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So I'm a long time Fantasy player who is moving into 40k and I am unsure as to what army I should start. I know the game mechanics for 40k and the fluff behind the armies/universe I just haven't wanted to do a force till now. I'm not really looking for a specific play type just an army that will be interesting to play with decent fluff and plenty of conversion opportunities.

Some armies I that hold my interest are Saim Hann Eldar, White Scars Space Marines, Farsight Tau (not using Farsight or his rules but having a force commanded by one of his acolytes) or Snake Bite Orks. I kind of like wild/savage armies that would let me incorporate Fantasy elements into 40k.

i'd go with tau, but considering you just went from fantasy, your used 2 close range. either space marines or orks.

But not every Fantasy army is a close range army so it's not like I can only play cc armies

Odins Beard wrote:But not every Fantasy army is a close range army so it's not like I can only play cc armies

marines then, cos they got a bit of both

Well like I said I don't need any specific play style but thanks for the feedback anyway

It depends on what fluff you like really then if play style doesn't matter. Also, are into converting/modelling, if so orks are a good idea.

Plus, I like orks so you could be on my side then.

My first instinct was to say something with lots of vehicles, since that's a big difference from Warhammer.

But I'm going to default to saying what I always tell everyone.

Pick something for which you really enjoy the fluff and the look of the miniatures. This is the most important thing in terms of staying motived and getting your stuff painted.

Winning games comes with practice; if your opponents are any good, you're going to start out getting your head kicked in. If you just bought an army to win, this can be very discouraging. But if you bought an army whose fluff and models you love, you can more easily stay motivated even while losing games.

@TanTan628: The armies I listed are armies which I like the fluff for. To be honest the only force whose fluff I don't like are the Witch Hunters and Slaanesh armies

@Mannahnin: See I enjoy the models and fluff for just about every army and with those I listed there are certain aspects that I like. With Saim Hann I like that amongst the Eldar they are considered to be "savages" and so I could really bring out that wild aspect without going too crazy. With the White Scars I like their fluff though I would make them to be more in keeping with the culture they're supposed to come from because to me they are often represented as being too civilised vs being marines who come from a race of tribal people trying to survive on the steppes. And the Snake Bites of course are pretty close to O&G in space and I could do lots of creature conversions and such.

Now I like those that I listed but that dosen't mean other army suggestions can't be made. I could always turn the fluff or create my own even if the force dosen't origionally have that feel.

Personally out of the ones you listed, White Scars seems to be the best starting point. Being marines means that they have an innate forgiveness to any speedbumps you might encounter while being a biker-based army means that you get enough of a variation and challenge so you're not playing as a newbie. They are also, surprisingly, cheaper than Saim Hann, because you can buy squads of bikes rather than individually (and the Guardian Jetbikes look pretty dated).

I dont recommend Tau because they are kind of underpowered at the moment and can be a little unforgiving as a result. They also have a completely different playstyle due to the fact that you basically only have a gunline option available to you.

Snakebites would be fun if you can make some Warbikers from Boars and a Battle Wagon from an Aracnork (still cant spell it) spider.

MechaEmperor7000 wrote:Personally out of the ones you listed, White Scars seems to be the best starting point. Being marines means that they have an innate forgiveness to any speedbumps you might encounter while being a biker-based army means that you get enough of a variation and challenge so you're not playing as a newbie. They are also, surprisingly, cheaper than Saim Hann, because you can buy squads of bikes rather than individually (and the Guardian Jetbikes look pretty dated).

Actually If I did Siam Hann I'd convert DE Reavers (I think that's what they are?) and am considering using the DE codex to represent them though I'm not sure how well that would translate.

I dont recommend Tau because they are kind of underpowered at the moment and can be a little unforgiving as a result. They also have a completely different playstyle due to the fact that you basically only have a gunline option available to you.

Really? my friend who got me into Fantasy has always had Tau and he uses a Mech list that is pretty successfull. Mixed with some outflanking kroot and Piranhas, I've not owned a 40k army but I'm no stranger to it so just from what I've seen over the years Tau have a bit more to offer then a gun line

Snakebites would be fun if you can make some Warbikers from Boars and a Battle Wagon from an Aracnork (still cant spell it) spider.

I was indeed thinking of making Warbikers from Boars (love the models been looking for an excuse to get them ) but I don't think I'd use the Arachnarok for a Battlewagon, I'd use actual Battlewagons but I would put animal glyphs on the plates and skulls/tusks. Make the wagon look like the owners tried to turn it into beast itself.

So far most of the suggestions have said Space Marines, I hope this isn't because I'm new to having a 40k army. I have been around 40k and I really don't have a problem starting off with a harder to use force, but I'm keeping everyones suggestions in mind

MechaEmperor7000 wrote:
Snakebites would be fun if you can make some Warbikers from Boars and a Battle Wagon from an Aracnork (still cant spell it) spider.

Odins Beard wrote:
I was indeed thinking of making Warbikers from Boars (love the models been looking for an excuse to get them ) but I don't think I'd use the Arachnarok for a Battlewagon, I'd use actual Battlewagons but I would put animal glyphs on the plates and skulls/tusks. Make the wagon look like the owners tried to turn it into beast itself.

I've thought of using a Arachnarok Spider for a Battlewagon too, but I was going to use Battlewagon pieces on the AS. That's one way of combining both themes.

See I've already got ideas planned for each army. For the Snakebites it would be that the Boss and his warband killed a Space Wolf Great company and their gear would be looted from the company so they would have wolf pelts and skulls plus trophies from other big kills so maybe some skulls from some Tyranid Beasties etc.

Have you heard of the game KKnD? It has quite a number of creature-inspired vehicle ideas, which would be great for Snakebites.

If you wanna go for Saim Hann, keep to the Eldar Codex. The DE one is better for Eldar Pirates and doesnt bring in much in the way of heavy ordinance.

I agree with Mechaemperor. Any of those three armies are usable, but Tau, and moreso Eldar, are getting a bit dated and it's a bit of an uphill slog using them in tournaments. White Scars-themed SM are one of the best builds available right now for codex: SM.

If you like any one of those themes better, go for it! But if you like them roughly equally, White Scars will probably give you more bang for your buck.

Would Saim Hann have heavy ordinance? And I can't tell you if I've heard of it because I don't know what KKnD stands for

Saim Hann usually wouldn't run support weapon platforms, but Fire Prisms or Night Spinners would make sense- those are heavy support tanks.

What's a Night Spinner? I know what a Death Spinner is but there is nothing in my codex about a Night Spinner


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh and btw I own the Space Marine, Black Templar, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Orks, Eldar, Tyranids, Tau and Imperial Guard codices plus the rule book and have owned them for years

Welcome to 40k.


As for a Night Spinner:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440244a&prodId=prod770019a Click thru the pictures

Mannahnin wrote:
But I'm going to default to saying what I always tell everyone.

Pick something for which you really enjoy the fluff and the look of the miniatures. This is the most important thing in terms of staying motived and getting your stuff painted.

Winning games comes with practice; if your opponents are any good, you're going to start out getting your head kicked in. If you just bought an army to win, this can be very discouraging. But if you bought an army whose fluff and models you love, you can more easily stay motivated even while losing games.

This +1, think of the man hours you are going to be putting into building and painting this army and then playing with it. If it's something you love the idea of, you will be far more likely to complete this process.

Also bare in mind that forums such as this represent the 'peak', and hardcore element of gamers. All this talk of 'tier' armies and usability in tournaments is all well and good, but in reality 99% of gamers and playing environments are away from this setting. There are no armies so bad that you don't have a possibility of winning with them in a casual setting, and the chances are that even the armies which are harder to play with (Necrons/Tau etc.) will have a new codex by the time you get round to finishing an army in a year, 18 months or so.

Just my advice, go with what your heart says, not your head

What pacific said.

But if you're looking for lots of savagery and conversion oppertunities, I'm guessing that orks would fit ya the best.

White scars are also cool, and their bike conversion kits? They make me want to run a bike command squad just to have an excuse to put scimitars on the field.

Just.... please.... cut of the top knots. Pony tails do not match handlebar mustaches.

Actually after doing a little research and some thinking I think I'm going to do the White Scars. I think they have alot of potential for conversions and I deffinitly want to make them look not so "marines on bikes" and more like "mongolian marines on bikes". So I'm going to get some Chaos Marauder Horsemen heads and some other bits here and there, I've got some more ideas I'm cooking up but that's for later so anyway thank you all for your feedback.

Cool. Just make sure you see these:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod810030a&rootCatGameStyle=

and my favorite:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod810009a&rootCatGameStyle=

know that these are metal add ons for converting models.

Oh, and they're by no means necessary, but if you want the shoulder pads:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod1400030&rootCatGameStyle=

Good luck, and post your results on dakka!

I've seen the White Scars bits, they're in my Space Marine codex and I'm not going to use them

The Ravenwing Battle Force will likely snag you the most bang for your buck, and since you're using Maurader parts anyways the DA stuff likely wont be a problem (since you're gonna replace those bits anyways).

I agree I mean I'm ordering the heads of the CMH from a bits site as I plan on using them throughout my army with some differances to each.