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Hello all. I've played Warhammer for almost the full 25 years it's been around. I've never played the 40k version. My son loves the figures but hasn't shown a real interest in my dwarf and goblin armies. I believe he much prefers blowing things up to chopping them into little bits.....

We went to the local GW store and bought the 40k starter set. This is more up his alley. We are now starting our 40k armies and I have a bunch of questions. I am going with the Imperial Guard and he is going with an Ork horde.

We have the mini rule book from the starter set. We went to buy the hardcover version and one of the clerks told us to wait, the new version will be out in a couple of weeks. Of course we spent the $50 bucks on figures instead. Should we not learn the "old" mini book rules and just wait til the new version comes out? My son is only 7 so we have been playing simple move and shoot rules. He wants to know more of the "real" rules but I don't want to teach him a set of rules that will rubbish in a couple of weeks. Opinions? The only other 40k book I have is the hard cover rules book from from 1988....yes I did try and play it once.

We bought the two codex books and the Imperial Guard one is confusing. In the 2008 catalogue it shows Karskin troops for the Imperial guard but no where in the codex does it have rules for this squad. The codex has rules for ratling snipers but not Cadian snipers. On the GW website there are tons of units in the collectors section but I don't see any mention of these aside from the black and white overview on the last couple pages (Mordian for example).

I can't find any rules PDF files on the GW website either.

One last question for now......what point value should we start off with for each army? I was thinking 500pts but I'm worried we won't be able to find many games on game night at our local GW store. It will be hard enough to get a game as we are complete newbs and I don't want to handicap ourselves further.

Thanks for all the help! I've been reading the forums here for a while and there are so many talented painters here. Your work has been an inspiration to get gaming again.


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Kasrkins are Stormtroopers. Cadian Snipers are just Cadian troops wielding Sniper rifles, which can be found in squads that purchase the Light Infantry Doctrine, and Special Weapons Squads, IIRC.

I would just wait for the 5th Edition rulebook to be released, because there are some significant changes from 4th to 5th Edition.

I think 1,000 - 1,5000 points is a good size, if you're looking to actually battle different opponents. 1,850 or less is the standard for tournaments, if you're going to involve yourselves in those.

The clerk is right. Two weeks for the new version. The mini-rulebook that comes with the Battle for Macragge has the full rules in it, so no need to get the bigger book to learn rules outdated as soon as you do...

That said, if you still really want the hardback book, then I've got a sweet deal for you. j/k

Point levels are going to be different at each location. Talk to the store where you will normally play at. GT level events are 1750 pts, but 1500 and 2000 are common as well. I know several places that enjoy the 1250 pt range.
That said, 500 is a great place to start learning the game. Learn basic mechanics, how units work, etc. That way you can learn the armies and what you like about them before plunking down a huge chunk of change for a whole army - only to find out that half the models you bought are on the bottom side of the effectiveness curve.

Good Luck!

Welcome to 40K!

First, just know that the 5th Edition of 40K will be coming out shortly, with new rules. In addition, the new 5th Edition boxset will come with loads of miniatures, including plenty of Orks for your son's army, so I think that is a good deal for you that will be available relatively soon.

My advice for you, while you are waiting for 5th Edition:

1) Assemble the miniatures and play the starter missions from the 4th Edition boxset that you already purchased. Sure, they are not the armies you want to play, but those missions work well as an introduction to the basic game mechanics of 40K. Note, however, that 5th Edition will change a few things, so be sure to keep in mind that you may have to unlearn a few things from 4th in order to learn things in 5th.
2) For strategies regarding both the Orks and the Imperial Guard, look for example army lists and tactics online. Dakka has two sections dedicated to this. Read the reasons for why they included the units they did and what others think of their lists. This can be a good way to start list building. However, don't think that lists posted online are the end-all and be-all of army list building. Test ideas of your own, as well. And, be sure to play! Nothing will force you to learn faster than to simply play a few games.

As for Kasrkin, they are the Cadian equivalent of Stormtroopers, with a fancier name.

I'd also suggest that you start off with 500 points for each of you. That will let you play immediately against each other. Once the 500 points are done, focus the remaining painting time on getting one of the armies, probably your son's, up to 2,000. That will let the two of you jointly play an army at the LGS.

I'd also recommend painting up the two mandatory troop choices as part of your starting force. You're going to need them, and they're often the least fun to paint up. Once you get them done, it's all downhill from there!

-=Edit=- Downhill in a good way.

I'm assuming you bought the 'old' starter set that comes with Marines and Tyranids ("the battle for Macragge")?

I don't think the 5th edition starter set is out yet.

If I were you, I'd try to return that starter set (not sure if you've cut anything up yet) because the new starter set that should be coming out within a few months includes quite a few new Ork models, which would be perfect for you since you're starting Orks.

You should definitely wait to learn the 'new' rules that will be out in a few weeks. Right now you can go down to the GW stores and they will run demo games using the new rules to give you some idea of how the game plays until you get your hands on the actual rules.


Oh, and welcome!

Most of my games are 1500 or 2000 points, however, if you were to walk in when I was at my FLGS, I would be completley willing to play you, particularly since you can play several 500 point games in the time you have, as opposed to one 2000 pointer. I also like the small games for the variety, as I don't get to play 500 very often. I can only assume there is at least one person like that at your FLGS.

I take it you've read your codex, so you should be aware that a troop choice for IG can be anywhere from 25 to 55 models ( Am I right on that one, been forever since I played IG ) and you need two of these. You can take an armored fist squad as one of your troops ( which is a chimera and a squad) but I hear that they aren't that great, though I imagine they'll be better in fifth. Anyhow, if you hadn't already purchased figures, I'd have suggested going with marines instead of IG.

Welcome to the 40k club.....if you've played fantasy like you have, then the 40k rules should be very easy for you to learn, IMHO. If you like the first edition 40k book you have, you might download the Necromunda rules and use your IG figures as gangers. Necro uses the second edition rules and "feels" a lot more like Rogue Trader.