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So I was thinking what is the best style of play and what armies are best and how should certain units be used. I know there's going to be someone who says its your preference but what if a new player doesn't care what army they are playing with and just want to know the most effective way/ ways of playing 40k. This post is supposed to get people talking about the ways to play "the birds and the bees" of 40k and is expected to get heated that's alright. I and many other new and veteran wargamers want to know what the best way to win is. Is it holding back and if it is what units are good for letting people to come to them or is it run forward and mosh in the middle and what units are good for that. With your posts list which armies and specific units are good at what and tell why.

This isn't going to be just another army list building post but how and what is to be done with each unit and how the best way to counter it is or turn it against them is. What is the most effective units i the game for countering flyers or how can a horde army fight against another horde army without just throwing in everything or maybe that is the most effective way so that special units can maneuver behind them and cause serious damage.

The best way to play is to play the army you like, the way you like and to have fun.

What army would you recommend to a player who doesn't care what they look like or there backstory


Automatically Appended Next Post:
What army would you recommend to a player who doesn't care what they look like or there back story

and Why what are they good at

Yeah, a good idea is to find an army that you like, but right now the best armies can do this: Win the shooting phase and take objectives. Example: Necron Air Force can deploy cheap scoring units late game, and protect them until then. They have decent firepower but are very tough due to being flyer based, and so can often win the shooting phase.

Example two: Psychic Choir Tyranids with Tervigons put massive amounts of bodies and very tough scoring MCs down. They win the shooting phase through resiliency, but are often aided by Hive Guard and Flyrants.

When picking a competitive army, it has to have a way to score consistently and be able to win the shooting phase. The joy to 40k is that there are many ways to do this! Beyond these bare essentials, many lists and armies are "great", and there is really no best way to play.

So, pick an army you like, or two if allies allow, and if you want to be good go find some good objective holders (good can be based on number, price, toughness, speed or really anything) and then go find some damage dealers. Some armies are bad at shooting, but so good at assault that they can be competitive.

thunderwarrior wrote:So I was thinking what is the best style of play and what armies are best and how should certain units be used. I know there's going to be someone who says its your preference but what if a new player doesn't care what army they are playing with and just want to know the most effective way/ ways of playing 40k. This post is supposed to get people talking about the ways to play "the birds and the bees" of 40k and is expected to get heated that's alright. I and many other new and veteran wargamers want to know what the best way to win is. Is it holding back and if it is what units are good for letting people to come to them or is it run forward and mosh in the middle and what units are good for that. With your posts list which armies and specific units are good at what and tell why.

This isn't going to be just another army list building post but how and what is to be done with each unit and how the best way to counter it is or turn it against them is. What is the most effective units i the game for countering flyers or how can a horde army fight against another horde army without just throwing in everything or maybe that is the most effective way so that special units can maneuver behind them and cause serious damage.

The best way to play Warhammer 40k is with a pretty girl.

Both players should be using the least durable units possible, with the house rule that all players remove an article of clothing every time you lose a unit, and take a drink every time you kill one of your opponent's units.

I have no idea which army will be triumphant, but I can assure you that everyone wins.


EDIT: This thread is ridiculous.

I like the way you think (azazel the cat) but that wasn't what i meant and I know who would be triumphant... the guy lookin through your window, gets a good game of 40k and an interesting after party if you complete the game

To more accurately answer your (absurdly broad) question, then:

If you don't care about backstory, narrative, models or anything except winning, then Necrons or Imperial Guard will be your best bets, as I'd say they've currently got the two most competitive codices. If the cost of buying an army matters, then you might want to pick Necrons, as you'll probably spend only about 60-70% of the cost of an IG army on them. IG probably has the most currency-expensive army right now, simply because of their current pricetag-to-points ratio.

Necrons do not have an instant-win button, but if you understand your army, then you'll have a definite advantage over most other armies. Some of their stronger builds can get quite expensive as well, but even if you want to spend *relatively* little, you can still build a competitive Necron list.

Whatever I'm playing, regardless of who I'm likely to be up against, I like to make sure I'm taking something that has a decent shot against the following categories of enemy unit:

) hordes
) 2+ saves
) high firepower infantry
) vicious combat units
) high armour

You're going to come across some lists that spam certain units above others but luckily there is some cross-pollination too - for instance, a high volume of shots works against both hordes and 2+ saves.

This is essentially what's known as constructing a TAC (take all comers) list, and I tend to find it makes for a more fun battle as well as giving you the highest chance against all kinds of possible foes. The spam/cheese lists you tend to see put up as "the strongest list evar!!?!" usually have some very hard counters, and some armies they will flatten all too easily. Neither is fun.

So necrons are the way to go if you want to win, but I don't understand the IG they can be easily beaten by drop pod lists in my experiences although trying to out gun them or foot slog would be suicide.

And for Super Ready what list/ army can afford all that in one without be strong at anything maybe some kind of space marine army but not many armies can be that versatile

 thunderwarrior wrote:
What army would you recommend to a player who doesn't care what they look like or there backstory

 thunderwarrior wrote:
...if you want to win

You're doing it wrong. I don't mean to judge, but if you're only playing to win you're going to have an unpleasant time with this hobby.

 thunderwarrior wrote:
What army would you recommend to a player who doesn't care what they look like or there backstory

A different game. If you don't care about the models or the background then 40k sucks and you should find a game with better rules.

 azazel the cat wrote:

thunderwarrior wrote:So I was thinking what is the best style of play and what armies are best and how should certain units be used. I know there's going to be someone who says its your preference but what if a new player doesn't care what army they are playing with and just want to know the most effective way/ ways of playing 40k. This post is supposed to get people talking about the ways to play "the birds and the bees" of 40k and is expected to get heated that's alright. I and many other new and veteran wargamers want to know what the best way to win is. Is it holding back and if it is what units are good for letting people to come to them or is it run forward and mosh in the middle and what units are good for that. With your posts list which armies and specific units are good at what and tell why.

This isn't going to be just another army list building post but how and what is to be done with each unit and how the best way to counter it is or turn it against them is. What is the most effective units i the game for countering flyers or how can a horde army fight against another horde army without just throwing in everything or maybe that is the most effective way so that special units can maneuver behind them and cause serious damage.

The best way to play Warhammer 40k is with a pretty girl.

Both players should be using the least durable units possible, with the house rule that all players remove an article of clothing every time you lose a unit, and take a drink every time you kill one of your opponent's units.

I have no idea which army will be triumphant, but I can assure you that everyone wins.


EDIT: This thread is ridiculous.

I have played that before. except it was IC geared out we both grabbed 5 of them. though I don't remember who won the Game well for 40k atleast.

Nerd fantasies aside, this is an unanswerable question. Really, the only one even worse that I can think of is: "Who's the best 40k player in the world?"

peregrin funny me and Lews Therin thought you only cared about winning and before a game was begun you could shake hands and both have decided who won just from those lists

tell me what list would you bring that you could just set it out and have your opponent fold before rolling for game type

and I love the fluff and back-story of 40k infact its the reason i play the game I just wanted to know what a good army would be and before righting the beginning post I read the More Tactics and less list building thread and you had an interesting little word battle with Lews Therin my Brother

 jifel wrote:
Nerd fantasies aside, this is an unanswerable question. Really, the only one even worse that I can think of is: "Who's the best 40k player in the world?"

You know, I swear that is supposed to be Tony Kopach.

And for you Jifel I just wanted an UN-biast tactica thread and know what army or what kind of lists were best for what.

the people I play with are very diverse [tyranids, dark eldar, grey knights, orks, necrons] most of those people are still building armies and I would like to know how to build an army that can combat all of them without huge changes to the list.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Happygrunt what do you think about the necrons and how do you fight them and could that same list go toe to toe with the grey knights( heavy terminators)

Play for fun, and you, like orks, will never truly lose.

Big Mek Dattrukk wrote:
Play for fun, and you, like orks, will never truly lose.

I beg to differ.

Even as orks you have 0 fun if you find the scissors to your paper on the table. Getting tabled turn 2-3 because youre entire enemy army countered your list is still not fun even as orks.

Elsewise, yea i agree lol

 thunderwarrior wrote:
And for you Jifel I just wanted an UN-biast tactica thread and know what army or what kind of lists were best for what.

Well, I offered my two cents above. The best armies can shoot, and score. Pick a good scoring army ( necrons, Nids, zombie CSM etc) and then focus on guns. Really that's all that can be said without knowing an army. Necrons however are consideredthe best all-round army currently, if that's what you're looking for. However, their weakness is Nids. No list doesn't have a counter, sadly.

 azazel the cat wrote:

thunderwarrior wrote:So I was thinking what is the best style of play and what armies are best and how should certain units be used. I know there's going to be someone who says its your preference but what if a new player doesn't care what army they are playing with and just want to know the most effective way/ ways of playing 40k. This post is supposed to get people talking about the ways to play "the birds and the bees" of 40k and is expected to get heated that's alright. I and many other new and veteran wargamers want to know what the best way to win is. Is it holding back and if it is what units are good for letting people to come to them or is it run forward and mosh in the middle and what units are good for that. With your posts list which armies and specific units are good at what and tell why.

This isn't going to be just another army list building post but how and what is to be done with each unit and how the best way to counter it is or turn it against them is. What is the most effective units i the game for countering flyers or how can a horde army fight against another horde army without just throwing in everything or maybe that is the most effective way so that special units can maneuver behind them and cause serious damage.

The best way to play Warhammer 40k is with a pretty girl.

Both players should be using the least durable units possible, with the house rule that all players remove an article of clothing every time you lose a unit, and take a drink every time you kill one of your opponent's units.

I have no idea which army will be triumphant, but I can assure you that everyone wins.


EDIT: This thread is ridiculous.

I just my pants laughing

With a beer in hand, an army you like, a bucket of dice and a good opponent.

Everything else is trimmings

The OP basically wants a cliff notes version of how to win. sorry that doesnt exist you need to just play more games and figure out what works for you.

[quote=jifel "Who's the best 40k player in the world?"

You need to ask which list won first and what it faced in the most recent renowned tournement.

thunderwarrior wrote:So necrons are the way to go if you want to win, but I don't understand the IG they can be easily beaten by drop pod lists in my experiences although trying to out gun them or foot slog would be suicide.

And for Super Ready what list/ army can afford all that in one without be strong at anything maybe some kind of space marine army but not many armies can be that versatile

Drop pod lists tend to get shot to death by IG when they arrive.

And the answer to your other question is IG. They can afford all that in one army list. Quite easily. Their high-strength, low-AP firepower is stupidly cheap and can be taken in volume. And if you want to spend a fortune, IG has the most brokenly undercosted unit in the game right now: the Vendetta. (although, the Tau Riptide seems slightly undercosted as well...)

 azazel the cat wrote:

thunderwarrior wrote:So I was thinking what is the best style of play and what armies are best and how should certain units be used. I know there's going to be someone who says its your preference but what if a new player doesn't care what army they are playing with and just want to know the most effective way/ ways of playing 40k. This post is supposed to get people talking about the ways to play "the birds and the bees" of 40k and is expected to get heated that's alright. I and many other new and veteran wargamers want to know what the best way to win is. Is it holding back and if it is what units are good for letting people to come to them or is it run forward and mosh in the middle and what units are good for that. With your posts list which armies and specific units are good at what and tell why.

This isn't going to be just another army list building post but how and what is to be done with each unit and how the best way to counter it is or turn it against them is. What is the most effective units i the game for countering flyers or how can a horde army fight against another horde army without just throwing in everything or maybe that is the most effective way so that special units can maneuver behind them and cause serious damage.

The best way to play Warhammer 40k is with a pretty girl.

Both players should be using the least durable units possible, with the house rule that all players remove an article of clothing every time you lose a unit, and take a drink every time you kill one of your opponent's units.

I have no idea which army will be triumphant, but I can assure you that everyone wins.


EDIT: This thread is ridiculous.

Freakin awesome man!!! I laughed sooooo hard. I bet i could actually get my GF to play if we did it like that Thanks for the idea lol

< Taken by the void dragon. >

If there was an answer to your question, this forum would not exist. The fact of the matter is, Warhammer 40K has a very "rock-paper-scissors" dynamic to it, and everything has a counter. Some are better than others, but in this game your Land Raider can be wrecked by a guardsman with a melta gun. If you've spent any amount of time on these forums, this should be painfully obvious to you. No one army, no one unit will consistently win this game. Rules change, and we roll dice to find out who kills who.

Furthermore, you've made 15 posts on this forum to date. You might want to gain some more experience before you try to start an all-encompassing tactics post; a short time spent browsing would quickly show you why no such post exists.

text removed.
Reds8n

Which is why I didn't start this post, no offense meant.

As far as armies and lists:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Category:Warhammer_40%2C000_tactics
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/327831.page

Each army can be a thread in and of itself, which is why there are threads like these:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/460371.page
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/517337.page#5448166
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/480149.page

There's just so much information due to the large numbers of possibilities within each Codex, SuperReady did a pretty good job of summing up a basic TAC list but beyond that you really do have to get army-specific. And on general tactics, well they're often army-specific too. Chaos Daemons play very differently than Imperial Guard, so anything deeper than "if you're good at shooting maybe make a gunline" has to be specific to be useful; for example the 2 biggest gunline armies (Tau and IG) have radically different ways of accomplishing the same thing.
And then there is the forum format issue: people disagree. If I post that "mech guard are the bomb" in your general army list thread, 3 other people will rave about how foot gunline guard are actually the best then someone will talk about necron air then 2 other people will come back to defend mech guard and 2 more people will comment on the specifics of necron air before another guy brings up the banner of devastation.