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Hi, my friend is thinking about starting his own W40k army but he is absolutely new in wargaming and modeling. What are some armies that are easy to paint/build?
He said that Necrons look cool but are they good for begginers? Thx

Marines are very easy to build and paint. While I don't own necrons, I have some friends that do and they claim they are very easy to paint. Maybe even easier to paint then marines.

Necrons are the easiest army to paint, but they have an old codex.

Necrons are very easy to paint. And even though their codex is old, It is getting a new release this year so it coudl also be a great starting ground for a new army. other then that, it would have ot be Marines.

On the other hand, if your friend wants a small army that can be easy to paint he could also do Grey Knights.

Necrons are, as everyone has said, easy to paint - although if you wish to collect them you should wait till October/November when their new codex comes out.

If you're more eager to get started, Tau are very easy to paint as well.

Crons arent bad, but are in need of an update.

Models are quick and easy to put together and paint.
A small army takes no time atall to get ready, and its chap ish by 40k standards.

Main issues would be:

1: Every model (save a few) use green plastics or rods, which means you shouldnt use plastic or super glue on them. (causes it to fog up)
Simple enough though once your used to it.

2: Not alot of choice in the army for units.
This usually just causes people to get bored quickly, so might be worth making sure you like them 1st.

3: Being an older book, alot of the rules seem a bit weird and outdated, again, this can be overcome.
Just need to make sure you got it all in order 1st.






Other armies that are easy to paint / build:

Marines - simply the most common army to begin with.
Play them to whatever taste you want.

Nids - Very easy to assemble and paint, just need to get a good grasp on the rules for them.

Necrons are easy to paint, very very easy. you could just prime black. dry brush all around with a dark metallic the highlight with a lighter metallic dry brushed as well. Add some brown ink/wash to a few areas and there you go. At least that's how I painted my first army. Alternatively you could just prime with army painters silver primer and give it a black wash... Although I don't know how that would work out. As for how well they play, I raced a rhino up to the front door of his one monolith... The next turn most of his reserves came out of his monolith destroying most of his warriors. This got him so close to phasing out he just quit, but I have been beaten by them too.

ok,thx you guys very much, I heard that necrons have old codex and need new,but reality that on autumn there will be new is good,because ig they are easy to paint and buil+new codex= great

I agree crons have an old dex but they are a great first army BECAUSE there is very little customization. They are still a playable army with a 3+ save and a basic weapon the could glance any armor type.

Biggest problem with the cron models:

1. Warrior torso seam lines take a bit of work (Probably same with SM I'd imagine)
2. The Immortals weapons are difficult to glue in to position and require a fair bit of holding and blowing
3. Monolith has some horrible mold lines that require the monolith to be fully built before you green stuff them away
4. You'll have to redrill the flying base holes for the destroyers


Yes, the codex is out of date BUT, as AustonT says, less options does take a little bit of the edge off the learning curve but the rules are old and a little 'irky'.


If you want to paint tinfoil necrons, they are easy as pie to paint and are a decent starting army, just not a popular one.

The update is also rumoured to bring interesting things and this seems to have spurred a bit of a selling frenzy on eBay so you can build a necron army for peanuts (as I have done, twice!).


I'm a cron player and would welcome another cron player in to the mix.

Tyranids with the Dipping Method.

Paint on the basic colors (eg, body/armor color, white for teeth and a color for the eyes), then dip in the stain/varnish listed in the link, spin excess liquid off with drill or other device and let dry. Darkens recessed areas to bring out detail, seals the paint to prevent damage and leaves a nice slimy look.

Extra details can be picked out such as different color for guns/claws and use of dullcoat to make areas not shiny. Some people seem to look down upon this method but it seems to stem form jealousy on how quick it is and a belief that more time is required when painting figures because....... well because.

Games Workshop(Citadel) paint is a good choice to use, their brushes are overpriced but work well (i use standard, large and extra fine). The paint thins with water and the brush cleaned with dish soap without hand moisturizors in water.

Tyranids will cost you an arm and a leg to field a decent army.
Maybe not the right choice for a beginner.

space marines are a good beginners army, the space marines are very balanced and that does in fact go a long way.

Enzephalon wrote:Tyranids will cost you an arm and a leg to field a decent army.
Maybe not the right choice for a beginner.

ic, I didn't know that.

What I do know is that they are easier to paint then my current Imperial Guard army with three part Russian camo scheme (was going to try Canadian but digital camo is a ).

Enzephalon wrote:Tyranids will cost you an arm and a leg to field a decent army.
Maybe not the right choice for a beginner.

It was the right choice for me!


I would recommend Space Marines or one of the Space Marine chapters.