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.

I was just thinking early this morning, and I became curious about how people define what their "first army" is. It seems to me that there are a lot of possible definitions, including...

- The first minis you own. In this case, my first army would technically be space marines, as, long, long ago, I inherited some RT SM from someone. I still have them around in a box somewhere.

- The first minis you paint. In my case, a little while after inheriting said SM, I also had a few of the old gretchin dumped on me. I painted at least one of them, unlike the SM.

- The first minis you buy. I didn't get into 40k until some years after a small box of ork and SM sprues were thrown at me. My first actual purchase was an eldar vyper. Is this my first army?

- The first army you actually field in a game. If you include armies that I have at least one miniature for that I haven't actually played with, one could say I have five armies. I've only ever actually played with two of them, though. In my particulars, this is said eldar army and imperial guard.

- The first army you win a game with. I didn't play my eldar for more than a handful of games, and I'm pretty sure I lost every one.

- The army you consider your "primary army". Which, in my case, is certainly guard.

Just curious what you thought.

For me, its basically all 4 of the first four you mention. The first army I bought, painted, owned and fielded in a game was a Tau army.

If I had to choose, I would say its number 4, the first army you can actually field in a real game, as in a collection of models all from the same army that is large enough to play at least a 500 point game.

First I owned were Orks. First I painted were Orks. First I played were Orks. First mini's I bought, while IG were for an Ork army.

I'd say my first army was Orks.

I say first army is what you paint, buy, and game with, if it was bad or good. Mine would be Ultramarines, started with the 4th ed starter. Then soon I got rid of them and started my Ork army, which gets all of my love.

for me the first army is the one you play with first, cause purchases can always be exchanged or traded. But if you played and enjoyed them that is the first army for me.

Necrons > Orks > Eldar then back to Orks and never changing again

I am also of the multi option first army.

My first army is one that i get a codex for, sort out a list of units i like proceed to buy them and paint them. When the list is finished and painted that is my first army. I dont' necicarilly have to play it, but since it's your first chances are it will also be the first you play lol.

but yes, your own custom list, owning your own models and having them painted, that is your first army for me.

I think you know in your heart which your First Army was

The first one that got you excited, that you had fantasies about crushing all opponents with, and that you spent time and cash on creating.

2nd ed Chaos Space Marines baby!

The first army is the first you started collecting. For me my first models were the painting set then the starter box with Marines and DE. From that I liked the powerful SM so that is what I started to collect, an UM army as that was the paint scheme I thought you had to use.

 TheCrazyCryptek wrote:
For me, its basically all 4 of the first four you mention.

This is how I, too, would define "first army".

I started 40K with 3rd Ed, and my choice was Black Templars Space Marines.

I started with AoBR and was more into the Orkz. I painted the SMs as Smurfs and just left em. I didnt know anything at the time so I just threw the Orkz together the way they look on the box with no care for tactics and loadouts. I amassed maybe 2k worth before I got bored, read the BT codex, and stripped my marines. I never played the Orkz. So I would say they were my first army, but BT is my main.

 d3m01iti0n wrote:
I started with AoBR and was more into the Orkz. I painted the SMs as Smurfs and just left em. I didnt know anything at the time so I just threw the Orkz together the way they look on the box with no care for tactics and loadouts. I amassed maybe 2k worth before I got bored, read the BT codex, and stripped my marines. I never played the Orkz. So I would say they were my first army, but BT is my main.

And now, as they say, once you go Black (Templar), you never go back.

Welcome to the Crusade, Brother.

The first one that you buy, own, build, paint and field.

Depends on the context. If someone would ask which my first army was I'd go by the first one I fielded.

However, if someone goes "Wow, is this your first army?" in an admiring-the-paintjob kind of way I'd go "No, I've painted another army before." even if it was my first one by the definition above.

My first army was an IG armored company in 3ed . it was made ouf of Lemman Russes . I loved the army , even when GW nerfed it by giving non eldar armies a chance to stun/shake av14 with normal non anti tank weapons.

I'm kind of surprised by the high standard here. If you bought a painted army from a friend and played with it, would that not count, because you never actually built or painted any of the models? If someone gave you some of their old models, and you finished off the army, but never fielded it it wouldn't count either?

 Ailaros wrote:
I'm kind of surprised by the high standard here. If you bought a painted army from a friend and played with it, would that not count, because you never actually built or painted any of the models? If someone gave you some of their old models, and you finished off the army, but never fielded it it wouldn't count either?

They do count. At least in my book. I suppose there's no definite.

I'd say it's the first army you really play the game regularly with. I could say first army was my Ultramarines, since they're the oldest and my first army I actually played the game with. However, I played them mostly in my old homebrew rules and only played 40k once or twice with them. I would honestly say Dark Angels were my first army, as they were the army I really learned 40k with and I played with them from the time their codex dropped until 5th edition.

I count my first army as Necrons - they're the first army that I bought, painted and played with that wasn't out of the starter kit.

I don't count the Orks or Marines out of the 2e starter set that were technically the first armies I played with because both were shared with my brother and we didn't have a preference (although he later did go on to collect Orks to a limited extent). After that, it's Eldar, and finally Sisters - although I actually started with Necrons and Sisters, the availability of models at the time meant I could only really get hold of Necrons, and then I was on a Wizard kick when I picked my second army.

 Ailaros wrote:
I'm kind of surprised by the high standard here. If you bought a painted army from a friend and played with it, would that not count, because you never actually built or painted any of the models? If someone gave you some of their old models, and you finished off the army, but never fielded it it wouldn't count either?

I think it is more of an effort/investment thing:
I got a lot of marines for free/cheap because they came with starter sets or people quit the game and gave the away. I still have all of them and will be painting them up for 6th edition. Everythign except the starters were already assembled by previous owners and so it was like playing someone else's army.
The first army I purchased models for and assembled every single model was IG.

I consider IG my first army, and Space Marines something I played around with while I built my army.

For me, I'd say "the first army you bought with the intention of playing with". It's not really an army until it's on the table*, and if you collect to make panoramas it isn't an army as such (then it's got that classy glimmer which says "art").
I mean, I readily translate the text on the box "Space Marine Tactical Squad" to "Warhammer General Purpose Basing Kit"

* Just like both murder and planning to commit a murder is a crime, so does a bunch of plastic dudes become an army if you plan on fielding them.

I'd say it's the first army you intended on playing.

For example, many moons ago when I first started the hobby, my brother recieved one of the starter kits, containing Space Marines and Dark Eldar, he didn't want the Dark Eldar so he gave them to me.

So I painted them up and tried to play with them (we didn't really know how to play and no one around who could teach us at that point.), but a couple of months later when I found a hobby club and decided to really get into the hobby I chose Space Marines (Dark Angels) to be my army.

So when someone asks me what my first army was, I say Dark Angels. First and Always.

If you asked me what my first miniature was or how I started the hobby, then it's a different Dark Eldar related story

I don't think intention to field them in a physical game of 40K is a requirement.

One may collect a force or band of minis for simple collection, or a modelling project, painting project etc. They may never plan to see the tabletop in a match, but they still might have fluff written about them, they're still an "army".

I would say that the first army that you actively start collecting models for with the intention to play is your first army.

I think your "first army" is the one you care the most about.
Doesn't matter if you've painted it or just played with with it.
Its the one you care about the most.

First minis I owned and bought were Nids. Got the lovely 4th edition battleforce, which were the first minis I then painted horribly. I fielded my Nids for my first game, which I surprisingly won. Only 750 points but I think it was my best game ever. The army I would consider to be my primary army would be my Eldar though.

To be honest, Nids are my first army, no matter what, because of the reasons stated above but also because they sort of have a sentimental value, however silly that sounds. I think it's a combination of everything that the OP stated really, except the primary army bit.

To me the "first army" would be the first minis you'd buy, build, paint, and then field on the table. That to me shows your dedication to said faction and that that is the army you want to play with

For me it was Chaos Space Marines, starting with that incredible 2nd edition codex. At one point I also wanted to collect orks, mostly for the cyboars, but that plan fell by the wayside at some point. I dropped the game for ten years, and now I'm actually collecting orks. Go figure.

I suppose that the definition of "first army" changes from person to person. Mine would be C:SM, mostly because it's the only army I currently own.

I'd say it's simply the first army you feel comfortable telling people you play.

 loki old fart wrote:
I think your "first army" is the one you care the most about.
Doesn't matter if you've painted it or just played with with it.
Its the one you care about the most.

I don't think I'd say that much. I care way, way more about my Valhallans, my newest army, than I do about anything I painted and played with when I was new to the game.