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So my friend has shown an interest in warhammer, he is SERIOUSLY into military history, modern regiments, and is planning to be an engineer so he clearly he loves vehicles and especially tanks.

So what's a good motorised/mechanised/ tank army
Or just one that has the cheapest tanks

Seems like he's tailor made for the Guard. They're the closest thing to a modern military you'll get in 40k and they have both the first and last word in tanks.

Very true, I've shown him a hell of a lot of guard tanks and missile carriers and his reaction has been
"How does that..?"
Why would you..?
How would you..?
I want 5

Have you considered doing a different game? Is he interested in Warhammer or tabletop gaming? There are loads of fantastic historical and modern wargames out there.

Bolt action or conflict 47?
If he has an engineer's senssibility
Then he may like some of gw models but not enjoy the fickleness of the rules and comic bookishness of the game mechanics especially now that whole armies are deathstars or for that matter the print layout of the books themselves. I know that stuff bothers me. But i am too far invested to do something else from scratch

Also: How rich is he?

Imperial Guard. Have him look up "Tread head" threads, especially ones dedicated to realistic conversions. You will have him hooked before nightfall.

Sounds like the Impy Guard are for him. If he wants a 'Grim Dark' army then Death Korp of Krieg will appeal.

he could also add some scions to give him more of an elite feel to his troops, plus valkryies if he likes Hinds

 NoiseMarine with Tinnitus wrote:
Sounds like the Impy Guard are for him. If he wants a 'Grim Dark' army then Death Korp of Krieg will appeal.

Especially since he can play combat engineers complete with tractors in Krieg, even if most of their cooler historical-inspired mechanics (the ability to tow immobilized tanks when you're in a tight spot...) haven't survived the 8e changeover.

If he's an engineer, then there's a good chance he'll be interested in optimisation and efficiency. Point him at battlescribe, and tell him to make the most ass-kicking list he can. He'll either not be interested, or gravitate towards a particular army. But it won't cost him anything to plan, which is half the battle. Give him the link to the gw website, so he can see what the armies actually look like once he's written lists. From there: success or failure.

Since everyone has talked about guard, I figure I should mention the other high-tech army that doesn't rely on tons of handwaving and "it's so technological that its magic, ok?": Tau.

Sure, it's science fiction tech, and may not appeal as much if he's a big history buff and likes that WW1 feel on the guard stuff, but in terms of modern military I've known more people to go for Tau combined-arms tactics than Guard. The Tau do things like provide supporting fire, set up fortified positions on the fly, keep in communication with each other, and don't generally default to smacking things with swords after a couple rounds of shooting.

Also don't forget to show him some Forgeworld stuff as well - Imperials (esp tanks) have done very well on Forgeworld and they've some fantastic vehicles in there that I'm sure any keen Imperial Guardsman would want in their army.

the_scotsman wrote:
Since everyone has talked about guard, I figure I should mention the other high-tech army that doesn't rely on tons of handwaving and "it's so technological that its magic, ok?": Tau.

Yeah, I'm on side with this. Tau are the faction that most closely resembles a science fiction army in this science fantasy setting.

That said, they're in a bad position right now. It might be better to let your friend borrow minis and wait and see if the Tau get a good codex.