Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

go with guard.

you start out with a battle force or 2. you know that in the new dex you will need guardsmen with flashlights (Lasguns) and the russes. that is a 100% givin.

avoid buying the specilist units (most of which blow anyway) for now. and avoid taking doctrins that would require different modeling form the normal grunt.

Me and two of my housemates who already played 40K managed to get another two of our housemates in to playing it. Admittedly, one was already leaning towards and had set his heart on Eldar, but the other guy hadn't had much experience with anything GW.

One evening, whilst we were all drinking, he tasked us with summing up each army in a sentence in order to help him to decide which one to collect so he could play with us. I can't for the life of me remember how we summed up each army, but we convinced him enough for him to get himself Necrons. He only bought enough to play 1000pt games, but that's all we really have space for in our house.

I may be considered very wrong in saying this, but I think Necrons are probably one of the best armies for beginners to play. They're pretty forgiving tactically, as the buggers tend to get back up even if they've been slapped around a bit and they've got a fantastic selection of wargear for their lords which lends a significant amount of tactics to them. They're also quite easy to paint and paint effectively. The lack of minatures for them, plus the cost of them, is a bit of a downer, but other than that I think they're a very good army for those new to the hobby.

Basically, although I'm a IG player at heart, I reckon you ought to go for Necrons.

As a nid player I am putting mine up on the shelf except for Annihilation games due to the fact that Nidzilla can't capture objectives. The specialty stuff doesn't compare to other armies specialty items. Compare Terminators/Obliterators to a Lictor not even close. Endless horde armies IMHO is the way to go with nids.

You'll be playing a 4th ed army for the next 2-4 years if you go nids.

Pros

Endless swarm
Genestealers (Feeder tendrils + 5th ed prefered enemy rules=Awesomness)


Cons

No powerweapons (unless you rend, or MC)
Only Models with Warp Field get invulnerable saves (tyrants & Zoanthropes)
Lousy saves all around

My $0.02 for whatever it may be worth...

Make a mutant race of nid guardsman.

I'd say Guard. I like them better than nids at the moment.

I would go garud too, they will most likely be getting a face lift soon and a power boost along with it. (If you are wondering why look out for the word "Codex Creep" on this forum.)

Thats my two cents.

Seriously though, both of those codices are old and showing their ages. IG has one coming sooner, but if you are new you might be best served by space marines. It can be very overwhelming to have to build and paint a full on horde army.

You can get a decent SM army just with Black Reach and a couple of other minor purchases. They build up and paint easily and are fairly forgiving. The two armies you chose are known for their high body counts and it can be a bit disheartening to have to remove fistfuls of models at a time.

Yeah, but SMs are such a steriotypical choice for a n00b (that's not to say they aren't awesome, though). And besides, I like both the I.G and the 'Nids better. If I were to make that descision, I'd go with Chaos Space Marines instead, 'cause they're awesome...but that's even unlikely, (although I'm almost definately going to end up collecting at least a 500 point Death Guard army sooner or later) because SMs and CSMs are awesome, but 'Nids and I.G seem like so much more fun.

whoa, there seems to have been a sudden influx of people for the I.G. Thanks guys, keep posting.

If you are asking for Xmas presents.. go Tyranid. Their box set is a good value for the buck.. get a lot of useful models and legal Force Organization.

It might sound mercenary.. but asking for one largish box instead of a lot of smaller ones might pay off.

-Porkuslime

Ok im going to give to you the same advice I give to everyone who asks this question and that is to totally ignore what advice everyone else give you.

Take a look at the miatures range and have a good think. Be honest with yourself (crucial!) Decide what range of miniatures inspires you the most. Which ones you think you are more likely to enjoy painting a and modelling and which ones you would personally want to command in a battle. If you go for the army your friends/people on the interweb, tell you to go for but your heart really isn't set on you will, more likely than not, give up.

That’s the army to go for. All other considerations are secondary.

Ignore talk of the age of the Codex or competitiveness of the army, no army us unplayable regardless of what some may say and quite frankly, whether your army will win or not should not be at the forefront of your mind when choosing an army. Whether you will enjoy playing with them however should be.

If your first instinct says Guard, then chances are you will be happiest collecting the Guard.

That’s the reason I love the guard, I don’t care about Codex age, and you know what, I win more often then I loose. Mind you I put that down to 15 years of playing 40K!

Holy crap, I just realized I never posted my descision. Oops. Anywhoo, I tallied the votes and guess what? exactly the same amount of people for nids and I.G, and a bunch more who suggest a different army or who say I should buy two small squads and see which ones I like to paint. So, I've decided on this; I'll buy a smaller amount of nids (maybe 500-750pts), play them for a while, then when the new I.G codex comes out (which, fortunately for me, is right around my birthday, which means I have a source of $$$) I'll buy a smaller amount of I.G. Whichever I like better, I'll buy more of with the finances left over. So, I 'spose that takes care of that. Thanks for all the advice everypeoples

EDIT: Hmm. It just occured to me that I probably should have made this a poll... oh well.