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.

It seems this year has a salvo of new books. How is one supposed to choose a new army from all these books?

Ive been out of the hobby for about a year, and I am looking at starting a new army, but I am not sure what book to choose. Lots of armies interest me in terms of the models.


Is there a ranking of the books in terms of strength? could you guys list the books in order or best to worst?

The best book is the one you are best at playing.

Best book is an odd question. 40k is about the models, not the army books. Browse through some models on the gw website, read some of the background fluff.

Go with the best models, I've had the problem of having the best part of an army in the past and I grew to hate painting the thing. Changed to models I like and enjoy painting again and playing even more.

The best and worst of the army lists is going to quickly change as the next two to three codices hit the door mat.

Some of the dark eldar models are awesome but I steer clear as I have a habit of breaking small bit off models.

Grey knights have some good models but the paint scheme is a bit limited. Options within the army are good.

Space marines have still got the cool no-fear rules, combat squads and probably the best splay of units, equ and options.

Guards have one of the best (cheapest) flyers which toat 3 TL lascannons. Also loads of good AV tanks.

Ork are orks.

Necron - just getting into these, watch this space.

Tau - Kings of anti-air now; and have the uber good Riptide monsterous (how do you kill it) creature.

CSM - Have the Heldrake for wiping out marines and some good assaulty units; some of the best models recently released.

For me this is primarily a hobby so I go with the armies I want to paint. Thats why I chose orks.

 Mafty wrote:
It seems this year has a salvo of new books. How is one supposed to choose a new army from all these books?

Ive been out of the hobby for about a year, and I am looking at starting a new army, but I am not sure what book to choose. Lots of armies interest me in terms of the models.


Is there a ranking of the books in terms of strength? could you guys list the books in order or best to worst?

Pick the one that best fits your personal playing style and has the models you like the best. Power level is pretty balanced across the new books which is somewhat amazing for GW. No one book is *the* book of the new series of codecies, which is as it really should be. Go with what you like and want to buy miniwise and you'll be happiest.

Skriker

Why choose one, when with allies you can get 2 at just double the price!

I´d recommend Tau to everyone who can stand the look. I don´t dig the anime-thing but they have a distinctive look, strong rules & okay fluff.

tommse wrote:
I´d recommend Tau to everyone who can stand the look. I don´t dig the anime-thing but they have a distinctive look, strong rules & okay fluff.

The only miniatures that GW's visual Guru John Blanche is on the record for having actively taken in anime-inspiration are the Space Marines, especially Terminators.

John Blanche wrote:
This recent overhaul of the Terminator design brings it into line with progress made in appearance of the Space Marines in general. The suit is now bigger and takes on the “Anime” proportions bestowed on the rest of the range – longer legs, wider shoulders and a bigger chest. The larger bases and plastic component nature of the hard copies allows for more versatile poses especially in the legs giving the suits more dynamism.

well im torn between a few armies really.....

tau
chaos (daemons and marines)
necrons

I really like space wolves but they have no AA so I don't know how viable they would be

Look at all the models and go with the ones that are the most exciting too you.

You'll spend far more time modeling and painting them than you will fielding them, so enjoy the process.

I've been playing since early 3rd ed, and all of the armies have waxed and waned in competitiveness and power over that time.

Playing an army you love makes it easier to endure the low points of the cycle.

 Mafty wrote:
well im torn between a few armies really.....

tau
chaos (daemons and marines)
necrons

I really like space wolves but they have no AA so I don't know how viable they would be

EVERYONE can get AA with the fortifications. The Aegis is a cheap fix.

I get what you're saying and you're not a bad person for wanting to win games sometimes. Just remember that the manner in which you win is just as important as the win itself.

THose three are really strong for totally different reasons and equally good picks, from a competitive standpoint. Best thing to do is make a list of what you want most from an army, both in modelling and gameplay terms, without thinking about a particular army ( maybe post it here), then see which army fits that best and go with that.

Remember its a big investment of time and money and the last thing you want to be doing is realizing half way through you hate that army!

Chaos space marines. Had Necrons a month into playing chaos i sold the Nevins and never looked back. I have five thousand points of chaos space marines

 Mafty wrote:
How is one supposed to choose a new army from all these books?

1. What models would you have the most fun painting?
2. What models would you have the most fun assembling (and potentially modifying)?
3. What army's fluff do you enjoy the most?


That should eliminate most of them.

Those 3 questions are easier said than done.

1. Painting - Anything
2. Looks - Grey Knights, Chaos, Space Wolves, Blood Angles
3. Play Style - Imp Guard, Tau


LOL...so not an easy decision.

One of the things that having books come out more quickly means is that the armies are better balanced. Not because the writers do a better job of making sure their work grooves with the rest of their peers, but because you have less problems thanks to time creep. With the exception of SoB, you no longer have properly "old" codices anymore that were written under a different paradigm, for a different kind of game.

It won't be long now before ever codex has a 6th edition version of it that has had at least some amount of work done on it to make it a 6th ed codex. This means that you should no longer necessarily choose which army you play simply based on which one is newest.

Which frees things up a little bit more to make a choice based on other things.

SoB don't have an 'old' codex for a 'different paradigm'... they have a 5th ed codex, it's just insanely difficult to get hold of legally (to the point where GW staff are even advocating piracy). If you don't mind skipping the pretty pictures (Which you can get elsewhere), user Ovion on this site has an in depth condensed codex in his sig that offers the full game info.

If you want a combination of Marine and Guard tactics, you might want to look into them!

The other option is to look into the allies solution. Combining Space Wolves for your hard-hitting army component with perhaps Elysians or even regular Guard for your swarm tactics and to cover your anti-air requirements.