Warhammer 40k - What colors would the factions / legions be?
General forum
Posted on Dec. 27, 2021, 9:50 a.m. by TypicalTimmy
I don't know much about Warhammer 40k. Apparently the groups can largely be divided into 4 main factions, and as far as Space Marines are concerned, there are something like 20 Legions.
Anybody here play? I'm curious as to what the color(s) might be for each Space Marines Legion.
TypicalTimmy says... #4
I've played the game once, and I played Orks.
Just let me roll 60 dice three times in a row on the first round of combat. If I don't slaughter you, gg
December 28, 2021 1:03 p.m.
All factions are some mix of black and red, except Tyranids, who are mono-green. Oh, and Orks is green....and green-blue...green-black..green-red-yellow...green-brow--AND ALL DA OVUR GREENZ COZ ORKZ IZ DA BEST AT BEIN' GREEN COZ GREEN IS RIGHT AND PROPA ORKY!
January 26, 2022 8 a.m.
Coward_Token says... #6
TT already posted in it, but I made a writeup on Chaos God colors:
https://tappedout.net/mtg-forum/blind-eternities/warhammer-40k-chaos-gods-color-identity/
ork_mcgork says... #2
Long time 40k player here.
First off, best to break things down of factions. There are three blanket factions (Imperium of Man, Eldar, and Chaos), as well as "Xenos" which is a catch-all for unaffiliated alien races.
For the Imperium, there are several factions - Imperial Guard (normal human soldiers), Sisters of Battle (all-female religious fanatics/warrior nuns), Space Marines (genetically modified supersoldiers), Imperial Knighgts (giant mech suits operated by noble families), and the Custodes (personal guard of the god-emperor of mankind).
Of these, Space Marines are the poster boys and are broken down into chapters - all who have parentage from the original 20 legions.
Based on my understanding of the color pie, I would put the Imperium in Mardu - the religious zeal pushes them outside of the flavor of blue, but the control aspects o f white and black hold true.
For the Eldar, they are an ancient race of space elves that doomed themselves by becoming hedonistic in their ancient days. Since then, they broke into four sub factions - Craftworlds, Dark Eldar, Harlequins, and Ynnari.
Craftworlds were the Eldar that escaped their doomed empire and chose a path of structure and discipline - living on giant space stations called Craftworlds. They are unparalled psykers and follow paths to hone their skills.
Dark Eldar escaped into this space between spaces called the Webway, and continued their debauchery. These Eldar sustain themselves on inflicting pain on others and are a bunch of realspace raiders. Pirates, thieves, and generally bad people.
Harlequins are a separate group that protect this special library (The Black Library) in the Webway. They're unaffiliated with the other groups officially, but will join them if it is helpful for their own aims.
Ynnari is a new grouop that combines all the rest and are focused on the birth of their new Elddar God of Death, Ynnead.
As such, I would put the Eldar as a lumped group into Esper - Azorius for Craftworlds, Dimir for Dark Eldar, and mono blue for Harlequins.
Chaos is pretty self explanatory - the ruin of all things. For Chaos there are many subfactions (like the Imperium) - Chaos Space Marines, Traitor Guard, ,Chaos Knights, ,and Daemons. All hail from the Eye of Terror - a hole in the universe from which the realm of chaos (the Warp) spreads into reality. There are four gods of Chaos, all of whom influence and aide their followers in particular ways:
Khorne, God of War< Blood, and SKulls Nurgle - God of Death, Decay, Disease Tzeentch - God of Sorcery, Knowledege, Deceit Slaanesh - God of Excess, Pride
Chaos Space Marines fell to Chaos during the Horus Hereesy, and tend to worship or follow one or more gods. Each is very distinct from the others, but all seek the destruction of the Imperium.
Traitor Guard is a catch-all term for normal humans that fall to Chaos. It's very easy to have this happen, hence why in the lore the Imperium is jsuch a brutal and terrible place.
Chaos Knights are the fallen Knight Households that follow the ruinous pwers.
Daemons are ethe manifestations of each of their gods. They fight amongst each other as often as they fight mortals in realspace but are the embodiment of thier god's wrath and desires.
Overall I put chaos in primarily Black but you can splash in Green, Blue, and Red depending on which sub-faction you're after.
The last batch, the "Xenos" are all the unaffiliated alien races in the galaxy ythat have their own wants and needs.
Orks are my personal favorites, brutal greenskins that are bred for war and live for it. They're also fairly goofy, being the "comic relief" of the grimdark setting. They have latent psychic abilities where if htey bbelieve something works, it does - so they band together in large hordes with ramshackle vehicles and go to war (or what they call Da Waaagh!). 100% Gruul.
The T'au are a young race that are highly technologically advanced. They spread their empire under the guise of the "Greater Good" which is a way for them to tell everyone "join or die". I'd peg them as probably Azorius.
The Necrons are an ancient race and enemy of the Eldar. They sold their souls to ancient star-gods in exchange for immortality in metal bodies. Think the Terminator but as a whole army. Orzhov or mono-Black. They want to reclaim their ancient empire from the upstarts that have inhabited it when they slumbered after their transformation.
Last (and least for me because I don't like them) are the Tyranids. An extragalactic threat. Think Geiger's "Alien" - these creatures consume biomass and mutate to meet the needs when facing enemy armies. Purely biological, they have no technology. They are controlled by the Hive Mind. I would put them in either Mono-Green or more likely in Golgari.
That's just the quick version on everything, so to recap:
Imperium - Mardu Eldar - Esper Chaos - Grixis/Jund Orks - Gruul T'au - Azorius Necrons - Orzhov Tyranids - Golgari
(Yes that's a lot of black, the 40k universe is a pretty terrible place, but a heck of a ride and very deep with lore.)
For the upcomign decks my money is on Space Marines, Eldar, Orks, Chaos, and Tyranids. Those are the mosts iconic groups for those that aren't as invested.
December 28, 2021 12:56 p.m.