Yeah I love Ultramarines, its cool cause they get to.. you know.. sit in transports.. waiting.. BUT IN SPACE!
Nah, there cool. I just find it incredibly funny that (lore wise) during the Heresy, which was meant to be like when all the loyal marines forged bonds in blood and beat back the foul traitors etc, their entire chapter got tricked into being somewhere else. It sounds like "Hey look over there!" but on a massive scale.
Personal favorite are Deathworld Vets, if they still make them. Imperial Guard so tough they didn't need the trademark vehicles. I had Catachans and they were cool (with a hero named Rambo Sly Marbo can you go wrong?), but I remember seeing this awesome industrial/volcanic themed deathworld veterans army, complete with sweet fiery ash paint job and Master Sniper firing from a manhole.

What about Necrons Or 'Nids? 'Nids have been fighting all the orcs of Armageddon for decades now, eventually they will simply out-evolve them. And Necrons.. Well... Its inevitable that It'll be a Nid/cron stalemate for 'winner' of 40K, With the nids leaving the galaxy as the necrons aren't worth fighting (no food).

It's fairly well accepted that if all the Orks in the galaxy united in one massive Waaaaagh! they'd sweep all resistance before them, Necron, Nid, Man, and Alien, like a great green tidal wave.

The point of the setting in 40k is that every single faction is balanced on the knife edge between absolute victory and absolute defeat at all times. (That's why the Tau needed buffs for 5E)

Orkoid spores

Ultrajoe:

Wargamer:
Woah up, did someone just say the Orks are "fucked over" by all the other races?

Since before I started 40K (which was about the time 5th Edition Vampire Counts came out), Orks have had a simple maxim attached to them - if all the Orks in the universe ever united, nobody could hope to oppose them.

Orks are EVERYWHERE! They are the ONLY race who actually has a chance of "winning" 40K, because they will outlast everyone.

What about Necrons Or 'Nids? 'Nids have been fighting all the orcs of Armageddon for decades now, eventually they will simply out-evolve them. And Necrons.. Well... Its inevitable that It'll be a Nid/cron stalemate for 'winner' of 40K, With the nids leaving the galaxy as the necrons aren't worth fighting (no food).

Orkoid spores...

I think its safe to say all the factions are fucked, I mean isn't there some menace that even the Tyranids are running from, hence their invasion? This could just be mis-remembered lore though.

Ork technology works just because they think it should, that is exactly why Orks are the most fun race.

Ork A: Paint it red it'll go faster
Ork B: Why?
Ork A: Coz it's red!

Such undeniable logic..

I used to play Orks against my brother's Space Wolves.

Now I'm being goaded into picking up Chaos Marines since there are already two Ork armies in the group I'd be playing with. I'll miss the boyz, but I already dress in black all the time so it ought to be easy to go all out with the evil.

Space Wolves: Look, badass Space Marines! No, really! They'll eat your head off! Seriously!

Gotta love Chaos though - Daemons, Chaos Marines AND Traitor Marines, all sitting in my basement waiting for the next big killathon.

I'm not a huge fan of Warhammer, 40k or otherwise but I do have a soft spot for their art design. I really enjoy the look of both The Space Marines, The Tau and The Necron. I also enjoy how delightfully wacky the Ork's can be.

(My younger brother has an Ork army called the Beech Boyz, they're hilarious, they're all painted up in hawaiian shirts and stuff.)

I play Imperial Guard and Ravenwing.
I'd love to build a Thousand Sons force some day.
But I've all but quit really, still play a few games each year.

Favorite faction?
Imperial Guard, specifically the Mordian Iron Guard.

The Atillans are a close second though.
Nothing beats chucking those guys into the breach after getting charged and taking down that spearhead unit in one go. Follow up with Ogryns for flavour. And a decked out HQ for giggles.

Yeah, I play a H2H heavy guard army ^_^
Mainly because my dice are jinxed while shooting.
I've got a treasured scatter die with which I roll about 85% HITs though.

Anybody up for a game of second edition?

My cousin used to Tabletop Eldar... that's as far as my experience in that goes. In DoW after the expansions, I progressed in my racial preferences, first SM, then IG, and finally settling on Tau. I just prefer their 'niceness' and accomodating genocide, rather than blatant slaughter. At least it's a nicer way to go. Still, I have to agree, 'Nids and Necs can spend eternity duking it out. Like Chaos or Orkz are a threat compared to them... ok maybe to the umpteen bazillion humans out in the 40K galaxy, but like anyone in that universe cares about their fellow man anyway. And the whole Emperor thing just annoys me. At least the Tau don't have to worry about the 'warp'

poleboy:
I have a weakness for space marines because they are

1) insane religious zealots
2) incredibly paranoid
3) oblivious to the fact that they are all doomed

reminds me of a certain country adjacent to Canada and Mexico....

I do love me my eldar, specialized units, sweet looking grav tanks, and some of the best offensive mobility in the game are certainly nice, though I don't understand how anyone thinks we have a plan. The closest thing I've ever read to a way the eldar can "win" was the stupid god of the dead cop out, and how is "if we all die, our souls will coalesce into another god and go kick slanesh in the pants" winning?

Tau! I love the tech these guys have gotten in merely 2000 years. Yeah their empire aint that big n all. But they mannaged to defend themselves against the imperium of man.
Railguns anyone?

Damn you Warhammer and your nerdy social status!
(its true)
its the only thing that stops me playing

I love Eldar, even tho its there fault for chaos and all that jazz coming out of the wrap.

My other half is obsessed with league of the dammed (space marines)

Shamtee:
I love Eldar, even tho its there fault for chaos and all that jazz coming out of the wrap.

Technically, only Slaanesh is their fault.

Space Marines, more specifically: Black Templars

Played them both in the tabletop game as well as DoW

Space Wolfs.... Hands down!

Wellby:
Personally i'm fond of all of them in their own little ways;
Necrons: for being ... mummy robots
Space marines: The classic
Orks: The stupidly adorable race, who will kill you as soon as look at you.
Dark Eldar: For reminding me of the reavers from firefly.
... ok so those are the ones i like, your turn!

What he said. Although i like the space marines and Chaos 'cause they're Religious fanatics, in space armor! I haven't seen the dark eldar but I always thought the chaos marines reminded me of the reavers.

Nothing beats a good squad of fire warriors raining blue death upon whichever unfortunate group of infantry dared to come in range.

For the greater good indeed!

Eldar. Any faction based over 50% on females has got to be good.

Granted, they're apparently only ever good when you're insanely good at the game, I wouldn't know or care because I only play the game in skirmish anyway... and to be honest, I usually play as Tau.

WAAAAAGH!!! every time I have a match vs my friends they know its coming. the waaagh.

Space Marines, because they looks awesome.
Followed up by Tau and IG in second, Tau because of their hi-tech long range awesomeness, and IG from their sheer number of tanks and vehicles.

nids are bomb but i find orks are better. i collect orks and play tabletop matches all the time. me and my friend who has nids teamed up vs my brother(the tau) and his rail guns couldnt kill us fast enough. we got there and the within two turns there was nothing left of the tau

Tyranids. The ability to field my costomized eating machines is too awesome.

tauz ar' da wurst armee in da 'ooniverse. we is gunna stomp dem flat and anyfink dat gets in ar way. WAAAAAAAGH!!

Bretty:
Space Wolfs.... Hands down!

at first i was gonna collect them because they're like freakin space vikings!! who wouldnt like that?

Stammer:
Eldar. Any faction based over 50% on females has got to be good.

Then Ordo Hereticus is freaking unbeatable.

Hiddlebits:
Ork technology works just because they think it should, that is exactly why Orks are the most fun race.

Ork A: Paint it red it'll go faster
Ork B: Why?
Ork A: Coz it's red!

Such undeniable logic..

Literally undeniable. I love that all their gadgets work simply because the Orks believe that they should; the power of the Waaaaagh made manifest.
Oh damn, faith in Emperor...fading...must look to His Empyrean...must...give...in...must...WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!
Orks are my favourite army again.

Ultrajoe:

Wargamer:
Woah up, did someone just say the Orks are "fucked over" by all the other races?

Since before I started 40K (which was about the time 5th Edition Vampire Counts came out), Orks have had a simple maxim attached to them - if all the Orks in the universe ever united, nobody could hope to oppose them.

Orks are EVERYWHERE! They are the ONLY race who actually has a chance of "winning" 40K, because they will outlast everyone.

What about Necrons Or 'Nids? 'Nids have been fighting all the orcs of Armageddon for decades now, eventually they will simply out-evolve them. And Necrons.. Well... Its inevitable that It'll be a Nid/cron stalemate for 'winner' of 40K, With the nids leaving the galaxy as the necrons aren't worth fighting (no food).

That's my read on how 40k will end - but you have to cynically smirk when you say 'end'. I don't know about the 'Nids, though: do they ever die of hunger? Because that's what they'll be facing when the Necrons get their groove thang on.

Tyranids might be my favorite, but there is always that part of me that loves playing Eldar and Dark Eldar.

My favroute race would be the Elder. The fact that I can take out most things from a long distacne and before they can atack me kinda gives them a hudge atvantige. Allso, while using the elder alot of startagy goes into attpenting to flank the enimey.

Eyclonus:

Lord Harrab:
Imperial Guard die with their boots on, cursing the eneimes of man with their last breath

FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!

Most signifcantly they die in droves with their boots on, cursing the enemies of man, if their unfortunate enough for their deaths not to be instant.

pretty much. there's no pension plan, so its not like they're missing anything.

I must confess, I have only played the DoW games, so understand that my experience is that alone. Also, I may not be 1337 for this conversation, my miniature gaming experience is sorely lacking. So my opinions are pieced together from some wikipedia articles and the video games. If I am incorrect in details, my apologies.

But I gotta side with the Tau. Utilitarianism is the best moral philosophy in the world, and the Tau try for it. Utilitarianism is the only philosophy I will go to the mat defending. That, in the Tau, I gotta respect. Every other faction I generally find humorous because they are so ridiculous, but the Tau are someone I can relate to. And their saints compared to everyone else...well, the Eldar seem Decent-If-Haughty to me, but the Tau are still the heroes to root for.

The Tau may be a tiny faction, but that just improves there appeal for me: There the scrappy underdogs! There victories are so much sweeter because they are at a disadvantage. Oh, and they improved in technology so rapidly, and took a bunch of other races under there wing, like the Vespids and the oh so awesome for a evolutionary science geek Kroot. I think there more analogous to humans in other Science Fiction then the human factions are.

Lastly, I am kinda prone in RTS to answering all threats with more ranged stuff, so the Tau are a sheer joy. And my favorite end game is huge amounts of power generators, and never ending drone assault, plus I love just watching the krootox and gnarloc takes obscene beatings and not dying. I think the sides are all balanced, so I gotta say I gravitate to there play style

Second may be Sisters of Battle, because I love there artillery, the sheer amount of fire burning everything in sight actually makes me giggle maniacally, and they have some of the funniest and coolest lines in the game ("Faster then Blasphemy", anything with the word, "Echlesiarchy", etc).

Sisters of battle are awesome, you can never have enough burning heretics

Chaos the greatest force all will serve us or die.

sethzard:
Chaos the greatest force all will serve us or die.

see my previous post ^.^