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I personally enjoy 1000 point games, as I don't have a lot of models (still proxy some) and can usually finish in under 2 hours.


However, I'm always bummed by the lack of 1000 point lists for my army. I'd like to even go lower but theres almost nothing.
I know its a hobby but sinking anymore than 2+ hours into a game seems too much to me.

What is the point cost you prefer playing the most, and why?

I think 1850 is the sweet sport for 40k.

Anyone reasonably familiar with the rules should be able to play 1850 in no more than 2 hours.

2000 is my happy place. I'm not in a rush to finish games, so I don't mind a longer game.

My gaming group used to favor 1750. I know 1850 is the more popular number for whatever reason though. Either way, I think that region is (was) the sweet spot for 40k. Can't comment on how well that holds up with Lords of War and all the new FOC shenanigans and formations going on though.

I like small points because it gives people that haven't or can't invest a fortune into the game the ability to play. 500-1000 are fun because almost everyone has an army they can field at that level. Sure, some people won't have optimized armies at this level, but it still can be fun. Additionally, these games tend to run shorter so you can play more people.

I disagree. Some armies simply can't make an army that is even remotely good at 500-1000 points.

Vanilla marines especially since they're stuck paying the tactical squad tax.

500-1000 points is no fun as a vanilla codex player.

 Grey Templar wrote:
I disagree. Some armies simply can't make an army that is even remotely good at 500-1000 points.

Vanilla marines especially since they're stuck paying the tactical squad tax.

500-1000 points is no fun as a vanilla codex player.

There are perfectly viable 500-1000 pt C:SM Marine armies. And it is a lot easier to make a viable 500 pt army for someone with 2500 pts of stuff than it is for someone to make a 1850 pt army with 500 pts worth of stuff.

I have the best games around 1850-2000.

Depends. 500-1000 can be really fun quick skirmishes, but I personally love 2k points because it allows for huge, epic clashes. 1850 is also a close second for me. 1500 isnt bad, but feels too small for big games and too large for skirmishes.

As I get more models I like to fight bigger and bigger battles. However, as my gaming group likes to get together every other week and do head-to-head games for our season, we are currently at the 1500 points level.

After this season we will hold a meeting to decide how we will proceed with the following season. Our biggest issue is balancing the size of the forces towards the time it takes to play a game. We like to get everyone a match in the 8-10 hours time span.

As we all get more games under our belt, the tempo of the games has been picking up speed. It makes it a lot easier and speedier to get in a game, when you are not telling the kids every 5 minutes, "where is your codex? What is that unit's BS/WS,excetera,?" You know all the questions that should not have to ask but do anyways, because your opponent is either young or alcohol impaired.

That is ok by me though. I prefer to game with Family and Friends over complete gamer scrum store strangers every day of the week.

1650 for me. Gives a little bit more leeway than 1500 but still keeps some of the more uber combos at bay(of which I dislike).

I like to play every point value. I will happily play as low or as high points a game as there is time available and models to use.

Typically, 1000 or 2000 points at the FLGS though!

1850 is plenty to express a codex. And thats really what i like to see, is the codex at work, wihotu going crazy. having said that we almost always play 2K games where I am and thats the "standard" here, but 1850, especially for tournies, feels right.

500 is my favorite but I have to compromise and play 1000 usually.

Anything over 1000 turns into a lame shoot off in my opinion.

Since im nice I will play big games sometimes with my buddies but its usually accepted that to play me its smaller games.

weird. But I guess theres no wrong way to play.

At the very least 1500. Any lower and I can't use half of the models I want and it doesn't feel like a proper battle. It's just boring when you only have 500-1000 points of stuff on the table. Anything higher than 2500 can get time consuming and the other persons turn takes so long you can lose interest towards the end unless it's a tight game. So I'm fine with anything between 1500-2500.

I find that weird. Anything above 500 seems like just 2 waves of bodies runnign and dying.

To me a more real battle at that scale looks like 500 points.

I also find most of the fun is making decisions about what to try leave without. Having few options also enhances the game. tanks are scarier when you dont have 15 lascannons.

1,500.

Big enough to feel like you're playing a real game, but small enough to constrain your choices a little bit. You can't take ALL THE CHOICES!!!!!!

A real battle in the 40k universe would be 2 squads of tac marines and a librarian? Seems to me every battle I've ever read about in the 40k universe would've been at least 2000 points of units going at it. What general says "guys, we really need to take out this base/capture this planet/blow up this thing. Let's send 2 troop squads at them, that should do it! Everyone else stay here in orbit and get drunk."?

Toofast wrote:
A real battle in the 40k universe would be 2 squads of tac marines and a librarian? Seems to me every battle I've ever read about in the 40k universe would've been at least 2000 points of units going at it. What general says "guys, we really need to take out this base/capture this planet/blow up this thing. Let's send 2 troop squads at them, that should do it! Everyone else stay here in orbit and get drunk."?

The battlefields in 40k are huge compared to the tables.

Considering the size of the table 500 points is more than enough.

That table will be a tiny section of the battle field. More than likely a small troop being sent there. That one table is not the entire battlefield.

Again: no wrong way to play it but you're not really seeing ANY of the codex that way so... For what its worth, you should probably try War Machine also. dont STOP playing 40K but I think War Machine would be very much up your alley. Smaller scale and just as interesting.

 Jancoran wrote:
Again: no wrong way to play it but you're not really seeing ANY of the codex that way so... For what its worth, you should probably try War Machine also. dont STOP playing 40K but I think War Machine would be very much up your alley. Smaller scale and just as interesting.

I play many games Dont like warmachine or infinity though.

But im not saying he is wrong in how he plays, im saying he is wrong in how he thinks im wrong

But as I said in my posts "to me" etc is like this and so on.

I like 2000-2500 point games

1000-1500 is what I like. Smaller than that and there doesn't feel like there's any substance to the game, bigger than that and it just feels unwieldy.

I didn't really mean you were wrong as this is just opinion. I just don't see how it's fun or realistic to use 2-4 things out of your codex when you have 35+ units to choose from. With armies like GK or SM you would never get to use anything but 2 troops and an HQ. Even 2 min troop squads and an HQ adds up to enough points to prevent you from taking 90% of the other units in the codex.

We recently had an escalation league at the GW near me that started at 500. By the second week, people were getting their minimum 1 game in and not coming back for game 2 or 3 because 24 out of 24 people said it was boring to play at that level and were waiting for 1000 points so they could actually get into the games. Next time we do a league it will only be 1 week of 500 points because 3 weeks of that almost killed interest in the league. Once we hit 1000 and then especially 1500 almost everyone was getting 2-3 games a week in even though the games were taking longer.

Toofast wrote:
I didn't really mean you were wrong as this is just opinion. I just don't see how it's fun or realistic to use 2-4 things out of your codex when you have 35+ units to choose from. With armies like GK or SM you would never get to use anything but 2 troops and an HQ. Even 2 min troop squads and an HQ adds up to enough points to prevent you from taking 90% of the other units in the codex.

We recently had an escalation league at the GW near me that started at 500. By the second week, people were getting their minimum 1 game in and not coming back for game 2 or 3 because 24 out of 24 people said it was boring to play at that level and were waiting for 1000 points so they could actually get into the games. Next time we do a league it will only be 1 week of 500 points because 3 weeks of that almost killed interest in the league. Once we hit 1000 and then especially 1500 almost everyone was getting 2-3 games a week in even though the games were taking longer.

As games get bigger though things get cluttered. I know some people enjoy having 3 tanks, 1 flyer, 4-5 squads of infantry and so on.

But at that point its too easy to simply fit everything you need to win. At 500 I find you cant afford to loose units. There isnt always another one there to replace your tank, or you may have only 2 anti air guns to stop his aircraft and so on. But if he is taking these big things the rest of the army suffers because as you said the more you take of the big stuff the less of the main things are there and so on.

It feels like more of a game and less of a big blow up match in my opinion.

4000+

The current flavor is 1850. I like it, because I generally like bigger games out to perhaps 3k max, depending on the army (not including Apoc of course, that's entirely different).

1750 and 1500 were favorites in the past, and I think some local tourneys still run that size. It's actually a pretty good size, because it's small enough to make people use points more carefully, and big enough to have nice-looking games.

500 - 1000 pts is an awesome size too, especially with people relatively new to the hobby.

Toofast wrote:
I didn't really mean you were wrong as this is just opinion. I just don't see how it's fun or realistic to use 2-4 things out of your codex when you have 35+ units to choose from. With armies like GK or SM you would never get to use anything but 2 troops and an HQ. Even 2 min troop squads and an HQ adds up to enough points to prevent you from taking 90% of the other units in the codex.

We recently had an escalation league at the GW near me that started at 500. By the second week, people were getting their minimum 1 game in and not coming back for game 2 or 3 because 24 out of 24 people said it was boring to play at that level and were waiting for 1000 points so they could actually get into the games. Next time we do a league it will only be 1 week of 500 points because 3 weeks of that almost killed interest in the league. Once we hit 1000 and then especially 1500 almost everyone was getting 2-3 games a week in even though the games were taking longer.

Your area also seems to be "bizzaro world" from everything you say

When I played I liked 1500. 40k doesn't work well with very large battles since it's too cumbersome

Also a 50 point Warmachine force isn't much smaller than a normal 40k army it just looks that way since you don't have vehicles and some units are solos or the like.

IMO 1000-1500 points is ideal. It's enough to cover the basics and have room to take the fun stuff, but not so much that you can just take everything you want without making any hard decisions. Lower and it becomes a rock/paper/scissors game of "can you kill my Land Raider? No? Ok, I win" where you can't even use most of your units, higher and it becomes a tedious mess unless both players take expensive LoWs to bring the amount of dice rolling back down to the 1500 point level.

And 1850 is by far my least favorite point total now that the idiocy of 1999+1 is gone, simply because it isn't a nice even increment. Either play at 1750 or go all the way up to 2000, don't add another points just so you can cram something else into your 1750 list.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Vanilla marines especially since they're stuck paying the tactical squad tax.

Then play an unbound army. You only have to pay the tactical tax if you want "objective secured".

 Swastakowey wrote:
At 500 I find you cant afford to loose units. There isnt always another one there to replace your tank, or you may have only 2 anti air guns to stop his aircraft and so on.

The problem is that often you'll have zero anti-air guns because you can't fit them into a 500 point list while also being able to destroy AV 14, hordes, etc. 500 point games tend to be a rock/paper/scissors match where you go all-in on one strategy and hope your opponent brought the wrong list to counter it. And that isn't much fun.