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So with college, jobs, and relationships filling my life I lost time for this hobby a while ago, but now that my life is more on track and I have more free time and disposable income I wanted to try and get back into it. My question is what do I need to play 8th edition properly? I have the chaos space marine codex, 6th edition, The Astra Militarium Codex 7th, and the 6th&7th rulebooks, what else would I need?

8th edition rulebook, 8th edition CSM codex, 8th edition IG codex, and possibly the index books if you have any units that aren't covered in the codex. To play and have a good chance of winning you'll probably need to invest in new models, as armies that were good in previous editions are often terrible in 8th. If you want to play competitively you'll have to add a few more codices to the pile, as competitive play revolves around "soup" lists that mix the most overpowered units from multiple factions.

All the codexes and rulebooks prior to 8th edition are outdated and won't work anymore.

The bare minimum you'd need is the 8th edition CSM codex, the battle primer for the core rules, and a mission to play like book missions using someone else's BRB/Chapter Approved 2017, or community missions like the ITC Champion's missions.

Battlescribe may be helpful for building a list and keep track of datasheets.

That depends what you mean by properly. How competitively are you planning on playing the game? Which army/armies do you want to jump back in with? What size games? Etc.

I'm just jumping back in myself. I used to play casually in 5th and to jump back in I've bought 2 copies of know no fear, a couple of the characters from dark imperium, a push fit myphitic blight hauler and a third squad of 5 intercessors from the starter sets. That gives me 2 1000pt armies that are a solid base for small games and gives my room to expand over time. I'm not getting codexes or the rule book just yet. The core rules are free and I'm using battlescribe to build lists atm.

To jump back in with models you already own I'd recommend getting the relevant codex to have all the rules for the units handy then building your lists in battlescribe. Unless you want to jump straight into competitive games there's no reason to buy 7 codexes, the BRB, chapter approved and everything else before you even have a game. Find an opponent who's willing to run you through anything not in the core rules as you play your first couple games back.

 Peregrine wrote:
To play and have a good chance of winning you'll probably need to invest in new models, as armies that were good in previous editions are often terrible in 8th. If you want to play competitively you'll have to add a few more codices to the pile, as competitive play revolves around "soup" lists that mix the most overpowered units from multiple factions.

That... doesnt sound very fun at all.

 thepowerfulwill wrote:
That... doesnt sound very fun at all.

Welcome to a new edition. TBH, if you don't want to invest in updating everything to the new edition you're probably better off finding something else to do with your time and money.

 Peregrine wrote:

 thepowerfulwill wrote:
That... doesnt sound very fun at all.

Welcome to a new edition. TBH, if you don't want to invest in updating everything to the new edition you're probably better off finding something else to do with your time and money.

This is only if you want to jump straight into competitive though. Nothing wrong with just grabbing a single codex, having a few games and branching out from there. Much easier to update everything over time than to just do it all in one hit. The rate varying from person to person ofc.

IronBrand wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:

 thepowerfulwill wrote:
That... doesnt sound very fun at all.

Welcome to a new edition. TBH, if you don't want to invest in updating everything to the new edition you're probably better off finding something else to do with your time and money.

This is only if you want to jump straight into competitive though. Nothing wrong with just grabbing a single codex, having a few games and branching out from there. Much easier to update everything over time than to just do it all in one hit. The rate varying from person to person ofc.

I know that, its just that I know I will be fighting an uphill battle every game with people playing that army. Some of my local gamers were VERY competitive, and it honestly is what part of leaving was about. I play chaos marines. Not only chaos marines, but fluffy fallen angels chaos marines, and while I flirted around with the idea of playing them with loyalist rules to make them competitive, I think that might be what I have to do this edition, going to be sad to have to retire my forge fiend and chaos spawn, they were kinda my armies mascots...

Yeah, forget about doing it for cheap if you're up against competitive players. 8th is a very shallow game, simplified and over-homogenized even compared to 6th/7th. Building a powerful list is what wins games and if you don't invest to keep up with the new meta you're not going to win much. And 8th edition games tend to be decided much faster, between turn-1 charges and gunline alpha strikes, so your weaker list is likely to be wiped off the table before you can do anything.

Literally ignore Peregrine. Like press the Ignore button. He has a VERY negative attitude towards the game and I knew coming into this topic that either he or BaconCatBug would be the first response and their post would be a gripe about the game disguised as advice.

The game plays fine with mono-faction armies. As said if you avoid the super competitive tournament list only types it's great. You just need your relevant 8th Ed codex, rulebook PDF (free on GWs website), FAQ and models really. If you get thr Battlescribe app that will take care of keeping points and rules updated. Really its the same things you always needed. Just for 8th.

Emperor protect me.. Maybe I might have to make for 9th edition...

 thepowerfulwill wrote:

IronBrand wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:

 thepowerfulwill wrote:
That... doesnt sound very fun at all.

Welcome to a new edition. TBH, if you don't want to invest in updating everything to the new edition you're probably better off finding something else to do with your time and money.

This is only if you want to jump straight into competitive though. Nothing wrong with just grabbing a single codex, having a few games and branching out from there. Much easier to update everything over time than to just do it all in one hit. The rate varying from person to person ofc.

I know that, its just that I know I will be fighting an uphill battle every game with people playing that army. Some of my local gamers were VERY competitive, and it honestly is what part of leaving was about. I play chaos marines. Not only chaos marines, but fluffy fallen angels chaos marines, and while I flirted around with the idea of playing them with loyalist rules to make them competitive, I think that might be what I have to do this edition, going to be sad to have to retire my forge fiend and chaos spawn, they were kinda my armies mascots...

I'd probably recommend doing up a list of the units you have and a description of how you enjoy playing your games then. There's usually a few people around who will give you advice on how you can work on adapting what you have to work towards what you want it to be. Also talk to people who play locally, work on turning the games to your advantage. Like getting advice from opponents on what you may be missing in a game, etc. That way even if you're fighting an uphill battle you're still getting something out of it so you're less likely to feel like you're just wasting your time.

The important thing is just to decide what your goals are so that each game, purchase, etc. brings you closer to them. Work out some more precise goals, then work out how much time and money you can budget for them.

 Sim-Life wrote:
Literally ignore Peregrine. Like press the Ignore button. He has a VERY negative attitude towards the game and I knew coming into this topic that either he or BaconCatBug would be the first response and their post would be a gripe about the game disguised as advice.

The game plays fine with mono-faction armies. As said if you avoid the super competitive tournament list only types it's great. You just need your relevant 8th Ed codex, rulebook PDF (free on GWs website), FAQ and models really. If you get thr Battlescribe app that will take care of keeping points and rules updated. Really its the same things you always needed. Just for 8th.

Thanks man, I got the PDF, maybe ill take a look at battle scribe, get a semi decent list going, see what going on before making a decision.