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For me, I got started because a friend literally handed me some Metal Masters of the Chapter, Tigerus, Lysander and a tactical Squad and a Space Marine novel.

I was hooked and never went back.

Loved the look, the fluff, and the fact they were Humanity's Ultimate Defenders so they beckoned to my "good guys" complex as much as anything in 40k can.

So my advice, go through the armies and find one that really looks amazing to you, you may pick an army that is "super good!" But if you don't like the way they look on the table, they will get old fast.

Second: do some fluff research, Lexicanum, 40kwikia and so on.. find an army that you connect with! That adds to the draw of the game as a whole, because no matter how well your army performs on the table, if you don't like them? You'll get tired of them.

One thing I will stress to any player picking Any Army.

IT'S A GAME! You will win and you will loose, some armies more than others, don't get discouraged. You can have a fun game even if you lose. I've had a lot of what I call Satisfying Losses. We have an ork player that although he does win.. never plays to win.. he plays to be "Orks" and do crazy things, and is always a blast to play.

Oh and don't play something or a certain way because someone else says you should! I fell into that trap with Space Marine Bikes and started not having fun. Play your way and have your own fun!

That's the best advice I can give.

Lots of great advice here already. I picked Orks because I liked the look of the models, the fact that you can convert vehicles from other factions and make them Orky, and because they just seemed like fun. Space Marines didn't appeal to me at all (no offense!), nor did any of the other factions. Orks aren't the most competitive, but I've had a lot of fun with them. I would recommend you pick up the Dark Vengeance starter set, since it contains the main rulebook as well as two starter armies. It sounds like you're interested in Chaos of some variety, and DV includes some Chaos Space Marines models to get you started. CSM are a bit under-powered right now, so Khorne Daemonkin might be a better choice.

It sounds like your local store has an existing player base, but aren't exactly welcoming to new folks. That's unfortunate, but perhaps they will warm up to you in time. It's possible there are actually more players in your area than you might think. The Player Finder tool may show you a few folks in your area, but that only works if people reveal where they live on Dakka. I advise that you try posting something over in the Find a Game forum and see if you get any hits. I found a few folks in my area that I didn't know played. It couldn't hurt. That's if you feel comfortable sharing where you live, but then again you can't find people near by if you don't share. You could keep it general, like "Central Texas", "Northern Minnesota", etc. if you prefer. If there are any other stores in your area maybe check out their forums or Facebook pages too.

Good luck to you! Feel free to hang out here, ask questions, start a P&M blog and show off your painted minis. You're in good company.

I started with Space Marine Ultramarines because I liked how they looked at the FLGS. After I started with them, I learned about the lore and the rules and the characters. So Ultramarines have always had a special place for me.

I think you should pick an army you think looks cool or plays how you want to play (lots of tanks, lots of troops, close combat, ranged combat, etc). Enjoying the game is most important when you get started, in my opinion.

- How did you go about deciding on a faction? Did you decide based on the "flavor of the week?" Was it aesthetics? Lore?

A: With the power of Aesthetics and Lore combined: Thousand Sons (Evil Magic Space Egyptians), Deathwatch (Space Marine SAS with all the James Bond gadgets), Orks (Because green iz best! plus they amuse me)

- I'm having a hard time breaking down pros and cons with each faction and it's getting a little overwhelming for me.

A: Pick what you like the look of (no point in having an ugly army you won't play). Then pick what you think sounds cool (defensive gunline? aggressive close combat? masses of tanks? raining death from the skies?) If you come up with a few ideas of what you feel like I'm sure the suggestions will come in directing you towards armies. Maybe even borrow some at a local games center to see what they're like before you buy.

- Pretty please don't ask me my play style...I don't know yet. I've only painted the models and semi-watched others play larger point games, so I kinda dozed off...

A: I'd still recommend holding back and trying out other peoples forces. Pick what you like the paint - Rule of Cool overrides being 'The Ultimate Curb-Stomper' when you start out so don't worry about being 'competitive'

- I'd like to start with learning mechanics and managing a small army so I don't overwhelm myself.

A: Small army that's easy to learn would probably be Space Marines as they're pretty forgiving of mistakes and easy to obtain.

Thank you, everyone! You've all been super helpful!

*patiently awaits codex*

Content note re: 1d4chan. It has some useful (or at least interesting) advice and is one of my go-tos for seeing which models / formations look decent, but it's unbelievably bad in terms of sexism, homophobia, transphobia, using slurs for women and minority groups, and comparing winning with plastic spacemen to sexual assault.

I'm sure at least half of them think they're being ironic / unserious, but if this kind of stuff bothers or triggers you then be warned.

Also there's lots of porn.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

 Jewelfox wrote:
Content note re: 1d4chan. It has some useful (or at least interesting) advice and is one of my go-tos for seeing which models / formations look decent, but it's unbelievably bad in terms of sexism, homophobia, transphobia, using slurs for women and minority groups, and comparing winning with plastic spacemen to sexual assault.

I'm sure at least half of them think they're being ironic / unserious, but if this kind of stuff bothers or triggers you then be warned.

Also there's lots of porn.

I've dealt with a lot of that while playing FPS games and dealing with quite a bit of exclusion, so I'm not all that bothered by it. Thanks for the heads up!

For me it comes down to fluff, aesthetics, and playstyle. I wrote an article on it a while ago where I go further into it.

For me, the type of playstyle was the least important - I would simply try to perfect each style, be it Dark Eldar or Emperor's Children. I noted down each faction whose fluff appealed, then picked the ones whose aesthetics I felt I could do justice, so not just whose colour scheme I like, but also whether my conversion skills could do them justice.

Also, as you're new to table top gaming, I wrote a short article on how to improve your learning curve as well.

the_scotsman wrote:
Answer the following questions:

1) Do I want to be the hero? Do I prefer to root for underdogs? Or am I more of a crazy/evil person?

2) Do I like things neat and clean, or messy and crazy?

3) How important are individuals to me? Do I care if each of my models has a story, or am I more happy not having to think about individuals?

4) Do I get easily discouraged or frustrated when I lose things in a game? Or am I more likely to keep an eye on the big picture?

5) how likely am I to want to heavily customize my models? Will I get bored with few options, or overwhelmed by too many?

6) do you frequently play/think about fantasy tropes in video games or movies? If you were to play World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons, Skyrim or League of Legends, what characters were your favorite?

It's easy to narrow it down if you can figure out the answers to those questions.

Just to nitpick, but this is WH40k. The closest faction we have to "heroes" is regularly accused of mind-controlling their population and surgically sterilizing alien populations they assimilate.

First of all welcome, and secondly when choosing a faction don't choose based on power level. As others have pointed out, that can vary widely from edition and codex releases.

Secondly as a dedicated and long time Chaos Space Marines vet, you can still win games.

Some factions / builds are harder to deal with than others, but this is also a dice game, and sometimes the dice gods (or Chaos gods) will smile on you.

CSM is nice because it can be played with small elite lists or hordes, vehicle spam, ect. I play some very unconventional lists against some very competitive lists and fun ones and always have a good run.

If you want some advice on starting an army let me know I would be happy to share some of my experience.

Cheers

I'll just pop in to warn you despite the recommendations of playing Chaos:

You said you are competitive. Chaos Space Marines are arguably the weakest faction in terms of effectiveness in the game currently, so you WILL be playing the game on ultrahard mode, depending on your opponents ofcourse. If they agree to a relaxed toned down game, you can fight on equal footing.

With that said, there are 2 "more effective" factions that currently comprise Chaos, included below.

Other melee oriented armies (or buildable as such) with a more competitive approach include:

-Space Wolves (lots of Thunderwolf riding characters and hounds to go with them)
-Khorne Daemonkin
-Chaos Daemons

It's no wonder the game can be overwhelming at start, it's amount of content is massive. A boon and a curse. I recommend starting out with smaller games with a person you know to teach you the ropes and as mentioned above, trying other peoples armies before you make your choice.

Ill be teaching her how to play when i get home. She is reading the core rulebook now and has a Khorne Daemonkin codex and a small slaughtercult on the way.