The Faction Sales Pitch - Every faction in 40K's most iconic models! 

The mascot of IG is just the Guardsmen. Every faction has tanks. The IG is defined by being regular joes fighting in this hellscape

From the moment I realised the weakness of the servo-skull appendage, it disgusted me.

The Exorcist is what sold me on Sister. Pipe organ missile launcher tank is 100% the best depiction of the armies aesthetic

T’au pathfinders. Saw some art of them fighting demons and I was sold

For Imperial Guard, they would want to show off their pride. It has to be THE BANEBLADE! Even in Dawn of War, if you played IG, you played it to bring 11 barrels of hell on the battlefield.

White scars being forgotten is the norm at this point but kor'sarro khan's model is too cool to not mention

The Knight Abominant is so so good, but as much of a joke it is to run a ton of War Dogs instead of a Tyrant or something in a Knight army, I love the Stalkers and Karnivores too much. They give such a great animalistic theme for Chaos as compared to the Imperial Knights

For necrons I always loved the generic warrirors. I think the elevator pitch for Necrons is "zombie robots" and if you are just sold on the robots part you can play ad mech but if your here for the zombies nothing is more perfect than the warriors.

The first model that got me into not just chaos but really into 40k at all was the forgefiend/maulerfiend

Id say the Gorkanaut is the thing that got me into orks. All the different guns, big klaw, and space for Infantry combines so neatly into an ultimate orky vehicle

I think my suggestion is to always show people the main Troops choice of an army. Because the Troops choice is the essence of the army boiled down to its most approachable. Not visually busy like the character choices. Just the visual aesthetic of the army in its simplest form. Plus, you'll be painting a fair few of them if you start an army, so you need to know you like their look. Obviously, this shouldn't be taken as a hard and fast rule. In truth, you'd want to show a new 40K-er a variety of units for each army, so they get a representative sample. Seeing the Skitarii might not convey the "vibe" of AdMech as much as a Techpriest. And if you try to show off Tau without showing their mechs, you're not showing what's really cool about Tau. But in other armies, you don't fully "grok" what the army will look like if you don't get a look at their Troops. Imperial Guard always needs its infantry squads, and indeed are half of what differentiates one Guard army from another, aesthetically. Swarms of 'Gaunts convey a Tyranid army's impression of endless hungry hordes. And nothing captures the "you are playing an army of Terminators" quite like Necron Warriors. NOT showing the Troops off can almost seem deceptive.

The wraithknight is pretty iconic for the Aeldari, a giant robot piloted by a pair of twins, one alive and one dead, with a gun that shoots black holes

I got into Tau from Dawn of War, so the Skyray and Hammerhead is absolutely what got me into the faction. Riptide's cool, but I far prefer the Broadside as the battlesuit rep. So many fun little details!

As an old time Necron player, the Monolith is definitely a contender for most iconic model for Necrons.

I started Orks not because of anyone model BUT because back in the day they had no real vehicle models. They ability to just tear apart any model and make it into a Trukk or Battlewagon is what sold me. Other than that I bought epic Nids because I loved the Aliens movie, & Space Marines just came in the box so yep built them too. 😂

Long before I started playing Warhammer 40k, I was into scale models, mostly world war two tanks. And one day, I saw at my local model hobby store, the old plastic ork battlewagon. That was the first Warhammer 40k model I ever saw! I had no idea what it was, but those jolly orks on the cover seemed to be having a good time! Warhammer plushies we need: Imperial Servo-skull. Chaos Nurgling. Tau drone. Tyranid Ripper. Necron Scarab. Ork Squig! What am I forgetting?

The standard crisis suits are what got me into T’au Empire when they first released as the Tau back in 3rd.

The Tau mascots are def their battlesuits but the models that first caught my eye were their infantry. They looked like star wars clone/stormtroopers and I was like 'i want these'

Dudes! You missed hard with the Deathwatch. Their mascot has got to be the Corvus Blackstar. Coolest flyer in the game and definitely exudes the ‘tacticool’ vibes of the chapter. BTW, the models you showed were deathwatch Intercessors (which are admittedly lame) not deathwatch veterans.

Thing that got me into Necrons was the Lychguard. They really capture the Tomb Kings IN SPAAAACE feeling of the steely boys.

The Raider is probably what made me get into Drukhari and feels like a very evergreen model to pick to rep the whole faction if you weren't going to pick 1 for each of the sub classes

Canoptek Doomstalker. Those things looming over an army of metal skeletons sold me on necrons.

I recently was gifted a couple of boxes of minis to paint and to have some fun with, and while looking around RU-vid for videos I found your channel. LOVE your format!

The Tesseract Vault is the main reason i picked necrons. if you dont know anything about the necrons it offers so many questions. so it really gives off that vibe that they are ahead in technology.

Meganobz are my pick for orkz. they have a good combination of having the bulky scrappy aesthetic of the vehicles, shows off some of the crazy weapons, its all attached to a roaring monster and to top it off the tongue and cheek name of the unit shows off the armie's humor

For CSM I'll argue the possessed. I idea of the corrupted space marnies in pursuit of more power at any cost. And they sell that to me the best. Raptors just give me spikey marines rather than an actually different army (raptors alone, not as part of a full CSM army)

Now with a 100% more disturbing thumbnail thanks to the brilliant ideas of our patrons.

I think for Drukhari, the Ravager is really the best model to represent their evil space pirate aesthetic. It’s also the model that got me into Drukhari originally!

I think you missed the double chain wielding half naked angry chaos marines of World Eaters. And Death Korps of Krieg definitely needed a showcase.

Personally Kelermorph is iconic of genestealers to me. It's the posing as rebellious heros dedicated to fighting for freedom perfectly combined with the alien body horror and unfeeling adaptability and manipulation.

For Space Marines, my favorite model and the one that got me hooked on Space Marines, was and always will be the old Castaferrum Dread. I've loved it since DoW2.

Former Tau player here. I actually got into them because of specifically the Kroot and the Hammerhead, I think the Riptide looks dumb as hell. Makes me sad the GW didn't advance the xenos coalition aspect of the tau and just doubled down on battlesuits with them.

I play Imperial Fists…. And having joined the hobby at the height of TTS, I’d have to say the Centurions really got me interested.

I've got to say - for Sisters, to me it HAS to be the Immolator. Fast, decorative, and brings holy fire right to the enemy

The models that got me really excited to get into 40k is the Death riders. I absolutely love the ww1 aesthetic of Death Korps, and seeing them on horses with lances in a universe as OP as 40k made me love them.

What sold me on world eaters is simply just the berzerkers. Like thats the army lol. I saw red and gold and decorations... but then immediately contrasted with barbarians in power armor and I'm like "I want that. Those guys are cool". The poses too for the models are just too cool. I just wish that the chaos demon starter box was more chaos undivided and had models from all sections than bloodletters and Khorne. Like you said, its collecting Khorne lol

For me, it was the Khorne Berzerkers many many years ago. Plus my big brother going with Space Marines, so of course I needed to be the cooler version. Also, it ain't a CSM model if painting and assembling it doesn't hurt. Gotta have them spikes

calling draigo an 'ancient sculpt' and I think to myself "eh didn't he come out recently, there were all the memes about that codex!", and then I remember that was over 10 years ago...

Chaos Space Marine Terminator with Autocannon. I went on to collect dozens of termies before I got out of the hobby, and they still make me smile when I see them in videos.

the redemptor dread made me so sad, I loved the old dreadnought model its a little gunbox

What got me into death guard was the blight lord terminator specifically with a flail of corruption

1 of the 1st models you build wrong or gets damaged makes the best mascots. For genestealers an acolyte leader I made with its body backwards is my favourite, put some tyranid spikes on his now back, it's now a metamorph leader (with 44 acol's and 22 meta's) it doesn't stand out but when looking at the horde closely he's there. For characters i built a 2nd female mage cutting up her staff to swap it round changed the knife and head too, but it doesn't go above the meta dude the patriarch is a great model too, but for horde armies like gsc etc the mascots should be a trooper. (Agree with guards it's a tank)

The devilfish frame is really really cool, guys!

I will never forget my friend convincing me to buy the old dark vengeance box, the second I saw that helbrute I was hooked. Of course that's the one model that got lost in the move lol.

This doesn't feel like a video about "most iconic models" in each faction as it does a video about "what we like" and "factions we don't like..."

The Canoptek Doomstalker is what got me into Necrons. War of the World-esque alien with a big gun

Completely agree with the Redemptor Dread for Space Marines. Dreadnoughts are just such an iconic piece of Space Marines.

I really like this episode a lot. Excellent, and fun to see.

I know this is your opinions but...I mean...the standard Custodian guard models are imo the most iconic Custodian models

I loved the look of the boyz and I bought a box and the rest is history

Necrons for me is the silver horde, the simple warriors, standing up and resing all over after just being shot.

For me the first time i saw the Bladeguard veterans i knew they should be the posterchildren for space marines forevermore and I'm somebody who stopped playing SM the moment I saw a primaris marine and knew my existing collection was going the way of the dodo. Also I was the space wolf player who never owned any thunderwolf cavalry. I started playing that army becuase I love the aesthetic and (old) rules for blood claws.

Necron Warriors were the first Warhammer model I saw that made me take interest in Necrons, but it was the Doomstalker that really got me into it. My T’au friend actually got into it for the tanks, specifically the hammerhead. So I find what you said about that quite funny. I too think their battlesuits are cooler though

Onager dunecrawler for ad mech is like THE iconic vehicle which got me into ad mech. Dominus is sick with his spidery legs, Skitarii are Gorgeous and my fave like rank-and-file troop (distinguishing from Harlequins where not rank-and-file) choice in all 40k, but the Dunecrawler is absolutely Majestic. A Crab tank which can be an AA battery with missiles, or a fucking Particle Accelerator as a cannon, or a more standard Big Gun. Gorgeous, i love them.

I totally get your reasons for the Hekaton for LoV but for me it feels too similar in vibe to say IG or Tau. The thing that made me get into LoV was the Thunderkyn, everything about the lil guys needing exo-skeletons to carry big guns that even in an exo frame suit were still pretty short is brilliant imo

Every time I hear Bloodletters I think of my ABCs, therefore I would like a group of Bloodletters to be called a Sentence

The Flying Hive Tyrant got me into the Tyranids. For AoS, Light of Eltharion from the Lumineth Realm-Lords got me into that entire system.

"No one is getting into Tau for the tanks" Me, who saw the hammerhead and just went "I WANT THAT"

Just come across your channel and i really like it, have a sub!

"There's too ways to look at Tyranids, either monsters or swarms." THE TERVIGON IS BOTH! WHY ISN'T THAT THE CHOICE?!

There were two Tau models that made me ultimately decide to play them, and you picked both of them. I'm so glad to see the return of Riptide spam recently, that's the kind of list I originally set out to field.

Daemons is actually what sold me to Chaos Space Marines, I just love the idea of when guns are not enough, open the gates of hell to get the job done

space marines had always caught my attention, but it was actually Skitarii rangers that got me properly into 40k got me to buy my first models and paints. Now I've got a bunch of ad mech, 2 knights and 6 armigers, a bunch of necrons, and the startings of some iron hands, all since a quarter of the way into last year

Models that sold me on the Factions I collect: Death Guard: Mortarion GSC: Aberrants Tyranids: Mawloc

17:00 I realize this is for 40k, and not AoS, but I'll say that Tzaangor are what got me into Disciples of Tzeentch in that game. I'd gravitated towards Beastmen when I played Total Warhammer, and Tzaangor were my bridge over when I started investigating the tabletop.

Y'all nailed nids for me. For tau though, is have to say it's the stealth suits, my dad had a unit of them he converted to be jumping around am imperial city and I haven't felt different about them since.

HO. LEE. WOOWW. I always thought having a psyker army could be cool, but those Exhalted Sorcerers look absolutely INCREDIBLE. im instantly sold

9:04 - they're correct, the redemptor dread is the one that pivoted me to play space marines, I WANT THAT MODEL!

Honestly, the thumbnail for this made me watch. 👍 Also, The Ork Truck is what got me sold on Orks.

As a future Death Guard player, what really got me to love the faction was either Mortarion, although that seems a bit cheap, so the second would be the Lord of Virulence.

Dang this Podcast helped me find the perfect staff for my 30K stormseer

6:30 - New Turret gun profiles (outside of that meme Autocannon) are actually all viable in some ways. I messed around in a game on Saturday with a mix of Battle Cannons, Demolishers, a Vanquisher and a Plasma Executioner (I own 6 sue me). All of them did their part in a way, and felt actually useful. I love this video idea and watched the whole thing, I just wanted to throw the PSA out there that LR turret options are more than just the Demolisher now lol

This channel is just relaxing but not boring

For CSM I'd argue Possessed. Astartes are super soldiers in big, chunky power armor. What makes CSM unique from that is that they've spent lifetimes in a roiling eldritch dimension getting changed by its tides and the god-like entities within it. Possessed are exactly what one might expect from that description, they're still super soldiers in power armor, but they've been mutated to the point that the armor is breaking apart, and what armor is there not only has the spikes, but also looks like its own living being that's fused to the space marine's body.

8:21 "We don't do that in chaos" is just a weirdly neat quote.

personally for orks....i think the MODEL that sold me was actually the Morkanaught/Gorkanaught, but also THE BOYS ITZ DA BOYZ WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY

Funnily enough it actually was partially the Hammerhead that got me into Tau and also made me start collecting 40K in general. Any kind of hobby with some kind of shark theme instantly sells me on them. If Carcharodons ever get more focus and Tyberos gets a model I’ll become a space marine player as well.

Commander Farsight is what got me back into warhams, and if it wasn't him it'd be the ghostkeel's, such a dope suit

When I decided to do Dark Angels, the Land raider Crusader was my go to for them but I do agree deathwing knoghts are dope af

So: Necrons should be Warriors. The new warriors are dope, have a nice play on the tabletop and are just iconic. T'au, while the riptide is nice, the crisis suit is the actual powerhouse of the T'au'va. Votann, the HQs are what interest me the most. Insane iconography. Sisters can be anything. There are so many abstruse things about them, the flamer, melter, bolter triade. The Penitent engines. The warsuits. The Repentia. The HQs. The army is jzst full of character and ever unit has it's own flair to it.

i think picking between two flavor of boyz is on the right track for orks but man, it's gotta be the stormboyz for me. a boy with a looney tunes rocket strapped to his back

For necrons I'd have to go with either the necron lord specifically with the ressurection orb, or the old spyder model. But the spyder model might be due to how I was introduced to necrons through dawn of war dark crusade. Just seeing a spyder gather bodies and then create a new squad really sold me on 'never ending undead army'.

Brad talking about the Lord of Change is me explaining why I chose Chaos Deamons

I don't quite know who the mascots could be, but as for the models that convinced me to start collecting each of my two armies, it was the redemptor dreadnought for my Ultramarines army, and it was the new Gazgkhull Thraka for my orks.

A bit "off-topic" here but what actually got me into GW were the Freeguild armies that I got to see displayed when I was 10 at my local GW store. I wanted my first actual kit to be a Space Wolves one, but I just got regular Ultramarines. In middle school I really got into Eldar though, mostly because of the bikes and walkers, but never actually had Eldar. My first official army is T'au, which I got into cause mechs obviously, but also the piranhas weirdly and their overall aesthetic. Gotta say though, I really love the Ghostkeel's design over the Broadside.

Funny you guys mentioned T’au looking like a Gundam because the Space Marines looking vaguely like a Zaku is what made me interested in Warhammer. The Tyraniea also reminding me of other space horror monsters really helped as well

For Deathwatch, I would say either the Watch Master or a sergeant/captain using the Xenophase Blade. It really embodies how all these different aspects come together to make the one army stand out as the best of what space marines have to offer, plus the gateway to also using xenos bits in building them.

Imperial knight warden is so cool. Giant thunder gauntlet, with movable fingers, super cool mega Gatling gun, cool warthog helmet. He even gets to pick up vehicles and throw them at enemy units 😢

When i took my friend to my local game store, he was first drawn to farseer on bike. He then immediately had his jaw dropped when he saw the price

For Orks, I would've said Gahzkull Thraka, especially the older sculpt. The big horns, the gob, the kustom blasta for a hand, and the hydro pedals for feet. It was even used as the in-game model for Dawn of War for ages. Just can't beat that classic Big Boy With Klaw. Could be because I got exposed to 40k in the 90s to start, so I have those old images in my head. Screamer-Killers, Farseer or Howling Banshee. I had Necrons in the mid 00s and I always thought of Monoliths and the Necron Lord with orb and scythe. Guess some things have shifted. It's interesting seeing the evolution of what's iconic now. If you asked me 15 years ago what iconic Space Wolf model is, I'd say Rune Priest. I will say, with a huge soft spot for IG, it's either the Guardsmen themselves or a Commissar.

Goddamn, the moment the Votann vechile was brought up. I also started to think "Huh, that'd make good base for battlewagon conversion."

For Eldar, for me, it is the Wraithlord. When i was first getting into 40k, and i saw that kit, i was just instantly like... THAT! WHATEVER THAT IS!!! I had no idea they were space elves. I had no idea what a "wraith construct" or "wraith bone" was. I just saw this big dome head that looked like the Xenomorph from Alien, at least to me in regards to the shape. And i was just drawn to it. It was the first kit i ever bought for that army, and i pretty much immediately dropped space marines altogether. (a friend gave me space marines from the black reach box to get me started when i had no idea what faction to play) Pretty much been an Eldar player ever since 5th edition.

While I was already into CSM. I did have such a moment with the Forgefiend, particularly the one with triple ectoplasma cannons.

My differences in opinion: - The Leman Russ is great but the mascot for Imperial Guard is the Guardsmen. So many people play Guard because they wanted to play with little army men. - For the Tau, Crisis Team over the Broadside because it's not just one big Gundam, it's a whole team of them. (And drone friends too)

For me it was the Myphitic blight hauler that got me into Death Guard, the weird foul flesh on its back that you can only see when you rotate the model was just perfect.

So as a new player (going on about 1 year) - I have been pulled into 3 armys. Custodes - it’s the guard, they might be the bog standard troop, but they are also “the golden gods” of the books. Space marines - dreadnaughts. If it’s a big stompy robot, I have atleast 1 of them in my collection, from ironclads and contemptors, to deredeo a and leviathans. Lastly, Votann - for me while I love the land fortress. It’s the hearthkyn. The dude wearing the shades is the best head GW has ever released and I have been “robbing” my friends of the shade boys ever since. Of my 40 warriors, atleast 15 of them have shades on

The T'au commander in dawn if war is what got me into T'au. Still love them but my current favourite army is Death Guard and the model that got me was the Blightlord Terminator with the Flail of Corruption.

I started back in the 90s, with... 2nd Ed, I think? Space Marines vs. Dark Eldar, whatever that box was. For me, it was the Terminators with Lightning Claws. We played a bunch of Space Hulk, one of the people who owned the box had upgraded the figures with ones from the regular line, and I just fell in love with the massive chunk of metal that was a 90s Terminator. So when the new Edition came out I went halvsies on a starter box with another Dave who wanted the sex-cult space elves. Then I learnt more about the actual background and setting of the Imperium and promptly transformed my Marines into Renegades - which at the time meant they played with regular rules but I got to make up a backstory that didn't make me feel horrible. Today, I'm not an active 40K player, but I'm building an updated version of my original Marines-and-Guard idea using Horus Heresy Legionaires and Anvil Industry Regiments.

I was about to buy an astra militarum box and then saw a box of fire warriors and immediately fell in love. By far I think that fire warriors and the xv8 crisis battlesuits are my mascots for tau.

A few days ago I counted, and if you subtract 100 from the number of datasheets space Marines have, there are still more than 3 times the number of datasheets harlequins have