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I used to play 40k when I was younger, id say around 14, give or take. I grew out of it, I think due to the cost and the lack of attention span anyone really has at that age. Recently, though, ive been playing the Dawn of War games, and have considered getting back into the hobby. Im a bit more mature now (relatively speaking!) and I think I could do a lot better job of the painting, as well as be a little more tactical in gameplay execution.

Im now 20 though, and im not sure if im too old for it, considering most of the people I remember when I used to play were around 15, though I am sure there are older players.

Im intending to go on a quest for my local GW (the location of which Google maps refuses to accurately divulge, but ive narrowed it down to 'somewhere in town') and see what games they run and the like.
Im a university student, so im poor at the moment, but summer jobs should fix that. I just want to build a (relatively) small army of maybe 1000 or so points.
My chosen army is Tyranids. I like the design of the models, and the way they lend themselves to two main contrasting colours is pleasing to me aesthetically. I also love the swarm orientation race, backed up by a few Monstrous Creatures wading through the tide of underlings (though ive heard there are many different ways to create an army, such as a Swarm focussed one, or Nidzilla).
My problem though is that im not sure where to begin with building the army. My intention was to start with a Battleforce, a Codex and a plethora of various paints, brushes and tools that totaled to around £100 online. But im not sure if this is the best way to go about it, so i thought I would see what people here thought.

Thank you for any feedback or suggestions.

Welcome back
There are lots of older players so you shouldn't worry about that.

As for what to get, the codex is an obvious must, the rest depends on what your army to be like. Tyranids have a lot of options so the armies can be very varied. It's a good idea to look through the codex and online to decide what theme you want.

Some common styles are

Gaunt horde- lots of guants and tervigons backed up by warriors for synapse and heavy weapons. Usually a few MCs added in. Usually lead by a hive tyrant.

Warrior army- Warriors as core. MCs take up heavy support. Often has a Tyranid prime as a HQ.

Stealer army- Genestealers for core. Often used Mawlocs or trygon for HS.

Thanks. So is the Battleforce a good place to start, or would it be better to start smaller? Im trying to take the overall savings of the Battleforce into account versus getting maybe one troop unit and then building from there.

I hate to say this stuff and will more than likely get flamed for it, but what I'm about to say comes from the experiences I've had in the last three to four months getting back into the game.

I took a break about as long as you did, and I came back into it at about the same age you are now. I expected far too much from this game, because while the game itself is fun and the painting and hobbying can be a great use of time you're missing something really important to have a lot of fun with this game; people you know. Now, I'm not saying you should not play this game or anything like that but tread lightly. This game is so expensive it's ridiculous and right now I'm sitting beside a 2k point space marine army that never sees the light of day because I have no one I like to play with. I would suggest this to you.

Find out the day that the majority of the players play, at nights or whatever. Then, go in and socialize with them. See how they act, what they are doing, and most importantly see if they are a bunch of young kids and not actually older more mature players. If you have multiple places to play in your area it's not such a big deal, but if you don't just check your player base out.

I don't want to be a downer, and people are most likely going to call me dumb. But, I got back into this game my first year of University and money isn't something that you can throw around. Research your area before you do anything... that is IMO.

As far as 'Nids go the battleforce is good I guess. Don't buy your brushes from GW, go to a hobby store in the area and get your setup. I got four really good quality brushes for eight dollars.

You have a really good point. I was planning to go to my local GW anyway to see what sort of age and maturity the players there are. I also want to see what sort of game nights they run. If its not what im looking for, then ill just have to leave it, and hope that maybe somewhere down the line the opportunity to start collecting again arises.
Very sound advice, thank you.

You're not too old to play, I'm 32 and most of the people I play with are my age or older. My advice would be to find a good gaming club, they tend to have more mature players than in the stores which can seem to be a bit of a free child minding service!

When I started collecting a new army I went with a battleforce topped up with a couple of other squads and characters I liked the look of which will get you a good 1000pt+ balanced starter force.

Cheers,

Steve

<shameless plug>
I've just opened an online gaming store http://www.thinkwargames.com where you can get a 20% discount using the code DAKKA in the basket if you do decide to start playing.
</shameless plug>

steve.temple wrote:

<shameless plug>
I've just opened an online gaming store http://www.thinkwargames.com where you can get a 20% discount using the code DAKKA in the basket if you do decide to start playing.
</shameless plug>

Haha! Nice plug. I may even use that when I have the money (poor Uni student, but cash flow recommencing soon!)
EDIT: LOVING the free UK shipping. You may have yourself a customer. You are a gentleman and a scholar, sir!
I take it you dont sell paints, brushes, glue, tools etc? Not a problem, that stuff can be got non-GW and cheap around the webs.

Thanks for the feedback,

We don't do brushes and paints yet, I'm looking for a supplier other than GW for brushes as the GW ones are quite expensive, we'll probably start stocking the paint sets in the next month or so.

You're by no means too old for 40k. I play with other college guys, and even someone who, like you, played back in the day and started up again recently. Tyranids are definitely a good army to play. The sheer number of models you'll have to paint may be deterring, but they're a cool army and a lot of fun to fight.

Not too worried about the model paint-load. I want to put a lot of effort into them this time around, and also, summers up so no lectures = painting time.

kaptaink wrote:I hate to say this stuff and will more than likely get flamed for it, but what I'm about to say comes from the experiences I've had in the last three to four months getting back into the game.

I took a break about as long as you did, and I came back into it at about the same age you are now. I expected far too much from this game, because while the game itself is fun and the painting and hobbying can be a great use of time you're missing something really important to have a lot of fun with this game; people you know. Now, I'm not saying you should not play this game or anything like that but tread lightly. This game is so expensive it's ridiculous and right now I'm sitting beside a 2k point space marine army that never sees the light of day because I have no one I like to play with. I would suggest this to you.

Find out the day that the majority of the players play, at nights or whatever. Then, go in and socialize with them. See how they act, what they are doing, and most importantly see if they are a bunch of young kids and not actually older more mature players. If you have multiple places to play in your area it's not such a big deal, but if you don't just check your player base out.

I don't want to be a downer, and people are most likely going to call me dumb. But, I got back into this game my first year of University and money isn't something that you can throw around. Research your area before you do anything... that is IMO.

As far as 'Nids go the battleforce is good I guess. Don't buy your brushes from GW, go to a hobby store in the area and get your setup. I got four really good quality brushes for eight dollars.

I dissagre, I too am in the same boat however I am not having a hard time playing at all. Did you have a very bad experience or something? I find most players at any place I play pretty friendly and easygoing, there are those guys every now and then but you can just not play him, hell just ignore him, eventually he will go to his cave. Plus a lot of the young kids are pretty mature at least when focusing on a game.

yournamehere wrote:

kaptaink wrote:I hate to say this stuff and will more than likely get flamed for it, but what I'm about to say comes from the experiences I've had in the last three to four months getting back into the game.

I took a break about as long as you did, and I came back into it at about the same age you are now. I expected far too much from this game, because while the game itself is fun and the painting and hobbying can be a great use of time you're missing something really important to have a lot of fun with this game; people you know. Now, I'm not saying you should not play this game or anything like that but tread lightly. This game is so expensive it's ridiculous and right now I'm sitting beside a 2k point space marine army that never sees the light of day because I have no one I like to play with. I would suggest this to you.

Find out the day that the majority of the players play, at nights or whatever. Then, go in and socialize with them. See how they act, what they are doing, and most importantly see if they are a bunch of young kids and not actually older more mature players. If you have multiple places to play in your area it's not such a big deal, but if you don't just check your player base out.

I don't want to be a downer, and people are most likely going to call me dumb. But, I got back into this game my first year of University and money isn't something that you can throw around. Research your area before you do anything... that is IMO.

As far as 'Nids go the battleforce is good I guess. Don't buy your brushes from GW, go to a hobby store in the area and get your setup. I got four really good quality brushes for eight dollars.

I dissagre, I too am in the same boat however I am not having a hard time playing at all. Did you have a very bad experience or something? I find most players at any place I play pretty friendly and easygoing, there are those guys every now and then but you can just not play him, hell just ignore him, eventually he will go to his cave. Plus a lot of the young kids are pretty mature at least when focusing on a game.

Actually I've had bad experiences. A 22 year old kid freaking out at me and picking his army up and leaving because I tried to make him take his armor saves according to the mixed unit rules. Multiple games of cheating and mismeasuring (I'm sure everyone has had that though). The main cause of these situations is a crappy, immature player base that makes it impossible to play games.

The 'good' people that are pleasurable to play with don't bring their WH to my store because the local annoying kids are terrible to play with. The crap player base in my area killed the game, literally nobody worth the time plays at my LGS. I COULD go all the way across town to play, but there's even more little annoying kids there so it would be worse.

I'm not badmouthing kids in general, I'm just telling this guy it might be better for him to save his money for something worth his time. Unfortunately some cities and towns just are impossible to play in, like mine.

I doubt many people will share my views though, as this is a wargaming hobbyist website .

I think whether or not I get back into 40k is now all hinging on what sort of environment and player base my local store has. Fingers crossed for a good one.

Actually, some of the things being said in here kind of touch on my own current status as a fledgeling 40k player. I am a very hands-on learner, and as such find it easier to learn a system with the help of a veteran actually running me through certain scenarios.

Problem is, I live in a suburb of Portland Oregon, and I haven't been to a gamestore yet that I believe would be condusive to my learning style. I'm trying not to sound like a total jerk/noob, if someone doesn't wanna blow their free time mentoring a noob that's totally ok. I guess what I'm saying is, to me, environment is a very large part of the game.

So....my two cents.