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Hi all,
I just wanted to hear what folk's opinions on some of the HH forces are; I really want to add some of the models to my collection but there's a lot to choose from and I haven't narrowed down where to begin. What are your favorite armies aesthetically and fluff-wise, and what do you like to use on the tabletop? Any discussion is welcome, I really just want to hear what the essence feel of your armies are from the player's/painter's perspective.

Please read THIS PINNED POST at the top of the page and it will give you a far better idea of what you might want.

Your question... is like saying "Hey guys! I want to get into 40K! What armies do you guys play, and what are your army lists?"

It's far, far too broad, and you give you details about what kind of army you might want to play except to say you like 30K. Do you know it's pretty much Space Marines and only Space Marines? Sure, you could play Mechanicum, Custodies, or Guard, but 30K is all about Space Marines. And not 40K Space Marines of whatever chapter- we are talking the Legions, and there are only 18 Legions to choose from.

Each Legion is distinctly different in the units you can use, what Rites of War are available, and what special units you can take. All of this is explained in the sticky above. Look around, think about what sounds good, then come back and say something like "Hey guys! I want to get into 30K, and I'm thinking about the Iron Hands Legion..."

 Tamwulf wrote:
Please read THIS PINNED POST at the top of the page and it will give you a far better idea of what you might want.

Your question... is like saying "Hey guys! I want to get into 40K! What armies do you guys play, and what are your army lists?"

It's far, far too broad, and you give you details about what kind of army you might want to play except to say you like 30K. Do you know it's pretty much Space Marines and only Space Marines? Sure, you could play Mechanicum, Custodies, or Guard, but 30K is all about Space Marines. And not 40K Space Marines of whatever chapter- we are talking the Legions, and there are only 18 Legions to choose from.

Each Legion is distinctly different in the units you can use, what Rites of War are available, and what special units you can take. All of this is explained in the sticky above. Look around, think about what sounds good, then come back and say something like "Hey guys! I want to get into 30K, and I'm thinking about the Iron Hands Legion..."

Well that stings... Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I think I'll just look elsewhere though... I play all manner of Space Marines in 40k. For 30k I like the aesthetic of the Thousand Sons Legion. Meant no offense Tamwulf.

Aye. Well what kind of army you want might help.

Ultra elite, CC, shooting, mech heavy, all legions have own thing they do well above another and buff that better than everyone.

Rough idea will help people narrow it down.

People just need a a few rough basic to work off.

I'm going to chime in here to say you really need to check the fluff of the legions before making a decision.
After you've done that, check out which conflict marked their initial action of the war and decide if you like how the loyal or disloyal elements of the legion synergise - have a look at the HQ choices, but keep in mind that it's handy to be able to do either.

To me, picking your legion means finding the point where these items intersect: fluff you enjoy, a paint scheme you like, and a playstyle that works for you.

 gorgon wrote:
To me, picking your legion means finding the point where these items intersect: fluff you enjoy, a paint scheme you like, and a playstyle that works for you.

I'd add models to that. My historic favourite legion was world eater, but (Kharn excepting) I can't stand any of their unique models. Second was Death Guard, but dislike the Mortarion model so much I couldn't bring myself to buy it. Iron Warriors was probably 5th or 6th on my list of favourite fluff, but it was the first time all those criteria were met (and they were nearly overlooked as I already have a large grey knights army.)

I really like the fluff and paint scheme of the Thousand Sons, but I don't know if the play-style is right for me; I like CC and they seem very psychic oriented, which is also appealing if only a little less so.

 Aetare wrote:
I really like the fluff and paint scheme of the Thousand Sons, but I don't know if the play-style is right for me; I like CC and they seem very psychic oriented, which is also appealing if only a little less so.

Word bearers have a similar paint colour, some summoning shenanigans /deamon allies fluffy.
Maybe consider them. Just as a have a read of fluff online.

A big part of the reason I love the 1st so much is that I can do everything with them. I want to play White Scars, but not paint white? No problem... I want to roll with all the tanks? Sure, there is a Dark Angel theme for that? Want to roll Pride of the Legion and all Terminators? Who doesn't love a little Deathwing?

The fluff behind them is great IMO, their special toys are awesome, I think they look incredible paint wise. But hey, that's just me.

Find all of that, for yourself, in your legion of choice.

Don't forget there's also Mechanicum, Solar Auxilia and Militia and cults in 30k to choose from too.

I wanted something different from my 40k armies, so I went with the low model count, high toughness cybernetica mechanicum and a small fast army in the Emperors Children

Thanks for the input guys!

Have a look at the Isstvan 3 betrayal - it's ripe with plot and the black book is sold fairly regularly on eBay for around £50.

Isstvan 3 is traitor legions 'clearing house'; Isstvan 5 is traitors ambushing loyalists and in doing so, declaring their allegiance.

To echo what others have said, whilst all 18 legions are marines and have the same core units, they all play very differently. What's your play style (you mentioned CC), what colors do you hate to paint (white?), what other 40K armies to you have? What legion fluff is most intriguing to you? What kind of a budget do you have?

I've been painting Death Guard and Blood Angels (can't wait for Book 8) with some Mechanicum and Custodes.

I just looked over the fluff surrounding the Isstvan campaigns; pretty gruesome stuff. My play style as it stands is really centered on CC and psychic buffs. I have Grey Knights and Space Wolves, and I'm looking to mix it up with the color scheme for my next army. I want to stay clear of lighter colors like white or grey and go for something a little more rich and vibrant, which is why the Thousand Sons initially caught my eye.

I think that jhe90 is onto something with the wordbearers idea, they love a bit of CC and also have the 'upgrade to ml1 psyker' thing on the go - just restricted to biomancy and telepathy.
The TS are more 'all the psychic powers!' and shredding bolt rounds.

Worth a look, i think.

 SirDonlad wrote:
I think that jhe90 is onto something with the wordbearers idea, they love a bit of CC and also have the 'upgrade to ml1 psyker' thing on the go - just restricted to biomancy and telepathy.
The TS are more 'all the psychic powers!' and shredding bolt rounds.

Worth a look, i think.

Thanks I'll look into them a bit! Might have to get used to the whole OG CSM thing though having only played loyalist imperial forces in the past....

 Aetare wrote:

 SirDonlad wrote:
I think that jhe90 is onto something with the wordbearers idea, they love a bit of CC and also have the 'upgrade to ml1 psyker' thing on the go - just restricted to biomancy and telepathy.
The TS are more 'all the psychic powers!' and shredding bolt rounds.

Worth a look, i think.

Thanks I'll look into them a bit! Might have to get used to the whole OG CSM thing though having only played loyalist imperial forces in the past....

O-Ooooo!

The word bearers had ~30 years of clearing house before the heresy so they are the only legion i'm aware of that can't do the 'loyalists from the traitor faction' thing, but despite that i seem to remember there being one loyalist WB that survived - cant remember his name though. He became part of the original Knights-Errant to boot!

That could be a fun narrative! Thanks for the heads up.

There is a loyalist WB featured in Unremembered Empire

 Ifurita wrote:
There is a loyalist WB featured in Unremembered Empire

Any idea what Legion or any more details? I haven't read that one yet...

It's a loyalist Word Bearer.

 Ifurita wrote:
It's a loyalist Word Bearer.

Thanks! Must be VERY loyalist if they had so long to convert and purge their ranks before the heresy...

 SirDonlad wrote:

 Aetare wrote:

 SirDonlad wrote:
I think that jhe90 is onto something with the wordbearers idea, they love a bit of CC and also have the 'upgrade to ml1 psyker' thing on the go - just restricted to biomancy and telepathy.
The TS are more 'all the psychic powers!' and shredding bolt rounds.

Worth a look, i think.

Thanks I'll look into them a bit! Might have to get used to the whole OG CSM thing though having only played loyalist imperial forces in the past....

O-Ooooo!

The word bearers had ~30 years of clearing house before the heresy so they are the only legion i'm aware of that can't do the 'loyalists from the traitor faction' thing, but despite that i seem to remember there being one loyalist WB that survived - cant remember his name though. He became part of the original Knights-Errant to boot!

Well, they *can* be loyalist, they just lose all their unique upgrades and units (aside from perhaps Ashen Circle, fluff-wise Loyalists would have them... but for some reason I seem to recall them having the Eye of Horus on their rule page...).

 Aetare wrote:
I just looked over the fluff surrounding the Isstvan campaigns; pretty gruesome stuff. My play style as it stands is really centered on CC and psychic buffs. I have Grey Knights and Space Wolves, and I'm looking to mix it up with the color scheme for my next army. I want to stay clear of lighter colors like white or grey and go for something a little more rich and vibrant, which is why the Thousand Sons initially caught my eye.

If you collect Space Wolves, then I think Thousand Sons would be an awesome complement/counter to that. Have you seen the latest FW model releases for the Thousand Sons? They are all epic.