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hi all, im looking at getting in to 40k, and just have a couple of questions before i start if you dont mind.

1) what army is best/worse for what? (tactics wise i mean. sneaky, long range, short range, all rounder, fast mover, etc. like what are the strengths and weakness's of each race?)

2) does anyone have a couple of pics of what an average 2000 point army looks like? (looking at it in terms of size/amount of models)

3) cant remember what else i was gonna ask lol. will pop back and ask as they come to me

as a side note, when i went into GW yesterday to have a go and check it out, they had a huge ork monster robot thing like 1ft high on the table.... what is it? how many points is that thing worth? and, after seeing that i wondered... what one model has the highest points value in 40k?
or are those just custom ones with agreed values?

thanks in advance to anyone that can help.

Hellcat

Largest point cost model is going to be Apocalypse models, which get into quadruple digits. That Ork model is an Apoc Stompa, if I'm reading you correctly.

A 2k point army will vary from a couple dozen models to nearly 100 depending on the army you're using.

Space Marines are a good start, easy to learn and fairly adaptable. Tau are great shooty army, but get 'em in close combat and you'll cry. Orks are a great horde army and fun to play (RED ONES GO FASTER). Tyranids just came out so there's brand new rules and such; they can be a nightmare in close combat depending on what you've got. Imperial Guard are good, but squishy. Don't really have enough knowledge on the rest; Necrons, (Dark) Eldar, and Daemon/witchhunters are all ridiculously old and thus expensive to put together.

Don't forget Chaos space marines. They got lots of nifty tools and have lots of nice troops too.

Here is my rundown..

SM- good, all round army. Specialist flavors if you like one variety of combat over another.. (red marines are assaulty, blue marines are shooty, green marines are angsty)

Eldar- very fast, very offense oriented.. not so much defence oriented. An army that is delicate, and should be wielded like a rapier. Very Very Mobile

Necrons - slow, durable, require special equipment to be competetive. Currently limited models, and a rumored new codex within a year, we hope. Current codex is sub-optimal.

WitchHunters - I play pure Sisters.. very interesting at short range.. not a lot of long range shooting outside the Heavy Support slot. They also are not good in melee, so you have to try to keep enemies at a medium range.

Tau - Glass Cannon. Astounding firepower output, lots of technotricks. Up close and personal (and it WILL get to that point, most likely) they fight as well as a damp kleenex.

CSM - all round generic army. HQ area has some tricks.. but the current codex really "blanded" out the feel of the army. Locally, CSM players are using the Space Wolf codex to get their fluff on. The basic CSM trooper is better than the equivalent basic SM trooper..

Chaos Daemons - Very tricky, very melee.. they either dominate the scene or are weak. Around my area, they are either the easist or hardest army.

Orks - fun! Horde of guys, melee or shooty. Tons of conversion possibilities as well

Nids - current hotness. huge amount of little guys running into the guns of the enemy.

I THINK right now, the most pricy army dollar wise to get into is Nids or IG.. lots of models .. followed by Orks.

The lower model count armies are cheaper, generally, like Space Marines. AoBR is a godsend for starting up orks or SM..

I got SM as my starter army (bland I know), and from my experience their adaptable, easy to learn, and get some decent war gear. they carry a good deal of shooty but need more specilised for Slashy and can make something go boom when needed

The highest point model I've seen thus far is the Tau transport (Not the Orca - the one above it) from Imperial Armour. 1980 points, but it has the storage capacity of an entire army. I think the model itself costs upwards of $1000, but essentially comes with everything it can carry.

Also, worth pointing out (Great list, by the way, porkuslime) is the Space Wolves, who recently got a codex upgrade to 5th Ed. While they are still Space Marines, they are much fluffier than vanilla marines, and the basic troop is slightly better than the basic Marine. Plus, they get to ride into battle on wolf mounts. How freaking cool is that?

Locclo wrote:The highest point model I've seen thus far is the Tau transport (Not the Orca - the one above it)

The Manta Missile Destroyer. I believe it's the only thing in both BFG and 40K!