How do!

Fancied a chit chat thread for frothing. And as per the title? I want to know what you consider to be the Greatest Unit Ever. Or units, as why restrict folk to a single choice. And I’ll leave the parameters of what makes something Great to you.

I’ll kick off with a bit of a Deep Dive, as not only is it without a specific model, but it’s lesser known, being found in Imperial Armour 13, War Machines of the Lost and the Damned.

It’s…the Ferrum Infernus Chaos Dreadnought

First up, it’s a Dreadnought. And Dreadnought are hella cool, even if their rules aren’t always cool. But of particular interest for this particular entry is that once destroyed, there was a chance of the entombed Marine falling to Spawndom or….ascending to Daemonhood. For a pretty meagre 25 points, you upgraded to Lord of the Long War.

Now not only is that pretty handy during a battle, as you could easily end up with a brand new Daemon Prince ready to kick names. But what a cool concept. We know Chaos Marines hate being interred in Dreadnoughts, to the point it’s even been used as a punishment. But for a veteran of the Heresy, shattered in body to finally ascend? I do declare that is truly Winning At Heresy. It’s super unique and intriguing rule.

Plus it always somewhat reminds me of Pokémon.

Thallaxi for 30k, Kastellan Robots for 40k. I like my big, stompy robo boys. Both of them are just goofy enough, and serious enough, that I can enjoy them in any context.

Grots.

Without them, the WAAGGGGH would not be possible.

Some of my favourite models to paint.

Foolish and absurd, just what I want in every way. Pew, Pew!

Grey Slayers.



These are very thematic, and not in the "wolf wolf wolf" way 40k Space Wolves have become. They come stock with Viking-esque axes and shields. As for options, they have a lot of them - pretty much anything melee is available to them. Just as customizable as the Grey Hunters/Wolf Guard of 40k, the Grey Slayers are a sandbox for customization.

Eldar Jetbikes, in nearly every edition they are the most Eldar things wot ever Eldared, ignore vast chunks of rules and engrumple the enemy with trixing tricks (and the badly thought out metal ones even annoyed their owner)

So not because they are powerful, but because they are Iconic, I'm going to throw down with SoB Seraphim and SoB Repentia.

These two extremes of Sanctified and Excommunicated define the the spectrum for the entire army.

Inquisition Warbands - Back in the days of 3rd and 4th where henchmen came in several flavors and all of them with useless rules but so much character and modeling opportunities! I still make warbands all the time just for the modelling fun.

Thats easy, Movie Marines, its a was 2k point unit of 10 tactical marines.

Flamer hit every model in the unit
Las cannon hit every unit across the table in a line
They all had Tough and str of 6 with 10+ wounds after upgrades (it was stunk doubles lawl)
BS/WS 2+ with some abilities for re-rolls
Re-rolling 3+ armor, or a invul if armor was broke
Bolter was 36" str 6, 4 shots with rending (shuirken rule now)
Pistol was the same but 24"
Storm Bolter is 8 attacks str 6 rending 36"
The ignore all cover for movements, can run and charge (like quins)
When they die they drop grenades (its a str 8 grenade with blast lol)
All has a infiltrate more (start the game mid board)
Combat Squad let them act as all single model units (so you had 10 units).

Oh you can also buy a Rhino that was as tough as a Land raider back then.

So yeah Movie marines are the best unit in the game hahaha

Krieg Grenadiers from back in... early 6th Edition? Either way, they're the models that got to start TT 40k, and they remain amongst my favorite.

When I could make a squad of the little fethers worth about 250 pts, with a Demolition Charge and Meltaguns. Complete with Hellguns that were AP 3, they were great to park near my artillery cannon with a warm welcome to anyone deepstriking close to the guns.

They rarely did much, let alone earned their points back, but that squad did take out a Stompa with two Meltagun shots under the older Apoc rules

The Tactical Squad. The resolute backbone of the Marine army, and the OG core unit of 40k. Flexible, reliable troops capable of operating in any theatre and against any foe.

One of my favorite units is Grot Tanks.

These things catch sooo many players off guard with their combo of BS4, T5, 4W, ramshackle, and a mean AT punch. Plus a LD7.
And you can take them in units of 4-8! For a quite decent price.
Many an Ork player complains about not having enough firepower/AP/being unable to land shots with BS5/morale.
Well then, invest in some Grot Tanks! Or a Grot Mega-Tank.

People unfamiliar with Grots see my Kanz & lay into them. Fine by me.
And then they discover - the hard way - what those comically small tank things can do.....
I mean, I TELL them what they can do. I hand over their stat sheet in the beginning. And both are oft glossed over.
Then when I start shooting them they're all like: "WT*???! From an ork list?"
No. From a GROT list.

Related to my grot tanks are my Grot Mega Tanks.
These things can mount 7(!) AT weapons - all the same or various mixes.
And their BS4 doesn't degrade like your tanks.
7 KMB/etc firing WILL your day up. Even through AoC.

And both types of tanks slot into the list as Fast units leaving both the heavy slots & enough pts open for Kanz or any of a # of various BS4 grot crewed Gunz!

To quote a local Knight player as he realized just how out-gunned he was?
"I've over estimated my odds of success...."
Indeed he had.

I LOVE my grot panzers!

* Oh yeah, did i mention that I can put these things onto a tellyporta pad? Sure, it eats cp.
But dropping a Mega Tank armed with 7 scorchas (and a Shoka Hull) directly into range is great fun!
And then charging something with Ramming Speed....

Hmm. Maybe Dire Avengers?

From the 4th edition codex on, their access to certain exarch wargear and exarch powers meant that you could build the unit to fill a variety of rolls ranging from fire support to tarpit to overly-optimistic character hunters. Their rules haven't always actually made them good at those roles, but you can see what the designers were going for. From 4th (3rd with the craftworlds splat) edition until the latest 9th edition codex did them dirty, they were the only 5 man craftworlder troop unit that actually wanted to be inside a transport. (Rangers have historically wanted to either hold still or infiltrate/outflank/deepstrike.)

They've seldom been overpowered, and I've often found myself thinking the game would be in a good place if all units aimed for the same level of power and rules complexity as the humble dire avengers.

Plus, I've always kind of loved the way their Bladestorm rule worked from the 4th edition codex. Basically, you got an extra shot (3 instead of 2) with all your shuriken catapults on the turn you used Bladestorm, but then you couldn't shoot at all on the following turn. So you actually lost a shot over the course of two turns (3 instead of 4), but you could load up on more offense on the turn that you needed to deliver a critical blow. After seeing all the "shoot more betterer" strats, auras, etc. from 8th and 9th edition, I've found myself wishing the rule swriters would aim for something closer to the old bladestorm: an interesting choice with a significant drawback.

4th Edition Carnifex. Playing around with all the different builds and options and min/maxing was great fun. You basically make any kind of unit you wanted from it.

It’s very silly but I absolutely loved the 4th edition space marine whirlwind. It had a bunch of things going for it. It was indirect so you didn’t need to see your target. You could drop minefields with it instead of firing normally. Which ment a 5” diameter area where every model who passes through took a str 4 hit on a 4+. Its regular ammo caused pinning, which was a -1 leadership test to do absolutely nothing for a turn. How leadership worked was you took a pinning test right after losing a model to a pinning weapon, then at the end of the phase you’d take another leadership test for morale. So it was a great way to force leadership tests on your opponent. Every time a max leadership unit rolled a 9+ that was a key unit that simply did not get to act that turn. It was also quite cheap, 85p If I recall correctly.

There was a lot of fun that could be had with the mines. If you charged into close combat in 4th that ment every other model in a unit needed to move towards you. So let’s say a character charges a unit of twenty Orc boys. Every one of these boys that’ll be able to hit the character would also have to take a mine hit. And those hits would count for leadership penalties and combat scores. It worked very well with MEQs as well. Since even if you lost a fight vs something, if you charged in the middle of your own minefield the enemy would take mine hits both when you charge and when they consolidate after and when they make their regular move. You could also of course do regular mine tactics. Like dropping them where the enemy wants to go or placing them on objectives. They would scatter but still. Minefields remained all game where they landed. IIRC the only thing that could remove a minefield was grietchins.

I always brought one for just how much utility it gave you. And the big blast of str 5 AP 4 was not a bad weapon either, on top of everything else.

2nd Ed shock attack gun. Crazy mechanics and could kill anything in one shot

Kroots.

Check Mate!!

Genestealers (with sweeping advance in 4th? 5th?)

Just iconic perfect mix of model fluff & rules.

Seconding above posters on old Inq warbands and 2nd ed shokk attack gun.

Presently? ... sisters of battle squads simply because i enjoyed bashing a couple of the new kits.

On the Shokk Attak Gun? Got to admit I bloody love the Shokkjump Dragster.

Rules be damned, that is the speediest of Speed Freeks! Plus I like to imagine there has been more than a few Daemons watching the battle for the warp, only to be run over as the buggy does it’s thing.

I will speak my answer in the form of a photograph.

1st edition madboyz or 1st edition shokk attack gun. The most fun units and thus the greatest. Amazing models in their day too.

I think the unit that most caught my imagination is the Crisis Suit unit. Flexible loadout, straightforward but tricksy special rules to help keep their guns singing. Even from the earliest naming the Idea of these heavily armed mecha bouncing in to hot spots to do bad things has stuck with me.

Apart from that, Deathwing Terminators. Terribad rules, but they Definately make my Best Unit list.

Flying hive tyrant:
For huge swathes of 40k, regardless of edition, the flying hive tyrant has been a staple of Tyranids. They have had meta defining lists of 7+ of them to even now they are practically mandatory for a competitive list with their relic bonesword.

Their wargear may change, but they are synonymous to Tyranid lists.

From stories, the best unit in the game should be something eldar. Either that one character harlequin had that was soloing entire armies or a falcon that could take shoting from entire shoting centered armies and suffer no damage. From the two editions I have actualy seen and expirianced, I would say it is a tie between dakka tyrant and a IH chaplain dreadnought as far as power and game impact goes.

I've alsways liked the 2nd edition rules for the Eversor Assassin and the 2nd edtion rules for Jain Zar.

I vaguely remember playing against eldar where Jain Zar used the Silent Death and killed a whole mob of 40 gretchin and made a significant dent in a large mob of my Goffs too in one shooting phase!!

IIRC the Eversor could fight in melee multiple times in a single phase too and work their way large units.

I was on the receiving end of both!!


Edit:
If anyone has the old 2nd ed rules for these units and their wargear I'd appreciate if you could post them!! I'm curious to see the old rules and see how rightly or wrongly I remember them!

Aash wrote:
I've alsways liked the 2nd edition rules for the Eversor Assassin and the 2nd edtion rules for Jain Zar.


Edit:
If anyone has the old 2nd ed rules for these units and their wargear I'd appreciate if you could post them!! I'm curious to see the old rules and see how rightly or wrongly I remember them!

From memory the silent death if it hit could then make another ranged attack against another model within 2" of the one just hit so as long as it stayed in the maximum range could merrily bounce round units like gretchin until everyone was dead if you rolled well enough

I’ve got both rules in full, but am proper winding down for the night. Hopefully I’ll remember and share them tomorrow.

Ok so my first one wasn't serious as Movie Marines are an army not a unit.

For real though 7th Corsairs Prince, literally just build you own what ever you want it to be lol. 2 pages of rules literally.

A long time ago, it was Chaos Terminators. 3-10 dudes, all the equipment could be switched around a ton.

EviscerationPlague wrote:
A long time ago, it was Chaos Terminators. 3-10 dudes, all the equipment could be switched around a ton.

9th take on units upgrades really sucks for the most part... Wyches can't even take a wych weapon in units of 5-9 for some stupid reason even though the kit comes with all the weapons.

For me its either:

Movie Marines

Or

My Squat biker gang from RT...they were recently escaped Hells Angels

Terminators back when they had a 2d6 save, shrugs off lascannon shots galore and then dies to lasgun wielding Guardian

 Rolsheen wrote:
Terminators back when they had a 2d6 save, shrugs off lascannon shots galore and then dies to lasgun wielding Guardian

I love the 2d6 save on Termis in RT/2nd

Any flavour of 2nd Ed Terminator really for me.

Sure they lacked for transport as the Land Raider wasn’t physically available. But man those units wrecked stuff.

Ridiculous firepower for such a small unit, stupidly tough, and horrendous in HTH because Powerfists didn’t make you strike last. They hit bloody, incredibly hard. Though due to a more flexible loadout if weapons, I’d say Chaos Terminators have the upper hand.

Seer Council (on bikes) in the 5th edition.
Harder to knock down than a coconut.

Won't even attempt this topic in regards to something being OP because it's just a case of finding what broken thing GW threw together but instead focusing on what unit did the best at being just outright fun.

7th edition Flash Gitz have a special place in regards to greatness due to how unpredictable yet effective they could be. A lot of times RNG units are highly undesirable due to not being reliable but the RNG nature of the Snazzgun could actually be more effective than just having a predictable stat line. So if the Gitz had something like AP2 then people would play around them as a unit that can melt their armor and they would of needed to be pointed for having such a weapon. With the D6 AP, they could melt 3+ armor 50% of the time which made them a coin flip of being able to just deal a few casualties or outright melt a MEQ squad. Because of this, they tended to either get ignored (being an unreliable threat) and usually having a unit get deleted who didn't hug cover due to not expecting the snazzguns to melt their armor. Or the opposite would happen when (usually after having a unit get melted) the opponent would either avoid them as if they all had plasma guns or would focus fire them when they are still just an Ork shooting unit. Even if luck isn't on your side, their base line shooting isn't terrible so they can still be moderately effective unlike a lot of the other Ork RNG units.

Being Nobz, they hit decently hard in melee so they aren't easy prey for the type of units that tend to try and sweep ranged infantry and their 2 wounds makes them a bit more durable. They can take a Battlewagon as a transport which isn't a bad option for the Gitz as they can use it as a sort of bunker. While Bwagons aren't a common thing in 7th, they worked exceptionally well for my preferred Ork army playstyle.

Modeling them is a blast as you can either use the Gitz box or just kitbash Gitz out of the Nobz box.

Ultimately the Gitz check all of the boxes of being a fun unit with gameplay potential, a fun playstyle (one of the few gold Ork RNG mechanics besides Grot tank movement), cool modeling potential, and adding something interesting to the game in regards to how the opponent reacts to them as it's not quite so simple as math hammering their firepower. It also had the benefit of being a unit that people couldn't really get mad at, it's an Ork nob with a gun that relies on RNG. If you got mowed down by a Flash Gitz squad, you just sorta have to laugh about it as in no way is the unit OP or doing anything anti fun.

They did suffer from general 7th edition Ork morale being all around trash, the useless bosspole on every model (just ate points for zero reason), and GW being pants on head with them only have 6+ armor despite them being Nobz who have 4+ armor. Bonus humor with their formation being the most untested pile of garbage ever made due to forcing the player to reroll 1 of 3 dice when shooting with a 21 model unit so your having to make 21 sets of shooting rolls + a reroll per set in order to properly resolve the shooting. Seriously, such a terrible formation that reeked of somebody writing the rules on paper but putting zero effort into either playtesting it (even just doing a few hypothetical shooting attacks) nor putting any thought into how it would actually play out in a game.

The humble Rhino.

 wuestenfux wrote:
Seer Council (on bikes) in the 5th edition.
Harder to knock down than a coconut.

This, along with the Ork Nobz on bikes, backed with a Warboss on bike and Painboy on bike.

Biker deathstars were horrendous to play against, but so good to use.

mrFickle wrote:
2nd Ed shock attack gun. Crazy mechanics and could kill anything in one shot

Beat me to it. Terminators that would mysteriously stop moving because a snotling had materialised in their cranium... Plus the bravest chap with a flag...


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Afrodactyl wrote:

 wuestenfux wrote:
Seer Council (on bikes) in the 5th edition.
Harder to knock down than a coconut.

This, along with the Ork Nobz on bikes, backed with a Warboss on bike and Painboy on bike.

Biker deathstars were horrendous to play against, but so good to use.

2nd edition VP format. No VPs given away by ultra cheap characters. So the cheapest Nob, on a bike, with a flamer. 25% of your army gave up no VPs.

Racerguy180 wrote:

 Rolsheen wrote:
Terminators back when they had a 2d6 save, shrugs off lascannon shots galore and then dies to lasgun wielding Guardian

I love the 2d6 save on Termis in RT/2nd

2d6 was awful, y'all need to take off the rose tinted glasses.

Rose tinted glasses weren't needed last month when we played a game of RT...

Take off you're bias...

Racerguy180 wrote:
Rose tinted glasses weren't needed last month when we played a game of RT...

Take off you're bias...

Don't know what "you're bias" is, but it's hard to take anyone seriously that praises any rules from RT.

Racerguy180 wrote:
For me its either:

Movie Marines

Or

My Squat biker gang from RT...they were recently escaped Hells Angels

HECK YEAH I first said movie marines too, would love a little WD rule set for them for open play lol.

EviscerationPlague wrote:

Racerguy180 wrote:
Rose tinted glasses weren't needed last month when we played a game of RT...

Take off you're bias...

Don't know what "you're bias" is, but it's hard to take anyone seriously that praises any rules from RT.

There were some great rules from 1st edition, 2nd played better but 1st had some amazing characterful rules. The 2d6 save was 2nd edition for terminators.

EviscerationPlague wrote:

Racerguy180 wrote:
Rose tinted glasses weren't needed last month when we played a game of RT...

Take off you're bias...

Don't know what "you're bias" is, but it's hard to take anyone seriously that praises any rules from RT.

It's underlined...

Timely answer: Khorne berserkers w/fight twice was quite fun.

Nitpick on the Movie Marine answers: Weren't they technically a bunch of 1 model units rather than a single big unit? So like, the flamer guy is technically a different unit from each of the bolter guys.

Sidenote: I've kind of been nostalgic for movie marines. Does the existence of custodes come too close to the movie dudes' statlines for it to be worthwhile to update the movie marine stats?

You're all wrong! (trolly sarcasm is sarcastic)

The REAL greatest unit is a Looted Basilisk from the old pre-5th edition Orks (I forget what their previous codex is). IIRC, the Looted Tank had a special rule where when you attacked (?) You rolled a d6 and what happened depended on the results. I think it was called Big Red Button or something. Using a basilisk as the base tank for the looted tank is mostly for laughs, although I feel like it might have retained the weapons rules of the underlying tank. Been too long and I never played with the codex.

(The metric I'm using for best is based on the amount of chaotic fun it produces)


Honorable mention: most things orky from that codex, also that drunken commissar from White Dwarf that could execute at range

This thread pops up every once in awhile, and the answer is always the same.

Wazdakka Gutsmek

I don't even play Orks and I freely acknowledge this.

 Wyldhunt wrote:
Sidenote: I've kind of been nostalgic for movie marines. Does the existence of custodes come too close to the movie dudes' statlines for it to be worthwhile to update the movie marine stats?

Movie Marines strike me as culturally obsolete. Both GW and fans seem to have forgotten that the Movie Marines were a play on how action movies and BL novels work, not meant to represent ground truth for the setting. Nowadays when I see references to Movie Marines the phrase 'lore-accurate' is often in there somewhere.

Anyways, the best unit for me was the 4th Ed Carnifex. An absolute glut of options to go with a new and very cool plastic kit.

 catbarf wrote:

 Wyldhunt wrote:
Sidenote: I've kind of been nostalgic for movie marines. Does the existence of custodes come too close to the movie dudes' statlines for it to be worthwhile to update the movie marine stats?

Movie Marines strike me as culturally obsolete. Both GW and fans seem to have forgotten that the Movie Marines were a play on how action movies and BL novels work, not meant to represent ground truth for the setting. Nowadays when I see references to Movie Marines the phrase 'lore-accurate' is often in there somewhere.

Anyways, the best unit for me was the 4th Ed Carnifex. An absolute glut of options to go with a new and very cool plastic kit.

Yeah what 3 of us in here know what they are? lol or at least said something about them. I do really wish we got a Open play rules for them in a WD, would be a great way to have some fun. I was working on a friendly 9th version but i'm waiting for 10th now instead.

DeadliestIdiot wrote:
You're all wrong! (trolly sarcasm is sarcastic)

The REAL greatest unit is a Looted Basilisk from the old pre-5th edition Orks (I forget what their previous codex is). IIRC, the Looted Tank had a special rule where when you attacked (?) You rolled a d6 and what happened depended on the results. I think it was called Big Red Button or something. Using a basilisk as the base tank for the looted tank is mostly for laughs, although I feel like it might have retained the weapons rules of the underlying tank. Been too long and I never played with the codex.

(The metric I'm using for best is based on the amount of chaotic fun it produces)


Honorable mention: most things orky from that codex, also that drunken commissar from White Dwarf that could execute at range

Ha, the first edition ORK rules mock your D6 random chaos, try the mad boy rules, 9 pages of tables each with 6-10 behaviours that could see you mob running away, pulling faces at the enemy or even getting bored and standing around ignoring the battle. Some results made them scary as hell but guaranteed, never dull.

 catbarf wrote:

 Wyldhunt wrote:
Sidenote: I've kind of been nostalgic for movie marines. Does the existence of custodes come too close to the movie dudes' statlines for it to be worthwhile to update the movie marine stats?

Movie Marines strike me as culturally obsolete. Both GW and fans seem to have forgotten that the Movie Marines were a play on how action movies and BL novels work, not meant to represent ground truth for the setting. Nowadays when I see references to Movie Marines the phrase 'lore-accurate' is often in there somewhere.

Anyways, the best unit for me was the 4th Ed Carnifex. An absolute glut of options to go with a new and very cool plastic kit.

Pointing out they can get stunt doubles and cool shades as upgrades usually dispells the notion of the Movie Marines being anything but a joke.

What edition were Movie Marines for?

Andykp wrote:

DeadliestIdiot wrote:
You're all wrong! (trolly sarcasm is sarcastic)

The REAL greatest unit is a Looted Basilisk from the old pre-5th edition Orks (I forget what their previous codex is). IIRC, the Looted Tank had a special rule where when you attacked (?) You rolled a d6 and what happened depended on the results. I think it was called Big Red Button or something. Using a basilisk as the base tank for the looted tank is mostly for laughs, although I feel like it might have retained the weapons rules of the underlying tank. Been too long and I never played with the codex.

(The metric I'm using for best is based on the amount of chaotic fun it produces)


Honorable mention: most things orky from that codex, also that drunken commissar from White Dwarf that could execute at range

Ha, the first edition ORK rules mock your D6 random chaos, try the mad boy rules, 9 pages of tables each with 6-10 behaviours that could see you mob running away, pulling faces at the enemy or even getting bored and standing around ignoring the battle. Some results made them scary as hell but guaranteed, never dull.

*stunned silence*

I'll go with the unit that even veterans of the game didn't know existed. Heck, even players of that army didn't know it existed, despite being in the Codex. 3rd edition Commissar on a horse. Back in 3rd edition you just added Commissars to a unit. A special rules blurb at the front of the book, easily overlooked, gave them a free horse if attached to a Rough Rider squad. I loved the "WTF? That's not legal" looks every time I played with him. I had to even point out those rules to Guard players when I told them the squad had 9 power weapon attacks on the charge, commissar plus sargeant. (huge for guard back then)

This veteran player remembers the Commissar horse rule.

2nd Edition Carnifex.

10 wounds + 100 points on Regeneration.

So much fun.

The greatest unit ever?

Very tough. Tacticals are what I fell in love with. But big boxy dreadnoughts are also iconic. Rhino's for being reliable...

I'll go with tacticals though!

 TheBestBucketHead wrote:
What edition were Movie Marines for?

Came out in 4th, was legal up into 7th technically though the Rhino was not playable bc it had the wrong stats aka no HP's.

The Forgefiend. Particularly the Triple-Ectoplasma variety.

It is an armor-plated dinosaur. Except it has a gun for a face. And it has faces for hands. Which are also guns.

It is the thing I point to whenever anyone says or implies that 40K is a serious setting to be taken seriously with serious lore because it is a truly ridiculous thing you cannot look at without hearing metal riffs over the Godzilla screamy noise and just *smiling.*

I've been madly in love with the Vindicator tank ever since 3rd Edition. I currently run 3...

The gargantuan squiggoth. In the world of tanks and bio titans the orks overfeed and train livestock to ride into battle

The humble XV-9 hazard suit, fast, flexible and fantastically elegant. I always liked the idea of playing 9 in a list sadly it wasn't until I acquired more specialised means was I able to own a few, I would love to see plastic versions of such a nostalgic kit

Greater daemons in the 6th / 7th edition Codex. Not the codex itself, but specifically how the greater daemons worked with Minor, Major, and Exalted gifts.

Honestly probably the best version of pseudo-random rules I've seen.

Honourable mention: Firstborn Deathwatch kill teams. Maybe the single most flexible unit in the entire game in terms of equipment, and one of the very few firstborn marine units that feel right in terms of scale even now*.

*Your mileage may vary.

Aelyn wrote:


Honourable mention: Firstborn Deathwatch kill teams. Maybe the single most flexible unit in the entire game in terms of equipment, and one of the very few firstborn marine units that feel right in terms of scale even now*.

*Your mileage may vary.

Okay, going to agree with this. I loved when their frag cannons had a flamer profile. My Death Guard friend once tried a charge on my unit with 4frag cannons and it did not end up well for him. He got overwatch Ed to death before making close combat.

The Grav Attack.

While I doubt many will be familiar with it, The Grav-Attack was the first vehicle 'kit' to get rules in 40k, back in WD 95 (November 1987). Back in the early days we had to make do with whatever we could get our hands on to represent vehicles, since GW didn't make any, and the vehicle rules in the RT rulebook, despite being... interesting, allowed you to put anything you wanted on the table.

For a close second, i would say the baneblade, for much the same reasons. Sure, I know that there have been a variety of kits, from armorcast, to FW and now a plastic kit, but...
A scratch built baneblade using the guide in WD132 (December 1990) is a modelling project anyone can get their teeth into, and it looks pretty decent into the bargain

madtankbloke wrote:
The Grav Attack.

While I doubt many will be familiar with it, The Grav-Attack was the first vehicle 'kit' to get rules in 40k, back in WD 95 (November 1987). Back in the early days we had to make do with whatever we could get our hands on to represent vehicles, since GW didn't make any, and the vehicle rules in the RT rulebook, despite being... interesting, allowed you to put anything you wanted on the table.

For a close second, i would say the baneblade, for much the same reasons. Sure, I know that there have been a variety of kits, from armorcast, to FW and now a plastic kit, but...
A scratch built baneblade using the guide in WD132 (December 1990) is a modelling project anyone can get their teeth into, and it looks pretty decent into the bargain

I made two of those WD baneblades, first when I first got my hands on that white dwarf, must have been 12 then, second when I was 15 and I actually bought card that time not used cereal boxes. Loved them both, but love the plastic kit better.

Ta'unar Supremacy Armour, can't really argue with a big mech with an even bigger gun. Enough dakka to make an Ork green with jealousy (OK greener)

Imperator Titan

Mara'ghal dreadnought.

It is a walking warcrime against sanity, logic and reality itself.

Or an Ordo Sinister titan...the UN need to draft resolutions preventing their use.

madtankbloke wrote:
The Grav Attack.

While I doubt many will be familiar with it, The Grav-Attack was the first vehicle 'kit' to get rules in 40k, back in WD 95 (November 1987). Back in the early days we had to make do with whatever we could get our hands on to represent vehicles, since GW didn't make any, and the vehicle rules in the RT rulebook, despite being... interesting, allowed you to put anything you wanted on the table.

For a close second, i would say the baneblade, for much the same reasons. Sure, I know that there have been a variety of kits, from armorcast, to FW and now a plastic kit, but...
A scratch built baneblade using the guide in WD132 (December 1990) is a modelling project anyone can get their teeth into, and it looks pretty decent into the bargain

Do you mean this deodorant stick with a medicine spoon glued on to it? They were very different times. I remember trying to persuade my brother to give up his zoids to try and make vehicles out of like in this article.

Y'know I'm surprised they haven't made a version of that for 30k.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Y'know I'm surprised they haven't made a version of that for 30k.

They did!

They look nothing alike.

Skimmer, Grav Attack. No idea now the driver fits. Laser weapons. Curved hull.

I mean, it’s not identical like, but it’s clearly inspired

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Y'know I'm surprised they haven't made a version of that for 30k.

They did!

The deodorant stick skimmer was the 1st thing I thought of when I first saw this: https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Legion-Javelin-Attack-Speeder-with-Lascannon

ccs wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Y'know I'm surprised they haven't made a version of that for 30k.

They did!

The deodorant stick skimmer was the 1st thing I thought of when I first saw this: https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Legion-Javelin-Attack-Speeder-with-Lascannon

Yeah that's what came to mind for me as well.

[sulk]It’s not even called the Grav Attack unlike the Grav Attack and you can clearly see where the pilot sits unlike the Grav Attack[/sulk]

I am torn.

The rubric marine certainly high up in my list. 60 later and I still enjoy painting them. They look the part. Play how they should. And tell a quintessential 40k story in a single mini. All is dust.

The reaver titan holds a hugely special place in my heart for many reasons, and at all scales and editions it has been a joy to build and paint (less so to field).

Finally, I think the land raider. Its iconic, its always been quite useless, but the model is lovely, it's variants great and I don't consider any marine army complete without one.

Andykp wrote:

madtankbloke wrote:
The Grav Attack.

While I doubt many will be familiar with it, The Grav-Attack was the first vehicle 'kit' to get rules in 40k, back in WD 95 (November 1987). Back in the early days we had to make do with whatever we could get our hands on to represent vehicles, since GW didn't make any, and the vehicle rules in the RT rulebook, despite being... interesting, allowed you to put anything you wanted on the table.

For a close second, i would say the baneblade, for much the same reasons. Sure, I know that there have been a variety of kits, from armorcast, to FW and now a plastic kit, but...
A scratch built baneblade using the guide in WD132 (December 1990) is a modelling project anyone can get their teeth into, and it looks pretty decent into the bargain

Do you mean this deodorant stick with a medicine spoon glued on to it? They were very different times. I remember trying to persuade my brother to give up his zoids to try and make vehicles out of like in this article.

That's exactly the one. Its not a great looking thing, certainly, but what I like most about it is the permissiveness, GW doesn't make vehicle kits (in 1987), so get anything you can that looks like a shape of some kind, glue stuff to it and add a coat of paint, and put it in your army.
Its certainly a lot nicer from a hobbyist perspective than 'you can only use official kits, and you can only convert them with official kits' since it gives you an enormous quantity of options to pick from

Zhadsnark da Rippa, Evil Suns warboss on warbike from Forgeworld's greatest book, "Raid on Kastrel Novem" He could "Tank Shock" when he turboboosted in the shooting phase, and his power klaw struck at his normal initiative 3 instead of 1 like everyone else with a similar weapon (Power Fist, Thunder Hammer, etc..) I will always remember the games I had with him because of the lunacy that unfolded from it. He died every time, but he will never be forgotten.

Conscripts.

Untrained. Barely equipped. Might be fed that day. Shoved to the frontlines to sacrifice for the Emperor. More scared of their commisar than any beast of chaos.

 Insectum7 wrote:

ccs wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Y'know I'm surprised they haven't made a version of that for 30k.

They did!

The deodorant stick skimmer was the 1st thing I thought of when I first saw this: https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Legion-Javelin-Attack-Speeder-with-Lascannon

Yeah that's what came to mind for me as well.

The Horus Heresy CCG and the subsequent Collected Visions books of all the artwork (where the modern images of all the primarchs and the emperor come from) actually has the grav attack tank as a card. It was a tank used by the legions. Anyone that has the card/book that can scan it can show you.



Back in 2nd ed I absolutely loved the idea of the electoo priests. I also really liked the arbites and stealer cult units. Basically anything in the black codex that never ended up getting a unit...

For ages my two favorite units in 40k were the striking scorpions and the dark reapers. The aspects have so much more character than most units, and these two were the edgiest.


I love the salamanders 1st company and Tushan, so much that I converted Tushan several times...

Bloodthirster.

I'll never forget the Carnage battle report in WD back in the early 00's. Took out half an army and even then it was a shadow of it's former power.

Semper wrote:
Bloodthirster.

I'll never forget the Carnage battle report in WD back in the early 00's. Took out half an army and even then it was a shadow of it's former power.

It is quite sad that I haven't even seen a Bloodthirster in ages.

Lifta-Droppa Wagons back in 6th ed.

That thing could yeet Monoliths 2D6" and glance it D6 times. I once got a 5 wrecking one instantly and yeeted it somwhere in the middle of the board.

Funnest rule ever!

3rd edition Dark Eldar Mandrakes.

Their unique hidden deployment rules were unlike anything that has been or is in 40k. For those who aren't old enough to remember, here is a brief overview. 3 models from the unit are deployed as tokens. They are not a unit and are ignored by units and ignore terrain. They move 6" in the movement phase, at the start of the controlling players turn they can reveal one of the models to be the unit. Place all the Mandrakes from the unit next to the chosen model, they then act normally.

The unit were absolutely pants when they turned up, could barely fight their way out of a wet paper bag. However they were fun to use, and that is what really counts.

1st Edition Ork Warboss and Retinue

It's one unit but had a lot of variety and character - you got the warboss, but also his 'close relatives, mates and drinking cronies' in the form of nobz and oddboyz. Also 'as many non-combatant attendants as the player wishes'.

I'll be fielding one at a 9th ed tournament soon, and it's split into 6 different units now. It's blood axes so the human advisor will count as an ammo grot, just so I can have the model on the table. Got lotsa snots to scatter round as markers for range etc.




For extra cool points, the Outcast Retinue from Freebooterz is ace as well but was basically the same thing.

Many great ork units like lifta-droppa and SAG were already named. Orks really need some of their whakky back.

Ol' Zogwort and his squiggly curse will always have a spot in my heart. Turning Marbo into a squig which then ate his face was one of the most memorable moments of 40k to me.

For non-official units, there once was a guy who actually converted an angry marine army and played them with the fandex. His angry marine launcher (a whirlwind whose shots deep struck single marines with dual powerfists instead of rokkits) was one of the most awesome things I've ever faced.

I would go for Striking Scorpions. Who doesn't like ninjas that can actually wear heavy armor without loosing stealth and mobility. If only we could get them in plastic.

Beastboss on Squigosaur is also a strong contender. It's a giant ork on a tyrannosaurus pumpkin.

Eldar jetbikes with scatter lasers of 7th edition. I made so many people mad at the game of Warhammer with those guys. Hide, shoot you off the table from anywhere, boost 48" onto objectives to score if I haven't tabled you yet. For a competitive army, that was the greatest unit I've ever used. I'm glad Eldar now actually use more than jetbikes and WKs because it got boring to paint 20x and 4x of those as my entire army.

Cant say these were the greatest units ever when compared to jetbikes. (Eldar jetbikes are better)

The best units i have personally used are the Siege of Vraks Chaos spawns they erroneously copy pasted to be 18 ppm back in 7th ed.

Omg, these things where keyword beasts so they get 12" move and they moved through difficult terrain ignoring negative modifiers. And they rerolled charge distance and run. These bad boys ran at the enemy, tied them up in combat so my other units can move up and proceeded to either kill small weak squads or get killed. Did not matter, it allowed my remaining army to march up.

The next best part was that Vraks made them groups of 3 instead of 5. That meant i can have msu tie up more units. I freaking took 2 out rider detachments so i can have 6 squads of 3. They were the best 324pts i could have ever spent on any chaos army (18x18). Did they ever bother to errata them at the end of 7th ed?

But again, eldar jet bikes where superior in that 7th ed era.

 Jidmah wrote:
Many great ork units like lifta-droppa and SAG were already named. Orks really need some of their whakky back.

Ol' Zogwort and his squiggly curse will always have a spot in my heart. Turning Marbo into a squig which then ate his face was one of the most memorable moments of 40k to me.

For non-official units, there once was a guy who actually converted an angry marine army and played them with the fandex. His angry marine launcher (a whirlwind whose shots deep struck single marines with dual powerfists instead of rokkits) was one of the most awesome things I've ever faced.

I turned more SM characters into squigs then I can shake a stick at it was always hilarious!

Semper wrote:
Bloodthirster.

I'll never forget the Carnage battle report in WD back in the early 00's. Took out half an army and even then it was a shadow of it's former power.

Mmm, I still remember the original rules - when it was about 1600 points and the Axe Of Khorne contained a second bound bloodthirster that you could unleash...