Best way to build Alpha Legion to work in both games?

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

I'm wanting to build an army of Alpha Legion, particularly one 100% compatible with 40k, Kill Team, Horus Heresy and with attached cultists for use in Kill Team, 40k and Necromunda. I fully understand cultists won't work for Horus Heresy. Does anyone have any tips for building such an army? Like, maybe a list of units which have rules in both 40k and 30k, and can be taken by Alpha Legion?

 

Edit: For the record, I'll be building it from Horus Heresy models specifically, and it's fine if models unique to each game are present, as long as the bulk of the army (or the bulk of the infantry, for Kill Team) is compatible with 40k and 30k.

[Imren]

If you cannot find a Calth-box (out of production) I suggest you start off with building 20x tactical marines (buy 3x boxes of 10 MkIV marines). Also get the following:

• Cylindrical magnets (minimum N42 strenght) 2mm diameter and 2 mm lenght.
• 2 mm drill bit
• Pin vice (if you already don't have it.

With the listed kit you magnetise the tacticals at the wrist joint of the hand holding the weapon. You magnetise bolters, combiplasma (you probably have them in your bits box if you played 40k marines, if not, Forgeworld sells kits of 5x combiplasma, combimelta and combiflamers, get two or three kits).

If you're on a budget then play pride of the legion and aim for building and painting a Centurion list also playable in zone mortalis games. basically just infantry. A descent start-off 1000p list would comprise:

Pride of the legion:

• 10x veterans (2x plasmaguns, a few (2-3) combiplasma)
• 10x veterans (2x plasmaguns, a few (2-3) combiplasma)
• 10x Tactical support squad (all plasma guns)

You can add a contemptor (get the Forgeworld Alpha legion one, its beautiful) with the following arm options that you magnetise:

• Contemptor CCW arm
• Contemptor CCW arm with chainsfist
• 2x kheres assault cannon arms

And run the contemptor with either 2x CCW or the twin kheres ass.cannons.

Another option is a Leviathan, same thing there, in 30k games you rather run it with CCW (snippy claws and drill) or guns only. When running it with CCW then either get a dreadnought drop pod or infiltrate it (AL mutable tactics) in to charge and wreck face. If you run it with guns then keep it back or midfield and shoot.

The above mentioned units are compatible with 40k and the magnetisation of the infantry will make it easier for you to adjust the infantry models to the 30k and to the 40k rules set respectively.

I believe as a AL player myself that 20-30 infantry and a dreadnought is a good start off for Alpha legion army since infantry enjoys the 30k AL legion specific buffs better than other type of units.

[Closet Skeleton]

The plastic chaos space marine range isn't incompatible with HH. Depends when in the timeline you want to base the army.

[Imren]

The fluff regarding Alpha legion is quite limited and obscured despite several black library books released about them (legion, deliverance lost, preatorian of Dorn, the seventh serpent and sons of the hydra). They seem quite a dispersed legion during the heresy and during the scouring after. Some factions of the Alpha legion might have "chosen" to fall to chaos and grow horns and skulls all over their armour. Many others not. So fluff-wise you can use 40k chaos marines as well as 30k marines (meaning FW or calth/prospero plastic kits). But fluff-wise the known majority of the Alpha legion sided with the heretics not because they got tainted by chaos (like WB, DG and SoH did) but because of other reasons (read Legion by Dan Abnett if curious about that reason). But still they were a (relativerly other legions) rather decentralised legion with independent groups of operatives all over the galaxy with the majority not falling to chaos with mutations and growing horns and claws and such.

 

However, the 30k community is a bit like a historical wargames community in the sense that they are quite socially strict with using heresy era armour and models and frown upon models designed for 40k. So I'd recommend MkIII and MkIV armour instead to build an army to use in 30k and 40k.

[SkimaskMohawk]

You can do cultists as allied milita/cults in 30k, they have a very diverse amount of options and are suited to low quality troops.

 

And I think the point closet skeleton was trying to make, is the sheer scale difference between the two ranges now, especially with say the new havocs. The aesthetics are obviously rather varied too, especially if it's a one off squad or two.

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

I was already planning on running 30k models (MKIV Marines, Cataphractii Terminators, Contemptors) instead of modern stuff ("Heresy" armor Chaos Marines, Indomitus Terminators, Castraferrum Dreadnoughts) just because it's entirely reasonable for an Alpha Legion army to run for both.

[SkimaskMohawk]

I mean, castaferrums can be taken no problem and used as their legion dreadnought choice or as a helbrute. Just saying that mixing and matching ranges won't work as well any more due to the scale.