Best way to start 30k Alpha Legion

[hd3]

I was wondering, what's the best way to start with the Alpha Legion? I was going to just buy the Age of Darkness Box Set but the review said it isn't so great for Alpha Legion. And it also seems to be 90 percent one kind of tac marine anyway

[Silas7]

I was going to say buy a box of MK4 but I was greatly surprised to find that they are OOP.

[Pearson73]

I guess it's always good to have a theme in mind before starting to buy and build. If you want an infantry'heavy force, then the starter set could be good. MKVI fits the Alpha Legion rather nicely I think, you get the rules, a big block of Terminators and the ever useful Contemptor. Alternatively if you want an armoured force or rapid striking mounted army, then it's not for you. The FW upgrades and Praetor sculpts are gorgeous, so I defo recommend getting some to add legion flavour to your force.

[General Zodd]

3 hours ago, Silas7 said:

I was going to say buy a box of MK4 but I was greatly surprised to find that they are OOP.

I’m on the UK version of the website and they’re showing as available. You might want to check back to see if it was a glitch? Or maybe it’s a stock issue, but I’d be surprised if they came off sale completely so soon after rerelease.

[SlickSamos]

Well obviously steal your 'friends' miniatures then blame it on someone else  

 

Mk. IV and VI are your friends (Mk. IV is not oop despite what Silas said but may be temporarily out of stock in your area).  

 

The reason people say the big box is not great for AL is that it contains big bulky units.  However the AL would have used all of these units during the Horus Heresy so depends on your play style on whether you find a use for the whole box or not.  If you want the Tactical Marines, the Rules and any other unit in the box you are just about breaking even.  That said, if your friends have the rules and you don't want heavy units, just start anywhere, the big box isn't going away any time soon.  

[Gorgoff]

8 hours ago, hd3 said:

I was wondering, what's the best way to start with the Alpha Legion? I was going to just buy the Age of Darkness Box Set but the review said it isn't so great for Alpha Legion. And it also seems to be 90 percent one kind of tac marine anyway

The box is great for Alpha Legion like @SlickSamos already pointed out.

The regulsr astartes are obviously great for building core units, a contemptor is always nice to have and so is the Spartan and with Cataphractii you could build several interesting units for Rewards of Treachery. Fulmentarus, Deliverers or Dominators come to mind. The only models who suck balls are the two characters because they are so freakishly huge but it is possible to convert them looking like terminators which helps.

[Xenith]

8 hours ago, hd3 said:

I was wondering, what's the best way to start with the Alpha Legion? I was going to just buy the Age of Darkness Box Set but the review that one person's opinion of what an AL army looks like said it isn't so great for Alpha Legion. And it also seems to be 90 percent one kind of tac marine anyway

 

Small errata!

 

I think the box is great for AL. Alphas rites of war do emphasise infantry, it's true, however this is not the only way to play them.

 

Alpharius with a command squad or cata phractii? You'll probably want the spartan. 10 cataphractii? Convert them to fulmentarus, siege tyrants or Firedrakes. Or a cataphractii command squad

 

40 tactical marines, or 2x 20 tacs, 10 man lascannon squad and 10 seekers? 

 

As with anything in the hobby,whether the box is a good buy depends entirely on whether you want to use it in game. If you have the ideao of building a 3k fury of the ancients list, then yea, maybe not so good. Likewise an all tank army. But if you;re after a solid group of units that you'll use in most games if you bring a balanced army, then the box is a great buy. 

 

Consider that if you don't get the box, the rulebook is £35 from a FLGS, and the box itself is maybe £150, so you get all those models for £115. 

[Noserenda]

You can't go too far wrong with the starter box for any legion really, unless you want to trawl second hand or trades for specific stuff!

 

I would be wary of mk4 myself because they are significantly smaller than the mk6 (and especially the characters!) But especially because mk6 is very on brand for the alphas.

[Harrowmaster]

One thing I will say about the MK4 is that with the MK3 getting an update to a bigger size (and presumably to be compatible with the special weapons kits) the MK4 way very well get the same treatment at some point. 

[Ripper.McGuirl]

I think that the AoD box is a perfect way to start literally any legion, personally. If I were you, I would make 2x15 tacticals, 10 seekers, call the terminators lerneans, and then start playing some games and see what else you want.

[SlickSamos]

And if anyone complains they don't look like Lerneans then just say 'of course they don't, that would be too obvious!'

[hd3]

13 hours ago, Noserenda said:

You can't go too far wrong with the starter box for any legion really, unless you want to trawl second hand or trades for specific stuff!

 

I would be wary of mk4 myself because they are significantly smaller than the mk6 (and especially the characters!) But especially because mk6 is very on brand for the alphas.

Part of the reason I wanted some mkiv marines was so I could make headhunters with the upgrade kit. Make all the unique alpha legion units ya know?

13 hours ago, Noserenda said:

You can't go too far wrong with the starter box for any legion really, unless you want to trawl second hand or trades for specific stuff!

 

I would be wary of mk4 myself because they are significantly smaller than the mk6 (and especially the characters!) But especially because mk6 is very on brand for the alphas.

Part of the reason I wanted some mkiv marines was so I could make headhunters with the upgrade kit. Make all the unique alpha legion units ya know?

[Gorgoff]

At the moment MK4 is an all or nothing thing. They are noticeable smaller than other marks. They look grand but mixing them with other marines looks very odd. That's why I have only mk4 on my Alpha Legion. 

[hd3]

15 minutes ago, Gorgoff said:

At the moment MK4 is an all or nothing thing. They are noticeable smaller than other marks. They look grand but mixing them with other marines looks very odd. That's why I have only mk4 on my Alpha Legion. 

Are mkiii smaller than mkiv too?

[Razorblade]

1 hour ago, hd3 said:

Are mkiii smaller than mkiv too?

Yes but larger and significantly chonkier than mkIV

[Xenith]

2 hours ago, Gorgoff said:

MK4 is an all or nothing thing. They are noticeable smaller than other marks

 

I've used tiny blobs of green stuff at the waist and neck of my non mk-6 marines to make them 2mm taller or so and they look to be more in scale. There is still the issue that Mk6 is just bulkier than other marks, so Mk4 still has thinner legs for example. 

 

Personally I love the look of the AL in pure Mk6 so don't care about mixing too much. 

[Gorgoff]

45 minutes ago, Xenith said:

 

scale. There is still the issue that Mk6 is just bulkier than other marks, so Mk4 still has thinner legs for example. 

That is the biggest issue here:

It looks off. 

[hd3]

18 hours ago, Harrowmaster said:

One thing I will say about the MK4 is that with the MK3 getting an update to a bigger size (and presumably to be compatible with the special weapons kits) the MK4 way very well get the same treatment at some point. 

Oh when Is this happening?

[hd3]

I mean, I would like marines of all 3 mks for visual variety. But the main reason I need mkiv is for headhunters. It's the only one the upgrades work with. Can you swap out the heads on mkiv for mkiii or IV? I've never been a huge fan of the beaks. 

 

If I get age of darkness, what upgrades should I get for alpha legion?

 

P.S.

 

When did the size change for mkiii take effect? I still have that burning of prospero box to do.

Edited May 15, 2023 by hd3

[Gorgoff]

56 minutes ago, hd3 said:

I mean, I would like marines of all 3 mks for visual variety. But the main reason I need mkiv is for headhunters. It's the only one the upgrades work with. Can you swap out the heads on mkiv for mkiii or IV? I've never been a huge fan of the beaks. 

 

Yes sure.

Just look at my picture I posted minutes ago. Headswaps are absolutely no problem.

56 minutes ago, hd3 said:

If I get age of darkness, what upgrades should I get for alpha legion?

 

What do you mean?

Model wise?

 Whatever you like really. I use transfer sheets.

56 minutes ago, hd3 said:

P.S.

 

When did the size change for mkiii take effect? I still have that burning of prospero box to do.

Will.

It hasn't happened yet.

They just teased it in warhammer fest.

[Squark]

5 hours ago, hd3 said:

I mean, I would like marines of all 3 mks for visual variety. But the main reason I need mkiv is for headhunters. It's the only one the upgrades work with. Can you swap out the heads on mkiv for mkiii or IV? I've never been a huge fan of the beaks. 

 

If I get age of darkness, what upgrades should I get for alpha legion?

 

P.S.

 

When did the size change for mkiii take effect? I still have that burning of prospero box to do.

We saw a picture of the new mk iii in warhammer fest with that "we traced a photograph of the models look" you see in the books. The roadmap they showed says that a plastic "Armour mk update" is due this fall. Whether that's mk iii and mk iv or just mk iii remains to be seen.

[Harrowmaster]

9 hours ago, hd3 said:

Oh when Is this happening?

MK3 was only announced at Warhammer Fest so probably late this year or sometime next year. MK4 is pure speculation on my part. 

[Marshal Mittens]

For what it's worth, I think that the box is pretty good for Alpha legion. I would probably add another box of MKVI, and a pack of heavy weapons, probably the lascannon pack. 

[OttoVonAwesome]

On 5/15/2023 at 12:05 PM, Harrowmaster said:

MK3 was only announced at Warhammer Fest so probably late this year or sometime next year. MK4 is pure speculation on my part. 

I made the same assumption. It seems they have already done a basic digital design for a new mark 4 with the Lanius and logic dictates that GW will want to retire the old upgrades that aren't compatable with the new kits sooner rather than later so I expect to see Mark 4 next in line along with new kits for any legion unit that relies on kit bashing the mark 3 an 4 kits. Exodus, Saul Tarvits and the Ultramarines Preator are also examples of there being a digital blueprint for new mark 4 finished already. They all have the same feet, leg thickness and smaller helmets and new powerplant design.

 

It's possible mark 4 also comes out at the same time as mark 3 but I feel like GW will want to space it out to retire the legion kits more slowly as with the mark 3 they'll need to retire and replace quite a few if the mark 4 were to go at the same time it's gonna create a situation.

 

Also I vote mark 6 for Alpha legion it's pretty fluffy. The headhunter kit will be retired and replaced eventually.

Edited May 27, 2023 by OttoVonAwesome

[lokkorex]

If you want bigger mk.iv but don't want to wait for a possible miniature revamp in the fall, I recommend getting some Thousand Sons Rubric Marines and just cuting and filing of the the Thousand Sons decorations. It's a bit tedious, but the models don't look half bad!