When it comes to mass battle games, Warhammer really is the only thing that does it for me in terms of accessibility and gameplay. I've been playing a bit of 40k lately with Eldar and a new Krieg army I've been working on for some Siege of Vraks action, and some very sporadic Old World games, but my main foray into the worlds of Warhammer is in the realm of the Horus Heresy with the multiple armies I've put together over the last 4 years.
For a game that boils down mostly to Space Marines fighting other Space Marines with a couple of armies on the side, I must say Heresy really makes the most of what it is. With an edition change that's been controversial to say the least, I do genuinely think that 3rd has taken all of the best bits of the previous 2 editions and made it into something unique as opposed to just a carbon copy of old 40k with a few small tweaks. The addition of initiative modifiers to melee weapons is really great to have a more granular system in melee (which I'll share my gripes with later in this piece) and the detachment system makes for more thematic army building, if a little convoluted in terms of learning how to work it out. Once you've figured it out though it's easier than ever to tailor your list to a specific theme without even needing Rites of War that you would've needed before.
This isn't to say the game isn't without its flaws, as any game has. The Weapon Skill chart is the biggest thing, as the jump from WS4 to 5 is huge, and swings melee massively as opposed to the older chart that pushes penalties for hitting higher Weapon Skills to needing a higher difference. I honestly think simply replacing the current 2nd/3rd ed chart with the older 1st ed chart (which is also the same chart in Old World and older 40k editions) would go a long way to making combat feel a lot closer and not the massive disparities that it currently has. Another thing I find a little annoying is the focus for needing units with Line or Vanguard, although you'll almost always have some of these units it is still basically mandatory to have some in order to keep up in scoring from your opponent. This has been something especially apparent for my own Knight army, where I've needed to add Solar Auxilia units as house-guard to be able to claim objectives at all. I do really enjoy the variety in list building though, and I am a person who played entire armies without scoring units in 2nd ed so it isn't a huge issue, but something I've had to factor in with my list building to take a couple of Tactical Squads, Lesser Daemons or Solar Auxilia to get some objective play.
The move from GW across the board in terms of Specialist Games moving from bigger book releases into small journals I think is fantastic, as you can pick up specific books that are relevant to you at a lower price point (and carry around smaller books) if you don't want all the rules. The journals for Heresy do all have some really cool alternate missions in them though, with Zone Mortalis and the armoured missions being something I'm particularly keen to try out as I have tons of vehicles between my Dark Angels and Knights. I'm sure this is something we'll get back to when I get the chance to play the missions, I'll make sure to get some Battle Reports out!
My own personal armies are Dark Angels (my earliest gaming love, and something that's always stuck with me), Emperor's Children and Imperial Knights in what have both become hybrid 30k/40k armies. I love them all for different reasons, but they're all things that I've enjoyed modelling and painting, and although my game time with them has been decidedly less in 3rd ed compared to the dozens of games of 2nd I played, I still love all the games I have.
My Dark Angels are the stoic defenders of the Imperium, not caring about their own casualties or that of anyone in between them and the objective, focusing mainly on the horrific weaponry of the Dreadwing or the mass vehicular assaults of the Ironwing as those are the aspects of the legion I love the most- Angels of Caliban's opening scene with the Dreadwing armoured assault is what sold me on this build specifically.
My Knights are House Vyronii, as the feudal background really resonated with me (something I leant into when adding Solar Auxilia for house-guard in 3rd edition), they were a natural addition lore-wise to my Dark Angels and I really like the metallic green colour scheme. Win or lose with them it makes sense as well, as Vyronii take part in some of the most brutal betrayals and horrific battles of the Heresy, so losses and pyrrhic victories are what I love to see on the tabletop as it really reflects their lore.
My in progress Emperor's Children on the other hand are a late-Heresy, fully traitor army with a ton of Kakophoni/Noise Marines and various marines in stages of corruption as they turn from the purple into a chaotic pink. Fulgrim and a bunch of Slaanesh daemons cap off this army, marking them as very different to my loyalists in both look and feel. All of these armies I had a vision for, and set out to achieve that more than any specific gameplay purposes, and I can say that I am proud of what I have achieved in terms of the story the armies convey.
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