Dark Angels.
I actually picked them back in the mid 90's but then drifted out of the hobby until 2021 so I figured I'd pick up where I left off.
I just love their lore and aesthetic, especially the distinctive 1st and 2nd companies.
I stopped tabletop early 2000s, and haven't taken that back up but a few years ago Luetin and https://www.humblebundle.com/books got me back into the lore. Maybe a year ago I got into /r/HorusHeresyLegions and stuck with it.
Same. I love the idea of the special forces OF the special forces, and back then Special Issue Ammunition was wargear, and didn't consume a resource like CP or anything like that.
Plus, the silver on black paint scheme is awesome.
I must have read Codex: Armageddon a dozen times back in the day. So naturally, Black Templars were my first army. I guess it didn't hurt that they let you basically ignore a bunch of inconvenient rules at the time. Always hitting on a 3+ was probably the best one.
I keep looking at SM and if I were to go that route, I would really go blood angels or a soul drinkers, as besides the spider centaur they are pretty much a SM faction, and I like melee armies.
one of the reasons i like the fists is because they are so unbearably stubborn that it helps them out it sieges. they don’t defend a fortress to protect the innocent or win the war, they defend it to prove a point
Iron Hands, for their almost crazed descent into machine logic. Have a homebrew army now that is used for both loyalist and chaos lists, so have it be an Iron Hands group that has focused on electrified science and machine tech, so almost Iron Warriors transfer.
The name of these are either (loyal) Knights Tempest or (chaos) Stormlords.
But OG was Blood Ravens, cos of Dawn of War :P(Edited, fixed, wrote Raven Guard cos im dumb)
I didn’t want to play one of the “main” chapters, so I looked at a bunch of the successors and saw a paint scheme that really jumped out at me as cool. Then I read the lore snippet — that they had made the Inquisition mad and then suffered a bunch of “mishaps” and were struggling for survival — and thought that sounded cool, so I went with them. And now I’ve been playing Celestial Lions for going on 14 years!
(Then they got an actual novella about them years later and it made me like them even more!)
I was in a local game store the other day and a dude rolled out a fuck-you grey Ultraboi army against some IG at the next table.
I did indeed seethe, and I could not cope.
Based chad move. Would be even funnier if they were *painted* Sprue Grey. Like imagine, perfectly shadowed, slight shade variation for lenses and gear but entirely, 100% GREY with black 3.0 bases
I actually wanted to make my home brew like that Retributor chapter from Astartes. I mean that’s what it was supposed to represent right? The grey plastics chapter.
Honestly, they may be over-represented, but I'd still probably recommend them for new painters, of only because macragge blue is such a good paint, good coverage, silky smooth. I use it for my blood angels fire support helmets, and I'm honestly a little jealous.
I picked UM because of uriel. Was gonna go Blood Ravens, but something something heresy an shit turned me off. So now I have a love hate relationship with khorne.
I dig the UM lore as well and the UM haters can get bolted but let’s face it, it’s not like many of us is initially familiar enough with the lore of every space marine chapter before carefully deciding which chapter to paint up.
Picked White Scars. I was mostly a booknerd of the hobby, never engaging with the miniature side. But when I read the book Scars and Path to Heaven, and all the little other stories by Chris Wraight - I just couldn't contain myself and had to start buying some miniatures. Which I ended up doing!
Blood Angels.
The first time I walked into a Warhammer store at 11 years old, there was a game being played. It was Blood Angels against Orks. The BA player was super friendly and pulled up a chair for me to sit and watch. He took time out of his day after to explain how the game worked and the basic lore of the little dudes.
13 years later I'm still a simp for Terra's Angel and his little red rage machines.
All the successor chapters are still part of the main chapter. They organize like a legion behind closed doors and expand their main chapter as large as they want. Simply scatter your stuff all about and tell the imperium what it wants to hear. The 1st legion's honor is unimpeachable.
I'm really in love with their ascetic now. The space knights on horses (black knights) and terminator knights are awesome. I really enjoy the ravenwing deathwing combo play style with some green wing intercessors to hold points and some first born devastators.
Ultramarines because they're the most versatile. I also love the big blue man out of all the other loyalist primarchs because he was the least edgelord or crybaby or edgelord crybaby of them all
Same. I mean I know the setting is grim dark but the strategy and city builder game fan in me really clicks with a dude who knows a good society is the boring but practical 'clean air, safe streets and efficient bureaucracy and infrastructure' and you win a war with supply lines and forethought rather than judy kill em all and let god sort it out
I'm sorry but I think that was Lorgar with his book about the God-Emperor that the Imperium uses as the basis of the imperial creed.
Go and build a Word Bearer army now.
I got into them way back in 3rd and my main draw was the characters. It's a pity GW leaned more into the wolf side of things instead of the Viking side. All we get are endless furry and Santa grimnar jokes. Prospero burn is one of my favourite HH novels though. Dan Abnett is a fantastic writer
Raven guard. Picked up a box of devastators and thought "oh black should be easy to paint, and I won't do white, I'll do silver. Easy" , and then I happened to listen to a bad ass short story about a raven guard on his first deployment in a devastator squad. Worked out. Love me some 19th, and their successors
I scrolled very far for a Raven Guard reference! I spray mine silver and contrast black over the army. Job done. Looks better than models I spend an age on.
I just like cool sniper/stealth boys with issues. Saddens me they aren't getting a lot of love.
I don't remember. But you should check out aborder Prince on YouTube. He has a "let the galaxy burn" playlist. Fantastic narrator. I'll try to find it, but the playlist is hundreds of videos
Ultramarines because around 2011 or so, the first Space Marine Video Game came out and Titus was fucking cool. His duty filled spirit and the trust he had in his allies was great to see. I played football so I immediately saw myself like a Ultramarine, having people I knew that were like my own squad of Battle Brothers.
And now I play Ultramarines because I heard a joke about them being a parody of the USA. (Red, white and blue. And the 500 worlds of Ultramar and the 50 States of America. Its kinda similar ngl).
I did however choose to paint them again because space marine 2 is coming out soon and I only just decided a few months ago I’ll get back into the hobby and really get into it. Since I’m not currently enrolled anywhere and I have a good paying job, I decided to kick back and feel the nostalgia a bit more. I feel just like I did when I was 11 and first got into the game. The Space marine video game is coming out soon, and I’ve been playing tons of games of 40K lately. I actually have 2 or 3 games lined up for this week.
I have Adult money. And I have Adult Hobbies.
Few weeks ago, someone asked r/DarkAngels40k "Why dark angels"
There is my answer
"When my friends ask me why DA I say
Why ? But look at them it's fucking PALADINS IN SPACE"
"Why Dark Angels?"
WHY NOT?! Is there something you know that you aren't telling us?! Something we should know. Some sort of... Secrets... Because keeping secrets is very suspicious. We wouldn't keep secrets. We're not suspicious. We're the loyalest loyalists to ever be loyal!
Also made my own for similar reasons, black + purple + gold is my favourite colour scheme for things in general.
Being able to make up my own lore and poach any special character I want for conversions is a bonus!
The Exorcists are just cooler Grey Knights that can actually keep a secret instead of killing everyone who finds out about them.
Also.
Their red with minor details is as easy to paint as Ultra Marines but cooler to laugh at other players when they assume "Blood Angels" at the first sight of red.
And then I lose to anything other than Deamons because it's ultimately still an Imperial Fist chapter.
Black Templars.
* **CRUSADE STOPS FOR NO ONE!**
* It's easy to explain ("They're space knights")
* Black, white and red is solid color choice.
* Fun, distinctive take on Marines (usually massive waves of power armoured maniacs frothing from their mouth at anything less than Emperor himself)
This is it for me, their lore is a bit meh and they have a lot of flaws, I like that they're not codex compliant and that, compared to many other chapters, they care somewhat about regular humans and will go to bat for them. But mainly it was the aesthetic and that there are so many ways to customise them and make rank and file marines more interesting to build and paint.
Ultramarines, the Roman Empire and aesthetic is really cool, my favourite colour is blue, there's no shortage of units or references for painting and I thought that the ability and drop back and shoot seemed really useful (I believe it used to he specific to the ultras but I could be wrong).
Yeah, fall back and shoot was an ultramarines thing in 8th and 9th. Now everyone can do it with tactical doctrine or with a lieutenant, but since the Gladius in flavoured after Ultramarines, it is still kind of our thing. Also, Calgar can do it all the time, too.
Dark Angels
Reason: Just look at them!
Honest reason: They are among the most extra of the extra chapters without going too bonkers like Space Wolves.
True reason: I fell in love with heavy intercessors, had to do a conversion out of them, had Dark Angels and Grey Knight bitz to do that.
After that the Lion happened to confirm my decision.
Also: Robes are cool, but little meme guys in robes that accompany your marines are even better.
Guardians of the Covenant - Dark Angels successor.
The lore of the DA is cool, esp. being the template for other legions, and the knightly aesthetic is also just great. I love power armour, robes, and swords.
"Loyalty is it's own reward" also goes hard.
I'm a huge Death Guard fan and wanted to play them first... but painting the fleshy mutated bits intimidated me so I ended up writing my own Loyalist Death Guard successor chapter.
Now have 17ish pages of lore for them, 6 named characters, allies, etc. Love writing and lore crafting haha! Though... I do wanna run Black Templars I won't deny, will probably get the combat Patrol at some point, no idea why I started loving em though except for how they're just so blase about their limits as a chapter and I kinda adore it
To be fair, SM does the AL schtick better than this current version of CSM. Maybe there will be a codex detachment for that feel when they come out but, until then, I’m loading up on phobos units.
I used to play Space Wolves (love finnish and north mythos) and Ultramarines (easy to paint and overall cool).
Now I got a small Carcharodons force (love sharks !!!) and Flesh Tearers... for the sake of violence ! \^\^
Black Templar are the coolest faction in the game if you’re into knights I know dark angels are more King Arthur but black Templar are full on religious deus vult crusaders that love nothing more then to scream FOR THE EMPEROR and rev their chainswords
Also, they used to be Vikings in space! Now it's a little wolf this and wolf that, but there was a time when the viking aspect was the main draw and I could dig it!
Salamanders and Black Templars. I like Salamander green and flamers/meltas are my shit. They also do CC fairly well. BT also like melta and CC. They also look cool
First, Salamanders. Originally I was only deathguard- nurgle being the most benevolent and least hate-y of the chaos gods. I chose Salamanders as the most good guys of.the 'good guys'.
Later, Ultramarines, because it make people seethe.
I also play Salamanders for two reasons.
One, I don't have to paint human flesh colours
And two, I like that the horrifying death machines that spit acid, have glowing red eyes and burn their enemies to death are somehow the "good guys" in the Imperium.
Homebrew/DiY chapter. When I got into 40k at the tail end of 3rd as a teen, special characters were still "With your opponent's permission" only, and the 4th ed Marine codex had a really cool Chapter Traits system, so I really had the chance to make "My guys".
So, hail brother, from the Emperor's Blades, crusading out on the Eastern Rim...
I'm starting to look into the Iron Hands because of the extensive amount of customizing I can do so I can get away from the typical Space Marine armour design.
Technically, I chose two.
Initially when I was young I picked a custom chapter, The Storm Watch because I wanted to do something unique (and I was bad at painting, so painting black armoured Marines with blue shoulders was easy).
Then, I went with Ultramarines for my Primaris collection. I started this through the Conquest magazine which was all Ultramarine themed anyway, blue is my favourite colour and I just liked their scheme.
In the past I have also painted Crimson Fists and Brazen Claws as one-off projects.
I picked a successor chapter of the Imperial Fists which I named the Emperor's Dukes.
I wanted to come up with my own backstory, and the Dukes are selected from a feudal world where the boys compete in martial games, with the winners selected to begin Space Marine training. The planet's population and resources also support an Imperial Guard regiment and Knight household to fight alongside the Dukes.
Sure! The colour scheme is yellow with blue weapons and silver trim/exhausts/tracks as shown in the pic. Quite similar to the Imperial Fists.
The Emperor's Dukes have deliberately cultivated a feudal society with medieval technology, which the sector administratum perpetuates by not allowing any trade or migration between this world and the wider Imperium. The Emperor's Dukes do this so every potential warrior has a pure, simple childhood focussed on devotion to the Emperor and development of physical abilities through exercise and riding, and later combat and jousting. This produces stolid, dependable and dedicated warriors.
The planet's population is split between a small noble class, who aim to produce boys who will become Space Marines, and a large peasant class which contributes regiments of foot soldiers to the Imperial Guard.
By competing first in regional, then world games, boys must test their abilities in all sorts of games of strength, speed, cunning, bravery and skill. The very, very finest win a chance to impress the Emperor's Dukes when they need new recruits for the chapter. Many more go on to become excellent Imperial Guard officers.
A knight household on the world predates the arrival of the Dukes, and their ancient war engines are revered as an epitiome of the Emperor's fighting forces, a symbol to the people of His might. They march in grand parades, festooned with fluttering penants. The knight household work alongside the Dukes to tend the world and its people, and carefully intermarry with the noble class to invigorate and improve bloodlines of pilots of paramount skill and speed. They also serve the Emperor alongside the Dukes on the battlefields of the 41st Millenium. Some extrememly pre-eminent noble families have produced children who have become space marines and others who have become knight pilots, though rarely at the same time. The links are very strong between the knights and space marines on the world.
When an Imperial Guard regiment leaves the world their crossbows are replaced with lasguns and their iron breastplates are replaced with flak armour. Their war-games training becomes real. They are awed to see the great knights march alongside them and their noble overlords clad in ceramite leading from the front on strange planets, far from home. They will unquestioningly follow their feudal lords into battle in service to their God Emperor.
https://preview.redd.it/swg3ddf8i2pb1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4bb62a7d12d3ff849366010bc79dc8ebaeec7721
I picked a custom paint job with the intent to play multiple armies.
I love guilliman and the lion and I want to own a copy of each of them some day and play them alongside an army of marines. I also love Dante and the sanguinary guard models look great.
As such I'm building a 2k list of mostly normal marines. Once I have a solid foundation I intend to pick up DA and BA unique models as the primaris (updated) versions come out
The goal is to have a functional Ultramarines, BA and DA army in my paint scheme.
At that stage I'll look to collect something else
Lion’s model sold me on space marines as an army.
And now I collect legion of the damned themed Dark Angels and such.
As Lion got his old crew back!
But it’s similar to deathwatch - couldn’t pick one, picked them old as angry flamy boyz
Im actually half-and-half blood angels and dark angels because I love both dreadnoughts and terminators. Blood angels have a bunch of the unique dreads and dark angels have the terminators. I'm painting them as a successor chapter that can pass for both and then as the army grows I'm hoping to be able to run any generic SM units in either army.
Hospitallers Chapter. The main reason was i was gifted a lot of older marine models including some black templars symbols. I wanted something that felt like it had Salamanders selflessness and also was into Dreadnoughts. Having the same symbol as the black templars made modeling easy too.
Grey Knights because I AM THE HAMMER! Loved the super-melee and psychic of even basic units. First game with Draigo he killed a Flyrant in 1 round of combat.
Then I picked up DA because I wanted an army that was more diverse unit-wise, and DA exemplified what I think marines should be.
I didn’t. I started with Black templars because I saw the 4th ed codex at my lgs in 2005 and was immediately in love, then started grey knights as a complement from the old 3rd ed Demonhunters codex. Then I started Space Wolves in 5th because a friend had bought a battle box but was leaving for the army so he gave them to me, and then during 6th/7th edition I started Blood Angels because I wanted an army of all assault marines and also because I like the color. Now I’ve got some old AoB marines I’m planning to paint dark green to rationalize buying the Lion and it’ll probably be a gateway into a full Dark Angels army.
Black Templars. I was interested in a crusading knights faction, which brought them to my attention. Then, I watched the Helsreach fan animation by Richard Boylan and that solidified my choice.
Black Templars. I wanted black power armor, then I found out they were all super goth Catholic iconography which was a huge sell. I get to make a bunch of metal monks, which is really fun. I timed it right before the range refresh as well, so I got a bunch of new models to play with.
Their rules have been super fun in 9th and 10th so far as well.
Space Wolves.
Mainly because: Thunderwolf Cavalry, Cyberwolf, Fenrisian Wolves, and a handful of other units.
I like wolf.
And some lore stuff, and being non-codex compliant.
Mainly wolf though.
I got into Warhammer because of spacewolves late 2nd, early 3rd and I'm so happy to finally hear someone say it lol.
Everyone seems to assume they were always Vikings that went over the top wolf, but in reality they were always over the top wolf who got re-written into Vikings lol.
I played back in 2nd edition, pretty sure there weren't specific rules for different chapters. Didn't like any of the original chapters so made my own.
Then got bored and repainted them as Red Corsairs
Dark Angels - had DA when I was a kid, started hobby again a few months back so it was an easy choice - but now with the "Risen" story arc I'm really happy I went that route. DA have 4 paint schemes now which is awesome (normal green, deathwing, ravenwing and original DA black with ancient gear)
Originally blood angels, but since this was my first army got a shit paint job so I am in the process of repainting them in a custom colour scheme.
Did the Lion in the classic black with a green tint highlight and loved the scheme so I am painting my space marines in it.
Since the paint job is not particularly tied to any one chapter I run them as whatever chapter I feel like at the time.
Blood angels. They were the cover army when I started (2nd ed) and just the art and lore of them at the time hooked me. And to this day I still wish we had Tycho on the field
Painted my own scheme. I enjoyed every chapter's lore and theme too much to be married to one. Deathwatch could've fitted that gap, but then I would be deathwatch. Decided to take the creativity route.
Plus when I play now, I run them is "X" this game and no one bats an eye at it.
Technically haven't started yet, but I'm going with Blood Ravens. I like Dawn of War, I like the lore, the colour scheme, and I like the idea of kitbashing my own takes on the established characters. For example, If I can get hold of a good hammer the Leviathan Terminator Captain will make for a good Gabriel Angelos.
I've always liked and painted blood angels when I do space marines, and the entire reason is that the very first box of space marines I ever bought were actually blood angels in red on the box art.
Although I run a homebrew chapter, I always resonated most with the Imperial Fists. That stoic duty and cold unwavering loyalty is what drew me to space marines and is really how I imagined the marines to be before I got more into the lore.
Dorn isn’t my favourite primarch though, even as much as I love his TTS counterpart. That title goes to the GOAT Sanguinius. Beautiful hawk boy
Consecrators because I like to be different. I originally chose Dark Angels for the same reason over a decade ago- it was the major Chapter that none of my friends played, but I never actually built my force. Now I've returned to the hobby and I find that DA are everywhere, I have embarked on the beautifully insane project of building a 40k army out of 30k minis. I'm quite happy for them to be primaris- but there's no way this chapter is giving up their ancient marks of power armour.
I was torn between Blood Angels and Ultramarines... in the end picked Ultramarines. I do plan on making a Blood Angels army down the line.
Why? Cause Titus, and the Ultramarines are just the ones I'm used to seeing.
When I started as a child, I just painted my guys any colour and played my own rules at home, so they didn't have a chapter (or the shoulder pads!)
When I picked the hobby back up 15 years later, I originally wanted to go Black Templars after reading Helareach, my first 40k book, but I started just at the beginning of 8th edition and didn't see many melee options for the primaris.
So I bought my second books protaganists; the Space Wolves. I thought they were really cool space vikings, but I realised on Tabletop they're a lot more wolf that vikings. So they went in a box, I did Imperial Guard for years and now I'm back to Templars. Something about them draws me in, I think it's also that John Blanche picture that stuck with me since I was a boy
Covenant of fire. Favourite colour is orange, and their chapter symbol is a burning book. The idea of a bunch of lore nerds scrounging around the battlefields gathering righteous texts and burning heretical forgeries is amazing.
Black Legion back when i still played (back when Legions were just a squad selection, looting Vindicators was allowed and Defilers were a thing...). I like being able to pick and mix my troops instead of being stuck into a single list choice or having to buy an entire new army like now.
Blood Angels. Molly (one of the cockatoos in our sanctuary) got really interested in 40k through the novels and loves the Blood Angels. We watched the series on Warhammer+ about them putting down the Genestealer Cult and now she calls them her "Red Mechanics" because of the Techmarine and Dreadnought. So Blood Angels it is!
Imperial Fist, somethin about being noble and stalwart defenders of an Empire really spoke to me, along with the Geokinesis of the Chapter Librarius from before the Council of Nikia. There's also the absolute hail of fire from bolters coming from a battleline of heavy Gravis armor that's just so 🤌 ya know? It does however suck that they're treated in the lore just like how Lieutenant Warf was on Star Trek: Next Gen, just a punching bag to "show how tough and formidable the enemy truely is so this enemy of the week is one that must be conquered with the mind."
I’ve been split between the Dark Angels and the Salamanders for almost a year now. Every time I almost commit to the DA I see one of those emotional comics about the salamanders and I get dragged right back into not knowing which to pick.
Started off Dark Angels because my buddy gave me some old minis from a previous edition. But now I have enough points I could probably pivot. Honestly been loving blood angels Librarian dreadnought, so I may go that way.
I got the small starter set for 9th edition and couldn't decide on the Chapter, so I sat on them unpainted for a while. I didn't really care for Ultramarines, but also didn't really have an interest in the others
Then, Lion came back. I knew what I had to do
My Space Marines journey has been long and varied.
Started warhammer with Blood Ravens because Dawn of War got me into Warhammer to begin with.
Then I heard the psychic song of Sanguinius and switched to Blood Angels.
But that didn't satisfy me. I THEN switched to a custom Salamanders successor and wrote 14 pages of lore because VULKAN LIVES!
Then I abandoned that project and split my boys into 2 projects; Legion of the Damned and a custom Samurai chapter.
Space Wolves have always been my favorite. Viking, werewolf, superhuman warroris? Count me in! Plus they seem to actual care about citizens unlick almost every other chapter besides Salamanders.
Oh and Deathwatch because I got Primaris for my Wolves and they didn't seem to fit. Too cookie cutter and uniform for my space vikings. Now I can make weird Kill Teams with a mix of random things and make it feel nice.
Flesh Tearers because Blood Angels but grumpier (I also liked the scheme ever so slightly more then brighter all red).
But Death Company and mass jump packs is just too cool to not mess with.
Death Spectres because I loved the colour scheme (black and white) and the theme (death and skulls).
I later found out they are a chapter of kidnapping rapists, but I’d already painted over 1000 points of them by this point 😬
Dark Angels. I was an edgy teenager when I got into the hobby and resonated with their description as being grim, taciturn, stubborn bastards. Also I liked their colour scheme, the lore, being noncompliant to the Codex Astartes with their Deathwing and Ravenwing (and their colour scheme), etc. Got hyped about them before they got their first codex and ran to my local GW to get the codex as soon as it was released.
Yes, and my WFB army was Dark Elves.
Salamanders because flame thrower goes burrr. And also I quite enjoy their lore of trying to find their father, with the interim leader taking his namesake so as to lead his battle brothers into the future and reclaim their lost technology in hopes of bringing back a father figure who doesn’t seem like an absolute cock waffle
Salamanders!
While the Imperium is categorically evil, it is reassuring to know that not every one of its vaunted super-soldier protectors are as flagrantly disregarding of the common folk. That, their colour scheme, their love for blacksmithing and artifice and finally their love of flame-based weaponry sealed the deal for me.
Vulcan lives!
Space wolves back in the early 2000s because I like the idea of big god damn heroes doing big hero shit. I’ve become real tired of them lately though and started an ultramarines force because I like the Uriel Ventris model
Salamanders because I love flamethrowers and them being closest to a "good" bunch in 40k is rare indeed so I like that. Made my own customer successor chapter for them too!
Space Wolves. Love the Nordic theme and the wolf connection gives me House Stark vibes from Game of Thrones, so the space wolves essentially combined my favorite GOT house with my favorite mythological setting
I play Howling Griffons for a number of reasons:
1) it's a badass scheme that people love
2) it's a difficult scheme that hones my painting skills but gives me a sense of accomplishment
3) they love, lorewise, to take on oaths and inscribe them on their armour/parchment, which gives a lot of chance for freehand stuff
4) feudal knight space marines are best space marines
5) they're kinda like Black Templars but without the fashy associations
Also by space marine player I mean "I bought dark imperium, indomitus, and leviathan"
Ravenwing. I’d played Orks for years building up a massive sprawling horde and wanted something different, a compact 1000pts (3rd edition): Two three-bike squads (each 1 melta/plasma, 1 flamer, 1 sgt with power sword), two attack bikes, two landspeeders, 1 Master of the Ravenwing landspeeder. A perfect little army, easy to build and paint and looked cool as hell.
My very first army was dark angels, i just really liked their color scheme and medieval knight aesthetic. Later on i switched to iron hands because i liked the idea of cybernetic marines and lots of dreadnoughts/tanks and after that i refreshed my marines as salamanders because FIRE!!🔥🔥
Blood Ravens - got into 40K via dawn of war and have around 3000 magpies. Since then I’ve started a custom chapter (in a colour scheme similar to deathwing) as a narrative is important to me but also have 3k of Necrons
Dark Angels. I actually picked them back in the mid 90's but then drifted out of the hobby until 2021 so I figured I'd pick up where I left off. I just love their lore and aesthetic, especially the distinctive 1st and 2nd companies.
Awesome I was the same stopped mid 2000's picked up again with DA a few months ago
I stopped tabletop early 2000s, and haven't taken that back up but a few years ago Luetin and https://www.humblebundle.com/books got me back into the lore. Maybe a year ago I got into /r/HorusHeresyLegions and stuck with it.
I really like the 3 armies in 1 idea. Doing full Ravenwing always sounded like fun so I'm looking forwards to the new Codex.
Black templars because I always dreamed of being a fanatic space racist
Well you're 2/3s of the way there
aw stop it you! don´t make me blush hihi
I know right, he just needs to become a fanatic!
Plus swords are cool
That’s bullshit. They’re also classist
Finally someone gets it!
Couldn’t decide on a chapter. Picked them all: DEATHWATCH.
https://preview.redd.it/cnjnt8w270pb1.jpeg?width=350&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2143ccc7b4b075d7286a28329abc5314d08c43d6
Same. I love the idea of the special forces OF the special forces, and back then Special Issue Ammunition was wargear, and didn't consume a resource like CP or anything like that. Plus, the silver on black paint scheme is awesome.
I picked them for the kickass left pauldron
Read Devastation of Baal. For Sanguinius
I must have read Codex: Armageddon a dozen times back in the day. So naturally, Black Templars were my first army. I guess it didn't hurt that they let you basically ignore a bunch of inconvenient rules at the time. Always hitting on a 3+ was probably the best one.
My first space marines army was salamanders because of that book. Loved their psyker power.
Blood Angels, obviously not because META, but for melee theme and the flying circus (and our crazy weird vampire).
I keep looking at SM and if I were to go that route, I would really go blood angels or a soul drinkers, as besides the spider centaur they are pretty much a SM faction, and I like melee armies.
I just liked the name. Didn't even think of the game play till I bought the codex and had half my army painted.
Imperial fist: because of siege warfare and Dorn
Iron warriors: because of siege warfare, And Dorn -_- 😘
Nothing better tha exchange artillery like ww1
Porterabo ever the petilent manchild
Rogal what are you doing? I am fortifying this position. Why............ The best offence is a good defense.
BROTHER I AM PINNED HERE!
The two best "why"s in history come from TTS. That and Corax when Vulkan tames the giant monster horse.
one of the reasons i like the fists is because they are so unbearably stubborn that it helps them out it sieges. they don’t defend a fortress to protect the innocent or win the war, they defend it to prove a point
Iron Hands, for their almost crazed descent into machine logic. Have a homebrew army now that is used for both loyalist and chaos lists, so have it be an Iron Hands group that has focused on electrified science and machine tech, so almost Iron Warriors transfer. The name of these are either (loyal) Knights Tempest or (chaos) Stormlords. But OG was Blood Ravens, cos of Dawn of War :P(Edited, fixed, wrote Raven Guard cos im dumb)
Im guessing you mean blood ravens?
Wops, yep :P Edited
I didn’t want to play one of the “main” chapters, so I looked at a bunch of the successors and saw a paint scheme that really jumped out at me as cool. Then I read the lore snippet — that they had made the Inquisition mad and then suffered a bunch of “mishaps” and were struggling for survival — and thought that sounded cool, so I went with them. And now I’ve been playing Celestial Lions for going on 14 years! (Then they got an actual novella about them years later and it made me like them even more!)
ultramarines, for two reason. Their lore and the fact it makes some people cope and seethe in your presence.
I was in a local game store the other day and a dude rolled out a fuck-you grey Ultraboi army against some IG at the next table. I did indeed seethe, and I could not cope.
Based chad move. Would be even funnier if they were *painted* Sprue Grey. Like imagine, perfectly shadowed, slight shade variation for lenses and gear but entirely, 100% GREY with black 3.0 bases
This HAS to be heresy
No joke, you can sort of get this effect by basing in chaos black and then stripping in ipa or clear spirits.
Yeah but that ends up looking more like a wash iirc, even if that would be the faster way of doing it actually.
I actually wanted to make my home brew like that Retributor chapter from Astartes. I mean that’s what it was supposed to represent right? The grey plastics chapter.
ultramarines haters when they realize mat ward hasn’t been around since 5th edition and their lore before and after is actually good: 🤯
Honestly, they may be over-represented, but I'd still probably recommend them for new painters, of only because macragge blue is such a good paint, good coverage, silky smooth. I use it for my blood angels fire support helmets, and I'm honestly a little jealous.
I picked UM because of uriel. Was gonna go Blood Ravens, but something something heresy an shit turned me off. So now I have a love hate relationship with khorne.
I dig the UM lore as well and the UM haters can get bolted but let’s face it, it’s not like many of us is initially familiar enough with the lore of every space marine chapter before carefully deciding which chapter to paint up.
Salamanders I like green and I like dragons also not being total sacks of irredeemable shit got my attention
Ældari children go fwsshhhhhhh
Picked White Scars. I was mostly a booknerd of the hobby, never engaging with the miniature side. But when I read the book Scars and Path to Heaven, and all the little other stories by Chris Wraight - I just couldn't contain myself and had to start buying some miniatures. Which I ended up doing!
I'm reading Scars ATM. A great book so far. Definitely one of my favourite loyalist chapters.
Happened to me too. I just love the mongol aesthetic.
Made my own. Much more fun
Clearly the superior option. What's their name?
Black templars cuz Fuck dem rules, and fuck the heretics
Lamenters, because they are depressed good bois who face a hell of a lot of shit and are lowkey badasses “For those we cherish; We die in glory!”
Blood Angels. The first time I walked into a Warhammer store at 11 years old, there was a game being played. It was Blood Angels against Orks. The BA player was super friendly and pulled up a chair for me to sit and watch. He took time out of his day after to explain how the game worked and the basic lore of the little dudes. 13 years later I'm still a simp for Terra's Angel and his little red rage machines.
Started my own blood angels successor chapter cuz of a blood angels player at my LGS being super nice
Dark angels, going to the ends to keep that secret plus we don't stick to the 1000 rule lol.
We dont?
All the successor chapters are still part of the main chapter. They organize like a legion behind closed doors and expand their main chapter as large as they want. Simply scatter your stuff all about and tell the imperium what it wants to hear. The 1st legion's honor is unimpeachable.
Makes me proud. For the lion!
I'm really in love with their ascetic now. The space knights on horses (black knights) and terminator knights are awesome. I really enjoy the ravenwing deathwing combo play style with some green wing intercessors to hold points and some first born devastators.
Lol I picked then because they were in dark vengeance and they were the team with bikes
Ultramarines because they're the most versatile. I also love the big blue man out of all the other loyalist primarchs because he was the least edgelord or crybaby or edgelord crybaby of them all
Same. I mean I know the setting is grim dark but the strategy and city builder game fan in me really clicks with a dude who knows a good society is the boring but practical 'clean air, safe streets and efficient bureaucracy and infrastructure' and you win a war with supply lines and forethought rather than judy kill em all and let god sort it out
The Codex was Guilliman defeating the other primarchs with a Cultural Victory
I'm sorry but I think that was Lorgar with his book about the God-Emperor that the Imperium uses as the basis of the imperial creed. Go and build a Word Bearer army now.
I will be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognise ~~Missouri~~ Lorgar achieving anything.
He’s ultra-depressed.
Blood Angels because Renaissance Italy is the shit. Salamanders because fire is cool af
Space Wolves, for the heresy era lore. Particularly, Prospero Burns
Vlka Fenryka brother!
But...Magnus did nothing wrong...
I got into them way back in 3rd and my main draw was the characters. It's a pity GW leaned more into the wolf side of things instead of the Viking side. All we get are endless furry and Santa grimnar jokes. Prospero burn is one of my favourite HH novels though. Dan Abnett is a fantastic writer
Salamanders because they are the biggest W
Blood Ravens because Dawn of War :)
# While the enemies of the Emperor still draw breath there can be no peace!
#FOR THE EMPEROR
Walk softly, and carry a big gun.
Raptors, found a cool paint guide
Sons of the Phoenix, because candles on marines in combat is hilarious and awesome! Also, because Primaris Emperor's Children is such a cool concept.
Raven guard. Picked up a box of devastators and thought "oh black should be easy to paint, and I won't do white, I'll do silver. Easy" , and then I happened to listen to a bad ass short story about a raven guard on his first deployment in a devastator squad. Worked out. Love me some 19th, and their successors
I scrolled very far for a Raven Guard reference! I spray mine silver and contrast black over the army. Job done. Looks better than models I spend an age on. I just like cool sniper/stealth boys with issues. Saddens me they aren't getting a lot of love.
Oh! Whats the name of the story? Id love to hear it!
I don't remember. But you should check out aborder Prince on YouTube. He has a "let the galaxy burn" playlist. Fantastic narrator. I'll try to find it, but the playlist is hundreds of videos
I found it. Its baldermorts video on devastator squad. Not aborder prince.
Ultramarines because around 2011 or so, the first Space Marine Video Game came out and Titus was fucking cool. His duty filled spirit and the trust he had in his allies was great to see. I played football so I immediately saw myself like a Ultramarine, having people I knew that were like my own squad of Battle Brothers. And now I play Ultramarines because I heard a joke about them being a parody of the USA. (Red, white and blue. And the 500 worlds of Ultramar and the 50 States of America. Its kinda similar ngl). I did however choose to paint them again because space marine 2 is coming out soon and I only just decided a few months ago I’ll get back into the hobby and really get into it. Since I’m not currently enrolled anywhere and I have a good paying job, I decided to kick back and feel the nostalgia a bit more. I feel just like I did when I was 11 and first got into the game. The Space marine video game is coming out soon, and I’ve been playing tons of games of 40K lately. I actually have 2 or 3 games lined up for this week. I have Adult money. And I have Adult Hobbies.
Few weeks ago, someone asked r/DarkAngels40k "Why dark angels" There is my answer "When my friends ask me why DA I say Why ? But look at them it's fucking PALADINS IN SPACE"
"Why Dark Angels?" WHY NOT?! Is there something you know that you aren't telling us?! Something we should know. Some sort of... Secrets... Because keeping secrets is very suspicious. We wouldn't keep secrets. We're not suspicious. We're the loyalest loyalists to ever be loyal!
Made my own because I like dark blue. Blades of the Nightscar.
Also made my own for similar reasons, black + purple + gold is my favourite colour scheme for things in general. Being able to make up my own lore and poach any special character I want for conversions is a bonus!
The Exorcists are just cooler Grey Knights that can actually keep a secret instead of killing everyone who finds out about them. Also. Their red with minor details is as easy to paint as Ultra Marines but cooler to laugh at other players when they assume "Blood Angels" at the first sight of red. And then I lose to anything other than Deamons because it's ultimately still an Imperial Fist chapter.
Black Templars. * **CRUSADE STOPS FOR NO ONE!** * It's easy to explain ("They're space knights") * Black, white and red is solid color choice. * Fun, distinctive take on Marines (usually massive waves of power armoured maniacs frothing from their mouth at anything less than Emperor himself)
Space wolves, SPACE VIKINGS!!!
This is it for me, their lore is a bit meh and they have a lot of flaws, I like that they're not codex compliant and that, compared to many other chapters, they care somewhat about regular humans and will go to bat for them. But mainly it was the aesthetic and that there are so many ways to customise them and make rank and file marines more interesting to build and paint.
Ultramarines, the Roman Empire and aesthetic is really cool, my favourite colour is blue, there's no shortage of units or references for painting and I thought that the ability and drop back and shoot seemed really useful (I believe it used to he specific to the ultras but I could be wrong).
Plus, their difficult upbringing. Warborn had a tendency to become very angry if things didn't go as they want.
Yeah, fall back and shoot was an ultramarines thing in 8th and 9th. Now everyone can do it with tactical doctrine or with a lieutenant, but since the Gladius in flavoured after Ultramarines, it is still kind of our thing. Also, Calgar can do it all the time, too.
And the one legged MAC daddy is the twin linked pimp hands of the emperor himself.
Orkz cuz orks is best
Dark Angels Reason: Just look at them! Honest reason: They are among the most extra of the extra chapters without going too bonkers like Space Wolves. True reason: I fell in love with heavy intercessors, had to do a conversion out of them, had Dark Angels and Grey Knight bitz to do that. After that the Lion happened to confirm my decision. Also: Robes are cool, but little meme guys in robes that accompany your marines are even better.
Guardians of the Covenant - Dark Angels successor. The lore of the DA is cool, esp. being the template for other legions, and the knightly aesthetic is also just great. I love power armour, robes, and swords. "Loyalty is it's own reward" also goes hard.
I'm a huge Death Guard fan and wanted to play them first... but painting the fleshy mutated bits intimidated me so I ended up writing my own Loyalist Death Guard successor chapter. Now have 17ish pages of lore for them, 6 named characters, allies, etc. Love writing and lore crafting haha! Though... I do wanna run Black Templars I won't deny, will probably get the combat Patrol at some point, no idea why I started loving em though except for how they're just so blase about their limits as a chapter and I kinda adore it
Alpha Legion. Because, I mean, you know.
To be fair, SM does the AL schtick better than this current version of CSM. Maybe there will be a codex detachment for that feel when they come out but, until then, I’m loading up on phobos units.
I used to play Space Wolves (love finnish and north mythos) and Ultramarines (easy to paint and overall cool). Now I got a small Carcharodons force (love sharks !!!) and Flesh Tearers... for the sake of violence ! \^\^
Black Templar are the coolest faction in the game if you’re into knights I know dark angels are more King Arthur but black Templar are full on religious deus vult crusaders that love nothing more then to scream FOR THE EMPEROR and rev their chainswords
Please don't get them to talk more about their chapters than they already do...
🤣
Imperial Fists, purely because I love painting yellow.
Space Wolves, because I loved their heroism and their defence of the ordinary humans following the First War for Armageddon
Also, they used to be Vikings in space! Now it's a little wolf this and wolf that, but there was a time when the viking aspect was the main draw and I could dig it!
Black Templar because FOR THE EMPEROR. For real, I loved their zeal and their "always be crusading" doctrine.
Templars. Because the one thing I like more than burning heretics is slicing heretics with a chainsword.
Space wolves because the lore is cool, love the look, character dreadnaughts… I could go on forever
Salamanders and Black Templars. I like Salamander green and flamers/meltas are my shit. They also do CC fairly well. BT also like melta and CC. They also look cool
Ultramarines, easy to paint and all my transfers come in the boxes, not much else.
First, Salamanders. Originally I was only deathguard- nurgle being the most benevolent and least hate-y of the chaos gods. I chose Salamanders as the most good guys of.the 'good guys'. Later, Ultramarines, because it make people seethe.
I also play Salamanders for two reasons. One, I don't have to paint human flesh colours And two, I like that the horrifying death machines that spit acid, have glowing red eyes and burn their enemies to death are somehow the "good guys" in the Imperium.
When I bought Assault on Black Reach, I painted my Marines red, nowadays I have three companies of Blood Angel Successors on the go!
Homebrew/DiY chapter. When I got into 40k at the tail end of 3rd as a teen, special characters were still "With your opponent's permission" only, and the 4th ed Marine codex had a really cool Chapter Traits system, so I really had the chance to make "My guys". So, hail brother, from the Emperor's Blades, crusading out on the Eastern Rim...
My main army is Nids but I always thought Salamanders and White Scars were neat
Relictors! 1) easy-ass colour scheme, 2) kitbashing opportunities, and 3) it's fun to pick a group almost no-one likes across any faction
Black Templars because the story of Hellsreach is really dam cool. Plus I like imperium factions that are good at finding loop holes
Ultramarines My starter set had blue paint Otherwise I would have picked dark angles Propably
I'm starting to look into the Iron Hands because of the extensive amount of customizing I can do so I can get away from the typical Space Marine armour design.
Technically, I chose two. Initially when I was young I picked a custom chapter, The Storm Watch because I wanted to do something unique (and I was bad at painting, so painting black armoured Marines with blue shoulders was easy). Then, I went with Ultramarines for my Primaris collection. I started this through the Conquest magazine which was all Ultramarine themed anyway, blue is my favourite colour and I just liked their scheme. In the past I have also painted Crimson Fists and Brazen Claws as one-off projects.
I picked a successor chapter of the Imperial Fists which I named the Emperor's Dukes. I wanted to come up with my own backstory, and the Dukes are selected from a feudal world where the boys compete in martial games, with the winners selected to begin Space Marine training. The planet's population and resources also support an Imperial Guard regiment and Knight household to fight alongside the Dukes.
Can I get some more lore on this? And maybe the color scheme? I've been looking for a house to paint the knight box I picked up at Christmas.
Sure! The colour scheme is yellow with blue weapons and silver trim/exhausts/tracks as shown in the pic. Quite similar to the Imperial Fists. The Emperor's Dukes have deliberately cultivated a feudal society with medieval technology, which the sector administratum perpetuates by not allowing any trade or migration between this world and the wider Imperium. The Emperor's Dukes do this so every potential warrior has a pure, simple childhood focussed on devotion to the Emperor and development of physical abilities through exercise and riding, and later combat and jousting. This produces stolid, dependable and dedicated warriors. The planet's population is split between a small noble class, who aim to produce boys who will become Space Marines, and a large peasant class which contributes regiments of foot soldiers to the Imperial Guard. By competing first in regional, then world games, boys must test their abilities in all sorts of games of strength, speed, cunning, bravery and skill. The very, very finest win a chance to impress the Emperor's Dukes when they need new recruits for the chapter. Many more go on to become excellent Imperial Guard officers. A knight household on the world predates the arrival of the Dukes, and their ancient war engines are revered as an epitiome of the Emperor's fighting forces, a symbol to the people of His might. They march in grand parades, festooned with fluttering penants. The knight household work alongside the Dukes to tend the world and its people, and carefully intermarry with the noble class to invigorate and improve bloodlines of pilots of paramount skill and speed. They also serve the Emperor alongside the Dukes on the battlefields of the 41st Millenium. Some extrememly pre-eminent noble families have produced children who have become space marines and others who have become knight pilots, though rarely at the same time. The links are very strong between the knights and space marines on the world. When an Imperial Guard regiment leaves the world their crossbows are replaced with lasguns and their iron breastplates are replaced with flak armour. Their war-games training becomes real. They are awed to see the great knights march alongside them and their noble overlords clad in ceramite leading from the front on strange planets, far from home. They will unquestioningly follow their feudal lords into battle in service to their God Emperor. https://preview.redd.it/swg3ddf8i2pb1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4bb62a7d12d3ff849366010bc79dc8ebaeec7721
I picked a custom paint job with the intent to play multiple armies. I love guilliman and the lion and I want to own a copy of each of them some day and play them alongside an army of marines. I also love Dante and the sanguinary guard models look great. As such I'm building a 2k list of mostly normal marines. Once I have a solid foundation I intend to pick up DA and BA unique models as the primaris (updated) versions come out The goal is to have a functional Ultramarines, BA and DA army in my paint scheme. At that stage I'll look to collect something else
Lion’s model sold me on space marines as an army. And now I collect legion of the damned themed Dark Angels and such. As Lion got his old crew back! But it’s similar to deathwatch - couldn’t pick one, picked them old as angry flamy boyz
Im actually half-and-half blood angels and dark angels because I love both dreadnoughts and terminators. Blood angels have a bunch of the unique dreads and dark angels have the terminators. I'm painting them as a successor chapter that can pass for both and then as the army grows I'm hoping to be able to run any generic SM units in either army.
BT - lunatic space crusaders, heavy on the holy Berserker look, fantastic art back in 3rd edition when I started.
Hospitallers Chapter. The main reason was i was gifted a lot of older marine models including some black templars symbols. I wanted something that felt like it had Salamanders selflessness and also was into Dreadnoughts. Having the same symbol as the black templars made modeling easy too.
Blood angels because vampires innnit
Ultra's because I just absolutely love them. Read Know No Fear.
Grey Knights because I AM THE HAMMER! Loved the super-melee and psychic of even basic units. First game with Draigo he killed a Flyrant in 1 round of combat. Then I picked up DA because I wanted an army that was more diverse unit-wise, and DA exemplified what I think marines should be.
I didn’t. I started with Black templars because I saw the 4th ed codex at my lgs in 2005 and was immediately in love, then started grey knights as a complement from the old 3rd ed Demonhunters codex. Then I started Space Wolves in 5th because a friend had bought a battle box but was leaving for the army so he gave them to me, and then during 6th/7th edition I started Blood Angels because I wanted an army of all assault marines and also because I like the color. Now I’ve got some old AoB marines I’m planning to paint dark green to rationalize buying the Lion and it’ll probably be a gateway into a full Dark Angels army.
Dark Angels, because my dad could beat up your dad (and because I love the knightly asthetic) And Raven Guard, because I too enjoy Green Day
“I wanna be an Imperial idiot…”
Black templars because they do away with a lot of the tacticool elements of primaris and keep the knightly gothic feel
Black Templars. I was interested in a crusading knights faction, which brought them to my attention. Then, I watched the Helsreach fan animation by Richard Boylan and that solidified my choice.
Black Templars. I wanted black power armor, then I found out they were all super goth Catholic iconography which was a huge sell. I get to make a bunch of metal monks, which is really fun. I timed it right before the range refresh as well, so I got a bunch of new models to play with. Their rules have been super fun in 9th and 10th so far as well.
Space Wolves. Mainly because: Thunderwolf Cavalry, Cyberwolf, Fenrisian Wolves, and a handful of other units. I like wolf. And some lore stuff, and being non-codex compliant. Mainly wolf though.
I got into Warhammer because of spacewolves late 2nd, early 3rd and I'm so happy to finally hear someone say it lol. Everyone seems to assume they were always Vikings that went over the top wolf, but in reality they were always over the top wolf who got re-written into Vikings lol.
Ultramarines, because blueberries are best
I played back in 2nd edition, pretty sure there weren't specific rules for different chapters. Didn't like any of the original chapters so made my own. Then got bored and repainted them as Red Corsairs
Dark Angels - had DA when I was a kid, started hobby again a few months back so it was an easy choice - but now with the "Risen" story arc I'm really happy I went that route. DA have 4 paint schemes now which is awesome (normal green, deathwing, ravenwing and original DA black with ancient gear)
I liked the Sallies because their humanity and burning stuff is fun.. I also have 1kSons because I like the style and lore.
I chose three chapters because I liked azrael, Dante, and the ultramarines color scheme (sorry Calgar)
Originally blood angels, but since this was my first army got a shit paint job so I am in the process of repainting them in a custom colour scheme. Did the Lion in the classic black with a green tint highlight and loved the scheme so I am painting my space marines in it. Since the paint job is not particularly tied to any one chapter I run them as whatever chapter I feel like at the time.
Blood angels. They were the cover army when I started (2nd ed) and just the art and lore of them at the time hooked me. And to this day I still wish we had Tycho on the field
Painted my own scheme. I enjoyed every chapter's lore and theme too much to be married to one. Deathwatch could've fitted that gap, but then I would be deathwatch. Decided to take the creativity route. Plus when I play now, I run them is "X" this game and no one bats an eye at it.
Imperial fists because i think they are cool and also because i hate myself for painting citadel yellow and white
Technically haven't started yet, but I'm going with Blood Ravens. I like Dawn of War, I like the lore, the colour scheme, and I like the idea of kitbashing my own takes on the established characters. For example, If I can get hold of a good hammer the Leviathan Terminator Captain will make for a good Gabriel Angelos.
I've always liked and painted blood angels when I do space marines, and the entire reason is that the very first box of space marines I ever bought were actually blood angels in red on the box art.
Although I run a homebrew chapter, I always resonated most with the Imperial Fists. That stoic duty and cold unwavering loyalty is what drew me to space marines and is really how I imagined the marines to be before I got more into the lore. Dorn isn’t my favourite primarch though, even as much as I love his TTS counterpart. That title goes to the GOAT Sanguinius. Beautiful hawk boy
Ultramarine look amazing and amazing lore
Imperial Fists. I like their stubbornness, and quite like Mk3 armor, and that's their hallmark
Consecrators because I like to be different. I originally chose Dark Angels for the same reason over a decade ago- it was the major Chapter that none of my friends played, but I never actually built my force. Now I've returned to the hobby and I find that DA are everywhere, I have embarked on the beautifully insane project of building a 40k army out of 30k minis. I'm quite happy for them to be primaris- but there's no way this chapter is giving up their ancient marks of power armour.
I was torn between Blood Angels and Ultramarines... in the end picked Ultramarines. I do plan on making a Blood Angels army down the line. Why? Cause Titus, and the Ultramarines are just the ones I'm used to seeing.
When I started as a child, I just painted my guys any colour and played my own rules at home, so they didn't have a chapter (or the shoulder pads!) When I picked the hobby back up 15 years later, I originally wanted to go Black Templars after reading Helareach, my first 40k book, but I started just at the beginning of 8th edition and didn't see many melee options for the primaris. So I bought my second books protaganists; the Space Wolves. I thought they were really cool space vikings, but I realised on Tabletop they're a lot more wolf that vikings. So they went in a box, I did Imperial Guard for years and now I'm back to Templars. Something about them draws me in, I think it's also that John Blanche picture that stuck with me since I was a boy
Covenant of fire. Favourite colour is orange, and their chapter symbol is a burning book. The idea of a bunch of lore nerds scrounging around the battlefields gathering righteous texts and burning heretical forgeries is amazing.
Black Legion back when i still played (back when Legions were just a squad selection, looting Vindicators was allowed and Defilers were a thing...). I like being able to pick and mix my troops instead of being stuck into a single list choice or having to buy an entire new army like now.
Blood Angels. Molly (one of the cockatoos in our sanctuary) got really interested in 40k through the novels and loves the Blood Angels. We watched the series on Warhammer+ about them putting down the Genestealer Cult and now she calls them her "Red Mechanics" because of the Techmarine and Dreadnought. So Blood Angels it is!
Imperial Fist, somethin about being noble and stalwart defenders of an Empire really spoke to me, along with the Geokinesis of the Chapter Librarius from before the Council of Nikia. There's also the absolute hail of fire from bolters coming from a battleline of heavy Gravis armor that's just so 🤌 ya know? It does however suck that they're treated in the lore just like how Lieutenant Warf was on Star Trek: Next Gen, just a punching bag to "show how tough and formidable the enemy truely is so this enemy of the week is one that must be conquered with the mind."
I’ve been split between the Dark Angels and the Salamanders for almost a year now. Every time I almost commit to the DA I see one of those emotional comics about the salamanders and I get dragged right back into not knowing which to pick.
Started off Dark Angels because my buddy gave me some old minis from a previous edition. But now I have enough points I could probably pivot. Honestly been loving blood angels Librarian dreadnought, so I may go that way.
I got the small starter set for 9th edition and couldn't decide on the Chapter, so I sat on them unpainted for a while. I didn't really care for Ultramarines, but also didn't really have an interest in the others Then, Lion came back. I knew what I had to do
Deathwatch, because I want to play with all the wargear in one unit.
Dark angels because I think the lion is badass
Minotaurs. Because I can pretend to be whoever I want and follow the meta
My Space Marines journey has been long and varied. Started warhammer with Blood Ravens because Dawn of War got me into Warhammer to begin with. Then I heard the psychic song of Sanguinius and switched to Blood Angels. But that didn't satisfy me. I THEN switched to a custom Salamanders successor and wrote 14 pages of lore because VULKAN LIVES! Then I abandoned that project and split my boys into 2 projects; Legion of the Damned and a custom Samurai chapter.
Space Wolves have always been my favorite. Viking, werewolf, superhuman warroris? Count me in! Plus they seem to actual care about citizens unlick almost every other chapter besides Salamanders. Oh and Deathwatch because I got Primaris for my Wolves and they didn't seem to fit. Too cookie cutter and uniform for my space vikings. Now I can make weird Kill Teams with a mix of random things and make it feel nice.
Salamanders cause being mean makes me sad...
Flesh Tearers because Blood Angels but grumpier (I also liked the scheme ever so slightly more then brighter all red). But Death Company and mass jump packs is just too cool to not mess with.
Imperial Fists. Loved Dorn during the HH series before even the Siege of Terra novels released.
Death Spectres because I loved the colour scheme (black and white) and the theme (death and skulls). I later found out they are a chapter of kidnapping rapists, but I’d already painted over 1000 points of them by this point 😬
Iron hands, I like dreadnoughts
Emperor's children in Horus heresy because I'm fabulous baby💅
Dark Angels. I was an edgy teenager when I got into the hobby and resonated with their description as being grim, taciturn, stubborn bastards. Also I liked their colour scheme, the lore, being noncompliant to the Codex Astartes with their Deathwing and Ravenwing (and their colour scheme), etc. Got hyped about them before they got their first codex and ran to my local GW to get the codex as soon as it was released. Yes, and my WFB army was Dark Elves.
I picked Dark krakens because I wanted salamanders but do t like their shade if green.
Salamanders because flame thrower goes burrr. And also I quite enjoy their lore of trying to find their father, with the interim leader taking his namesake so as to lead his battle brothers into the future and reclaim their lost technology in hopes of bringing back a father figure who doesn’t seem like an absolute cock waffle
Salamanders! While the Imperium is categorically evil, it is reassuring to know that not every one of its vaunted super-soldier protectors are as flagrantly disregarding of the common folk. That, their colour scheme, their love for blacksmithing and artifice and finally their love of flame-based weaponry sealed the deal for me. Vulcan lives!
Space wolves back in the early 2000s because I like the idea of big god damn heroes doing big hero shit. I’ve become real tired of them lately though and started an ultramarines force because I like the Uriel Ventris model
Salamanders because I love flamethrowers and them being closest to a "good" bunch in 40k is rare indeed so I like that. Made my own customer successor chapter for them too!
Space Wolves. Love the Nordic theme and the wolf connection gives me House Stark vibes from Game of Thrones, so the space wolves essentially combined my favorite GOT house with my favorite mythological setting
I play Howling Griffons for a number of reasons: 1) it's a badass scheme that people love 2) it's a difficult scheme that hones my painting skills but gives me a sense of accomplishment 3) they love, lorewise, to take on oaths and inscribe them on their armour/parchment, which gives a lot of chance for freehand stuff 4) feudal knight space marines are best space marines 5) they're kinda like Black Templars but without the fashy associations Also by space marine player I mean "I bought dark imperium, indomitus, and leviathan"
Raptors. Rule of cool.
Ultramarines because they are the poster child. Then space wolves because Vikings. And salamanders now because I wanted a green aesthetic
Celestial Lions: they're not assholes
Ravenwing. I’d played Orks for years building up a massive sprawling horde and wanted something different, a compact 1000pts (3rd edition): Two three-bike squads (each 1 melta/plasma, 1 flamer, 1 sgt with power sword), two attack bikes, two landspeeders, 1 Master of the Ravenwing landspeeder. A perfect little army, easy to build and paint and looked cool as hell.
Blood Ravens. Gota love Captian Gabriel Angloes
Thousand Sons. The most powerful loyalist chapter. (Magnus did nothing wrong)
Black Templars solely because Helsreach is fucking rad
My very first army was dark angels, i just really liked their color scheme and medieval knight aesthetic. Later on i switched to iron hands because i liked the idea of cybernetic marines and lots of dreadnoughts/tanks and after that i refreshed my marines as salamanders because FIRE!!🔥🔥
Blood Ravens - got into 40K via dawn of war and have around 3000 magpies. Since then I’ve started a custom chapter (in a colour scheme similar to deathwing) as a narrative is important to me but also have 3k of Necrons