Which Legion should I play?

It's legion time again! In the last article I wanted to find out which legions were easy to represent with the new codex (based on the confirmed rumours and models we know). I want to start a new Chaos Space Marine army with the launch of the new codex. My only problem is that I like all of the nine traitor legions. Every one of them has either great possibilities to be played, great models and paint scheme or other awesome features like great background stories. So I thought about all the pros and cons of every legion and tried to squeeze them in a quantifiable rating system:

• Flexibility: The possibilities in army composition, play styles and allies.
• Background: How much I like the background story of the Legion.
• Visual Appeal: How much do I like the look and would I want to paint them?
• Bonus Points: Open category for awesomeness.
• Personal Opinion Coefficient: What do my guts tell me?
• TOTAL: The overall rating of the Legion on a scale of 0 to 25 (stars are rounded).

I know that there might be more, less or even completely different categories, depending on what you consider important when choosing an army to play. For me, flexibility, background and the visual appeal are the major categories. I added an open category and one for my personal thoughts (since it's going to be my army and my gut feeling should count, too). Here are my thoughts and ratings to every one of the nine traitor legions:

Black Legion

The Black Legion offers near endless possibilities in army composition, play style and allies without suffering from fluff restrictions. Abbaddon the Despoiler is an absolute combat monster and, what is more, he unlocks Chosen (and Chosen Terminators) as troops (rumour!). I like the thought of an elitist army. Also, I like the black and metal paint scheme as it looks great on the Chosen from the Dark Vengeance box set and the photos of the new Raptors. Painting black can be hard but I already found a way (working with dark blues and greys) to do it well. The big downside of the Black Legion is that everybody looks down on them as the Ultramarines of Chaos.

• Flexibility ★★★★★ (5/5) (no restrictions at all)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (Horus Heresy is a plus)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★☆ (4/5) (black and metal looks nice)
• Bonus Points ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (for elitist Approach and Abbaddon) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (not totally convinced)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (17/25)

World Eaters

I like the World Eaters' raw and brutal approach to solving problems. Crazed maniacs with Chainaxes, blood red and brass colours and skulls, a lot of skulls. Angron's legion is pretty awesome and I can totally imagine having fun at playing an army of Berzerkers while listening to death metal music. Sadly, one of my main criteria of choosing an army is flexibility in army composition and play style. I don't want to miss out on the chaos psychic powers and general shooty stuff. I like the World Eaters, I just don't want to collect and play them as a single army, although I could imagine to field one or two units of Khorne Berzerkers and Daemons alongside another Legion.

• Flexibility ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (too much focus on close combat, no psychic powers)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (blood and gore is great)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★☆ (4/5) (red, brass and skulls is always en vogue)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for raw violence and being totally death metal) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (I like the WE, but I'm looking for something else)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (15/25)

Death Guard

Collecting and playing Death Guard would be tons of fun (on par with Orks)! Converting and painting would be no less than hilarious. Not only could I use Nurgle Daemons as allies but also would Epidemius special rule enhance all Nurgle units on the board. Also I like what I hear about Typhus turning Cultists into hard-to-kill Plague Zombies. The downside of Death Guard is, that it would be a mono-god list and I like Daemons of Khorne and Tzeentch, too. Then, Nurgle units (Daemons and Marines alike) are slow in movement and combat.

• Flexibility ★★★★☆ (4/5) (mono god, but no other restrictions)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (I don't know much about the stories, but I like what I know)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★☆ (4/5) (awesome, just afraid that it might get boring)
• Bonus Points ★★★★★ (5/5) (for fun and great daemon synergies) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★★★ (5/5) (one of my favourites at the moment)
• TOTAL ★★★★☆ (21/25)

Emperor's Children

I like Chaos in all its ways but Slaanesh is the Chaos God I like the least. Don't get me wrong: The Emperor's Children are awesome - they're the 80s glam metal of Warhammer 40.000. I'd really like to field Noise Marines as I like their rules - but not their models (maybe Forge World can do something about this in the future as they did with Berzerkers and Plague Marines). Same goes with Slaanesh Daemons: I don't like the Daemonette miniatures and their Eldar-ish statline (I already got my Alaitoc Craftworld for fast glass cannons). I'd love to get some Noise Marines if they ever receive an optical overhaul by Forge World, but I don't want to play Fulgrim's Legion.

• Flexibility ★★★★☆ (4/5) (mono god, but no real restrictions)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (okay, have to read more about them)
• Visual Appeal ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (pink and black is awesome, the models aren't)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for being glam metal and Noise Marines in general) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★☆☆☆☆ (1/5) (not as a full legion, maybe single squads of NM for fun)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (14/25)

Thousand Sons

I love the Egyptian look of the Thousand Sons, and their psychic powers are unmatched by almost no one in the galaxy. Rumors agree that Ahriman is one beast of a Sorcerer. I also like the Tzeentch Daemons, which are quick and powerful. I don't really like the fact that Rubric Marines are merely walking piles of armour. They are my second favourite cult legion after the Death Guard - maybe they'd be placed first if they had the same synergy effects as Nurgle Marines/Daemons. Thousand Sons always appealed to me and I know I want to paint and play some Rubrics sometime.

• Flexibility ★★★★☆ (4/5) (mono god, but no real restrictions)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (rivalry with Space Wolves is cool)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★★ (5/5) (awesome, Egyptian look is great)
• Bonus Points ★★★★☆ (4/5) (for great looks and my love for Tzeentch daemons) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★★☆ (4/5) (they might be the one)
• TOTAL ★★★★☆ (20/25)

Alpha Legion

The Alpha Legion, not unlike the Black Legion, offers a lot of possibilities in army composition, play style and allies, as they tend to use whatever it takes to win a battle. They are portrayed as tactical geniuses and have a mysterious back story (seriously, I have to start reading the Horus Heresy series!). My biggest problems with the Hydra is that their fluff and artwork is kind of under-developed and there is next to no reference material (yes, there is one book, but that doesn't satisfy me). What is more, is that they don't have any signature unit at all: others have cult units, Dark Apostles, Warpsmiths and tanks or Raptors. Even the Cultists look more like they were designed to be religious zealots for the Word Bearers than cold blooded and calculating Alpha Legion terrorists.

• Flexibility ★★★★★ (5/5) (everything is possible)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (loyal? traitor? I like the mystery, don't like the lack of reference material)
• Visual Appeal ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (don't like the blue and green, I'd rather paint them turquoise and gold)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for interesting tactics and endless possibilities) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (the new codex has no goodies for them, so probably no)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (17/25)

Iron Warriors

The Iron warriors can put a mean list on the table with lots of heavy tanks and daemon engines. Also, the aspect of siege warfare looks interesting to me. I haven't read Storm of Iron yet but everybody says that it is a good read that makes you want to start an army of Iron Warriors. No to the downsides: Their paint scheme can be either utterly great or incredibly dull - I think I might get bored after painting a lot of models in metal colours. Then, they are a bit to grumpy and paranoid for my taste: they don't seem to have fun, which is sad because the Eye of Terror looks like fun place to me. They rather use bionic transplants than mutations or daemons, which I don't like either. Also, a friend of mine got a Chaos Space Marine army in metal colours already. I won't start an Iron Warriors army.

• Flexibility ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (not to fond of daemons)
• Background ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (siege warfare and brutality is great, grumpiness not so much)
• Visual Appeal ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (don't want to paint metal, don't want to paint metal, don't want to... )
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for daemon engines and siege tactics) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (no siege warfare for me)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (13/25)

Word Bearers

Word Bearers offer a lot of possibility in army composition, play style and allies. For instance, Daemon allies of every Chaos God are fluffy and offer a great tactical variety. The new Codex: CSM (with Cultists and the Dark Apostle) makes it very easy to represent a Word Bearers Host on a gaming table. They are visually appealing with all the inscriptions on the armour, impurity seals and scrolls. I read the first two books of the Word Bearers trilogy by Anthony Reynolds (good read, a lot of raw violence) and found the description of the legion very tempting. Also, they have a grudge with with the Ultramarines - I don't like the Ultramarines! The downsides of the Word Bearers are their red armour (i don't like painting red), their primarch (Lorgar doesn't really appeal to me) and their religious bookworm attitude (they are more into preaching and building monuments to the Big 4 than crushing the Imperium into dust).

• Flexibility ★★★★★ (5/5) (pretty much anything is possible)
• Background ★★★★☆ (4/5) (I like their book series)
• Visual Appeal ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (great, but red is tough to paint well)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for daemon allies and the fluffy use of Cultists and Dark Apostles) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (i like them)
• TOTAL ★★★★☆ (18/25)

Night Lords

First of all, the Night Lords have the coolest primarch of all Legions. Period. Basically, the Night Haunter is Batman in space and the Legion is the League of Shadows. Okay, enough of the comic book references! I also like their paint scheme, although I don't know if I could paint the lightnings on the armour in a way that would satisfy the perfectionist inside me. Everybody says that the Night Lords trilogy is worth reading and I like to read about armies I play. A very big downside is the restriction in army composition, play style and allies: They have no cult units (no, raptors don't count and they aren't exclusive to Night Lords) and I wouldn't know which allies would be appropriate since they don't use daemons and I can't imagine traitor Guard fighting alongside them in battle. I had the odd idea of using Dark Eldar Wyches as gangers and thugs, but that's a long shot.

• Flexibility ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) (no cult units, no daemons)
• Background ★★★★☆ (4/5) (crime hunters turning into evil itself - awesome)
• Visual Appeal ★★★★★ (5/5) (their armour looks bad ass)
• Bonus Points ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (for awesome primarch and raptors) 
• Personal Opinion Coefficient ★★★☆☆ (3/5) (I don't like the lack of flexibility)
• TOTAL ★★★☆☆ (17/25)

Final Ranking

So, here's the final ranking that will hopefully help me with my decision on which Chaos Space Marine army I shall start to collect with the launch of the new codex. Please note that this ranking is only supposed to be about my preferences of which army I'd want to collect and play. For instance, World Eaters would rank much higher if they'd offer more than the focus on close combat (on the table I like durable and shooty armies). So, the winner is... *drum roll*

1. ★★★★☆ (21/25) - Death Guard
2. ★★★★☆ (20/25) - Thousand Sons
3. ★★★★☆ (18/25) - Word Bearers
4. ★★★☆☆ (17/25) - Black Legion
5. ★★★☆☆ (17/25) - Night Lords
6. ★★★☆☆ (15/25) - World Eaters
7. ★★★☆☆ (14/25) - Emperor's Children
8. ★★★☆☆ (14/25) - Alpha Legion
9. ★★☆☆☆ (12/25) - Iron Warriors

To my surprise, two of the four cult legions ended on top of the ranking. In the beginning, I thought I would choose a legion that would leave me with the most possibilities of army composition - I wanted to be able to take any cult unit or daemons from any god I wanted. This would have left me with Black Legion or Word Bearers. So, it's no surprise that they are 3rd and 4th of my personal ranking. Death Guard, however, became the winner because I realised how much fun it would be to paint and play them. The line of Nurgle models from Games Workshop and Forge World is great and not boring or restrictive at all. Thousand Sons on the other hand have always been a favourite of mine. I love the design philosophy and daemons of Tzeentch, too.

It's unlikely that I'll start to collect two legions at once (so my wallet told me) - but I might start Death Guard or Thousand Sons with either Nurgle or Tzeentch Daemons. Then I might expand my Daemons with models from other gods and finally add cult troops from those god(s). Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Anyway, I will get my copy of the new Codex this Saturday and now I can't wait to read about Plague Marines, Typhus and Plague Zombies as well as about Thousand Sons, Ahriman and Tzeentch's psychic powers.

Death to the false Emperor!