Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

In my opinion it's orks for one reason it is FUNNY like stikkbombs it says throw em and they go bang and orks often throw the pin not the grenade and for the shock attack gun gretchin not included what is your faiveroute?

Definitely Orks. The battles are interesting, you get a good look into the Ork mind set, the characters are believable and more importantly it's funny when it's intended to be funny, unlike the narm-tastic space marine codexes

Agreed more answers!!!

Orks, followed closely by Eldar.

Anything by Ward is out of the running.

Orks by a mile, followed closely by Daemons

Eldar and Dark Eldar next.

The Marine fluff is terrible these days, and the Necron fluff (my fave up until the new dex) is just as bad now.

Not a fan of the SW fluff either, despite it being non-ward.

Orks, Dark Eldar, and Vanilla Space Marines. In that order.

I like orks, closely followed by imperial guard. It's something about the brutality of it, combined with the humanity and the scale of it all, as well as the stories of people's rise through the ranks. Individual army wise, DKoK and raven guard I love to bits.

I also put orks up there, but I'm actually going to give a nod to guard here, and not just because I play them. The guard background is interesting in more subtle ways than eldar, which hits you in the face with its dying race nonsense, or several other over the top options like any of the space marine subchapters (I'm looking at you, grey kngihts).

The imperial guard is all about people getting kidnapped and forced to serve against impossible odds and if, by miracle they both survive and win, they aren't even given a ride home. The guard is all about how to win a galactic scale total war, and all the crazy logistics and strategy required.

Even the current codex, which is a little lighter in fluff than the previous one talks about thirty million strong guard armies arriving centuries after the original inhabitants who called for aid have been utterly wiped out, and how so many guardsmen are lost in time and space in the warp transit that the only reason that sufficient numbers ever get anywhere is due to the massive quantity that were sent out in the first place.

Moreso than any other imperial codex, you really get the best insight into what the imperium is, and what it's about, and how it operates in the guard codex.

Ailaros wrote:thirty million strong guard armies arriving centuries after the original inhabitants who called for aid have been utterly wiped out, and how so many guardsmen are lost in time and space in the warp transit that the only reason that sufficient numbers ever get anywhere is due to the massive quantity that were sent out in the first place.

Kind of like a grimdark hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

Getting 2,500 regiments all the way to Corvax III before the greater horned demon of Ixtapathl devours the entire world? That's impossible!

Used to be Necrons, but with all of the 5th Ed codexs, it's mostly a who cares.

Wow. I can't believe no one said chaos. The heresy is really the most important fluff piece in 40k, and the legions are beyond awesome. It has to be Chaos.

I like the Chaos dex too, but the Ork one is probably my favourite for being funny.

Though Chaos comes second, Guard third. Posthumously sentencing a regiment to death was far funnier to me than it should have been.

Eldar for me.

I agree that the less said about the 5th Edition Codices the better, though I think they did a largely good job with the largely needed change to the Necron fluff IMHO.

I actually don't like the humorous side of orks as much as most people. In the books, orks are described as being MUCH different than their codex would suggest.

Anyway, my favorite Chaos Space Marines. I love the heresy stuff, but mostly I love each individual warband's fluff. They all hate the Imperium for different reasons, and makes you see things from a different perspective. Most of the fluff is all in the Imperium's perspective so they're always made out the be the "good guys" but the Chaos fluff really makes you rethink their position in the galaxy. Also, with most people playing Imperium armies, it makes it easier for your battles to feel "fluffy" as for the most part, SM vs SM doesn't happen every often.

3rd Ed. Guard Codex was pretty good, had excellent stories dotted around (Nork Deddogs one still makes me laugh). Other than that...I don't know, really. Hmm.

I'd have to say Dark Eldar. Of course I'm completely biased as they are one of the armies I play.

If you want to read a codex for the fluff value, go around the web and buy any of the 2nd edition codex books. A quick flip through my old Codex: Ultramarines shows about 40 pages of fluff before any actual rules talk. And the whole book is about 85 pages long. The Chaos book is 145 pages.

I want to get the Eladr and Ork books just for the reading material, even if I never play another 2nd edition game again.

I'd have to say the Thousand Sons, I'm a sucker for the fallen from grace but still wanting to be loyalish idea. Then the Kroot, if they count and if not I don't care. I love the carnivore birdmen, who eat to adapt and will work for however pays them the most. Then the Eldar and Necrons are tied, both of their background involve each other a lot. And then anything that says on Marine on it is boring. However I do enjoy the IG fluff, just don't make them look like a bunch of untrained teenagers.

Heck yeah with the Kroot. I have no idea why, but I fell in love with them when their Mercenary codex came out in Chapter Approved. I even have a good chunk of an army converted. Right now they are making do with working as hired muscle for my Eldar pirates.

Another vote for Kroot here, and I don't even play tau these days

Kroot are awesome

In terms of writing style, interest level of the fluff, and the way the fluff is presented, definitely Dark Eldar. Also, the DE codex manages to introduce a unique-feeling army that's competitive without being broken and has a wide array of units/possibilities to it. It really was GW at their best, and shows what can be done if Matt Ward isn't involved.

Harriticus wrote:In terms of writing style, interest level of the fluff, and the way the fluff is presented, definitely Dark Eldar. Also, the DE codex manages to introduce a unique-feeling army that's competitive without being broken and has a wide array of units/possibilities to it. It really was GW at their best, and shows what can be done if Matt Ward isn't involved.

+1 to this.

If I had to pick a top 5.

Chaos Daemons. I absolutely love the fluff behind this. Stories such as the little girl who outsmarted the keeper of tzeentch's labyrinth. Or the great game the gods play. I even took the 7 layers of slaanesh's palace as the theme behind my army. Absolutely amazing stuff here.

Second place will be Dark Eldar for me. The new revamp on their society brings about so much that is just "perfect" for 40k. The part with the tau cultural exchange in particular pleased my fancy. I enjoy the new characters and how they have expanded old ones. I love their books fluff even if I don't play the army.

Orks will come in third. As everyone else has explained its the "funny" background. But there is still some excellent bits about 40k in there. Such as their fight against the nids which is one of my favorite match ups in 40k. Or the Orks that are stuck on a daemon planet and are revived and killed every day but they love it because its the best fight they have ever had.

4th would be the imperial guard. I enjoy seeing the aspects of the imperium from the eyes of someone who isn't super human. Seeing how all the different cultures from planets act toward different situations makes for an interesting read.

5th while many people hate the new necron fluff, outside of a few annoyances I really enjoy the much deeper indepth look at the army. The previous codex was an abomination when it came to fluff. The fluff had nothing to do with the necrons themselves it was completely about the C'tan. This codex fixes that in so many ways while still allowing fluff wise people who enjoyed the old fluff to use that as the basis for their army. There are still a few things that should have been written better such as the silent king winning a war against two races of gods but being scared to fight one of their servant races.

Imperial Armoury 5, 6 and 7

That, or the IG one, only codex I've read