Welcome to the hobby, and welcome to the ranks of the glorious Astartes, Angels of Death.
Firstly, I would recommend purchasing both the Warhammer
40k Rulebook, and the Codex for your army of choice before purchasing too many models. As you may have realised, while the model looks cool, you don't actually have a clue what it does, and unfortunately this isn't the ideal game where every unit is equally balanced. Some units play better than others, and some units are 'better worth their points than others'. Reading through the rules, and your codex, as well as asking questions on sites like this is a good place to find out what generally works and what doesn't (Although, if you really want to field something, go ahead and field it. The game is all about your enjoyment, and if you're not enjoying yourself, you're doing it wrong.)
So, you've chosen to join the ranks of the Space Marines. Well, it's a solid choice. We are the poster boys of
40k, Games Workshops favourites, and generally get the first update of a new edition, along with always being viable in some form or another to be competitive.
However, probably 2 in every 3 players play Space Marines, so if you're like me, who likes being a unique and special snowflake, you're in for a tough time, as no matter how you paint your minis, your opponent is still going to think 'Oh, another marine player.'
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After purchasing your codex/rulebook, build a list before buying more models. Some people like to buy models, then build a list, but the people I play with find you're generally better off to work out what you need, then buy it, or this hobby gets even more expensive, probably at the worst possible times
.
Your
FLGS manager will be able to tell you what pt cost they generally play at, but you're not going to want to go above 750-1000pts for your first big purchase, otherwise you likely will get overwhelmed both capital-wise and in the amount of time it takes to assemble and paint models.
You want a bike list? That's very viable. Not sure how viable it on the tournament scene, but amoung your peers at your
FLGS, you should have no problems holding your ground if you play it right. Going to want to keep everything mobile, bikes, razorbacks, etc. Someone will likely give you more depth on how to actually build the list, I haven't actually experimented much with bikes yet...I'm an infantry man.
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So, there's a few tips to get you started. As I've spent my Christmas talking to relatives, and
40k was the conversation topic a bit, I've decided to start offering this piece of advice to new players (Not that I'm the most experienced in 5th edition, coming off a long break myself and only about 6 months back into it).
Read up before you buy. Ultimately, you want an army that you like the look of, the playstyle, the fluff behind, and assembling/painting. If you can't have all these, then you want to try and get as many as you can. If you haven't already, make sure none of the other armies appeal to you more than the Space Marines, because starting a new army and then realising you're not really into it would likely be a hobby killer.
There are many sources around on the web that can help you out, right here is one of them, just look at assembled and painted minis, maybe a bit of the fluff behind the army, their general playstyle etc. (Example: Playstyle wise, the Space Marines can do pretty much everything, although Vanilla Space Marine lists tend to do better with shooting, but they're designed to exploit the opponents weaknesses, whereas the Tau are specialised completely into shooting, and their best units can lose combat to a squad of Imperial Guardsmen. Then, on the other hand, Blood Angels, another form of Space Marines, are far more assault orientated, with alot of lists being focused on getting into hand to hand combat as quickly as possible (Often with the assistance of the Drop Pod), and ripping their opponents apart with chainsword and bolt pistol)
Hope this helps, and again, welcome to the hobby...if you survive, it shall be a partner for a long time to come.
