Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello everyone. I've been eyeing this game for years now and am finally getting ready to play. I initially wanted to try the Tau, I got their codex and played a couple games with a friend just proxying in Space Marine units as Tau units instead. I can get a lot of Space Marine figures on the cheap and have an army ready to play pretty quickly. Whereas the Tau will take me a while longer. I'm thinking of picking up the Space Marines and just building my Tau force on the side. Is there a Space Marine codex or will I need to pick a particular chapter (Ultra Marines, Space Wolves, so on and so on)? The figures I can get are from the assault on black reach set. I feel like this is really a stupid question I'm just not sure.

There are multiple options - Standard Codex Space Marine which is your basic Ultramarine and various other chapters....

or...

There is Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Black Templar, or Dark Angels all of which have their specific codex and unique playing style. Each of these are different the the Standard Codex.

Ok, so I could just get the standard Space Marine codex and the models from the black reach set and use those right? I also have another really dumb question. Can I paint them however I want? Lets say I go with a red theme, will people say that I have to play Blood Angles?

You can paint them pink for all it matters. Colors, for the most part, won't affect the rules.

Thanks for the help guys, I didn't think the color would really matter but I wanted to double check before I did anything.

Yes you can paint them up any way you want, and use any army book to represent them.

But here is a quick break down of the different SM books.

Vanilla Space Marine: They have access to almost everything, while the point cost and effectiveness are mediocre. A jack of all trait army.

Blood Angels: A very mobile hard hitting army. Almost everything either has a nice transport or they can fly. Even the dreads and Land Raiders can be dropped off.

Dark Angels: Mobile and tough army in the form of Bikes, Attack Bikes, Land Speeders

Black Templar: Very choppy marines. If you like chain swords, you would like these.

Gray Knights: More expensive, more elite version of Space Marines, with fancy gears.

If tau are what you want, I'd encourage you to stick with them. You waited years to get into this, you can wait the extra month it would take to make tau.

Plus, tau are MUCH more fun to paint. Space Marine models are all very similar with different loadouts and slight details etc. whereas with tau you have crisis suits, FW, Kroot etc.

And it is good to start with a harder army, because it will help you pick up tactics that can be applied to marines later on.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Coolyo294 wrote:You can paint them pink for all it matters. Colors, for the most part, won't affect the rules.

Unless you play orks

Oh I will definately still keep working on my Tau. It's just that I can get the black reach marines for 12ish dollars. Plus I have a friend who has a bunch he will sell very cheap as well. I just want to be able to play sooner. I will still work on the Tau but it's going to take me a while to be able to buy all the units I want.

What does the color of orks matter? A friend of mine just started playing and his orks are purple, it's his favorite color and I think they look pretty awesome. He's put some pictures up at http://beastpainting.blogspot.com/ if anyone wants to take a look at em.

Red paint job ( an actual rule lol )

Because the Ork, as a xeno species, is universally green. Hence the reference to them as "The Green Tide" or "The Green Horde".

Their vehicles may be any color, but an Ork vehicle with a Red Paint Job goes faster, as fits the Orky statement that "da red wuns go fasta!"

Red Paint Job is a wargear upgrade and nothing else. While it may seem weird, you can take RPJ on a vehicle that is not painted red.