What is your favorite Warhammer 40.000 army?

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**Snake Tortoise**

Gadzilla666 wrote:
It's always been Night Lords for me since day one. I love how they were renegades before the Heresy even started, just for being the monsters that the Corpse God made them to be, no chaos influence needed, thank you very much. I also love how they continue to shun the Chaos Gods, and view those who worship them as weaklings and fools, and how they have problems with authority, because they're just a bunch of psychotic former hive gangers, even to the point of telling Abaddon to go pound sand when he calls them to join his Black Crusades when it doesn't benefit them. Love their whole Vlad Tepes in space vibe too. They've always been the odd man out of The Legions, and that's how I like it.

I do love the Night Lords. Just like he did with the Word Bearers and World Eaters, ADB'S Night Lords trilogy really opened my eyes. Sometimes the GW fluff alone doesn't cut it when a faction is nuanced

**Insectum7**

Traditionally I would have said Space Marines but now they share the codex with Primaris, and that lowers my appreciation for the army considerably. I'm goin with Tyranids.

Edit:
Nice to see the love for Orks!

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Jidmah wrote:
Super Ready wrote:
Interesting stuff - if we group up the various Eldar factions, they take a total 13% of the vote, so closer to the Marines conglomerate than at first glance. You could easily make an argument for Drukhari being as different from Craftworlds as Grey Knights are from other Chapters - but the numbers are still much closer even with that accounted for.
Meanwhile, grouping the Traitor Legions together actually puts them on top with 17%...!

This just makes me wish the various loyalist Chapters had been split out - we'd still be able to see the total number, while getting a picture of popularity within the group.

Well, since I doubt we see much movement in the numbers any more, I can spill my motivation behind the poll without worrying about influencing it.

Multiple people have claimed in other threads that marines are getting so much attention because they are by far the most popular faction and therefore GW rightfully showers them in releases to make the most money. Therefore they way I created this poll was primary driven by how GW releases things currently - a new primaris kit is very likely to be available to all the loyal marine armies except grey knights, while a CSM release is not going to made available to DG or TS and no matter how many craftworld eldar kits are done, it won't help drukhari at all. Very few releases since 8th should be available to more than one entry on the poll.
So, while grouping them thematically makes sense, when looking at who got which releases, it does not. It's also likely that most supplements would only have gotten 2-3 votes which would have made calculating the numbers a pain in the rear armor.

The poll results draw a very different picture of what people are claiming, and frankly I would have expected much more marine votes - at the time of writing we have 88% of the voters saying that they would prefer to spend their time and money on a release that is not a box of primaris marines.
Even assuming that dakka is not representative of the entire gaming community, over 250 votes is still a lot and it's not like that community with less grumpy veterans, orks and grumpy ork veterans will get a completely different result since the numbers clearly seem to correlate with the variety and options available of those armies. The more exotic and focused an army, the less votes it has, while armies with many play styles and wide model ranges have the most votes. The three tiers I described in an earlier post have remained intact despite the number of votes having essentially doubled.

Something that this poll doesn't account for is the actual *sales* of kits and units though, which is not tied directly to *favorites*.

Like, I know a lot of people with multiple armies, and many of them have a sizeable Space Marine army even though it might not be their primary army. Another thing I see is people with *multiple* marine armies. A Dark Angel army and a Space Wolf army, for example. (as well as a TS heretic army). So just picking a favorite army isn't the whole story.

**Jidmah**

Yes, and apparently every other player has a secondary or tertiary ork or CSM army.

The poll was asking for the army you would spend the most time and money on. For the overwhelming majority this is not marines, so those people would rather spend their money on the army that voted for instead of marines.

Obviously it's not the whole story, but if marines actually are outselling all other armies combined (is there an actual source on this?), it's clearly not because they are the most loved faction.
Which in turn means that their sales might very well spread to other ranges if they put an equivalent amount of effort into them and that there is no need to flood half their release schedule with loyalist marines.

**Insectum7**

I recall an interview where someone high up at GW said they were basically continuously shocked at how many tactical boxes sold.

**Super Ready**

I remember that interview, too. I'm also a bit more inclined to put stock into GW's own sales analysis than a one-time poll on a forum.

I think it's still fair to say despite these results that Marines are still more popular on the table than anyone else - just look at all the stories we get of Marines vs Marines to the point that people get bored of that match-up.

It's also got to be said that the nature of having second and third armies doesn't really mean much, when the same is true in reverse - there are players out there who might main Nids or Necrons, that also have a Marine force too.
Then you have people like me, who have multiple armies but a pretty much even split of Marines against non-Marines...! (Blood Angels, Space Wolves and Imperial Fists, against Black Legion, Daemonsoup and Iyanden.)

**Jidmah**

Super Ready wrote:
I remember that interview, too. I'm also a bit more inclined to put stock into GW's own sales analysis than a one-time poll on a forum.

You are referring to the one where they didn't know people wanted plastic sisters?

I think it's still fair to say despite these results that Marines are still more popular on the table than anyone else - just look at all the stories we get of Marines vs Marines to the point that people get bored of that match-up.

But isn't that a bad sign when people abandon their favorite army to play another one?

I know that when I started DG, it was because during index times orks were a total clusterfeth which had no chance of doing anything unless you played them in the most boring way possible.

**NinthMusketeer**

Can we get the first entry of the poll shortened so the poll itself is actually legible? I can't tell which bar links to which army!

**ccs**

Jidmah wrote:
Super Ready wrote:
I remember that interview, too. I'm also a bit more inclined to put stock into GW's own sales analysis than a one-time poll on a forum.

You are referring to the one where they didn't know people wanted plastic sisters?

I think it's still fair to say despite these results that Marines are still more popular on the table than anyone else - just look at all the stories we get of Marines vs Marines to the point that people get bored of that match-up.

But isn't that a bad sign when people abandon their favorite army to play another one?

Just because {Guard} are my favorite army doesn't mean that they're the only army I enjoy playing.
Just because I'm not playing them currently doesn't mean I've abandoned them.

**Egyptian Space Zombie**

Knights because they offered the best painting/building experience.

**Nibbler**

CWE were my first models, when I started 17 years ago.
Even if I haven't played a single game with them in 8th and 9th ed, I just can't feel anything else than pure amazement about them.
Love the lore, love the models and used to love their playstyle...
Maybe I need to get an army list done and get them some tabletime...

**Not Online!!!**

Jidmah wrote:
Super Ready wrote:
I remember that interview, too. I'm also a bit more inclined to put stock into GW's own sales analysis than a one-time poll on a forum.

You are referring to the one where they didn't know people wanted plastic sisters?

I think it's still fair to say despite these results that Marines are still more popular on the table than anyone else - just look at all the stories we get of Marines vs Marines to the point that people get bored of that match-up.

But isn't that a bad sign when people abandon their favorite army to play another one?

I know that when I started DG, it was because during index times orks were a total clusterfeth which had no chance of doing anything unless you played them in the most boring way possible.

See, there's the issue with what GW misses:
There are factions out there, armies even, that preciscly suffer thorugh either terrible rules /rulesrepresentation, and or with releases.
Both lead, over time to players either A: Ditching the hobby or B: Switching to a secondary or tertiary army.

Contrast this with someone that has built his favourite army but wants to mix stuff up. The motivation is diffrent, the effect is diffrent, because the later is much more likely to still play his fav faction, whilest the former would love to play his fav faction but get's constantly pushed away.

I think a lot of players fall, especially if they started with Xenos, in the first category. Which i think is a generally unhealthy category because it leads to conglomeration of factions which then leads to GW 's statistics stating that the other factions don't really sell, ergo more for the popular factions and less investment of ressources in the one that didn't get them in the first place or has problems. --> this get's worse over time, unless GW get's bonked over the head with a custommer survey.

**Super Ready**

Jidmah wrote:
But isn't that a bad sign when people abandon their favorite army to play another one?
I know that when I started DG, it was because during index times orks were a total clusterfeth which had no chance of doing anything unless you played them in the most boring way possible.

Oh, absolutely, and fair point on the Sisters too. I'm not saying that going by sales figures is the right way to do things, far from it. I'm just suggesting that a single forum poll to a limited audience isn't going to give anyone valid cause to change their pre-existing opinion.
I do agree that the Marine ridiculousness is a vicious circle, a self-fulfilling prophecy, or whatever you want to call it. I'm a firm believer that if GW gave other factions the attention Marines have had, they'd jump up in popularity.

**harlokin**

Super Ready wrote:
Jidmah wrote:
But isn't that a bad sign when people abandon their favorite army to play another one?
I know that when I started DG, it was because during index times orks were a total clusterfeth which had no chance of doing anything unless you played them in the most boring way possible.

Oh, absolutely, and fair point on the Sisters too. I'm not saying that going by sales figures is the right way to do things, far from it. I'm just suggesting that a single forum poll to a limited audience isn't going to give anyone valid cause to change their pre-existing opinion.
I do agree that the Marine ridiculousness is a vicious circle, a self-fulfilling prophecy, or whatever you want to call it. I'm a firm believer that if GW gave other factions the attention Marines have had, they'd jump up in popularity.

Unfortunately, the path to other factions getting that attention isn't straightforward. What GW did with the Primaris is create a whole new model line for their most popular faction; Marines were a safe bet and by making new units rather than resulpting existing ones it meant that players couln't just stick to their old modes.

I'm not sure how easy this would will work with other factions.

**BrianDavion**

another thing is it's not JUST model releases etc that make marines popular.

it's novels (Marines and guard are, for obvious reasons the two most written about factions and Marines tend to come off as more heroic, Guardsman novels are just as often as not depressing) video games, etc.

Marines are larger then life action heros whom are fighting for humanity they have distinctive and easy to portray equipment etc.

in short Marines are one of the easier factions to market.

**Luunar**

GW give me some Ynnari love :"(

**BrianDavion**

Luunar wrote:
GW give me some Ynnari love :"(

what they need to do is eistablish the Ynnari as their own army with their own codex, take a mix of various Eldar and D-eldar units, a mix of their own things, add some differant rules (make howling banshees for Ynnari differant as implied when they released the plastic ones) and really flesh Ynnari out as something differant. it'd be a biiig under taking. although they could proably combine new plastic CWE stuff with it a bit as well.

**Luunar**

BrianDavion wrote:
Luunar wrote:
GW give me some Ynnari love :"(

what they need to do is eistablish the Ynnari as their own army with their own codex, take a mix of various Eldar and D-eldar units, a mix of their own things, add some differant rules (make howling banshees for Ynnari differant as implied when they released the plastic ones) and really flesh Ynnari out as something differant. it'd be a biiig under taking. although they could proably combine new plastic CWE stuff with it a bit as well.

I honestly don't mind it as it is as I'm still kinda new to it, but what I would love is just a couple Ynnari specific units to make them feel more fleshed-out. But still, I'm building and painting up an army mostly because I just love the lore behind it and their style : D

**oldravenman3025**

The Imperial Guard, hands-down. Balls of Steel versus the Galaxy.

**H.B.M.C.**

Ultramarines were the first army I have. Guard satisfy my love of all things tanks. My Chaos Marine army is the one I've had the most fun crafting a background and characters for.

But my heart (and consciousness, I suppose) belong to the Hive Mind. The Greater Devourer gets my vote. I started Tyranids at the same time as my Ultras so they had someone to fight against. I love my 'Nids. Just wish they had better rules.

Jidmah wrote:
Yes, and apparently every other player has a secondary or tertiary ork or CSM army.

I certainly do, although I wouldn't call my CSM army "tertiary". It's one of my biggest armies.