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Army cost, the fact they looked like knights and because everyone at my school started to play 8th ed. If those three didn't combine with me just having my confirmation and having 280$, I would have never started w40k.

I was a big fan of the alien movie series and I was playing a lot of a killteam-ish pc game (incubation), late 2nd/early 3rd nids were a great fit.

Eldar I started somewhere in 4th to play a different army, and the concept of a force more elite, faster but more vulnerable troops compared to my friends' marines appealed to me (that was the impression of the army I had back then at least). I switched to corsairs with the IA rules for more modelling freedom later on. Bought a lot of dark eldar models and some older eldar kits so I could build space elf ninja pirates to my heart's content.

I started orks because of the modelling freedom, especially in making vehicles/walkers. Slap something together out of plasticard that sort of looks like it could work, and the looted tank rules allow you to give it rules. Armored krumpany, let's go!

Admittedly I didn't have a lot of luck in choosing my armies given the direction gw went with them, but that's what OPR is for

Common to ALL of the armies I collect, fabulous models, evocative lore that resonates with my own thematic interests, and a preference for all things underestimated, ignored or marginalized over those that are ubiquitous, unavoidable and overrated.

But to be specific:

Sisters of Battle: I like that Sisters, despite being a large military force, fulfill both combat and non-combat roles in the Imperium. While they are zealous to a sister, they also have more interactions with citizens than most other Imperial forces- you find them in hospitals, churches, noble enclaves, progenium facilities, prisons. The serve the Eclesiarchy, but also the Hereticus, and they have their own agenda on top of that.

Genestealer Cults- My first love. Body horror hybridization, underdogs and rebels; the structure for the growth of a cult from a single Purestrain to planetary revolution via the brood cycles... Plus genestealer purestrains are just THE coolest looking aliens anywhere. I played a few games of Rogue Trader, but it was Space Hulk that made me lifelong devotee of the 40k verse.

Drukhari- Commorragh! The back-biting, the ever-shifting and fracturing alliances between small groups, the use of mercenaries, and the absolute depravity that marks them as the perfect foil for sisters.

Emperor's Children- The pursuit of excess, and in particular as it relates to Noise (ie. Metal music) and combat drugs (as a guy who frequently played with my own neurochemistry during my early years in the hobby). And again, depravity being the foil for sisters.

Eldar: Elegant and mysterious, and another set of fractured groups with which the Drukhari can interact in many different ways. The small, modular armies that combine in times of need is one of those common themes that really appeals to me, and like their more twisted cousins, eldar have it in spades.

Guard: I'm at the beginning of my guard collection, and I doubt I'll go as deep down the rabbit hole with them as I did/will with the others, but I love the abhuman inclusion, and I want them to work with Agents and in mixed forces with Sisters.

For me it has always been about the models. I started with Orks because of the massive conversion opportunities. The ability to kit bash imperial guard tanks into battlewagons, and all the customization of trukks and buggies was just too tempting to pass up.

Next was Tau, the ascetics were just a massive draw as 90s anime and big stompy robots were a huge part of my life.

Then came Emperors children as I wanted a marine stat line army, and Juan Diaz sculpted those extra sexy damonette models. It also helped that the 3.5 chaos codex was the most customizable army ever produced.

Next came Space wolves. The 5th edition codex came out and they were perfect for a Drop Pod style army. A completely different play style.

Last one was DE. After the 5th edition redo where the entire line got resculpted the models were just so cool, it was impossible to not be drawn in.

Black Templars and Blood angels looked cool.

My first army was Blood Angels. They were the transfers that were in my first RTB01 box. All marines were the same back then.

Next I started painting Ultramarines just to break up the red, and to have a different power armor force for scenarios. We were playing RT 40k more as an RPG.

In 2nd I was still working up both colors, but got very few actual games in.

In 3rd I settled on Ultras. Sure, the BA had special rules and fancy stuff. Marines++. but they also had drawbacks. 1-6 chance of closing with the foe. One thing about my armies, is that I want to be the one calling the shots. Ultras might not have the fancy toys and special rules, but the held the line and followed orders. And there was something satisfying about winning with the underdog army, which Ultras were for most of the early years. Stuck with them ever since.

Eldar was the Falcon. While I had a few Eldar minis from RT, as an army they started as my secondary force at the tail end of 2nd with the release of the grav tank. There is a giant soft spot in my heart for hovertanks, and the Falcon is a sexy beast. Even after all these years, it still holds up. They also played a lot different then marines, and were differently fun to paint.

Tyranids were always a pipe dream. They are the classic foil for my main army, and play completely different. But there was no way I could justify starting another army in the hobby budget, or paint the hordes of models I’d want to do it justice. 2 things changed. One was the pandemic. My job transitioned to WFH, but I still had one. And the government dropped a stimulus check, while I was still pulling a paycheck. So an influx of guilt-free cash. The second was contrast paints. Now I could bang out the carpet of gribbles to a solid tabletop standard in a fraction of the time. A handfull of old models that came to me in second hand lots helped as well to give me a headstart. But a dream was realized and a hive fleet was born. I also like how they paint and play completely different from my other armies.

Current project is Eldar.

The army that has changed the least since Rogue Trader, and other than sculpts/size of available kits, not at all since 2nd Edition.

They’ve had their ups and downs over the varying editions, and for a long time Aspect Warriors just didn’t function as they’re meant to - highly potent, incredibly fragile units which you need skill with to prevent them being One Hit Wonders in a given game.

Going all the way back to 2nd Edition, a big part of their aesthetic appeal was a single army could have a number of paint schemes. Standardised for Guardians, Jetbikes, Grav Tanks etc, then the Aspect Temples with suggested, but ultimately “do what you want” schemes.

And for competition painters? Eldar have always been a popular and inspiring one.

Current army: Thousand Sons.

I liked them because of their fairly unique army rules, and we kept a proper psychic thing going. I liked the lore too. I also liked how cheap they are to get an army going with them (infernus Rubrics and psychophage Mutaliths from the starter set were ace. And can still get extras off eBay for cheap if I want). Winged Prime=Winged DP. Von Ryan's=cooler Spawn. Even the termagents got modded into Tzaangor/ Enlightened/ Shaman (I might melt a fair few of them into Horrors depending on what our Codex ends up looking like). So it's a pretty bad list, but it's easy to add proper list stuff to. Might see how doable some sprue piece Forgefiends are next

I actually didn't like the Egyptian look of proper TSons, and am a horrible painter, so I didn't mind making an off-shoot cult chapter from the list, and it's still wysiwyg in play. Probably closer to Tzeentch CSM than TSons, though I use the TSons list for them.

While the current meta for a competitive list is pretty set, and has received a tonne of nerfs over the year, it's still pretty flexible in list composition. It might not be the best way of playing, and the list isn't that big, but it's still there to fiddle with if you want. I don't even own Magnus or Ahriman, but I still get to crank out a bit of magic or firepower or even melee if I want. Not efficiently, but it's not nothing either. It's one of those high-floor/reasonable ceiling armies, where even the worst units are at least average at what they do. There's not many types of Sorc that an Infernus sergeant or Termie captain or Winged Prime can't sub-in for, and they all change the gameplay up enough with different enhancements, so it's rare that I feel like my miniatures are wasted. There's plenty of stuff to try out or have fun with.
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My original WH40k faction was 2nd edition CSM. I liked the look, I liked the Codex, I like just how much variety you could get with even just a couple of boxes of CSM and a couple of Rhinos. It was a great list to play as, because you could run 30-40 marines, a few daemons and some bawkses in so many different ways (and as a teenager, I didn't have the money for WH40k, even back then before the mega price hikes). Weapon conversions aplenty, and paintschemes or back-banners denoting different troop types (CSM, vets, berserkers and noise marines were all made from basic CSM. Even my Lord just got bulked shoulder pads and extra spikes). Different god, different weapon = almost entirely different unit. Even the Rhinos. So much blutack, so many weapons falling off....

So, yeah. Essentially I'm a cheap bugger, but that also likes the modelling and lore and list customization side of things. And I have no intention of shelling out to GW at their prices for the new-best-thing.

40k ones:

-Main faction: starship troopers (2 possilibities, guess based on next ones)

-Secondary faction: John Blanche's Canoness Veridyan art

-Third faction: John Blanche's Canoness Veridyan art, and also kinda natural and cheap to do using main and secondary armies.

Fantasy:

-Main faction: Jurassic Park

-Secondary faction: no idea what. Perhaps my foodporn tendencies?