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Is there any article that lists the differences between each 40K army and their playstyles? I've found similar articles for Warhammer Fantasy, but I'm looking for something specific to 40K.

I've gotten a group of friends together and we've settled on playing 40K. I have a little experience with it, and I have more models than they do, but I don't feel like I have enough experience to advise them as to the fundamental differences between all the armies.

Also, since there will be 5 or 6 of us playing are there any armies that people shouldn't duplicate. In other words, should we try to avoid having two or three people pick the same army?

Thanks.

As 40k just changed to 5th edition this summer choosing an army with a newer codex might make picking up the game an easier task. Space Marines, Orks, Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Demons, & Eldar all have a codex less then 2 years old, while others such as Dark Eldar have been going on 10 years without a new codex.

One of the great things about most armies is that you can do very different things with them. Most armies can have very different builds so just because 2 people are playing one race does not mean you will be facing the same opponent.

I've always liked the advice of "look at the models and figure out which ones you like the best, then read the initial overview of the army, if you like what you hear then that might be a good army to start out with."

Yes, different armies will play very differently. Though, it really depends on how different the armies are. Chaos space marines and regular space marines are fairly similar, whereas regular marines and tyranids are vastly different.

Yes, my advice to the other players has been to pick an army that you will enjoy assembling and painting. I've discourage IG and Dark Eldar for the obvious reasons (Out-dated codexes, hard to find models, and as to IG only, too many models needed to field an army).

I'm looking for an article that breaks down the playstyle of each army. Stengths and weaknesses. Space Marine and Chaos Space Marine are good beginner armies because you don't have to field very many models, and each model can deal damage and take damage. They are well balanced in range and close combat. Whereas, I've told people that if you choose to play Tau, then you better be okay with losing, because they are horrible at close combat and are more difficult to play effectively.

The learning curve with Tau was steep for me, and it took about 4 or 5 games before I finally won, but they did help me learn the rules very quickly, and having tanks with strength 10 AP1 ammo and getting a cover save more then 12 inches away was very forgiving when I made mistakes.

So I guess there's no article on this issue?

The official GW site has "Getting Started" sections for each of the 40K armies that include information on look & feel and overall playstyles. They're mostly accurate.

Or, since the articles on Dakka are collaborative, you could start an article and ask for contributions...