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So i am entering the hobby after many years being away.

I bought the Indomitus box and sold off marines. I thought I would do necrons but tbh, I find them extremely hard to put together and keep them from being broken. So many tiny skinny bits!

So i sold them off and am looking to collect an army that utilizes a fair bit of infantry. I used to love eldar in older editions when aspect warriors seemed to be a great thing. However, by the sounds of 9e, it’s mostly mechdar all over again sith wraith constructs, which I don’t care for...at all.

I’m guessing orks or nids could be a fun investment, albeit expensive and time consuming.

Any good suggestions? I’m open to different ideas!

I collect Tyranids and Imperial Guard (amongst others). Both of these armies have a lot of infantry, if that's whát you're looking for. Sure, many Imperial Guard players love their tanks but you can keep that part of the army down to a minimum if you want.

Your idea of Orks isn't a bad one either. Just depends which aesthetic and playstyle you prefer.

Eldar might get a full rework if/when they get a necron sized update to their aspect warriors and such. However its hard to tell if GW is going to update them in a big wave or if they are going to tease it out for years with one or two releases here and there. So you could be waiting for a whlie.


Tyranids, in contrast, are in a really good spot right now and whilst there are some niggles (split heads on gaunts) and one or two finecast left (lictor/pyrovore/biovore); its broadly a modern up to date plastic army. So you can go wild with choices.

IT can certainly do infantry or rather gaunt, heavy lists. You'll still need some bigger and medium beasties for backup - certainly warriors, zoanthropes and the like for support and perhaps the odd big monster. Otherwise swarms of gaunts have always been a viable build for them. I'm not sure how the meta stands right now with 9th ed having a lot of anti-swarm weapons though; might be Tyranids need a new book to get them swarming once again or that swarms are now lots of smaller units instead of a few big ones etc.... So do check that out.

Custodes can be infantry only and not loose much.
If you add a few dreadnoughts..

They're pretty much an infantry/dread army to me. Because why else play the emperors finest if you hide in a tank?
Modellineup supports this as well, there's like 3 non-dread vehicle kits, the rest is all infantry.

Infantry huh? Don't like delicate gitz yeah? It sounds like you want some orkz.

... if you want an army that's easy to put together, not got a ton of small fiddly easy to break bits, and one that plays well as a "mostly infantry" army.... you basicly just described Space Marines right now. I'm, guessing you want a xenos army given you didn't mention them or anything but I'd seriously put consideration into them if your ONLY criteria is "ease of assmbly, lack of fragile bits and infantry focused"

BrianDavion wrote:
... if you want an army that's easy to put together, not got a ton of small fiddly easy to break bits, and one that plays well as a "mostly infantry" army.... you basicly just described Space Marines right now. I'm, guessing you want a xenos army given you didn't mention them or anything but I'd seriously put consideration into them if your ONLY criteria is "ease of assmbly, lack of fragile bits and infantry focused"

Agreed.

Take a look at the chaos space marine range. Some of it is awful, but the cultists are great, cheap kits that are really easy assembly. You have a ton of those and whatever else takes your fancy.

BrianDavion wrote:
... if you want an army that's easy to put together, not got a ton of small fiddly easy to break bits, and one that plays well as a "mostly infantry" army.... you basicly just described Space Marines right now. I'm, guessing you want a xenos army given you didn't mention them or anything but I'd seriously put consideration into them if your ONLY criteria is "ease of assmbly, lack of fragile bits and infantry focused"

True, the difficulty to put together is a slight annoyance. The main issue/worry is transport for me. I thought maybe of taking little magnets and gluing them to the bottom of the bases and transporting them via metal container. I just think of a model case and having them get little pieces easily stuck and ripped off/bent!

And yeah, I know it describes space marines, but as you said, I’m not interested in playing a force that most likely 50% or more of the player base plays!

So yes, you were on the nose with xenos armies that are more infantry focused. But it’s all good. The other players above made some good suggestions on tyranids, orks. I also just read that Drukhari are getting a book soon and some of the infantry (such as incubi) look pretty awesome once more!

So I’ll figure it out. Heck, someone I know mentioned custodes as an option. Their models are pretty amazing so who knows!

New death guard looks pretty strong. Whatabout taking look at them?

How about Sisters of battle?

Their infantry is widely varied- from the sinners of the repentia, to the holy choir of battle sisters.

It's true that most armies include exorcists, because they are just that good, but Retributors are pretty damn hot right now. And maxing out infantry options is a great way to play the faith game.

They're extremely detailed which can slow down the painting process a lot and some models aren't exactly sturdy.

With the limitations that the OP has in mind, I'd suggest orks. 90 boyz, 6 meganobz, ghaz and a couple of characters would be a solid start. Slightly above 1500 points, the core of one of the most competitive (and still fluffy!) orks list but at the same time a solid base for multiple kinds of lists.

All models are robust, easy to paint but with lots of possibilities when it comes to assemble them so you won't have 2 identical boyz. Orks are also not so common, which is another point in their favor but even eventual mirror matches would be fun and fluffy, unlike the SM case.

Gorgarak, are you looking for horde or elite force?

Pretty much any faction can be made to work as infantry based. It all depends on your playing style and personal preferences.

If you were looking at Necrons to start with I'd go for SOB

For a horde personally I'd go Orks or Nids as Guard are generally all about the tanks.

For elite, Death Guard would be a good choice if you don't want normal marines.

I suggest you wait until a new xenos codex comes out, because thats usually a power boost for that faction. Nids are weak, dont start with them now.

My advice is to pick the faction that has the coolest looking minis to you. Just think "Which of these will I have the most fun painting?"

Rules come and go!

 Da Boss wrote:
My advice is to pick the faction that has the coolest looking minis to you. Just think "Which of these will I have the most fun painting?"

Rules come and go!

this is what I’ve decided to stick with! I’ve thought about it and looked at some different armies and think orks are what I’m gonna go with. I have the most fun playing orks in any 40k setting, and their aesthetic is just fantastic. It also helps that from what I’ve read, they are in a decent spot right now, and I don’t think their 9e codex is even out yet.


I also like the idea of showing up to play and having people want to play with a person because they bring xenos factions and not just more space marines/imperial factions. Makes it diverse!

And yeah, rules do come and go. But if you can look at an army and still like what you see, it’s worth it.

Orks are by far my longest and biggest faction, so I can hardly argue with that! Have fun!

I disagree with them all. You want an infantry army? You want chaos daemons. Take your pick which one. Quick to build, quick to paint well and can be used in the 3 main game systems.

 Gorgarak wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
... if you want an army that's easy to put together, not got a ton of small fiddly easy to break bits, and one that plays well as a "mostly infantry" army.... you basicly just described Space Marines right now. I'm, guessing you want a xenos army given you didn't mention them or anything but I'd seriously put consideration into them if your ONLY criteria is "ease of assmbly, lack of fragile bits and infantry focused"

True, the difficulty to put together is a slight annoyance. The main issue/worry is transport for me. I thought maybe of taking little magnets and gluing them to the bottom of the bases and transporting them via metal container. I just think of a model case and having them get little pieces easily stuck and ripped off/bent!

And yeah, I know it describes space marines, but as you said, I’m not interested in playing a force that most likely 50% or more of the player base plays!

So yes, you were on the nose with xenos armies that are more infantry focused. But it’s all good. The other players above made some good suggestions on tyranids, orks. I also just read that Drukhari are getting a book soon and some of the infantry (such as incubi) look pretty awesome once more!

So I’ll figure it out. Heck, someone I know mentioned custodes as an option. Their models are pretty amazing so who knows!

Custodes aren't bad, and are quick to do (seriously a 2000 point army is 15 or less models) so are good, I've assmbled the entire army and there are some potentially annoying bits in the form of helmet plumes etc but nothing too big a deal. their vehicles are all solid, (they're all marine tanks that they share with marines) so not a big deal AT ALL,

if you want xenos yeah orks are proably your best bet.

Don't discount the grey knights. I found most of their infantry easy to assemble and a pure infantry army is very viable. Yes, they have some pokey weapons, but they are elite and versatile and fun to play.