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Hey i want to get in too 40k and i want to know what is a good beginner army not just for the game but painting as well , I'd really like an amry that is fun to paint and model any ideas. I'm open to space marines if there's any good chapters that are unique or if you have any ideas to make ultramarines unique that would be awesome thanks!

The best solution is to make your own chapter up. A paint scheme of your own devising and fluff thats yours too.

You can make ultramarines unique by opting for one of their successor chapters.

One great thing about playing vanilla marines is that you can make them "count as" other marines.

For example, my friend uses the same space marine models and alternately plays them as Black Templars, Dark Angels and Vanilla Marines. With a very Dark Grey / Black paint job on all of his troop models, it's really easy for him to just say, "I'm Dark Angels today" by placing his single Dark Angel Captain and or Azrael model. The next day, he'll be Black Templars and use his Emperor's Champion. The day after that, he'll play vanilla marines.

On his vehicles, he has even magnetized some of the insignia

It depends on what is your STYLE of play? Sit back and shoot, close combat, or both.

Marines=good all around
Orks=Foot in Face
Tyranids=Sneek and Eat
Tau=Long range shooting (avoid CC)
Necrons=Nice mix, super easy to paint

Just to name a few

I went with an Ultramarines successor chapter, the Aurora Chapter, and have had a lot of fun with them since. I tend to play them as Blood Angels lately, which is fine, since according to the Codex Astartes, all standard chapters maintain a full company of assault marines anyway.

You can play them relatively cheaply, also, which never hurts. You could do a full blood angel army, at like 1500 points, for like $200, if you like the Sanguinary Guard style lists.

Check out my blog in sig if you wanna see pics of my mean green machines.

Space Marines are a good beginner army, because the sheer versatility allows you to use pretty much whatever kind of build you want. Also, it has been said before, but i'll say it again: The best option for a unique chapter is inventing your own.

Grey Knights are good for the low model count if start up money is an issue buuuuut they've got a stigma about them that some d.bag might hassle you about. Previous posters about generic marines is probably best~ check ebay for black reach marines, decent place to start for a beginner too.

I say Chaos Space Marines as they have a large variety of models and there are countless way's to convert them if you like tinkering with your models... And hey you can paint them any scheme you want.

It depends what you want out of a force.
From what I believe;
SW are mainly combat armies have a nice vicious feel of them
DA are grim, robe wearing templars who are unique...
GK's are great for beginners and are fun to shoot and kill everything easily enough
Vanilla Marines are the best way to go if you want to get the feel of the game and are fun to play as well
But if you want a good army outside of SM Imperial Guard are great beginners or if you don't really like painting that much Necrons

Well I have heard people preach that Imperial guard as a first army due to learning target priority and general tactics (not meaning leafblower list) though it is fairly unforgiving. But if you are looking for forgiving and generally on top of the tournament lists I would say and form of marine would do.

I would never recommend IG as a beginner army

tho I will say a lot of beginners want to try IG

Then I tell them about the price and they dont even want to play 40k anymore

Idk, I think power armor is over saturated on the table. I would suggest Imperial Guard...Wide range of customization, various types of models to paint, one of the best armies in the game. Also, they take versatility to a new level. Only detraction: high model count/cost.

Talamare wrote:I would never recommend IG as a beginner army

tho I will say a lot of beginners want to try IG

Then I tell them about the price and they dont even want to play 40k anymore

Fair point there, Imperial Guard will cost you through the nose, but then again the general price for 2k points has scared plenty of people away

Sadly, I'd either go GK or SM. If SM paint them something that can easily be justified as BA, BT, SW, and SM (I always recommend basing in grey, giving them a good black wash, and trimming in dark red).

RayAge made a really good point that I want to comment on.

If you are truly a beginner to tabletop miniature games but you still want your mini's to be well-painted, then you might want to consider investing in Necrons. Play wise, they are going to be a competitive codex for a while - so you won't have to worry about losing all the time while you're learning the game. But at the same time - and this is my big point - their troops are super easy to paint and they have a bunch of really cool looking models.

for example,

http://www.darkeyestudios.co.uk/Jay/Jaytekh_Necrons.html