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I like the look and the fluff to the Sisterhood. They capture the space-gothic feel perfectly.

Why I chose the armies I play:
Dark Angels: When I first started getting interested in 40k, I looked at all the different factions. I really liked the Space Marines, as the whole super-soldier thing sounded cool and the look of the power armor was awesome. I had also heard somewhere that Marines are pretty easy to paint. What sold me on Dark Angels in particular, as stupid as it sounds, was the paint set that had five of the marines in it. Bingo, I was set with all the paints I would need to get the army started with at least a basic paint scheme. Of course, once I read some of the fluff and got the codex and rulebook (6th ed.) I knew I made the right choice! I picked up the Dark Angels Battleforce box next (little realizing that it was really just a Ravenwing attack squadron), followed shortly by a Tactical squad and the Dark Vengeance set, and it just grew from there.

Tau Empire: I got into Tau because I liked the idea of a race using advanced technology and battlesuits. The aesthetics of the models just appealed to me, so I picked up a Battleforce box and a Cadre Fireblade and didn't look back. The only reason I haven't fleshed out the army more is because I have chosen to put more resources into my Dark Angels and KhorneKin armies (I had heard about an impending new book for Tau, so didn't want to be caught with a collection of the wrong stuff to be powerful).

Khorne Daemonkin: This army really started life as a Chaos Space Marines army. I had the Chaos stuff from Dark Vengeance and decided that rather than trade or sell it, I would keep it as a secondary army. I went ahead and bought Codex: CSM and soon realized that it would be a little too much project to get it to playable standards (especially when I heard that the faction was so weak!), so the whole thing was shelved indefinitely (although I did add a Dark Apostle and some Raptors to it). When Codex: Khorne Daemonkin came out, I bought it on release day, thinking that my Chaos models might just have a new lease on life. I liked the idea of having Daemons mixed in with mortal units, and the whole Blood Tithe system sounded awesome! Khorne was already my favorite Chaos God, as he likes to keep it simple and just smash stuff instead of having to do all that Psychic stuff. Plus, it gave me a reason to get one of the new Bloodthirster kits (one of the best models GW has ever released). I used the majority of my tax return to flesh out the army and get it to tournament standards, and the rest is history.

Deldar and eldar, amazing fluff and really cool models
Orks: Who doesn't love them? Amazingly good and lots of fun toys.

Tau, because robots are like, something I can use for like, painting and shooting and like, stuff

 ChiliPowderKeg wrote:
Tau, because robots are like, something I can use for like, painting and shooting and like, stuff

Wait, good idea! Imagine battle suits for other races, the more advanced ones in the Tau Empire... We could like totally have Vespid robots with awesome wings, and like floating polar bears in floating robots D:

I usually choose following these 4 criteria in this order of importance....

1. Aesthetic
2. Fluff
3. Modelling opportunities/potential enjoyment of painting
4. Potential cost

It has led to...

Blood Angels successor (nearing completion)
Nurglish Renegade Guard (mostly all built, none painted)
40k Death Guard (mostly all bought, none started)
MechVet Guard (as above)

Orks for a few reasons:
I am terrible at RTS's and my only tactic is castling with a horde and hoping to have more bodies than they have bullets.

I wanted an army that was fun to play with and against, and who doesn't like wiping out 20 Orks a turn?

The worse I am at modelling/painting/converting the more Orky it is.

My first army was Chaos Marines back at the end of 2nd edition, because they looked cool and were the evil versions of what most other people were playing.
Then, I encountered a fellow at a con who had tried (unsuccessfully) to start a game store and was looking to unload large quantities of models for cost. My love of tanks took over, and I was soon the broke owner of an Imperial Guard army. It continues to grow at an alarming pace.
While attending an auction at a friend's FLGS, I lucked into a complete Sisters of Battle box for just under wholesale cost (the owner of the store commented that he could return it for more than I paid, but he saw how excited I was and let me win it). Units were added here and there, but in the last couple years, this army has doubled in size. Inquisitors have been added, as well, and can be fielded as a separate army now.
I started Tau on accident. While at the GenCon auction, I caught a great deal on some fire warriors, kroot, and a devilfish, with the intention of reselling them. After I realized that I was only a commander away from fielding them, I kept them and was hooked.
I have Black Templars and Eldar that I bought as whole armies secondhand and haven't played yet.
The 6th ed. Space Marine codex made me decide that building my old Epic SM chapter in 40K would actually work, so I now have entirely too many marines.
Dark Vengeance meant that I had some Dark Angels that I could use as allies for my Guard, mostly as an excuse to buy a Nephilim Jetfighter.
Daemons were the result of winning a tournament back when their codex first came out, and thinking "what the heck" and picking a Great Unclean One as my prize, mostly out of nostalgia. Nurgle was/is my CSM flavor of choice.
I have always loved the Mechanicus, so had to start both of them, and add a knight for good measure. Probably can traced back to Epic as well, honestly.
Picked up the Daemonkin book because I basically already had the army, so why not?

I like almost every army, so I really just need a reason NOT to collect it. I play orcs in WFB, so I avoid them in 40K. My oldest rival primarily played Tyranids, so I avoided stepping on his toes. Dark Eldar models were not good originally, so they were easy to skip, but have been tempting me recently. I was fond of Gray Knights back when they were part of the Inquisition book, but the standalone codices really turned me off of them, so I only have one squad of termies.

Whatever army has the nicest and newest models, LOL.

grumpy_newenglander wrote:
Whatever army has the nicest and newest models, LOL.

Guess you won't be going for Tau this year

I started off with Grey Knights in 4th ed. Their terminator armor was so striking to me. They really fit the "knight in shining armor" look to me. Finding out they were demon slayers further sealed the deal. I also grew to learn more about the Inquisition, and they really drew me in, too. Inquisitors are such powerful, individualistic characters, all with their own style and methods. I planned my army around them.

I got to the point in 4th ed where I became unsure of how expand my army, and I switched over to Sisters to continue my Inquisitor antics. Now that Sisters are at the point of needed allies to be viable, the Grey Knights are seeing the light of day again!

Interesting models, background and characters are what draw me to an army. Powerful codexes will wax and wane, but the heart and background of an army won't, so that's what I base my choices on. I don't have the money or the interest to keep up with the newest units or the most competitive codex, so I enjoy it at my pace.

1. My affinity to the models
2. The background of the faction

Almost nothing else matters to me

 Psienesis wrote:
I like the look and the fluff to the Sisterhood. They capture the space-gothic feel perfectly.

Same here. They have an ornate religious style that resembles Dark Angels to me, but instead of being dark and brooding, they boldly flash their church bling around. I really hope sisters get redone. I would love to see that super heavy church-tank become a reality.

My three armies are Crimson Fists space marines, Sister's of battle and imperial knights.

I started the Crimson fists after starting to paint smurfs then I read the Rynns world book and fell in love with the fluff of them.

the sisters were because no one else in my area had seen them and they looked like a bit of an underdog army and they well just look cool.

the Imperial knights, well nowadays you need the D weapons...

Dark Eldar as my only real army for two reasons: the models are cheap where i buy them, and not very many people play them.

also the fact that half my army wounds monstrous creatures on a 4+ is great

For me, it was models. If I liked the models, I bought them. If I didn't, then I did not buy them.

If I didn't like them, I wouldn't paint them, and hence wouldn't play with them, either (because I won't field an unpainted model).

The price also comes into it, though. In later years, my purchasing of GW stuff has decreased enormously - but they haven't really put out much that I like the look of anymore anyway.

The rules for the models and units come way down the list.

Picked up my first Space Marines as a kid (like 9 ish) at the GW store in Vancouver, CA.

Years later got back into the hobby with Blood Angels. I loved the aesthetic, the close combat focus, and their fluff.

The Orks I started because I had some (AOBR starter set) added more as a pure fun army in 5th Ed.

Necrons I bought because I liked their standing back up, and also, really really easy to paint.

Grey Knights were the fourth army, I wanted to try a small, elite based army that played differently than my BA, and with 6th Ed, they were not very good so I didn't have backlash against the Draigowing.

Space Marines were a fun alternative to my Blood Angels, I really really liked the Thunderfire Cannon models and I couldn't play them in my BA Army (found out after buying a metal one just prior to 5th Ed BA codex purchase). I could play them differently than my regular BA, and when 6th Ed came along and allies with it, I liked to mix it up a bit.

Sisters of Battle I started because I never saw anyone play them. I read about St Celestine and thought she would be a lot of fun to run with my BA in 6th Ed. Now I have way more Sisters than I need, 6 Exorcists, and I can measure the army in pounds (weight nor currency). I still have back up copies of the WD dex for them.

Inquisition I started when they were part of the GK codex, Coteaz, Henchmen, Laser Space Monkeys, a lot of variety and shenanigans to bring with a GK army was and is fun.

Tau I picked up about midway through 6th, I had been beat (a lot) by them and thought it would be fun to try a very different style of fighting, the focus on drones and supporting fire was very different than my other armies.

Dark Angels I started to run as Deathwing, harking back to some old, metal Terminators I got as a kid and started playing with during 6th Ed. They were and are beautiful models, and when a well painted army at an amazing price presented itself, I couldn't say no and picked up a full army with Deathwing, Ravenwing and Greenwing.

Eldar I had always liked aesthetically, and the pure variety and specialization I thought was super cool, the Aspect Warriors are my favorite part of the army.

Imperial Knights I picked up as a complement to my other armies; now I have four built, two fully painted, a second FW Knight waiting on assembly though I rarely field more than two.

AdMech is my latest push, I didn't much care for them at first, but their aesthetic has really grown on me having seen some beautiful, fully painted armies at ATC. Now I'm building/painting them up to run as allies (for the time being).

Fun thread.

12 years ago when I first got into 40k, Tau just appealed to me because of the crisis suits and the fact that they were an entirely plastic army when most other factions were largely metal (for someone new to the hobby that really helps).

I've stuck with the Tau largely because they don't really require you to run vehicles - I go mostly suits and infantry which are very easy to pack and carry around on public transit.

Plus... the ranged, high mobility aspect just fits my playstyle.

Well as a 6-7 year old I loved the idea of basic humans fighting everything bigger and badder than themselves... Thus I chose imperial Guard.

Technically speaking my first army was blood angels, but since 2nd edition and my dad loved them it was kind of chosen for me.

When I finish my current army I'm planning on either a nid or necron army. May return to blood angels after this.

talljosh85 wrote:
I can measure the army in pounds (weight nor currency).

I know the pain dude. try riding a bike with them strapped to the back. you have to carefully balance out the location of the exorcists so as to not be over weight on one side.

My first issue of White Dwarf marked the release of the 3rd ed. Imperial Guard codex. It was full to the brim with fluff about various regiments and what was basically an essay by Jervis Johnson about why playing underpowered humans is boss. The issue's battle report promptly featured JJ's lads getting curbstomped by Orks. I immideatly fell for those luckless sods, and took a shine to the greenskins too.

Then came the 3rd Armageddon War campaign which dialed my love for both up to 11.

There's always the risk of lore surrounding the Marine and Eldar factions going from grimdark into outright pretention while the Orks and Guard are the meat and potatoes of the 41st millennium. One are a gang of fun-loving hooligans and the other are poor bastards like you and me forced into a horrifying situation.

Ultimately your average Ork Boy is more 'human' than most Space Marines

My first army was Dark Angels and I just started playing Ravenwing again.

When I was in 4th grade this dude at my FLGS told me to play Dark Angels, so I did.

A few years later I started IG because tanks.

Finding a fully painted Space Wolf model on the floor (at school?) one day lead me to research what exactly it was.

I learned the history of Space Marines, Primarchs, and the Hours Hersey.

The only Loyalist legions I favored were Dark Angels, and a toss up between vampires or werewolves. But the Traitors had what I was looking for in Grim Dark. So I opted for Chaos which was in its 3.5 codex at the time. So then I had to pick a Legion, or a God. Started collecting Nurgle and Night Lords.

At some point, I wanted a Xenos army as well, and picked Orks as a parallel to the Elite and expensive Chaos Marines, and picked up nearly every races codex, and an odd kit or blister every here and there.... for almost 7 years before actually playing a game at the start of 6th edition.

With that I picked up the 5th edition Assault on Black Reach for the Orks, and the brand new 6th edition Chaos codex, and Dark Vengeance for Chaos.

The combined halves of the Loyalist starters have thus spawned a secret Founding of Loyalists... and thus the cycle continues.

I chose Sisters of Battle because I like playing female characters in video games. I especially like video games where the difference between male and female characters is purely cosmetic, like Planetside 2 and World of Warcraft. Sisters of Battle are the only all-female army in Warhammer 40k, not counting the possibility of an all-female Imperial Guard army. The holy warrior thing is also an aesthetic I enjoy a lot.

I chose Space Marines because they're a nice all-rounder army. I keep playing them because my friend's RP character leads a small number of captured and reformed renegade Space Marines that I like to represent in my tabletop armies.

I chose Orks because... well, I forget why since it was a long time ago and I was very sick with a mental illness. But they still see a lot of use because my mom finds them to be very straight-forward to use and don't require too much intricate planning.

I chose Eldar because I like elves.

I chose Imperial Guard because I love their tanks, even if they make no sense and would get stuck in mud more often than not.

2nd edition - Dark angels because of asmodai, ezekiel, the watchers, the story behined the gear, mind worm,and deathwing terminators with assault cannons (sustained fire dice for the win!) later on they got a unique dreadnought which IMHO was better than any other variant (the TL las and ML paired nicely) and a unique landspeeder with an assault cannon and a heavy bolter - again, a good pairing and had an assault cannon!

Stuck with them for donkeys years and eventually gave them to someone.

5th edition - custom SM chapter, which turned into a custom mechanicum force utilising any imperial models which i could in any way justify would be available to the mechanicum. (not admech, i'm proud to say!) Also stormtroopers as skitarii.

6th edition - I buy a warhound titan and a titan tech-priest model to go with it - later FW release HH book 1: betrayal and i see Calleb Decima's entry picture. I am sold. I drop 40k and despite that the Ordo Reductor list in the book is only intended as allies i buy 12 thallax to use as a primary force and a 10 man legion tactical squad to justify the LR achillies and storm eagle.
Imperial knights arrive and i start buying...
More mechanicum stuff is released and i continue buying...

So i now have armies for; The Ordo Reductor, Taghmata, Vanilla Legion Marines and a Questoris Knight Household.

Dark angels love the models the fluff the heraldry alone is a cool design sword plus wing equals coolness in my book

I first picked up tau when I read therough their 4th edition codex. I loved the aesthetic, hightech, streamlined, but at the same time function over form. I would have been about 14-15 then. I then started looking into their fluff, and really enjoyed that, and it stuck.

I also have a few sisters units (although they have yet to be used), as I've always liked them. They have this really cool baroque aesthetic.

even before i started my orks army i was a big fan of he concept of "orcs."
it started when me and my brother installed the 1st warcraft on our pc and my brother started the human campaign. i decided to play the orc campaign to see what it was like and i have been a fan of the brutal greenskin ever since. something about the brutality of this fantasy creature always allured me (maybe it was to me, a scrawny mild mannerd kid, the best power fantasy of a no care attitude with violence at the helm).
almost every rpg character i made was an ork, or if the game didnt have orcs then i made my character as orkish as possible.
when i finally got into the warhammer community it was a no brainer what army i was going to dedicate my money to.

i would've gone for tau due to my love of military robot anime, but the prices at first seemed daunting, but also wasn't that customizable of an army when compared to orks. so to get a little bit of big robots in my wargameing experience i became a dread mob enthusiast.

while i have suffered many defeats due to my army choice (some very moral crushing) i persevere in this army. for if you are a true ork player you realize that "defeat" is just another way of saying "boyz need a breavah....we'll have anovah go latah"

Sisters: the badass factor.

Eldar (abortively, eighteen years ago): wizards and elves are cool

Necrons: They were new, and shiny, and I couldn't find any Sisters to buy (also eighteen years ago).