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Hi I am new to 40k and I was wondering what good starting armies are
I dont really know any of the rules, and yeah...
I know i definatly don't want to play-
Chaos Space Marines
Grey Knights
Orks
Chaos Daemons
Imperial Guard
Sisters of battle
Other than that i like all them(its not that i dont like these armies i just don't want to play them)

Space Marines are the easiest to learn to play, often easier to learn to paint and they haven't missed a beat when it comes to looking good.
You can have a lot of fun playing Space Marines and if you don't want to make up your own Chapter then there is a rich background to choose from. Also you can buy a small vanilla(jack of all trades, master of none) army fairly cheaply and play against almost any other army effectively.
I advise you to buy a Space Marine Codex, The Rulebook(BRB) and, if your feeling flush, get 20 Tactical Marines and a Space Marine Commander.
I DO NOT advise you buy a paint set. Decide on your colours then ask us here at Dak which paints you will need and which brushes. People here will keep you correct on everything you need to know.
This will have you going in no time. Feel free to ask anything else, i am happy to help.

If you don't think these guys are right for you then don't buy them! Go with what feels right when choosing an army. Ending up with Orks because it seemed to make sense, when you really wanted Tau is going to put you off the hobby very, very quickly. Oh, and your bank balance will fail the game!

Happy Gaming!

Orks are good to, simple and fun.

Not hard to paint either!

AOBR is a real deal for them.

Tau have a difficult learning curve, but once you get past that they can be quite enjoyable. You have to quickly master the positioning and target priority games, as one of your single most important goals will be evading close combat.

Tau shoot, and shoot, and shoot some more. They also use jetpacks to move around the battlefield to get in position for better shooting, and get behind cover for the return fire.

The other thing about them is, there are a number of units which simply aren't worth taking in the codex, because there are strictly better options available in the same slots. Or, they have no armour and as soon as they die you run off the board.

revackey wrote:Orks are good to, simple and fun.

Not hard to paint either!

AOBR is a real deal for them.

Guys if SngrFghtr doesn't want to play Orks as he said above then lets not give him useless information.

I agree with what was said about Tau and yes they are very difficult to learn especially for a newcomer. If you really like Tau i suggest you buy a small Space Marine army to learn the hobby then swap over.

How about Necrons? As far as I know, Necrons appeal to everyone (''dead'' guys with flaying weaponry that respawn half the time). The problem is whether another you like another army better. Though I agree with LostSoul, get a small SM army, learn the basics then switch over.

I agree with Conservationist. Necrons are a good wee army as well. ALTHOUGH if you are into conversions and making all of your models different then stay well away from them. They are simply a mass of faceless warriors, no fun if you like green stuff!

for starting off i would say Space Marines cos their easy to play well with and they're not too hard to paint. however marines are expensive

Tyrranids - A army mostly for CC but with some shooters and they have no tanks or other vehicels but they have a great number of monsters
Tau Empire - A shooting army a loot of great gunns but verey few CC units
Space marines - one of the most playd armys good saves and good shooting but more expensiv than most
Necrons - a dark army nice shooting not so meny units but they have "Will be back" it means that most of thier units will come back. (depends on what you shoot them whit
Eldar - a complex army verey specialised hard to paly but great if you know what you are doing
Dark eldar - dont know much about them but as far as i know its a verey fast army....

I would like to play Either Tau, Necrons, or Dark Eldar.
Necrons- Would be awesome, but their book is old and everyone tells me its lame- I have a very small army of them
Tau- Would be pretty cool, but pretty much no close combat- I have a very small army of them
Dark Eldar- Are AWESOME!! Good from what I have heard and AWESOME!!! - I don't have any

Eldar are interesting as well.

There are still some very strong units in the codex, and the codex has a lot more depth in it than the current Necron or Tau Codex.

there are 3 main builds for Eldar

Full Mechdar,
Full Footdar / Wraithwall
Saim Hann / Speed Hybrid (jetbikes + tanks + sometimes warp spiders)

Eldar cc is not the greatest by today's (albiet ridiculous) standards, but it does exist and we can still do some cool things in all phases of the game.

SngrFghtr wrote:I would like to play Either Tau, Necrons, or Dark Eldar.
Necrons- Would be awesome, but their book is old and everyone tells me its lame- I have a very small army of them
Tau- Would be pretty cool, but pretty much no close combat- I have a very small army of them
Dark Eldar- Are AWESOME!! Good from what I have heard and AWESOME!!! - I don't have any

In fact, it would seem that Necrons are going to have new units coming out, my FLGS staff informed me, some new units and perhaps a codex iirc. If you can wait for 6 months then Necs would be the way to go. If you have no choice then... Dark Eldar. Personally I wouldnt go with Dark Eldar because to me they seem paper that run around in their open-top batcars. Although there look awesomely cool and are dark enough for my liking. (I haven't fought any myself but seen some die pretty quickly)

The problem with starting with Dark Eldar is that they are an extremely unforgiving army for new comers. They are very very fragile and one mistake can cost you the game. The models look ace though.

Another thing to look at is what kind of play style you're looking for. An army that blows enemies away with powerful amd exotic ranged weaponry? One that crushes them under boot and sword? And elite army or endless wave of troops?

Edit: spelling ... damn phone.

Necrons are coming out with a new codex this summer. Start a space marine small force and learn the basics then move to necrons if you are leaning towards them once they are new released.

I play army X so you should play army X, because army X is SOOOOOO the best army out there!

Okay, I've said it for everyone now, we can all knock it off.

As for which army to start, it depends ENTIRELY on the gaming experience you're looking for. With no information whatsoever about what you want, we can't actually help you in any meaningful way.

With all those armies you don't want to play, it sounds like you need the Tau!

They'll take some getting useful, and some things that seem good just aren't (vespids, Gue'vesa, krootox, Knarloc etc.) but they are an awesome army, look great, and have suits covered in awesome sauce.

They are arguably the best anti-meq shooting army in the game, and have lots of personality

Also I have played many, many armies (four right now but have sold 3) and Tau are by FAR my favourite, and the most fun to play. Nothing is quite as satisfying as destroying an entire Space Marine squad in one turn, then jumping away without any damage! An army for jetpack enthusiasts.

But ultimately, it depends on what style you prefer. Do you like concentrated firepower on specific units? Tau.

Flexibility? Space Marines.

Defense (gunline)? IG

Hit-and-run? DE

etc.
etc.
etc.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

SngrFghtr wrote:I would like to play Either Tau, Necrons, or Dark Eldar.
Necrons- Would be awesome, but their book is old and everyone tells me its lame- I have a very small army of them
Tau- Would be pretty cool, but pretty much no close combat- I have a very small army of them
Dark Eldar- Are AWESOME!! Good from what I have heard and AWESOME!!! - I don't have any

Necrons-they get back up after you kill them. +1!

Tau- Melee deficiency doesn't matter if the enemy doesn't manage to get close...+1!

Dark Eldar- Beastmasters bring some unfathomably cool looking models. I'd describe their tactics a little but I just can get over how kewl those monsters look :O

Thanks for all the help guys
I think i will assemble and paint all my Necrons, I have 2 boxes of warriors and 2 lords, 1 with Resurrection Orb, 1 with with Warscythe
I will buy the codex for the space marines to learn the basic rules(maybe i'll keep them, i dont need anything for them besides a few things in the 15-40 dollar range)
Then when they redo the Necrons book I will be good at the game and will buy it and play them

SngrFghtr wrote:Thanks for all the help guys
I think i will assemble and paint all my Necrons, I have 2 boxes of warriors and 2 lords, 1 with Resurrection Orb, 1 with with Warscythe
I will buy the codex for the space marines to learn the basic rules(maybe i'll keep them, i dont need anything for them besides a few things in the 15-40 dollar range)
Then when they redo the Necrons book I will be good at the game and will buy it and play them

Not Tau ? *sobs*

Cuz with Tau, they probably won't get an update till 6th ed, which means that they'll be some of the first to get a sixth ed dex, once GW updates it's poster boys that is.

To quote myself from the Dakka Polls:

Dark Eldar are the best army to start with. Once a player learns how to play DE, playing any and all other armies will come far more easily. It empowers the player with a tactical versatility that no other army will provide, and then they have free reign to pick up any other army, and almost immediately they play it very effectively. The most amazing SM and Tau players I know, started as DE so they could become accustomed to the need for flawlessness. ALL the sloppiest players I know, without exception, began as SMs... And are stuck forever playing them because they get even MORE decimated playing anything else.

SMs are probably the WORST army to start with. People who begin with SMs are too often doomed to never get the hang of other armies, because they require tactical forethought to play. I've noticed that people who begin with SMs are seldom able to break away from them. They become accustomed to the handicap bonus, and they find it difficult to function as a tactician, as required by other armies.

Plus they now have the best looking models!

Archonate wrote:To quote myself from the Dakka Polls:

Dark Eldar are the best army to start with. Once a player learns how to play DE, playing any and all other armies will come far more easily. It empowers the player with a tactical versatility that no other army will provide, and then they have free reign to pick up any other army, and almost immediately they play it very effectively. The most amazing SM and Tau players I know, started as DE so they could become accustomed to the need for flawlessness. ALL the sloppiest players I know, without exception, began as SMs... And are stuck forever playing them because they get even MORE decimated playing anything else.

SMs are probably the WORST army to start with. People who begin with SMs are too often doomed to never get the hang of other armies, because they require tactical forethought to play. I've noticed that people who begin with SMs are seldom able to break away from them. They become accustomed to the handicap bonus, and they find it difficult to function as a tactician, as required by other armies.

Plus they now have the best looking models!

I still think the Tau are the best to start with. They teach you how NOT to simply charge and hope for the best. You learn to keep synergy between units (instead of each unit being versatile, you have specialized units that complement each other i.e. suit loadouts). With Dark Eldar (being a seasoned veteran of the little freaks, and a gamer who started with them) you kinda just need to rely to really on hit-and-run, and use the tactics for all it's worth. Don't get me wrong, they are a faction that requires tactics (especially with the use of beasts[which to use, when to use, where to use]) but with the Tau, I have my next 2-3 turns planned out mentally.

If I attack this unit, is there cover I can JSJ behind? Will the damage I inflict be worth it? Will the position I JSJ into be somewhere that ISN'T dangerous? Have I used the cover for all that it's worth? How to use kroot? How many point to use on XV8s? etc. etc. etc.

I actually bought more FW than I need just because 1/4 of the legs in the sets are kneeling, and I want all-kneeling units so that they're shorter and can get more out of cover.

And I think SM (of every variety) are the SECOND worst army to start with, after anything horde. They just kind of...move forward...

im2randomghgh wrote:I still think the Tau are the best to start with. . .

You make some very good points. In my opinion Tau are a close 2nd, if not tied with DE for best army to start with. Tau are my secondary army, and I can testify that, were it not for the lessons I learned from DE, I would have struggled horribly with Tau. But DE taught me how to think a couple turns ahead, and how to preserve vital units until their abilities can be optimized. Apparently Tau teach the same thing? These are examples of lessons you won't get from SMs...

I actually bought more FW than I need just because 1/4 of the legs in the sets are kneeling, and I want all-kneeling units so that they're shorter and can get more out of cover.

OT: I don't blame you for doing this! It's GWs own fault for their idiotic 5th ed los rules. I predicted this would be a problem and a needless exploit that people would take advantage of the moment I read those rules... And I've never stopped hating those rules. 4th Ed had the cleanest, simplest los rules... It's sad that you have an entire army all locked in an unlikely, boring, and uniform position, instead of dynamic and cool poses. You had to spend more money and sacrifice your army's appearance to get an advantage which shouldn't exist... I'm praying that 6th ed fixes this.

And I think SM (of every variety) are the SECOND worst army to start with, after anything horde. They just kind of...move forward...

I dunno... Tyranid players these days have to be pretty sharp to pull off wins... But I do agree that all SM variants really aren't all that... varied.

I play Tau and I love them.

But if you want to go with one of the three you mentioned I'd go with Dark Eldar. They have a new codex and you won't have to re-learn a new dex in the near future which could make the learning a bit steep. The also have there new units out or coming out which is nice.

Are you talking about vanilla marines? Because I would have to defend the other SM armies (esp BA!) if you say they require no tactics.

@ Archonate, they are not actually that boring, and on maps that have so little cover it doesn't matter, I bring half standing half kneeling and I do it so that they look lke the 1700-1800 line infantry, with the front rank kneeling.

But I agree, as far as LoS goes, 4ed is clearly superior.

They just released new Dark Eldar in fiencast and i think the ship is just a new thing, not a finecast, anways i think i will play them to epic not to play

As awesome as dark eldar are, AoBR models are so cheap on ebay, and you need very little marines to build a starting army you can learn the rules with while you paint up your lovely new dark eldar.

plus its hard to choose the army when you have no clue on the rules, i tend to think that just choosing best models is the way to go

If you think of going the dark route of space marines, then you may want to consider chaos space marines. I know you said you didn't want to play chaos marines, but basically they're the same as space marines only with cooler stuff. Space marines are like when you were a kid and you bought from the ice cream man for the first time. Since you didn't know any better you went with a vanilla drumstick. But Jimmy down the road who had bought from the ice cream man several times before got the badass spiderman popsicle with bubblegum eyes because he knew better. Chaos marines are like that badass spiderman popsicle with bubblegum eyes. Don't be left disappointed with the drumstick.

Ajroo wrote:As awesome as dark eldar are, AoBR models are so cheap on ebay, and you need very little marines to build a starting army you can learn the rules with while you paint up your lovely new dark eldar.

plus its hard to choose the army when you have no clue on the rules, i tend to think that just choosing best models is the way to go

I guarantee that if you start with marines, you will never attain even a basic understanding of tactics. You sit...and shoot. If the people shooting at you are winning, then you assault.

Don't EVER start with marines.

It will ruin your gaming experience for ever.

Didn't he say he's going necrons? While I can't agree with choosing anything but Guard over DE, at least it wasn't Space Marines...