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I guess the first question would be, what is the most common point total used per game / tourney?

that depends on the who is hosting the game/tourney. You would be best to start with a solid 1500 point list and then scale up from there.

Scale of the tournament and time frames are a main factor in it.
However, 1,500 1,850 and 2,000 seem like the most popular.
See alot of 2,500 aswell.

Thanks for the responses! Yeah it seems that the place to start is at the 1500 pts area. Then Work it up from there.

I usually plan a 2000pt list, then if needed remove stuff.

Ok, so maybe either a 1500 pt list with a 500 pt add on section or a 2000pt list with a removable 500 pt section that wont undermine the integrity of said lists.

It would be more each easier to write a 1500 list and build up from it, that way you can write additional lists at the 1850 and 2000 point values. That way, you already have a list for whichever tournament you go to

Good idea. Noted.

Also, plan on roughly a 'troop' choice per 500 points of your army, so at least 3 of your basic troops, which, depending on the codex, could vary greatly.

Some DE lists need no warriors (although, you're gonna buy a box to proxy as Trueborn or others).
SMs: 3 tacticals
SW, BA & GK all got their own goofery, depending on your focus.
Eldar: 3 sets of DAs, or maybe two boxes, split 3 ways
Orks - Heh. Orks.
bugs/nids - depends on the focus
Tau. *snort* wait for the rumored new release
Necrons - new book coming

Personally for SMs I almost always go for a 5 man squad of sniper scouts with cloaks and HB. For 100 points you get a unit that can almost kill stuff, but more importantly you get a scoring unit with 2+ cover saves YAY!

That kind of depends on the type of army you play though. Despite their weak offensive power compared to the rest of the codex, they're still pretty durable.