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The Forgefiend. Particularly the Triple-Ectoplasma variety.

It is an armor-plated dinosaur. Except it has a gun for a face. And it has faces for hands. Which are also guns.

It is the thing I point to whenever anyone says or implies that 40K is a serious setting to be taken seriously with serious lore because it is a truly ridiculous thing you cannot look at without hearing metal riffs over the Godzilla screamy noise and just *smiling.*

I've been madly in love with the Vindicator tank ever since 3rd Edition. I currently run 3...

The gargantuan squiggoth. In the world of tanks and bio titans the orks overfeed and train livestock to ride into battle

The humble XV-9 hazard suit, fast, flexible and fantastically elegant. I always liked the idea of playing 9 in a list sadly it wasn't until I acquired more specialised means was I able to own a few, I would love to see plastic versions of such a nostalgic kit

Greater daemons in the 6th / 7th edition Codex. Not the codex itself, but specifically how the greater daemons worked with Minor, Major, and Exalted gifts.

Honestly probably the best version of pseudo-random rules I've seen.

Honourable mention: Firstborn Deathwatch kill teams. Maybe the single most flexible unit in the entire game in terms of equipment, and one of the very few firstborn marine units that feel right in terms of scale even now*.

*Your mileage may vary.

Aelyn wrote:


Honourable mention: Firstborn Deathwatch kill teams. Maybe the single most flexible unit in the entire game in terms of equipment, and one of the very few firstborn marine units that feel right in terms of scale even now*.

*Your mileage may vary.

Okay, going to agree with this. I loved when their frag cannons had a flamer profile. My Death Guard friend once tried a charge on my unit with 4frag cannons and it did not end up well for him. He got overwatch Ed to death before making close combat.

The Grav Attack.

While I doubt many will be familiar with it, The Grav-Attack was the first vehicle 'kit' to get rules in 40k, back in WD 95 (November 1987). Back in the early days we had to make do with whatever we could get our hands on to represent vehicles, since GW didn't make any, and the vehicle rules in the RT rulebook, despite being... interesting, allowed you to put anything you wanted on the table.

For a close second, i would say the baneblade, for much the same reasons. Sure, I know that there have been a variety of kits, from armorcast, to FW and now a plastic kit, but...
A scratch built baneblade using the guide in WD132 (December 1990) is a modelling project anyone can get their teeth into, and it looks pretty decent into the bargain

madtankbloke wrote:
The Grav Attack.

While I doubt many will be familiar with it, The Grav-Attack was the first vehicle 'kit' to get rules in 40k, back in WD 95 (November 1987). Back in the early days we had to make do with whatever we could get our hands on to represent vehicles, since GW didn't make any, and the vehicle rules in the RT rulebook, despite being... interesting, allowed you to put anything you wanted on the table.

For a close second, i would say the baneblade, for much the same reasons. Sure, I know that there have been a variety of kits, from armorcast, to FW and now a plastic kit, but...
A scratch built baneblade using the guide in WD132 (December 1990) is a modelling project anyone can get their teeth into, and it looks pretty decent into the bargain

I made two of those WD baneblades, first when I first got my hands on that white dwarf, must have been 12 then, second when I was 15 and I actually bought card that time not used cereal boxes. Loved them both, but love the plastic kit better.

Ta'unar Supremacy Armour, can't really argue with a big mech with an even bigger gun. Enough dakka to make an Ork green with jealousy (OK greener)

Imperator Titan

Mara'ghal dreadnought.

It is a walking warcrime against sanity, logic and reality itself.

Or an Ordo Sinister titan...the UN need to draft resolutions preventing their use.

madtankbloke wrote:
The Grav Attack.

While I doubt many will be familiar with it, The Grav-Attack was the first vehicle 'kit' to get rules in 40k, back in WD 95 (November 1987). Back in the early days we had to make do with whatever we could get our hands on to represent vehicles, since GW didn't make any, and the vehicle rules in the RT rulebook, despite being... interesting, allowed you to put anything you wanted on the table.

For a close second, i would say the baneblade, for much the same reasons. Sure, I know that there have been a variety of kits, from armorcast, to FW and now a plastic kit, but...
A scratch built baneblade using the guide in WD132 (December 1990) is a modelling project anyone can get their teeth into, and it looks pretty decent into the bargain

Do you mean this deodorant stick with a medicine spoon glued on to it? They were very different times. I remember trying to persuade my brother to give up his zoids to try and make vehicles out of like in this article.

Y'know I'm surprised they haven't made a version of that for 30k.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Y'know I'm surprised they haven't made a version of that for 30k.

They did!

They look nothing alike.

Skimmer, Grav Attack. No idea now the driver fits. Laser weapons. Curved hull.

I mean, it’s not identical like, but it’s clearly inspired

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Y'know I'm surprised they haven't made a version of that for 30k.

They did!

The deodorant stick skimmer was the 1st thing I thought of when I first saw this: https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Legion-Javelin-Attack-Speeder-with-Lascannon

ccs wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Y'know I'm surprised they haven't made a version of that for 30k.

They did!

The deodorant stick skimmer was the 1st thing I thought of when I first saw this: https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Legion-Javelin-Attack-Speeder-with-Lascannon

Yeah that's what came to mind for me as well.

[sulk]It’s not even called the Grav Attack unlike the Grav Attack and you can clearly see where the pilot sits unlike the Grav Attack[/sulk]

I am torn.

The rubric marine certainly high up in my list. 60 later and I still enjoy painting them. They look the part. Play how they should. And tell a quintessential 40k story in a single mini. All is dust.

The reaver titan holds a hugely special place in my heart for many reasons, and at all scales and editions it has been a joy to build and paint (less so to field).

Finally, I think the land raider. Its iconic, its always been quite useless, but the model is lovely, it's variants great and I don't consider any marine army complete without one.

Andykp wrote:

madtankbloke wrote:
The Grav Attack.

While I doubt many will be familiar with it, The Grav-Attack was the first vehicle 'kit' to get rules in 40k, back in WD 95 (November 1987). Back in the early days we had to make do with whatever we could get our hands on to represent vehicles, since GW didn't make any, and the vehicle rules in the RT rulebook, despite being... interesting, allowed you to put anything you wanted on the table.

For a close second, i would say the baneblade, for much the same reasons. Sure, I know that there have been a variety of kits, from armorcast, to FW and now a plastic kit, but...
A scratch built baneblade using the guide in WD132 (December 1990) is a modelling project anyone can get their teeth into, and it looks pretty decent into the bargain

Do you mean this deodorant stick with a medicine spoon glued on to it? They were very different times. I remember trying to persuade my brother to give up his zoids to try and make vehicles out of like in this article.

That's exactly the one. Its not a great looking thing, certainly, but what I like most about it is the permissiveness, GW doesn't make vehicle kits (in 1987), so get anything you can that looks like a shape of some kind, glue stuff to it and add a coat of paint, and put it in your army.
Its certainly a lot nicer from a hobbyist perspective than 'you can only use official kits, and you can only convert them with official kits' since it gives you an enormous quantity of options to pick from

Zhadsnark da Rippa, Evil Suns warboss on warbike from Forgeworld's greatest book, "Raid on Kastrel Novem" He could "Tank Shock" when he turboboosted in the shooting phase, and his power klaw struck at his normal initiative 3 instead of 1 like everyone else with a similar weapon (Power Fist, Thunder Hammer, etc..) I will always remember the games I had with him because of the lunacy that unfolded from it. He died every time, but he will never be forgotten.

Conscripts.

Untrained. Barely equipped. Might be fed that day. Shoved to the frontlines to sacrifice for the Emperor. More scared of their commisar than any beast of chaos.

 Insectum7 wrote:

ccs wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Y'know I'm surprised they haven't made a version of that for 30k.

They did!

The deodorant stick skimmer was the 1st thing I thought of when I first saw this: https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Legion-Javelin-Attack-Speeder-with-Lascannon

Yeah that's what came to mind for me as well.

The Horus Heresy CCG and the subsequent Collected Visions books of all the artwork (where the modern images of all the primarchs and the emperor come from) actually has the grav attack tank as a card. It was a tank used by the legions. Anyone that has the card/book that can scan it can show you.



Back in 2nd ed I absolutely loved the idea of the electoo priests. I also really liked the arbites and stealer cult units. Basically anything in the black codex that never ended up getting a unit...

For ages my two favorite units in 40k were the striking scorpions and the dark reapers. The aspects have so much more character than most units, and these two were the edgiest.


I love the salamanders 1st company and Tushan, so much that I converted Tushan several times...

Bloodthirster.

I'll never forget the Carnage battle report in WD back in the early 00's. Took out half an army and even then it was a shadow of it's former power.

Semper wrote:
Bloodthirster.

I'll never forget the Carnage battle report in WD back in the early 00's. Took out half an army and even then it was a shadow of it's former power.

It is quite sad that I haven't even seen a Bloodthirster in ages.

Lifta-Droppa Wagons back in 6th ed.

That thing could yeet Monoliths 2D6" and glance it D6 times. I once got a 5 wrecking one instantly and yeeted it somwhere in the middle of the board.

Funnest rule ever!

3rd edition Dark Eldar Mandrakes.

Their unique hidden deployment rules were unlike anything that has been or is in 40k. For those who aren't old enough to remember, here is a brief overview. 3 models from the unit are deployed as tokens. They are not a unit and are ignored by units and ignore terrain. They move 6" in the movement phase, at the start of the controlling players turn they can reveal one of the models to be the unit. Place all the Mandrakes from the unit next to the chosen model, they then act normally.

The unit were absolutely pants when they turned up, could barely fight their way out of a wet paper bag. However they were fun to use, and that is what really counts.

1st Edition Ork Warboss and Retinue

It's one unit but had a lot of variety and character - you got the warboss, but also his 'close relatives, mates and drinking cronies' in the form of nobz and oddboyz. Also 'as many non-combatant attendants as the player wishes'.

I'll be fielding one at a 9th ed tournament soon, and it's split into 6 different units now. It's blood axes so the human advisor will count as an ammo grot, just so I can have the model on the table. Got lotsa snots to scatter round as markers for range etc.




For extra cool points, the Outcast Retinue from Freebooterz is ace as well but was basically the same thing.

Many great ork units like lifta-droppa and SAG were already named. Orks really need some of their whakky back.

Ol' Zogwort and his squiggly curse will always have a spot in my heart. Turning Marbo into a squig which then ate his face was one of the most memorable moments of 40k to me.

For non-official units, there once was a guy who actually converted an angry marine army and played them with the fandex. His angry marine launcher (a whirlwind whose shots deep struck single marines with dual powerfists instead of rokkits) was one of the most awesome things I've ever faced.