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I want to start a SM army and after reading through the codex I became a fan of the White Scars because I tliked the look/theme and their build looked powerful. After some research it seemed like most people that played SM competitively were using the same White Scars build which seemed like the best way to play them. I don't exactly like to play competitive "net lists" because I like the satisfaction of winning with a balanced army and not absolutely crushing my opponent.

My problem is that I like to play competitively, just not with super powerful builds. The question that I want to ask is if the White Scars army is too powerful for my opponents to enjoy the game? Since I haven't read through the other recent codexes i have nothing to compare the White Scars to so it is hard for me to determine how good they are. Should I still play them because I like the look and style or is playing against them not fun?

I also like the style of a salamander drop pod list but I am afraid that it might not be competitive enough. I also want to know how the salamanders compare to the White Scars in terms of competitiveness? Any help is appreciated, thanks!

If you want a bike army, just go for it. Magentize the special weapons and then you can use them as any of the space marine chapters you want. Roll your own and use the rules you like-- nobody is going to be upset by that if the equipment is represented on the model.

I use my Mentor Legion bikers as Ravenwing 90% of the time, and as White Scars 10% of the time. Nobody really cares as long as you make it clear what you are going with before hand.

White scars are the more powerful of the two armies, since they have way better supporting arms in the TFC and Storm Talon and Centurions and Chapter Masters, but if you are going pure straight up bikes I feel like Ravenwing is stronger due to Black Knights who are one of the strongest Astartes units in the game. Possibly THE strongest. They are awesome.

Neither of the two armies is 'too strong' though. Maybe against a really old and busted codex like Orks or something, but not against 9/10 of the armies out there.

Drop pod lists in general are not competitive. I really only see drop pods rolling solo lately. With either Loth or a Rune priest and a bunch of stern guard getting out to shoot something.

I've been playing White Scars for close to a year, and from before the current SM codex. I'd say go for it - the Scars are an extremely cool faction,a nd interesting to play.

If you want to avoid having a super-powerful army, then limit the grav guns you take, use some more speeders, leave Khan at home, and don't max out on the invincible SM character kit. You'll have a good - but not overpowered - force, that's a lot of fun to play.