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Assembled and painted miniatures but now looking into playing the game. Having trouble on how I should build my first army, one I'm guessing should be 500 points. I don't want to invest TOO much money into building a 1000+ army only to discover battling isn't for me. I'm generally confused all around with the varying of weapons, armor, etc with each unit point wise, the requirements and order to build a usable force. I've had some small help from the app Battlescribe, but am looking for any charts explaining a more detailed approach to building an army.

They’re in the rulebook. You need that if you want to play. You can buy the Dark Imperium starter set, or buy it seperately. Dakka is not a replacement for owning the rules

I hate to say, the organization structure is listed in the main rule book: do you have one?
Some detail is given here: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/05/40k-rules-8th-edition.html
Look for the "Battleforged" section.

The main rulebook has a bit of help, including the FOCs.

But if you're just looking for advice on building an army, Dakka can help with that.

The way I started was I picked which models were cool because I liked the theme (I'm a treadhead, so Leman Russ tanks) and built around those. One of the neat things you'll discover about the 8th Edition FOCs is it is possible to find one that fits damn near every playstyle, from fortification defenders to people who like air-forces.

As for battling - it can be fun! There's rules for everyone, from Open to Matched play (with Narrative in between) but it can be harder to find opponents for Open than it is for Matched, I imagine.

Open and Narrative play don't even require the use of the FOCs, though you still should if you want to get your army's fancy "doctrines" (which represent sub-factions, essentially, of the army).

BigBrother1984 wrote:
Assembled and painted miniatures but now looking into playing the game. Having trouble on how I should build my first army, one I'm guessing should be 500 points. I don't want to invest TOO much money into building a 1000+ army only to discover battling isn't for me. I'm generally confused all around with the varying of weapons, armor, etc with each unit point wise, the requirements and order to build a usable force. I've had some small help from the app Battlescribe, but am looking for any charts explaining a more detailed approach to building an army.

FOC only apply in matched play. if you don't even have the rulebook, just do narrative playstyle, which is where you basically run whatever you like. Use the free rulebook for that.

BigBrother1984 wrote:
Assembled and painted miniatures but now looking into playing the game. Having trouble on how I should build my first army, one I'm guessing should be 500 points. I don't want to invest TOO much money into building a 1000+ army only to discover battling isn't for me. I'm generally confused all around with the varying of weapons, armor, etc with each unit point wise, the requirements and order to build a usable force. I've had some small help from the app Battlescribe, but am looking for any charts explaining a more detailed approach to building an army.

What army are you playing? If you're just looking for the charts, they're in the BRB. At 500 points, you're unlikely to be able to afford anything larger than the Patrol detachment.

As far as specific builds to make a good force, if you offer what army you're playing, someone can probably give advice. Though at 500 points, it's probably not a big deal.

 argonak wrote:
FOC only apply in matched play. if you don't even have the rulebook, just do narrative playstyle, which is where you basically run whatever you like. Use the free rulebook for that.

From 'Battle-forged Armies', page 172 of the main rulebook:

While open play encourages gamers to place whatever models they want to on the tabletop, in whatever quantities they choose, both narrative and matched play tend to use Battle-forged armies. These forces bring additional structure and balance to the gaming experience.

'Battle-forged Armies' are only a requirement for Matched play, but are an option for Narrative play.