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Complete beginner to 40k and I want to create a 500pt army for a beginners comp in the new year, heres the rules:

1 x HQ minimum
1 x Troop minimum
no charecters
vehicles must have less than 33 armour
no flyers
no 2+ armour
no more than 2 wounds on a model

heres what I'm thinking:

HQ - librarian with plasma pistol - 115pts
Tactical squad - 10 man inc heavy bolter and flamer, sergeant with power sword, plasma pistol and melta bombs - 205pts
Devastator squad - 5 man inc 2 missile launchers and 2 plasma cannons, sergeant with melta bombs - 175pts
Total = 495

or

librarian with plasma pistol -115pts
Tactical squad - 5 man, sergeant with power sword and plasma pistol - 120 pts
Devastator squad - 5 man inc melta, 2x heavy bolter and plasma cannon - 160 pts
Dreadnaught - 105 pts or bike squad or scouts.
Total - 500

what do people think? any advice is welcome theres GW vouchers on the line!

Since you wont be seeing heavy armor or 2+ save I would drop the plasma pistols and melta bombs.

If you do that you can get a rhino or razorback for the tactical squad.

Give the librarian divination and blow the snot out of the enemy one squad at time with the devastator squad.

Wouldn't the dreadnaught have 34 armor anyways?

No divination for SM Libbies.

How about this:

Headquarters:
Librarian, jump pack 125pts

Fast-Attack:
Assault squad, pair of LCs on sgt, 1 flamer

Troops:
Tactical squad, PW, meltabombs, meltagun, ML
Razorback

500pts on the dot.

I would kill to play 500 point games....

Ahh I read Blood Angel, not Blood Raven.

Plus I heard Blood Angel devastators are actually reasonably priced, so it made sense in my head haha.

Thanks for the advice, like the assault set up but that will come in the future, heres what im going for:

HQ:
Librarian with storm bolter - 103 pts

Troop:
Tactical squad, extra 5, flamer, heavy bolter, sergeant with power sword - 185 pts

Heavy Support:
Devastator Squad, 2 x missile launcher, 2 x plasma cannon, sergeant with chainsword - 170 pts

not sure were to spend my last 42 pts, I've 3 options I can see:
rhino with dozer or razorback or assault bike.

total - 498 pts

I would get the razorback for the extra fire power but since it has no fire ports i would pick a Rhino and place the Devastators inside for extra protection since they are the main fire base in your army.

Honestly, I'd avoid the devastators altogether. Far to expensive for what they do, and very fragile if you don't buy additional bolter marines for ablative wounds.

Since most 500pt games are played on a 2x2 board, mobility really shouldn't be much of an issue, so at this point level I'd focus on shooting and not worry about transports too much.

Here's a trial list that might be fun and fairly cheap to build.

HQ:

Librarian
no upgrades.
You can pick up the one from the Dark Vengance box on ebay for like $5 these days, with shipping

Troops:

10 Man Tactical Squad
Flamer, Missile Launcher, Sgt with Power Maul and combi-flamer

Get the tac squad from Dark Vengance and a comander boxed set, do a few swaps, and you should be good to go if you don't mind proxying the PC as a ML.
These guys are running $20 or less on ebay right now or grab one of the sets from AOBR for same price range. The commander box is about $15.

5 Man Scout Squad
3x Snipers, Heavy Bolter, Sgt with Sniper Riffle
Just bought a sniper squad on ebay for $15, with shipping, easy to find at that price if your patient.

Heavy:

TFC
This is the expensive one, but if you buy used you can find them in the $40 range.

500pts for about $95 bucks or so, and it can be used as the foundation of a larger army if you take a shine to it.
If you don't have accesss to ebay for some reason, you can order Direct from GW or just pick up the following kits for about $156 at your FLGS
Commander Boxed Set, Librarian blister, Tactical Squad, Scout Sniper Squad, TFC


Tactics

For this point range you're most likely only going to see light armor (transports) and troops, maybe a few of the cheaper Heavy Support Choices

The Snipers can cover the TFC at the back of the board (assuming 2x2) and work to pin down the enemy with sniper fire and difficult terrain (from TFC).
On a roll of 6, Snipers ignore armor (rending) and can place shots, so kill off the Sgt along with special weapons in opposing squads. Unsaved wounds result in a pinning check

The TFC gets four small templates per turn, can go STR 12 with one of its blasts on a roll of a 6, and should wreck most transports. Additionally you have a ML in the tac squad if you need it.
It also decimates troops, especially IG and Orcs, but in small games will work great against MEQ as well.
Once destroyed the TFC also gives you a free Techmarine with servo harness, a nice bonus at this points level.

The tactical squad combat squads into heavy weapons and counter charge, with the Librarian thrown in. (I tend to use Smite, Vortex of Doom (dangerous but fun as hell) and Force Dome).
The flamer and Combi-flamer can be used for wall of death or to soften a squad before the charge.
The Sgt is there to accept challenges, and since you don't need to worry about named characters, the regular initiative and high strength of the power maul should get you a wound on unnamed characters in most cases.
The maul will also work well on light armor, and will absolutely decimate anything with 4+ or worse save in cc.
The Libby is there with the force sword if you need him to one shot something nasty with the force blade (MC ect).

These games take under an hour, so mix and match powers and load outs to see what works for you.

Hope that helps