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Who would you be most scared of fighting against if you were a soldier in the 40K universe?
I haven't read through the fluff of all the factions, but from what I've read so far, I would say Dark Eldar because they don't just want to kill you, they want to kill you in the most painful way they can! Also they might capture you and then torture you for a very long time. Nasty.

I'd agree, Dark Eldar. Even if you don't get captured, getting shot with Spinter weapons is extremely painful.

Generally in fluff, fighting Tyranids is supposed to be the most terrifying. There's even a short story about it called Fear Itself.

Dark Eldar also just over the fear of being captured I suppose.

Na with dark eldar I would make sure it would be impossible to get captured by charging head first windmill style.

The most frightening for me would be nurgle. The smell and sights waiting for the ugly things would make you sick, the wasps and stuff, damn. Being eaten by nurglings isnt a good thought.

Tyrannids wins this one hands down

Slaugth.

Just eeeewwwwwwwww! I hate maggots.

nids or deldar, both lead to long and drawn out deaths

or any slaanesh cult for that matter :3

Anything to do with slannesh, Nids just gonna eat you and get it done with, who knows what the slannesh lot will do :s

To fight, Tyranids. To lose, Dark Eldar.

Daemons, what could possibly be worse than the bowels of hell erupting over every corner of the planet,
If your not fleeing from bloodletters your trying to evade Seekers of slaanesh or staring down a monsterfrom your worst nightmares as it pulls itself into reality through the remains of your uncle Frank.

Eetion wrote:Daemons, what could possibly be worse than the bowels of hell erupting over every corner of the planet,
If your not fleeing from bloodletters your trying to evade Seekers of slaanesh or staring down a monsterfrom your worst nightmares as it pulls itself into reality through the remains of your uncle Frank.

This, imagine being a civilian and running out your house, only to see a great unclean one at the end of the street.

Demons if in a fight
Dark Eldar if captured.

Tyranids; even if you survive an encounter,
they could infest the planet and make it worse
than Daemon-hell.

DE for poisons/ pain/ Mandrakes, but you could die fast in CC for less pain.
(screamin reavers and wyches)


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Or something hell slow but won't die (Necrons)

Only scary because they won't die and will keep walking after you.

Space marines, for the sheer inhuman nature of these humans and the fact that there tactics should not work in real life.. and yet there isnt a thing we could do about it

^ you die fast though. No drawn out terror/ pain.


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The most terrifying unit, however, to fight against would be a Lictor. Ugh, I remember reading a story (Desert Raiders by Lucien Soulban) where a bunch of weary Tallarns are walking to an escape route when a bunch of Lictors garrote/ slaughter a bunch of random Guardsmen.

Anything or anyone who connections to Slaanesh or the Dark Eldar...I'd rather face 'nids or the oldcrons than either of those two.

Oldcrons. Legion upon legion of mechanical warriors, all fighting in perfect synchronization and absolute silence. Plus, I doubt getting hit by a Gauss Flayer would be too pleasant.

Coolyo294 wrote:Oldcrons. Legion upon legion of mechanical warriors, all fighting in perfect synchronization and absolute silence. Plus, I doubt getting hit by a Gauss Flayer would be too pleasant.

IIRC, they're supposed to kill in an instant...while the idea of an implacable foe from ancient times is terrifying, compared to what the Dark Eldar and the slaves of She Who Thirsts would do to you they're about as terrifying as a crack of thunder.

Oldcron Flayed Ones.

I'm a bit biased saying this, but necrons. In the 40k universe, they are almost completely immortal, only one will truly die in a victory because most that can't repair themselves just phase out. No matter how good a shot you are or how good you are in melee, their is a good chance that the moment you turn your back on the spiritless robot, it will get back up.
Even to play, my friends doubt every single move they make against me because they don't know if it will bite them in the arse later. Perfect example, my friend decides he is going to fire a melta gun into my lychguard at point blank. I go to roll and he says that I don't get an armour save. I just smile, roll a 5, and remove his marine for him.

Either Tyranids because of the sheer overwhelming numbers their bringing and the fact that even if you win you still are gonna have to deal with nids roaming the forests or wherever.

Or the Night Lords, their entire core of tactics is built around inflicting maximum fear in their opponent before they kill them.

Consider me a coward, but I would have to say Orks. You are dealing with creatures who can literally rip a human apart limb from limb, the noise an ork charge would make would be deafening, yells of waagh, the thuds of hundreds of thousands of boots, the sounds of sluggas going off. And all you have against these beasts are your trusty lasrifle, and the man(or woman) next to you.

Next on my list would be necrons, they are kept hush hush from the IoM in general, meaning you are fighting against unkillable metal men that make next to no noise.

Assuming you are a normal guard or PDF member who knows nothing of who they are fighting other than which end of the gun to point at them, or a normal human living your life, of the non human forces it would have to be either Nids or Chaos Demons.

The inhuman horror of things you just don't understand warping reality around you like a living nightmare would make chaos horrific, and the undieing onslaught of millions of bugs would make nids nasty. Both pray on deep set fears.

DE, well they are just humans with pointy ears and no armor. They die just like any other humans, until its to late to realize you were wrong. The pain and torture once caught at least leaves a hope you might escape, at least to start with.

Crons? Without knowing about them they are just robots who will die. If they are not dieing its because you are not shooting them enough. No more frightening than a tank. Not the mind bending inhuman horror of chaos or nids. They would just be eerie rather than truly horrific. Having said that flayed ones would be up there, but as a whole the force would be not that bad.

The most frightening of all though would be an Inquisition force. They are not just going to kill you, but ensure your soul is shunned from the light of the emperor. You will not just be losing your life, but also all hope after death.

Steve steveson wrote:
The most frightening of all though would be an Inquisition force. They are not just going to kill you, but ensure your soul is shunned from the light of the emperor. You will not just be losing your life, but also all hope after death.

Someone calling the old man a 'god' and worshipping him was how this whole mess started...in 40k, there is no hope after death, neither gods nor heaven nor hell exist. Human souls dissolve into the Warp in an instant, while untainted Human psykers have their souls fused with the Emperor's oversoul. The Inquisition and Church can rant all they want, its the truth. Instead of ranting, they should stand and fight with honor alongside Guardsmen and Space Marines.

Hmmm probably certain Chao forces or the SoB, extremists are fething scary man. 'Nids are just animals, scary on a instinctual "Oh we are so fethed" level but fanaticism is it's own special brand of scary.

KalashnikovMarine wrote:Hmmm probably certain Chao forces or the SoB, extremists are fething scary man. 'Nids are just animals, scary on a instinctual "Oh we are so fethed" level but fanaticism is it's own special brand of scary.

Not to the Space Wolves or to loyalist Thousand Sons...the former are too badass, and the latter too smart.

Tadashi wrote:

Steve steveson wrote:
The most frightening of all though would be an Inquisition force. They are not just going to kill you, but ensure your soul is shunned from the light of the emperor. You will not just be losing your life, but also all hope after death.

Someone calling the old man a 'god' and worshipping him was how this whole mess started...in 40k, there is no hope after death, neither gods nor heaven nor hell exist. Human souls dissolve into the Warp in an instant, while untainted Human psykers have their souls fused with the Emperor's oversoul. The Inquisition and Church can rant all they want, its the truth. Instead of ranting, they should stand and fight with honor alongside Guardsmen and Space Marines.

I am talking about the fear of the average human or guard member, i.e. "us". They only know what the imperial creed tells them, which is that they serve the emperor, and that he watches over them in life and death, and in death they want to be aloud in to his light.

Steve steveson wrote:

Tadashi wrote:

Steve steveson wrote:
The most frightening of all though would be an Inquisition force. They are not just going to kill you, but ensure your soul is shunned from the light of the emperor. You will not just be losing your life, but also all hope after death.

Someone calling the old man a 'god' and worshipping him was how this whole mess started...in 40k, there is no hope after death, neither gods nor heaven nor hell exist. Human souls dissolve into the Warp in an instant, while untainted Human psykers have their souls fused with the Emperor's oversoul. The Inquisition and Church can rant all they want, its the truth. Instead of ranting, they should stand and fight with honor alongside Guardsmen and Space Marines.

I am talking about the fear of the average human or guard member, i.e. "us". They only know what the imperial creed tells them, which is that they serve the emperor, and that he watches over them in life and death, and in death they want to be aloud in to his light.

Ironically, the old man probably doesn't give a damn about what the Church says.

Daemons. Or, if yer a baddy, Spois Mahriins. As a civilian, well, anything

With Dark Eldar, there's the (albeit slim) possibility of escaping the torture you're headed into. With Tyranids, if you're not off the planet when the assault starts, you're SOL.

The Dark Eldar turn up, hunt you down, and either kill you or take you away to a horrible fate.

Tyranids do the psycological thing better. You'll see the skies turn black in the middle of the day as they're choked with spores, you'll watch all of the vegetation around you bloat and grow to unnatural proportions. You'll see hunks of gristle fall from the sky with ravening dinosaur cockroaches pour out of them. You'll watch the landscape alter before your eyes, turning into a quagmire of digestion pools and numberless organisms devouring the very planet you're standing on.

As you feebly fire into the masses of organisms, then you'll start to be hunted, by the most relentless super predator in the galaxy. You'll be wary of mere shrubs which might hide Lictors or any dark places where Genestealers hide. The spores choke and blind you as you futilely try to find a safe haven to defend. Then as your friends fall, you'll watch them dragged off, living or dead, to be dumped into digestion pools. If they were unlucky enough to be alive, you'll watch them scream as they melt away.

Then it'll be your turn. Again, if you're unlucky enough to be alive, you're dragged off to a digestion pool, watching the shattered planet around you slowly be devourered, waiting for your turn to be dumped in the pool of acid.

And unlike Dark Eldar, where they'll raid a smaller area and take a handful of slaves, this is happeneing to every single person on the planet.