Do you collect for the tropes?

[Scribe]

Is it the rules? The models? Or do you collect because of some hook that may or may not even be expressly obvious?

 

For me, there are 4 factions which have drawn me in.

 

1. Chaos/Khorne/World Eaters.

2. Necrons (3rd Edition)

3. Dark Eldar (5th Edition Reboot)

4. Ad Mech

 

For the Necrons, it is their omnicidal nature in combination with transhumanism and some of the pitfalls that are only slightly explored since their reboot.

 

For Dark Eldar, its the fact they are the Cyber Punk of the setting, without question. I amassed a huge army of them, every unit type, and the lore hooks in the 5th edition Codex are amazing. The model line, the art, what an absolute triumph.

 

For Ad Mech, its honestly the filling of a huge gap in the setting. We knew for decades they were a massive factor, and to see that come to life over the last few years has been deeply satisfying. A few misses on the model line, but..we cant always win.

 

For all of them however, its likely a single trope or hook, that got me at first, above models, and rules really.

 

 

[MARK0SIAN]

For me it’s definitely the lore and models of an army that draw me in. For example I like world eaters lore but I think the models are less than stellar so I don’t collect them. However I like the lore and models for Custodes so I do collect them.

 

I won’t say rules don’t play any part. The rules have to try and reflect how the army is in the lore. They also have to be at least good enough that I won’t get curb stomped in every game like pre psychic awakening Grey Knights. But equally they don’t have to be top tier either.

[Axineton]

For me it’s a bit of lore and the models themselves. They’ve gotten so much better over the years. I’m still learning the rules but I love the Ultramarines always have and always will. When I came back to the hobby in 2018 I didn’t know Roboute had been resurrected and was a big surprise. I love the Primaris too. Don’t care if people hate them that’s their problem not mine. 
 

Love the Deathwatch because I love that you can get any chapter pretty much represented with their right shoulder pad and all those different chapter icons is cool. 
Harlequins I’m loving too because the colours they field and clowns what’s not to love about clowns?? 
 

And finally I’m really loving the Chaos Knights lately mainly because their an untapped army with my gaming club. If I can get mine all built ASAP then I’ll be the first as far as I know with them there. 

[The Yncarne]

1. models

rules

random itch 

[Xenith]

The lore mainly. Blood Angels were the emperor's finest. The Thousand Sons the most tragic tale and coolest space wizards.

[Panzer]

Models and lore. Rules are secondary. It sucks when they suck but I wouldn't start any army because of them either.

[Schurge]

I started with Fantasy Battle in high school (2007?) but I only had a starter set (think it was called Skull Pass, spider goblins vs dwarves) due to lack of money. I got into 40k in 2011-2012 and went with Chaos because I played Chaos in Warhammer Online and liked the Fantasy Battle Chaos fluff. At first I played Crimson Slaughter as they were big back then but I often bounced back and forth between different renegade chapters. I always ran all or mostly Khorne because I am an angry person and "indulging your anger" is part of the fantasy of Chaos for me. I also ran mostly assault lists. When Daemonkin came out I started adding Khorne daemons to my collection but I don't think I've ever actually used them in a game. In 8th edition I decided I'm a World Eaters player due to fluff and playstyle and I've only played as World Eaters throughout 8th edition. I have about 5k points of World Eaters and 1.5k points of Khorne Daemons.

 

When Kill Team dropped I bought some Kabalites and Wyches since CSM was garbage tier for my edgy melee fix. I also bought the Drukhari Omnibus to bone up on the lore. I found that Drukhari and by extension Slaanesh were a lot more compelling and "nuanced" then their cartoonish reputation had me believing... So I have a couple squads and an Succubus conversion that I intend on turning into a Drukhari force at some point entirely due to fluff.

[N1SB]

What a great question.  I really had to look inward (it wasn't pretty) but honestly I do absolutely choose miniatures based on tropes.  In fact, I choose for memes.

 

But it might be because I'm a grognard from 1st ed 40k.  The lore isn't such as it is now.  It's hard to explain, but it's not merely that there wasn't as much of it, but what there was had a very different texture.  It also leveraged existing tropes, usually from fantasy, a lot.  Eldar were Space Elves (actually their miniatures were advertised as that), Squats were Space Dwarfs, Orks were Orcs with guns and bad spelling.

 

I know when people talk about memes it's usually about Internet memes, some sort of trending trolling joke, but a meme is an existing term for any anthropological phenomenon that spreads through human society because it somehow taps into human nature.  There is great power in that, I think.

[Snazzy]

In addition to the above mentioned factors, I pay attention to game design philosophy.  I am a big fan of the inherent flexibility of standard Space Marines.  Over the years this has helped me to indulge my favorite playstyle, "Show up and improvise".

 

On the extreme reverse, I became a fan of then-Dark Eldar because they could not be played in such a fashion.  They were high risk, high reward.  I admired the players who could sweep tables with an army that (this was 3rd ed) was considered a failure of design by GW.  The 5th edition relaunch added some much needed fun in Commorah, casting aside even death itself with the Kabalite clone batches.

[Scribe]

What a great question.  I really had to look inward (it wasn't pretty) but honestly I do absolutely choose miniatures based on tropes.  In fact, I choose for memes.

 

But it might be because I'm a grognard from 1st ed 40k.  The lore isn't such as it is now.  It's hard to explain, but it's not merely that there wasn't as much of it, but what there was had a very different texture.  It also leveraged existing tropes, usually from fantasy, a lot.  Eldar were Space Elves (actually their miniatures were advertised as that), Squats were Space Dwarfs, Orks were Orcs with guns and bad spelling.

 

I know when people talk about memes it's usually about Internet memes, some sort of trending trolling joke, but a meme is an existing term for any anthropological phenomenon that spreads through human society because it somehow taps into human nature.  There is great power in that, I think.

 

I wonder if this approach to the game, or view, is more prevalent in older gamers. I came in at the end of 2nd/beginning of 3rd, and something more than the models, pulled me into Khorne.

 

There were no daemons at the time, the Berzerker kit was newish, but there was a psychological draw to it, that nothing else at the time could touch.

 

EDIT: And in fact, is unique within the game.

Edited May 2, 2020 by Scribe

[Firedrake Cordova]

For me, it's definitely a combination of models and background.

• Salamanders - the humanist, craftsmen with an overriding love of flames element of the background, combined with a general love of Mk IV and Mk VI power armour ...
• Orks - a mix of their chaotic nature and general love of greenskin models (particularly the stormboyz, nobs, and the vehicles that came out with Speed Freeks)
• Necrons - honestly, I just like the Immortal and Deathmark models, and 2 boxes = kill team :)
• Genestealer Cults - the background, great models, and a nostalgic soft-spot for the original models from the '90s

[mughi3]

For most miniature games i choose factions and units by how they look first and foremost (that's why i play khador for warmachine and haqqislam for infinity). with games like 40K the lore keeps people playing and coming back to it. to the point they have loyalty to certain factions. 

 

The same is true of other games with large and deep backstories like classic battletech. 

 

 

It also leads to my unit selections in 40K even if they are not the most "meta" .

[redshadow]

The lore first

Then the models

 

Blood angels are my first love but over the years I’ve branched out into death guard and tyranids, I’m slowly coming round to maybe collecting a 4th army but still waiting for the right lore to pull me in

[Marshal Rohr]

I definitely collect based on archetypes and tropes.

[Bung]

Warhammer and Warhammer 40k are basecally made out of tropes.

You will find stuff from 70 year old Sci Fi Novels, History Movies and nearly every clichee that fitss the bill.

 

Take the Black Templars:

 

- a name with french basis (Knights Templar)

- colors from a german knight order (Teutonic Knights)

- a battle cry which is a quote of a movie (No pity, No Remorse, No Fear. original: "Listen. Understand. That Terminator is out there. It can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with. It doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear and it absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead." First Terminator movie 1984)

 

- in 4th edition Codex a Holy Handgrenade 

 

Best all inclusive chapter you will find, ever.

So yes, i think most of us a grown up enough to play something that fits their humor or something you can identify with. 

[MegaVolt87]

Lore + models for me. CSM drew me in as I am an armchair history guy. They are literal legends of a lost age still making an impact past their golden age. Then HH and FW happened, fleshing out a time period I am interested in. Sure our 40k rules suck, HH is golden coke- but I haven't been happier to model, paint and bring to life the characters and forces I dreamed of as a kid. The exact moment the endorphins kicked in was when I opened my first box of mk III tactical marines last year when I came back to the hobby. It's when everything became "real" is the best I can describe it. 

[Vermintide]

Kinda, I guess? I like the stuff that's "iconic", and I definitely put my armies together based more on rule of cool than strategic brilliance.

Blood Angels were kinda this mystery thing when I first started playing. I knew they existed and were somehow different from regular Space Marines, and I was familiar with them from the old artwork I'd seen (when they used to be the poster boys instead of Smurfs) and games like Space Hulk. But they were somehow... Evil marines? At least that's what my buddy told me. I never knew they had a codex supplement so those mysteries remained unanswered until I was quite a bit older. So Blood Angels, and Terminators in particular, are just the coolest things in 40k.

As for Necrons, they were my first good army. Looking back they had plenty of weaknesses, but when I first started playing them with just a handful of Warriors, a few Destroyers and some Wraiths, I was destroying my opponents left right and centre. Sadly they're nothing like that these days, but I still prefer those old school units to be the mainstay of a Necron army. None of this robots on bikes, robots driving spaceships nonsense (I only have Anni barges because they came in the SC kits...), just a slowly advancing phalanx of immortal, soulless killing machines. Towered over, of course by the Nightbringer... One of the coolest models GW has ever made.

It's all about having an army that looks good on the shelf, because realistically speaking, that's where they spend the vast majority of their time

[Vykes]

Hmm, I suppose in a sense yes, I do kinda collect my army for the 'tropes', but not maybe the most obvious ones.

 

40K's chanting memetic 'bits' and echoes of 'grimdark' lost their appeal for me more than a decade ago, which is compounded by my contempt for philosophical stoicism and the whole Imperial Emperah loving shtick. So, I looked to the force that I more sympathize with on a literary level.

 

I found it.

 

In the dark, I allied myself to Horus.  Any surprise that I fell under the sway of one who wanted to burn the Imperial facade to the ground?

 

No aloof 'Emperor' on high, no stoic warrior ethos completely detached from mankind, yet not so fallen and debased as to have given in to depravity on a whim.  No, they were merely a force opposed to a perceived tyrant, with all the fervor borne of defiance and haughty pride.  It's a faction formed from the slow fall from grace, questions of loyalties, and the eventual collapse into darkness despite starting off with understandable and arguably admirable goals.  It echoes my favourite literary work. 

 

...Yet not for those,

Nor what the potent Victor in his rage

Can else inflict, do I repent, or change,

Though changed in outward lustre, that fixed mind,

And high disdain from sense of injured merit,

That with the Mightiest raised me to contend,

And to the fierce contentions brought along

Innumerable force of Spirits armed,

That durst dislike his reign, and, me preferring,

His utmost power with adverse power opposed

In dubious battle on the plains of Heaven,

And shook his throne.

~Lucifer, Paradise Lost

 

 

*Big surprise, not too keen on Loken at all, but I'm a massive Tarik fanboy.

 

17K strong and not done yet. There are others, sure, but they wax and wane.