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Hi people ! So I'm having a hard time choosing which traitor legion to play. Of course, everyone tells me the same advice (what's your favorite fluff, which paint scheme do you prefer, which special character do you like, etc.). All in all, I pretty love each of the traitor legion equally. I think I need to go tactical if I am to choose between one of them.
At first, I had put my sigh on the Sons of Horus, but many people told me they weren't that great. Same goes for World Eaters and Word Bearers. So I guess I'm torn between Death Guard, Emperor Children, Iron Warriors and Night Lords. I also thought about Thousand Sons, but one of my friend already plays them.
Which one of these would be the easiest for a beginner in 30k ?

Thanks for your thought.

there isn't really a bad legion in 30k, some do better vs others but they are all relatively even. they all have different styles though so find a way you like to play and do the legion that fits the bill if you don't have a preference on lore or aesthetics.

Sons of Horus and World Eaters, amongst others, got buffs in the updated Age of Darkness rules and Word Bearers have always had solid core rules. Don't let people saying they're not great put you off, because they're probably just parroting other people on the Internet.

If you wanted to initially play Sons of Horus, then go for it! Their updated legion rules give them +1BS when shooting within 12" with pistol, rapid-fire or assault weapons which is awesome and Justearin Terminators got a big buff now that they're 2 Wounds each. Plus if you ever get around to using Primarchs, Horus kicks all kinds of ass.

Word Bearers are not bad for a beginner either imo, since their legion rules are pretty good - Morale tests on 3D6 discarding highest is huge in a game without ATSKNF and where Fearless is rare.

I vote for Death Guard as one of the top strongest legions, HOWEVER you really should be choosing based off of fluff and what not. If you really hate that route: Go with what colours you wanna paint most. Most legions are fairly equally balanced, so there is no real "learners legion" so to speak. worse case scenario start off with shattered legions.

4th legion best legion! Varied tactically and easy to build from calth

 Fruzzle wrote:
4th legion best legion! Varied tactically and easy to build from calth

Tyrant Siege Terminators, Iron Havocs and Cortex Controller (Thallax) are some reasons to play Iron Warriors.

OP - what do you want the playstyle to be like?

I must admit that I am not looking for an all ranged army nor an all-melee army. Something in between maybe ?

 Warzoner wrote:
I must admit that I am not looking for an all ranged army nor an all-melee army. Something in between maybe ?

Well I think then that narrows it somewhat, the EC and IW are both choppy and dakka heavy respectively (but are far from lacking in the other factors), with the WE having ragey rules etc they've got a choppy focus.

the SOH/WB/DG all like short range but not of a necessarily choppy nature.

So would go for WB if you like gribbly possessed troops, DG if you like frustrating people with trying to kill you, while you fart the fethers to death(they also have fear immunity which is great in 30k) or SOH who are nice scrappy take all comers with some lovely wargear.

Personally I went with IW for the chance to drive myself insane painting stripes(and those BS5 autocannon iron havocs)

 Zaku212 wrote:

 Warzoner wrote:
I must admit that I am not looking for an all ranged army nor an all-melee army. Something in between maybe ?

Well I think then that narrows it somewhat, the EC and IW are both choppy and dakka heavy respectively (but are far from lacking in the other factors), with the WE having ragey rules etc they've got a choppy focus.

the SOH/WB/DG all like short range but not of a necessarily choppy nature.

So would go for WB if you like gribbly possessed troops, DG if you like frustrating people with trying to kill you, while you fart the fethers to death(they also have fear immunity which is great in 30k) or SOH who are nice scrappy take all comers with some lovely wargear.

Personally I went with IW for the chance to drive myself insane painting stripes(and those BS5 autocannon iron havocs)

Ehhhh, I would call DG a shooty army that is damn terrifying in close combat. the ability to spam rad grenades + the power scythes being fun + chem munitions on flamers, as well means they go above holding their own in CC. HOWEVER the huge buffs to frag weaponry, the amount of times we can bring heavy support squads as troops, and the fluff viability of phosphex spam means DG is up there for shooting as well. Add in the 4+ FNP against poison/fleshbane, basic immunity to dangerous terrain, move through cover, autopass pinning and immune to fear checks and you have an incredibly solid army. Not to mention that all of our 'fluffy' lists are rather strong as well

Fortunately, reality isn't like that, and DG aren't any scarier than any other legion.

To the OP -- figure out the color schemes you like, and the playstyles that fit you. Then see where those intersect.

 Fruzzle wrote:
4th legion best legion! Varied tactically and easy to build from calth

Easy to build, but some people might give you the side-eye if the bulk of your Iron Warriors are in Mk IV armor. If you don't care, go for it, it's your army after all. "Historically" though, IW preferred Mk II and III.

 gorgon wrote:
Fortunately, reality isn't like that, and DG aren't any scarier than any other legion.

Half true, the legions are all fairly well balanced, I just like to point out that DG are super strong, unlike whatever (not so) smelly legion you play

 Brennonjw wrote:

 gorgon wrote:
Fortunately, reality isn't like that, and DG aren't any scarier than any other legion.

Half true, the legions are all fairly well balanced, I just like to point out that DG are super strong, unlike whatever (not so) smelly legion you play

Yeah I would ignore the negative comments here, it's HH/30k. Pick a faction you like the look of and you can do no wrong really. Also ATSKNF is not a thing in 30k so morale may actually matter when playing marines.

 Zaku212 wrote:

 Brennonjw wrote:

 gorgon wrote:
Fortunately, reality isn't like that, and DG aren't any scarier than any other legion.

Half true, the legions are all fairly well balanced, I just like to point out that DG are super strong, unlike whatever (not so) smelly legion you play

Yeah I would ignore the negative comments here, it's HH/30k. Pick a faction you like the look of and you can do no wrong really. Also ATSKNF is not a thing in 30k so morale may actually matter when playing marines.

not sure which person you were talking to I was just messin' with him more than anything else. Any yup, Look+Fluff > Crunch in 30k.

almost any legion can be good in close combat in 30k......

Just makes the praetor and consuls abit point heavy but with all the legion specific rules and equipment out there just about any legion can make a good Close combat oriented or ranged list for that matter.

Look at ultramarines even---their special axes+ a powerfirst--makes a nasty CC consul that can be a threat to characters and vehicles both. Same with a praetor- paragon blade+ thunder hammer and digital lasers....

Just about every legion can do some type of nasty CC build on their characters in 30k usually just has to be equipment selection tailored to that legion.

Honestly, if you really have no preference via fluff or colors you hate painting, your best bet may be to state what units catch your eye. Then you could be guided to a general style of a legion. For example, if you really wanted to run infantry hordes then night lords, word bearers, and sons of horus have the biggest boosts to large numbers.

Sons of Horus were buffed in the latest update, with their unique terminators going from worthless to very good, and their legion rules got buffed a bit. They are fairly well rounded with an emphasis on tactical reserves and being close to the enemy.

Easiest legion for me has to go to Iron warriors. The Ironfire rite of war has been somewhat absurd in my experience. Basically spartans filled with terminators rolling toward the enemy with no-scatter artillery bubble wrapped in marine blobs. It has melee, it has shooting, and it has few friends

If you aren't doing Horus Heresy for fluff, hobby and story then you're doing it wrong.

Don't worry about power level. Choose whichever Legion you like the most.

 Brutus_Apex wrote:
If you aren't doing Horus Heresy for fluff, hobby and story then you're doing it wrong.

Don't worry about power level. Choose whichever Legion you like the most.

It's just hard to choose a legion for its fluff since they are all pretty damn awesome and I'm not a difficult person.

Indeed, many of them are awesome.

Personally I chose Sons of Horus because I play Black Legion in 40K and I like the idea of being an arch enemy.

I'm thinking about starting up a second legion after the Sons of Horus but I'm stuck between Emperor's Children, Blood Angels and Ultramarines. I wanted a loyalist army to face off against the traitors, but I love Noise Marines too damn much.

Play Alpha Legion....
Then you can play ALL the Legions that other People are Suggesting....

commander dante wrote:
Play Alpha Legion....
Then you can play ALL the Legions that other People are Suggesting....

poor AL, their 'take whatevs' schitck has been stolen by those damned shattered legions

Or you could take a blackshield force and come up with your own.

The nice thing there is that it's a bit more 'forgiving' if you're not sure what you want.

If find your initial choices don't suit your playstyle - the Forged By War that replaces the Legion-specific rule can be one of many, and you can experiment with anything from BS5 firing lines to T5 tanks to rage/fleet deranged bezerkers until you find a play-style that you actually click with.

 Brutus_Apex wrote:
If you aren't doing Horus Heresy for fluff, hobby and story then you're doing it wrong.

Don't worry about power level. Choose whichever Legion you like the most.

Thousand Sons have a best fluff but Sons of Horus have best colors IMO.

 Brennonjw wrote:

 Zaku212 wrote:

 Brennonjw wrote:

 gorgon wrote:
Fortunately, reality isn't like that, and DG aren't any scarier than any other legion.

Half true, the legions are all fairly well balanced, I just like to point out that DG are super strong, unlike whatever (not so) smelly legion you play

Yeah I would ignore the negative comments here, it's HH/30k. Pick a faction you like the look of and you can do no wrong really. Also ATSKNF is not a thing in 30k so morale may actually matter when playing marines.

not sure which person you were talking to I was just messin' with him more than anything else. Any yup, Look+Fluff > Crunch in 30k.

Nah mate, agreeing with you here 30k is for the fun of it!

I'd say Death Guard are the simplest one to pick up and the betrayal at calth box suits their massed infantry theme quite well, same with iron warriors really. Then just salt to taste with tanks/primarchs/dreads

 Spyro_Killer wrote:
I'd say Death Guard are the simplest one to pick up and the betrayal at calth box suits their massed infantry theme quite well, same with iron warriors really. Then just salt to taste with tanks/primarchs/dreads

Problem is that neither of those legions were all to find of Mk VI :( but you should be fine either way. As for DG I'd probably go for more infantry rather than tanks.

For my Iron warriors all my tactical marines are in mkiv but all the vets, characters, havocs, apothecaries and breachers are in MKII and MKIII.