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 EnTyme wrote:
Blood Ravens. Dawn of War was my first exposure to the 40k universe, and as I got into it, I started seeing just how much GW loves to shove "Space Marines are awesome" down our throats. Blood Ravens are kind of the anti-Space Marines in this regard since the other chapters hate them. Also, they have a nice color scheme.

Commander Indrick Boreale takes the ham to levels I can only dream about. Captain Apollo Diomedes taking a distant but still impressive second on the Smithfield rankings.

Blood Ravens and Imperial Fists.

I love the Blood Ravens fluff and story, while I could do without some of the characters from the games. They got my drive for Collecting Marines going again and it has been on fire ever since.

And because of them I got into the Imperial fists honestly, I'd do a lot of counts as conversions and most of the time I'd end up using IF characters like Lysander representing Angelos, with customized model, and then I ended up using the IF chapter tactics the most when they came about, which kind of lead me into researchingresearching more about the actual Imperial Fists and they really grew on me strongly.

Salamanders.

They've got some great themes and motifs without beating you over the head with them, like other flagship chapters. Plenty of drake imagery, but nothing too excessive. Plenty of heat/fire association, and the ties to smithing, but nothing ridiculous. And then there's how they are the most "human" of the Astartes, but again it doesn't go to extremes. They feel real and fleshed out without having that "Mary Sue/Gary Stu" quality to them.

Plus, I've always dug that paint scheme. Simple, but damn does it pop!

Ultramarines

I love the idea of a combat force operating as a well oiled machine using logical strategy and combined arms tactics. I love the adherence to combat doctrine. Guilliman wrote the book! And the sons of Guilliman are the Ultramarines!!

I think a lot of people misunderstand Guilliman. I have read on here people call him more of a politician that a warrior. I think out of all the Primarchs he is the greatest warrior. I base that off of this theory:

"Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics."
- Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC (Commandant of the Marine Corps) noted in 1980

Out of all the Primarchs he was without a doubt the most accomplished Logistician. Just look at the size of the of their original legions and the number of planets for which they are responsible. Logistics baby! Logistics!!

I also think their tactical doctrine is the most effective. Not the in game 'tactical doctrine' of rerolling misses but the actual theory of combined arms tactics. A maneuver element (tactical marines) supported by heavy weapons (devastator marines) and fast skirmishers / assaulters (assault marines). Backed up by armor and air power wherever applicable. Use all the tools in the toolbox!!

Also the Ultramarines personify professionalism in soldiery.

I appreciate all of these things the most out of any of the other first founding chapters.

Blood Ravens. Dawn of War 1 is what introduced me to the Warhammer 40k universe. You never forget your first.

I'm not as familiar with the loyalist chapters as I'd like, but from what I've read on past perusals of Lexicanum, I'd always thought the Flesh Tearers seemed pretty interesting. I really need to find the books though (there were books about the Flesh Tearers weren't there?). Carcharodons struck my fancy for similar reasons that the Flesh Tearers did, but suffer from the same problem of I have little fluff to go off of. Iron Hands would probably be high on my list if I knew more than that they liked bionics and were buddy-buddy with the AdMech. As it stands, Space Wolves as they're portrayed in Prospero Burns would probably be my favorite.

I think I gotta go with salamanders. They've got a really cool unique feel to them, and they seem like the only real "heroes" the imperium has.

I'm a little surprised that so many people think the space wolves are such nice guys. Maybe I'm missing some vital piece of fluff, but they've always seemed like the biggest hypocrites out there with their hatred of psykers, but not their psykers. Sorry, but I just don't buy their "world spirit" nonsense. They're channeling the warp, weather they want to accept it or not.

Then again, I'm pretty biased because I've always like the Thousand Sons, and I think their story is one of the most tragic in all 40k.

Celestial Lions - They stood up to the Inquisition for the sake of the Imperium and its people, suffered for it, and fought loyally in the face of utter annihilation. Where other chapters bent the knee in the face of the implicit threat of the Inquisition, where other chapters turned rogue under the same treatment, they only asked that the Black Templars, fellow sons of Dorn would mark their passing and remember them.

Black Templars - I love the whole backstory of fleet based crusades and ignoring the Codex Astartes. I also like the fact that they just want to get in the enemies face.

Raven Guard - I love the idea of stealth combat and hit and run tactics.

Space Wolves being my very first army or Imperial Fists, always liked their disciplined approach to warfare.

I have to adjust my initial picks: Carcharodons, White Scars, Space Wolves, Black Templars, and Salamanders.

Black Templars. Angry Teutonic knights in space with a preference for sharp/blunt/chainsawed objects. Whats not to like? The Emperors champion concept is also really badass and lets you go wild with kitbashing/converting.

Honorable mention to Blood Angels. Im not big into vampire stuff but they have amazing models and a cool colourscheme. It was a serious toss up between them and BT when i started out, i might still do a small force of them.

Raven Guard are thoroughly good chaps. They're clever, practical, philanthropic and they have a cool motif. Same goes for Salamanders.

First Legion, what isn't there to like? Best bikes in the Space Marine armor with hussar wings with the elites swinging horseman power hammers. Company Masters running around with badass tournament crests straight out of the Codex de Manesse leading veterans of robed elite brethren on mysterious crusades against Chaos, leaving no witnesses to speak of regarding their missions. A downright fetish for plasma weapons on everything, making them extremely effective against traitor Astartes coupled with largely unrivaled fleet assets.

My favorite is BA.

The reasons are DC, fast transports and vehicles, Furioso Dreads, and Tacticals with heavy flamers.

Blood Angels.

Their history, current story, Death Company, Primarch, how they look. I only started playing 40k a few years ago, but when I was growing up, I always played as Blood Angels in the Space Crusade boardgame and a family friend gave me a nice hardcover copy of the first edition rulebook of Warhammer 40,000 and from there I found that Blood Angels were my favourite Space Marine chapter. I never played the tabletop game of 40k at the time, but I still had a soft spot for the Sons of Sanguinius.

Raptors: The reasonable Marines

Exorcists: Pretty badass daemon fighters

Carchadons: So malevolent, violent and unrepentant, they feel like the closest things to angry marines in the fluff.

Always have been an Ultramarine fan since waaaaay back before they became the super Mary Sues.

I enjoy their original fluff in that they are masters of the codex and are able to exact incredible amounts of damage on their opponent, but can easily be blindsided when something goes awry. Additionally their roman style and the fact that they are the least distopian of all the Imperium has always been something to admire. Bonus, the Ultramarines novels by Graham McNeill are also pretty fun to read!

Hmmm... Chapter or Legion or can it be both?

Chapter: Dark Angels (if you count them as SM since they have their own codex) because of their background story. It is one of the better ones that I've read so far.
Legion: World Eaters because, pre-heresy, they were seemingly the most deadly and fearless legion out there. Even during the heresy, the few that weren't aware of Angron's plans for his legion were the first to step out and fight in a no win situation to make sure their squad mates/teammates lived to fight another day.

SG

Dark Angles, because I liked their background.

Black Templars, because they were unique.

The rest were kinda meh. Although I played Ultras (along with most other noobs) way back in the day so I still have a soft spot for the Smurfs.

Blood Angels for me. Like their playstyle (or at least, what the Raven Guard stole from us!) and their fluff. Death Company sold it for me though.

Dark Angels
Iron Hands (pre supplement)
Blood angels

Crimson Fists. Love the comeback kid aspect to their fluff. Kantor is a beast in the book. Founding chaptermaster also awesome cool minis both. Wish you could represent their need to retrieve gene-seed at any cost in game. Like the red scorpions med sgts. And to top it off the paint scheme is a marvel when done well.

 Kellevil wrote:
Ultramarines

I love the idea of a combat force operating as a well oiled machine using logical strategy and combined arms tactics. I love the adherence to combat doctrine. Guilliman wrote the book! And the sons of Guilliman are the Ultramarines!!

I think a lot of people misunderstand Guilliman. I have read on here people call him more of a politician that a warrior. I think out of all the Primarchs he is the greatest warrior. I base that off of this theory:

"Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics."
- Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC (Commandant of the Marine Corps) noted in 1980

Out of all the Primarchs he was without a doubt the most accomplished Logistician. Just look at the size of the of their original legions and the number of planets for which they are responsible. Logistics baby! Logistics!!

I also think their tactical doctrine is the most effective. Not the in game 'tactical doctrine' of rerolling misses but the actual theory of combined arms tactics. A maneuver element (tactical marines) supported by heavy weapons (devastator marines) and fast skirmishers / assaulters (assault marines). Backed up by armor and air power wherever applicable. Use all the tools in the toolbox!!

Also the Ultramarines personify professionalism in soldiery.

I appreciate all of these things the most out of any of the other first founding chapters.

This, plus their sector is one of the best places to live for ordinary imperial citizens. The only thing they lack is democracy.

Oh man, tough choice.My first choice is Imperial Fists. Seige warfare specialists, Battle to the last mentality, to never retreat, and never surrender.
close 2nd is Dark Angels' Ravenwing and Deathwing. The perfect Hammer and Anvil combination. Determination to hunt their fallen brothers one by one. Secrecy and Willingness to uphold their inner circles of trust and knowledge.

Blood Raven.
"That's totally a gift, not at all stolen"

Astral Knights - an almost forgotten chapter who went out with a bang - no pun intended.

Raven Guard - 7 foot tall stealth experts in power armor, and an awesome paint scheme.

Fell in love with Ultramarines when I first started. Always loved the clean look and feel to their colors. I like a lot of the fluff about them too.

Next would be Space Wolves. Great fluff and cool models. Love the wolf icons and their savage look. Wolves are my favorite animal too so I naturally had interest in them.

Besides loyalists, I loved Iron Warriors when I played with Chaos. Never really like the tenticles on most CSM, so the IW clean metallic look did it for me. Cool fluff as well.

Last is another traitor legion, Alpha Legion. I like the fluff behind them. Color scheme was meh but I really liked reading about them. Really just a cool legion.

Oh and World Eaters. Savage.

The concept of a 'which is your favourite faction' thread that's not 'just for fun' intrigues me.

Also, Mantis Warriors.

Star Phantoms because of the "No words, just death" vibe they give off. I'm basing my homebrew chapter off of their geneseed stock