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Hello all My son who is 11 and I are really liking 40K. We have Dark Vengeance and enjoy it
We have looked at all the armies and I have settled on Necrons (chaos was a close second)
And my son wants to start a Tyranid army.
Are these good choices to start with? Or would something else be better for beginners?
Thanks all

Starting with the army you like the most is the best choice you can make, so Yes.

You could also expand on Dark vengeance since you like it and save some money. But only do this if you really like those armies.

The "first instinct" is almost always the best choice, as said above.

If you only play among yourself, it doesn't matter anyhow, as you could do whatever you'd want to do in your own games.


That said, Tyranids may have the (minor) downsides that you're not expanding on your Dark Vengeance, not even in the way of allies. I am also surprised an 11-year old goes for Tyranids. Most kids that age likely wouldn't easily forgo the appeal of guns and swords, etc.. .

Necrons are better, in comparison, because you could field them with your Chaos Models from the Dark Vengeance box as allies to get you started.

The Dark Vengeance Dark Angels could easily be expanded upon, if not with Dark Angels themselves, all other Space Marines, Eldar, Guard and Tau.

Amazingly, in my fam, I started Necrons, one of the boys went for marines and the other went for Nids first. Its all about the monstrous dinosaur creatures!

I think Crons are an excellent choice. Resilient, lots of different ways to build competitive lists.

Nids I think are better now than in 5th. The problem with the Nids was that they were getting hammered all the time in 5th - but now they seem to be more competitive if played well.

Because he kept getting hammered, he left the nids and went through a stack of other armies - just trying them. However, he is now back with the Nids and enjoying them more.

So, if your son wants Nids, I suggest:

a) Get BIG MC's so that he can have fun smashing stuff.
b) Get him to review tactics and use them so he can actually win some games.
c) Drop hints during the games so he uses all the psychic powers

hth

Thank you all for the replies I am excited. I was going to start a chaos army but Necrons seem so much cooler lol
My son likes the nids because of the large creatures
I cant wait to play and maybe sucker some other people into starting the addiction/hobby lol

 Zweischneid wrote:
I am also surprised an 11-year old goes for Tyranids. Most kids that age likely wouldn't easily forgo the appeal of guns and swords, etc.. .

But Tyranids have guns and swords...

I'd never thought about the comparison to dinosaurs...maybe that's why I can't help but slowly add to my nid collection despite being an imperial loyalist and dedicated Ultrasmurf!

I know a guy who has been playing 40k his whole life pretty much, and his first army was a genestealer and lictor based Tyranid list because he absolutely loved the move Alien and all the crazy stuff jumping out at people.

I'm a Necron player and just built a GK army for something different. But the Nid army played by my boy still gets my interest going....dinosaurs with big teeth ftw!

... Now I understand why I like Tyranids My subconscious must have always been screaming "GIANT DINOSAURS WITH GIANT PEW PEWS!"

Necron is a good choice for a beginner I started with them as well. They are tough, relative low model count since they are point-expensive, you can make a mistake here and there and you won't automatically lose, cool shenanigans and 2 of the greatest things ever made:

- Mindshackle Scarabs.

- Annihilation Barge.

 TheDraconicLord wrote:
... Now I understand why I like Tyranids My subconscious must have always been screaming "GIANT DINOSAURS WITH GIANT PEW PEWS!"

Necron is a good choice for a beginner I started with them as well. They are tough, relative low model count since they are point-expensive, you can make a mistake here and there and you won't automatically lose, cool shenanigans and 2 of the greatest things ever made:

- Mindshackle Scarabs.

- Annihilation Barge.

Indeed. The Annihilation Barge(Hallowed be its name) is the best evar.

-Loki- wrote:

Zweischneid wrote:I am also surprised an 11-year old goes for Tyranids. Most kids that age likely wouldn't easily forgo the appeal of guns and swords, etc.. .

But Tyranids have guns and swords...

Right, I mean, come on people...



What 11-year-old wouldn't want this?

Anyways, I agree with the principle that you should play the army you want to play. They're all roughly as expensive (well, except for the armies in the DV box at the moment), and they're all roughly as difficult to play.

 Ailaros wrote:

-Loki- wrote:

Zweischneid wrote:I am also surprised an 11-year old goes for Tyranids. Most kids that age likely wouldn't easily forgo the appeal of guns and swords, etc.. .

But Tyranids have guns and swords...

Right, I mean, come on people...



What 11-year-old wouldn't want this?

Anyways, I agree with the principle that you should play the army you want to play. They're all roughly as expensive (well, except for the armies in the DV box at the moment), and they're all roughly as difficult to play.

The Protoceratops on the right hand side was my first one ever!!! I had dozens of those growing up!