u/Akfiz

It is stated multiple times in the lore that each primarch carries an aspect of the Emperor. The Lion is his rationality, Hours his ambition, Alpharius his secrecy, Vulkan his empathy. I believe Jaghatai Khan represents the Emperor’s secret wish that mankind would preserve its humanity and be free.

The Emperor’s end goal was the Webway project for mankind to finally be free of any potential threats and also to keep their humanity. In the lore he lamented having to forsake his humanity for a greater goal many times and hoped that those close to him will keep their humanity like the custodians even as he cannot.

I think Jaghatai represents that aspect of him that wishes he didn’t have to make that choice.

While many of his brothers have big egos, Jaghatai has clarity and self-awareness. He is misunderstood but unlike Perturabo he isn’t upset about this rather accepts it as he is rational, composed and introspective.

Jaghatai valued freedom, personal honor and a deep sense of self. He valued independence, to think for himself and to question what others accepted as true.

And while he respected strength, he believed in using it wisely. 

Where Horus reflects the Emperor’s drive to conquer and impose order, and Guilliman his desire to build lasting civilization, Jaghatai reflects the quieter truth beneath both, that civilization is only worthwhile if the people within it remain truly alive. Not merely safe. Not merely obedient. Free.

This is why the Khan stands apart from so many of his brothers. He was never seduced by empire for its own sake. He saw the Imperium’s necessity, but he also saw its danger. He understood that tyranny can wear the face of salvation. He questioned both the Emperor and Horus, when the Horus Heresy broke out he did not rush to judgement, he understood both the grievances of Hours and the traitor primarchs, he even agreed with part of their reasoning, the Emperor was a tyrant after all, but Jaghatai also saw the larger picture, he knew that the Imperium for all its flaws was humanity’s best hope for survival. It is the same conclusion that the Emperor came to. And he knew that to betray the Imperium would unleash more chaos (pun not intended) not freedom. His decision to stay loyal was a reasoned choice made with a heavy heart.

The Emperor created generals, kings, executioners, builders. But with Jaghatai feels like he created a conscience. One that asks whether the road being taken is worth the destination.

The Khan’s rejection of both Chaos and blind Imperial dogma alike is what makes him unique. He did not choose the Emperor because he worshipped him. He chose him because, after reflection, he believed it was still the better path for humanity. That distinction matters. His loyalty was earned, not programmed.

Even his love of speed and the open horizon reflects this. It is not just aesthetic, it is philosophical. Movement is freedom. Stagnation is death. Chains are not only physical, they are ideological, spiritual, civilizational.

And perhaps that is the tragedy: the Emperor, who once may have believed the same, became the architect of the largest cage in human history because he believed there was no other choice.

Jaghatai is the echo of the man the Emperor might have been if he didn’t choose to give up his humanity.

He is the Emperor’s lost humanity. Not compassion like Vulkan, but liberty. The belief that humanity should not merely survive, but live as human beings, with dignity, choice, and soul intact.

That is why, fittingly, the Khan never fully belonged in the Imperium. Because he represented the question the Imperium itself could never comfortably answer:

What is the point of saving mankind if, in the process, mankind ceases to be human?

I initially believed that the White Scars are just speedy boys + Mongolian theme, which is why I overlooked them, and also why they are not as popular as in my opinion should be.

The speedy boys + Mongolian theme is very bare bones compared to what they truly are.

After I read about them, I found out that Jaghatai Khan and his legion are the most level headed common sense of the Primarchs and Space Marines.

He was the most pragmatic of the primarchs, he was standing aside because often his interest was to do good not to be understood. Even their name, White Scars, he told Sanguinius that they didn’t put it. They saw the uniforms with the thunder and called them White Scars but Jaghatai was like “if you don’t even what to bother to understand why we are doing this I don’t give a crap, they mistranslated the first word, and misinterpreted the second”.

He was pragmatic but not necessarily “I see the worat scenario but I pick what I can do best”, for him autonomy was important. He argued with the Emperor dus to the Imperial Truth and he was right, the Imperial Truth was one of the reasons many primarchs fell to Chaos because the primarchs not being prepared about the 4 gods of chaos played a big part in their downfall. Even the Emperor knew the Imperial Truth was a lie.

When the heresy started he stood a bit to clarify what is going on, to all his decisions I was like “yes, yes, that is the correct mindset “.

He is one of the humane primarchs, not big hug Vulkan level or Sanguinius but one of towards positive ones, they are more concerned with the overall view but still on the positive when it comes down to humanity, if he can save someone he saves them.

After Nicea and the whole Prospero aftermath he expressed regret that he should have been at Nicea. One of his Storm Seers helped Magnus, he tried to reach a compromise between Magnus and the Emperor and the public sided with him until Magnus fucked it up with “warp powers without limits“.

He failed to be there for Magnus at Nicea, but it’s a combination of 2 things: Jaghatai wasn’t really interested in imperial politics, when Sanguinius told him “the throne listens” Jaghatai was like “the throne listens my ass, at the end of the day the Emperor still does everything he wants, you can only give suggestions but that’s it”. And, at the start nobody believed that council is that serious, initially it seemed like a small regulation or something like that, until the opening when everyone figured out how serious it is, except Magnus.

Jaghatai acknowledged he fucked up, he should have been there, but at least it’s better than Russ. Not to mention the majority of primarchs were neutral, Jaghatai at least sent a Storm Seer that brought good arguments.

Most primarchs are either “Emperor is the best” or “Emperor is a tyrant”. Even before the heresy, Jaghatai Khan had one of the most nouanced opinions: yes, I know he is a tyrant, but given the situation that the galaxy is in you can’t be anything else but a tyrant to save it, I don’t agree with him on many points of view but I understand the necessity. Which, kinda right.

And the fact he had a good relation with Horus but still sided with the Emperor because after investigating he figured out the Emperor was right and Horus wasn’t, he applied thinking, something rare in w40k.

"So I fight for a Father who I never loved, against a brother that I did. I defend an empire that never wanted me against an army that would have taken me in a heartbeat."

Not even the Emperor expected him to remain a loyalist.

And during the siege of Terra: “thank you for being here, I know it’s not in your nature yet here you are”

His core identity is not speed, it’s freedom. He is: skeptical of dogma, suspicious of tyranny, philosophical and reflective, hard to predict, not obsessed with glory and recognition, probably the least ego-driven primarch.

There are few primarchs who ask: should we be doing this? Most ask: how do we win? Jaghatai asks: what are we becoming?

Jaghatai respects tradition but refuses to be owned by it. He serves the Imperium while remaining deeply skeptical of what it is becoming. He is loyal but not servile.

He is like “I choose my path, and I will answer for it”. A soveregin outsider, someone who can belong without being possessed.

Fastest and most fragile race in the game. Faster but less versatile than Eldar. Strong early, weak late, applies pressure. Collect "Soul Essence" from fallen units to cast global spells. They hit hard and fast but die quickly if caught in a sustained fight.

They are the strongest tier 1 faction and the weakest late game faction, you are very oppressive able to build vehicles in tier 1, if you stop applying pressure you die, if you keep attacking, you're unstoppable.

Always remember with Dark Eldar: "I'm speed". Keep your units moving and never give your enemies a chance to shoot back. Hit and Run. Your units are Hard hitting and fast but had armor as thin as paper. The Dark Eldar in the lore are scum, you are scum. Play like it. This faction is made for this. No tactic is below you, the dirtier the better.

The truth of Dark Eldar is that attack is the best defense. They do not have units with high HP or fortifications. The one exception to this is Listening Posts, Dark Eldar surprisingly have the 2nd strongest Listening Posts in terms of damage after the Imperial Guard, plus they have an Add-on that makes them also deal anti-vehicle damage. But that is all they don't have any Turrets or Mines for defense. In a conventional battle where both sides have massive armies in the battlefield and clash in the middle they will lose.

Their tier 1 vehicle is also very cheap to implement: build Dark Foundry, 2 Generators, Haemonculus Lab and now you can spam Jetbikes that are also very cheap only 85 requisition and 30 power. You can even rush to kill enemy builders in tier 1. Very good defensive races like Necron with the strongest turrets or Orks with their base full of buildings that shoot have an easy time to deal with Dark Eldar, but the other 6 races will be oppressed by them. If you play against Dark Eldar your objective is: tier 1: survive. tier 2: build a vehicle which can cause problems for the Dark Eldar.

They have a lot of very good units and a lot of completely useless units. You will notice that they have the worst vehicles in the game, sure tier 1 Jetbikes is very oppressive but aside from that everything else with a few exceptions like tier 3 Raven and Ravager is completely useless, not below average, worst, their ranged infantry Warriors are terrible and their secondary hero Haemonculus is the 2nd worst hero in the game. By contrast, their good units are really good: Mandrake are the strongest scouts, Hellions are the strongest jumpers, Jetbikes are tier 1 vehicles that says it all, and their primary hero Archon is the 2nd most powerful hero in the game, Scourges are surprisingly not one of the top best units in their ranged jump anti-vehicle class but still one of the stronger ones, Wych Squads are in top 5 best melee units in the game and Warp Beasts are number 2 in that same top 5.

You have 6 global abilities, these are the good ones: Piercing Vision gives detection for 30s use if invisible enemy, Screams of the Damned breaks half the morale of all enemy units on the map use in fights, Rend Soul big single-target damage, Soulstorm big area of effect damage (does friendly fire!).

In tier 1, you can go rush with: Mandrake + Hellion + Jetbikes with Dark Foundry. Mandrake are very powerful for a scout unit and can also learn invisibility at tier 1, Hellion are oppressive being the best melee best jumpers in the entire game above Seraphims and Stormboyz, Reaver Jetbikes are vehicles in tier 1 (only race with that). You can even skip the Hellions and go Mandrakes + Jetbikes. They are insanely annoying to deal with, you should absolutely destroy units and base the enemy while you advance in peace.

Do not go for the standard build that any other race would with the barracks Hall of Blood then make the standard ranged infantry Warriors as they are one of the worst in the game, with low attack range and low hp, even though they have good damage, their sergeant has a really powerful weapon but 1 unit in a squad is not enough to save them from being bad, you have far better units in the Dark Foundry until you get to tier 2 and need Hall of Blood for Scourge & Witches.

In tier 2, you can go: Scourge + Witch + Archon and for vehicles Jetbikes. Scourge are ranged jetpack units that can beat most tier 2 units, Scourge squads are initially anti-infantry but with the Dark Lance weapon upgrade can be made anti-vehicle too. Then you have Witch Squads that are one of the best melee units in the game even better than Chaos Possessed or Necron Flayed Ones. They are fast, fight well, and shoot well. They also have an active ability that gives them speed, attack speed and morale immunity. While Archon is one of the strongest heroes in the game, he is fast, tanky and very powerful, and a lot of research upgrades, and on top of that he also has powerful abilities, he can easily kill most heroes and multiple squads by himself as long as you continually reinforce his Inkubi.

For vehicles, the Raider is the worst transport in the game, expensive, has only 1 seat for units, low HP and weak anti-vehicle damage, the anti-infantry damage from boarded Warriors is also low, for such a bad unit it's a shock it takes 3 vehicle population. Talos is their walker and once again the worst walker in the game, his ranged weapon deals practically no damage, and is a lot weaker than a Dreadnought, but far more expensive and takes 4 vehicle population, he is basically what iPhone has become, costs more, does less. The Jetbikes however gain upgrades that double its health and damage with Night Shields and Reaver Targeting Module researches, they still won't make the Jetbike a particularly tough vehicle but get them.

Your tier 2 doesn't quite reach the level of tier 1, but is still very good. The balance of power shifts when the enemy gets vehicles. Scourge squads are strong anti-vehicle units and that's your first T2 power spike. You really want to get Witches as soon as possible too in Tier 2.

In tier 3, you Warp Beasts + Raven and Ravager. Warp Beasts, are the 2nd most powerful melee unit in the game only behind the Eldar Seer, but they have a downside if they lose morale they begin to fight each other but this is easily fixed by the squad sergeant Beast Master which has an active ability that instantly restores their morale and provides morale immunity for the next 10 seconds. And if you have Wych Squads nearby their active ability can also be used on the Warp Beasts which prevents them from losing morale. Its relic unit Dias of Destruction is one of the weaker relic units but still powerful relative to other units and worth getting, its ability can also melt infantry. Raven the air unit and is not one of the best but you can't be picky with Dark Eldar vehicles, it deals good damage to both infantry and vehicles, is fast and has a good ability that disables an enemy unit for 10 seconds, but is fragile. Ravager is one of the weakest tanks in terms of pure stats but his ability Hororfex Bomb is very powerful, causes all enemies hit to run in terror for 8 seconds, they don't fight back while running, this ability alone makes it a very powerful tank.

You get one of the strongest melee fighters late game with Archon + Witch + Warp Beasts combo, have the Scourge as a good enough ranged, and Raven + Ravagers as vehicles. This is weaker than what other races have in tier 3 but will have to do. You probably noticed how many great things they have early game and how late game is kind of eh, and you are absolutely correct. You did enjoy playing like scum with dirty tactics and their oppressive tier 1 to early tier 2 with the Mandrakes, Hellion, Jetbikes then Scourge, Witch, Archon. Well now Slaanesh has come to collect.

Star of the Show: Jetbikes

Play very different. Their only resource is Power. Turtle race with a unique power-only economy. They are looking to invest and build up to a slow but powerful T2 with immortals, flayed ones and strong commander abilities.

Map control is less important for them but they still want to harass the enemy otherwise they lose to an economic advantage. The good news is you don't rely on capturing strategic points like other factions and can mostly turtle until the first base upgrade. The downside is that this basically gives the opponent free reign on the rest of the map to quickly expand (this isn't really a problem in team games but is a major weakness in 1v1s).

The Necron Lord is one of the best Commanders even without upgrades, he is a very important part of your army and the 3rd most powerful Hero in the game after Tau Ethereal and Ork Warboss both of which are tier 3. With the Forbidden Archive building you can give him 3/8 special abilities: get Phase Shifter, Lightning Field, Phylactery: tier 1, tier 1, tier 2. Phase Shifter makes your units immune and regenerate HP very fast for 15 seconds but cannot attack. Lightning Field is a passive reflects 90% of the melee damage back at the enemy, so you become a melee god, plus a damage dealing active. Phylactery is by far his best ability he gains passive triple HP regeneration and reduce ranged damage by 60%. There are other strong ones too Solar Pulse or Nightmare Shroud but default to these 3. You can play a lot around the Necron Lord.

The basic Necron Warriors are free to produce, but the more you produce the longer it takes for the next squad to produce, you probably don't need more than 3 squads (make sure to get the damage upgrades asap). Building squads is free but reinforcing isn't, so hold off on reinforcing until you have a decent economy going (build 5-8 gens right away with 1 builder on each while doing others things too). By the mid-game you'll need to start building Obelisks across the map to teleport around your infantry but that's a bit more advanced, Necron units can teleport to listening posts for retreat. They have the most powerful turrets in the game but their listening posts aren't normal turrets who shoot instead have an active ability.

In tier 2, I personally like the Immortal/Destroyer combo, Immortal anti-vehicle, Destroyer anti-infantry, but the actually best unit you have is Flayed Ones, as they are incredibly tanky and can deep strike, they remain powerful even in tier 3. Necron units and Necron Lord benefit from increased health everytime you build and upgrade a Monolith, becoming insanely powerful in tier 3. Wraiths are very weak in melee, but is an insanely fast and relatively tanky unit, do not use against Space Marines Squads or Ork Slugga Boys, their role is to be used against dedicated ranged squads weak in melee like Tau Fire Warriors or Guardsmen to "disable" their ranged attack while the rest of your army shoots them. Tomb Spider is your walker like the Dreadnought or Defiler but he is more army rebuilder than fighter unless weapon upgraded, his role is to stay behind your own lines and collect necron bodies so you can instantly create new Necron units, another units spawn point essentially.

In tier 3, Lord Destroyer posses an enemy vehicle, so you not only eliminate an enemy vehicle instantly but you use it for yourself. The range of the ability is short, 8, so you need to be close to it, but he has high speed and is quite tanky. Pariahs are 3rd strongest melee units in the game right after Eldar Seer and Dark Eldar Warp Beasts. And Restored Monolith is one of the strongest units in the game. And once you get the Monolith moving it's GG unless your opponent is equally maxed out. Their relic unit is also the strongest in the game and if you are left alone long enough to build it you will usually win. They are very slow but very durable.

Star of the Show: Necron Lord

Masters of ranged combat, able to wipe squads before they get close. They struggle in melee, but the point is to have such a powerful wall of ranged units that the enemy will not even reach your melee. Kroot are Tau's answer to melee but their range is so strong that the Kroot are optional.

Your Fire Warriors have high damage and the longest attack range in the game, you as Tau play around them, you can build a wall of high damage Fire Warriors so strong that it kills everything before it can get close, an in fact that's the Tau player's dream, to get to a point where nothing can get close. Probably the easiest race to play, think modern army with Kroot meat shield. Their units have the longest range in the game so they set up the strongest defensive lines. Fun Fact: Fire Warriors have line of sight 15 and attack range 35, so they can attack from even further away if another unit spots the enemy unit. Sight can be offered by: Kroot with 25 sight but also fighting melee so you see the enemy, Tau Commander in tier 1 with 25 or Pathfinder Teams in tier 2 with 50 sight plus mark ability that increases damage on that target. Or an ally already fighting the enemy. In tier 3 Kauyon path gives a research that increases their sight to 40, but by that time their attack range also increases to 50.

Tau major weakness is the melee because the Tau Fire Warriors are even worse than Guardsmen in melee if you can imagine that, and their answer to this weakness is the Kroot all of whom are melee fighters but they are decent melee fighters average to below average, their only role is to hold the line for the Fire Warriors, Pathfinders, XV15 fully upgraded scouts and other ranged Tau units to deal the real damage. They also have very powerful Heroes and good inflitration units. They have 4 infiltrated units and 2 jumping units, one of which is both inflitrated and jumping.

In tier 1, use Fire Warriors to snipe from a distance and Kroot units as a "meat shield" to stop enemies from reaching your shooters, and if you're good enough this is optional, you can use Tau Commander's ability "Snare Trap" instead.

You also have the Vespid from your HQ Command Center which are the 4th best jumping unit in the game right after Dark Eldar Hellions, Sisters of Battle Seraphim and Orks Stormboyz. You can use the Vespids to annoy your enemy early on with hit and run since they can jump a lot. Your scouts XV15 are weak at this point but they can become very powerful in tier 2. The Tau Commander is the 4th most powerful commander in the game so he is quite essential for your army while the Tau Ethereal in tier 3 is the most powerful commander in the game.

In tier 2, Tau comes online with Fire Warrior upgrades and Pathfinders that provide extra range to Fire Warrior Teams and has a mark ability making enemy more vulnerable to all sort of damage, have at least 1 in your army with Fire Warriors.

Your XV15 Scouts stealth suits also come online with Fusion Blasters weapons and Stealth Burst Cannon Enhancements research that triples their damage and Target Lock to fire on move, becoming powerful invisible harassment units. XV15 also benefits from Fire Warriors' normal Advanced Pulse Rifles research.

Their vehicles are not great not terrible, except for the tier 3 ones. Devilfish are good at keeping your Fire Warriors safe and Barracudas are a very useful in damage air vehicle, being one of the only 2 good air vehicles in the game, the other being of Chaos. Missile Gunships are rarely used (for the ability) not bad not great pick, Drone Harbingers are a meme. Not the best but will have to do.

In tier 3, you have 2 paths and you can only pick 1 and 90% of the time will pick Kauyon. Kauyon "Patient Hunter" further improves the units you already have from lower tiers, including Fire Warriors, and gives you stronger melee options: Kroot Hound Pack and Krootox. Both of which are actually good, they are not top tier melee units, you don't have that as Tau, so no Eldar Seer or Dark Eldar Warp Beasts for you, but the Kroot Hound Pack and Krootox are actually at the level of Necron Flayed Ones, Orks Nobz, Imperial Guards Ogryns which for a range-focused army this is actually quite good. The bad news is you still had bad vehicles.

While Montka "Killing blow" unlocks XV-8 infantry unit that is good versus both anti-infantry and anti-vehicle, and the vehicle Hammerhead, which is the best tank in the game better than the Imperial Guard Leman Russ. So from terrible vehicles you end up with one of the best vehicles in the whole game.

Kauyon is generally the best because it boosts your Fire Warriors. You only take Montka vs Space Marines and Imperial Guard for crisis suits. Kroot Hounds are also good against Necrons (they stop Wraiths messing you up).

The Tau Etheral and Knarloc relic unit is available in both the Kauyon and Montka paths but Knarloc is terrible, a slow unit with only melee attack, all relic units are insane and are worth it if you can make it, except this one, better to get more Fire Warriors or Hammerheads than this. The Tau Etheral on the other hand is the strongest hero in the game. The unit itself is very fragile walks slowly and only has a staff to attack that does low damage, but he has 4 abilities: "For the Greater Good" is a global passive that buffs all of your units with +200 health and +200 morale, the +200 health increase is not for each squad but each unit in a squad, if you have a squad of 5 units that's actually +1000 health. This is already OP but you also have "Summon Shas'Ui Bodyguard" which are very powerful ranged units that can only be recruited from here get them to frontline, they have 70 range attack, where as Fire Warriors have 50 attack range with all upgrades. The 3rd ability is a meh hologram and the 4th is basically the Orbital Bombardment from the Space Marine Force Commander and is just as powerful.

Star of the Show: Fire Warriors

Defensive lines and massive firepower. Use Guard Squads to hold the line while vehicles shell enemies from afar, they are the weakest in tier 1 as they double as scouts but with their armor research + morale research + grenade launchers + tier 2 commissar execute, they become the second most powerful non-tier 3 infantry.

The Grenade Launchers are better than Plasma Guns because they knock enemies down and stop them firing. But later late tier 2 - tier 3 Plasma Guns are better to deal with vehicles and late tiers infantry. Remember that guardsmen are terrible in melee, against guard you should switch your space marines into melee stance, with the guard you should run from melee fights. Also remember that guard have terrible morale before tier 2. They have the weakest basic unit early game but the trade-off is that they have strong fortifications: strongest Listening Post in the game in terms of damage, 2nd strongest Turrets in terms of damage, can bunker guardsmen in buildings for extra defense, as well as perhaps the best collection of vehicles in the game. 

Imperial Guards with Orks and Dark Eldar have increased capture rate. Imperial guard builder repairs faster than other units in the game. As imperial guard, you can teleport garrisoned squads between buildings. 1 garrisoned troop in a listening post or building is more effective at defending than an unupgraded tier 1 guard squad, garrisoning extra squads gives access to more powerful weapons: 1 lasguns, 2 lasguns and plasma, 3 lasguns and plasma guns and a heavy bolter. You're not Necrons to camp your base, but your playstyle is hold the line your half of map then rush Leman Russ and Baneblade. Try to get fast T2 and use the momentum that the power of grenade launchers gives them to go T3 and Leman Russ + Baneblade rush. They have one of the strongest late game with the Leman Russ and Baneblade, artillery and super unit in one. 

Tier 1 is weak with the guardsmen, since the guardsmen are cheap you should make 3-4 guardsmen squads and use numbers in your advantage, and avoid melee combat like an uninsured rental car. After you get the Armory building improve their morale, armor and give them grenade launchers. Your hero Command Squad is the only melee unit you get until Ogryns in tier 3 so from this point of view is invaluable, but compared to other heroes he's not terrible but below average, he is one of the weakest heroes in melee so use him melee but use him careful. Of the 3 commanders you can attach the Commissar is useless as you cannot use "Execute" with him, early game you should get Priests only as they have strong melee and in tier 3 you should play around Psykers with 2 Priests 2 Psykers but keep him ranged so that you can use Psykers' abilities. In tier 1 if you face an enemy inflitrated unit you can add 1 Psyker to it for detection. In their 3 you get a Bombardment ability similar to Space Marines' Force Commander, it is called faster so the enemy has less time to react but doesn't deal as much damage. Your goal in tier 1 is to try to get to tier 2 fast, try to capture half the map just like the enemy and hold the line with what you have.

In tier 2, you get Sentinels and Hellhounds vehicles for anti-vehicle and anti-infantry, cheap and work best in packs and Commissar's Execute ability that makes all guard squads effectively immune to morale while double fire rate, this turns them into a fighting force. The Commissar's "Execute" is the most important ability of the Imperial Guard, it turns the guardsmen into a very powerful force. In late tier 2 after you have all the Armory upgrades and Grenade Launchers / Plasma and Commisars + Priests with some Sentinels + Hellhounds on the back you become a force to be reckon it, this is where your offensive beings and you start to push back. And tier 3 will help you even more with stronger infantry and some of the best vehicles in the game. By late tier 2 the Guardsman if massed like that is the strongest ranged unit in the game.

Even though the Guardsmen upgrades are over and there is nothing left to upgrade them with in tier 3, they still remain the strongest ranged infantry unit after: Dark Reapers, Obliterators, Flash Gitz, Fire Warriors, Warp Spiders, Space Marines Terminators, Imperial Guards Karskin, and arguably Eldar Rangers, and yes the list is long but notice how all aside from Dark Reapers, Fire Warriors and Eldar Rangers are tier 3 units so they still remain once of the top units in the game in the very late game with 0 upgrades in tier 3.

In tier 3, Leman Russ and Baneblade are some of the best vehicles in the game, together surpass even the Necron Restored Monolith, you also get 2 more infantry units: Karskin with powerful range at the level of Fire Warriors or Dark Reapers and Ogrin with powerful melee and your only other melee dedicated unit aside from Command Squad. While vehicles are still your strongest suit, with upgrades and Comissars execute spam and Priests the guardsmen frontline can become a force in its own right. Fully upgraded, massed, with 2-3 commissars attached on guardsmen and Priests attached on the other guardsmen squads as well as on Karskin and Ogryn, they can melt enemy units in seconds. Anything problematic can be hit with Psykers.

Star of the Show: Leman Russ and Baneblade (yes, Guardsmen are a close behind, but the whole strategy of the Imperial Guards is to defend until you get to tier 3 so you can get the Leman Russ and Baneblade)

More aggressive Space Marines with same spammable walker but ranged. Strong if you play them to fast tech. They play aggressively, take map control and use the resource advantage to go fast T2 into Defilers or Horrors and if that doesn't seal the deal fast T3 into Obliterators and Bloodthirster.

In tier 1, use Cultists to capture points early, then transition into Chaos Space Marines, optional you can upgrade the Cultists with Grande Launchers and use them ranged which makes them strong for a scout. Chaos Space Marines are Space Marines but with only anti-heavy upgrades Bolters & Plasma while being a bit stronger in melee and with higher max squad size. Your tier 1 Main lord is the strongest lord in 1vs1 so don't be afraid to send him on the frontline. Raptors are not that great, only use if necessary because you deal with a heavy ranged army like Tau.

In tier 2, you can spam vehicles, especially Defilers if dealing with a lot of infantry, or Horrors to deal with vehicles. Either build Sacrificial Circle or Machine Pit first. In the Sacrificial Circle, Horrors are very good anti-vehicle that can deep strike, but are bad vs infantry or buildings. Berserkers are melee specialists but are not that great compared to other melee specialists, only use if you do not have a convenient way to stop enemy infantry.

For vehicles, Defiler known as "Crab" due to its shape is cheaper than a Dreadnought for a fast-paced race like Chaos is very useful, it has 3 ranged weapons and 1 melee: artillery, normal fire, flamer, fists. The artillery deals the 2nd highest infantry and vehicle damage out of his 4 attacks mostly useful against infantry because it disrupts them but also slows vehicles down, the normal fire is mainly anti-infantry but does some vehicle and building damage, the flamer deals morale damage but is more of a decorative item due to its short range either you're close enough for the first or far enough for the normal fire, while the fist has the highest damage out of all 4 effective against all targets and equal to that of the Dreadnought but the downside is the Defiler is not very tanky for a walker and also moves slower. He is strong in many ways, not as tanky as the Dreadnought in 1vs1 vehicle fight but as you can see he has many other advatnages. You can spam Defilers like Space Marines spam Dreadnoughts, but as artillery. They are fairly OP for what they offer to be honest. Hell Talon is a fair option being a fairly oppressive air unit. Chaos Predator is devastating on range as long as kept safe, it's the same as Space Marines Predator except with a bit less HP 4000 vs 5000 good versus infantry, but in tier 2 instead of tier 3, although you only get the Twin Lascannon that makes them anti-vehicle in tier 3. You can use the Sorcerer Chains of Torment ability to lock squads in place and delete them.

In tier 3 you have Possessed, Obliterators and daemons Daemon Prince and Bloodthirster. Possessed are melee specialists exactly like Berserkers but actually good, they are in fact one of the best melee specialists in the game only beaten by Eldar Seer, Dark Eldar Warp Beasts, Necron Pariah, Space Marines Assault Terminator and Dark Eldar Witch. Obliterators have a lot of HP and damage vs everything but are slow, however they are the 2nd strongest ranged infantry in the game only behind fully upgraded Dark Reapers. Daemon Prince is very fast and deals a lot of damage, the stronger relic unit Bloodthirster can fly and is the most powerful unit in the game against buildings. As you can see you have a lot of specialized units, Chaos can be very punishing if you can’t keep the expensive units alive. Chaos also has a niche late game where your Chaos Space Marines with plasma guns can turn invisible, kill their detectors and they are at your mercy, after Dark Reapers, Fire Warriors and Imperial Guardsmen, they are the strongest ranged infantry that is not a tier 3 specialist like Obliterators, Flash Gitz and such.

Star of the Show: Defiler (like for Orks, Chaos are all about unit variation, the difference is Chaos are about getting to t2 and t3 faster than the opponent, while Orks kill them in t1 and t2 to make sure there won't be a t3, but there's a lot of other units that could be the stars: Horrors, Hell Talon, even the default Chaos Space Marines and late game daemons, however, I think Defilers are such a jack of all trades good at a lot of tasks that they are worth being the stars of Chaos)

The "Glass Cannons". Takes some finesse to play well. Their main strength is their ability to ambush, skirmish and backdoor. With strong ranged infantry that's also speedy and tanks and Wraithlords are strong in early T2 but they aren't usually looking to win in a frontline war.

You must use Fleet of Foot to outmaneuver enemies and specialized units (Dark Reapers for infantry, Fire Dragons for tanks). It allows you to quickly attack and get out of unfavorable situations. Fleet of Foot speed boost comes with a 40% reduction in melee damage and 80% in ranged damage, this seems terrible but there is 0 cooldown, you need to become effective at toggling it on and off and know when to use it, learn to love your F key as an Eldar player. You have to do it for each squad so select a group then its press tab to cycle through the squads and press F.

Aside from Fleet of Foot you must also use Webway Gates to teleport across the map. The Webway is your best friend. Webway gates are both your primary means of increasing unit capacity and a way for you to rapidly move from one location to another. With the Webway, you can have multiple bases in completely different locations and still be able to reinforce them relatively quickly.

This seems strong so what's the downside? The Eldar, despite having very fast units with Fleet of Foot, are a very slow race. They capture the map slowly, they have some of the most expensive units and take a long time to produce, but once their economy and army are setup they are quite powerful.

In tier 1, Dark Reapers really do destroy a lot of infantry with huge HP, huge range and huge damage and with Armor and Optics research their HP and damage and range increases but in tier 2 Dark Reapers get weak outgunned by a lot of things like Guardsmen with Priest and weapon specialisation, heavy bolters, Tau Fire Warriors, Sisters of Battle Celestians, etc. You need either Warp Spiders then, they only become good again in tier 3 when you get Optics where Dark Reaper damage is again boosted by 50% and the range becomes 40, outranging a lot of infantry.

Rangers is a sniper and does not engage head on, there are only 3 snipers in Dawn of War: Space Marines Scouts, Eldar Rangers and Imperial Guard Assassin. They are very useful for the Eldar and very unpleasant for the enemy, they can be detected but you can just run with Fleet of Foot or stay behind Reapers, they deal high morale damage but can also shoot buildings from outside the Listening Post range, they are even good enough in melee being able to beat Cultists in melee, in t2 they are easy to deal with but in t3 they get a new power spike due to the same Armor and Optics research that Dark Reapers have.

Banshees are fast and agile melee units and with Fleet of Foot on are the fastest melee units in the game, and deal good melee damage. The issue is at t1 they are not yet strong enough to be more effective than the Dark Reapers or Rangers, in t2 they are useful if you do not have a convenient way to stop enemy infantry, in t3 they are strong but you already have the Seer Council that does the same thing but better. Aside from the regular Armor and Optics they also have their own unique research in t2 called Call to War that makes them specifically stronger, with all upgrades in t3 they can become almost as tanky as a Space Marine Terminator.

Guardians deal poor damage, almost any other tier 1 unit will beat the Guardians, the only optional way to keep them useful is to upgrade them with Grenades and Warlock's Entanglement ability to keep enemy units in place, they can also serve as melee cannon fodder.

In tier 2, Wraithlord walkers are close to Dreadnoughts in power, you can double tap Q on Wraithguard to save the unit for usage again, while Falcon is an average power anti-infantry but is good to maneuver your troops (especially Dark Reapers) across the map to harass the enemy. While Fire Dragons are insane, they melt vehicles.

In tier 3, you get Warp Spiders, Fire Prism and Avatar of Khaine. Warp Spiders have teleporting hit and run while dealing a ton of damage and being tanky, but they are 1 of the 2 Eldar units that cannot use Fleet of Foot and are relatively slow, although they are the most expensive Eldar infantry unit. And like all Eldar infantry units they benefit from Optics and Armor research. And the Fire Prism is both very tanky and very fast while being good vs both infantry and vehicles. Warp Spiders are one of the best ranged infantry in the game, right after fully upgraded Dark Reapers that can beat T3 units and you can spam and even deal decent damage to vehicles, Obliterators, Flash Gitz and Fire Warriors, stronger than Space Marines Terminators and Imperial Guards Karskin. While the Fire Prism is a strong tank. Not at the top tier level of Tau Hammerhead, Imperial Guard Leman Russ, Orks Looted Tank, but right below the strongest comparable with Space Marines Predator and Dark Eldar Ravager. When Avatar of Khaine is summoned, you gain +5 infantry population and +10 vehicle population. They are a slower but more versatile variant of the Dark Eldar but just as pointy sharp with precise heavy blows.

Star of the Show: Dark Reapers

The "Strength in Numbers" faction. Play aggressive, overwhelming enemies with high numbers of cheap infantry (Ork Boyz). Melee is their strength, don't ignore ranged though. And late game free Slugga boyz for spam, although their main thing is a variety of late game units.

Tier 1 Ork infantry is Slugga for melee (anti-range), Shotta for range (anti-melee). None are great on their own but are cheap, as Orks you have numbers. Slugga have Flamer upgrade for closing on shooty armies. Merging Big Mek to any squad allows the whole squad to benefit from Big Mek's teleport ability. They have a strong early game rush with the Big Mek able to teleport a large squad. Generally you want to be aggressive early to abuse their superior melee. You can go for an early jetpack squad to tie down any anti-infantry ranged units, Orks Stormboyz are one of the best jumper units in the game, only inferior to Dark Eldar Hellions and Sisters of Battle Seraphims, arguably at the same level with Tau Vespids.

Orks are weak to heavy bolters due to the horde nature of their army. They are mostly a melee focused race but don't discount their ranged units. Their base can't be harassed early to due to many turrets so they can freely harass the enemy before T2 and that's usually how they win. Orks get stronger the more of them are, extra HP, damage and morale if your squad units is higher than 5. And morale immune if over 30 orks nearby.

Tier 2 is a swarm of a large variety of units. For infantry, Nobz Squad one of the best melee units in the game. In tier 2 only Dark Eldar Witches and Necron Flayed Ones beat them. Each Slugga sergeant is also a Nob Ork. While on range Tankbustaz will counter any vehicles they might get out and blow through the enemy buildings. For vehicles, Wartrack is anti-vehicle (does friendly fire, but only 25% damage, enemy takes 100%) and Wartruck is anti-infantry are the stars. Use their vehicles like artillery, and if you can manage it you can use cheese strats with Mad Dok bombs. Focus on infantry but don't ignore vehicles. Try to keep your advanced units Nobs + Tankbustas + Wartrack on the go otherwise your army will be made out of too many basic units.

In tier 3, they are strong at the start but fall off as tier 3 goes on compared to more ranged focused races but it's not game over. You get the Warboss that is the 2nd most powerful Hero in the game right under Tau Etherial, and at the level of Necron Lord, Tau Commander. You get the melee Mega Nobs that are good, they are stronger than Nobs but significantly more expensive for their value and not a great tier 3 units. Only take Mega Nobs if you already have the rest of the other powerful units and your alternative is recruit these or Sluggas. And ranged Flash Gitz that like the Warboss are some of the best ranged units in the game comparable to Dark Reapers, Obliterators, Flash Gitz, Fire Warriors, Warp Spiders. As well as Looted Tank that likewise are some of the best tanks in the game only behind Tau Hammerhead and Imperial Guard Leman Russes. 

So you got Big Mek + Nobs + Tankbustas + Wartrack + Warboss + Flash Gitz + Looted Tank and weaker units around it or Mega Nobz. You also get free sluggas research in tier 3 so you can auto build slugga units and keep throwing them in as fodder. You can try to play around your relic unit if you manage to get it. Just because Orks are an aggressive race doesn't mean you can neglect your economy.

Star of the Show: The Nobs (I had to pick 1, but the point of the Orks is the variety of units, was considering Flash Gitz, Looted Tank and even Warboss but the Nobs are tier 2, you get them early)

The "Jack of all trades" best beginner race. They have high HP and morale. Slower than others to tech up but stronger if they are left alone to do so due to superior basic units. And late game have the air drop strategy.

In tier 1 rather than having specialized anti-something you can upgrade the Space Marines with: Flamers for anti-infantry, Plasma for anti-heavy infantry while mobile, Heavy Bolter for anti-heavy infantry while stationary with extra range, Rocket Launcher for anti-vehicle. The Assault Space Marine is not that great, only use if necessary because you deal with a heavy ranged army like Tau. While the Scouts can optionally be turned invisible with Snipers which good against single targets since they can almost instantly break morale, but they are hopeless if caught. Do not neglect your heroes: Force Commander is easily above average when compared to other heroes of his level. While Librarian and Chaplain are even better than him.

For tier 2 Dreadnoughts are the stars, they are the 2nd best walker vehicles in the game but the ones who are no.1 Penitent Engine from Sisters of Battle are tier 3 and have max build limit 2, Dreadnoughts on the other hand are tier 2 and you can build as many as you want. If the enemy runs, you can build Skull Probe from Listening Posts which can stun enemy vehicles so the Dreadnought can kill them. Grey Knights are not that great, only ever useful if you're facing daemons which only 5 factions have and is 1 or 2 units in late game except for Chaos. 

In tier 3, you do the same Space Marines + Dreadnoughts combo but this time the spamming of attacks right in the enemy base with some Terminators and optional Predators. You get the Drop Pod where you can send Dreadnoughts, Space Marines and the 2 types of Terminators anywhere on the map. It's the deep strike of Boreale from the Soulstrom campaign. You can keep pumping units on the frontline right away or in the enemy base.

The Terminators, one is melee one is range, are above-average tier 3 units but not one of the best, clearly better than your default Space Marines anyway. The Predator tank is if you want backline support instead of Dreadnoughts, by default is anti-infantry but with the Twin Lascannon upgrade can become anti-vehicle, after the Tau Hammerhead, Imperial Guards Leman Russ and Orks Looted Tank this is the 4th best Tank in the game, arguably at the same level with Dark Eldar Ravager and Eldar Fire Prism.

Late-game you can simultaneously deploy 6 units (2 Terminators from the barracks, 3 platoons, and a queued Dreadnought from the orbital relay) at close range to the enemy, as well as the Librarian's ability to grant AOE immortality. It's a good race late game. Also, Space Marines and Eldar love it when the enemy stacks their units in one big blob, because the Force Commander has Orbital Bombardment ability and Eldar have Eldritch Storm. Their relic unit is one of the best, not at the same level as Imperial Guard Baneblade or Necron Restored Monolith that dominate, but at the same level as Orks, Eldar and Chaos' relic unit.

Star of the Show: The Dreadnought.

At the end of the book Fury of Magnus after he said yes to Tzeench but before he was transported to the warp he had a memory from the eve of the Crusade:

Fulgrim and Ferrus were fighting each other and the Emperor with Magnus was watching, Magnus said that whole competition between them is pointless and the Emperor replied Magnus is so like him in so many ways, but that he should be careful because due to his intelligence he thinks he can do no wrong, Magnus denied it, the Emperor said that he should always be open to other ways of doings things, other ways of untanging the knot, Magnus said this is not very inspiring advice, the Emperor said it will be useful when I fail, Magnus asked where did you fail? The Emperor replied I do not know yet, but when I do, I have a feeling you and your favorite sons will play a part in reverting my mistake, Magnus replied favorite sons? all my sons are favorite, the Emperor said that yes but there will be one of them that will carry your ambitions further than you ever could, just when you think all is lost he will show you how wrong you have been all this time, then Magnus moved his hand and realised this is not actually a memory.

Can be interpreted multiple ways, but I think the easiest explation is that the Emperor gave Magnus a vision, talking with him one last time.

But what he said: Magnus should look for other ways of doing things, he and his sons will play a part in reverting his mistake, when he thinks all is lost one of his favorite sons will show him how wrong he was all this time.

This sounds a lot like foreshadowing, and the Emperor was able to predict the future.

What do you think? Is it possible for a primarch to un-become a daemon primarch? Would his favorite sons be one of the Thousand Sons? Janus? Blood Ravens?

Is there any other price of lore that expands on this?