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Hi All,

I put a post up previously on looking for a new army and I'm still yet to make a decision. This post isn't about selecting an army so much as trying to get some advice on getting back into the hobby after a 3-4 year hiatus.

Firstly, I haven't selected an army because there's so many sources out there now that a single army requires and I genuinely have no clue where to start. I liked the look of Admech and boom, that's 3 codexes you need to run their formation. Skitarri, Cult Mech and Knights. How does everyone even remember what their opponents armies can do because I sure can't even remember what my potential army can do!?

I'm really just after some tips on how I can re-join the hobby without it being so jarring and being immediately put off, How can I buy an army and begin painting/playing with it immediately without buying a "complete" army if that makes sense?

On the upshot it appears that my local wargames club is on the up with a lot of different games systems and 40k seems to be getting more popular so there's a lot more players to play now.

I had thought about buying some models that I liked the look of so I can build/paint them up and see how it goes. Any one got any thoughts? I've got a Metal Pedro Kantor, 5 Metal Sternguard and 1 Dreadnought that I'm going to paint up to try and develop my painting skills again as it's been a while

Any tips would be appreciated.

I'd buy a starter set like a black reach or dark vengeance kinda thing.

It gives you all the stats for troops, some rules, some dice and not one small army but two!

Vulkan18th wrote:
Hi All,

I put a post up previously on looking for a new army and I'm still yet to make a decision. This post isn't about selecting an army so much as trying to get some advice on getting back into the hobby after a 3-4 year hiatus.

Firstly, I haven't selected an army because there's so many sources out there now that a single army requires and I genuinely have no clue where to start. I liked the look of Admech and boom, that's 3 codexes you need to run their formation. Skitarri, Cult Mech and Knights. How does everyone even remember what their opponents armies can do because I sure can't even remember what my potential army can do!?

I'm really just after some tips on how I can re-join the hobby without it being so jarring and being immediately put off, How can I buy an army and begin painting/playing with it immediately without buying a "complete" army if that makes sense?

On the upshot it appears that my local wargames club is on the up with a lot of different games systems and 40k seems to be getting more popular so there's a lot more players to play now.

I had thought about buying some models that I liked the look of so I can build/paint them up and see how it goes. Any one got any thoughts? I've got a Metal Pedro Kantor, 5 Metal Sternguard and 1 Dreadnought that I'm going to paint up to try and develop my painting skills again as it's been a while

Any tips would be appreciated.

Well there are alot of factors in play. If you could be so kind as to include the following information so as we can help you better.

A) Your total amount to spend on starting.
B) The amount of time you can put into the hobby.
C) Do you like spikes and skulls or eagles and skulls? Or are you a alien type of guy?
D) Do you like infantry? Walkers? Tanks? Robots? Demons?
E) Do you want to play to win? Or do you follow the rule of cool?

I know thats alot to answer but it will allow us to help put you on the right track.

Quick index of factions, sources, and books:

(Sidenote: Brief explanation of 40k v. 30k: 30k is a Forge World-produced expansion to 40k set in and around the Horus Heresy. The two games are completely cross-compatible but not cross-balanced; 30k is designed for bigger games and the mission rules/detachment rules are different between the two. 30k also contains only Space Marines/Chaos Marines, proto-Imperial Guard/Traitor Guard, the Adeptus Mechanicus, and Daemons (who actually use the same Codex as they do in 40k, without wacky detachments/formations).)

Space Marines: One supplement (Angels of Death), optional but provides more flexible army builds, more interesting psychic powers, and options for better-themed non-Ultramarines armies. Imperial Armour 2 provides variant vehicles, Imperial Armour 9-10 (only exists as 'update' pdfs from FW's downloads page) provides variant Chapter Tactics and a lot of special characters, and there are a few more scattered across other books.

Blood Angels: If your Codex has 'Red Thirst Edition' printed on it then it includes the Angel's Blade supplemental content. Supplement is a fairly significant shot to struggling army, it doesn't take it to top-tier but it makes the army work a bit better. Can use Imperial Armour 2 vehicles.

Dark Angels: No supplements, Codex only. Functional right out of the box. Can use Imperial Armour 2 vehicles.

Deathwatch: No supplements, Codex only. Functional but don't scale up particularly well, they make fabulous little single-squad allied detachments if you need a specific tool. No Forge World content.

Grey Knights: Codex only, no supplements. Mediocre on their own, as allies they provide superfriends/deathstar-support and that's about it. If you don't really love them take the Deathwatch, they do pretty much everything the GK are supposed to do only better. Outdated and dubiously legal Forge World content in IA2.

Space Wolves: Two supplements, Curse of the Wulfen (included in the 'Wulfen Edition' of the Codex) and Champions of Fenris. Wulfen supplement adds useful baseline content, Champions of Fenris is a lateral alternate force and is pretty optional. Can use Imperial Armour 2 vehicles.

Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard): One supplement, printed in Warzone Damocles (Mont'ka). Supplemental content is pretty useful, not sure it's mandatory but it's highly recommended. Completely and massively oversupplied with Forge World content, including five variant army lists; IA1 collects the generic vehicles that plug into the base list.

Miltiarum Tempestus: An Elites choice from the AM book printed as its own Codex for some inadequately explained reason. There may be people who like them, I don't. Anything they do is improved on by Forge World Elysians (IA3 and IA4) and all their models can be fielded in a normal AM army.

Adepta Sororitas: Just the Codex, formerly digital-only but soon to be printed in the Imperial Agents book. Further analysis holding pending updates. Technically have content in Imperial Armour 2 and Imperial Armour Aeronautica, but the IA2 vehicle and the Aeronautica book are out of production.

Adeptus Mechanicus: Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus are playable independently but there exist formations that take units from both. They're effective, playable by themselves, but also limited enough they're probably better used alongside another Imperial book than alone. Forge World has no content for the 40k AdMech because their range is focused on the 30k AdMech list, which is incredibly cool but expensive.

Imperial Knights: Technically a standalone Codex. Please don't play it as such. (Knights are a problem of skew more so than a problem of raw power; most armies can handle a single Knight, most armies can't handle three or four.) Some Knight variants are printed in Forge World's experimental rules database, but they're usually from the 30k rules and don't really translate well to 40k.

The Inquisition: One digital-only book, about to be updated in Imperial Agents. Further analysis pending updates, but they're likely to remain supremely flexible (usable as tiny one-model allied detachments, or as strange standalone mechanized/airborne armies). Technically has content in Imperial Armour 2, in practice most of it's been superseded by the current Codex.

Assassins: Not actually a Codex. Typically used as one-model allied detachments. About to be reprinted in Imperial Agents, further analaysis pending updates.

Chaos Space Marines: Two current supplements, Crimson Slaughter and Traitor Legions. Crimson Slaughter basically exists to enable Possessed, Traitor Legions brings updated psychic powers and formations/metadetachments to the original nine Legions. "Thousand Sons" are listed separately on GW's site for some reason but they're a supplement to CSM that should be using the core book (if for no other reason than it's got their cheap two-Wound IC Sorcerers and Rhinos printed in it). Wrath of Magnus contains the same updated Thousand Sons rules as Traitor Legions, you don't need both for CSM. Forge World content is in Imperial Armour 13.

Renegade Knights: Rules are provided in Traitor's Hate. Most of the book (CSM formations and new psychic powers) are reprinted word-for-word in Traitor Legions, the three pages that are the Renegade Knight rules aren't. Same stipulations on Imperial Knights apply here.

Khorne Daemonkin: Rules reprinted from the CSM and Daemons books. If you like Khorne and you only want to buy one book this one gets you an army. If you like anything else in CSM/Daemons this doesn't help. No FW content to date since they were printed after IA13.

Chaos Daemons: One supplement, included in the 'Daemonic Incursion Edition' of the Codex, plus a set of highly controversial updates in Wrath of Magnus. Probably the most complicated one-Codex army possible, lots of bookkeeping required whatever way you slice it. Forge World content in IA13, though most of it is the Daemon Lords that are illegal in games under 2,500-4,000pts (depending on which one) and the FW content doesn't help much.

Orks: One supplement, WAAAGH! Gazhkull. I'm not aware of what's in the supplement, but from what I know of the Codex it hasn't helped much. Horrendously outdated FW content printed in IA8, presently out of print.

Eldar (Craftworld Eldar): One supplement, Craftworld Iyanden, plus Forge World content in Mymeara. Very playable without them, Iyanden doesn't really add anything and Mymeara content is more icing on the cake than a patch.

Dark Eldar: One supplement, Haemonculus Covens. Unplayably-terrible tier without the supplement, just low-tier with it. They have two FW units but I'm not sure where they're printed these days.

Harlequins: No supplemental content. Not actually viable as a standalone force, but they work a bit with Craftworlders as a crutch.

Necrons: No supplements, FW content in IA12. Works pretty much the same with or without FW content anyway.

Tau: Supplemental content in Warzone Damocles included in the current Codex, some FW units in IA3. Totally workable on their own.

Tyranids: Supplemental content in IA4, not great but playable with or without it.

Genestealer Cults: Odd. Just the one book but I can't speak to how the army works, haven't seen them in action enough.

FW army lists: Vraks, Taros, Orpheus, Mymeara, and IA13 all contain usable standalone armies. Except for the Renegades and Heretics lists in Vraks and IA13 (for which you may want Daemons (if you're summoning them) and/or CSM (if you're borrowing some of their units)) they're all single-book armies with no supplements designed to work without allies.


So, bottom line of it all, the vast, vast majority of Codexes work reasonably well with no allies, supplements, FW units, or expansions. If you want to buy an army and begin immediately without worrying whether it 'makes sense' your best bet is to pick a solid standalone Codex with good internal balance (Space Marines, Space Wolves, Eldar, Tau, Necrons), buy the models that look cool, and start playing small games while you work out what does make sense. If you're prepared to do a bit of planning/reading other peoples' army lists before figuring out what to buy you should be able to make almost anything work.

As far as how we all remember what the opposition can do we may have more Codexes than we've ever had in 40k but early in 7th GW started a standardization crackdown; I won't say it's all logical and consistent, but most armies these days are organized in such a way that it's relatively easy to work out what they do from a knowledge of the core rules. Be patient, ask to see your opponent's Codex if you don't know it, make a note of it when you lose to something you've never seen before instead of getting angry at it, and you'll do fine. None of us have a good understanding of the whole game, we've learned the armies and army books we face on the table a lot.

1d4chan has a decent set of summary/army build/tactical articles for each list that are good introductions to what your capabilities, tricks, and rules are within each Codex if you need a more in-depth look at a specific book or unit.

AnomanderRake. Firstly I just want to say that your response was beyond fantastic, it genuinely has helped me formulate some sort of plan and taken away some of the "fear" I had about coming back to the hobby.

Your synopsis of each army and potential sources was brilliant so I've bookmarked the thread. I am actually looking at Genestealer Cult as an army after watching a few battle reports they seem quite unique and fun.

With regards to answering Table's questions with it leading up to Christmas and just getting a healthy bonus i can afford to spend £200-£300 which is approx $450 I think. The gaming circles I used to play in were semi competitive and followed the rule of cool and cheese in equal measures depending on who you played....I like Xeno, have a real soft spot for the fluff of Crimson Fists, Salamanders and Thousand Sons. No idea why those chapters.