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Orks are fairly easy to pick up and play, but at this point in the codex cycle I wouldn't recommend for a new player to start the army. They have too many anti-mech issues to keep up with the current trends towards AV-heavy armies, especially when it comes to AV14.

I'd say IG. You have masses of troops to allow for some forgiveness, lots of special and heavy weapons, which are always fun to fire, and tanks all over the place for those tread heads out there. Only problem is that IG are a relatively expensive army to build. Granted, you can keep the costs down, but competitive IG lists are some of the most expensive to purchase.

Kaptin Grigger wrote:I personally, think orks are the easiest. You need very little skill to throw them at your enemy like rotten Veg at a guy in the stocks, and very little skill to covert things. like a chimera into a Looted wagon fer example.

I like da orks. No matter what you play there is something to counter it.

fer example, you play marines- Boomguns.

lolololololol

My rpoblem with orks is that you need soooo many boys, it becomes exspensive and time consuming. They might be good to play, but I think marines are better on acount of getting models.

If he gets the AOBR box he gets how many points?

Comander 100
10 Marines 180
Dreadnought 105
Terminators 200

585 points. I would think it should be easy to go from there. I do think space wolves are a better plug and play army since you do not mind getting casualy charged, but the models are harder to get. (Of course he can use the AOBR marines if need be.)

I would say Space Marines as they get a 3+ for armour save and to hit also, their weaponry load is diverse allowing you to customize a squad to deal with any threat.

I recommend the Basic SM codex as a starting point. They don't have too many army specific rules. They are a pretty forgiving army to play. Most of the units are pretty balanced.

After the Player gets a bit more well versed in the game he now has the option to customize his army within the codex with one of the special character HQs. Also the models can translate over to Blood/Dark Angels or Space Wolves pretty easily.

Its not the most overpowering army. What it offers is a great way to introduce someone to the game with a book that can win, wont overwhelm them with specific rules and wont break their wallet.

Just My thoughts.
Cheers,
~Volkan


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I don't think that guard is a good beginner army for a few reasons. They have so many options it can be a bit overwhelming. Orders can be confusing to use and remember every turn. Orders can also be hard as far as distance judging for a new player.
The basic models are pretty fragile as well and it can be an expensive army to build. Also its not an easy painting task for a new player as the model count can easily climb pretty high.

I think the Guard Codex is a great book that is really flexible but I feels its a better 2nd army than something to learn the game with.

Cheers,
~Volkan

every army can be easy to play , but every army to be played well is hard. Some armys get faster results on the battlefield because there is a larger variety that can actually win games in the codex than other armies.

IMO Dark Eldar and Eldar are the hardest to play at a high level, along with Chaos Demons.
Necrons are hard to play because the codex.
Tau same kinda boat as necrons but are comperable.

Tyranids are harder to play than orcs, IMO horde armies arnt hard if you get the basics down.

I would then put all the imperium armies together as moderatly easy to play. Space Wolves being one of the easiest.

@Smitty - There's a difference between hard to play and hard to win with. I agree with a lot of your basic thrust, but think you're mixing the two up on the list you made.

I'll agree with the posters noting that SM are easy to paint and are an easy army to start up with due to affordability. Though, I would note, probably Necrons are even more affordable and even easier to paint (base black, drybrush metal of choice, and paint cables if you wish to - done) I stand by that, tactically, Orks are the easiest army.