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hi guys, I am new to 40K and I need your help on what army to buy first. I'm sure 40K fans and Dakka members can help me. So... any ideas?

depends on what you want, CC or Range?

A little too wide open. Start with answering these questions:

1. What army do you like the looks of?
2. Do you want shooty or close combat oriented?
3. Are you experienced gamer or a total newbie?
4. How much money are you looking to invest?

For instance I like the look of CSM and Tau and IG and DE. Lets say I want a CC oriented army - (drop the Tau because they suck at CC). I can still do the other three with IG being a big sucking blanket while DE and CSM can both excell at HTH. Say I am not a grizzled vet, I would then lean on CSM and IG both cheap and resilient. Now say I have a limited budget - sorry there goes the IG as that army can quickly turn into a money pit. So at that point I have made my decision- CSM.

Give me your answers and we should be able to quickly eliminate 10 codexes and get down to 2 or 3 to make a decision on.

Well i went to Games Workshop and watched a battle with one army CC and another with Range, and i liked the look of range troops so I think i am going to go for range.

Okay - ranged.

Tau
DE
Eldar
Necrons
SM
SW
IG
GK
CSM

Eliminated:
DA(Dated Codex)
SoB ( Can be done but I feel unless you want Sistas, don't take them)
BT
Tyranids
Chaos Demons

well ifyou want range heavy, Tau are a choice, thats what i play as, also i have seen some guard lists pull it off fairly well

Look at the GW website. See what you like. See if you can borrow an army or try a demo game.

proxy, borrow, etc to play with a ton of armies. Lots of people realize later they picked wrong. I didn't find my perfect fit army until my 3rd try.

Thanks Grey and DAaddict could you post some pictures of your Tau troops please so I can see how you have painted them??


Automatically Appended Next Post:

DAaddict wrote:Okay - ranged.

Tau
DE
Eldar
Necrons
SM
SW
IG
GK
CSM

Eliminated:
DA(Dated Codex)
SoB ( Can be done but I feel unless you want Sistas, don't take them)
BT
Tyranids
Chaos Demons

I do like the look of the CSM and IG, thanks for your help 'DAaddict'


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Phototoxin wrote:Look at the GW website. See what you like. See if you can borrow an army or try a demo game.

Oh cool, Im might go down to the GW some time this week hopefully and try out some troops.

If you want to see some Tau, here is a link:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/listProducts.jsp?catId=cat440178a

For a newbie, I would probably suggest space marines.
They are a highly adaptable army, as well as having a range of different units and benefit from being quite easy to play.
Again, look on the GW website for more info.

oh, ok i do like the look of SM aswell, what Units do you have?

Here is a list of the units:

HQ:
Captain (Combat Leader)
Chapter Master (Better Combat Leader)
Chaplain (Makes units better in combat)
Librarian (Psychic Powers)
Master of the Forge (Repairs Vehicles + Good Gun option)
+ Special Characters

Troops:
Tactical Squad (Standered Troops)
Scout Squad (Infiltrate - Get behind enemy lines)

Elite:
Terminator Squad (Heavy Armour, big guns)
Assualt Terminator Squad (Very well protected, good at H2H)
Sternguard Veterans (Good shooting)
Dreadnought (Walker)
Venderable Dreadnought (Better Walker)
Ironclad Dreadnought (More armoured Walker)
Techmarine (Repairs Vehicles)
Servitors (Helps techmarine)
Legion of the Dammed Squad (Um... Never found a use for these)

Fast Attack:
Assualt Squad (Fast movement, good H2H)
Vanguard Veteran Squad (Better Assault Squad)
Landspeeder Squadron (Fast Skimmers, get guns around quickly)
Bike Squad (Resnobal firepower, can do H2H. Fast)
Scout Bike Squad
Attack Bike Squad (Good guns quickly)
Landspeeder Storm (Transport scouts)

Heavy Support:
Devestator Squad (Carries heavy guns)
Thunderfire Cannon (Big cannon, quite effective)
Land Raider (Heavy Armour, tank buster)
Land Raider Crusader (Heavy Armour, anti infantry)
Land Raider Redeemer(Heavy Armour, flamethrower)
Predator (Multipurpose tank)
Whirlwind (Barrage Missile Launcher)
Vindicator (Very Heavy Gun)

Quick run down of the SM codex, with a few short unit explanations.

Looks like a nice army you have there, do you have any pictures you can post for me please??

Have a look down this list. Most of these are painted as Ultramarines, but you can paint them however you like. (Mine for example, are Black Consuls in black and gold)

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/listProducts.jsp?catId=cat440176a

okay, thanks Raptors I think i will go for SM, I like the look of them and all there fleet.

Jedend1 wrote:oh, ok i do like the look of SM aswell, what Units do you have?

I would agree that some form of MEQ or TEQ army is the most forgiving. Also, if you are painting it yourself, think of what is going to inspire you.
A couple of suggestions:

- SM based on Pedro Kantor - he allows sternguard to control objectives - nothing says shooty more than Sternguard.
- GK with psicannons - shorter ranged but lethal S5 and S8 firepower within 24".
- Chaos obliterators - the swiss army knife of shooty pick up 9 of these and then fill out your army around them.
- SM based on Vulkan - shorter ranged but twin linking flamers and meltas makes for some lethal short ranged goodness.
- Chaos emporer's children - it may be a bit inefficient but it runs a theme that can easily be added to lash demon princes or sorcerers. ( I have an army of this and it works quite well)
- GK with monkies - sorry I don't remember the name but these are a poor man's obliterator with some additional pluses.
- SW long fangs - the cheapest firepower you can add to an army.

I find SM and CSM the easiest to get motivated to paint and due to the 3+ armor one of the more forgiving armies to build. Also if you come up with a plan and find it doesn't work, it is a cheaper army to experiment with and make some mistakes in your build.

If you want to go TEQ (terminator equivalent) you have the DA deathwing and the Logan SW wing as options. While these can be decent firepower - more on their ability to survive - they tend to mix it up in close combat.

DAaddict wrote:

Jedend1 wrote:oh, ok i do like the look of SM aswell, what Units do you have?

I would agree that some form of MEQ or TEQ army is the most forgiving. Also, if you are painting it yourself, think of what is going to inspire you.
A couple of suggestions:

- SM based on Pedro Kantor - he allows sternguard to control objectives - nothing says shooty more than Sternguard.
- GK with psicannons - shorter ranged but lethal S5 and S8 firepower within 24".
- Chaos obliterators - the swiss army knife of shooty pick up 9 of these and then fill out your army around them.
- SM based on Vulkan - shorter ranged but twin linking flamers and meltas makes for some lethal short ranged goodness.
- Chaos emporer's children - it may be a bit inefficient but it runs a theme that can easily be added to lash demon princes or sorcerers. ( I have an army of this and it works quite well)
- GK with monkies - sorry I don't remember the name but these are a poor man's obliterator with some additional pluses.
- SW long fangs - the cheapest firepower you can add to an army.

I find SM and CSM the easiest to get motivated to paint and due to the 3+ armor one of the more forgiving armies to build. Also if you come up with a plan and find it doesn't work, it is a cheaper army to experiment with and make some mistakes in your build.

If you want to go TEQ (terminator equivalent) you have the DA deathwing and the Logan SW wing as options. While these can be decent firepower - more on their ability to survive - they tend to mix it up in close combat.

Thanks for your help I think i will take both yours and Raptors advise. And I think I will be painting it myself, but i will probebly be looking on the Painting forums about the best way to do so. And the SW long fangs, cheap but awsome!

DAaddict.....you forgot Orks!

Orks is shooty!

Orks can be very shooty!

Seriously though, Orks are very versatile and forgiving as well.

I have looked at the orks but I want something more futuristic like IG and SM

If futuristic is what you want, SM are for you.
The IG are much like modern and 20th Century military, where as the SM are much more futuristic.

If futuristic is what you want you should stop looking at Space Marines and look over at Dark Eldar, Eldar and Tau (listed in the order of current competitiveness)/.

All of those armies can build strong shooty armies,

Dark Eldar are the most versatile and are capable of fielding vicious assault units,
Eldar can field capable assault units,
and Tau have no idea what an assault unit even is

These armies are a lot more futuristic looking than Space Marines could ever dream of.

Here is an Example:
Space Marines drive around in Rhino troop transports
Eldar *fly* around in Wave Serpent Grav Tanks
Dark Eldar *fly* around in Raiders
and Tau *fly* around in Devil Fish

To further emphasize this point, lets look at some of the generic upgrades the units can take.
The Rhino comes with... smoke launchers, and a searchlight. It can be upgraded with things like extra armor and dozer blades.
Wave Serpent comes with an energy field. And can be upgraded with spirit stones, and scatter lasers.
Raiders come with a dark lance and can be upgraded with things like shock prows, flicker fields, and aether sails.
and Devilfish come with a burst cannon, and can be upgraded with things like smart missile systems, disruption pods, and targeting arrays.

As you can see, one of these armies is on treads with slightly better than modern tech, and the others are all floating with ridiculously high tech. Take a guess as to which ones are more "futuristic".

Lets not even get into Space Marines Bikes in comparison to Eldar and Dark Eldar JET Bikes...

If you want a futuristic army, you really need to go for Xeno. Coincidentally all of the high tech Xeno armies also have really good shooty .

Eldar, Dark Eldar, and T'au all feel more high tech than any of the Imperial armies.

Necrons are zombie robots- which is high tech in itself, Crons are also getting a new codex soon, but nobody really knows how good it'll be.

Thanks for that inside information .

The Dark eldar, Eldar and Tau all seem very good and futuristic.

The downside to them 3 is that, for a newbe to 40K and war hammer as a whole, it all sounds technical and more for a player with more knowledge about 40k.

I want an army for a beginer (like me). That is why I am more comfortable going with Space Marines.

Thanks again

Don't start space marines because you feel obligated to do a beginner army. Your first army should be one that you feel most aligned with what you want. I started with eldar because I wanted a high tech sci fi army. And I have at no point ever regretted choosing eldar.

Sure you might lose slightly more starting out, but being punished rather than forgiven for mistakes makes you a better player faster. And dakka has tons of good advice to quickly help with developing tactics for whatever race you choose.

Starting an army only because its "for beginners" is a terrible way to get into the game. Your first army should invariably be your favorite unless you have money coming out the ears.

If you choose space marines it should only be because you love the concept of genetically engineered superhuman fighting for humanity. If you want high tech... space marines are probably not the army you'll be happiest with.

DAaddict wrote:Okay - ranged.

Tau
DE
Eldar
Necrons
SM
SW
IG
GK
CSM

Eliminated:
DA(Dated Codex)
SoB ( Can be done but I feel unless you want Sistas, don't take them)
Black Templars
Tyranids
Chaos Demons

Wait.....what? Black Templars are on the excluded list? You mean the army that can field units of three 70 point Land Speeders with Typhoon Launchers and Heavy Bolters? Three units of those are 18 Missiles and 27 Heavy Bolter shots each turn for 630 points which is a hell of a lot of anti-tank and anti-infantry. In addition they can take units of 5 Terminators with a pair of Cyclone Missile Launchers each (4 Missiles) and Tank Hunters (Strength 9), as well as 5 man Crusader Squads with Lascannons for relatively cheap. A guy around my store runs Black Templars at 1,750 and has somewhere around 30 Missiles and 9 Lascannons in his list with 4-5 scoring units. It's insane.

I agree with most everything else though. There aren't many armies out there today that CAN'T do a shooting oriented force, and many specialize at it, so it really comes down to flavor and which book you like most. Note that for Space Marines you can easily run a "counts as" army and paint them whatever color you want, using the rules you like the best. You aren't REQUIRED to paint your army as Blood Angels if you run that codex. They can be painted Ultramarines for all anyone will care as long as you are 100% clear at the start of the game what codex you are actually using.

Hehe, true about BT but the codex is getting on a bit now. I would recommend IG as they have a lot of goodies to choose from and not only can you vary the list (carpark, veteran rush, flyers), but also the look (talarn, mordian, cadian etc.). The main problem with IG is a lot of their stuff is mech and therefore more expensive. The better things like vendettas, hydras, demolishers etc. can really $et you back.

The good thing about space marines is that because so many people play them, you can often find them cheap around the sales forums or ebay. AoBR minis can fill out most of your basic bolter guys and you just have to find the other stuff. Having said that, the better SM lists also have a fair few tanks.

One solution might be a Draigowing palladin army. It's SM but different. In 1750 points you can get away with less than 20 minis. It may be a bit confusing to play with all the wound spreading shenannigans initially, but all armies have a learning curve. Take a look at the minis, they look ace! You can also find older GK termies if you look around that might be cheaper. A Cortez purifier list could also be fun. Good luck with it!

akaean wrote:Don't start space marines because you feel obligated to do a beginner army. Your first army should be one that you feel most aligned with what you want. I started with eldar because I wanted a high tech sci fi army. And I have at no point ever regretted choosing eldar.

Sure you might lose slightly more starting out, but being punished rather than forgiven for mistakes makes you a better player faster. And dakka has tons of good advice to quickly help with developing tactics for whatever race you choose.

Starting an army only because its "for beginners" is a terrible way to get into the game. Your first army should invariably be your favorite unless you have money coming out the ears.

If you choose space marines it should only be because you love the concept of genetically engineered superhuman fighting for humanity. If you want high tech... space marines are probably not the army you'll be happiest with.

I agree with you but I have just borrowed the codex for the Space Marines and I do like them just as much as any other army.

I have plenty of time to choose my army yet but so far I do like the SM

And please post more information about your Eldar, I would love to hear more about them. Pictures are always good aswell


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Aldarionn wrote:

DAaddict wrote:Okay - ranged.

Tau
DE
Eldar
Necrons
SM
SW
IG
GK
CSM

Eliminated:
DA(Dated Codex)
SoB ( Can be done but I feel unless you want Sistas, don't take them)
Black Templars
Tyranids
Chaos Demons

Wait.....what? Black Templars are on the excluded list? You mean the army that can field units of three 70 point Land Speeders with Typhoon Launchers and Heavy Bolters? Three units of those are 18 Missiles and 27 Heavy Bolter shots each turn for 630 points which is a hell of a lot of anti-tank and anti-infantry. In addition they can take units of 5 Terminators with a pair of Cyclone Missile Launchers each (4 Missiles) and Tank Hunters (Strength 9), as well as 5 man Crusader Squads with Lascannons for relatively cheap. A guy around my store runs Black Templars at 1,750 and has somewhere around 30 Missiles and 9 Lascannons in his list with 4-5 scoring units. It's insane.

I agree with most everything else though. There aren't many armies out there today that CAN'T do a shooting oriented force, and many specialize at it, so it really comes down to flavor and which book you like most. Note that for Space Marines you can easily run a "counts as" army and paint them whatever color you want, using the rules you like the best. You aren't REQUIRED to paint your army as Blood Angels if you run that codex. They can be painted Ultramarines for all anyone will care as long as you are 100% clear at the start of the game what codex you are actually using.

Yeah I agree with you on the painted side of things. I probebly won't use a chapter but instead create my own "unique" colour scheme for my army. Thanks

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Eldar
Here ya go.

Thanks I will look at that now and tell you what I think.

Psycannons are Str7 all the time, idk why that person said that GK Psycannons are str8, they're never str8 even with psybolt ammo.

As for getting started with a shooting army, Chaos or SM are definitely the best choice. SM is pretty much the army that everybody learns to play with, they have good survivability with a 3+ save and are relatively easy to paint as well.

Well the first thing I looked at was the picture because pictures are always good and they are very similar to humans but taller and thinner but are also like elves with there pointy ears.

If i'm right in saying this, weapon wise, they seem to have both good CC and range weapons. I agree with most Eldar fans though that they are very effective with there ranged weaponry and effectiveness. (Weapons can be found at: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Eldar_Weaponry ).

All together the Eldar seem to be a good army to choose but they seem technical to paint and there is a lot to learn about them. Liking these Eldar I think these would be a future army for me but for a begginer I dont think they are suitable for me.

Thanks for the link,

Jedend1