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Hello everyone.

As the title suggests, I'm looking to start a Space Marine army but I only have about £100/$150 to spend on it right but will look to invest more into in the future.

What should I think about getting within that sort of budget? Any suggestions would help a lot. I don't intend to play dark angels or blood angels so dark vengeance and deathstorm might not be the best options for me even though they come with a nice set of space marine models.

Thanks all

Is it just models, do you have the books?

I'd suggest ebay / swap shop. Marines are incredibly popular, so I bet you can find plenty of people selling their old stuff. It'll make 100 go further.

As for what to get, 1 HQ and 2 troops would be the most logical, seeing as you need them for a legal game. Tactical Marines, Scouts or bikes. Choose which way you want your army to go, and buy accordingly.
Logic aside (lets face it, 20 marines can be a bore to paint), get models you intend on fielding. That way, atleast your investing in something you intend on using.

A friend of mine put together an entire mechanized company of used models he stripped and re-built.
Look for on-line sales, you are on the right side of the pond too, he mumbled something about shipping from Ireland was silly cheap.

Ebay or the dakka swap shop are good places to start. Picking up used models can be really cheap. Granted you may have to strip/rebuild some of the models, but when working on a budget, it's worth it. If you want to build the models yourself ebay dealers or other online retailers usually sell kits for 20% off retail. Getting the the 2 player sets are great deals if you can find some one to spilt them with. As for the chapter markings for the DV models, you can cut them off or say it's a 'custom chapter' and paint it a different color scheme.

I will say figure out what kind of army you want to build. I'd start with your 2 troops and 1 HQ, then build from there. Usually, start with something you can field at 500 points, then build to 750, 1000, 1500, etc.

Look at the Dark Vengence bikes (two sets of three) and Tactical Squads on eBay. They're about the cheapest thing you can possibly get for the hobby. Finding a Space Marine Captain on a bike would be more difficult but not impossible. Just wait until you find so wing you like that comes up. Right there you have an army under Codex Space Marines and units that people like to use.

It is VERY easy to get the entire Dark Angel side of Dark Vengeance for $40 or somewhere in the £28 area. Three more bikes for $18, the captain might be a bit more pricey but I also know some places on eBay selling the Captain box for $14. A simple conversion, NOT putting the torso on one of the Segeant bikes from DV and gluing on the Captain top half instead means you now have five bikes and a Captain on a bike. That's an HQ and Troop choice in the SM codex. Build a list using those choices, see what you have the points for and then purchase that model or small squad too.

The cheapest is to go to eBay, as people have said, and the cheapest thing on eBay is going to be starter set halves. Yes, you said you don't want dark vengeance, but that's fine. There have been marines in every starter set since ever. Get yourself some Assault on Black Reach marines, or Battle for Macragge.

Starter kit stuff is going to sort of two-part stuff, but it's going to be super cheap.

Oh, also, I'd note that there isn't THAT much iconography on the marines from dark vengeance, either. Spend some time carefully filing away the DA symbol on the left shoulderpads, and you have a marine that could nearly be anything. Really, it's just the sergeants (and, of course, the terminators, etc.) that look REALLY like DA units and nothing else.

I'd actually dispute EBay as the no-brainer go to for the cheapest as a UK resident (which it looks like the OP is as well.)

The makeup of the market is different here, and while one can certainly pick up bargains now and then, I've frequently seen NOS stuff go on eBay for more than can be got from some of the very reputable discounters. (I've even see it creep over RRP a time or two, but people be stupid.)

Yes, abused models caked in paint and glue can be picked up for pennies on the pound, but the OP sounds like a relative newcomer, and that isn't necessarily something yo want to be tackling without at least a little experience.

So, yes, EBay is a good resource, but don't make the assumption that it will be the cheapest option.

Another thing to consider is your goal. Picking up tactical squads for pennies won’t help you if you want to go full bike White Scars.

If buying new in box from GW, there are savings to be had. The 1-click web bundles are just for show, they have no savings attached. A good rule of thumb is that if it comes in a box, you save money. The Space Marine strikeforce is a good example of this. It looks like they discontinued the old one that I liked, but the new one has some solid stuff in it. But you save 20-30% over buying stuff individually, so even if you don’t need part of it, you can still come out ahead. And the fact that it is a separate box means you can get it from discounters, for more savings.

Trade groups on Facebook for the UK. Just hop on there and search 40k trading, lot of good deals from people selling off armies.