Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So I am going to stick at 1500 points and work my way up, I have settled with either Nids, Necrons, and Thousands Sons.

But I am open to other suggestions.

What would you suggest to a player who is new to pick up on, budget at roughly 300

I play Nids, and I like them a bunch...at 1500 points you should be able to make a decent force......depends on what "style" of play you're after but the "Swarm" box is an exelent value to start. Then get an HQ or two.

A basic good to go Nids list might be:

Broodlord, x2 364 points

Genstealer Brood, at least 15 to 20, x2 480 or less

Trygon, x2 360

so around 1200? then add in what suits...Exocrene? Good choice Carnifexen? Not bad! These days there are Few poor choices for Nids If you want to send both Broods of Stealers by Tunnel, you'll need some units on the Table, so Hormagaunts or Termagants would suit just fine...etc

Good luck! And Welcome to the Hive Mind!

I recently started a 2nd army and I was torn between Tyranids, Necrons and Tau. I ended up going with Nids and I'm pretty happy with that decision. I feel like they have better selection of units than Necrons and they're the best looking baddies in the 40k universe imo. They're also much better now, so I imagine even as a new player you'll win a good chunk of games with them. Also, as mentioned above, they have the Tyranid Swarm box set which is great value for money when starting out.
For my 1500p list I got:
-Tyranid Swarm (contains 40 Hormagaunts, 40 Termagants, 10 Gargoyles, 1 Carnifex and 3 Ripper Swarms)
-Tervigon Brood Progenitor (might be hard to find this boxed set as they stopped making it, if so just get a Tervigon)
-Exocrine
-Trygon
-Hive Tyrant
all I need to get now is Venomthropes and I'll have a 1500p army for a pretty reasonable price given how expensive it would be to buy all the components of a Tyranid Swarm separately.
Also, the Start Collecting Box set is good value.

I'd also spend a bit of time searching for stores that offer discounts before you go ahead buying a bunch of stuff. In my experience you can find stores (usually online) that will offer a 10-25% discount, which is huge when you're dropping money on an entire army.

All that being said, playing Nids means it's A LOT of models to paint if you're going the swarm route. At the rate/standard I paint it will probably take me a year... whereas if you did a Primaris Marines army for example it would be a small fraction of the amount of models to paint. Something to consider if it's your first time. There's lots of great painting tutorials online, it's worth it to watch a bunch of those before you touch a brush.
Cheers.

Marines. The HH Calth boxed set is probably one of the best 'starter sets.'

Toss In a tank or two and you've got a solid starting force.

Necrons and Thousands Sons are both elite, shooty armies. 'Nids are a swarm assault army. Very different.

I think Chaos, with the option of fielding LOTS of assault & combi weapons, is currently one of the strongest lists out there. Havocs with four Plasma guns and an Asp. Champ. with a Combi-Plasma? Two five-man squads in the SAME Rhino? No brainer!

The only thing that stops me from playing Chaos is I really don't like the models. I'd enjoy WINNING all the time, and tasting my opponent's salty tears, but I'd HATE painting the army.

I play 'Crons, and have Nods for sale of you are interested.


Necrons don't have much variety but I love them to death. They are an Elite shooty army that isn't too hard to pick up and can be a lot of fun. With QS Wall or Silver tide, you will win a good amount of games if you are playing competitively. 'Nid's definately gave the most variety and are probably the best of the forces you listed

Go for the models that you like the look of the best.

You'll be doing more hobby than playing in the beginning and it helps a ton if you love The way the models look!

As a recent starter myself, I agree completely with Pancakey.

phydaux wrote:
Necrons and Thousands Sons are both elite, shooty armies. 'Nids are a swarm assault army. Very different.

I think Chaos, with the option of fielding LOTS of assault & combi weapons, is currently one of the strongest lists out there. Havocs with four Plasma guns and an Asp. Champ. with a Combi-Plasma? Two five-man squads in the SAME Rhino? No brainer!

The only thing that stops me from playing Chaos is I really don't like the models. I'd enjoy WINNING all the time, and tasting my opponent's salty tears, but I'd HATE painting the army.

are you kidding me? Chaos models are wicked sick! Its just thier underwhelming rules makes them inferior to loyal mary sue marines.

Of the three I would say that nids are the most fun to play and most challenging to master. They are also by far the hardest to paint up an army for, with necron probably being the easiest. All three are solid game-wise I think.

The great thing is, that while some factions are definitely stronger than others, no faction is really feeble like, say, Orks or Dark Eldar in 7th.

Also, be sure to get a Warhammer T-shirt or something, because playing Warhammer makes you super attractive to the opposite sex. It is true.

Think about how much you want to spend and what type of army - hordes v elites.

Tzeentch daemons (2x start collecting, 6x brimstone/blue horrors) would ok as a start. That's kind of horde, but only works against elites - it's a meta counter army

There's guard - conscripts and tanks, expensive and a pain to paint

Magnus and 4 knights is an easy force to build, paint and play with

As a first army? I'd say space marines. They have so many different ways of building them you can collect forever.

If you have no clear favourite chapter (ultramarines are strongest atm imo) then make your own. Most chapters have an all black successor so you can pick and choose if you paint black.

As a casual, balanced force, you could look to pick up betrayal at calth, 2 boxes of scouts snipers and then some flyers/heavy support. Probably 2 storm ravens. If you have more to spend then look at sample lists, look at the models you like.

The good thing about marines is that whichever way the meta develops, they have the tools to counter it

Before you buy, get watching battle reports online (recommend tabletop tactics), download battlescribe and play at building lists, see what fits at 2k points and go from there

Badger88 wrote:
Magnus and 4 knights is an easy force to build, paint and play with

Only if you can find someone willing to play with you.

pismakron wrote:

Badger88 wrote:
Magnus and 4 knights is an easy force to build, paint and play with

Only if you can find someone willing to play with you.

Exactly, this is why marines are good, you can take the cheesiest of the cheese, or something really casual depending on what you're doing - weeknight gaming or tournament