Starting a Horus Heresy Army

[A Gentleman's Coup]

Hello brothers!  I've been looking into starting a Horus Heresy army, but I'm at a loss how to start. Does anybody have a suggestion as to which legion I should do?  I love the Sons of Horus and the Death Guard, but I'm open to any legion. I would love to hear your guys' opinions if possible, and if anybody has a recommendation as to where to start and what to get first, list ideas, etc, I would love to hear it.  Thanks!

[Chickenleg]

You should choose the Legion you like best. Both SOH and DG have nice models.

 

I suggest to start with the core of the army, a tactical squad.

 

After you get this covered you move to the good stuff.

[Dreagher]

I second going with the Legion you like the most (looks, fluff, playstyle), there are some quite good summaries around.

 

If you don't want to spend to much money I would consider the betrayal at calth or the burning of prospero box, both geht you a bunch of units basically every legion can make good use of (in case of BoP the custodes and sister shouldn't be to hard to sell).

 

If you want to give them some more charakter, Forgeworld sells upgrade sets and decals (depending on which you like more).

[carlisimo]

That's a big question.

 

You already have two in mind - that's a good start.  They're good ones, too, but they're also legions that haven't gotten great coverage in the Black Library novels.  For Sons of Horus, read the original trilogy and Vengeful Spirit.  The Death Guard have a few appearances and good short stories, but only Flight of the Eisenstein for a good, in-depth look.  The more important thing is that they play quite differently.  Death Guard are often played infantry-heavy, with artillery and heavy tactical support squads.  Sons of Horus are flexible but are great in a drop army style with Dreadclaws and veterans or Reavers with short-ranged weapons.

 

For SoH you can't go wrong with a Betrayal at Calth box.  For Death Guard, I'd skip the boxes and get the Mk III marines from Burning of Prospero separately on eBay because the other units in the box aren't as helpful.  You usually want Rhinos if you aren't going full drop army.  Death Guard can get away with footslogging but it's a difficult playstyle to get away with. 

[fisheyedbunny]

If you are unsure where to start I would recommend checking out a few podcasts that will give you a good introduction and help you choose.

 

The Geno Five Two podcast done two episodes on starting 30K, Episode 7 and 8 as well as the Space Men With Guns podcast episode 10 that should help.

 

Check out the Eye of Horus podcast also. I will no doubt have missed some but these are good starting places as well as good listening :)

[m0nolith]

To echo everyone else, choose the Legion who's lore and look you like the most. The Legions aren't vastly different from each other when it comes to how you want to play them and how good they are, except the Thousand Sons.

 

Also keep in mind you don't have to start a Legion. Solar Auxillia are great as is the Mechanicum. Custodes modes look beautiful but they are overpowered on the table. Blackshields are a fantastic choice too if you want to make your own lore for them.

Edited October 4, 2017 by m0nolith

[richmarine]

All The above, I have a sizeable Sons of Horus Army and there is a lot of variety in the units available to you. If you're sick of the ocean green then paint some reavers.

But variety is the spice of life. so if you like both, pick both. I'm currently thinking of a shattered legion on istvaan III led by Loken with emperors children, death guard and maybe some mechanicum allies.

You can cater for any force you like using the rules available to you in any of the rulebooks and nearly all the 30K guys play this for the narrative.

[Varyn]

I have a Sons of Horus army and am just starting a Death Guard army, they are "sworn brothers" so making a combined force would be fluffy too. 

 

As others have said, trying to think about what is important to you when collecting/playing an army. One of the great things about 30k is that, generally speaking, the legion rules reflect the fluff of each legion very well which in turn influences their respectives strengths on the tabletop.

 

I would also recommend Eye of Horus Podcast, they recently did a great Death Guard episode full of fluff and interesting background information, also Radio Free Isstvan Podcast is great for list reviews, I am sure Ryan Kimmel would be happy to help you write a starter list for any legion :)

[Baluc]

When picking a legion that I don't already have some attachment to this is my method.

 

I pick a unit or model I really want to own, build or paint. Then I figure out which legions let me use that unit best. Usually I pick 3.

 

Then I pick a 2nd unit, and using the 3 legions I narrow it down further. Using colour scheme to break ties.

[M@verik115]

Picking a legion is the single hardest decision you will make in your entire life lol.

[Cessna]

No kidding.

 

I am torn between Wolves, Ultramarines, and Blood Angels. I CAN NOT DECIDE.

[fisheyedbunny]

do them all mate :)

[Gorgoff]

do them all mate :)

What he says.