Why Dark Angels?

I'm feeling very deep today so I decided to answer a question I've been asking myself since this project was first born in my head a couple months ago.  That question, if you haven't already figured it out, is
"Why Dark Angels?"

The short answer is cost-effectiveness, but let me explain further.

When I decided months and months ago—all the way back in May—that I was ready to jump back into the Games Workshop hobby, I set a few rules for myself before I even began to consider what I would play.

1. I had to start a new army, to coincide with the release of a new edition of the rules and my new start to the hobby at large.
2. I had to do as much as possible to save money while building this army, meaning that I had to start taking cost-effectiveness into account.
3. I would sell my Chaos Space Marine army (1,850 points) as well as anything else I could, and the money for that would be free to use to build the new army.
4. The new army could not be inherently evil—so no Chaos (Space Marines or Daemons) and no Dark Eldar.

So I had to pick a new army based on these rules, plus the guidelines that I had to enjoy painting the models, I had to like the background, and I had to be able to tell a story with the army I created.  Already a couple different armies were knocked out, specifically Tyranids, Orks, and Imperial Guard, as well as the aforementioned Chaos and Dark Eldar.

Around this time the new Necron models came out, introducing Canoptek Wraiths and Spyders, and new special character models.  I love these models, so I was immediately drawn to the Necron.  The army is very cost-effective, had a brand new set of models as well as a very recently released Codex, and I new I would enjoy painting them, especially after painting a test model.  I love the background and the potential it gives to story-telling, but it just didn't feel like enough.  The rank and file models aren't detailed enough and don't allow enough room for personalization.  There are plenty off financially viable units, but not enough that suit my style of play or enough diversity in each Codex entry to make the force as a whole effective enough for me.  And I couldn't find enough justification for a race of aliens trapped in metal bodies, with no other mission than to subjugate the stars, to say that they aren't "evil" the way everyone sees them.  So Necron were out.

The Tau Empire was another viable option.  A Tau Empire can be created quickly and easily using a few boxes, but I've tried multiple times before to create a Tau army, and I just got bored making it.  Tau were out before they left the gate.

The next group I came to were Eldar.  I had painted a few Eldar models in my day, including the only commission I've ever done, so I was confident I would enjoy painting them, especially when Finecast versions of the Aspect Warriors were released.  I also love the background of a race trying to fix a past mistake (one that created an entirely new Chaos God, but you know, no big deal), and I loved the tragic nature of their curent place in the 40k universe.  The play style again fit me, and there is more space for internal diversity than with Necron.  Personalization was also a plus, being that Eldar are a race obsessed with personal pleasure and aesthetics.  Unfortunately though, given all these positives, the final decision came down to cost-effectiveness and the models themselves.  To get the army I would want would have cost too much given the current state of the model range, and there were too many models that I just couldn't bring myself to appreciate aesthetically.

This, of course, left me with one option: power armor.  I'd already knocked out Chaos Space Marines, but if you think about it, I still had Space Marines, Blood Angels, Black Templars, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Grey Knights, and even Sisters of Battle to choose from in the "power armor" category, which is by far the most cost-effective in the whole Games Workshop system.  But even here, I could hack away a few.  I never liked the Grey Knights—the models and the Codex—and that has never changed. The Sisters of Battle are the least cost-effective of the group right now for no other reason than the entire army is still metal; besides that, there is really no diversity in the units available in the Codex.  Black Templars were out because I played them as my first army and felt like I was cursed on the field, having never won a game in the two years I used them.  They also desperately need a new Codex and I couldn't find any rumors of one coming out in the foreseeable future.

Blood Angels are cool.  I love the models, I love the tragic nature of the Chapter, I always loved painting red, writing stories about BA are common because it's easy, and they're abbreviation is BA.  There was really nothing to hate about this Chapter for me, but I can't get over the blood thirst that has consumed the Chapter and its successors so deeply that they have occasionally killed innocent people in their rage.  That nagged me to no end and ultimately pushed me from the Chapter.

Space Wolves are also cool, especially with the most recent release for the model range.  But for right now, I'm not a fan of the sculpts for the Grey Hunters/Blood Claws kit, which makes up the majority of an army.  I also don't like painting the color scheme, regardless of the iterations I've found for it.

The Space Marines generic Codex would have had me, even though everyone and their mother plays Space Marines.  SM's give the most diverse set of unit options, are incredibly cost-effective, and I could either make my own Chapter with its own history and background or play an established Chapter and create my own story within that.  I was set there and was totally ready to start building my Chapter, the Steel Scythes, until...

The Dark Vengeance set was announced.

Yep, that's right, cost-effectiveness won the day for the DA. First, I already have the Codex.  Second, green is my favorite color.  Third, the Dark Angels are the First Legion, a concept that deeply appeals to me.  Fourth, for how well established the Chapter is in GW lore, there is a ton of room for my own story.  Fifth, rumors of a new codex and new models on the horizon tickled my fancy.  What really did it in, though, was the background.  As a deeply-rooted Christian redemption stories carry alot of meaning for me, and the Dark Angels story is nothing if not one of seeking redemption.  The Dark Angels may not seem trustworthy to outsiders, but in my mind they are the most human of the Space Marines; they have flaws, and they know it and live with it, and they seek, day in and day out, to be worthy of their creator and have the sins of their past forgotten.

So there you have it, I play to my faith.  I didn't know if I should say that in this context, but there it is.  Maybe you're reading this and think I'm crazy for following that thought pattern to arrive at my new 40k army, but maybe it's got you thinking about why you play yours.  Feel free to add your two cents in the comments below.