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Alright im new to 40k so i dont know everything. I have played a few games using a couple of my friends armies. I want to start an army of my own and have narrowed it down to two. Its between the eldar and necrons. My friend has a nid army with genestealers, a brood lord and a carnifex. My other friend has a space marine army and im not really quite sure what he has as far as troops go.

I dont want to play the same army as them so that automatically cancels them out. i have read all the getting started parts on games-workshop and like the necron and eldar the best. This doesnt nessecarily mean i wont use the other armies im just leaning towards these two.

I like the necrons because they look cool, i like the idea of an army that just marches out with the sole intent on just killing and some of my friends were talking about them and they just sounded like a good army. This is the army i have been most reading up on and everything looks good except when i eventually get the hang of it i have been reading that there isnt much customization as far as troop choice and army lists.

As for the Eldar they sound like the opposite they are the Elite warriors who do there job and do it right. They have a ton of customization, which eventually im sure ill like, but it is pretty daunting right now. I really don't know which to choose. Im sure there are 800,000 threads on this and i did look quite a few pages back to see if some were close to my situtation, but it didnt really look like it. Thanks for all the help and again if there is a better army that seems more suited to me that isnt nids or SM shout it out.

This really depends on how you want to play personally, if you like fast units that get into and out of combat extremely quickly eldar is probably more your style. On the other hand if you like an army that can take a beating and keep coming you would like the necrons, though with the necrons you have to watch for the 75% phase out.

So, do you have any idea of what type of army you would like to play? That will help you choose an army quite a bit.

Thats the problem they both sound appealing however im leaning towards the necrons, but im just afraid of the lack of custimization i dont want to be playing the same battle every game and get bored.

Necrons are also very shooty. And Eldar can be either shooty or close combat heavy. Necrons also lack a certain variety right now. You can have warriors, a lord, and something else. Usually ends up having to be destroyers or heavy destroyers. But Necrons are also a very easy army to paint. Boltgun metal on everything, do the shoulder and another thing another metal. Then devlan mud wash everything. Done. And I'm not kidding it can be that easy.

well, a good idea then is to go to your local GW and see if they have small armies that you might be able to try out just to get a feel for the armies. I know as far as the necrons go that you are right, they do have a little less customization for regular troops but they are fairly versatile when it comes to the hq and elite units.

Eldar are substantially more customizable.

The thing, though, is that your battles will vary based on who you are fighting and how the terrain is set more than it will vary by how you set your army up in most cases.

There is only a hobby shop around my area that doesnt have any 40k units that they arent selling soi dont think thats an option, but i will keep a lookout for people that have the armies so i can see how they play them.

Both armies require some skill to play.
However, Necrons are a bit more forgiveable than Eldar as they have good armor and the WBB rule. Moreover, the Lord's veil of darkness and the Monoliths make Necrons rather mobile allowing units to teleport.
Eldar's armor is speed. Their fast moving tanks are the best in the game. Mech Eldar armies are rather popular and fun to play. A more balanced list with hammer & anvil units also works fine.