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So I have "narrowed" it down to the following list of start collection option based on only the looks of the faction:

Skitarii
Chaos Daemons of Nurgle
Necrons
Blood Angels
Dark Eldar/Drukhari
Militarum Tempestus
Astra Militarum
Space Marine
Eldar/Aeldari
Chaos Space Marine

What I am looking for is a moderately durable (doesn't die from a strong breeze) army that plays with more of a defensive/react play style (I guess this would be called a forgiving play style, you can make mistakes and still win) that has moderate to high mobility. Please help.

I'll throw in a vote for Chaos Marines due to it's variability and adaptability.

You can go whole-hog into one traitor legion or do a mish-mash of chaos undivided to get the best of everything. You can even add in that starter box of nurgle demons you listed. It goes together seamlessly in this edition. Heck, you can even thrown in a Traitor Knight some day, if you want.

It also gives you lots of options for paint schemes and conversions. You can even take lots of loyalist space marine models and chaosify them to add them to your army!

Plus, with Chaos being the main focus of the story this edition, they'll hopefully be releasing lots of cool new models to add to your collection.

But, no matter which you choose, have some fun!!

Cheers,

Honestly my opinion and most other opinions are going to be based on just that, opinions. It sounds to me like most of the armies you listed have what you are looking for.

If you are looking for the ease of play and a more adaptable army Space Marines might be your safest bet.

Otherwise I can just give you the advice of what someone gave me when I started: Go watch some YouTube (battle reports or lore) of the armies you're interested or read Lexicanum for some lore of the ones you like and pick your favorite.

Your army spends 80-90% of the time sitting on your shelf. The most important part for me is the story I crafted for my units (the lore part here) and enjoying the sculpts.

Best of luck with whatever you decide!