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Hi,

I'm thinking about starting collecting and playing WH 40k. I already did some research, but given that I never played 40k i'm pretty confused.

I'd prefer firepower>mobility, ranged>melee mentality with emphasis on heavy stuff - termies, land raiders, dreads.


-From what I've read Smurfs are good all-around, but I find them incredibly annoying lore-wise

-Dark Angels Death Company seems fitting.

-Maybe Imperial Fists or Iron Hands?


This game is fairly complex, It's really hard to pick something without ever playing it . Im reeeeeally open to suggestions.

There's always Blood Angels. You don't lose access to most of the Space Marine firepower, gain access to the Baal Predator for a fairly cheap bullet hose, and if you build you army like a basic marine army and avoid a lot of the expensive "elite" options you end up with a force that's got Marine quality shooting backed up by an army that's fairly capable in melee (well, we will see once the new BA codex comes out, but they have always been fairly proficient in melee). Their fluff is also fairly interesting, since they are Marines with faults, unlike the Ultramarines.

If you're already set on marines, I'd go ahead and say you're best off picking the chapter you like the look of most! If you're into firepower and ranged chapters then your suggestions of Imperial Fists and Iron Hands both seem appropriate. If you want termies though, Dark Angels deathwing might be your best bet (their terminator knights are fantastic).

If you want Astartes and don't really know what to pick, always go with Space Marines. They're highly universal and can cater to a host of possibilities. Other Chapters, as well as other Factions, tend to have a prime focus that limits them in certain areas. Space Marines are essentially your jack-of-all-trades faction.

Don't follow those dark angel bastards into damnation lad, stay loyal to the throne!

If you make your own chapter, you could play them as whatever you like. It would also be pretty easy to call them a blood/dark angel successor chapter as well if you ever want to go in that direction.

Pick the army that you like the sound of the most or has a character you really want to play. You can always play as a different chapter, only the most hardcore players really care. From what I have seen so far people just like player against a painted army.

I think that before you really commit to one you should be more familiar with all their rules and play a few games. Most people won't mind a new player doing their first 500 point / 25 PL games with unpainted models. See which ones feel best. If you care a lot about their individual fluff, spend a bit more time on that too. I don't think there's any good reason to have to pick something without playing it here.

Rules-wise, we don't have complete information on how the various Chapters will be different after the codex releases. Right now most of them are basically the same except for a couple unique units. From what we know, Salamanders seem like the best bet if you want lots of firepower on things like Terminators and Dreadnoughts. Presumably Dark Angels' Deathwing will get something in a later codex, but they won't be included in the Marine codex coming out in a couple weeks.

Yeah, I guess I'm overthinking. I'll just make my own chapter with custom color scheme and let them be "successors of whatever". Thanks for input.

Any tips on starter 500pt army?

At 500 id go for something like a predator or a devastator squad, 10 marines, and a captain or librarian.

I would second the idea of making your own chapter. If you model and paint everything consistently and make sure the war gear is correct, you can even have things count as space wolves, grey knights, or chaos as well.

I would also suggest using magnets to let you change out wargear on tanks and dreads and maybe even some of the infantry like special weapon guys and whatnot.

Lamenters, to show you are extra loyal!

But in all seriousness pick whoever you like the colourscheme best or make your own. You're free to pick whatever rules you want after the fact anyway, even if you pick an established chapter.

You should play iron hands for two reasons.

First, they can match the play style that you want. Their chapter tactics are solid favoring multi wound models like terminators and dreads and their strategem benefits vehicle shooting to help your dreads, preds and land raiders.

Second. They are painted black. Black is a good base coat. So you change your mind later down the line you can paint them the chapter color of your choice once you get more familiar with the game.

I always suggest making your own chapter. Pick a color scheme that you like, build your army around the playstyle that you prefer, then slowly work on building your army's fluff. Warhammer as a hobby is prime for being creative so embrace it.

That being said if you really want to go down the path of an established chapter/legion then read up on the wiki's and find one that looks and sounds enjoyable to you.

I'll second (or third. I didn't count) making your own chapter. If you pick a chapter, people can get mad at you for trying out other chapter rules with the "wrong" paint-scheme.

Meanwhile, if you make your own chapter, their background can change from game to game and, since it's your fluff in the first place, any detractors can stuff it.

The best possible answer to this questions is "The chapter you will enjoy painting." For hours and HOURS....

make your own chapter up.

I think Iron Hands is the best fit for what you want mechanics-wise. They love their big dakka-filled vehicles.

Make your own, and then you can choose what tactic you want. However, you won't be able to use any special characters, as they are exclusive to their certain Chapters, ie, you could play using Imperial Fist tactics, but you can't take Lysander unless you're actually Imperial Fists.

There's no rule that says Imperial Fists are yellow though. If you want to play Lysander and you have a "successor" chapter there's no difference in rules terms between that and the founding chapters. But obviously if you want Imperial Fist rules you cant have Guilleman for example.

I would say collect and assemble a few basic units ie hqs and troops. Get the codex. Play around with the different chapters. DO NOT paint them immediately until you are sure about what kind of SM chapter you want to run. Or paint them whatever you like and run them as whatever. Either way it doesn't hurt to wait a bit to paint. Most people are reasonable with new players. They understand that you don't know exactly what you want yet and wont raise a fuss about unpainted models.

Ignore the advice saying go Iron Hands. They do not get a lot of love and no one knows all the details of their strategem like cp cost, duration, number of tanks affected. The Iron Hands CT looks good on paper, but plays out completely different on paper. It will disappoint you constantly.

Paint them the color you like and give them a unique name, but make them count as Ultramarines. Being able to take Gulliman when you want his big buff is worth the trouble.

Another nub to 40k here, what would be best to use for learning (and playing casualy) the game, normal points or power points?

It seems you get more stuff on the table using normal points but my head turns on X axis when it comes to figuring out all the induvidual point stuff.

 FrozenDwarf wrote:
Another nub to 40k here, what would be best to use for learning (and playing casualy) the game, normal points or power points?

It seems you get more stuff on the table using normal points but my head turns on X axis when it comes to figuring out all the induvidual point stuff.

Power levels is intended for newer players, more casual gaemes. if you're playing in your basement with a friend, try power levels for your first games,if you wanna get compeitive though get used to points

any