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Hello all at DakkaDakka forums!
I've been having a lot of fun using this forum, checking out everyone's army//battle reps// and so on. This site is a real time waster for me. (I mean that in a good way IE I spend HOURS on this thing)
It was about 12 years ago that I stopped collecting Warhammer 40k miniatures and sold them all for a STUPID price to a kid at my school. The reasons were as follows
1. I couldn't (and still cant i guess) paint for sh*t!
2. I had no interest in learning the game (or more importantly paying money for they books) so my badly assembled and badly painted IG troops and tanks just sat around on the shelves looking menacing( and crap) Which grew boring ...quick
3. I had no1 to share the interest with.

But now thanks to forums like this and games workshop's website I have decided to try and get back into it with the intention and gaming for real. I've been checking out the painting guides on the GW website so I at least have a scooby now when it eventually comes to learning to paint the miniatures I buy.

I am still really starting out so I need to buy a few basics before deciding which army to start with. I still need to get a rulebook (a riveting read I'm shhure!!) But I did receive my Dark Angels codex in the post. I see on this forum and a few others that the DA's don't seem to cut it on the table-top...or if they do they are better used in the hands of seasoned pros.
I ordered the DA's codex simply because I liked the way they looked and space marines to me seem to be the simplest paint jobs for a newbie. ( Please correct me if I'm wrong)
But basically I'm not rich by any means and don't want to go spending £100.00 on codex's so can people recommend some starting army guides? IE any core army of say 500-750 points that would be competitive on the table-top but not so competitive to PAINT!
I'm open to anything since almost all the miniatures GW make look pretty cool to me (But please no Nids I h8 those vermin)
The only reason I'm put off collecting the likes of Eldar/Dark Eldar/Chaos is that they seem inherently harder to paint. And I REALLY want my army to look as good as I can get them with-out spending uber-hours painting them.
If any is in the Glasgow area (Scotland) and would be willing to disclose some painting/Modelling//Gaming advice I would be utterly grateful.

And for the rest of you peeps ANY advice at all is welcomed.

Thanks again for this awesome forum and Yipee to my first post..... ahhhhh you always remember your first

Welcome to Dakka

HFN

Howdy. The Assault on Black Reach set is a great starter set. You'll get the rule book and a nice core of Orks and Space Marines, which you can trade one or the other to beef up even more.

Welcome on board

Best way to decide on your army - get to the shop! (or at least check out the online store)

For your first army, the one that inspires you is the one to collect. At low points values, the game is less liable to devolve into power-list abuse, so you don't have to worry as much about gameplay. Just get some stuff and find an opponent!

As far as painting/modelling goes - keep it neat, tidy and simple. A little extra care at the begining (making sure mould lines are all removed, filing joints to get a good fit, etc) are worth their weight in gold later.

The same applies for colour schemes. Keep it simple! Remember that dark colours (greens, blues, browns) tend to go better over a standard black undercoat than light colours (reds, yellow, whites). In the same vein, silver covers better than gold.

Get some advice from your local GW or FLGS, too - there's usually someone painting and they're almost always willing to help.

Good luck with whatever you decide and welcome back to the hobby!!

Thanks for the replies all.
I've been on almost every page the GW website has so I am fairly familiar with all the races. Just want to know their strategic pros/cons.
But I'll just have to buy the codexes I guess.I'm gonna steer clear of the assault on B.R.
Too many models to paint and not the ones I really want.

Well since they're easiest to start painting (PLEASE correct me if I'm worng) I'll start with either the DA BA or BT marines.

I'll prolly buy a rhino and either a tac squad or 2 boxes of the 3 man marines. Just to get some kind of painting skills under my belt.. I'll steer clear of HQ's and elites until I cant paint them properly

BTW what happened to the other boxed set's GW used to do#?..they had rulebooks/dice/some models/markers and paints iirc.

Becoming a competitive player is certainly an ambitious aim. Good luck! Not really sure if DA is competitive, but the new Space Marines are.

Just good ole plain Vanilla marines?

What about the BT's or BA's?

And can someone explain why the DA's aren't viable? You dont have to write an essay just gimme the gist

DAs were stripped back an 'weakified' in what everyone thought was going to be the direction for SM codii.
BAs had a similar treatment with their codex.

Then GW drops the new super SM codex where you essentially get 150 odd points of extras for the same point sas the DAs get at 1500 points.

I'm rebuilding my BAs for the 6th time but the codex is so limp I'm going to be using them as SMs initially.

Oh, and welcome to dakka.

Hrmm I see...
So a waste of some money on this dark angels codex then..
I guess I'll look for the SM one..
Just reading some threads on the stern guards atm so Maybe that is a route to go..

Thanks for all the welcomes//advice guys.