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Hello. I'm new to 40K. I want to have a Tau force so i think of a Battleforce. I have not alot of money, around £25 ish and i won't be getting anymore for a while. What can i spend my money on that is relevant to 40K.

Cease

Unless you have steady income that you can spend on miniatures, I would pick up one of the Dawn of War games. I can't remember which one had the Tau in it, but I think it was Dark Crusade. That will let you play with all of the units and get a lot of enjoyment out of it. 25 pounds of miniatures, after you buy superglue and paint, is not going to be very exciting to play with.

Do you have the rulebook?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And have you considered Assault on Black Reach?

I don't have the rulebook. And i haven't considered The Assault on Black Reach, but that would be an introduction to the game, which now sounds like a good idea. But i had the introduction to the game before which was the edition before this one. I'll look into the rule book as it seems to be a good place to start.

Cease

Hey there.

My advice for your 25 pounds is this: Find a friend who plays Tau and borrow some of their stuff. Find someone who doesn't play Tau and proxy their army as Tau. Stop into your FLGS and tell them that you're trying to learn, and could you have a learning game (they'll probably put out models for you).

Stick that 25 pounds into the bank and let it earn interest, and later put more money with it. Eventually, you'll have a fair idea of what you like to play (from your practicing). Borrow a codex or acquire one through other means and start looking at unit combinations. Start playing around with an army list. Finally, build an army list (1500 points). Post it over on the army list section and let it get torn apart and rebuilt. Continue collecting interest on your 25 pounds.

Eventually, without having spent any money, you'll have gained a decent grasp of the game, the army you're envisioning playing, whether it really *IS* the army for you or not, and most importantly....if it is the army for you, you'll have an army list to start building towards and know exactly what to buy.

My first army was Tau. I've got about 8,000 points worth of Tau. If I knew today what I knew then (a year and a half ago) about 40k and Tau, I wouldn't have started with them. Tau are phenomenal, destructive, lethal, and I am confident in my ability to absolutely wtfpwn pretty much anyone and any army list with my Tau. A good chunk of that 8,000 points was acquired at the cost of tournament entry fees. But having been in your shoes, and chosen Tau for no other reason than I like being ranged combat oriented in video games.....don't be overeager to spend your cash.


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Cease wrote:I don't have the rulebook. And i haven't considered The Assault on Black Reach, but that would be an introduction to the game, which now sounds like a good idea. But i had the introduction to the game before which was the edition before this one. I'll look into the rule book as it seems to be a good place to start.

Cease

Following my same counsel, I'd tell you this:

1. For a rulebook: One comes in every black reach box. My wife and I have been through 4 black reach boxes to get Orks, and trading out the space marines for more orks. There are doubtlessly many black reach sized pocket rulebooks floating around. Ask around in your FLGS; ask who's bought a couple of AoBR boxes, and approach them; ask if you can borrow/buy one of their pocket rulebooks - you might even get it for free; I know I'd give one away for free.

2. For the AoBR box; this has space marines and Orks in it. Not a good idea for an aspiring Tau player. Honestly, your first real acquisition of Tau (after having done what I said above) would probably be best spent on e-bay finding a very nicely priced small army that has the core of what you're looking for. That way you only need to spring for enhancements and additions to your army instead of the entire core.

Thanks Dashofpepper. I will certainly try to acquire a rulebook by seeing if the FLGS has one they are willing to spare. The problem with your plan above, is that none of my friends are into what I'm into. I like the sound of this Ebay idea you have. I'll have a quick look on there shortly.

Cease

Cease...

I started 40k a year and change ago and none of my friends were into it either. As you learn and grow, you'll make more friends. New friends man, new friends! Don't worry about who you know now and what their hobbies are.

I like the sound of New Friends. Thanks once again Dashofpepper.

Cease

As has been mentioned by Dashofpepper, I'd also like to add that a very good idea would be to try and find a copy of the Vassal program and the 40k module. While the module has been shut down, you can still find it if you look hard enough. Pick up the rulebook, learn to play (Or if you can't afford the 60-dollar hardcover book, try to ask someone for a tutorial about the game; the internet is a vast place) and maybe get the Tau Empire Codex. Learn the codex, learn how the army works (Ranged combat, by the way) and play a few games over Vassal without spending a cent on models.

I cannot stress this enough. Play the game before you start spending money willy-nilly on models. This is an expensive hobby, and you'll easily get to around 40-60 dollars (Not sure what that is in pounds, sorry) in sheer modeling equipment - paints, brushes, sprue clippers, a modeling knife, maybe some files if you want to clean up molding lines. Not to mention that if you don't take care of your equipment, you'll be replacing it quickly. On top of that, you need to buy models, and in my experience it's never a good idea to start off with buying random models to learn how to play. Especially since many players quickly find an army list they like and start modifying any and all future lists around a certain core list. If you just buy random models, you might find that some will end up in a corner collecting dust out of disuse.

Oh, and if/when you do decide to buy models, consider looking into rare earth magnets as well, especially for Crisis Suits. With such a varied unit, you'll be happy if you can quickly swap out weapons and support systems without explaining that the army list is using a different item than what the model is sporting.

Why use magnets when blu-tack is cheaper?
Oh and ebay is great for good prices.

oggers wrote:Oh and ebay is great for good prices.

Here here.. however since GW has put a end to any type of unopened box sales the only thing you can find are pretty much entire armies (which often can be a bit high, but alot less than what the actual price would be)

After you've learned war40K rules and some of the tau, the tau empire battleforce is a good way to go. Check http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/ or maelstrom games for some great prices (if you live in the UK you can have extremely cheap delivery costs)

Also imo the tau empire battleforce is one of the most complete and flexiable sets you can get. It comes with a great, wide selection of troops and a HQ unit. It's also great to note that the box is playable as is, unlike some of the other battleforce sets.

I salute you comrade for supporting the greater good! /salutes

Thanks Superscope, i'll check that out now. Just gotta sort this ebay out and then i will.

Cease

And remember...save your money; don't spend it now.

When you're ready to start spending money on 40k stuff, you won't need to ask what to spend it on.

Dashofpepper wrote:And remember...save your money; don't spend it now.

When you're ready to start spending money on 40k stuff, you won't need to ask what to spend it on.

Yeap.. that's the way to go. Work on the rules and what type of army you want to build out of the tau codex, then start marking what your after on online shops.

Hello everyone. I'm thinking of buying a Battleforce after the Codex. And then i'll be buying some painting essentials. Skull white spray, a few brushes and some other paint. I've already got a colour scheme in mind, Being white, black detail and with the fire warrior squads either red or green helmets. I don't know why i'm telling you, but oh well. Thanks for all of the advice.

Cease

Awww. :(

Then you're ignoring all my advice. *sobs*

There's a good chunk of stuff that comes in a Tau Battleforce box that I'll never use; I play pure Tau and the kroot are wasted, and I tend towards static gunline or minimally mobile Tau lists, so I don't need devilfish either. Seriously....play before spending money.


Then again, its your money to do with as you will so...

If they sold a pure Tau box, i would buy it. i don't like the look of Kroot. I'm not ignoring your advice, i am voicing (Spelling Fail), my thoughts. None of what i say is set in stone. To get a minimal 1 HQ and 2 Troops, It'll cost me more, but if i but each set individually then i can get another Fire Warrior squad. But all of this is irrelevant at the moment. I'll see if i can play with Tau before i buy. Thanks alot once again.

Cease

I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this yet, but if they didn't, find local hobby shop, and proxy the hell out of your armmies. Since every one is chilled out there (most don't paint armies, and many proxy on a regular basis) they won't mind if you have a cobbled together army of borrowed and proxyed troops.