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What makes a given faction compelling to me is its customizability.

 Adeptekon wrote:
What makes a given faction compelling to me is its customizability.

Yeah, that's a big chunk of it to me. Hopefully 10th does better in this area.

I am kind of tempted to maybe consider an Imperial Guard army now.

There’s something indelibly awesome about fielding an army comprised of Just Humans, with in-setting low tech solutions to bloody horrific problems.

In terms of customisation? All I ask it that the Imperial Guard Codex caters to all the various takes. Well not all, that would be silly and unrealistic. But for those wanting wave after wave after wave of bloody minded, soon bloody chunks Infantry, right up to overwhelming armoured spearheads be catered to.

In terms of inspiration, I’d want to wield it as Ciaphas Cain might. Accepting of the bloody calculus of war in the Imperial Guard, but not sending anyone, especially not oneself, on a suicide mission if there’s literally any other alternative.

Would be fun to come up with an alternate empire of mankind.

I take back what I said about yellow and green orcs, after seeing this I've reconsidered:

-Guardsman- wrote:
In general, I like factions whose members have a degree of free will and individuality. They're especially refreshing in a setting where most factions try to enforce conformity and blind obedience.

What I find interesting about the Drukhari is that they're an entire race of bored rich people who expend vast resources just to stave off their existential ennui or satisfy their weird obsessions or hyperfixations. They have the kind of technology that the Imperium would kill for, yet they use it for utterly frivolous reasons. Their arrogance and hubris are so staggering as to be hilarious.

They steal suns. They create alternate dimensions. When they die, they can get resurrected. And despite all this potential, they are content with remaining on the sidelines while everyone else fights for dominance. Why try to rule the galaxy when it's so much easier to just feed off its scraps like vultures?

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Ive always found it hard to pin down what i love about dark elves/eldar but this is a very good post. As Pratchett said Elves are baaaaaad.

I'm a Thousand Sons fan for the following reasons:

- Their humour is melancholic.
- They're the Tzeentch legion. Tzeentch, as "The Changer of the Ways," has always interested me most of all the Chaos Gods. A God devoted to change, rather than War, pleasure, or disease, has always struck me as a fascinating and original idea. If there is a historical precedent for a God of Change - not a god who changes things, as they all do, but a god dedicated to change itself - someone needs to enlighten me, because I'm unaware of it. The idea seems to speaks to the unresolved tensions of modernism and capitalism, and these days, to climate change as well.
- The Egyptian aesthetic isn't exactly original in sci-fi - even in 40K, the Sons share it with the Necrons - but damn, does it look cool.
- They're scholars, founders of libraries, conservators of artifacts, and lovers of knowledge.
- The Emperor held Magnus in such esteem that in some regards he originally intended for Magnus to succeed him. Their relationship is in ruins, but in some ways Magnus was the closest of all the sons to his father.
- They consort with the more horrific side of 40K, i.e. Warp Entities / Daemons, and I like supernatural horror. Unlike the Word Bearers (who under Lorgar seem to strive to work or fuse with Daemons as partners / equals,) the Sons never completely trust or submit to the creatures of the warp, contesting the Daemon's power and willpower in their drive to control them. Summonings become subtle, Faustian games of chess, with the Daemons vying to entrap and betray, and the Sons trying to force the Daemons to do what they are told without paying a significant cost. The Sons frequently lose these battles, as Magnus most famously did with Tzeentch, thinking himself the one in control while being hopelessly out of his depth all along. But with all their failures, they keep trying. At least some of them, anyway, like Ahriman.
- They're tragic underdogs. Betrayed by their own hubris, but also by Horus, and arguably by Russ, who heard what he wanted to hear and unleashed his temper on Prospero without thinking twice. Doomed to mutation, then doomed to be armor animated by spirits, and how I'm not sure what their status is anymore to be honest. I hope they're not empty suits of armor anymore, because that always felt lazy to me. Mutations were more interesting, and having most of the Sons become Rubric Marines also robbed the majority of them of their individuality. The Sons should have many fascinating characters, not just Ahriman and Magnus.
- McNeill and Abnett gave the Thousand Sons some particularly good books and lore in the Horus Heresy series.
- Magnus actually cares deeply for his sons, but because we're talking about the Thousand Sons, even that good trait just makes Magnus all the more damned.

Over the years the main appeal for me has shifted. Initially it wad the Lore first and foremost, of they played bad on the table, just stuck it up, if the models weren't the best, just convert to make them look better.

Then over the decades it has progressed to game play, and now finally sits in are the models nice?

I like most of the Primaris range, not a fan of their tanks, or the tactical cool stuff... so those don't sit in my collection. I like the flamer Aggressor suits over the bolt storm and missile load out (even if they have always been the weaker option), so they are in my collection.

It does mean that I am going to be at a big disadvantage, but winning isn't the main thing for me any more. L