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Well met,

As a new player to 40k, I find myself asking many, many questions on the topic of 'Choosing an army'. Many say to choose something you like the feel of, others based on your playstyle. As I'm receiving such a wide variety of advice, I'm asking these questions alot.

So, as a long-time lurker in these boards, I wish to pose the question here as well.

I shall go a bit more in-depth about my preferred playstyle so anyone who does help knows more.

I'm a ranged player. I always have been, in Fantasy, Mordheim, RTS, everything. I prefer to keep the enemy at range and blow them away with superior firepower, while weathering the incoming storm. That isn't to say I hate melee combat, but I've always preferred to play from range.

I have issues sacrificing units for 'The Greater Good'. Mainly due to not really knowing when and where to sacrifice a unit as a diversion.

I have what my wife refers to as 'Special Snowflake Syndrome'. I like to be unique, and I dislike playing the 'FotM' race.

---

From what I've grasped from others, there are a few armies that would suit my preferred playstyle:

- Space Marines.
- Tau.
- Imperial Guard.
- Necrons.
- Eldar.
- Chaos Space Marines.

Are these armies viable in the competitive scene? Are they forgiving for a Fantasy player who is destined to make mistakes in 40k treating it like Fantasy? Are any particularly fun to do custom work with?

At the moment, I must confess to leaning towards being yet another Space Marine player in the scene, as I just love the fluff for them. Mind you, I love the Warhammer fluff in general (I have my own Black Library, currently numbering upwards of 100 books), but the Space Marine fluff stands out above the rest, well, except for the Guard and Chaos.

Any comments are appreciated, just trying to get as much input as I can before I begin purchases, so I can make an informed decision. Began my Fantasy career as the High Elves and spent quite alot of money on them before I realised I preferred the Empire, so I hope not to have that happen again.

- Brebdab.

As far as sitting back and blowing the hell out of your enemy goes, you'll be hard pressed to beat IG or Tau. Space Marines are more of a "capitalize on whatever your enemy is bad at" kind of army. Eldar are actually fairly short range, unless you're playing with the Nightspinner, but that's a WD model, so it's opponent's permission and iffy at tournaments. I can't really vouch for Necrons, though a glance at Army Builder tells me that they're roughly a 24"-36" range army as well, which is fairly short. They're also near the bottom on the competitive ladder.

Also, welcome to Dakka.

Brebdab wrote:Well met,

- Space Marines.
- Tau.
- Imperial Guard.
- Necrons.
- Eldar.
- Chaos Space Marines.

Welcome to 40k My one biggest suggestion is just visit the GW website, browse through the lists (Im sure you already have) and pick the army that is the most aesthetically pleasing to you. All of your choices are competitive in the role you want to play.

Also dont shy away from Space Marines. There is alot of hate floating around (The same way that people talk about how they hate everything popular because they want to be seen as different) but Marines are probably, hands down the best starter army considering cost, firepower, and survivability. They also scale really well as you gain experience in the game.

As far as customizability the Marines IMO are a little stale. You can repositiion them. Maybe snazz up the vehicles a bit, but if your heavy into conversions you might want to look at one of the more colorful armies. CSM have a lot of the benefits of the Imperial Marines, plus lots of Daemonic elements that you can really dig into (On mold onto)

Can I just ask what the Army Builder is? Sounds like a useful resource.

I'm new myself but from everything I've read, Tau sound like the force for you

To ColdSadHungry, Army Builder is a program that makes army lists for you, you put in a point cost and it will recommend options for your army, but you are free to edit the list however you like.

As to the forum topic at hand, Tau or IG are going to be your best bet, as has already been stated. Necrons would be an excellent choice if they had better range. They'd be a good second army though.

If you go with Tau, you need to keep in mind that they don't just suck at close combat, they are the worst at it in the game. Basic infantry models of other armies can easily take down some of your most advanced units. If you go with Tau, do not, for the love of god, let the enemy get within 6 inches of you.

The IG are probably one of the best codexes available right now. They are more than capable of killing the crap out of anything, thanks to the plethora of templates they put out every turn. Lots of Str. 10 blasts. Very annoying to anybody who isn't toughness 6. With cheap tanks and infantry, IG are an extremely good army.

As for your other choices, let me go over them as well.

Space Marines are a great beginner army. If you want to play something niche, this isn't it. They are amazing at adapting to the situation at hand, and are quite capable in both ranged and melee. Couple that with some amazing vehicles and a lot of wargear options, and you have an army that is easy to play, forgiving, and can beat the best of them.

Eldar are difficult. They're just not a good army in this edition. They are to fragile and don't have enough range. While things like the fire prism can mess your opponent up, the sheer fragility of the entire army makes it not good for beginners. They have a wicked learning curve.

Chaos Space Marines have almost everything the Space Marines have, save for some characters, wargear, and a couple vehicles. They make up for it with lots of cool demonic stuff that will obliterate your opponent. They have a lot of variety in their lists, and even though the Codex is getting a bit old, it can still hole it's own against the big kids.

Necrons are my primary army, and I wouldn't recommend them for what you want to do. They have very little versatility. The Necrons are confined to "sit there and glance their vehicles to death." They have almost no wargear options, and very few unit choices. Necrons are not a widely played army though, so that may appeal to you there. They also have one of the best vehicles in the game, in that strength 10 is the only thing that has a good chance at hurting it. Necrons can be an amazing army if played right, and are difficult for your opponent to take down.

It all depends on what you like in the fluff. Pick an army you enjoy looking at and will enjoy painting, not just to win with. This way you will be happier with your army and won't regret it later.
Any further questions, feel free to PM me.

Tau or IG. Space Marines can run a gunline...but it's a gunline that'll lose to Tau or IG gunlines. Between the two, I'd go IG. The Imperial Guard book is far from unpopular, though they're not as popular as Space Marines. You can get the variety/uniqueness you seek with IG, though it'll probably come at a monetary cost; from what I've seen, most people run the Cadian models, but there are some fantastic alternatives out there, they're just expensive or not widely available. Death Korps, Mordians, etc.

The way to with with gunfire alone in this game is to have very mobile, very long range fire. Static gunlines = you get assaulted turn 2 and die.

Basically, you've got three options, dark eldar, eldar, and tau. Otherwise, you've got to be preapared to handle close combat stuff. The one that has both decent ranged mobile power and some ability to handle CC is eldar, but otherwise, if you want guns, it's tau.

That or learn how to embrace bloody choppiness in all its qualities.

Space Marines: This is your "jack-of-all-trades" army. They aren't amazing at shooting, they aren't amazing at assaulting, but they are very hard to kill, and are good at everything. By changing your paint scheme (and buying a specialized codex) you can switch this army up to accomplish lots of different things, and can easily specialize in either shooting or CC and make a powerful force. They have always been a top-tier army. GW gives them lots of support and lots of options, so they won't be going anywhere any time soon. But, there are a TON of Marine players, so it's hard to be unique if you play them.

Tau: This is, hands down, the best shooty army. They have the best guns and lots of them. But, they are also the worst army in CC. There's no way to ever make a CC army using Tau if you later change your mind. They're not currently considered "top-tier", but they can still be lots of fun and the next time the rules change, they could become really powerful.

IG: They're like Tau in terms of being great at shooting and kinda junky at CC. Rather than high-tech guns, they focus on tanks with huge blast weapons. They have quite a bit of flexibility in their weapon choices, but nothing quite a good as a rail gun. They are, currently, one of the best armies around.

Necrons: These guys are very much like Marines, but can be even harder to kill. They currently need some love from GW, but I don't know if/when it will happen. They're one of the less played races, so you will be unique with them. They're fairly shooty and not very CC focused, but they do have some flexibility. Currently, they are one of the weakest races.

Eldar: This is my army, so if I oversell it, take it with a grain of salt. Eldar can be pretty awesome at shooting. They don't have the range of Tau or Guard, but can still put out a lot of firepower. Their main strength is from their extreme speed and being able to outmaneuver your opponent. They aren't the best at CC, but with the right build, they're pretty good at it. They are about the opposite of Marines in terms of flexibility. Each unit can really only accomplish 1 given task, but they accomplish that task really well and have a unit for every task. They're currently, with a fully speed-focus army, fairly competitive army, but not the best.

CSM: Interesting choice here. They tend to be a less shooty and more assaulty. They can have about the same firepower as a Marine army, or can go rather extreme CC. Their units aren't quite as flexible as their loyalist cousins, but can get a bit more specialized. Currently, they need some love from GW before they can be competitive once again. My favorite part of them is their models. I think they look about 1000 times cooler than regular marines, but that's just me

I just started playing as well and chose Necrons. People say that "oh they're limited/they suck", but I've read a lot where people have a lot of success with them if you play them right.

They have a great unit in Destroyers.. and they're one of the least played races right now.

The limited number of models was a good thing for me, as I was really struggling deciding what I wanted to build, and every army just had a huge # of types of units and I had no idea where to go. With Necron, it seems to be fairly straightforward, and by the time I learn the game well, they'll have a new codex out. The codex is supposedly coming next summer according to most people right now.

Tau are also supposedly huge into firepower and have a cool feel and look. IG and SM are just too ordinary to me.. I'll let other people play them.

CSM I don't think is really long range mow 'em down, and Eldar I don't know enough about it (as I said Im new too).

Seaward wrote:Tau or IG. Space Marines can run a gunline...but it's a gunline that'll lose to Tau or IG gunlines. Between the two, I'd go IG. The Imperial Guard book is far from unpopular, though they're not as popular as Space Marines. You can get the variety/uniqueness you seek with IG, though it'll probably come at a monetary cost; from what I've seen, most people run the Cadian models, but there are some fantastic alternatives out there, they're just expensive or not widely available. Death Korps, Mordians, etc.

but that is where the marines vercatility comes into play

Thank you all for your responses.

After reading these replies, and other advice given to me, I've decided to join the ranks of the Imperial Guard.

May He on Terra favor you, unless you are a heretic, in which case the might of the Emperor's Hammer will descend upon you in good time,

- Marshal Brebdab
8th Avalonian Rifles.

IMPERIAL GUARD? THE IMPERIAL GUARD? AHHHHH

Really though.. Have fun with them!

Imp. Guard will likely be my 2nd army I build. I just built a Necron army, and just a heads up... they are a bitch to master haha so read/watch A LOT of battle reports to see what to do/avoid.

i wanted 2 make a 3rd IG army but think i need more tau to rivel my marines