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whether it be AoS or 40K i was wondering how you decide on a new army?
i want to start a new 40k army but not knowing any of the rules for the forces how do i avoid picking something that sucks rules wise?
as we all know it can be a big investment and this one choice can ruin it.
seems GW does them selves a disservice charging for army rules.
i wonder if they should be free leading to selling lots of figures and maybe multiple armies?

Most important thing is to sit down and write your thoughts on paper.

Bulletpoint an idea of how you will paint it. If you need any other tools (yellow army, maybe get an airbrush). Get a basing theme as well so the army is uniform. Maybe budget out that you'll buy a test squad of guys to paint, then buy a battleforce and keep expanding the army by increments of 500 points. You can buy everything at once but your motivation to paint might take a hit. Figure out what fluff and story your army has for "your dudes" and make a plan. Most of my armies take 2-3 years to fully paint and complete!

I'm finishing the last 10~ marines from Clan Belgarath of the Iron Hands Space Marines right now and then I'm at 3,000 points fully painted.

After you wrote a few pages and created a plan - do that test squad I mentioned. Maybe proxxy the army against a friend and learn to play the army at the 1000-1500 points level as you expand.

Become friends with a local player or a player over discord that plays the same player. I know 5~ players of the same faction for two of the armies I play. I ask them questions and see how their games are going. Watch a game of an army you like on youtube!

Planning and research!

I consider
Logistics (Volume per point)
Discount Bundles
What kind of list I want to build

I don't hate spamming units

The last army I started was tyranids.

I’d wanted to build an army of them for a while, as I liked the look of them, and they have a totally different feel from my other ones.

I did a little research, read up on their rules and tactics, and put together a roughly 2k list of units I liked to make a functional list.

Then I dusted off a few of the old lead bugs that had found their way into the pile of shame, worked out a paint scheme, bought a few new paints and the first plastic box.

My nids got a boost, as they were my quarantine project, and got started with my stimulus check. I’m also trying to keep them pile of shame neutral, where I don’t buy new models until I paint what I have.


The army before that was deathwatch. They started back before they got a real codex as a counts-as sternguard squad, as I had collected enough DW shoulder pads to equip 10 men. This was expanded to reach a playable ally force, but the change with last codex gutted how I had organized them, so the remnants are mostly a painting project now.

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
whether it be AoS or 40K i was wondering how you decide on a new army?
i want to start a new 40k army but not knowing any of the rules for the forces how do i avoid picking something that sucks rules wise?
as we all know it can be a big investment and this one choice can ruin it.
seems GW does them selves a disservice charging for army rules.
i wonder if they should be free leading to selling lots of figures and maybe multiple armies?

With the 40k App sub even without the book codes, you can get a quick look at unit rules (Besides special rules), which can help. Also, rules for specific armies can be found pretty wildly even without GW giving them away for free. Also, most people don't start an army because of the rules being good or bad, the competitive community is a vocal minority in the Games Workshop hobby.

For me though, I find game mechanics and models to be pretty important to which armies I collect.

I recently started a wolfspear's army for a few reasons.

1) they are space wolves, and I like space wolves
2) they have cool lore, paint scheme and a transfer sheet (which I find important)
3) gives me a reason to build a phobos themed force, which I think is really cool (love my sneaky marines).

Is it a good competitive choice? No. But I think they are really cool, and that's the most important thing for me.

Very simple, to me a potential new army has to satisfy a combinations of requirements, not necessarily in the following order:

1) Models look awesome.

2) A full army (2500-3000ish points or more) doesn't cost much more than the average compared to all the factions.

3) Models must look reasonably different than what I already have, including colour scheme.

4) Generic style of playing of the faction must be reasonably different than I already play.

5) Army is a full standalone one with options. No skew armies like Knights or Custodes or factions with very limited datasheets like Harlequins.

6) Faction isn't aligned with something I already have (OPTIONAL).

7) It's possible to collect a wide functioning army while avoiding duplicates (OPTIONAL).

I consider whether I will have fun modeling and painting it. Rules come and go. Sometimes having an underdog army is a nice challenge and a lot of fun when you do manage to pull out a win.

I think of a theme I'd like to explore, then I just go for it.

I don't know if I would recommend this method.

It is easier than ever to learn how to play a game, learn about an army, read the lore, etc.

Learn the basic rules. Read an army tutorial. Watch some batreps. When I have it narrowed down I write up some lists and test them out. (Using proxies, or online) See if I like it.

Step 1
pull down pants

Step 2
bend over

....



All joking aside, for any mini wargame system

1. the rule of cool, what models do you like best? you are the one that is going to spend all this time and effort on them
2. once you have chosen an army you need to first before all else pick up the army book/codex/tome
3. read the book and learn what the army does then write up a full army list with the specific minis you want to use.
4. slowly start building up the force starting with the core units you will need to play a basic game (for GW games like AOS, and 40K, skirmish systems are often cheap enough to buy the entire force in one go like infinity). as you get more units you can gradually increase the points levels.

If you start army due to rules being good...well it's army you will end up selling in future

For myself, the only thing I'm really concerned with are the actual models. If the models look good kitbashed/converted etc good, if they look great stock, even better. I have also specifically excluded factions just due to not liking the models themselves(Tau, TS, DG,Scions). When the indomitus box came out I hated the look of the Judicar & Ancient so sold those off quickly even tho they were "good" gamewise.

Once I've decided what models are going to make up my army, I then figure out how I would use it on the tabletop. Once I've got that down, I look into paint schemes. If there is a sub-faction within the larger organization with colours I like, great, if not I then look at the models again, maybe do a few paint testers. Then I go for custom colours.

I got halfway thru painting my Bloody Rose before I figured out I didn't like the recipe I was using and have pivoted in a different type of paintjob. Currently I'm working on a scheme for my Palanites for necromunda & have 5 different shades/hues of blue on their uniforms. I still don't like how they look. So time to buy a couple more pots of paint.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

tneva82 wrote:
If you start army due to rules being good...well it's army you will end up selling in future

Yup, rules come and go, models are forever...like herpes.

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
whether it be AoS or 40K i was wondering how you decide on a new army?

Me? I'm all about the models. With some sort of theme, not necessarily GWs, being a close second.
Sometimes the GW lore helps with the theme. But I've long found GWs writing pretty poor so I don't read much of what they print these days. I really don't care what their ongoing story is, or what special character xyz did.... And rules? Rules come & go & shift all around. But as long as I can do themes I like with models I like I can deal with the rules - good/bad/otherwise.

So, when I look at a faction, I:
1) make a list of all of the models I like. These are things that if I decide to play this faction I WILL purchase & use.
2) make a list of all of the models that I don't dislike. Stuff that I'm neutral on. I may or may not purchase. Just depends upon how vital they are to making the army/theme function. For ex; My Archon/Drahzar/Succubus models for the Drukhari - not looking at their specific rules, it is generally impossible to run a Drukhari army without a HQ mini. It's a good thing I'm neutral on these three....
3) make a list of all the models I DON'T like. These are models I will not be buying. No matter how awesome their rules are. No matter how vital they would be to a force or theme. GW can keep them. Ex: Any Drukhari HQ I failed to list in #2. Ex: The AoS Zombie Dragon.
THEN:
I look at the rules for the faction/models. How can I combine #s 1 & 2 from above into something that I can have fun playing???
I also look at the rules for #3 - because while I won't buy a model I dislike, I have no problem using some other companies stuff*, maybe some previous version of the model, or even scratch-building something if I like the rules/how it works with my theme & can find a model I like.
Again, I will use the example of the AoS Zombie Dragon (any version). I think the GW one is a terrible model. Fortunately there's no shortage of other companies making decent to amazing looking undead dragons....
*(I'm not at all interested in playing in GW tournies or events, so non-GW pieces are not a concern to me. Obviously if you choose to play in such environs you may have to sacrifice your standards & spend your $ on crap)
Next:
I calculate the cost.
This includes the Battlefoam bag/case etc to store/transport the force. When I was younger cost was a serious factor. These days? Not really. Though I might still plan out & budget some more costly forces over a period of months.
Ex. #1: Waaay back when I discovered WHFB as a poor college student I really wanted to play a Skaven army. It simply wasn't feasible $wise at that time. So I went with Chaos as a start - high point cost/low model count/decently effective+ at the time.
Ex.#2: This year I built an all Talos/Cronos Drukhari list for 40k. 9 Talos/9 Cronos + an Archon/Succubus/Drazar (I'd have skipped them completely, but by the rules I need at least 1 HQ) & 1 Venom. I built it because by the detachment charts I could & I think Talos look cool. But even with a good discount & no real $ concerns this is still a ridiculously expensive force. So it got budgeted at two Talos kits/month over 9 months with the characters/venom/BF bag in month 10 (Nov).

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
i want to start a new 40k army but not knowing any of the rules for the forces how do i avoid picking something that sucks rules wise?
as we all know it can be a big investment and this one choice can ruin it.

Then I suggest you read the rules for wichever faction you're interested in.
Me? When I decide I'm interested enough in a faction I just go buy the relevant Codex/Tome/army book/whatever they're calling it today & start reading. For secondary books like the Warzone books (Book of Rust etc)? I just look those rules up on line.
There's plenty of ways to find whatever info you want online.

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
seems GW does them selves a disservice charging for army rules.
i wonder if they should be free leading to selling lots of figures and maybe multiple armies?

Ah, and here it is.... "I want free "
Well, you're on-line & there's no shortage of rules info posted, so do a Google search like the rest of us do.
And no, GW is not doing themselves a disservice by charging for their product. They're already selling "lots of figures" & definitely multiple armies to plenty of people.

Pick the models that catch your eye - and your imagination.

thanks all, good stuff.

@CCS - i don't necessarily want free stuff so that's not fair to say, i merely stated that i may be inclined to buy more if i didnt have to buy a codex that i may or may not like first.

yes as some have said i can poke around the internet and watch videos etc but some people just do not enjoy that.

@tneva82 - you may be right on this one. maybe i'll give that a shot on this round. rule of cool!

I generally look at the models and my ideas for their background and then look at any discount boxes and stuff I can combine together into a force. Usually the guts of my force will be a start collecting plus some extra units. I am mostly in it for the model aesthetics, rules are the last thing I consider.

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
thanks all, good stuff.

@CCS - i don't necessarily want free stuff so that's not fair to say, i merely stated that i may be inclined to buy more if i didnt have to buy a codex that i may or may not like first.

yes as some have said i can poke around the internet and watch videos etc but some people just do not enjoy that.

So poke around until you find the codex/actual rules in print on-line & read all about ______. It's all out there.

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
thanks all, good stuff.

@CCS - i don't necessarily want free stuff so that's not fair to say, i merely stated that i may be inclined to buy more if i didnt have to buy a codex that i may or may not like first.

yes as some have said i can poke around the internet and watch videos etc but some people just do not enjoy that.

@tneva82 - you may be right on this one. maybe i'll give that a shot on this round. rule of cool!

Have you purchased any models or codexs before? Maybe browse some army books at your local store

What do you like to paint? Monsters? Infantry? Orcs?

Couple key pts: rule of cool and 3x of troops/dedicated transports. rules and editions come and go faster these days from GW, so what's good today may not be 6 months later. You can't go wrong with bundles and troop choices, 3x or more is necessary and will all be used regularly. Some of the more obscure may suck forever, but they may look cool to collect down the road.

Just because you don't magically know how viable an army is ahead of time doesn't mean you can't find that information. Blood of kittens has tournament winning army lists for every faction. I check those out and make sure the models I actually like for a faction are viable before buying them. You can also use wahapedia to find their full rules and play proxy games before buying anything. Goonhammer has a good writeup on tactics for each faction. You can use battlescribe to make sample lists.

For me, it was:

- Saw some models I liked
- Bought a Start Collecting set & review army rules
- Build and then play the starting army to get a feel of the army
- Decide what units to add to fit my playstyle and buy them
- Expand as desired for variety

I suppose this was a bit of a rhetorical question.
I’ve owned and played everything since rogue trader at one point or another but don’t care to paint. I picked up an air brush so maybe that’ll change.
Thinking about tau again.
See how the wind blows tomorrow. lol

Oh I thought you were starting the hobby. I just saw your join year here and you came off as new. Whatever floats your boat in terms of stratagems, FOC, theme, fluff.

I'd recommend getting at least one army commission painted so you can attend events and play games with others at rtt or GT events and enjoy having a finished army with whatever system. Or play one of those ghost style armies where you prime white and wash them. Lots of ways to ignore the paint side and still avoid Greytide

I stopped starting new armies and now start new projects. Often a project is just a skirmish sized force, or even as little as one miniature I just need to convert.

Whenever Wargames Atlantic, Victrix or Mantic puts out a new plastic kit or TTCombat releases some new Dropfleet kits, I take a look and see if any of them inspire me to build, convert, or more rarely to paint. Then I buy them.

Rules are a complete nonissue for me. I can find a game system that fits my miniatures if I ever want to play a games with them, which is somewhere around painting on the hobby spectrum between “fun” and “obligation”.

The most important thing to consider is what aesthetic do you enjoy? After that, you can build a similar list with most factions. The only real unique one (well, two) is Knights.
Other than knights, you can build horde, mech, or mix with any codex.

Personally, I wanted to go with a faction that I thought would age well, and there were plenty of Imperial armies, so I went with Tau. Then came HH, and I thought that I picked wrong. Then there was 8 & 9th, and I couldn't play to my strengths. Then JSJ went away...

Just pick something that you are willing to roll with. I like mechs, so when I went for an OPFOR, I chose knights. They are the central focus of my second faction, with numerous detachments to use as allied detachments. TK, DW, GK, Renegade Guard, etc.

Then I realized just how hard it was going to be to get ahold of Renegade Guard\Cultists...

I'm working on it.

speaking of. I just got the big Blackstone Fortress box. Is anyone interested in trading for the Ur-Ghuls, Amallyn Shadowguide, UR-025, Rein & Raus, Pious Vorne, Espern Locarno, Taddeus the Purifier, Janus Draik, and\or the dice\maps\decks etc? I'd be interested in trading for cultists and\or Traitor Guardsmen...

Last three armies I started were due to acquiring a large lot of OOP stuff, and going from there.

Did not "plan" to start Nids, or Dwarves, but.. sucha a deal!

Well first I start with the question, “which kidney do I like the least?” And then I move on from there...

My method maybe wasn’t the best but here I am. It was:-
1) Decided which faction resonated with me most.
2) Bought the codexes and a basic starter box so I could play.
3) Played a couple of games to figure out what models I liked playing best (squigs) and what weaknesses I had (too much infantry, not enough AT).
4) Researched and started building stronger/bigger lists.

Racerguy180 wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:

tneva82 wrote:
If you start army due to rules being good...well it's army you will end up selling in future

Yup, rules come and go, models are forever...like herpes.

As an Eldar player who started in 2nd and some of my first bought models are still current (hopefully at least some not for very much longer) I completely agree. Actually, the world might be closer to finding a cure for herpes, than GW is to update all their models to be less than a decade old

Now about the original question, my answer is simple - if I like the models, then I'm in. GW is known to retcon the lore or misuse a well established one in rage inducing ways (looking at you Rhana Dandra) and rules never last longer than a couple of months (they get nerfed, recosted, changed, overwritten by core rules of new edition or get hard countered by next "new shiny", etc.). I can make my own headcanon, I can play custom rules with friends who are open to such things, but I can't make myself a whole army worth of nice looking models. But it is also in the model department, where GW can discourage me, namely with some of their rather ugly paintjobs. Couple of times already I fell in love with the model because I saw a great paintjob and/or conversion on pinterest or instagram and just had to have it. So look around, inspirations are everywhere, and when you find your next project you will know it in your bones.

Buy stuff i want to collect/build/paint,

buy more stuff

buy more stuff

realise i've almost got enough to make a playable force by happy accident and try and figure out what's missing