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Hey guys !

While I understand fully that choosing an army is a highly personal decision based on many factors, I find myself somewhat dead on 50-50 on this and so thought I would turn to you guys to see what arguments you can come up with !

In general I find the reasons people collect an army can be summarized down to one of two reasons (from my experience with people I know of course!) :
1 - The general look or background fluff of the army
2 - The rules (Whether it be fun and whacky, or brick-to-the-face hard hitting)

With this in mind, that is why I chose the poll options that are available

I am not a highly competitive player and truth be told rarely play games anymore, thus being more of a painter. HOWEVER , on the rare occasion I do play, I find being in with an even chance at winning does help in how fun the game is. For example, I once faced a Dark Eldar gunboat gunline / void shield list with my ork hoard, and it was like sand paper sapping all the fun out.

So far, here are my break down reasons :

AD Mech (I would do both Skitarii and Cult) -
PROS:
1) Interesting looking Models unlike all other armies
2) Entirely new rules also unlike others
3) Not many of them at my FLGS therefore avoiding the usual redundancy issues i.e marine Vs marine particularly in tournaments
4) Opportunity to create a truly striking army with a custom colour scheme
5) NOT a marine or type of related marine ( Already have S.Wolves, a codex marine army and CSM)

CONS:
1) Very limited Range of models
2) Requirement to field 2 detachments (Skitarii,Cult) to really have a diverse army

Tau-
1) Love the battlesuit variants (Both look and rule wise, all from crisis to stormsurge)
2) Larger variety of units available
3) Also an opportunity to have a striking custom scheme
4) Strong rules
5) NOT a marine or type of related marine ( Already have S.Wolves, a codex marine army and CSM)

CONS:
1) Exceptionally limited CC ability leaning all lists i've written to gun line styles (With only really the crisis suits being mobile units)
2) Not particularly gripping background fluff ( Personally)

What do you guys think based on your own opinions ? Lets see if someone can sway my opinion from this stale mate ! Or , if for no other reason, just an interesting insight into the community's opinions

Admech by FAR. Can be just as powerful in competitive play (if your into that) with war convocation as well as having some super flufffy lists if you mix the two codexes ( and who doesnt do that). They are almost as good of a gunline as TAU but have superior CC units, comparable anti air, and are VERY durable.

Plus its one less Tau player around

Admech. Tau isn't that interesting to play really you just have one build. SUITS of all sizes that stand in a line shoot and move back + some way to get marker lights. Thats it really while admech has tons of options.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
But if you like suits then play tau. There is no reason not to play them if you just happen to love the one build they have.

I voted Tau for the aesthetic, because that's literally what I did when I got into 40k. Didn't even care about the rules, just liked the models and I like big guns. I would still recommend not going with Tau, though, unless you can handle non-stop hate and vitriol and people basically just gaking all over your army literally every day, making you feel like every dime you spent on Tau models was wasted and slowly killing whatever love you had for the hobby, making you wish you hadn't gotten into 40k at all.

Ad Mech are okay, but as you said, they seem pretty limited. It barely even feels like an army, and you really need to combine both books to get what little you do get. Granted they're much better off than Harlequins, which are somehow supposed to be a full-fledged faction, but it still doesn't seem like there's much to them, and there isn't really a huge variety of ways that you can run them on the table from what I've seen, either. Personally I don't find the Ad Mech models as impressive as Tau, either. I like the basic troops and the kataphron destroyers, maybe the ironstriders, but that's about it. I don't even like the tank that much. It's an Imperial faction, though, which means everyone will love you for playing them.

As far as fluff goes, to be perfectly honest with you, I don't think any faction has or has ever had what I would consider to be particularly "gripping" background. Most of them are pretty one-dimensional anyway, or based on obvious fantasy/sci-fi tropes. Even Space Marines, which everyone just absolutely loves for whatever reason, bore the gak out of me, and I don't understand the near fanatical worship of them at all. I couldn't imagine 40k without them, but God have I ever tried. The fluff in 40k is generally kinda stupid and badly-written, and it really feels like it was written for someone half your age.

If I'm completely honest, 90% of the factions have limited CC ablities, even the melee specialist factions. It's because shooting is just better by a pretty big margin in the current ruleset.

That being said, I cast my vote for Ad Mech. However, I'd maybe hold off on buying the rules a bit longer since there's been talk of a big book that would include both the skitarii and Cult mechanicus rules coming soon(ish). By all means buy the models though. I own a modest 6 armies, all over 2K points some ranging in the 10K+ range. Skitarii and cult are some of the most fun to build & paint models I've ever had the pleasure of collecting.

Tau, to me, are "meh" on every aspect except their rules. Their fluff doesn't excite me, their models even less so. I'm a fan of robots, but Tau suits don't tickle my fancy because they're so rectangular. The fact that their rules are unfluffy to boot (seriously, a single guy in a gigantic robot suit is put in the same category as a Daemon prince, but Daemonic beasts with some armor strapped to it are not? Get real.) make Tau just about the only army I wouldn't like to collect.

I love how tau look. I like the tau fire warriors and the Asian aesthetic that doesn't hit me as weeboo.

Admech. I love their fluff, and their rules are solid.

Also, imo their models are way cooler. The Tau weapons and armour and suits strike me as over-engineered, like the Germans in late World War 2 or the Americans now, while the Mechanicus has a sort of brutal, industrial look that allows for conversions and really sends a message!

AdMech, because the Omnissiah wills it!
Also, there is an IA-book incoming.

Sidstyler wrote:I voted Tau for the aesthetic, because that's literally what I did when I got into 40k. Didn't even care about the rules, just liked the models and I like big guns. I would still recommend not going with Tau, though, unless you can handle non-stop hate and vitriol and people basically just gaking all over your army literally every day, making you feel like every dime you spent on Tau models was wasted and slowly killing whatever love you had for the hobby, making you wish you hadn't gotten into 40k at all.

That has to be one of the darkest descriptions and most compelling reasons not to do an army I have ever read haha ! I will admit there is quite a lot of hate around my FLGS . When Tau are mentioned people do groan. As for the fluff, I find the codex stuff generally isnt too gripping but the Black Library novels can be really amazing. Some novels i've read have really brought the universe to life. The first book in the Soul Drinkers omnibus was freaking unreal. Gripped me right till the end. Have you explored the fiction books ?

DaPino wrote:
That being said, I cast my vote for Ad Mech. However, I'd maybe hold off on buying the rules a bit longer since there's been talk of a big book that would include both the skitarii and Cult mechanicus rules coming soon(ish).

I have heard rumours of a combined book in the form of an IA book which has excited me ! I do like the Ad Mech models and its honestly the one army ive never had anything to do with modelling or playing wise, so may be a good fit

Ankhalagon wrote:AdMech, because the Omnissiah wills it!
Also, there is an IA-book incoming.

Ive heard talks of this IA book ! I also heard that it will allow some Forgeworld 30k Mech units to be taken with Skitarii and Cult . I gotta say if that rumour turns out to be true I will absolutely lose my mind because I am getting some 30k Mech in a trade soon and the models have won me over already.


THANKS for your input guys ! I can honestly say that I have been successfully swayed , the 50 50 balance has been tipped to Mechanicum !

I dont know why but I just couldnt for the life of me find that one argument to tip one over the other, but the arguments youve presented here today ( I tried to pick out one or two but they ALL really did combine in this ) have really sold me .

Much appreciated guys. Stay tuned for some Gallery ad mech work ! Next problem : Picking a colour and basing theme

AdMechs.

Because cyber-steam punk gear heads.

 Soldier0Fortune wrote:
Have you explored the fiction books ?

No. I was interested in reading the Path of the Eldar/Dark Eldar series but never had time for it. And there isn't much to choose from featuring Tau, either. It's mostly all Marines and Horus Heresy crap and I have absolutely no interest in that.

 Sidstyler wrote:

 Soldier0Fortune wrote:
Have you explored the fiction books ?

No. I was interested in reading the Path of the Eldar/Dark Eldar series but never had time for it. And there isn't much to choose from featuring Tau, either. It's mostly all Marines and Horus Heresy crap and I have absolutely no interest in that.

I agree most of it is geared to marines (Chaos or loyalist) and a mass amount is Heresy stuff. I myself read the first 3 heresy books and was not gripped so I know what you mean there.

I would definitely recommend browsing the bookshelves at your local GW or even the Black Library website and seeing if anything takes your liking. Everyone prefers their own Authors of course , but overall they are pretty good. The Path of the Eldar Omnibus ( and dark eldar omnibus) can be picked up on ebay for fairly cheap nowdays i'd definitely recommend picking it up if you can and just stashing it until you get to it one day , since OOP books have a tendency to become stupidly expensive the longer out of print they go

As for the Tau , I know that with their recent overhaul they had a few fiction novels released with them at the core. May be worth looking into

So, I'm the least steampunk-fanboy in existence, but really love admech, both for the background and the unique rules/theme. They really look fantastic, too.

 Sidstyler wrote:
I voted Tau for the aesthetic, because that's literally what I did when I got into 40k. Didn't even care about the rules, just liked the models and I like big guns. I would still recommend not going with Tau, though, unless you can handle non-stop hate and vitriol and people basically just gaking all over your army literally every day, making you feel like every dime you spent on Tau models was wasted and slowly killing whatever love you had for the hobby, making you wish you hadn't gotten into 40k at all.

This. Your going to need thick skin to be a Tau player and even more to be a competitive one. Also if your really planning to play ITC and go the distance Tau are tier 1.5 and not true top tier lists like many inexperienced players on the internet would have you believe. At the biggest events with the most at stake you'll find Tau are unlikely to make it into the top 25. If it's a smaller local ITC tournament then they can obviously do well since its unlikely you'll have the best of the best around you.

Consistently since 6th Tau have been mid tier except for a brief time where Farsight lists were winning then supplanted by the power creep. Eldar and Space Marines are the top dogs and with the recent insane power creep its likely Marines have supplanted Eldar as the top codex. Which is insane given its way more powerful than any other codex out there already. With the FAQ's with drop pods not being available to drop pod with Skitarri armies being allowed they have taken a big hit in the meta and might have fallen into the mid tier. So tier 2.

Edit
The New IA book coming out is Tau vs Red Scoprions/AdMech. There are some previews of it cover and some of the new things coming out for it in the FW news n rumors thread.

Why not get both eventually? The Start Collecting boxes are cheap and offer a ton of awesome models in each, and you could use those as a way to judge if you'd like to buy more either to paint or eventually collect on a more serious basis.

TAU, because gundam suits.
Admech, because they might get to use 30k units in 40k soon

Play admech.
Not because I think the fluff or style are really better, or that the rules are better or anything like that.
Just save yourself the headache of all the jackasses that love to hate tau and tau players.

AdMech, because (given that you're not highly competitive, so presumably unlikely to play in tournaments etc.):

If your FLGS does support the use of custom units with custom rules (lucky me), and
If You're addicted to forging narratives,
Then you can come up with any ridiculous machine, and get away with it, usually by saying "someone dredged it up from the vaults", or "this git's adept had a copy of the blueprints in his pocket".

Heck, I came up with rules for a Reality Bomb relic, working in a similiar way to Nicola Tesla's head.
(You'll spot that the Reality Bomb shows up on the timeline in the Cult codex, tried to plug the Maelstrom).
But as always, consent, consent, consent. Luckily enough for myself, one of the regular patrons is an ex-game designer, able to provide invaluable feedback.

I should also point out that, due to the majority of the kits being Either/Or, you get plenty of leftovers for some fair-doo conversions.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Gamgee, I am definitely not a competitive sort of player and the only tournaments I have attended at my local GW ones from time to time Outside of that I really cant stand the hyper competitive side of the hobby. Like at some of the local store tournaments when Ive had a good match with a guy but as soon as he starts failing rolls or I start rolling well their smile dissappears and they become very.... I dont want to say intimidating because its like a 5yr old trying to stare down an adult in its hallerity....moody? Until their army starts doing well again it the game finishes. Absolutely kills it for me.
I am intrigued however at you mentioning the Marines beating the Eldar codex. Ill admit I havent read through the new Death from the Skies supplement but Ive always found eldar to be just absolute annihilation .

Retrogamer0001 : I likely will end up with both but was wanting to decide on which one to go with now as a start. The new starter sets are excellent value for sure , and the Skitarii one is the one i ordered to start this, however with the economy the way it is work is becoming pretty scarce, so am having to plan my purchases in far greater detail nowdays

CragHack: Yessss my love for Evangelion the anime as a teenager drew me to the Riptide preeeetty fast

Boomwolf : Haha yes, I recall when i was in store the other day I mentioned Tau and heard a unanimous groan of disapproval at the table

Buddingsquaw : Unfortunately my local is not big on custom rules at all it has never come up before. Conversions however , I have always been about so the plethora of extra bitz is always welcomed !

The new Death from the Skies supplement is insane. Bonkers. Game breaking. However that is on paper, it needs to be seen how this bears out on the scene.

Considering Wolfstars were already owning and the most frequent list to take 1st place this just makes them better.

 Gamgee wrote:
The new Death from the Skies supplement is insane. Bonkers. Game breaking. However that is on paper, it needs to be seen how this bears out on the scene.

Considering Wolfstars were already owning and the most frequent list to take 1st place this just makes them better.

Hmm intriguing ! I haven't seen anything from it i'd be interested to flick through it. I did notice on Battlescribe App theyve added an option for a CSM Helldrake wing... and people cried murder when I ran a single bale flamer drake as it was

I actually a Wolf player but never have been on the competitive side outside friendly competition