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Well thats true.

You know it’s weird. I used to like dark angels the best the space Wolves and blood Angels last but I’ve been working my way through the Horus harracy novels and after reading how much of a jerk both the lion and Russ are its kinda bumped the blood angels to the top for me.

I could appreciate Russ there was some depth added to him and the heresy era space wolves, the Lion however, yeah completely unlikable dick

Dark angels basically have three chapter tactics, and 3 chapter master equivalents. They run a decent gunline, and are somewhat weaker in CC than BA or Wolves. An overlooked special ability of Dark angels are they have a lot of character options other chapters don't, like a biker ancient, or an apothecary in terminator armor. These end up being pretty fun, but not too effective. In that same vein, their two unique units are fun to paint and play (deathwing knights and Ravenwing Black Knights), but outside of some super gimmicky lists are not that powerful. However the main reason to collect dark angels is the look. I really dig the hoods, robes, baroque power swords, and stained glass panelings/gothic accents on vehicles.

I'd have to say the biggest downside to DA (other than not being a powerful army) is that at some point it became trendy to dislike dark angels. I'm sure this post will be followed by a string of "I disliked dark angels before it was cool" post, because this is dakka, but even in less extreme environs dark angel stock is pretty low. I assume this is because they were the "default" marine chapter throughout 5th - 7th ed, being the chapter in the starter set dark vengeance.

Well, BA is a more cc-oriented force, SW are close-quarter fighters, DA are more balanced than the other two.
Since this edition is a shooty one, I'd recommend DA. Nothing else.

DA have a really ecin stratagem to buff up hellblasters. And their extra range on weapons makes some bolt type weapons a lot better.

The extra range goes away in turn 2.

better that then wait till turn 3, when your army may be half dead to use an assault doctrin.

I do think there isn't much of a difference between DA or the other chapters though as far as power gap goes.

Also, you don't want your entire game built around tripointing, don't play BA.

Here's my advice: Take your time looking at 3rd party stores for bits you like the look of. Look at other kits and see if there are helmets or pads or other things that look cool (Forgeworld are great for this). Take your time. Learn how to drill and magnetise (so easy and cheap!). look at colour schemes, watch videos on how to replicate them.

At this point you have most of what you need to start your own chapter: Your Dudes©. Start to assemble them, each will look a bit different, and the overall effect will be awesome.

Once you have enough intercessors for a double batallion (30) you can start on HQs, vehicles, etc. Right up until now, your guys could be BA, DA, SW, WS, IF, etc etc., because they're custom and can use any of those rules. Want to run as SW? Buy a couple of models (Rangar, Priest, etc) and paint/mod them into your chapter's style. Boom, you have a SW army.

Want to give BA a go? No problem, buy a Dread Librarian and Mephiston, do the same, you're good to go.

The upsides are huge: unique chapter with your particular style, very customisable, great army longevity, more opportunities for artistic expression and 5+ differnt factions in one. I recently started my own Space Wolves/White Scars/World Eaters army, and man, I wish I'd started them a long time ago.

 grouchoben wrote:
Here's my advice: Take your time looking at 3rd party stores for bits you like the look of. Look at other kits and see if there are helmets or pads or other things that look cool (Forgeworld are great for this). Take your time. Learn how to drill and magnetise (so easy and cheap!). look at colour schemes, watch videos on how to replicate them.

At this point you have most of what you need to start your own chapter: Your Dudes©. Start to assemble them, each will look a bit different, and the overall effect will be awesome.

Once you have enough intercessors for a double batallion (30) you can start on HQs, vehicles, etc. Right up until now, your guys could be BA, DA, SW, WS, IF, etc etc., because they're custom and can use any of those rules. Want to run as SW? Buy a couple of models (Rangar, Priest, etc) and paint/mod them into your chapter's style. Boom, you have a SW army.

Want to give BA a go? No problem, buy a Dread Librarian and Mephiston, do the same, you're good to go.

The upsides are huge: unique chapter with your particular style, very customisable, great army longevity, more opportunities for artistic expression and 5+ differnt factions in one. I recently started my own Space Wolves/White Scars/World Eaters army, and man, I wish I'd started them a long time ago.

This is ultimately the best advice. The reasons being that you're not tied to bad rules if your favorite guys get the short end of the stick. I mean, if you love the Tyberos model, paint him up but be wary you're gonna have some complainers that you want functioning rules and heaven forbid your Carcharodons are a different color, or that he's not even ran as Tyberos himself! I just have a Mk3 dude with an Eviscerator on a Terminator base that I proxy as Tyberos or Typhus, funnily enough.

 grouchoben wrote:
Here's my advice: Take your time looking at 3rd party stores for bits you like the look of. Look at other kits and see if there are helmets or pads or other things that look cool (Forgeworld are great for this). Take your time. Learn how to drill and magnetise (so easy and cheap!). look at colour schemes, watch videos on how to replicate them.

At this point you have most of what you need to start your own chapter: Your Dudes©. Start to assemble them, each will look a bit different, and the overall effect will be awesome.

Once you have enough intercessors for a double batallion (30) you can start on HQs, vehicles, etc. Right up until now, your guys could be BA, DA, SW, WS, IF, etc etc., because they're custom and can use any of those rules. Want to run as SW? Buy a couple of models (Rangar, Priest, etc) and paint/mod them into your chapter's style. Boom, you have a SW army.

Want to give BA a go? No problem, buy a Dread Librarian and Mephiston, do the same, you're good to go.

The upsides are huge: unique chapter with your particular style, very customisable, great army longevity, more opportunities for artistic expression and 5+ differnt factions in one. I recently started my own Space Wolves/White Scars/World Eaters army, and man, I wish I'd started them a long time ago.

I have to agree with this. I like my custom space marine chapter far more than if I locked it down with an established one. I came really close to making my army Raptors chapter (in fact, they still get called it quite a bit due to their color), but I steered away from that idea as I wanted only Primaris marines as I really like the look of the models. Combine that with my natural inclination to get into melee, Raptors just didn't work.

So I created a custom chapter based off the WWII 101st Paratroopers taking and modifying their name for my chapter to become the 'Avenging Eagles.' The I thought about what I wanted my chapter be like and the best elevator pitch description is imagine the Raptors if they were Blood Angel successors. Meaning that my chapter is still fairly reasonable using 20th century combat doctrine (as much as 40k allows anyways), but also have a bent to get into melee should the opportunity arise.

Currently, I run my chapter as a C:SM successor chapter using Bolter Fusillades and Whirlwind of Rage and not any of the marine supplements. At the same time, I don't think any of my opponents would find me switching my army to Raven Guard or Blood Angels (in Kill Team I use Blood Angels) to be all that out of place with how they generally play either. Or at very least I don't think they would think I a gaming the system making use of them. Before the 2.0 C:SM, I had people suggesting Iron Warriors as a good fit to them as well.

I am very glad I created my army's own lore as it makes my collection feel much more personal and invested.

They sounds pretty cool Saturmorn! I really like the camo-green look on marines too.

Myself I went with a heretic chapter named the White Wolves. Cut off by the Citrix Maledictum, they've abandoned much of the codex in favour of a brutal, tribal structure and much of their homeworld is a vast proving grounds for new recruits.

Modelling wise that's meant MkIII packs, bolters and shoulders, added rivets and chains, fur cloaks and loincloths and world eater helmets, with all aquilas and seals removed. Each squad is a lot of work but they look awesome imo, and can also be played as world eaters, due to their bolter arms being magnetised. I plan on using them primarily as White Scars, but hey, I can run them as whatever takes my fancy. Previously I ran Imperial Fists but their supplement left me so cold, I decided to start again with a more flexible and personal take on a chapter.

 grouchoben wrote:
They sounds pretty cool Saturmorn! I really like the camo-green look on marines too.

Myself I went with a heretic chapter named the White Wolves. Cut off by the Citrix Maledictum, they've abandoned much of the codex in favour of a brutal, tribal structure and much of their homeworld is a vast proving grounds for new recruits.

Modelling wise that's meant MkIII packs, bolters and shoulders, added rivets and chains, fur cloaks and loincloths and world eater helmets, with all aquilas and seals removed. Each squad is a lot of work but they look awesome imo, and can also be played as world eaters, due to their bolter arms being magnetised. I plan on using them primarily as White Scars, but hey, I can run them as whatever takes my fancy. Previously I ran Imperial Fists but their supplement left me so cold, I decided to start again with a more flexible and personal take on a chapter.

that sounds awesome, I am terriably sad you don't have a gallery with pics of them.

Hey thanks Brian! Once their basing is done I'll see what I can do!

The choice is mind boggling, guys in power armor or guys in different colored power armor... how to choose.