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I have a work friend who is taking the plunge into 40k and bought a bunch of Space Wolves. With about $300 in birthday cash burning in my pocket, I am going to take the plunge as well.
I was hoping to build two starter armies so my son can join me. I have Space Hulk and understand you can use those terminators in regular 40k if based properly.
With that in mind I jotted down the following:


$85 - rulebook
$50 - Blood Angels codex
$50 - Astra or Tau codex
$85 - starter collection (Tau or Astra Militarum)
$270 total
(Prices taken from the GW website and I'll be able to hit up a GW store in Dallas, so I would assume they'll have everything in stock?)
[Edit - I should have about $350 to spend rather than $300]

Without knowing anything about how armies work, would an extra $80 get me whatever I need to play the terminators? I know you have to meet certain requirements to take certain units. Would I just be better off ditching the second codex and buying more of my primary army, worrying about the second army later? Again, I just want them to be small armies so both of us can paint and learn the game.

Thanks in advance!

look for second hands armies if you want to game at a budget. It will safe you rougly half the cost excluded shipping.

Disclaimer: I don't play the current edition.

I would definitely scour ebay for the rulebooks/codex etc. People drop in and out of the hobby frequently, and you can find good condition books for a nice discount. Don't pay GW MSRP. Their stuff is nice quality but rarely worth the full pop. Many retailers carry the stuff for 20-25% off and you can get a bit more for your moneys.

The "start collecting" boxes are something around $66 with discount. I'd get some used books, two opposing boxes and that's a good start.

Oddly, as a starting play the larger cost can be eventually amassing the tools/paints/brushes/glue/files etc. to build/assemble the stuff. If you're a modeler already - don't worry about that stuff.

An other good idea would be to learn the game and delve more into the armies before you spend that much money on it. You might not even like 40k or the play-style of the units you bought.

A good place to start are battle reports, local gaming clubs and simulator programs like Vassal and table top simulator.

All good advice. Thank you!

You can save a lot by buying a mini rulebook from eBay (it officially comes in the Dark Vengeance starter, but these are often split by resellers online.) I'd be surprised if you'd spend much more than $20. Just be aware that it's rules only and no background, but much of the background can be gleaned online for free.

You're better buying anything else from an independent store or online, as you'll get a discount on RRP. GW are expensive relative to almost every other manufacturer, but buying at a discount will help mitigate that.

The issue with the SH terminators is they don't have uniform gear, whereas the units in 40K do. This can cause confusion when a model appears to be carrying the wrong weapons, this isn't an insurmountable issue, but the SH termites are rob ably better as characters rather than rank and file long term.

It's also worth noting that the game is inherently unbalanced, and Blood Angels and Tau are possibly as far apart in power level as you can get right now (edition changes and codex updates will swing this from one extreme to another however) but Imperial Guard (the "proper" name for AM) are probably a closer match for Blood Angels, and will probably mean more enjoyable games.

The imbalances probably won't be as apparent as you learn, but there's still the possibility to accidentally build an army that simply outclasses the other, so two forces of roughly equal party are probably the way to go.

Not sure how deadset you are on the xenos options but both building towards Marine armies will save you money and alleviate many balance concerns.

Mini rulebook, 2 Betrayal at Calth and the Marine Codex would be an excellent start.

As someone who recently started the hobby within the last year and a half, I can definitely second eBay over buying directly from a GW store. If you're trying to squeeze as much out of your available budget as you can, then you'll find yourself saving money on eBay Buy It Nows if you look for decent arrival time/savings offers on there. You can find some stuff for almost half off if you look around (Do note that I started out with the Space Marines though. They have the most items you'll find on eBay from what I've seen)

The mini rulebook is also a good option if you want the rules, or if your friend has the rulebook, then sharing it can work out well (especially if your place is the optimal gaming meeting place).

I can't really give advice for paints, as it seems what's available in my area is the same price whether it's from GW or a hobby store, although the people at my local GW recommend GW's paints over anything else for quality.

Something to watch out for when buying the mini rulebook is that you buy the correct one. Ebay sellers also like to sell the 5th or 6th edition book. Those are completely useless in the current game.

Thanks everyone. All good advice! I'll let you know what I end up doing. Also thanks for the advice on balance with two armies. IG/AM may be a better idea than Tau.

I'd pick the army that interests you the most. It is a big investment of money as well as time building/painting (you have an idea of that with Space Hulk), so no sense in starting off with one that you do not care for. I bought the Dark Vengeance Set to start, but ended up going with Orks a month or so later. I got some decent use out of DV and played a few games with my kids, but I enjoy the Ork units more than other armies. I originally wanted to go with Tau because I like shooty stuff, but the Orks' character won me over.

Another thing to mention is the Start Collecting Boxes are not necessarily focused on balance (or even points for that matter), but they give you an additional formation and decent selection of units/options. It could serve as a useful purchase or a waste depending on how you want to build your army, but I think they are a nice starting point.

If you picked up SM here is a shortcut how to get the Core Rulebook:
- Find a friend willing to play Choas and split one box of Dark Veangance set. Split the minis and get the rulebook. The box contains a rulebook.

Alternatively you can start digging into ebay for a cheap copy of the rulebook. All the rest, codexes and supplements you can download on PDF. Seriously, SM codex + Supplement are so damn easy to memorise and you can also ditch them on your smartphone if you cannot remember some stat or a rule.

Edit:
Plus what everyone else said - go for ebay. For example one particular ebay shop now sells a whirlwind for 25 pounds + shipment when the core price from GW is 35 pounds without shipment cost.

MartianSpider wrote:
I have a work friend who is taking the plunge into 40k and bought a bunch of Space Wolves. With about $300 in birthday cash burning in my pocket, I am going to take the plunge as well.
I was hoping to build two starter armies so my son can join me. I have Space Hulk and understand you can use those terminators in regular 40k if based properly.
With that in mind I jotted down the following:


$85 - rulebook
$50 - Blood Angels codex
$50 - Astra or Tau codex
$85 - starter collection (Tau or Astra Militarum)
$270 total
(Prices taken from the GW website and I'll be able to hit up a GW store in Dallas, so I would assume they'll have everything in stock?)
[Edit - I should have about $350 to spend rather than $300]

Without knowing anything about how armies work, would an extra $80 get me whatever I need to play the terminators? I know you have to meet certain requirements to take certain units. Would I just be better off ditching the second codex and buying more of my primary army, worrying about the second army later? Again, I just want them to be small armies so both of us can paint and learn the game.

Thanks in advance!

With $80 you can get a blood angels tactical squad and a captain, that's all you need for a CAD.

HOWEVER, I fell for the same trap you did. I thought buying direct from GW would be the best option, but I find that if you look around you can get cheaper products pretty easily. For example, get the tiny rulebook from DV off of ebay, get the eBook versions of the codex and save some cash. I'm not saying boycott GW, far from it, they make my favourite game and models so you should support them. But sometimes $100 Canadian is a bit much for a book. With your savings you can invest in some primer, paints and glue for your new models.

Good luck with the hobby

Oh, and as others said, test things. 40k isn't a game where you can reload your last save game, so when you paint up that scout squad and put it on the table and it does nothing you want there's a lot more regret, this is especially important if you're a starter.

My advice is to get to know gaming shops around you other than GW. A lot of places sell at 20% discount to regular customers. It sounds like you're pretty set on the armies you want. I would look into the getting started boxes as they are a great value. You'll need a rule book, templates, and a scatter dice. As optional accessories I would also recommend getting tactical objective cards and psychic powers cards. Using the cards is far easier and faster than manual tracking.

I would first sit down with your son at the computer and go to the Gamesworkshop website and look at the models. Let your son figure out what armies are "cool looking". Then just write them down. From there, go and google the army. You can find background info, tactics, even how powerful an army is online.

A few years ago, I started my son playing but my big problem was: My son didn't like playing "bad guys" (I mostly played Chaos and Orks at the time). So, I ended up settling on him using a friends Crimson Fists, a Space Marine Chapter that REALLY hate orks, and my son was into the game more! Crimson Fists are a fairly easy paint scheme too.

Like everyone has said, don't buy direct from gdub. You can find an online stores (and ebay) and get stuff cheaper, sometimes as much as 20% off.