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hi, I am considering coming back to play after more than 20 years, since some friends are back in the game.
Mostly I am back in the mood of painting so I am looking for an army with nice minis, not too many pieces but still playable.

I have narrowd it down to these, mostly for esthetic reasons:

1) Dark Angels: i used to play them, i love the deathwing and the characters.

2) Custodes: nice minis and it seems they are one of the cheapest army financially.

3) Votann: I love the miniatures, should not be too many pieces, i have doubts if they are competitive/fun to play

4) Grey knights: same as custodes, maybe they could be boring to paint

I would play at 2k points with friends, no tournaments.

Thanks for any input.

It's a good time to come back. 10th edition has only just come out, so far only space marines and tyranids have a codex. All other armies have free rules available here until their codex comes out:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/warhammer-40000-downloads/

There is some vague info on competitiveness here:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/10/19/warhammer-40000-metawatch-sisters-of-battle-triumph-in-tampa/

As far as it goes, it suggests LoV currently pretty good, the others less so. But as I understand it that's tournament data so may be different in a less competitive home environment - depends on how your friends play. May also change as codexes are released for the other factions.

There's also going to be a Christmas battleforce box for Leagues Of Votann, if that sways you any:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/10/23/warhammer-40000-battleforces-six-awesome-boxed-sets-to-kickstart-your-winter-season/

Go Votan.
Very nice minis, a wide possibility for paint schemes, they do shooty, they do melee.
Are they fun/competitive at the tourney lv? (shrugs)
Are they fun/competitive at the casual lv amongst friends - well I guess that depends upon how you build them & what/how your friends play....

GK, Custodes, and DA are all degrees of boring to paint IMO.
I also find Custodes really boring to play against 99% of the time. They're fairly expensive pts wise, so a small force with very little variation - either in models or playstyle.

GOBLINS!

Ahem... sorry.

Leagues of Votann are pretty new and will likely get a second wave in 10th Edition.

Dark Angels gives you access to the biggest army range in the game.

Custodes have some cool units and are easily translated to a Horus Heresy army if that every tickles your fancy.

Grey Knights are the poorest offering IMO. Their kits are getting on a bit and they don't get access to any Primaris units as of yet.

I do with dark angels, between the vanilla marine stuff you have access to and dark angels own stuff you'll have lots of differant ways to build the army.

Thank you guys. It seems I may get my hands on half a leviathan box so I would stick with Dark Angels. If that doesn't go through I have decided to get the new votann army box and go with them. Since there are few troops in votann I will be sure everything i paint will be useful, plus i really love the aestethics.

DA are good because even if you find their playstyle not something for you (bricks of DW knights) you can play them as different marines that maybe will suit your needs. Custodes are getting a codex next year, they do and may also in the future requier the use of resin models.
Votan can be fun, but they are a "horde" style army, so if you are looking for a "not too many pieces" army, they will disappoint you. they use ton of infantry and tanks.

And GK. As a GK player, I will say this stay away from them. Even if you are one of the people that like playing a non engagment army, it is also extremly skill intensive and a lot of match ups are just done at the army building level. Plus all the models are old. Not a problem for everyone, I for example don't care about it. But some may not like the idea of a terminator the size of a Guardsman.

If you somehow can get your hands on a not too overpriced last year Custodes christmas box, then it is an almost perfect way to start the army. I think it is like 1500+pts in a box.