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Hello, I'm another new player to the Warhammer 40k Tabletop game. I post this for one major question: What army should I take? You see, I have a heavy lean towards Guardsmen due to their Utility, Versatile Tactics and Boundless Fluff, while on the other hand I am considering the Tau for their massive firepower and Stylish Armor. Granted I like Space Marines but I don't like the idea of modeling them after any preset model (Ultramarines) or any other. In essence, I am thinking about going Guardsmen for my first army but would like to hear any recommendations based on your grouped experience.

Just pick whatever army appeals to you. You should also consider its visual appeal as you will be staring at/painting these models for WAAAAY too long.

That said, IG are a good pick. Using them is fairly straightforward and they are fairly forgiving of bad tactical decisions or rolls. They are good for a starter army.

As you may be playing IG, bodies are one of your best characteristics. As IG you can put more warm bodies on the board than ANY other army. Your flying dump-truck of doom (Valkyrie) is also amazingly effective. Don't forget your artillery pieces either. Pie-plates win matches.

General Tips:

When you make a unit, try to specialize it. Generalized units typically don't fare very well and often end up as wasted points.

Know what poses the greatest threat and attack accordingly. Will the Avatar of Khaine cause more damage to your troop blob or will the Tri-Template Storm guardians?

Don't dump points into unnecessary upgrades. Upgrades are there to specialize your characters, not gear them for every conceivable situation. If your HQ is going to be in the back issuing orders, a puny ranged weapon will do more than that expensive power fist.

Always give each unit a role. A unit without a role in your list won't help much.

Be sure to include at least a few anti-tank and anti-melee tactics/units.

As Guard, melee is a bad idea. Avoid when able. The exception is when you are bogging units down (20 Guardsmen vs. Wraithlord = Occupied Wraithlord).

I would do IG, just an opinion but they are my favorite, especially Catachans! But I doubt you want to do Catachans, nobody does anymore.
Anyways, IG are a fun army which can be forgiving on beginners. They are my most competitive army and are effective in tournaments. My recipe for guard usually revolves around a couple Veterans squads in Chimera's and maybe an infantry platoon or two. Valkyries are also cool. I always always always always take Leman Russ Demolishers and they are my VIP's. Those large blasts can kill quite a lot and 24" isn't as short as most people think it is.
Anyways, whatever army you choose, you can ask me or other members for advise.
Happy Gaming!
Color Sgt. Kell

Hello and welcome to Dakka Dakka!

Welcome to Dakka.

Ok then, I'll go IG.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Although, on a separate note, I like the idea of building my own army but not using pre-existing heroes. Would it be an acceptable solution to simply create my own with their own abilities or must I stand within some boundaries laid out by the main rulebook? (I got the rulebook from the Dark Vengeance set).

Lastly, as another separate question, I've been playing Dark Heresy & Rogue Trader RPG's for several years now and have always liked progress with them but will soon find myself at a wall. My question is that would it be unreasonable to convert the relevant stats from that game to the tabletop game for my own HQ unit? (I've even thought of how I would do it too. Using the modifier # as their point of standing. Such as WS 58=5 BS 63=6 T 52=5 W 26/6 round down=4, etc.)

Yeah, good choice. IG have power firepower than Tau too.

Welcome to Dakka!

 7331Dude wrote:
Ok then, I'll go IG.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Although, on a separate note, I like the idea of building my own army but not using pre-existing heroes. Would it be an acceptable solution to simply create my own with their own abilities or must I stand within some boundaries laid out by the main rulebook? (I got the rulebook from the Dark Vengeance set).

Lastly, as another separate question, I've been playing Dark Heresy & Rogue Trader RPG's for several years now and have always liked progress with them but will soon find myself at a wall. My question is that would it be unreasonable to convert the relevant stats from that game to the tabletop game for my own HQ unit? (I've even thought of how I would do it too. Using the modifier # as their point of standing. Such as WS 58=5 BS 63=6 T 52=5 W 26/6 round down=4, etc.)

Ultimately these decisions stand with your opponent. If you want to have a custom hero with a custom background but want to avoid having to OK it with your opponent, you can just pull a counts-as. EG: I've ran my Malal-"blessed" Autarch a couple times as a counts-as Prince Yreil. Just pick whichever Unique Character most closely resembles your hero and adopt its rules for your own while keeping your commander's name. So long as you keep the base of the model the same as the selected hero, it is valid for all but the most stringent of players.

If you truly want to have your own custom hero with custom abilities, I'd suggest basing your own abilities on already existing abilities and trying to calculate the cost of each ability and wargear item. Just sum up all the pieces and add a bit of extra abstract cost and that should give you a good total cost for the hero. Again, you need to OK this with your opponent as you are not using an official character.

EDIT: Sorry but those number are very unrealistic as far as 40k tabletop goes. WS 5 is typically reserved for models which are both well trained and genetically disposed to melee. Howling Banshees and Striking Scorpions are only WS4 for example. An Exarch is WS 5 for example. While WS5 is attainable by humans, it is a far stretch. The BS is also high. Again, BS 6 represents some of the most well trained, best equipped and gifted marksmen. Autarchs sit on BS 6. Toughness is typically a representation of physical restistance. As such, only genetically disposed races, mechanical constructs or especially tough heroes have higher T than 3 as "3" is the human soldier standard. Since you are IG, an "extremely tough" human would be sitting at T4 (on par with Space Marines). Lastly, 4 W on an "infantry" model is quite ridiculous. To put this into perspective, a Wraithlord (a Mechanical Monstrous Creature) has only 3 wounds. Very few heroes break 3 wounds. Because of this 3 should be more than enough to represent your character's determination to not die.

GO WITH THE GUARD! Another tread head!! Check out FW for more awesome guard stuff!

Hanith wrote:

 7331Dude wrote:
Ok then, I'll go IG.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Although, on a separate note, I like the idea of building my own army but not using pre-existing heroes. Would it be an acceptable solution to simply create my own with their own abilities or must I stand within some boundaries laid out by the main rulebook? (I got the rulebook from the Dark Vengeance set).

Lastly, as another separate question, I've been playing Dark Heresy & Rogue Trader RPG's for several years now and have always liked progress with them but will soon find myself at a wall. My question is that would it be unreasonable to convert the relevant stats from that game to the tabletop game for my own HQ unit? (I've even thought of how I would do it too. Using the modifier # as their point of standing. Such as WS 58=5 BS 63=6 T 52=5 W 26/6 round down=4, etc.)

Ultimately these decisions stand with your opponent. If you want to have a custom hero with a custom background but want to avoid having to OK it with your opponent, you can just pull a counts-as. EG: I've ran my Malal-"blessed" Autarch a couple times as a counts-as Prince Yreil. Just pick whichever Unique Character most closely resembles your hero and adopt its rules for your own while keeping your commander's name. So long as you keep the base of the model the same as the selected hero, it is valid for all but the most stringent of players.

If you truly want to have your own custom hero with custom abilities, I'd suggest basing your own abilities on already existing abilities and trying to calculate the cost of each ability and wargear item. Just sum up all the pieces and add a bit of extra abstract cost and that should give you a good total cost for the hero. Again, you need to OK this with your opponent as you are not using an official character.

EDIT: Sorry but those number are very unrealistic as far as 40k tabletop goes. WS 5 is typically reserved for models which are both well trained and genetically disposed to melee. Howling Banshees and Striking Scorpions are only WS4 for example. An Exarch is WS 5 for example. While WS5 is attainable by humans, it is a far stretch. The BS is also high. Again, BS 6 represents some of the most well trained, best equipped and gifted marksmen. Autarchs sit on BS 6. Toughness is typically a representation of physical restistance. As such, only genetically disposed races, mechanical constructs or especially tough heroes have higher T than 3 as "3" is the human soldier standard. Since you are IG, an "extremely tough" human would be sitting at T4 (on par with Space Marines). Lastly, 4 W on an "infantry" model is quite ridiculous. To put this into perspective, a Wraithlord (a Mechanical Monstrous Creature) has only 3 wounds. Very few heroes break 3 wounds. Because of this 3 should be more than enough to represent your character's determination to not die.

I find your point understandable and very logical but I am confused due to "Iron Hand" Straken. How is it possible for Space Marines to have a S 4 while he is up to 6? Is this simply an indication of where they best focus their effort or is he just supposedly that strong? Also noting the WS 5 and BS 4 w/ an armor save 3+ (also superior to Space Marine). *Noted he is indeed an HQ unit.*

I only seek to understand and apply lessons learned. (Also, my current opponent has no problem with me making my own unique HQ unit or even some special individuals considering he has already done the same).

 7331Dude wrote:
. . . I am confused due to "Iron Hand" Straken . . .

Straken is more Ad-Mech than guard.

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Straken#.UJ1a6GfsyW8

If you read, you'll find he is basically a walking machine with a few human bits still left over from the operation/s. Since a good portion of his body is cybernetic, it would make sense that his T, S, BS, and Sv are higher.

EDIT: Typos

Hi,

Welcome to Dakka

Hanith wrote:

 7331Dude wrote:
. . . I am confused due to "Iron Hand" Straken . . .

Straken is more Ad-Mech than guard.

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Straken#.UJ1a6GfsyW8

If you read, you'll find he is basically a walking machine with a few human bits still left over from the operation/s. Since a good portion of his body is cybernetic, it would make sense that his T, S, BS, and Sv are higher.

EDIT: Typos

Point proven. Thank you very much for the advice.

Welcome to Dakka and the Imperial Guard.

Welcome to dakka.