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a few of my friends just started warhammer40k and it seems pretty rad and i'd really like to start playing as well but seeing as i have very limited funds i dont want to waste any of them

having said this, i request help from anyone on a good starter army and then a couple of list ideas for that army

my friends already have an imperial guard army, and a space marines army so those races are pretty much ruled out
i also tend to lean more towards CC then ranged so i was kinda ruling out the tau as well, though i'd still be open to one if everyone thought that would be good XD
im looking for around 500 points to start with

also from what i've looked at ive been leaning towards tyranids or chaos daemons

i have no real problems with a 'difficult' army but if i dont really want one im going to have to know every single intricacy of to have any chance
and i'm not just looking for the army thats going to completly destroy those 2 armies, but i dont want an army that those 2 are pre-destined to destroy

i'm pretty sure that all my bases are covered so just thank you to anyone who wishes to help

hmm, I never went aggainst chaos deamons, so I cannot talk about them but i,ve seen a couple of bat Rep from MWG with tyrannids.

So tyrannids are beast in CC, have low points units and no vehicle, so you don,t have to worry about that stunned or immobilize result (think same applies to deamons). Deamons are also very good in CC from what I heard but have invul saves instead of armor save (so they actually get some saves, cause tyrannids troops are mostly 6+)

Now what army to chose, ask yourself these questions:
1. Which one looks cooler
2. Which one looks fun to paint (because if painting becomes a pain, you won't finish painting that army and a painted army looks much better than a primed or non primed army)
3. Which one looks funner to play (look at Bat Rep, either in the BatRep section of the forum or www.miniwargaming.com has some nice BatReps too)

Think alot about these questions so you won't end up buying 200$ of one army and then realized you do not really like it and go for the other one. Than make a choice.

For the army list, just make a ressearch in this section fo the forums and it will give you a good idea of what to buy, do not be afraid to ask questions once you know what type of list with which army you want so you won't end up buying models that you won't use. That way, your 500 initial points can/will still serve at 1000 and 1500 points.

Tyranids and Chaos Daemons. I like your style my friend! Both are great choices and are fun to play with or against. Chaos Daemons can be pretty tricky to start out with but you will never get bored with them, every battle is different than the last. Tyranids are great for a first time player and are just a awesome army in general. Whatever you decide just be proud of the fact your not playing SM.


What looks cooler to you massive bugs with spikes or giant daemons? Pretty much what it boils down to.

If you're brand new to the game I wouldn't suggest starting with Daemons. They do a lot of things differently than the other armies so it may be a bit harder to learn.
Then again, if you love the models or fluff enough don't let anyone stop you from picking what appeals to you most!

thanks for all the advice, this definetly seems like a really nice site

as of now im pretty much thinking i'll go ahead and get tyranids so yay lols

i prolly report back here in a day or two with my likely atrocious hypothetical starter list for more advice

thanks again guys, yall are really nice XD


oh yeah! and from what ive read of other peoples lists and a handful of battle reports it seems like tryanids have a kinda hard time against
most races XD not imposibble, just that most battle reports are like "im up against army xxxx, looks like it'll be a hard fight for me"
though they did generally fare pretty well

idk, i guess would yall say thats kinda accurate? most armies are gonna have some gak u'll be hard pressed to handle?
lols im sure all armies will have that problem with something, but idk just learning ya know lols

murdocks wrote:

oh yeah! and from what ive read of other peoples lists and a handful of battle reports it seems like tryanids have a kinda hard time against
most races XD not imposibble, just that most battle reports are like "im up against army xxxx, looks like it'll be a hard fight for me"
though they did generally fare pretty well

When people say it's going to be a hard fight, it only means that they won't be able to herp derp and still wins. It usually means that the fight will be balanced.

tervigons and hive guard are the core of most nid builds at the moment

Well I'm going to agree that chaos daemons would be a bit harder but definitely pick what you want to play, I guess with daemon's it depends on what kind of chaos god you like but if you want fast CC I would say Slaanesh would be your best bet for fast CC but I think nids is a better idea still myself. Though if you do play nids its VERY IMPORTANT that you pay attention to your shooting, be aware your running a bunch of CC units that crawl without transport for the most part and vs Mecha armies you'll need to stop transports with shooting so you can chew troops up. Other then that Nids are nids from what I hear.

-Sincerely Viri

Just go Orks. If you want a close combat army. Orks. easy on the pocket book, Orks. Check ebay for Attack on Black Reach. But I guess if i have to pick one. Tyranids. I love the Chaos Deamons but they, so far are expensive army to put together. 23$ for one Fiend and they need to be atleast in units of 3. Thats over 60$ for one elite unit. And the rest of the army runs similar. Tyranids can start getting expensive to as you're buying boxes and boxes of graunts. Seriously look into orks.

I really started playing WH40k aswell, I really wish i'd gone for one of the newer codexes. OP have you considered Dark Eldar?

Lots of cc in their army with a healthy balance on shooting. Plus you've got all the hype around them atm and GW are bringing out new stuff for them. Plus you know you've got an up to date codex.

It was only once I'd played against some vets and began reading about tactics that I learned about 3rd and 4th Edition codexes....if you don't know what that means, I would highly recommend you do some research.

lols thanks for all the advice and after considering everything im gonna for sure go with tyranids, they are so just so cool:O

and i read the 5th edition codex and it has the tervigons and they are definetly wreck mode, but games workshop's site didnt have them so idk, whats that about? are they easily available?

Daemons are a hit or a miss really they can do amazing or just fail and die a girl won the last tournament that I was at with her daemons she had luck and skill.

Go for nids or orks either can be fun orks are just silly tho and make for a good laugh and nids well more genestealers haha good luck.

Choose the army that you think is coolest and has the "best" fluff (at least in your eyes). Ignore the power gaming aspect of the game because each army can compete in a match (its mostly how the individual commanders operates).

Agreed also go with what models you like because you are going to spend quite some time with them and cool models make even a defeat not feel that bad

I would highly recommend Chaos Daemons- but that's coming from a Daemons player

You can go many ways with a Daemon army, however the most common are either the 4 T-herald + fiends supported by plague bearers and deamon princes build, or Fatecrusher variants. I wouldn't recommend going with a Fatecrusher build - Fateweaver is a very good character and great in any army, but don't build your army around him.

Also, modeling is great with the Daemons. I would recommend converting your army from other (cheaper ) units.

murdocks wrote:lols thanks for all the advice and after considering everything im gonna for sure go with tyranids, they are so just so cool:O

and i read the 5th edition codex and it has the tervigons and they are definetly wreck mode, but games workshop's site didnt have them so idk, whats that about? are they easily available?

I belive that the only way to get a tervigon is by converting it yourself (or asking someone else to do it for you!), don't lose heart though, there is plenty of time to aquire the tips and tricks needed to help you accomplish this. But remember, you must first build up a solid core for your army, you should make sure that you have a few broods of gaunts, hormagaunts and genestealers to bulk out your army, as well as maybe a carnifex or trygon/mawlock to provide some support. And don't forget the HQ! Then, when that is sorted, and you've played a few, say, 500 point games, and got the general feel of your army and worked out how you would like ot approach the enemy, start investing in specific areas, such as fast attack (gargoyles, raveners etc.), or close combat (pretty much everything), or large monstrous creatures (trygons, mawlocks, carnifex, tyrranofex etc.) and, if you feel up to it, a tervigon!

Good luck with your new army!

Will20017