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So Im looking to get into 40K, and am curious about potential armies to try out. I find all the model lines great so there isn't a particular army model or even fluff wise that i prefer over another. Im just wondering, from peoples opinions, what would be a good army to start off with that is fun to play, competative, and ISN'T SM. I dont have any hate for SM, but it seems like everyone and their grandma play SM or varient SM forces, so i'm looking to check out something else. I'd love to go DE but with a sore lack of new models and codex coming out anytime soon (they say this year, but i doubt it) Im looking to pursue other forces.

Reccomendations?

Orks are a good one, but you'll be painting a lot of dudes. Though really, any army is fine, it just might take a little longer to get good with it. Eldar have the reputation of being a more advanced army, but I don't know about that. Pick an army you like the look/theme of and go from there. Also, stick with one army for a while. You'll burn out if you spread yourself too thin.

Personally I don't think you can go wrong with any of the Xenos armies, though Necrons and DE both have issues - Necrons are hard to win with and maybe a little boring, and DE have models older than some space marine players, and both may be updated in unpredicable ways soon.

I think what you really need to do is look at different ideas of "competitive" 1500 and 2000 point lists and decide which if any you actually want to model. Maybe play proxy practice games with those ideas in mind. Obviously you can't just collect random models to make a competitive army (unless you go way over in points and then can pick and choose what stays on the shelf) so you need to have some kind of focus.

For example, you may see examples of people playing all-mech eldar, jetbike warlock eldar, or foot eldar with eldrad and the avatar. Lets say all can be reasonably competitive (people will argue till the end of time about this so lets just take it as a given). One of these setups will probably appeal to you more both for modeling and painting.

If your goal is finding the most-competitve Xenos army...I'd go with Orks.

If your goal is a more mobile and shooty army, both eldar and tau can do it, though tau is short on competitive builds. Orks and tyranids can also be very shooty but play a bit differently.

If you want more of a CC army, tyranids or orks are your obvious choices.

DE can fit both categories, sometimes at the same time.

I actually might go with the guards if I were you (as long as you don't mind painting TONS of models). They have a good variety of models, they mech up easily and effectively (chimera spam FTW), and their units by and large all have a pretty intuitive battlefield role, making them one of the easier armies to use.

If you feel like a challenge, I hear not many people are using Chaos Daemons these days. Fancy an army that arrives entirely by deep strike?

lots of good input,thanks guys. I think that I'll most likely go with orks. Although i dont really relish the idea of painting tons of boyz, I've tried painting eldar before and I find them just boring to paint. they look awesome and pretty afterwards, but due to my lack of experiance playing 40K, I don't think it would be a great idea to start off with them first. I think Orks will give me a very basic idea of how to play, and once i get further along in my skill as a player, I can start using different themed ork armies, like heavy bikes and trukks, etc. I actually ended up finding about 40 orks laying around the other day, I totally forgot i bought them a year or two ago, so it looks like thats what i'll be sticking with! thanks guys =)

If you want a competitive xenos army then your options are Tau, Eldar (sorta), Nids, and DE (2000 points and below).

Orks are too limited in their ability to crack armor and use a variety of tactics. As a learning army they're not bad but you'll learn if you go up against some decent hard armies that they just don't compete. If you're really serious about wanting a competitive army then look at Nids and Tau.

Nids have a lot of tricks in their new bag and despite some people disparaging the new codex I think it's very well rounded and at 1500+ points you can bring almost everything needed to handle every army.

Tau are terrible at 1000-1500 points and horrible to learn on as you'll lose many a battle before you can get the hang of them but are easily as competitive as any army out there so long as you don't get sucked into taking bad units like stealth suits or any of the special characters.


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If you want the most competitive non-space marine army, just go with IG.

To be honest, I like Tau, but they do seem like a force i'd rather get into after some more experiance for sure. Eldar are sort of in the same boat as well, it'd be interesting to try them down the road, but for now not so much.

I dont think orks have trouble with armor, i think they just have units that are unreliable to handle armor. Tank squads are great and all, but I can see the enemy blasting them away ASAP to make sure they dont get within range to use their weapons and such. The tactics seem easy, just charge forward and crush all under mass horde of boyz. Although its fun for the first few games, I could see them getting very boring quickly, even though Orks themselves are cool.

I've never considered Nids actually. I dont know why but they never really spoke out to me. I think it's just the color scheme GW uses for them...all white with purple. They look like and ice cream cone. Or a bunch of circus clowns. But i think with the right paint scheme they could look pretty bad ass actually. I always had admiration for ants...and Nids sort of are like them! So who knows....things to consider =)

First issue is your topic wants "Competitive AND balanced" which many people would argue is mutually exclusive (I don't think it is). Now if you want 'Ard boys ultra competitive go guard or orks and cookie-cut the lists that win (I.E. guard leaf-blower)

If you want casual, but can still perform well in lower level tournaments(I.E. not wiping the floor with people every game) I'd say Tau (Though the learning curve is steep), Tyranids, Orks or Eldar(Who again have a decent learning curve) or guard.

Guard and orks are mentioned in both because it really depends on what list you are running. Also keep in mind you said no marines (I approve) so I left them out.

Yeah, I think that I should have left competative out. Im not looking to start playing in my FGS and owning 12 year olds, laughing maniacly and frothing at the mouth, crushing their minis with my tanks and eating their skull goo. I just want to find an army that can hold its own, can threaten other armies if played well. I think Tau, nids, or orks would be a good point to start with, as many have pointed out, as well as you Shas'O Dorian. I think for my needs i'll start orks or nids. lots of models so if i make some mistakes I can afford a loss of a unit or two, and once I get better I can consolidate my list down a bit, and start playing with some more tactical lists.