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To explain, I am a painter, not a gamer. I have been painting models for a few years and having a lovely time doing the odd commission here and there, but whenever I paint for myself, I always end up thinking "so what do I do with the model now?". No one locally plays and I haven't got the time to regularly attend a gaming club. So instead of wondering what to do with the models and always refraining from painting those very big (and expensive) but lovely looking models, I have hit upon a (quite silly) idea. My son is 2 years old and the time will (hopefully) come when he wants to see what it is that Daddy is doing and maybe paint some models of his own and play some games of 40k and WHFB. So I thought "why don't I paint some armies up while he gets older so that we have some armies to play with when that time comes?". The main problem with this is that I don't really know what to paint. Could anyone make a sensible suggestion of how to think about the construction of an army so that what I paint is 'future-proof' and won't simply be redundant? My guess is that if I paint 2 or three units of troops, an elite unit, a couple of HQ and a tank or similar, then I should be basically good to go in each race. Is that roughly right? I assume that the Battle force boxes (or whatever they are calling them now) are a good place to start.

And yes, you are right, I am shamelessly using my son as a means to justify my painting and collecting. And yes, you are right, he may not be interested in it when he is old enough. And no, I don't care about either of those things!

Thanks.

Hey that is why I got my son to play 40K, and no other reason why. Only way I can get a game in. Sadly I still keep loosing. Ok kidding about why I got him. Loose to him a lot of times.

Be very careful. I thought I had put my Battle for Macragge box set away. Woke up a Saturday morning and on the floor I se my 3 year old son someone climbed to the top of the closet and got my box set and paints and painted them. Couldn't get mad with that smile on his face. He took my flamer, and I was thinking, "No not the flamer, anyone but him because he was so expensive to get at the time for me" and painted it rainbow colours. I was shocked he got the gun correct in bolt gun metal though.

These kids are resourceful. Just when you think you stuff is safe they are not. Especially when they see Daddy playing with toys.

Thing with GW they change every 2-4 years so you will have to change your army. So what you have now, maybe not even be good in 6 months. Just look 2 years ago. It was Space Wolves, Grey Knighs and Necrons. Now it's Tau and Eldar. Who knows what will happen even this summer? Maybe all those Tau/Eldar lists will be gone just as fast as SW/GK are gone now.

All I can say, is just take what YOU like. Don't build an army if you don't intend to play, but paint what you like and what looks good too you. You son will pick what he wants. At first he played with Daddys Dark Angles years ago. He wanted Necrons because they look like Terminators from James Cameron's Terminator.

So when it's time for you son, he will just take anything you have, since he will not know what an Ork, Necron SM is. Once he starts watching Star Wars, Star Trek, Terminators or what ever, then he will form his own idea on what he likes and what visual army he wants to play. Will not even understand the rules, but go by looks.

Thank you Davor for that great response. It is interesting to hear from somebody else who has had exactly the same idea!

I am very worried about the thought of my son getting hold of the scalpels and so on, so will be doing my absolute best to secure that kind of thing. And as for him painting everything, well I guess that the main purpose of this is to encourage him to do so anyway....

I am not worrying about 'futureproofing' in the sense of trying to ensure that my armies are able to contend with whatever is 'flavour of the month', but rather that I will be able to use what I have painted within an army that complies with the rules about army structure. I will gladly paint whatever I like, from whichever race I like, but do you think my idea of a couple of troop units, an elite unit, a transport and a couple of HQs would stand me in good stead as a rough aim? I have a personal preference for Orks, so will no doubt amass more of them, but with other races I will need to have some kind of rough goal.

Thanks again.

What other races would you like my friend?

For Nids, if you like them, a Hive Tyrant is a good way to go. Magnatize it if you can.

Necrons, it all depends on what character you like, or got with an Overloard. They can change on the next codex but should be safe, since they have a model, they shouldn't disappear now.

Dark Agnles, just go with who you like. Rules change so who knows what they can be next time. Just go for what looks cool. If anything they can always be used as "counts as" if the rules suck.

Then again, you can always use "counts as" for anything, so just go with the "rule of cool". What looks great or is cool, go for it and then use it as "counts as" when the time comes if the rules are crap.

Building a vanilla space marine list, close to the fluff is pretty safe. Bonus points for doing a home-brew chapter that you can use different chapter’s rules for if needed.

Magnetizing options is always a safe call.

While rules and editions will often change what is optimal for marines, they vary rarely make things illegal. I’ve got a collection stretching back to the RT era, and can put most of it on the field

If you build to something like a battle company, you should be fine. Not that you need the whole thing (although it’s a goal) but forming your collection around a backbone of tactical squads, with a little bit of this and that supporting them.

Thanks Davor and Nevelon. I think I will just go with whatever I feel like then and as long as I make it adhere roughly to the basic idea of troops, elites and so on as I suggested, I should be golden.

I have a sort of aim to get 3 40k and 3 WHFB armies painted before my son is 10 or so, so that would give me a little under 8 years, which sounds perfectly feasible (in principle). I'm thinking of:

Orks, Space Marines, maybe Tau, maybe Tyranids, maybe Chaos Marines, maybe Daemons.

Vampire Counts, maybe Lizardmen, maybe Dwarfs, maybe Ogres.

But that is all speculation at the moment!

About the safest bets you could make for future-proofing an army are Vanilla Space Marines, foot-slogging IG, and, as GW isn't doing anything with the product line for the foreseeable future, Battle Sister Squads.

Thank you Psienesis. I think Vanilla Marines will be in the list.

Any thoughts about my list construction thoughts? I mean in terms of number of troops, elites and so on.

I would keep it real basic, given that we don't know how future codices will change the FOC or where unit types go into it, or even if they will use a FOC in the future.

Were it me, I'd mix up a few bog-standard Tactical Squads, a few Assault Marine Squads, and maybe a single squad of nothing but Marines packing various heavy weapons. That way, you can mix these Devastator Marines into the standard Tac squads, or keep them as a separate tank/MC hunting squad, depending on how things change in future editions.. or can just stick them into the Tac Marine squads as the guys toting Heavy Bolters, missile launchers, plasmaguns, plasma cannons or what-have-you.

I might consider investing in one or two dedicated transports, though that would be pretty far down on the list of things to have. While we can be reasonably sure that SM will always have some kind of tracked DT, for all we know the next edition will introduce one with twin-linked hurricane bolters, a twelve-pack missile launcher and a dozer blade on the front and fourteen sponson weapons... while also being a giant walker.

ETA: Oh, and one SM Captain to stand-in as an HQ unit. So that, at the very least, you have your current 1 HQ + 2 Troops limits demanded by the FOC, and can play in skirmish-level games. Since you mentioned wanting to introduce your child to the game, I think starting out with 5-10 models to a side is the best way to go to get the basics of the game down, and then you can start upping the points limits as time goes on.

 InyokaMadoda wrote:
Orks, Space Marines, maybe Tau, maybe Tyranids, maybe Chaos Marines, maybe Daemons.

As far as 40k goes, I think Marines, Chaos Marines, and Orks would be good choices. Space Marines vs. Chaos Space Marines is the core of the game. Orks are fun for kids, especially since SO MUCH of their codex doesn't require you to purchase anything form GW. Need a Stompa? With a Cylinder and some craft, you got one.

For a generic, TAC, vanilla marine force, I’d start with the strikeforce from GW. That will give you:

2 10 man tactical squads
1 5 man sniper scout squad
1 venerable dread
5 assault marines
Captain plus command squad
Drop pod, Razorback

So 1 HQ, 3 troops, 1 elite, 1 fast attack with 2 dedicated transports. You can build a fairly solid 1,250 list out of that, and it’s a good batch of pretty iconic stuff. Add a devestator box for a HS pick and two more rhino/razorbacks/pods (depending on style) and you should have an acceptable 1,500 list. The lack of AA options is a bit rough in today’s game, but might be less of an issue down the road. If I was going to boost this collection to closer to 2k, I’d add a flyer (either one works) and then make sure I had at least 2 of every non troop choice, and probably 4 troops.

HQ basic librarian or jump chaplain
Elite a unit of sternguard is good, terminators are iconic, but have been going downhill ruleswise ever since 2nd edition.
FA I’d either get the stormtalon, or a pair of speeders. If you magnetize (or just don’t glue) the guns on the speeders, you can equip them to fill almost any role. Good thing if you don’t know what you are going to need to kill in the future.
HS If you don’t get a talon, get a raven. TFCs are the new hotness, but who knows if they will stay that way. A pred is a classic marine tank, and once again has flexible weapon options.