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Just fluff wise, no tabletop gameplay involvement, what is the worst faction in your opinion? Just curious what people think.

Tao for me. They just don't...fit... right in the universe. Chaos Demons for most blatant money grab.

It's hard to say though, each iteration of codexes and the associated +1 grimdark/awesome sways my opinion.
Does the Horus Heresy stable of writers count as a faction?

For horus heresy, if it is a specific faction (i.e. loyalist or traitor marines) then yes, as an event, no.

'Crons, by a country mile.
They have everything, can do anything. Why are the other factions even still there?
Plus, their whole schtick is essentially "we're the eldar, only more ancient, more advanced and evil". Oh yeah, and we're robots, or we'd be too obviously the same.

Necrons, for the same reasons as above.

Oh, and squats. Their name alone... eugh.

Yeah, 'Crons are pretty bad. That's who I was alluding to in the +1 grimdark/awesome statement.

Newcrons and it isn't even close.

To me, probably Space Marines with Tau a close second, although they're the most popular. They're the generic human warriors in power armor.

In a sci-fi universe, although the Imperium in 40k has its own style that's come to grow on me, dudes in brightly-colored armor with large, blocky guns rate low on the totem pole. They're simply not different and unique enough imo.

I don't dislike any of the races in 40k, fluff or tabletop (okay, maybe Tau), but Space Marines are somewhat lame to me.

Tyranids. Biotech is useful but not for making spaceships or "classic" weapons of war. Why have a ship or weapon that can be hurt by both the environment and war when you could have one that doesn't care about anything except battle damage?

Eldar

Elves IN SPAAAACE

Never liked elves that much.

Meh, I don't like Newcrons, but I am okay with them staying. It could have been worse.

I have very very little interest for the Guard though. The faction was not taken in the direction it should have been.

Newcons fluff annoys me. It's the "We can kill everyone if we want" attitude that I think is dumb.

Tyranids. They only serve to be a setting, not a plot device. They almost never win, and hilariously bad showings like a single Eldar solo'ing a splinter fleet. It's just sad. They're good as a setting, but worthless for anything else.

At least the Tau could fit if they simply amped up the grimdark a bit- but Nids? They're cool, but you can't make a character out of them. They're the gigantic shadow bearing down on the galaxy that frequently gets it toe stubbed by someone and has to take five while it yowls.

Almost never win? I hear this a lot, and it's just as ridiculously silly every time.

The Tyranids have eaten a large chunk of the galaxy. The hive fleets have to lose eventually because the alternative is they eat the entire galaxy.

Anybody who thinks the Tyranids are the chumps of 40K haven't paid too much attention to the setting's actual fluff.

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:
Almost never win? I hear this a lot, and it's just as ridiculously silly every time.

The Tyranids have eaten a large chunk of the galaxy. The hive fleets have to lose eventually because the alternative is they eat the entire galaxy.

Anybody who thinks the Tyranids are the chumps of 40K haven't paid too much attention to the setting's actual fluff.

Only when they get defeated, it's so sad that it's hilarious. It brings more into question how to Tyranids devoured those other sections of the galaxy or if it simply was from the only forces being the Guard without Catachans.

Newcrons, which is a shame because Necrons were awesome.

New/Old crons. Picture Mary Sue, now picture her wearing a suit of regenerating metal. Hello, Necrons!

Eldar. I dislike nilly elves to begin with. Nilly psychic space elves? Ludicrous.

I don't particularly have it out for any faction. They all have some pretty bad fluff. But in terms of function, I'm most bugged by the Tyranids. I don't mind the fluff, and the idea of Leviathan attacking the galaxy at a perpendicular angle is ingenious, but there models are so goofy looking.

For something that is supposed to be utterly alien to the galaxy, the Tyranids still fight and operate like other armies. They use guns, they have squad commanders (synapse creatures). They use artillery for god's sake.

If they spit acid or hocked up giant globs of explosive bile, that's one thing, but when the models actually have the gribblies holding gun analogues like the spinefists, devourers or barbed stranglers, it just looks silly.

 DEUS VULT wrote:
Does the Horus Heresy stable of writers count as a faction?

I laughed with this.

I'll vote the Necrons.. technology like magic.. plus time travel, plus we can destroy any star, plus we're better than you in almost everything.

Wait... Necrons can time travel?

 thepowerfulwill wrote:
Wait... Necrons can time travel?

Very well.

 ImotekhTheStormlord wrote:

 thepowerfulwill wrote:
Wait... Necrons can time travel?

Very well.

Yep, They are Sue-tastic, case closed, Necrons win (lose?) this contest, good thing the rest of 40k has plot armor!

 thepowerfulwill wrote:
Wait... Necrons can time travel?

At this point it'd be easier to list the things they can't do.

MarsNZ wrote:

 thepowerfulwill wrote:
Wait... Necrons can time travel?

At this point it'd be easier to list the things they can't do.

Eat.

At this point, the Necrons just seem to be set up as a countermeasure to any plot advancement with the 13th black crusade. Oh, is Chaos about to overload the pylon network? Necrons come in and supertech it, halting the crusade. Imperium about to win and push back Chaos? Necrons arrive and take over the planet anyways, ensuring the status quo.

 thepowerfulwill wrote:
Wait... Necrons can time travel?

IIRC, one Necron Dynasty has access to time travel tech, but like the guys in charge of the Celestial Orrery- vehemently protect it and are die-hard isolationists.

Orks, then Necron.

 thepowerfulwill wrote:

MarsNZ wrote:

 thepowerfulwill wrote:
Wait... Necrons can time travel?

At this point it'd be easier to list the things they can't do.

Eat.

"They're also the best at eating, besting even the Tyranids at the species-eating contest having devoured 5x the galaxies"

Codex: Necrons 6th Ed (2014)

MarsNZ wrote:

 thepowerfulwill wrote:

MarsNZ wrote:

 thepowerfulwill wrote:
Wait... Necrons can time travel?

At this point it'd be easier to list the things they can't do.

Eat.

"They're also the best at eating, besting even the Tyranids at the species-eating contest having devoured 5x the galaxies"

Codex: Necrons 6th Ed (2014)

They are also the best pokemon trainers!