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This is something me and my friends talk about, we each like most 40k factions for different reasons and all agree that certain chioces, vehicles, troops, etc. ake certain forces look "complete" some have more than others, some just have that one quintessential unit that "makes" that army, and if we were to field such an army we would try to include it despite not nessecerily being the best option.

I'm not talking Space Marine tactical squads or ork boyz, becuase they are a given (unless you are also mentioning specific equipment) you should probably have the anyway. i also dont mean that auto include because its so damn hard (i.e. heldrake, anni barge etc) I mean something that visually and thematically makes that army.

I was wondering if anyone has such feelings and if so please post them here.

I'll start with a fairly obvious one to get the ball rolling:

An Imperial Fist Army is not complete without a Vindicator, nothing says masters of siege warfare like a vindicator!


So what are your thoughs, Dakka? should your eldar have a certain aspect unit? should orks be taking to skies in bombers and koptas? let us know below!

For my Orks, the army isn't complete without a mek.

Gotta have some kind of mek in there.

For my Nurgle daemons it's Nurglings. An all nurgle force without Nurglings just feels off..

Sisters of battle and an Exorcist or 3. Can you hear the organs play?

An Ultramarines army isn't complete without some Sternguard, kitted out to kill Tyranids. Tyrannic War Veterans are a must in my eyes.

All of my armies need Centerpiece models. Something that stands out and just makes my whole army just pop once it's all on the table. It's hard to explain, so here are some examples:

In my Tau, I've three centerpiece models, My Ethereal Kitbash who prior to 6th, was a objective marker, and my two riptides. They look amazing alongside the Broadsides, Crisis Suits, Hammerheads, Pathfinders, and Fire Warriors.

In my Chaos army that I'm working on, the Centerpiece models will(hopefully) be my Dark Apostle kitbash, Bloodthrister(gonna go all out and get the FW guy) and Soul Grinder. Once again, with all the cultists, Traitor Marines, ect, these models will hopefully make the whole army kinda just.... pop once they are all deployed.

Grenadiers or Artillery Carriages

My army is no complete unless a vindicator is in it

Some great suggestion, love the Tyranic war Vets for ultramarines and totaly think a Riptide has become a must for a tau force, they look awesome along side battle suits.

I always end up with a small squad of scout snipers in all my lists for my ultra, i just cant shift the little buggers! ultramarines really should have a ML/ flamer squad in a rhino too just to be ultra classic and codex.

Necron forces (1500+) should have a Monolith!

And do i need to say it... GUARD NEED A RUSS (or 10)

I play Crimson Fists and I simply don't leave home without at least one Squad of Sternguard, and the same goes for at least one unit of scouts

After Rynn's world the Crimson Fists are low on regular troops, and heavy in vets and new reqruits. Plus, its effective, fluffy, and fun to play

Marbo, because he was already there, i just didnt know it

Chimerae. Without them the table just looks funny.

My Fire Warriors. My Tau army isent complete without them, I got three groups of 12, Might get more ^_^

Dark Angels seem incomplete without having both Ravenwing bikes AND Deathwing Terminators - unless you play only Ravenwing bikes OR Deathwing Terminators.

For daemons, it's flamers, at least the infantry version, but preferably the burning chariot too. BIt of a pyromaniac when it comes to my daemons.

For my Grey knight's, its just a brotherhood banner. It just seems really cool to me, reminds me of the dawn of war opening where the blood raven is carrying the banner up the hill, it's very cinematic to me, and I love to see him and 4 others marching forward with his banner held up into a fight with a huge horde of tyranid's or something

Heldrakes

Paint.

I have to say, Vindicators for Imperial Fists make little sense at all. They're supposed to be siege defence specialists, with the Iron Warriors being the siege offense specialists. The Vindicator doesn't seem like a vehicle that's made for defensive operations to me.

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:
The Vindicator doesn't seem like a vehicle that's made for defensive operations to me.

Why not? The enemy is coming close with the heaviest armor and biggest guns they can find. Park a Vindicator in the breached wall and shoot anyone trying to get through.

Spetulhu wrote:

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:
The Vindicator doesn't seem like a vehicle that's made for defensive operations to me.

Why not? The enemy is coming close with the heaviest armor and biggest guns they can find. Park a Vindicator in the breached wall and shoot anyone trying to get through.

That's assuming there's space to put a tank inside the defensive perimiter to start with. Things like Thunderfire Cannons make way more sense IMO, since they don't have to be in the breach to defend it.

 conker249 wrote:
Sisters of battle and an Exorcist or 3. Can you hear the organs play?

Its the Penitent Engine for me.

Orks aint nothing without a proppa stompa!
I got one just for the sheer fun of the thing

 conker249 wrote:
Sisters of battle and an Exorcist or 3. Can you hear the organs play?

I can hear the music of Bequa Kynska's greatest hits......

For me I need the plague zombies. By far, not the most important unit, but zombies!

Dark Eldar are nothing without a superevilsuperOMFGvillian archon leading them or a haemy. Chaos daemons are not complete without at least 1 greater daemon (preferably a bloodthirster) and tyranids are not complete without a flyrant, tervigons and zoanthropes.

I always try to work in a Leman Russ or Commissars into my IG army. They are just super iconic IG units.

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:

Spetulhu wrote:

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:
The Vindicator doesn't seem like a vehicle that's made for defensive operations to me.

Why not? The enemy is coming close with the heaviest armor and biggest guns they can find. Park a Vindicator in the breached wall and shoot anyone trying to get through.

That's assuming there's space to put a tank inside the defensive perimiter to start with. Things like Thunderfire Cannons make way more sense IMO, since they don't have to be in the breach to defend it.

imperial fists can just make the breach big enough for one and as the tank can move easily it will get there. It would be better than a thunder fire in this case because it would actually block the breach with heavy armour and a dozer blade instead of trying to block it up with precious marines. Plus the cannon is much better than the one on the thunderfire.

Blood Angels are not complete without a Jump Pack Priest.

Personally, I also think necrons look great with a squad of destroyers (5 regular, and/or 3 heavies)

For Chaos Daemons I say no army is complete without Fateweaver. The 1x reroll per player turn is such a quintessential part of daemons for me that i hope they just include it along with the warp storm table in future codices.

For Space Marines it's imho obviously the Dreadnought, followed closely by a squad of tactical Terminators.

For my Tau - my beloved Railhead

For my BA - Death Company in some way / shape / form, i must have me some DC

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:
That's assuming there's space to put a tank inside the defensive perimiter to start with.

Well, from reading some German texts they fooled the Red Army in some places by having a civilian tractor push a disabled tank around. A tank, even in limited space, is a major threat. It has a huge gun and is almost invulnerable to standard infantry weapons. Truly, it's a major threat. At least to people who don't blow them up as a part of their business.