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Hi there! A friend of mine is making a good go of talking me into picking up 30k and I am sorely tempted. A bit of a background on myself as a player, I've been playing 40k for a couple of years now, but have no experience with Astartes (Guard to the end!).

I am strongly considering an Alpha Legion force and am looking for advice on thematic units. Think of this less as list building and more figuring out which units fit the bill, and which out-and-out don't.

I would think that larger, slow units are not very thematic, both with vehicles and things like dreadnoughts, but I suppose things based on land raider/rhino chassis would be okay? Infantry too I am unsure of, as 30k ses to lack overt stealthy marines but I could be wrong.

Thanks in advance for any advice, it's much appreciated.

A key point of the legions is that everyone used everything, just to various degrees. Ergo it’s not unfluffy to see a death guard assault squad, world eaters snipers, dark angels heavy support squad, or space wolves parking lot.

This does change somewhat on the traitor side as the war progressed due to running out of stuff (ergo iron warriors didn’t have a whole lot of jump infantry, so they likely started to run out) and the various downfalls came to the fore (world eaters going flying rodent gak insane and just vat growing clones to throw into the meat grinder). But that still doesn’t make stuff unfluffy.

Alpha Legion in particular were one of the ‘use whatever will win’ forces in particular. So while they had a propensity for assassination and sowing confusion to weaken foes, they ALSO specialized in applying overwhelming force (by whatever means) to decapitate their foe. Ergo scout out what the enemies weaknesses are, take out links in the command chain, and then lure said foe into a trap where they’re faced with whatever style of war they’ll struggle to handle.

In that sense anything is highly thematic for alpha legion. Tge most distinct calling cards are going to be a few dedicated units to out maneuver the foe and execute their command elects. Ergo a couple of units of seekers or head hunters and a vigilator / exodus. There’s also an argument for AL to favor having a death star style unit, given their propensity for concentrated overwhelming force.

Firstly, welcome.

Now onto the meat and potatoes.
There is no right or wrong way to play a Legion. Some Legion rules will benefit units more than others but generally speaking, there are very few that don't have flat bonuses to most units in the Legion list.

The Alpha Legion trait means that every unit that is targeted by Shooting, Charges or a Reaction is counted as 2 inches further away than it is. Not game-breaking but it can throw a spanner in the works from time to time.

The XXth special units are pretty neat IMO and my friend who plays AL uses Laernaen Terminators and Effrit Stealth Squads in their list regularly. The former is found in Liber Hereticus while the latter is found in the Exemplary Battles series on Warhammer Community.
It is important to note that the term "Expanded Units" is nothing more than the rules writers' way of saying something isn't in an army book, so don't be scared to use Effrit Squads because they are very good.

The best advice I can give is to pick a theme you want to base your starting army around and work from there.
If you want the stealthy aspect of the Legion then converting up some Effrit and Headhunter units would be a good start, along with a Saboteur, the XXth's unique Consul.
Tactical Marines are always an excellent choice and Scout Squads can give you a lot of cheap Nemesis Bolters (basically Snipers).

One of the major draws to the XXth is the Rewards of Treachery rule.
This allows the XXth player to select another Legion's unique unit and take it as part of the army. For example, a Terminator heavy force might want to include a unit of Firedrakes or Tyrant Siege Terminators, while a rapid strike force might include some Golden Keshing or Dawnbringers.
It's a neat little rule that also brings some fun modeling opportunities or gives you a narrative reason to buy a unit you really like the look of but don't want to start an army to get.

Thanks for the detailed replies!

I hadn't thought of the Alpha Legion in terms put forward, both in how they fit into the general context of the legions and how they operate themselves, and it makes a lot of sense. I'll have a good hard think over what has been said and will definitely look up mentioned units

There is one favoured of the alpha legion, called Harrowing.

Think of it as a kind of infiltration combined arms strike aiming to decapitate the enemies HQ.

I feel the Alpha Legion were very infantry heavy and walker heavy. They rely on recon squads, devastators, and contemptors. Throw in some tactical squads and you should have the core of an Alpha Legion fighting force. With the new mk3 models, they would make some great vets or seekers/head hunters. Add some terminators for flavor, and you'll hit 3,000points pretty quick. The Age of Darkness box is an AMAZING starting point! The new mk3 box looks to be another great option as well! Also gets you a Spartan and Land Raider which are both great ways to get your troops up the battle field!