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Greetings everyone! As I look upon my (sometimes literal) legions of Space Marines I realize that I that don't have any non-Imperial armies. To a loyal son of the Emperor this may or may not be a problem but since most people collect Space Marines I will probably run into a lot of "Blue on blue" battles. We all love the Badab war but seeing the Horus Heresy repeat itself between the Blood Angels and Salamanders in M41 seems wrong. To his end, I want to collect a xenos army! I already have some miniatures for Tau and Eldar. I really like Tau's models and lore but I feel like they'd play similarly to Space Marines. Eldar seems like a very different playstyle and they have great models. However, I just can't stand them as people. It's not because they are xenophobes or murder innocent civilians. I love me some Chaos and Orks. It's just how stupid and arrogant they are. But at the same time, I do have a bunch of Eldar models from an abandoned project I undertook a couple of years ago.

So, here's my conundrum. I have 10 Wraithguard, 2 Wave serpents, some guardians and 15 dire avengers. I have the contents of a Start Collecting! box for tau. I like Tau more as a faction (They have some sweet models, too!) but I like Eldar more as an tabletop force (If that makes sense).

What should I do? Join the sons of Khaine into war or continue my path into the Greater good? I'm also open to any other suggestions except for Orks. I like Orks a lot but I just don't have room for a right propa Ork army.

I'd consider an allied army between Eldar and Dark Eldar.
TauDar can be seen too often these days.

You've already got the Eldar, so that's the way I would go. Dark Eldar might be more fun though, in being more of a departure from those Marines.

What do you "like" best? Simple as that. What can you see yourself actually painting? That's your answer.

I am somewhat in the boat in the sense that I would like to play an Imperial army, but there are so many (most of the people at my GW) that it's stupid, because I hate games like that. So I went Xenos, with Necrons to start but will likely pick another soon (Tau are looking like it, but I plan to really re-evaluate everything once I'm certain I will enjoy the game).

I'd say if you like how Eldar play, then go with that. Tau do look good but ultimately it boils down to how you like the faction. Eldar can dabble in a little of everything, so you should be happy with the vast amounts of builds.

 Elbows wrote:
What do you "like" best? Simple as that. What can you see yourself actually painting? That's your answer.

I could see myself paint any army, really (Except Space Wolves lol). My problem is that I like Tau's lore more than Eldar but I like Eldar's game play more. And I have more Eldar stuff.

But if I was forced to pick what xenos faction I liked more aesthetically? I guess Tau. I like the more realistic, sci-fi military look they have.

ORKS! Everyfing can be solved wit mor Boyz and mor Dakka!

It's always a balance between what you like lorewise/aesthetically and what type of playstyle you want. For me, I could never play tau because I hate the idea of having my whole army hide as far away from everyone as possible and just plinking away at stuff. On top of that, don't think I could play an army of gundams. I kind of like eldar because they tend to be more in your face (excluding scatbikes), and I absolutely love the look of wraithguard, and wraithlords are in my eyes one of the most iconic 40k models (probably because of dawn of war).

Keep in mind, though, that those are my personal feelings about them. Do you prefer a gunline, or do you prefer a more mobile army? Do you have a certain model you really like from one of the factions, do you find one of their styles that much more appealing than the others? Maybe do a scaling of them all.

On a 1 to 5 scale, how do you feel about aspects of each army? Rank them on coolness, fluff, aesthetics, gameplay, and add bonus points for having your favorite model or character or ability.
Eldar for me would get a 4, a 3, a 4, a 4, and +1 for wraithlord, +1 for eldritch storm.
Tau for me would geta a 3, a 3, a 3, a 2, and +1 for farsight.
Wheras I chose my Dark Angels because they're a 5, a 4, a 5, a 4, and +1 for DW knights, +1 for black knights

 kingbobbito wrote:
It's always a balance between what you like lorewise/aesthetically and what type of playstyle you want. For me, I could never play tau because I hate the idea of having my whole army hide as far away from everyone as possible and just plinking away at stuff. On top of that, don't think I could play an army of gundams. I kind of like eldar because they tend to be more in your face (excluding scatbikes), and I absolutely love the look of wraithguard, and wraithlords are in my eyes one of the most iconic 40k models (probably because of dawn of war).

Keep in mind, though, that those are my personal feelings about them. Do you prefer a gunline, or do you prefer a more mobile army? Do you have a certain model you really like from one of the factions, do you find one of their styles that much more appealing than the others? Maybe do a scaling of them all.

On a 1 to 5 scale, how do you feel about aspects of each army? Rank them on coolness, fluff, aesthetics, gameplay, and add bonus points for having your favorite model or character or ability.
Eldar for me would get a 4, a 3, a 4, a 4, and +1 for wraithlord, +1 for eldritch storm.
Tau for me would geta a 3, a 3, a 3, a 2, and +1 for farsight.
Wheras I chose my Dark Angels because they're a 5, a 4, a 5, a 4, and +1 for DW knights, +1 for black knights

Tau just seem very static which I got plenty of when I played Imperial Guard actively a couple years ago. Eldar seem to very mobile and killy which seems like a lot of fun. Aesthetically I like both about the same for different reasons. So... to go by your system...

Tau: 5. 4, 4, 3 +1 Riptide, +1 Ghostkeel
Eldar: 4. 2, 4. 5 +1 Wraithguard, +1 Jetbikes

@gmaleron

I wish I could do Orks! But it's a space issue. Orks command a lot of shelf space if you want a proper waaaagghhh!

Slowly add to your Eldar as you have a good start and like them. They are also almost certainly going to fare well into 8th.

After 8th drops consider one of the other Xenos based on how things play out. I'm holding out hope my Tyranids won't be so mono build boring.

Paint the Eldar you have, add a character model and play a few games. Try that "I like their playstyle" in practice.

As for Tau: why not paint some models you like most just for the showcase? You don't have to go all-in just to paint them.

I'd agree about the Eldar. It seems like you have a decent enough start already where I would round off that army before starting another.

Fair points. A Start Collecting! box, some extra jetbikes, a Wraithknight and some warwalkers would give me a nice, playable force. I think I'll go with Eldar with some Dark Eldar allies down the line for a nice fast hitting force. Thank you all for your input!

Eh, you said you love chaos. Do chaos. It would still be great fluff for your loyalists, pick a chapter your favorite chapter has a grudge with.

I collect orks, but when I branch out I'm thinking I'll go classic ork enemies. Imperial fists probably, though AM is tempting. Maybe ultra marines. What can I say? I like blue. My speed freaks are red so they'd contrast each other nicely on the table.

Orks or chaos, you said it yourself you don't really like eldar so don't force it on yourself or it'll be doomed to fail from the start. If you're tired of marines and want chaos then go for full daemon or daemon heavy for a change of pace as well.

 n0t_u wrote:
Orks or chaos, you said it yourself you don't really like eldar so don't force it on yourself or it'll be doomed to fail from the start. If you're tired of marines and want chaos then go for full daemon or daemon heavy for a change of pace as well.

It's not that I don't like Eldar as an army. I do. I just don't like them as individual people. I can't really empathize with the struggle of such arrogant jerk offs. I can get behind the motives of Chaos Space Marines, Orks and even Tyranids. Something about their attitude just rubs me the wrong way. Orks would be great but they are a minimum of 60 models for a viable army.

Just for reference I do actually have some Ork models. It's the Ork half of AOBR. They're kind of beat up, though.

(I do actually collect Chaos, btw. Just not in 40k )

CSM has a delivery problem and the Marines are too pt costly. I'd stay away from them.

Orks are a horde army. Depends if you want to paint lots of Orks or not.

 wuestenfux wrote:
CSM has a delivery problem and the Marines are too pt costly. I'd stay away from them.

Orks are a horde army. Depends if you want to paint lots of Orks or not.

Painting lots of models doesn't bother me. I collect 30k and that involves painting lots of models that look the same. You just have to pace yourself. 100 guys is daunting. 10 guys a week is manageable.

No mention of daemons? They're competitive, have a different playstyle to marines, different to paint and there's plenty of variety of builds

 TheCustomLime wrote:

 wuestenfux wrote:
CSM has a delivery problem and the Marines are too pt costly. I'd stay away from them.

Orks are a horde army. Depends if you want to paint lots of Orks or not.

Painting lots of models doesn't bother me. I collect 30k and that involves painting lots of models that look the same. You just have to pace yourself. 100 guys is daunting. 10 guys a week is manageable.

100 guardsmen makes me wish a commissar would *BLAM* me.

You can get started with orks for really cheap. Get a bunch of sm terminators - they go for really cheap. Add in bits from nob boxes. And you have meganobz. Trukks can get expensive $ wise but can be built from any vehicle if you add in toy wheels.
3*5 meganobz, 3 trukks and you have a solid 800 pt force.

As for eldar or tau, you could easilly run an alliance of both with what models you have. They work ok together. Both are shooty. Eldar are stupidly mobile and can form the first line.

 TheCustomLime wrote:

 n0t_u wrote:
Orks or chaos, you said it yourself you don't really like eldar so don't force it on yourself or it'll be doomed to fail from the start. If you're tired of marines and want chaos then go for full daemon or daemon heavy for a change of pace as well.

It's not that I don't like Eldar as an army. I do. I just don't like them as individual people. I can't really empathize with the struggle of such arrogant jerk offs. I can get behind the motives of Chaos Space Marines, Orks and even Tyranids. Something about their attitude just rubs me the wrong way. Orks would be great but they are a minimum of 60 models for a viable army.

Just for reference I do actually have some Ork models. It's the Ork half of AOBR. They're kind of beat up, though.

(I do actually collect Chaos, btw. Just not in 40k )

Well not all of them are arrogant, it seems to vary from craftworld to craftworld and I remember at least one seeming like they realised that their arrogance is what led to the fall and how they as a race need to learn from that. Orks, I've heard, are really hard. I've not seen them since 5th. And I guess you could like branch some daemons between AoS and 40k if you're interested in both games; that's kind of what I've been doing at the moment too.

I'd say the best way to do it might be to make a list of what you like and don't like of each of those races. Fluff, models, playstyle, etc, just like whatever you can think of; then you'd have something solid to compare your thoughts together to hopefully try to make the choice a bit easier.