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So my friends have persuaded me into starting 40k. My friends said I should field feel around and see what army I want to play. Now in most vidja games I usually play as rangers/snipers and in RTS I usually play ranged dominance. I also played a bit of Fantasy as Wood Elves and used mostly Waywatchers, Eagles, WarHawks, and Glade Guard.

So do you guys have any suggestions for me?

well if you are used to playing a ranged army...id say Eldar for you. Reasons why?

A unit of dire avengers with exarch (that's champion in layman's terms) with an ability called blade storm, can lay some some impressive fire. Plus get some Dark reapers as well, and you have some real strong ranged fire. Eldar are great because you can really dish it out from afar, but you can deal some pain up close too. Just be careful when going Close combat with Eldar. Never send in one unit alone, and you almost always want to doom (its a psychic ability that lowers a units saves) an enemy unit with farseers before engaging CC with it. Reason being is even though eldar are have some good CC, you wanna end the combat ASAP, cause if the enemy gets to attack after you do, and you've made little impact on the unit, there's a good chance you'll lose the combat, due to your low toughness and mediocre armor saves. If you've played Wood elves, you know what I'm talking about.

If not eldar, maybe get into Chaos Space Marines. They need a bit of an update, but they still can hold their own against other forces.

I wouldn't recommend Tau, Necrons or Blood angels. Tau and necrons need an update bad, and tend to have problems fielding effective armies against newer, updated ones, but if you like the story and models, go for it. Blood angels are awesome, but everyone and their grandmother collect and play them, and people tend to get bored when playing 5 blood angel players in a row. As long as you dont mind that, then you can go right ahead!


Rule of thumb...pick the army that has models which appeal to you, and has awesome fluff. The performance aspect is great if you wanna go win and compete in tournaments, but if you are just playing with some local friends and gamers, I wouldn't worry too much about it. You're gonna run into some guys who build very competitive army lists, and have lots of experience to boot, so expect to get your butt handed to you from time to time, but don't sweat it.

Good luck to ya!

Definetly Eldar or DE.
Why? Same reasons written above.

Definetly Eldar or DE.
Why? Same reasons written above.

I forgot Dark Eldar! Can't believe I did.

Dark eldar are similar to eldar, only they rely a lot more on hit and run tactics. They are even more fragile than normal eldar. If you've played fantasy before, imagine Eldar as high elves (good and shooting and Close combat, decent armor, but still low toughness). Dark eldar are unique in a way, because they don't really fit into any other type of play. They are devastating if used right, but even a small mistake can cost you a unit, and that can cost you a game. Dark eldar are a very synergistic army, even more so than Eldar, and losing one unit can greatly impact the rest of the armies performance.

Look into Tau, they are a little "broken" most would say right now, but they are a good ranged Powerhouse.

I would keep in mind what people say about the codexes, but don't go overboard with it.

Go for what you think looks good and fun, unless you are playing like at the hardcore tourny level traveling and junk, you'll be fine with about any army you pick, in which case you're still fine, just some do better than others. At least this has been my experience so far from picking Necrons (the oldest and most outdated codex).

My recommendation is Eldar, Tau, DE, or maybe even Necron. All of these are primarily ranged armies.

Well the reason I started Wood Elves was because they have tons of birds and then I read about the fluff and thought it was pretty cool.

Well, do you want to have another ranged army? Or do you want to try something different?

I do not have any 40k Army, I have a Small Fantasy army but that's about it.

I think he's just asking if you want to play another range based army.

Also, Dark Eldar have the beastmasters and can use a type of birds. http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440235a&prodId=prod1140047a

Don't know exactly how effective it is but I think beastmasters are pretty good.

You could always go with Imperial Guard. That is about as ranged as it gets. A lot of people will complain about a heavy pie list but tell them to get over it.

My personal opinion is always pick the army that appeals to you the most and has the most models you like because I have gone through like 3 armies so far and know went to grey knights just because i like the models but hopefully i am done because if you switch or change you mind it can get expensive much quicker than you want it to

You could always run a very shooty ork list.

Sounds like you'd be a Raven Guard/Raptors fan.

Bird themed chapter who use Stealth, Ranged, and Hit and Run Tactics.

I say you should go a little backward with this and get a Tzeentch(ien?) Chaos Space Marine army and make it a ranged one.
Thousand Sons as core units
Many Obliterators
Shooty DP
Termies or shooty Chosen
Raptors as special weapon support squads

It will mess with peoples minds that you're not hauling across the board with loadsa chain axes and if you get charged, your units aren't gonna get crushed in one go.

I dont think Chaos is really the way I want to go, I do like the Greater Daemon of Tzeentch. But other than that I am not a fan of Chaos.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Gah! Its so hard to choose! I am looking at Dark Eldar and Eldar and they both have pro's and con's but they neither have a middle ground like the Wood Elves.

Maybe you should make the middle ground yourself? I mean that you should make you own "wood elves" by having a kit-bashed army that can count as either Dark Eldar or Regular Eldar. Hell throw a few Wood Elf/Dark Elf/ High Elf Kitbashing and you could have a awesome looking army.

Plus if you think about it they have very similar units

Guardian/Dire Avengers = Warriors
Swooping Hawks = Scourge
Guardian Bikers/Shining Spears = Jet Bikers
Howling Banshees/Striking Scorpions = Incubi
Wraith Guard = Grotesques


Sure you have to do some models that can only be one or the other such as Wraith Lords and Talos Engines but I am sure you could figure something out.


You could also do it as a Craftworld and use Dark Eldar Rules or Vice Versa.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also forgot about Harlequins, that is another unit that is on both sides of the Eldar Factions.

Murray145 wrote:Maybe you should make the middle ground yourself? I mean that you should make you own "wood elves" by having a kit-bashed army that can count as either Dark Eldar or Regular Eldar. Hell throw a few Wood Elf/Dark Elf/ High Elf Kitbashing and you could have a awesome looking army.

Oooh! Exodite Army. I always wanted one...

Tau. If you want shooty and cool but don't mind fighting an uphill battle, Necrons.