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Not sure if this is the right place for this so if its not I apologize in advance.

I'm planning a project to build four armies to use to demo 40k to some friends.

My first question is what size? I found the AoBR box to be too small to get a good feel for the game. What is a good point level where I can have a few units to move around without having so many that someone with little to no war gaming experience gets overwhelmed?

I'm looking for the four armies to be relatively balanced so that I can get a good game regardless of what army happens to be played but I also want armies that are going to demonstraight different aspects of the game well ie shooting, close combat, infantry, mech, horde and elite. I think I could do this with the same army but I'm looking to have four different codex armies. What four races would be a good starting point?

I want to include iconic units in each list, something that would be the first unit you think of when someone memtions a particular army eg assault marines or Baal predator for the blood angels. What units would fit this descripti based on your answer to the previous question?

Lastly, considering all of the above, what suggestions or advice can you offer on the actual composition of the four lists?

Thanks for the help,
Adam

Ok, first question. YOUR BUILDING 4 ARMIES TO SHOW THE GAME OFF TO FRIENDS! Either your missing a few bolts of you have too much money. lol.

Anyway, the point level, i would recomend is 1250 - 1500. Its small, meaning you save money building the army (4 armies will cost alot), its big enough to consist of a decent amount of squads and wont take too long to demo.

As for the 4 armies, This is what i'd do:
Space Marine - Drop Pod
Imperial Guard - Leafblower / Mechanised (Decent amount of Leman Russes and Artilery)
Orks - Green Tide
Chaos Marines - Black Legion, specifically. Go for a mix of units with Daemons for support.

Those armies are fairly common. It shows off most aspects of play, from Specialised (SM Drop Pod), to Mech armies, to hordes, to balanced lists.
Not to mention, it relates more or less directly to their fluff in terms of how the wage war. Steel Rain, Green Tide and Mechanised Regiments.

Helpful?

1500p??? Bloody hell! Go with about 500 to 750. Its small enough to get a good, quick game and n ot let them get bored and covered with rules.
Also it will be cheaper, maybe a guard mixed mech, black legion, ork hoard, eldar?(already got marines)

I got to agree with Luke on the point level. If ur friends have little to no war gaming experience, then use 500-750 should be enough to get the idea across. 40k is not simple and you'd be better off with a few squads on each side. This will obviously be cheaper.i agree with the army choices ork marines, imp guard are good. You may want a more updated/competitive codex than chaos.
Would it be a better idea to go to a local war gaming store and demo a game there with some staff? What if ur friends hate it? That's a lot of doh to dish out.
Honestly I think aobr is exactly what you need if you decide to jump in to this. You get the peripherals which you need to actually play which is great and you get some unique models.

Good luck!

Since it's to get people involved in the game, you need each player to have cool units and for each to experience most aspects of the game so they can find which excites them the most. So each army needs to have similar builds. That keeps it "balanced" too.
You also want it as simple as possible. Rules confusion makes people feel dumb. Feeling dumb means you don't want to play anymore. Use armies with less complex rules (BA have fast vehicles, bubble mechanics, IC's all over the place, rage, NOT SIMPLE)

I would go with SM, Orks, CSM, and maybe Nids.
-Keep it simple with armies. You want a core squad of Infantry. Transport is optional.
-An beatstick HQ, without too many special rules. A cool weapon and armor is good. Changing FOC and bubble mechanics is bad, too confusing. You can swap the HQ with a psyker too, but you have to add one for most of the armies.
-A heavy tank for them to push around and try out vehicles.
-A squad that is assault based. A "rock" if you will.
-Then depending on the size of the armies, something Iconic that doesn't fit in the above. Scouts, Bikes, jump infantry, ork helicopters, devastators, veterans, lictors, demons, you get the idea.

Lets get some army ideas:
SM:
Captain, relic blade, combi-melta
Tactical Squad in rhino, missle launcher, flamer
Scouts, snipers
Terminators, assault cannon
Predator
Points: 725

That gets you a transport with a troop squad. A rock assault unit. Backfield camping unit. Tank. Some heavy weapons to shoot. Different weapon types to get the feel of each. And some 2+ saves and even invulns.
It's about 750 points so let's keep that level. Makes for a quicker game, but you still have 5 units to push around.

Orks: I don't know much about them, but something like this should work.
Warboss, power klaw
20x Boyz, nob w/klaw
20x Boyz, nob w/klaw
Biker Nobz, a few upgrades.
Deff dread.

Gives you a green tide feel, without being overwhelming. Also gives you some fast, hard hitters and introduces a walker.

CSM:
Daemon prince, mok, wings
4x terminators, mark of tzeentch, reaper autocannon, powerfist
7x Plague marines, 2 plasmaguns
6x Berserkers, rhino
Predator

Counterpoint to SM. Unique troops, transport. Taste of the different "Gods". Could even change prince to slaanesh, but Khorne is the most identifiable.

Nids:
Tyrant, wings, regenerate, bone sword and lash whip
10xGargoyle brood, toxin sacs
10xTermagaunt brood
10xGenestealer brood
3xTyranid warriors, venom cannon
2xHive guard

Big monster leader. Lots of little guys. Shooty warriors. Hive guard to balance the anti-tank. Gargoyles to fly with the tyrant. You could switch the hive guard with zoanthropes, but you are adding in psychic powers.


Hope that huge wall of text helps. I think it's a wonderful idea. Learning the game with a pre-built painted army would make it a lot of fun. And being able to watch and see how different types of units interact and play lets them get interested in what they like. If I owned a game store, I would have these armies displayed in a case somewhere, with a sign saying "learn to play 40k." Perfect cross between easy learning and strategic fun.

EDIT: I really like this idea, so here's a few more tid bits I thought of. Make a small informational card for each army stating it's style. That way players could do a quick read and pick which strikes them the most.
Something like: Tyranids are the all devouring space bugs bent on wiping out every race in the galaxy. The mindless mass of small bugs swarm over enemies while the monstrous leaders wipe away even the strongest defenses that stand in their way. Become the Hive mind that drives these aliens to devour all in their path.
That way the players have a background of whats going on as they play, and can get invested in their army as they play it. Don't make it super long or cheesy, you want it to be something that is quick to read and gives a general sense of how and why the army fights.

I think we all agree with SM and Orks(lots of Dakka and 1 unit of slugga boyz)

I also agree with Nids, but more a big bugs list (Orks already gives a horde of disposable models army)

Hive Tyrant, Carnifex, Warriors and Genestealers.

For a 4th army I would suggest Necrons, they have some cool rules that are not complex (RP/Gauss/Tesla)

2 x Overlords(Basic upgrades maybe MSS/RO/WS/PS/SW in some combination)

10 X Immoratals

20 x Warriors

Annalation barge

Necrons is a good idea. A lot of people fell in love with them after dawn of war. I also like your tyranid idea. Carnifex is a good looking model that would be fun to run. I think the termagaunts are iconic though, there is always little bugs running around when you think of alien movies.

I am hard pressed to kick chaos out of the lineup. They are the anti-space marines, and people love them. It's a perfect cross for someone who likes the idea of space marines (who doesn't) but want's something crazy with it. Enter mutations and sweet ass looking daemon princes.

Thanks so much everyone for all the input. At tsoundings sounding overtly ambitious I would like to eventually expand this to get a taste of each army. So any further input would be appreciated. I'll be sure to start a thread somewhere showing my progress.

Adam.

500 point lists, non-competitive. Make the focus on easy to use units, demonstrating the variety of unit types in the game. Make it fun, obviously, but KISS, right? Simple upgrades on units, heck AOBR would be a good start, though I don't know if I would bring the Termies/deffkoptas, etc.

I would do it with Marines and Tyranids, or Marines and Eldar. Then again, they are my favorite armies.