So, I've talked about Warhammer in general, but I haven't really talked about my favorite part yet: the stories you can tell. Now, it's fully possible to buy, build, paint, and play an army and not really look at it as anything more than a tool to play the game with. For lack of another term, I'm gonna call it New Deck Syndrome, as it's really more akin to a card gaming mindset.
In a card game, you build and tear apart decks with impunity, restructuring it to deal with perceived meta and your own whims at any time. Warhammer armies are much harder to do that with, at least unless you have a sizable collection. And besides, with as much time as you have to invest in each figure, it can be a lot of fun to build up stories around them, and the army as a whole. So with that in mind, I'll give you a brief overview of each of my armies and their role in the world as a whole.
First up is my very first army, my Tau. They represent the 343rd Rapid Interdiction Cadre, filling a niche in the Tau forces akin to mobile reserves. An armored force consisting of infantry, tanks, and battlesuits in a mixed force, they are designed to be rapidly deployed to trouble spots and tip the balance in the Tau's favor. Every unit is designed to be completely mobile, and each element complement the others, creating overlapping fire heavy enough to bring down any target. Several units have distinguished themselves, with two Fire Warrior Shas'ui (sergeants) carrying trophies for bringing down particularly troublesome targets that honestly they had no business being able to deal with. As well, one of my Crisis Suit units carries a trophy for winning a hand-to-hand engagement against an opponent that should have destroyed him easily. Seasoned but having been on the back lines for quite some time, they're looking forward to some reinforcements and getting back into the thick of things with the new codex release.
Next up we come to my Imperial Guard army. Designated the 1st T'ros Gue'vesa Armored Regiment, they are somewhat different from most Guard armies in that they are not actually Imperial. They work alongside the Tau Empire, having been born and raised under their auspices on previously conquered worlds and believing in their concept of the Greater Good. Outfitted mostly with surplus stock captured when the Empire took their worlds (the primary of which is T'ros, a world detailed in one of Forge World's Imperial Armour book 3, and gives the unit its name) augmented with a few Tau elements and joined by a few Fire Warriors to assist. They have successfully defended the Empire for a couple years for me now, starting not long after the new IG codex, though they languished for a while as I tried to piece them together (and also got distracted by a Blood Angel army that never really took off and is now supplying parts for my next army).
As for my most recent army, I'm fielding a task force of the Alpha Legion. One of the original Legiones Astartes, the Alpha Legion were essentially spymasters and saboteurs without peer. Rather than engage in a head-to-head battle, even though they were quite skilled at them and more than capable (they are still Space Marines, after all), they preferred to fight their battles behind the scenes. Late in the Heresy, they were recruited by an alien force called the Cabal to defeat Chaos once and for all by ensuring Horus defeated the Emperor. Obviously, that didn't happen. However, I believe that the Alpha Legion, though labelled Excommunicate Tratoris, still fight the good fight against Chaos, trying to manipulate both sides to a final conflict and ensure that even if the Imperium doesn't survive (after ten thousand years, I doubt they have much love or need for what the Emperor's vision has become), humanity will emerge victorious and endure. As such, I employ every trick in the Chaos Codex's arsenal to help me adapt and overcome any obstacle my opponent can throw at me.
So there you have it. There are the armies I currently play in Warhammer 40k. I do have a few other forces for other systems, but for the most part I don't really use them much, and haven't gone much beyond a basic force. As such, they really don't have stories to tell yet, though one day they just might.
Stay tuned tomorrow: Thankful Thursday will be back for round 2!
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