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Yup, Codex Marines. Assembling an army can be even cheaper when you start taking loads of cheesy, expensive add-ons.

I do have to disagree with votes for Imperial Guard, however.

First, it's not the easiest army to maneuver. While Guard is forgiving in terms of casualties, it's quite ponderous on the field. Furthermore, any of the weapons a Guard player will want to rely on like meltaguns and massed lasguns require advancing to close/medium range. If you're up against a melee-based army, the battle can be won or lost by a few inches.

Second, assembling and painting Imperial Guard is no easy task. Compared to Space Marines, you'll find yourself painting several times as many models on the same point level, and painting so many identical infantrymen can get tedious.

Guard is more of an intermediate army. It's not impossible to start with them, but getting together a sizeable force requires a lot of dedication and playing them requires a bit of practice to get right.

Deuce11 wrote:Funny, I think CSM are much more 'forgiving' then generic SM. No weird rules in CC, limited unit selection, best all around troop choices, and a no brainer HQ.

QFT, although I voted SM because they have more usable options for HQ and fast attack choices.

I think orks as they are reasonably cheap and they have simple rules. As they are so messy it is easier than some armies.

Well Space marines have always been called the noob army that people play before they pick their "real" army. By that I mean that everyone I know who plays 40k starts with space marines then moves onto a second army. And people who only play space marines are WHFB players who don't want to be left out on 40k nights.

lolololololol i click SM for obvious reasons and see the result: lol might have known. 67%!

Wish I could vote again for chaos daemons. Makes you learn faster than other armies. "so I have to deep strike?What's that?.....OH,okay,sure...Wait,where's the rest of the army....Oh,okay.......hey, why can't I assault nao???"

Space marines? You have got to be kidding me!

Yes, let's take a new player and have him start an army that everyone has kitted their lists out to beat, and that has no specialized units, so it's difficult to figure out how to play with them. Then let's throw a bunch of toys at them with obscenely expensive upgrades so that they are tempted to take as few models as is possible. Then, we'll tell them that their army is "forgiving" so that they march their units out against artillery and in front of dedicated assault units and get ripped to absolute shreds.

The ONLY thing that marines win in is that they're easy to paint. With everything else, well, there's a reason why new marine players lose a lot of games.

My vote went to orks. Cheap AOBR models, units which are obvious in their use and straightforward in their strategy, and are still relatively easy to paint. The guard are even better except that the collecting/painting is so damnably expensive in both money and time.

Ailaros wrote:Space marines? You have got to be kidding me!

Yes, let's take a new player and have him start an army that everyone has kitted their lists out to beat, and that has no specialized units, so it's difficult to figure out how to play with them. Then let's throw a bunch of toys at them with obscenely expensive upgrades so that they are tempted to take as few models as is possible. Then, we'll tell them that their army is "forgiving" so that they march their units out against artillery and in front of dedicated assault units and get ripped to absolute shreds.

The ONLY thing that marines win in is that they're easy to paint. With everything else, well, there's a reason why new marine players lose a lot of games.

My vote went to orks. Cheap AOBR models, units which are obvious in their use and straightforward in their strategy, and are still relatively easy to paint. The guard are even better except that the collecting/painting is so damnably expensive in both money and time.

I have never thought of that before and you are quite right. I started with sm and I had a lot of trouble winning games, although painting was quite easy. Since my little brother started playing 40k I told him to collect orks, partly because they are easy to play with, cheap and quite easy to paint, (and also because I had split an AOBR kit with him). So I think Orks are a good starting army. Not quite sure about guard though. But you are forgetting another important thing about the hobby. People who start armies pick them because they think they are cool and they like the feel and look of that army, not so much for its battlefield effectiveness, people worry about that later. I think that the most important part of collecting an army that you like the look of the army you are collecting, because you are going to be looking at them for a long time (with painting and modelling), that’s why I chose SM. If you keep that in mind any army is a good starting army.

Yes finally a person who can think independetly – every army is a good starting army, thank you man

well, every army is a starting army, but not all of them are good starting armies, and only one (or a close tie between a few) can be the best.

I mean, you could start with Dark Eldar. This means that you have to mail order your miniatures and even your codex because not even retailers are allowed to stock them anymore. Meanwhile, you've got to figure out their non-universal-special-rules entanglements while trying to paint miniatures that look awful unless you're a pro painter. Then, you've got an army that you'll have a very hard time winning games with for awhile.

You CAN start with a DE army, but I'd have a hard time saying that it's somehow equal to every other army because all other armies are equal with regards to new players.

I disagree with this type of mentality entirely. A player should start with the army they want to play. Er, just jump in with the Tyranids if they want to, or the Eldar or whatever. I am not trying to be obtuse, but a man should take his lumps with whatever army he wants right off the bat, molding both the army and himself into the force/commander he needs/wants.

Just my 2 cents.

Got to go with the marines on this one. Easy rules and the models are more common and easy to get good prices on in trades or ebay.Usuallly everyone has some space marine models or bits hiding in their extras even they dont have a marinr army.

TAU!

they are so easy to play... . .. and win with..

my first ever game i played was my art teacher who has been playing for years (played as orks) and me as tau

even though it was only a 1k point battle.. still wiped the floor with him...

Disagree a bit there chap.

Tau are, by definition, one of the premier 'second armies' that people go to after space marines. Mainly because against a good player, if you screw up, you can get destroyed in short order...

I voted Space Marines mainly because every single unit in the codex is at least decent. Sure there are simpler armies (A basic Ork horde, for example) but the fact is, space marines are cheap, anyone can pick them up and do decent, and with those 3+ armor saves and solid statline, if luck goes in your favor you can beat armies that you shouldn't.

I'd say Necrons are a very easy force to start with.

a basic army with no wierd troops choises, just build up some Necron warriors and get a Necron Lord. For them, the rules are pretty easy. They are resilient as few, they have good firepower, and are easy to paint up to be playable.

Once one have learnt the basic rules, there are plenty of choises to continue at from each of Fast attack, Heavy support or Elites. For example; Destroyers, Tomb Spyders or Immortals/Flayed Ones.

I'd say Space Marines are more complex for a starter than Necrons. Both for modeling, painting, and gaming at low point costs.

Tyranids. They don't have vehicles or any other related stuff that would wrech what the tyranid army stands for to confuse new players. I did, and i don't regret it.

Da 'nid crusher wrote:Tyranids. They don't have vehicles or any other related stuff that would wrech what the tyranid army stands for to confuse new players. I did, and i don't regret it.

Not so.
While Tyranids lack vehicles, they also lack a decent amount of AT aside from close combat. (Yes, try slogging a Carnifex towards a Raider or Wave Serpent...lol)
They also have a lack of high armor saves outside of Monstrous Creatures which means you have to think tactically with your troops. (well, maybe just a little bit.)
Many beginning Nid players I have seen take all the shiny Ymgarl stealers and MC's and get stomped because they look cool but are relatively easy to avoid.
Greetsz,
Mr. Self Destruct

Mr. Self Destruct wrote:

Da 'nid crusher wrote:Tyranids. They don't have vehicles or any other related stuff that would wrech what the tyranid army stands for to confuse new players. I did, and i don't regret it.

Not so.
While Tyranids lack vehicles, they also lack a decent amount of AT aside from close combat. (Yes, try slogging a Carnifex towards a Raider or Wave Serpent...lol)
They also have a lack of high armor saves outside of Monstrous Creatures which means you have to think tactically with your troops. (well, maybe just a little bit.)
Many beginning Nid players I have seen take all the shiny Ymgarl stealers and MC's and get stomped because they look cool but are relatively easy to avoid.
Greetsz,
Mr. Self Destruct

Maybe, however we are talking about beginners here, not retards! Simple tactics aren't hard to come by if you have a brain. Yet i do tend to stear clear of tau when playing 'nids.. i'm not explaining this because anyone with genral knowlage of these armies will know. (i will admit that the saves are awful since it being hard to upgrade them with the new codex)

space marines spoil young players. If you get used to the 3+ armor save, 4s/4t and the 9 leadership, you'll quickly find that anything less than a 3+ save is trash. I sure learned that the hard way...

I played my first Tyranid game today. I won, mainly because of my trygon and hive tyrant wiping the floor with marneus calgar and a land raider (which I kept stunned and immoblized for 4 turns).

I like tyranids a lot, but guants with their 6+ save is getting annoying. Seriously. Chaos Space marines and loyalist marines have spoiled me.

Id say its fairly unanimous that space marines is the way to go for a beginner.

Necrons - Fairly easy to paint and play
Space Marines - Little harder to paint than necrons, little harder to play because of wider variety of options

However I think any beginner should go with whatever army they are most attracted to, rather than what is best for beginners

Man I started with Necrons and have yet to win a game with those damnable robots. I still love the shiny little bastards, but damn, they are far too easy to annhilate. Crap CC abilities, half their units are broken (Pariahs, Wraiths, Flayers), almost zero mobility, and their only dedicated anti-tank unit has only one wound and is a big easy target. They're easy to paint and collect, but they suck ass on the battlefield right now.

By beginner army I think learning the game, and had to go space marines. Easy to paint, forgiving to play and expandable (with a little repaint) into more complex options like space puppies or DA. Plus if your only investment is an AOBR set and you decide on another option, your not out alot of $$$. Orcs are readily available, but not as forgiving to play, 3+ saves on marines can definitely pull your arse out of the fire more than a 6+ imho

Morgrim wrote:This certainly seems to be an overwhelming response. <.< Orks are pretty forgiving if you want an army that can just muck in there although not so much shooting.

loota boyz and killa kan are some of the best shooting units in the game


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Flying Pooo wrote:

Ailaros wrote:Space marines? You have got to be kidding me!

Yes, let's take a new player and have him start an army that everyone has kitted their lists out to beat, and that has no specialized units, so it's difficult to figure out how to play with them. Then let's throw a bunch of toys at them with obscenely expensive upgrades so that they are tempted to take as few models as is possible. Then, we'll tell them that their army is "forgiving" so that they march their units out against artillery and in front of dedicated assault units and get ripped to absolute shreds.

The ONLY thing that marines win in is that they're easy to paint. With everything else, well, there's a reason why new marine players lose a lot of games.

My vote went to orks. Cheap AOBR models, units which are obvious in their use and straightforward in their strategy, and are still relatively easy to paint. The guard are even better except that the collecting/painting is so damnably expensive in both money and time.

I have never thought of that before and you are quite right. I started with sm and I had a lot of trouble winning games, although painting was quite easy. Since my little brother started playing 40k I told him to collect orks, partly because they are easy to play with, cheap and quite easy to paint, (and also because I had split an AOBR kit with him). So I think Orks are a good starting army. Not quite sure about guard though. But you are forgetting another important thing about the hobby. People who start armies pick them because they think they are cool and they like the feel and look of that army, not so much for its battlefield effectiveness, people worry about that later. I think that the most important part of collecting an army that you like the look of the army you are collecting, because you are going to be looking at them for a long time (with painting and modelling), that’s why I chose SM. If you keep that in mind any army is a good starting army.

Orks are Hard to play waaagh gives you fleet for 1 turn and new ork players always use it 2nd turn.all but 4 units have a 6+ save only 3 units get a 4+ and if you do want a 2+ they always move through difficult terrain

i also play Space Wolfs. Go Drop pods for the win and 18 long fangs with 15 ML

I'd say Space Wolves are the best for a beginner.

For two reasons.

1. Counter attack, mixed with strong heroes and power armor makes for a very forgiving army when you make mistakes. Also certain abilitys that make them stronger, such as being able to split fire with Long Fangs.

2. Difficult to stray away from the base strengths of the army. With vanilla space marines, kids normally buy one of every unit and are left with a very weak army.

i would say an army you can use with out using many special rules

I voted Space Marines because they win in two out of three categories.

1) Easy to play? Orks.
2) Easy to paint? Space Marines.
But this is the key:
3) Easy to build an army list with? Space Marines.

Since I started playing I've watched six other people pick up the hobby. The story was the same. They saw Space Marines being marketed, fell in love with them, bought an army, put together a list, painted them, played... and lost. But they were hooked on the hobby anyway, so they tried a second army based on battlefield tactics more than fluff, sometimes twice, but eventually found an army that is NOT Space Marines that they now play, and win, with. With the exception of one, who still plays Space Marines.

It can be noted that Necrons can in fact be filled in for 2 and 3 instead of Space Marines. Unfortunately, they're even harder to win with than Marines if you're brand new to the hobby.

ig teaches em that you lose games ands gets them to use tactics

Basic Marines; good dollar/point ratio, pretty easy to pick up quickly and more forgiving if you make mistakes.

Orks you can just charge and such and win.


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but guants with their 6+ save is getting annoying

So cheap, use them for screening and have the real threat behind them, t shirt saves are nothing tho