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No, not which faction of a certain game, but which game!!

For this discussion let's say I have enough money to build a sizable force of any game.

So which game should someone start, why?

Tell me what you like about each game, models, rules etc.

The obvious one is 40k. It's cool to moan about it these days, but for a fun ruleset it's still great. The models are great, and frankly you're more likely to get a game of 40k in any random store than anything else.

If you're looking for something cheaper, and with less minis, is suggest Deadzone, Malifaux or Infinity. All can be started for between £20 and £50 (the latter of which will pay for a whole army with extras). They tend to cap at around 10 minis a side, and are faster to play, cheaper to collect and often easier to paint a whole force for than 40k.

I like larger games more than small skirmish games so I would say 40k. Also, as the guy above me mentioned, it's the easiest to find a game. The other games are growing but 40k still has by far the largest player base. I also like the aesthetics of the minis and fluff better.

Well according to some people, we can't say what game to play. That would be like comparing Apples to Oranges, and some games just can't be compared to.

It all depends on what type of game are you looking for? I say X-wing/Star Trek Attack Wing can be good fun games. Small buy in cost, they are off a genre we all love, Sci Fi, are off movies/TV shows we all love and we can recreate the great battle scenes that we saw. They have great minis, (X-wing) while Attack Wing has acceptable minis (some poorly made/painted)

Great fun, easier to carry around compared to other games.

Quick easy rules to learn. Nicely made tokens and counters and have really nice cards as well.

There are more, but I will just leave this here for now.

Davor wrote:
Well according to some people, we can't say what game to play. That would be like comparing Apples to Oranges, and some games just can't be compared to.

No, Apples to Oranges is when someone writes off the cost of certain games because their car/waverunner/several guns with accessories/etc cost them more.

This question has a simple answer.

Buy one of the games that are frequently being played in your local area that you like playing. It doesn't matter what an internet board recommends if you can't play a game you enjoy locally. Play some of the different systems, see what is being played and figure out which one you like the most.

It completely depends on your area. Is there a local store nearby? What type of games are going on there?

Play a game that others are playing, whether that's 40k, Warmachine, Infinity or historicals. It's pointless to pick a favorite game and then find out nobody else plays (unless it's cheap enough to get two armies, and even then you'll have to convince people to give it a shot).

I'm assuming this is a theoretical discussion, but this is really the only answer.

I can't tell you what you will enjoy.

Read this thread and then decide: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/369662.page

 FenrisianStuart21 wrote:
No, not which faction of a certain game, but which game!!

For this discussion let's say I have enough money to build a sizable force of any game.

So which game should someone start, why?

Tell me what you like about each game, models, rules etc.

This is not a productive beginning. As has been said, there are already several very good threads where folks discuss the merits of various games.

If you want a real recommendation, then you need to give us more about what kind of game you are interested in.

1) What genre?
2) What scale?
3) What Scope/Size? Warband, platoon ,company level, or bigger, etc?
4) How Complex do you like your rules to be compared to what you're currently playing?
5) How important is being able to find an opponent locally?
6) Does the game have to have a dedicated minaiture line?
7) What is missing in your current game that you want in a new game?

Then we can help you. Without that kind of info, we're just peeing in the wind.

So, fairly discussing this about games I've played:

40k - still the biggest, most popular miniatures game. Has a great, distinctive background. Extremely wide and diverse model range with lots of fantastic models. Almost every GW model comes with tons of characterful extra bits; if you like kitbashing and fanciful conversions, GW kits are probably still the best in the business.

40k attempts to marry the 28 mm heroic scale of a skirmish game with a very large engagement of lots of models. For some people, that's the very appeal, and some may find that that's the game's biggest problem. The bewildering number of special rules, located in different sources, sometimes grinds the game to a halt. It's also very expensive.

40k's biggest advantage is its very popularity: you can probably get a game of 40k anytime, anywhere. I don't have much to say about 40k, but it's so pervasive, I probably don't need to say much -- if you're even remotely familiar with this hobby, you know what 40k is about!

Fantasy - If you think that you're better then other people, this is the game for you! (j/k)
Fantasy has some fantastic miniatures too, but its emphasis on large blocks of infantry can make assembling and painting them feel grindy (and it costs a lot, unless you get a deal). However, putting a fully painted fantasy army on the table feels pretty damned awesome. As 40k seems more about putting 3-5 Knights/Wraiths/Riptides on the table, I have to say that a full fantasy army is one of the most visually impressive spectacles in gaming.
Fantasy is a deliberately paced game involving a lot of set-piece movement between different units. This gives the game a unique feel compared to the frenetic clusterfrag of confused dice rolling some other games degenerate into.
This isn't exactly a standard issue Fantasy setting, but it doesn't really set itself apart like the grim darkness of the far future. Although I love Fantasy as a game, I could never get into the fluff quite as much.
Also -- being a Fantasy player is like joining some kind of secret society. Sure, EVERYONE has played 40k at some point, but those poor, uneducated masses just don't know any better!

Warmachine and Hordes - Giant steam powered robots fighting. Sometimes they fight giant monsters. If you're not sold at this point, you're dead to me.

The rules set is complicated, but well-written and pretty tight. The fact that the rules are well-suited to tournament play actually makes casual play more enjoyable and levels the playing field a lot between "fluffy" players and min/maxed players.

I like PP's sculpts, but I know the style isn't for everyone, but I have always had a pain assembling them. WM places a pretty high value on WYSIWYG, so conversions or even deviations from your Official Paint Scheme are kind of rare.

I quite like the game's fluff; it doesn't have 40k's atmosphere, Infinity's style, or historicals' history, but it actually has characters that are sympathetic, understandable, and human. (Maybe it's because I'm a xenos player, but all those space marines look alike to me, except Mephiston, who's a jerk.)

Also, women clearly exist in the world of the Iron Kingdoms, and show up in line infantry, as warcasters, even non-human races, and they're even wearing practical armor (most of the time).

PP is extremely invested in promoting its competitive scene, if that's what you're into. Even if you're not a tournament player, PP does get on FAQs and rules clarifications in a pretty timely manner. IMO, the fact that the game appears to have no plans for a 3rd edition shows how durable and well-constructed the rules are.

Infinity - Infinity oozes style. GW may have the best kitbashes, but Infinity probably has the best individual sculpts. Corvus Belli has a collector's range of what amounts to pin-up models, and although they're an extreme example, they are very evocative of their style. (And, just like steam powered robots and thrones of skulls, you either love it or you play another game.)

Playing infinity requires a bit of a mental adjustment. Most games have a simple concepts, cluttered by special rules; Infinity is a mess of special rules that evolves into a concept. You really do need someone to teach you how to play. The rules are well done (and free!), but not always well communicated or translated. The game suffers from a steep learning curve.

Unlike most other games, Infinity has a large dose of imperfect information, ie, not everything is super strictly WYSIWYG, lots of hidden units, camouflage, etc. This does add a lot to the game, but there are probably players out there who will abuse that sort of thing in order to win a game of toy soldiers.

Infinity's hyped tagline is "it's always your turn," and the fact that you are very active during your opponent's turn does make the game more social, interactive, and fun. The feeling of "well, my opponent went and my army is gone and I didn't do anything" is less likely to happen in Infinity.

It can be hard to get a game going of infinity, because you need SO MUCH TERRAIN. Weapon ranges are very long and shooting is quite lethal, so without a lot of LOS blocking terrain like a built-up urban setting the game really isn't very fun.

The cost per model is high, but the cost to buy a whole army, even at MSRP, isn't bad at all.

It also needs d20s, so +10 nerd points, there.

Bolt Action - Do you like World War II? Do you like miniatures games? Why are you not playing a historical miniatures game? It's like, two things you like, together!

This is the only historical game I've really played, but some of the things I'm going to say here feel like they apply to historicals more generally.

It's really hard for me to comment on the model range for historicals, because there's such a huge diversity, and some of them are crap, and some of them are fantastic. It is, however, easier to find something you want at a price you're willing to pay; you can get certain things very cheap, but splurge on a tank or other army centerpiece. And, if you, like many wargamers, are a history nerd, there's a lot of fun to recreating storied units like 101st Airborne or great battles like Stalingrad.

Lots of rules imposed for the sake of historical accuracy help a lot with balance, but restrict list building; you can't build a sniper spam list because you only get one sniper per platoon, but the devs don't need to balance against sniper spam.

Bolt Action has randomized activation sequence, so if you hate randomness in your dice-based games, maybe it's not for you, but it is a neat change-up from IGOUGO.

And, where most wargames focus a lot on over-the-top action and insane feats, historicals are more "realistic" (as much as one can use that term about 28 mm plastic men, anyway.) Your troops are likely to panic or freak out; even relatively minor stat variations are a Big Deal.

Rules are pretty easy to pick up overall, except for a few more specialized cases.

Also, I probably can't my coworkers I built a giant space ork killsaw robot, but I can tell them I assembled a Cromwell tank, so there's that.

40k still has the most popularity. If you're looking to play a game with strangers and want pick-up games, you generally want 40k. You'll also likely have to be okay with a beer&pretzel style game that will require house ruling to cut out certain rules or else you'll be overwhelmed.

WM/H has an ever-growing popularity, and steam powered mechs are awesome. The rules are also stronger and everything has use: it just depends on what combos you wanna work.

X-Wing: a Star Wars lover's wet dream. You get to fly SW ships and the tactics are amazing, plus prepainted models if you want to play right out of the box. Not terribly priced either.

Deadzone: inexpensive update to Necromunda, that plays very well and has relatively easy to learn rules. Tons of models to choose, 6 races available. Personally, I love it.

Dreadball: see DZ, but with a similar comparison to Blood Bowl.

I can't speak for infinity, malifaux, or DZC, but I generally hear all positives.

Last but not least, if you're still having a hard time, look at varying races/units for each game. If you don't see something you like the look of, there's no point in buying into something you won't enjoy the look of.

If you are interested in Historical games then give SAGA : Dark Ages a try.

It's inexpensive, quick and the rules are easy to learn.'

You also don't need a lot of figures to play, you might have 30 models on the table.

I haven't played the new game, SAGA : Crescent and the Cross, since I just got the rules earlier today. It's supposed to be 100% compatible with SAGA : Dark Ages.