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Hey Dakka Dakka,

After some time having playing with my Ork army, I think it is about time I start thinking about a new second army. I have collected about 1000 points of Orks, and while I love the guys, I dont particularly wish to expand them beyond anything more than that. Maybe Ill come back to them, maybe I wont.
Anyways, I have come down to a decision to between the Space Marines, Eldar and Tau Empire, but am undecided between them, so Im hopping you guys can help me make a decision. In selecting a second army, I had specific criterias, where some armies win out, some others lose, so it makes the decision all the more difficult for me. I dont see myself making a third or fourth army beyond my next choice, as Im hoping whichever one I pick now Ill collect them up to about the 3000p range.

Elite-type army
I like to get pretty detailed with my painting, but with something like a horde army, it makes army painting a particularly long and enduring process for me. Hence I'd like a relatively elite army with fewer models whom I can put more time and energy into making them look great. Also, it'll mean less time to get an army onto the table (my gaming friends only play 500-1000p games, since we're all still relatively new). Obviously, Space Marines win out here, requiring the fewest models to field an effective army (I think)

Fast and shooty army
Before I get into it, I know Orks can be made into a perfectly fine shooty army. But I didnt make my list as a shooty list and thus I have no intention of painting another 40+ boyz with shootas. That being said, the playstyle Im looking forward to is an opposite direction from my footslogging horde CC Ork list. I want a generally shooty army, whether it's long-range or close-range firefighting I dont mind. I just wanna blow my opponents away with firepower. But Im also looking for manouverability and speed to make the most of said firepower, which is why once again Im looking at the three races I have in my poll. I would also have a few close combat elements in my army, it's just that they wouldnt be the focus, which is why I think the Tau kind of loses out here (They're a lil TOO shooty)
A minor point is I'd like to use psykers in my army as well. So Librarians in SM, Farseers in Eldar, and obviously Tau lose out here. Im interested in using psykers and see how they affect the army

Hobby aspects - Money, plastic vs. metal models, etc
The money issue kinda ties in with the elite-type army criteria. I would like an army that doesnt cost me too much to put onto the table, so fewer models in army = less $$$ to spend on it. Also, I HATE working with pewter models, and find plastic kits a dream to work with. Hence, Eldar kinda loses out here (with most of their Elites being metal), and Space Marines looking particularly attractive (almost everything except SC are metal). Also, the Eldar battleforce seems less useful, than either the Tau or Marines BF.

Im sure there are other issues I have, but those three are the major ones. Otherwise, I like the fluff, background,tactical choices and aesthetics offered to me by these races. I most likely wont start on a second army until after I've finished painting what Orks I have, and building/painting some terrain for my gaming group (we're so tired of proxying tissue boxes on the dinner table), but I'd like to settle my mind on something soon.

So vote!

PS: I've also worked out colour schemes for each of the races.
Space Marines - Blood Ravens Chapter
Eldar - Either Ulthwe, Saim-Hann, my own Craftworld with dark red/bone white scheme, or an Alaitoc corsair scheme with dark blue/bone white
Tau Empire - Farsight Enclave (but without Farsight, and hence his FO limitations)
I like the fluff for each of these factions, but incase you couldnt tell, Im more interested in painting a scheme involving dark red/bone white lol

Go BA. Go BA or die...

Space marines are the cheapest, the easiest to collect, the hardest to screw up, and have the most viable options of those three.

There's a reason they're a default army: they're pretty good at everything.

Unless you really like one of the two xenos armies, just do marines. Unless you decide to do all veteran IG with valks, chimeras, and tanks!

Space Wolves are just around the corner, and they might be awesome! You can still use Blood Raven colors with them too.

I'd opt for Space Marines.

They allow to play different kinds of army types and tactics.

Thanks for the comments guys. Space Marines seem to be the popular opinion thus far, though the poll is 2 apiece atm XD

Only thing Im worried about with Marines is the mentality that "everyone has a Marine army", which isnt entirely true in my gaming circle (yet). My friends have Chaos Marines, Eldar and IG, with the possibility of Necrons, Black Templars and Tyranids being thrown in as well.

I voted Space Marines.

I was in the same situation a short while ago myself.

I voted for Eldar.

A - they are one of the top armies ATM and even though I can't stand the way they play, I think they are an army to be feared.

B - nice models.

C - I've had a Marine army many moons ago and have just bought a Tau army and I can tell you that they are not as fun as Eldar.

I voted Tau. You can find plenty of models cheap.

They will fit the playstyle you are looking for while to make the marines shooty and fast will cost lots more money. Same problem with the Eldar, money.

If the Tau are not for you then Eldar. They can also fit with your proposed goals.

IMO,If you take SMs then you have an army that fails to be distinctive by its very nature. You won't develop your ranged tactics due to being able to fall back upon SM natural HtH ability.

Now if your looking for tourny competitive then Eldar first and only. Tau have some problems with stateside tournies and I won't recommend the SMs for the same reasons I mentioned before.

Blood Ravens would be pretty cool, no plays them pretty much.

From what you said, Eldar are the best match. However, Tau are a stronger playstyle contrast from your Orks.

SM are a budget pick, but I suspect their commonality probably works against you.

@focusedfire
You make a good point about the SM's natural HtH ability, and it is something I did indeed consider. Out of the three races, the SM's are certainly the most forgiving in terms of making mistakes.
Also Im not really looking into tourney competitive playing anytime soon

@JohnHawngDD
Tau would indeed be a complete opposite of my Orks in terms of playing style, but Im not quite looking for a ranged shooty army just for the sake of having somethin COMPLETELY different from my Orks. As I said, I'd like to retain some close combat ability/elements in any list I'd make.

Thanks for the comments so far guys. Right now Im more leaning towards choosing between SM and Eldar now. Eldar because the models look pretty sweet, and from looking at tactics/army build threads on this forum they have a playing style that seems to suit me best. But in terms of $$$/point costs, SM still seems like a more attractive proposition...

Decisions decisions...

PS: Something I considered is an all plastic Eldar army (barring models like a Farseer or two) to get around the cost/plastic vs pewter issue. Would that be feasible? Guardians/DA in Serpents and Jetbikes flying about, with War walkers and Wraithlords walking about? As I said, Im not really into the competitive tourney thing, as its just me and my mates playing casually, but I'd still like to be able to make a decent list out of it.

Eldar can potentially be a better shooty army than marines, and can also be extremely deadly at close range (my chaos marines fear a few of their CC units).

Honestly, I dont have eldar, I dont like the way they look, but Im going to get them very soon. They are extremely fun to play as (buddy has them). While each Eldar unit really only has one role, they are extremely good at that role.

I vote Eldar.

Eldar...

If you're deciding between SM and Eldar, you should also consider CSM or SW just coming out soon.

JohnHwangDD wrote:If you're deciding between SM and Eldar, you should also consider CSM or SW just coming out soon.

My best mate is collecting CSM, and while they're cool, they're not an army I'd like to collect, mostly due to the aesthetics (too much spikes, horns and mutations for my liking). SW seems pretty cool and from the rumours seem to fit into the 'Elite' aspect of what Im looking for in a new army. However arent they also a highly assault-based army? I dont know much about them in terms of playing style.

If you don't like the look of excessive of spikes & horns, you could mix 1 box of CSM for every 3 to 5 boxes of regular SM for the occasional spike on any given model.

Or, you could use SM models as recent Traitors...

SW are going to be very Elite, and can fight very decently.

Thing is, various SMs can be built differently, so you could build shooty CSM, for example, using units that your friend is ignoring.

I voted for Eldar. Basic troops in plastic. Most of the aspects are metal though so it may cost more. A lot of players hate the holofields save ability.

Space marines are going to be a lot like your orce so if your looking for a change of pace, it won't be a huge one.

Eldar are very inexpencive cool looking and just all around cool to play with if you know how to use.

Tau, if you like winning you'll love tau.

Space Marines are common.

Tau are pacifist communists.

Eldar it is.