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I am looking to start playing at sometime, not anytime soon cause money is tight but sooner or later and im still debating on what army to play. So i suppose im looking for insight, past experiences, and well tips on anything for that matter.

But im also not a total noob, i have shortened my list of possibilities to a few armies, but i cant decide on which i want to start.

What i am down to is,
-Space Wolves,
-Black Templars,
and the Guard.

So any insight on those mainly the wolves, and Templars would be great, along with any past experiences, w/e

Wolves would definitely be the best army as a new guy. Black Templars have some esoteric wargear leftover from a previous edition of the game, and rules like Zeal that might be confusing to a new player. Imperial Guard have platoons, which some new players find intimidating, and an orders system that's another layer of complexity. You also need a boatload of models.

Go with Space Wolves; they can be very easy at first and later on have some more complicated options.

In fact, go with SW. Its one of the top tier armies out there. You need not very many models to build a 1500 pt list - seems to be more cost effective than IG.

Well i gotta say i gave SW a look over and i have to admit they grabbed my attention quicker then when i first looked over the guard. I am pretty much sold on them, now all that's left is acquiring the funds and starting the fun.

You both have been a great help, so I thank you both so you know also.

Well 6 Months later i just looked over this thread and realized I MADE A MISTAKE! lol, i wound up playing Templars....and well,,,,, yea.

I'm in the same boat, in a sense. I'm also new player and I am looking at what army to start. Similarly, I an torn between Space Wolves and Black Templars. Originally I was really interested in the SW but then I learned they can't field tanks nor do they have chaplains, taking Rune Priests instead. A little disapointed, I began taking a closer look at the Templars. I really like the iconography and fluff and everything, but I remember reading a post about the codex being broken to the almost unplayable point, and that they could be getting a new one soon. So I was hoping you could tell me more about your mistake so I don't make the same one. Thanks much!

Space Wolves dont have tanks? Longfangs are better anyway !

Hammer wrote:I'm in the same boat, in a sense. I'm also new player and I am looking at what army to start. Similarly, I an torn between Space Wolves and Black Templars. Originally I was really interested in the SW but then I learned they can't field tanks nor do they have chaplains, taking Rune Priests instead. A little disapointed, I began taking a closer look at the Templars. I really like the iconography and fluff and everything, but I remember reading a post about the codex being broken to the almost unplayable point, and that they could be getting a new one soon. So I was hoping you could tell me more about your mistake so I don't make the same one. Thanks much!

You are mistaken concerning Space Wolves.

Hammer wrote:I'm in the same boat, in a sense. I'm also new player and I am looking at what army to start. Similarly, I an torn between Space Wolves and Black Templars. Originally I was really interested in the SW but then I learned they can't field tanks nor do they have chaplains, taking Rune Priests instead. A little disapointed, I began taking a closer look at the Templars. I really like the iconography and fluff and everything, but I remember reading a post about the codex being broken to the almost unplayable point, and that they could be getting a new one soon. So I was hoping you could tell me more about your mistake so I don't make the same one. Thanks much!

One SW do have chaplains, that's what the Wolf Priests are.

Example:



As for the broken codex, rumour has it that the BT are in line for a new Codex, either later this year or next year, so I wouldn't worry about them being uncompetitive!

And I stand corrected! I'm still learning the basics, so sorry for my misguided assumptions.

That Rune Priest is a great model also! It really encompasses everything I liked visually about the other chaplains. I think I saw some mediocre grey paint jobs for some rune priest and just needed to take a closer look. Also, the longfang is also everything I had hoped for and more. Ah, I have so much to learn! I will definitely be going SW after the replys.

Thanks much!!

@Hammer I wouldn't say the templars are unplayable they do have a lot of advantages to them and many other wonderfully horrible abilities which I am still mastering but straight up I would take wolves over templars anyway because of the fact that wolves are a more balanced army where with templars you may win a fire fight here and there unit your real hope is to get into melee combat then anything else,

Bur yea as for the rumors I have been heard that templars should be getting a codex before 6thyou edition comes out so pre july basically.

Hammer wrote:And I stand corrected! I'm still learning the basics, so sorry for my misguided assumptions.

That Rune Priest is a great model also! It really encompasses everything I liked visually about the other chaplains. I think I saw some mediocre grey paint jobs for some rune priest and just needed to take a closer look. Also, the longfang is also everything I had hoped for and more. Ah, I have so much to learn! I will definitely be going SW after the replys.

Thanks much!!

That's a wolf priest. Rune priests are the psykers. SW do use vehicles by the way...

purplefood wrote:

Hammer wrote:And I stand corrected! I'm still learning the basics, so sorry for my misguided assumptions.

That Rune Priest is a great model also! It really encompasses everything I liked visually about the other chaplains. I think I saw some mediocre grey paint jobs for some rune priest and just needed to take a closer look. Also, the longfang is also everything I had hoped for and more. Ah, I have so much to learn! I will definitely be going SW after the replys.

Thanks much!!

That's a wolf priest. Rune priests are the psykers. SW do use vehicles by the way...

That they do, I got tabled by a mech heavy SW force the other day!

@Hammer: Might be worth your while just cruising through the SW section of the GW website, that'll show you some of the models available, and whet your appetite for them too!

as much as the Current BT codex is bad, it's oldness still gives it some rules that none of the current SM codex can claim. i.e. ranged terminators, decent land speeders, and Zeal is still rather good (when played right).

Just a heads up - Wolves can be complicated to paint. If you want a look like what's in the Codex, you'll have to do a lot of paint mixing. I didn't want to do this, so I experimented with several methods before finally finding a light blue colour that I liked that didn't require mixing. I basecoat with Vallejo Sky Blue and layer GW Space Wolves Grey over top.

They also have a lot of furry pieces which can be easy (drybrushing) or advanced (blending) to paint.

Long Fangs are one of the best units in their Codex and I'm discovering now that they're a pain to paint as well. There are all sorts of tight spaces that are difficult to fit a brush into.

I voted SW

Imperial guard - while are next on my list to collect - are a very "in depth" army and generally require a lot of pre-planning and is also a fairly expensive army to collect.

Black templars - 2 of my buddies play these and they love em, but they do have an older codex.

SW - Great all around. Easy to start with, and very competitive the more comfortable you get with them.

Exactly however it does need some upgades to bring it back to competitive nature.

Ok, so i went in to my local GW store to inquire about some SW stuff, and the owner said something along the lines of: "[sarcastically] Oh no, not another SW!" So that got me thinking this army may be a little over played for my likes. He did seem to think the codex following DE would be for BT, but I actually was also thinking about the Grey Knights and wondered what you guys thought about them for a new player, and what the state of their codex is. I seem to see mixed feelings in some of the other posts. I seem to have a thing for crusaders and knights.

Thanks again! You guys are extremely helpful!

Hammer wrote:Ok, so i went in to my local GW store to inquire about some SW stuff, and the owner said something along the lines of: "[sarcastically] Oh no, not another SW!" So that got me thinking this army may be a little over played for my likes.

If you want to play Space Wolves, play them, don't choose any army just because they are competetive/lots of people play them, but don't not choose an army just because a lot of people play them!

I want to say BT but I started out with IG. the only SW player I fought my BT marshal knocked 7 colours o' s**t out o' his wolf lord. it took me 2 turns (4 assault phases) to do it but I did it all the same

Congrats to you @Crusader, i havent had the chance to face the wolves yet, and honestly with my luck i dont think i want to,,,,

lol surprisingly ive crushed the space wolves many times. I dont see what makes them so OP. Even in CC lychguard can crush them.

Of the 3 options given, SW are the most forgiving and IMO best for a newer player.

IG is a very good army, but can be confusing with new players with some of the rules and how their FOC slots work (namely Infantry Platoons) and are one of the more expensive armies to start out with just to get a decent playable force.

Black Templars suffer from being a 4th ed. Codex in a 5th ed. (sooner rather than later 6th) world. They are still a good option being Marines and all, but have additional complications for newer players with their rules and are not as good of a choice competitively overall as compared to SW.

SW have the advantage of being a rock solid Codex with almost entirely good options, awesome troop choices in GH, and the dreaded but great LF. Being one of the more recent SM codexes, they are definitely easily playable in 5th and were supposedly in the group designed with 6th in mind as well. Their Battle Force is a good buy IMO for starting off and can be easily supplemented with other "normal" SM kits or the SW specific ones as well as the models from AoBR.

Sierk wrote:lol surprisingly ive crushed the space wolves many times. I dont see what makes them so OP. Even in CC lychguard can crush them.

Jaws of the World Wolf. Eats. Your. Army. Literally.


But on the current topic;

Space Wolves are by far the most forgiving army out of the bunch (Guard coming at a close second). You can make hundreds of mistakes and still have a good chance of winning simply due to their special rules and structure within their Codex.

PAH! We dont suffer. we get cool stuff like bionics, terminator honours and the Adamantine mantle. whats that lascannon? ID? Methinks otherwise...