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So I was wondering, mostly for the sake of wondering, what point value is the minimum to have a decent game with normal rules (before dropping to kill teams point levels). I mostly see people playing 500pts as the lowest, but I figured that was because that opened up the option of bigger things. I'm now wondering if 250-400pts would in any way be interesting or if it would only be interesting in kill teams. I would like to try out more armies to get a feel for them, but I know a lot (if not most) of the armies run their most interesting pieces outside of the troops slot.

I guess I was thinking this because I thought it would be interesting to be able to pick up a box or two and an HQ and be able to play a game while still getting a good feel for how I like the army. I know there have been threads around about the cheapest army to get to a decent point value, but I'm wondering about the lowest amount of purchases to get to a playable game with an army (while still taking HQ and Troops options).

Am I just wasting my time thinking this way with the current edition? Should I just give up and go to kill teams?

The lowest points in a normal game would be the cheapest troops and single HQ.

The first thing that comes to mind is a Big Mek with nothing and 2 10 man Gretchin units.

Perhaps a Spirit Seer and 2 10 man Guardian units?

The armies won't be balanced in games that tiny.

If you just want to collect a bunch of models you like go with Killteam.

What is discouraging you from collecting an actual army?

You may be able to get a 150 pt game if both sides use Gretchen only Orks.

Anything under 1000 points can start to result in extremely uneven games, as many armies need a reasonable points level in order to cover their bases where powerful enemy units are concerned.

500 is good for quick games, but an opponent showing up with Terminators or Thunderwolves or the like can really spoil your day if your army isn't specifically set up to deal with them.

750 is the lowest I would normally play with regular rules. Below that, I would be looking at the old Combat Patrol rules... No 2+ saves, no armour 14 vehicles, FOC only requires 1 Troop, HQ optional.

I'm not discouraged from collecting an actual army (check the signature). I mostly just have precious little time for bigger games, so I either play a several hour 2k game with the Angels that I know...decently, or I get in several smaller point games. I figured the smaller the quicker the more I can get in. That, and I want to try out more and more armies, but I can't afford the models it takes to get to 1500 per army. It's not that I'm poor, I just have limited funding each month, and I want to try every army before the codex updates...

But if you're only playing tiny points games you'll probably get bored much faster.

"Okay... this 5 man unit of scouts is shooting at that squad of boyz. Alright, now to wound.... No saves? Okay that's a leadership check. Ha, they broke. That was a fun game. Another?"

So eventually you're going to enjoy one of these tiny little list more than another and you'll end up picking up a transport or tank. Then a big thing.

When all is said and done you'll have a big collection of models that you may lose heart in half of.

And then you'll regret having bought a pile of HQ models rather than more basic troops for an army you enjoy much more.

 insaniak wrote:
Anything under 1000 points can start to result in extremely uneven games, as many armies need a reasonable points level in order to cover their bases where powerful enemy units are concerned.

500 is good for quick games, but an opponent showing up with Terminators or Thunderwolves or the like can really spoil your day if your army isn't specifically set up to deal with them.

750 is the lowest I would normally play with regular rules. Below that, I would be looking at the old Combat Patrol rules... No 2+ saves, no armour 14 vehicles, FOC only requires 1 Troop, HQ optional.

This. You can play a functional game at 500 points, but it's just a boring game of rock/paper/scissors between hordes/flyers/AV 14 where you can't possibly counter all three of them at once. Anything below 750-1000 points is a waste of time, and I'd prefer to play at 1250-1500.

 EmbracetheChaos wrote:
I want to try out more and more armies, but I can't afford the models it takes to get to 1500 per army. It's not that I'm poor, I just have limited funding each month, and I want to try every army before the codex updates...

Use you existing models as proxy models and set out unit stat cards next to each unit to denote what it is.

Play 1250 points and the games will go fast.