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.

I go with what I think looks cool. Then, I look at what units I would need to be as effective as I can (without going to the extreme of mathhammer as that detracts from the game). When I find the units I would "need" (and if I hadnt already gotten them for coolness), I go about seeing how I can get them and make them look cool.
Then, I usually end up just buying loads of crap because I MIGHT use it someday lol

 TheDraconicLord wrote:
....I don't, I buy what I think that looks cool and want to paint

That's pretty much what I do, combined with occasionally buying the core of an army off eBay if it's cheap and not already painted. (First post from a smart phone. Yay!)

I used to plan my armies as maxing the FOC in the codex.

I did this with my Orks in the 4th ed codex for every unit, and did the same with my 5th ed DE.

My daemons i carefully selected a small force, and collected specifically to match that plan.

I'm now refitting my DE to a specific list (Carnival of Pain), and a few other small units for fun, and then trading off the excess.

My Circle O were collected to a specific plan, but i got a mass of extra stuff in a trade, which are being put aside for my daughter when she's a bit older.

I usually go with rule of cool to be honest lol.

 Azreal13 wrote:

 nwns wrote:

 TheDraconicLord wrote:
....I don't, I buy what I think it looks cool and want to paint

Always been my way too

+1
......
So, I guess my army plans boil down to "ooh, shiny!"

SAME! I buy models from any range I like (and want to paint), then see if they fit in with the army. Most people I talk to say they scale *down* instead of up when it comes to 40k.

Typically, I'll buy the core of the army in one go, usually around 750 points of Troops, HQs and anything else that are going to show up in all my games. After that, it's just whatever is cool or I can get a good deal on; I certainly don't plan on a by-unit basis or to a list, as I'll rarely if ever play the same list twice.

For me it varies.

My nids were basically what I liked the look of and no account taken of supposed worth. For example I was building venomthropes when the net forums were denouncing them.

My Eldar I tasked myself to build as cheaply as possible with no plan beyond what I could accrue. It was initially all bought off EBay for peanuts. I've since fleshed it right out and added bits as I go along.

My GK were a big bulk buy when I came into some cash. I added a big buy off someone else selling off some and another bulk buy on top. So bought in three chunks. Again it was what's available no thought for the rules.

My CSM/Daemons army was considered. I always wanted one but had to plan, I only want to use Slaanesh and Nurgle so I planned to gather all their specific units and I wanted at least one of every other unit in the dex that was not an HQ or god-specific. It took me a while but I got there in the end. The entire army is unbuilt as yet, so there are like 60 basic CSM, at least 4 complete DV CSM forces, about 100 cultists/zombies and at least one of every other units that is not an HQ and/or Khorne/Tzeentch. Might take a while to construct!

Now I have my four armies I vary who I buy for. I get bits to fill in gaps and spread the purchases between them. My current methodology such as it is would be to ensure I have one of every unit which interests me or I don't have an irrational downer on (hence no Khorne or Tzeentch). Once I'm there I'm looking to max them out in number terms so ideally I'd want to have 6 terrmagant units of 30 each. I'm also amassing ally forces for each army, so I gather bits for IG allies for my GK or a little heamonculus coven to go with my Eldar.

All my armies are entirely independent of rules, except the FoC. I buy what I think seem like sensible combinations and field them based solely on what I want to put on the table within the rules. I never consider what the min-max type value of a unit might be. I do, however, look to add allies to address deficiencies in how I view an army. So I might put in a couple of hydras with my IG allies to plug the AA gap with the GK but only because I think it makes sense to me, not because I've math-hammered the rules and worked out the optimum combinations!