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the person in games workshop convinced me to start warhammer40k with a box of battle force last month
it has:
10 guardian and support platform
5 dire avengers ( with exarch )
1 war walker
1 wave serpent

like,,all i know is that it is cheap if you buy a battle force rather than individual models
but what else is so good about battle force really? why is it suggested that new player starts with it

Well as you've said it provides a cheaper start that buying all the contents individually would. The concept behind all the battleforces/battalions is to provide a decent core force around which you can build an army.

The Eldar one is a classic example as it provides 2 squads, a transport for one of the squads and an additional unit. All you need to add at this stage is a single HQ choice and you've got a basic army which you can play games with.

Don't buy from Games Workshop though, you can get Warhammer up to 33% cheaper from other sources.

In Australia you want to go to Maelstrom.

As for the battleforce it's both a good start and decent expansion. The armount of bits in it is pretty good as well. I managed to make a fair few conversions with it.

For Warwalkers though you want maybe 2-3 in each squadron. I don't use them because they're a fair bit slower than the rest of the force I have and don't really fit in too much with the small group that's for defence either. They're pretty good if you can figure out how to use them right. Outflanking is generally the best way to go, but don't overestimate them as they do die pretty easy.