Preferred Enemy

This post actually has nothing to do with the USR in the rule book, but rather what armies I prefer playing against.  I would consider myself the type of player that falls at the half way line between WAAC and fluffy.  The army lists that I write often contain a central theme and the units I pick have to fit that theme.  I'm also one of those players that enjoy fighting against enemies of the Imperium more so than other Marine Chapters.  I think it's more thematic when my Space Marines fight against treacherous Chaos Space Marines or the foul xenos scum that is Tyranids rather than fighting against Space Marines.  For this particular case, I would say that aesthetics of the game certainly outweighs how competitive the lists should be.  I don't think anyone I've encountered actually enjoys mirror matches on the table-top. I absolutely hate fighting SW vs. SW or BA vs. BA.  I mean, what's the point?  And it's incredibly frustrating when I see two of the same SCs on the field.  I would rather field a different army than face that.


Let me go through the armies available for us to fight and I'll blurb a short segment on why I enjoy fighting these armies over others.

Traitors and Heretics:

Chaos Space Marines

Chaos Daemons

I will never turn down a game against the forces of Chaos.  Not only do they need constant spanking since after the Horus Heresy but the fluff behind SM vs. CSMs is what got me started in 40K.  I believe the First Battle of Armageddon is the most epic battle ever fought and every game I have with Chaos is a minor reenactment of it.  I also love this matchup because I remember the absolute misery of fighting against dual lash lists back in 4th when all I had was footslogging Grey Knights.  Even though every game I played was pretty epic, it pained me horribly to see so many Marines die.  Chaos is, and always will be, mankind's greatest enemy.

Xenos Scum:

Tyranids

Orks

Necrons

Tau Empire

Dark Eldar

Eldar

This is pretty much in order right here.  Tyranids are the pinnacle of xenos scum and everyone else foreign or green goes under this list.  Orks are all over the place and they need to be weeded (literally), Necrons reminds me of wack-a-mole and the Tau Empire needs to stay on their side of the galaxy.  Eldar don't bother me that much because they're the "good" guys in the galaxy and I used to play them, but they're not manly enough compared to my Marines and needs to be sterilized.  Dark Eldar falls under the same category but they're even worse in terms of manliness.

Crazy People:

Witch Hunters

Black Templars

Even though Witch Hunters are part of the Inquisition, they need to be put in their place.  I just don't understand why everyone has to follow the same religious beliefs as they do.  The same applies to the Black Templar Chapter of Space Marines.  You can go around the universe on your silly crusades all you want, but stay out of my way when you do so.  Believe in whatever you want, but don't try to force your beliefs onto others.  If you have any questions, my bolter will be happy to answer.

Imperium:

Dark Angels

Blood Angels

Space Marines

Space Wolves

Imperial Guard

Daemonhunters

Aside from some fluffy battles such as Space Wolves vs. Dark Angels (Wolf and the Lion) or Blood Angels vs. Space Wolves (reenactment of Honor's End), I don't see a serious need to fight these armies.  Space Marines often get along fine with Imperial Guard.. unless they fall under the sway of Chaos or something.  Although a few grudge-matches are fun once in a while, the other Chapters can keep to themselves.

What about you guys?  Do you have a preferred matchup?  If so, which one?