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In the same spirit as the recent thread on cheapest army, I would like to explore the easiest-to-carry army. Not only faction-wide, but also taking into account some specific builds (e.g. "Deathwing Dark Angels"). Keep in mind, carriability is not just about the size of the carrying case, but also the ability to carelessly stuff unpadded models into a backpack, walk a mile, and then take your models out unbroken.

The following factors should be considered:

- Size and shape of the models.
- Number of models.
- Not too many spikey bits, spindly weapons or other fragile elements.
- Fully plastic (as metal and finecast require more padding to avoid paint chipping).
- Should still be able to win a game, at least at the casual level. Otherwise there's no point!

Generally speaking, I would wager infantry-based Marine armies (perhaps with a couple of vehicles or dreadnoughts) are the easiest to carry, thanks to their low model count and their sturdy-yet-compact models.

.

Knight soup is fairly easy to transport - the knights themselves don't have anything particularly fragile or prone to breaking off and minimize the number of other infantry and vehicles you need.

Custodes, basically. The long lances on the bikers are basically the only inconvenience, and the low model count and fairly sturdy models for all the other units definitely makes an easy time.

Alternatively, IG . Dudes go in big box o' guardsmen, tanks go in bigger box o' tanks, stack boxes and go.

Space Marines are by far the easiest to transport.

A close 2nd is Astra Militarum.

Not too far behind in 3rd is Tau.

And the absolute MOST difficult to transport by a landslide is AdMech.

I have seen so many IG Armies carried in shoe boxes...

A.T. wrote:
Knight soup is fairly easy to transport - the knights themselves don't have anything particularly fragile or prone to breaking off and minimize the number of other infantry and vehicles you need.

They're pretty large though, and can break apart at the waist or shoulder unless magnetized to be easily taken apart. Also, I find it hard to imagine putting more than two Knights in a normal-sized backpack.

Larger, weightier models are more fragile than small, light ones.

 Inquisitor Lord Katherine wrote:
Alternatively, IG . Dudes go in big box o' guardsmen, tanks go in bigger box o' tanks, stack boxes and go.

That's what I do with my IG, but I wouldn't call them easy to carry. I would never dream of, say, making a bus trip with this army. If I didn't have a car, I don't think I could even play 40k!

Let's call it "the bus rule". Can you imagine taking your army on a long bus trip, with no guarantee you'll get a seat? If not, then your army does not qualify as "easy to carry".

 oni wrote:
And the absolute MOST difficult to transport by a landslide is AdMech.

Drukhari give them a run for their money! Just take a look at their Raiders and Ravagers.


.

Ninja'ed by a lot.

CSM for sure not:

regular marines though, Only issue with banners.

-Guardsman- wrote:

 Inquisitor Lord Katherine wrote:
Alternatively, IG . Dudes go in big box o' guardsmen, tanks go in bigger box o' tanks, stack boxes and go.

That's what I do with my IG, but I wouldn't call them easy to carry. I would never dream of, say, making a bus trip with this army. If I didn't have a car, I don't think I could even play 40k!

Let's call it "the bus rule". Can you imagine taking your army on a long bus trip, with no guarantee you'll get a seat? If not, then your army does not qualify as "easy to carry".

.

I actually do take my IG army on the bus. Not all of it, only the 2k points I'm using at a given time, but I do take it on the bus.

I'm trying to figure out how to transport my IG army on a plane for the LVO in a few months.... it's not overly hard to transport Guard, but they just have so many models it's difficult.

A primaris marine army.

Few models, no spiky bits, all plastic.

Now for something difficult, look at tyranids. Wings, spikes and tentacles everywhere...

My Iron hands primaris marine army is 5 Dreadnoughts and 30 infantry in a small laptopbag sized case!

My HH Terminator Army for Luna Wolves was some 40 models same case

-Guardsman- wrote:
They're pretty large though, and can break apart at the waist or shoulder unless magnetized to be easily taken apart. Also, I find it hard to imagine putting more than two Knights in a normal-sized backpack

I've not permanently attached the legs, arms, or shoulders on mine - I can certainly see them being awkward fully assembled.

An IG tank company can be reasonably easy to carry, if a bit bulkier than some other options. Custodes obviously are a prime option.

Marines really do well here. They are solid, rugged, and points dense. Rhinos are boxes, and pack/stack well.

Back in 7th I was brainstorming how much of an army I could fit into 1 KRU of foam. 75 marines and 4 rhinos was only 3/4s of the box, leaving room for more stuff depending on how I wanted to fill that last bit.

Death Guard! The models are surprisingly pretty tough, the only issues I have had are the spikes on my Plagueburst Crawlers keep breaking off!

regular old school marines are proably the easiest to transport. their infantry is pretty solid and easily put together, their tanks are all simple boxes which is easy Imperial Guard falls into the same catagory.

Primaris Marines are a bit more troublesome to transport, thanks to the dumb flight stands inceptors have (god I hate those)

Just boxed up my Primaris marines for transport. If it weren't for the antennas on the repulsors I could probably fit everything into a single one of the cases I use (the size of a Battlefoam tray 6" deep). I think half the weight of everything is the rule books.

The easiest army to carry is Eldar Exodites, you know, because they don't exist. :-p

But seriously folks, old sisters used to be, as long as your army didn't include penitent engines or battle conlcaves (resin).

Any army is easy to carry if you use the right kit for the job.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of Battlefoam bags and trays. I routinely transport Slaanesh Daemons - which are both spindly and spiky - via bus and train, on land and in the sea, and I have never, ever suffered a breakage in transit.

-Guardsman- wrote:
In the same spirit as the recent thread on cheapest army, I would like to explore the easiest-to-carry army. Not only faction-wide, but also taking into account some specific builds (e.g. "Deathwing Dark Angels"). Keep in mind, carriability is not just about the size of the carrying case, but also the ability to carelessly stuff unpadded models into a backpack, walk a mile, and then take your models out unbroken.
.

What are you, an idiot? If you can afford to play 40k, you can afford to invest in a proper carry system for your minis no matter what faction you want..

But, if you insist upon this "chuck it in a backpack" method, then the army you want is....

100% Space Marine Dreadnaughts.
They are individually small & compact. Lightweight if you go plastic. Durable (and more so for any old school metal ones). Effective. Aren't reliant upon CP use (though of course that could help)
You can soup in multiple factions of unique dreads & still claim to be following the "Rule of 3".
They have plenty of entries - Codices, Index options, really effective FW options.... Though it'd be a shame to chuck expensive FW pieces unprotected in a backpack.....
Other than FW, most can be picked up dirt cheap on the used secondary market.

-Guardsman- wrote:
- Fully plastic (as metal and finecast require more padding to avoid paint chipping).
.

As I've said, if you can afford to play this game, you can afford proper transport/storage for your army, So this one shouldn't be a factor.

I carry my Ultramarines army in a Citadel Skirmish Case. I deliberately leave most spiky bits off my models so they don't get damaged, and only a few models (generally those with power swords or waving weapons in the air) need to lay down. I even left the launcher detachable on my Whirlwind so it fitted in a single foam layer.

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Citadel-Skirmish-Figure-Case

As for my Chaos Knights, they're also easy to transport in a Really Useful Box with a custom foam insert (made by JustLasered). They are of course more bulky, so require a bigger bag. What's the phrase? "Knights - taking the miniature out of wargaming"





That's the War Dogs. I'll be getting a separate box for the Despoiler when it's built...

-Guardsman- wrote:


Let's call it "the bus rule". Can you imagine taking your army on a long bus trip, with no guarantee you'll get a seat? If not, then your army does not qualify as "easy to carry".


.

This is why I like my sisters. Using my battle foam case, I had enough room for my army, paraphernalia, some electronics, and a change of cloths for my trip home the next day.
Got it on the bullet train as luggage.

 Mmmpi wrote:

-Guardsman- wrote:


Let's call it "the bus rule". Can you imagine taking your army on a long bus trip, with no guarantee you'll get a seat? If not, then your army does not qualify as "easy to carry".


.

This is why I like my sisters. Using my battle foam case, I had enough room for my army, paraphernalia, some electronics, and a change of cloths for my trip home the next day.
Got it on the bullet train as luggage.

I think the “long bus trip” caveat excludes sisters, at least for another month or so. While they might pack easy, they are all metal. Once as a wacky theme I made a marine list with as much lead as I could in it. Just dragging my case from the car to the table made me regret that decision.

-Guardsman- wrote:
In the same spirit as the recent thread on cheapest army, I would like to explore the easiest-to-carry army. Not only faction-wide, but also taking into account some specific builds (e.g. "Deathwing Dark Angels"). Keep in mind, carriability is not just about the size of the carrying case, but also the ability to carelessly stuff unpadded models into a backpack, walk a mile, and then take your models out unbroken.

The following factors should be considered:

- Size and shape of the models.
- Number of models.
- Not too many spikey bits, spindly weapons or other fragile elements.
- Fully plastic (as metal and finecast require more padding to avoid paint chipping).
- Should still be able to win a game, at least at the casual level. Otherwise there's no point!

Generally speaking, I would wager infantry-based Marine armies (perhaps with a couple of vehicles or dreadnoughts) are the easiest to carry, thanks to their low model count and their sturdy-yet-compact models.

.

There is no army I'm going to stuff loose in a backpack and bounce around for a mile walk. If you're asking because you're transportation limited, my advice is to get a Sabol Designs Division Transport, or a Battlefoam P.A.C.K 1520 XL or some other wheeled luggage style carrier. Models break even in a foam padded army case. I don't even want to think about how much more so banging around against each other loose in a backpack.

The Expansion designs of the Battle Foam P.A.C.K. system would be my preferred choice. You can buy their smaller bags, and zip them onto the big 1520 if you REALLY need to and be able to roll multiple bags on the one footprint.

I'm using magna racks and can fit a 2k Eldar bike army and 3 days clothes in a single backpack. Travelled 200 miles. No breakages.

When physically building my army, I tend to do it with transportation in mind. My main group of players are my work coligues who are a train + two metro lines away.
All banners, antennas, Lance arms, arms waving swords are magnitised. All vehicle weapons are magnitised. My knight can be disassembled into torso, legs and arms. I use feldherr cases . For anyone wanting to transport on a plane, I would seriously investing in a hard carry case.

The worst model I find to transport is the necron monolith

Custodes for sure. I had an army of them for a while, it was battalion and Outrider with 3 Shield captains on bikes, 3 units of baikes, 3 basic troops, a -1 to hit banner guy, and an Assassin. it was 23 models. It did really well if you are not playing ITC crap. If you are, then just get the Tanks from FW and its even less models lol.

I used to roll around with my Pure Deathwing in a small gw case 45 terminators ..... I miss those days.

My custodes army has magnetized arms for spears and jet bike lances, they stick to a small steel plate at the side of the lunchbox they are kept in. over 2k points literally fits in a nonbranded generic plastic 90's "thermos type" plastic lunchbox. I used a hot gluegun and some craft foam to make a little appropriately sized try for it to keep paint from scratching or chipping. 6 jetbikes, 2 banner custodes, 15 regular custodes, valoris, 2 contemptor dreds, and 6 custodes alarus termies