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I haven't played 40k since early 6th edition - 2012. I've been catching up on the new additions of 7th and would be interested in starting again; if only because AoS is harder to find games for in my local area. Now, I have been interested in four armies, three of which I know seem to be at the top of the rung in terms of power. Space Wolves, Eldar and Tau, followed by Dark Angels, are all on my radar. I can honestly say I've been a Xenos fan since I was last active with the game - I had a Tau battleforce and some Eldar jetbikes, as I liked the models. Space Wolves and Dark Angels were always a toss-up, as they were rivals and I could never pick a favorite. But I do own the DA from the starter box, so they've got a bit of a head-start.

Though I do own a few models from these armies, I wanted to jump in fresh. I'll certainly use them if I can, but I'd like to pick one to focus on regardless of what I have or don't have. For DA, I've been a real fan of the Ravenwing, and I was contemplating building an army focused on their formations. I'd probably use the three starter bikes, and some Black Knight boxes and wing it. For SW and Tau, I was looking at their respective Start Collecting boxes. I'm a fan of what GW's done with these, as both AoS and 40k have good ways to get into armies. For Eldar, I was either thinking of a Saim-hann-style jetbike army with the SC box, or -you guessed it- wraiths. I have always liked the look of Eldar walkers and mechs in general, so wraithknights and Tau battlesuits are both neat models, to me.

All these options offer different playstyle and very different-looking armies, so I've been in a rut trying to narrow down a favorite. Which the choice is a subjective one, I wanted to ask around for some external thoughts/ideas as to what I could expect out of them, and which might be most fun. I'm not a tournament junkie, but I like a solid list that could do well in a competitive or narrative setting. 40k was always a beer-and-pretzels kind of game for me.

 Aristocrap wrote:
I haven't played 40k since early 6th edition - 2012. I've been catching up on the new additions of 7th and would be interested in starting again; if only because AoS is harder to find games for in my local area. Now, I have been interested in four armies, three of which I know seem to be at the top of the rung in terms of power. Space Wolves, Eldar and Tau, followed by Dark Angels, are all on my radar. I can honestly say I've been a Xenos fan since I was last active with the game - I had a Tau battleforce and some Eldar jetbikes, as I liked the models. Space Wolves and Dark Angels were always a toss-up, as they were rivals and I could never pick a favorite. But I do own the DA from the starter box, so they've got a bit of a head-start.

Though I do own a few models from these armies, I wanted to jump in fresh. I'll certainly use them if I can, but I'd like to pick one to focus on regardless of what I have or don't have. For DA, I've been a real fan of the Ravenwing, and I was contemplating building an army focused on their formations. I'd probably use the three starter bikes, and some Black Knight boxes and wing it. For SW and Tau, I was looking at their respective Start Collecting boxes. I'm a fan of what GW's done with these, as both AoS and 40k have good ways to get into armies. For Eldar, I was either thinking of a Saim-hann-style jetbike army with the SC box, or -you guessed it- wraiths. I have always liked the look of Eldar walkers and mechs in general, so wraithknights and Tau battlesuits are both neat models, to me.

All these options offer different playstyle and very different-looking armies, so I've been in a rut trying to narrow down a favorite. Which the choice is a subjective one, I wanted to ask around for some external thoughts/ideas as to what I could expect out of them, and which might be most fun. I'm not a tournament junkie, but I like a solid list that could do well in a competitive or narrative setting. 40k was always a beer-and-pretzels kind of game for me.

Right-o!

Space Wolves are are wolfy-wolves with Close Combat POWER! Their Wulfen and Thunderwolf Cavalry are some of the best Close Combat units in the game.

Dark Angels are much shootier. Their Black Knights have twin-linked plasma guns (18" range, though) and can be spammed pretty hard. While they do okay in close combat, they're much better at range.

Eldar are probably the best army from that list. They've got D, they've got Close Combat, they've got shooting, they've got mobility... You name it, Eldar got it.

Tau are the shootiest of shooters. They suck potatoes in close combat, but they've got a lot of shooting power.

Any specific questions?

Thanks for the reply! Nothing too specific to ask; since I've already invested in AoS, I think I'm in the market for a shooty army - something a litttle different than my Skaven clanrat bomb.

I suppose all these armies, except for SW, fit that bill. DA Ravenwing and Saim-hann jetbike style both seem to be very mobile, shooty armies, but I haven't taken a good look at the differences between them.
Then there's battlesuit Tau and wraith Eldar; both also very cool-sounding, walker armies.

Yeah, Space Wolves are not for the shooty. They're marines, so they CAN shoot, but they do best in CC.

Eldar jetbikes are honestly even more mobile than regular bikes, so if you want mobility, I'd go Eldar. Especially with things like Warp Spiders.

Tau's strength comes from overlapping special rules. Take a solid unit, apply wargear to add special rules, pick them in a formation that adds additional special rules, add a commander, who adds special rules, and then use marker lights to ignore cover and increase ballistic skill, and you can accomplish some pretty amazing things.

Eldar just have stats and abilities that make them excellent, and or possibly undercosted, in the current meta. Wait, you mean I can jetbikes with heavy weapons as my troop choice ?

It also depends on the meta that you're going to play in. If they're hyper competitive then Eldar are the way to go, but if they're super casual, you might struggle to get a second game with a Wraith and scatterbike list.