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So I'm starting up with Blood Angels, and another friend is starting up with Tau.

We've got another friend who isn't sure what he wants to start with. So far he says he like the aesthetic look of the Grey Knight, the Eldar, and the Dark Eldar. And he's not sure if he wants to start with a shooty army, or a close combat army, or something in between.

Can you give me some ideas of how these three races play? And maybe some pros and cons of each one for comparison against each other?

Dark Eldar epitomize Glass Cannon gameplay, paper tanks with tons and tons of firepower flying all over the place. Offer lots of mobility.

Grey Knights generally use psychic powers and high quality (and high cost) models to beat their competition via quality rather than quantity.

Eldar are tricky, they offer some very strong firepower choices, and some good shock assault units, paired with lots and lots of psychic power usage. They also make good use of vehicles.

The best way to pick an army though, is to read the fluff behind each, and decide which you like best

iGuy91 wrote:The best way to pick an army though, is to read the fluff behind each, and decide which you like best

This is great advice. The other half of the process is the playstyle that matches you. I chose Tau because I love the high-powered shootiness and mobility that comes with it. It's perfectly okay to take the time to learn which army you like the best because then it will hold your interest for much longer and increase your enjoyability.

As a relatively new player myself, a buddy and myself started at the same time and we both just went on looks. We just went with what we thought was the sweetest looking dudes. Oh, course everyone is different. Some want to choose based on competition, others looks, others story. We went looks first, gameplay second. My suggestion is know what kinda player you are first and your goals are when you play 40k. If its "I play a game and intend to win." Imperial Guard and Necrons are there for you(not saying other armies can't beat these). If you want coolness, well thats subjective to the person.

If you already know people that play, ask if you can jump in with a squad of thier dudes and see how you like the game flow. Read some codex entries and see what your feeling.

Knowing my friend, he likes to go on looks first and then specializations next. In other words, if there's some aspect (like for example close combat) that a race is super-specialized in, but so specialized as to have a disadvantage in other areas, he's the type that would try to find a way to maximize that advantage and minimize the disadvantage in the most unorthodox way possible.

Do any of these armies fit that bill?

Got to go with the rule of cool.

Cool mini's and cool fluff, keeps the losing streak blues down.

Word of advice: don't let the "more experienced" players talk you out of the army you like.

Can't really speak for Tau, Eldar or GK, but from what I've gathered, tau would be the shooting specialised army?

DE is kinda a specialist army, our shooting units are terrible in CC, our assault units are terrible in shooting, and our playstyle is all about killing, some could say that we're specialised in killing, or dying very very fast. Depending on how you look at it.

[quote=Word of advice: don't let the "more experienced" players talk you out of the army you like.

Well your friend really can't go wrong with any of those 3. All can be really good at shooting, assaulting, or both.

As for gk, I wouldn't recommend going too far to either end of the spectrum. All of their units can shoot and assault well and their point cost reflects this. You are paying a premium for the ability to do both amd if you are only doing one or the other then you aren't getting your points worth.

Eldar and DE would probably be better for going shooty or cc heavy. Both can be very shooty or very choppy depending on your unit selection. DE are the more copetitive simply because the eldar codex is from 4th edition and the DE codex is fairly recent. As far as collecting and painting, both will have similar model counts. Eldar will tend to be brighter and more varied colors with the aspect warriors while DE tend to be darker and open to more blood and guts conversion opportunities.

A basic summary would be gk are more durable and inherently more well rounded. Eldar and DE are more fragile and specialized, with more varied army list combinations.

So, what your friend needs is to have someone ask him the right questions so that he can discover what he's really looking for. Just throwing down a few armies with no other information gives us nothing to work with.

Have him show up on Dakka, and we can help guide him properly.

Have him take a look at the models. The army you'll enjoy collecting is the one you enjoy buying/building/painting.

Unless you're TFG like me; in which case pick Necrons/GK/IG+SW

I always advise going with the army that has the models you like and want to paint.

Youll be spending a lot of time building and painting your army, and looking at it on the tabletop. Make sure you'll like what you're building and painting and looking at. You can make a competitive army that works for you out of anything, but you can't make yourself like models that are aesthetically unpleasant to you.

One consideration which most people don't think beforehand: where do you plan to play and how your minis are transported there? Armies with lots of skimmers or things like winged Daemons are horror to transport. In other end of the spectrum, all-Terminator armies can go to small box. If you can just drive there conveniently with your own car, or you always play at your basement etc. then it's of course not a problem.

Get a hold of nthe codex that intrest you, read said books then decide on what army to collect. Also dont be afraid to try different armies out, buy a single kit of basic troops and see if you like the look/feel of them.

Also make sure your comfortable painting the models. Nothing more frustrating the putting together several models and realizing that it will be more time then its worth trying to get them painted up the way you want them.

Some armies favor easier painting the others. Although, if your just going to play with friends then the painting things doesn't matter much.

My first exposure to the warhammer 40k universe was the dawn of war intro man oh man that was a good intro at first i played space marines they seemd like a good choice at first but then i started playing the orkz and man i just fell in love with everything about them the kultur how they wage war and the general comical way they handle things but yea if you happen to have a copy of dawn of war that may help a bit i know it doesnt have every unit or portrays them accurately but i feel that dawn of war (not dow2) was one of the best rts games

How to pick an army?

Dart board.

That, or pick the one whose fluff you like best and whose models you'd enjoy painting the most.

That's the most important thing. Anyone that tells you different has a different opinion from me.

Honestly have him read and decide what he would like the best. Maybe even proxy a game or tow at home with paper to see what he enjoys.

Whatever way he chooses is fine just make sure he's choosing by what will make him happy.

Baronyu wrote:Can't really speak for Tau, Eldar or GK, but from what I've gathered, tau would be the shooting specialised army?

DE is kinda a specialist army, our shooting units are terrible in CC, our assault units are terrible in shooting, and our playstyle is all about killing, some could say that we're specialised in killing, or dying very very fast. Depending on how you look at it.

Same applies to Eldar. You have to make sure that your Dark Eldar or Eldar units are able to do their specific jobs to succeed and of course the way to beat them is to take them out of their elements. Grey Knights have the same forgiving aspects of all MEQ forces. Yes they are kitted for certain roles, but have the stats to succeed at close combat or shooting. Ultimately this is why marines are really popular: Good armor, good weapons and basic troops that have the best overall stat line for basic troops in the game.

Dark Eldar and Eldar are tough to use as a complete game newbie, but if the new player thinks they are the coolest minis out there it will help them keep up their interest through the more painful learning curve to succeed with them. I am building a dark eldar army now because I really like the new mini line updates they done. Had dark eldar in the past primarily because I got the minis in the 3rd edition box. The majority of old mini line was kind of dull, though, so the army never got too big before I sold it off. I just really like the current line so much more.

I also agree with one of the earlier posters: Don't let someone else's experience talk you out of the army that you like and want to play. Like I said Eldar and Dark Eldar can be tough to learn as a new player, if that is what your friend likes he should still go with them. I honestly have found that people who start out with Eldar are more successful over all with them than people like me who have played chaos marines well nigh forever trying to adapt to their fragile nature.

Skriker


Automatically Appended Next Post:

kronk wrote:That's the most important thing. Anyone that tells you different has a different opinion from me.

Wow Kronk that is very open and honest of you.

Skriker

Backfire wrote:One consideration which most people don't think beforehand: where do you plan to play and how your minis are transported there? Armies with lots of skimmers or things like winged Daemons are horror to transport. In other end of the spectrum, all-Terminator armies can go to small box. If you can just drive there conveniently with your own car, or you always play at your basement etc. then it's of course not a problem.

This, 100x this. I like my DE army and all, but the one thing I just really really hate about them is carrying them around... because of the odd shapes and spikes, an army case that could most likely fit an 1500+ pts mahrenz army could only hold barely 1000 pts of DE...

That is my only regret choosing DE and why I'm considering collecting an infantry-based army next.

@Striker

Ah, so my decision to not collect an eldar army(in addition to my DE) is correct!

Read the fluff, find a playstyle you like, and go with it. Choosing an army based off whats best will only have you selling it down the road.