can't be moved around so easily, or maybe some kind of cult/lodge connection that binds them outside of the traditional legion hierarchy (or lack thereof)? If anyone had any thoughts I would be greatly appreciative! 

Consider the following:

1) "secret loyalist" is both unreliable narrator at work and clearly something that was very...fluid even within the AL. "Secretly loyal", taken at face value, was entirely compatible with "gunned down entire Legions at Istvaan".

2) The Alpha Legion explicitly has multiple approaches united by the common goal, and experts in a given field "outrank" officers when discussing that area.

3)Even in FW lore, named characters exist, some of them very much holding ambitions of their own like Skorr.

4) FW's narrator is explicitly trying to piece together facts from a Legion that gleefully spread disinformation about itself, in the aftermath of a civil war.

 

It'd be entirely canon compliant to have a cell that makes a point of having names and individuals as they seek to prove themselves- all in compliance with the greater plan of their Legion, of course. Or at least that's what they're reporting when Legion command asks...

Edited November 23, 2020 by Lucerne

[Xenith]

FW books written from an outsider viewpoint, in a few battles. Read any BL book and you see that Legionnaires are unique after a first glance. After the onset of the heresy, anything is fair game.

[Orichalcon]

Hey guys, 

 

I'm trying to get into 30k, but I'm absolutely stuck on which legion to pick.

 

Technically, I'm in a place to play Word Bearers, but I didn't pick them, so I'm unsure about going through with them.

 

Could somebody help me decide what to choose?  My biggest worry is having to encounter the same army across the table from me in whatever playgroup I end up managing to find, so I'm looking for less popular ones.

[Scammel]

Hey guys, 

 

I'm trying to get into 30k, but I'm absolutely stuck on which legion to pick.

 

Technically, I'm in a place to play Word Bearers, but I didn't pick them, so I'm unsure about going through with them.

 

Could somebody help me decide what to choose?  My biggest worry is having to encounter the same army across the table from me in whatever playgroup I end up managing to find, so I'm looking for less popular ones.

Well, I guess you could eyeball the Legion-specific tactica threads here for a sense of popularity (though a lack of discussion could just mean that the Legion is considered to be relatively shallow in terms of options, not 'unpopular'). Iron Warriors and Imperial Fists are probably the ones my anecdotal data suggest crop up the most (especially the former), and I'd say loyalists in general perhaps inspire less interest. Scars are probably relatively sparse due to the price tag of their signature units, and the infantry-heavy nature of the Wolves puts off a lot of treadheads.

[Orichalcon]

 

Hey guys, 

 

I'm trying to get into 30k, but I'm absolutely stuck on which legion to pick.

 

Technically, I'm in a place to play Word Bearers, but I didn't pick them, so I'm unsure about going through with them.

 

Could somebody help me decide what to choose?  My biggest worry is having to encounter the same army across the table from me in whatever playgroup I end up managing to find, so I'm looking for less popular ones.

Well, I guess you could eyeball the Legion-specific tactica threads here for a sense of popularity (though a lack of discussion could just mean that the Legion is considered to be relatively shallow in terms of options, not 'unpopular'). Iron Warriors and Imperial Fists are probably the ones my anecdotal data suggest crop up the most (especially the former), and I'd say loyalists in general perhaps inspire less interest. Scars are probably relatively sparse due to the price tag of their signature units, and the infantry-heavy nature of the Wolves puts off a lot of treadheads.

 

Thanks for the advice.  It's funny- I've been putting together a poll of who plays what as their main army, and believe it or not, other than ruinstorm, the least-played army of all seems to be RAVEN GUARD, of all things.  

[Marshal Vespasian]

Have a look at a few batreps and think about who you find cool in the books.

I am a huge black templars/sigismund fan so in the end I went for the fists.

I also considered Ultra Marines because I think they are cool in 30k and I like the paint scheme. I also like the feel of them as a cohesive military force with a clear aim beyond slaughter/conquest. Same applies to my fists.

I considered Alpha Legion but the paint scheme didnt really do it for me.

 

In the end I am kind of glad to play a rather Allrounder (others might say bland) legion that doesnt lock me into or out of a certain playstyle, that I can amass a large collection of.

I am playing around with the thought of building some 3k/4k lists of scars and BA at some point for a shattered legions/defenders of terra type thing. But that would see me build pretty fixed stereotypical lists. Not me building a larger collection of models. Like a day of revelation list and a chorgorian brotherhood or something like that.

I could also see myself building up an allied mechanicum or Solar auxilia detachment that could grow into its own thing.

Edited December 23, 2020 by Marshal Vespasian

[Bung]

Hey guys, 

 

I'm trying to get into 30k, but I'm absolutely stuck on which legion to pick.

 

Technically, I'm in a place to play Word Bearers, but I didn't pick them, so I'm unsure about going through with them.

 

Could somebody help me decide what to choose?  My biggest worry is having to encounter the same army across the table from me in whatever playgroup I end up managing to find, so I'm looking for less popular ones.

 

Dont do that. You wont be happy with your army if you try to force yourself into something you dont really like then its more a chore of painting them.

 

My decision tree was like thiis:

First colors i dont want to paint so any Legion with a black, grey or white armour was scratched from the list.

Then i looked what models / units / special caracters i want to field thats been Breachers,Tanks and Destroyers

So it came down to Iron Warriors and Imperial Fists.

Took some time and read the background about both Legions and Primarchs again.

My choice fell on Fists as i think Perty is just a spoiled brat in ym eyes. 

[Orichalcon]

 

Hey guys, 

 

I'm trying to get into 30k, but I'm absolutely stuck on which legion to pick.

 

Technically, I'm in a place to play Word Bearers, but I didn't pick them, so I'm unsure about going through with them.

 

Could somebody help me decide what to choose?  My biggest worry is having to encounter the same army across the table from me in whatever playgroup I end up managing to find, so I'm looking for less popular ones.

 

Dont do that. You wont be happy with your army if you try to force yourself into something you dont really like then its more a chore of painting them.

 

My decision tree was like thiis:

First colors i dont want to paint so any Legion with a black, grey or white armour was scratched from the list.

Then i looked what models / units / special caracters i want to field thats been Breachers,Tanks and Destroyers

So it came down to Iron Warriors and Imperial Fists.

Took some time and read the background about both Legions and Primarchs again.

My choice fell on Fists as i think Perty is just a spoiled brat in ym eyes. 

 

I respect that, I've just had like this... oddly OCD-like fear of playing an overly popular legion, so it's been extra hard to decide for me.  At the same time, I have SO much stuff for the Word Bearers already. 

[Mogsam]

Word Bearers aren't an overly popular legion. I think they suffer from being quite stove piped. All WB armies seem to revolve around Gal Vorbak and being forced into Chaplains it really encourages it. 

 

If you want a less popular legion, the ones that don't seem to crop up alot are:

 

Loyalist:

Iron Hands

Raven Guard

Salamanders 

(almost like most of their respective legions getting murdered at the start of the heresy doesn't inspire people to play them)

 

White Scars (Bikes are expensive)

Space Wolves (They have to take specific units and it seems to turn people off)

Dark Angels (But probably alot more common now!)

 

Traitor:

 

Word Bearers

Emperors Children (Used to be super rare so I picked them up, but more common now they have transfers again and Tarvitz is likely to spark a renaissance.)

 

You should pick the legion you like the look and fluff of. People will tell you that some legions are good at doing X, which is true, but a legion isn't defined by what it's good at. All of the legions (bar a couple with specific rules about army composition - SW and WB) can do everything. If you want a Emperors Children jetbike list, a Iron Warriors jump assault list or a World Eaters artillery chain, go for it.

 

I've got a Sky Hunter EC list that has been really effective and the EC have no tactical benefits to playing as a Jetbike list. It'd be much better as DA or WS, but it can still be done by the purple ones. 

 

I do get the thing about not wanting to play a popular legion. I recently picked up Salamanders for that reason over Night Lords after Book 9 made NL the flavour of the month!