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I'm not making this a poll, because I care more about explanations and reasoning than actual numbers. Also, there's an important distinction between armies you own and armies you actually play and collect, so that's worth discussing too. For the sake of this thread, let's say that 1000 pts counts as an army, because that's enough for a small game or 2v2 and it does require some commitment of time and money.

Number of armies I own: 4. (all in the neighborhood of 3000 pts)
Number of armies I've played or grown in the past 12 months: 4. (soon to be 3 - haven't touched my Sororitas since last winter)
My ideal number of armies: 3.

We all have our reasons for owning armies from more than one faction, such as being able to try out new tactics or play styles, or keeping up with the meta in case one of our factions gets nerfed into uselessness. For my part, I'd say my #1 reason for starting new armies was simply a desire to paint other kinds of models and try out new color schemes or painting techniques, though I do appreciate the other advantages.

But at what point do you have too many? Armies are expensive to purchase and time-consuming to paint. They can end up taking a lot of space in a house or apartment. There's also the skill maintenance aspect... One can get rusty and have to refresh on the stats and rules before a game, especially when there's a new codex or errata.

I currently have 4 armies (listed in my signature), but honestly, 3 would be the optimal number for me. Still manageable in terms of storage and keeping up with the rules. Good range of play styles, assuming they're not too similar. But 4 is definitely pushing it and I should consider selling one of them... or at least, adopt a very strict "one in, one out" rule from now on.

.

Well, I'd say I have two armies(Orks + Chaos), but depending on Edition they're sometimes up to 4, because all my Chaos stuff is nurgle, but some units were outsourced to CSM and sometimes the Daemons are on their own and sometimes they're not
I'm planning on adding two additional armies in the next couple of years and I think that'll be enough, because I have also plans to enlarge the nurgle forces and my lotr/Oathmark stuff and you can't have it all

What have I got? 5?
Khorne CSM / World Eaters
Dark Eldar
Emperor's Children
Tyranids
Space Marines

Latter two from buying 9th and 10th edition launch boxes.

At the speed I paint it's way too many. I'd probably ditch space marines and Tyranids if I could be bothered - but I am about as motivated to do that as I am to paint them...

After the Great cataclysm where I lost 99% of my stuff....

I am converting a Tempestus Aquilons Kill Team and attempting to build a 40k army.

I would like to own a complete army of Dawn of War Blood Ravens (including the Imperial Knight ally).

I will be happy with one army.

Right now I am hunting for push to fit Marines as they seem to be the cheaper option.

What have I got? Literally EVERY 40k army except Death Guard.

Everything is at least 3,000 points, with my Imperial Guard being probably around 20,000, and my Custodes being at least 10,000. My Titan Legion (yes, 40k scale), IDK, 90,000?

 cuda1179 wrote:
What have I got? Literally EVERY 40k army except Death Guard.

Yes, my answer is also "all of them," but dating from 2nd ed. No, I don't count each flavor of Space Marine as a separate army because I'm not independently wealthy. But I have every army that got a book, plus some of the supporting models like Adeptus Arbities.

The ideal number is whatever you can assemble, paint and store.

My philosophy has always been many small armies rather than a few big ones.

8th and 9th were great because multi-detachment armies were a thing. This still exists to some extent; you can mic Tyranids and GSC for example.

9th also had bespoke combination armies like Torchbearer Fleets (Custodes + Admech + Marines) and Armies of Faith (Guard + Sisters + Marines).

So what do I collect?

I've got a lot of Sisters
A lot of Drukhari
A lot of Agents
A fair bit of Aeldari
A fair bit of Guard
A fair bit of GSC
A fair bit of Daemons of Slaanesh
A fair bit of Chaos Marines
A bit of Deathwatch
A bit of EC
A bit of Grey Knights
A bit of Ksons
A tiny bit of Tyranids, but enough Stealers from GSC to make it look like more.

Eldar
Ultras
Tyranids
SoB
Deathwatch
Necrons (not painted yet)

Less then 1k of Blood Angels and Imp. Guard, Imp Knights.

I only have codexes for 3. SM, Nids, and Eldar.

I think it’s a good idea to have at least a secondary army. Find one that is different in paint and play style, to help break things up. Keeping up on all the rules, especially on a 3 year cycle is rough though. So I’d not recommend going for more then 3.

Ideal? To everyone their own.

Personally? I have 5
Space Marines (vanilla, no Primaris)
Chaos (Black Legion+friends)
Tyranids
Genestealer Cults
Eldar (mostly 2nd ed metals)

I have a smattering of other old stuff, like RT Imperial Guard and Squat plastics, but those aren't "armies".

I have:
●Space Marines - generic (Mentor Legion)
●Ultramarines - 9th Co
●Space Wolves
●Dark Angels
●Blood Angels
●Doom Eagles
●The Dragon Co - a generic force i picked up dirt cheap at the shop. Every piece has a 3d printed dragon helm & dragon heads printed onto vehicle weapon barrels. It really doesn't match my Mentors, so I treat it as its own force.
●Grey Knights

●Sisters of Battle
●Custodes
●Imperial Agents
●Imperial Knights
●Admech
●Titans

ASTRA MILITARUM
● I have a separate infantry army for each of the regiments (except Tanith & Elysians) that GW has made models for - Cadians, Tallaren, Preatorians, etc. Including a RT era models only one & a pure Squat force.
Maxed out #s of auxiliary units - ogryn etc
● Armored Co - tanks
● Armoured Co - artillery
●Armoured Co - all the "other" vehicles - centaurs, Sentinels, hellhounds, aircraft, etc
●Armoured Co - Super Heavies - Baneblades etc

●Eldar
●Drukhari
●Orks- mostly in the form of a Grot Tank Co.
●Necrons - only missing a few named characters
●Tyranids - lots & lots
●Tau

●Chaos Space Marines - generic
●Death Guard
●World Eaters
●Chaos Knights
●Deamons - Nurgle
●Deamons - Khorne

All forces exceed 3k pts. Some (Guard & Tyranids) are far beyond that.

I will put Votan & GSC armies on the table for the 1st time in 2026.

This is the result of 35 years of building, painting, playing, & never selling stuff off.
I'm also fortunate that Ive always had ample storage space.

I built all these different forces over the tmyears simply because I like building/painting/playing wide varieties of stuff.

In any given year I'll regularly play about 6 different forces.
2025 saw me regularly using:
●Chaos Knights
●Astra Militarum- an abhuman/artillery focus
●Deamons - Nurgle
●Grey Knights
●Imperial Agents
*Admech - current Crusade
*Blood Angels - current Escalation League

2026 will be:
*Admech - Crusade ends in Feb/March
*Blood Angels - Escalation ends in Feb/March
●Votann - planning the force
●GSC - planning the force
● Assorted mixes of my Generic/Mentors Marines since Feb.
● The Grot tank force has also seen 4 games in March/April
With putting the GSC on the table it might be time for the proper tyranids to come out to play.


My ideal # of forces? 52. The ability to use a different force each week.

Number of armies i currently own-5
.dark angels
.salamanders
.admech
,inquisition/demon hunters/deathwatch
.imperial guard

Armies i previously owned in addition-5
.tau
.witch hunters
.tyranids
.pure deathwing
.pure ravenwing


Of my current armies-
Dark angels are my original army, most of the minis are circa 3rd/4th edition.

Salamanders-started them in 5th and by and large are my largest single collection slowly built it up for over a decade.

ADMECH-started this after 7th ed when we went back to play 5th ed, i always liked admech since they were introduced into BFG so i gathered a collection of admech and 3rd party miniatures to build a sizable force.

Both my guard and inquisition were kind of accidental. i had several superheavy tanks and decided to throw together some odds and end to build a guard force around them.

With inquisition, i mostly played demon hunter allies with my other forces and then managed to find some second hand collections of assassins and deathwatch and i have owned the Solmon Lok mini from FW forever just because i loved the way it looks. i also kept my original metal lord Karamozov throne of judgement mini from my old witch hunters army. using the inquisitorial allies rules form the demon hunters codex i managed to combine things together into a workable army.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
After the Great cataclysm where I lost 99% of my stuff....

I am converting a Tempestus Aquilons Kill Team and attempting to build a 40k army.

I would like to own a complete army of Dawn of War Blood Ravens (including the Imperial Knight ally).

I will be happy with one army.

Right now I am hunting for push to fit Marines as they seem to be the cheaper option.

If you can find it, the Dawn of War board game from Target is a good source.

I have a fair few armies because I love the setting, but most of them are around 1500 points old money so not modern army size - a few squads and a couple of vehicles.

I have an absolutely ginormous Ork army because that was my main faction for my teens and 20s. I could easily field 6 themed armies out of the collection and it's almost all painted, albeit some of it quite poorly. Loads of games played.

I have a company of Crimson Fists made mostly from miniatures from Starter Sets 2e-6e with some additions here and there. It's fairly short on tanks to be fair. It's entirely painted. Lots of games played - I often loan this to my friend to use so they see a lot of action.

I have a relatively big Imperial Guard army made from my brother's old 2e metals, metal Steel Legion and some old Cadian plastics. Again, heavy on infantry and light on tanks, I only have 1 leman russ but I have a decent spread of everything else. It's entirely painted and to a fairly good standard. I bought some very cheap Oathmark Rangers and used spare parts from my box to make a Tanith First and Only army in the summer, which is assembled but not painted. A few games played.

I have a Chaos army that's a mix of Word Bearers, Cultists, Daemons, Mutants and Zombies. The Daemons represent all 4 gods with a small force - Leader, 2x10 Infantry, 2 elite units. I also have a few Berserkers and Plague Marines. It's about half painted to a good standard, not many vehicles again (a bit of a theme!) and uses a fair few non-GW miniatures (North Star and Mantic for the cultists and mutants). The core of the army is the 6e starter box. A couple of games played.

This summer I painted up a decent sized Tyranid army, the only one that isn't based on any discount boxed set. It's focused on the 5e era models with none of the newer stuff and I'd say it's pretty decently painted. I have a force of Genestealer Cultists as well basically made entirely from the Starts Collecting box and a lot of kitbashing the bitz on to cheaper models like Mantic Zombies or North Star Mercs. That's assembled but not painted. No games yet!

I have a smallish decently painted Necron army focused on the 3e codex but I use some modern models like the new Wraiths and Triarch Praetorians rather than the older metals. No Monolith yet. The core of that force is the Start Collecting box with the Command Barge. A decent number of games played.

I've got a Tau Army that's heavy on the Auxiliaries and has no suit bigger than a Broadside. It's pretty much one of everything from the 4e codex. All assembled but unpainted. No games yet!

And a Dark Eldar army that's mostly the Start Collecting with the Wyches, the Combat Patrol, a few extra boxes and a haemonculus coven kitbashed from Mantic Nightstalker stuff. No games yet!

For me that represents everything I think is cool in 40k, and I'm fairly happy that a lot of it is painted and all of it is at least assembled. I don't buy a lot of vehicles unless they come in discount boxes and a lot of my stuff is collected over the past nearly 30 years of wargaming in which time unlike most people I never took any breaks or sold off my stuff. It is a really large collection, probably silly to have so much, but it does make me very happy.

I also have a Forge Fathers army to represent Demiurg, a Veer-myn army to represent Hrudd and some Matsudan for Space Lizardman goodness.

Interesting question. Personally I've always liked to faction hop, but 40k never quite bought into that, in no small part because I didn't really like it very much and was pretty happy to just have an army to participate with when people were excited. I do like a lot of the factions though and 10th is the first time I've wanted to play enough that owning multiple armies really appealed to me.

This ironically comes at a time where I've been aiming to focus on fewer armies that I play more, which has been a good reminder of motives. If you play a game regularly, you probably need options for 1) play variety, 2) painting variety and 3) the reality that sometimes your favorite army just sucks and you should play something else until its better.

In 8th I liked the idea of building my variety around the Inquisition. Sisters as a horde, DW as my ranged elite, Grey Knights as melee elite.... maybe a Knight or 3 for Vehicles.... but too much repetition in that to want to make them into full armies and really only kept Deathwatch into 9th.

I find my first faction in games is usually some kind of lawful all rounder style thing which Deathwatch fills out nicely. After that I generally want something with a brains off, unga bunga melee vibe which has been why I've always had interest in Orks.

I could probably be happy with those two, since Space Marines are so flexible I can get my vehicle fix running tanks. Despite my love of big stompy robots, my Knights haven't really been appealing as their own faction as I hate Armigers... but I do think War Dogs are pretty cool... and I don't generally care for Chaos armies, but if you're going big scary stompy.... so yeah, I threw a whole bunch of spikes on my Knights which has rounded out my collection at a nice trio I'm pretty happy with.

So yeah, TLDR, I'm happy with 3.

Imperium All Rounders: Deathwatch
Xenos Melee Horde: Orks
Chaos Big Stompy: Chaos Knights

Nice mix of aesthetics and playstyles.

Well this will sound flippant, but the ideal number is one full collection of each. At that point you can share and teach with friends plus have your variety.

I have one made, and a few still in boxes waiting for workbench time.

I would say 3 that each are more of an enemy to each other than allies. That's give enough diverse and a good three-way war among each other.

A lot of strategy games has 3 factions as its a good basis of having a force having to deal with two opponents and have to adapt to each and could potentially ally with one to take out the other.

Sheesh. I'm just aiming for one, with maybe a Knight Ally thrown in.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
Sheesh. I'm just aiming for one, with maybe a Knight Ally thrown in.

Which is totally fine.
Some people go absolutely ham into 40k. Others build it much more slowly. And if you find yourself not doing more than one army? That's fine too.

I mean its good to be disciplined, otherwise you wake up and realise you have at least a start collecting box for almost every faction there is (except the more recent ones).

I reckon I have about:
Around 3k DE, enough for varied 2k lists. Main army. Sometimes fantasize about doing another DE army painted completely differently but that seems a bit like madness/obsession. But roll on 11th edition and who knows.

Call it 1500~ of Eldar and Tau. Not especially competitive rosters but could be 2k tournament ready with a couple more purchases if I really wanted to. Fine for smaller casual play. Keep meaning to round out the Tau but never get round to it.

1000~ Orks, Tyranids GSC, Ad Mech and Necrons (although mainly the 9th starter which is very character heavy). These armies aren't really ready for a tournament of any scale. Generally armies I've seriously started collecting but ran out of steam somewhere along the way for whatever reason. The Ad Mech was the project in the first 6-12 months of 10th but it just never went any further.

500~ Guard, Marines, Death Guard and CSM. Most of these were just because I liked the models and wanted to paint them, so its not really an army as much as 3 different kits.

I collect various armies so that others can borrow forces and play at my house. And so my kids have armies that they will eventually own.

I have over 6k in space marines, approximately 1k of IG, Tau, and Space Wolves, and the start of an Ork, Eldar, and Tyranid collection.

I'd say it depends on the edition.

I'm collecting for 1st edition, so need to have too much of everything. DM woes

I think for modern editions of the game, maybe something like 2 armies would be the sweet spot?

There is no one ideal number. As you stay in the hobby for longer and longer, you may find yourself with more and more armies. This is fine.

 Ashiraya wrote:
There is no one ideal number. As you stay in the hobby for longer and longer, you may find yourself with more and more armies. This is fine.

Unfortunately I collect more than I play, though I wish it were the opposite. It is a challenge to play an army that you are not familiar with so I tend to play Space Marines when I don't have a lot of time. If I know I will have time for a longer game, I will pick an army that I want to use and to learn their rules.

5th edition Imperial Guard with all of its orders is surprisingly hard to learn for a Space Marine player. I tell Space Marines to do this, and they do it. Imperial Guard troops need extra attention.

Tau seem reasonably easy, but I have to start managing marker lights.

Orks; just Waaaaagh and see if they kill each other.

The exact number of armies you need is n+1 where n is the number of armies you currently own!

In reality an army is such a time and money investment for me I have to really want them to bother. So there has to be a catch, a hook that makes me have to have them. It might be a painting project or a certain unit that really gets under my skin.

I currently have 4 on the go, an ORK army I’ve had since 1st edition and sits at over 12000 points painted. Marines that are are growing but sit at over 8000 points painted. A home brew chapter that I love and enjoy fleshing out. A guard army that I’ve not touched in ages and my current project a growing eldar army that is an ongoing plog in my sig.

I’m getting the itch for emperors children but the limited range is stopping me for now, I have owned and painted up a dozen to so other armies but mostly as painting projects that I have sold on after completing.

I have historically had numerous armies, and honestly, I like having the options.

I sold my Necrons because I stopped playing them, mainly because the change from their original codex to the modern revamp (yes, I'm old) was too jarring. I liked the endless legions and the lore of them being betrayed by the C'Tan, not enslaving them. They got too much stuff, they got personalities, and I went off them.

My main is Orks - circa 12k of them. I have a lot of old chaos (mostly metal), and I have a box full of space marines (also mostly metal). I have my Rebel Grots army (Imperial Guard) and a mechanical tyranid army I must go back to making.

3 armies, although my SM are a tiny one, but I think it depends a lot on what you actually do with them, your storage room, the time you can give to this hobby...

I personnaly long sticked with just my IG but finally gave in and bought my necrons, I find that 2 is good because you can set up games with friends by lending your toys and swap one or the other from time to time.

I've collected quite a bit since the beginning of 3rd Ed.

Space Marines, Orks, Chaos & Tyranids are all around 10-11,000 pts each.

Sisters of Battle, Druhari, Imperial Guard & a home brew army called 'The Scourge' are in the 5-6000 pt range.

Gotta have options, right?

Certain forces get neglected for a time which requires refamilarization, but since we use our own rules I don't have the trouble of recalibrating my brain for edition changes (though we tweak our rules fairly regulary, which has its own issues).

The Sisters were originally to be a commissioned force and the Guard were a joint project of sorts, but I was very glad to inherit them both. Plenty for visiting players to try out or to arrange different alliances for particular scenarios.

Just for 40k? I currently have 4 armies, those being Dark Angels, Imperial Knights, Leagues of Votann, and Astra Militarum. I've had a lot more in the past, including Tau, Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Daemons, Death Guard, Tyranids, Adeptus Custodes, Space Wolves, and Sisters of Battle. When the new edition drops, I'm going to add Orks to my lineup.

When you add other games, I've got plenty more stuff. I've got 3 AoS armies (Stormcast Eternals, Kruleboyz, and Lumineth Realm-lords), an Old World army (Tomb Kings), multiple forces for Middle-Earth SBG (Gondor, Lothlorien, Rohan, Mordor, and Easterlings to name a few), and some small starter type forces for some other games like Conquest, Kings of War, Infinity, and Halo: Flashpoint. And I'll probably get into the StarCraft game when it goes on retail sale (I was unfortunately short on cash when it was on preorder).

Some might call me a madman for having that many projects going. I say that variety is the spice of life, and it's good to have a wide variety of stuff to paint. Like others have pointed out, having different types of stuff to pivot to can prevent hobby burnout. That being said, I can't honestly recommend that people have as much stuff as I do, as it can sometimes lead me to become paralyzed with indecision on what I want to work on next. I have a tendency to get "new shiny syndrome" and grab stuff I like the look of without regard for how much is already in my pile of shame. In fact my pile is more of a mountain; if I bought nothing and just worked on what I already have it would take me several years to get it all painted. And that's if I didn't also have a day job. But, I'm still having fun with the hobby, so something is working.

I have 15-16% of 1 army and that's plenty for me, especially since 90% of them are either still grey or only primed for painting

I need to get some new pics of the whole collection soon. Maybe after I finish getting the rest of the named characters, or a couple squads of cc Termies.