Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I played 40k a ton in my youth, but stopped playing decades ago due to career/family stuff. But now I'm looking at making a return and I'm looking for input in an army to start with. Unfortunately, I'm finding myself torn between a few choices and would appreciate some input from folks.


What I'm interested in:

1) I think I would prefer units which are specialized in specific roles instead of being generalized (i.e. genestealers are melee murder machines but can't shoot which I like more than something like space marines which can do both well, etc)
2) I tend to prefer playing armies which are less commonly played by other players (this combined with the above point kinda eliminates any Space Marines chapter I think)
3) I'm leaning heavily towards non-humans

What I'm not interested in:

1) I have no interest at all in the FOTM or most overpowered army, I'm in it for style and fun rather than running elite lists


Armies I'm not interested in due to the above:

-Almost every army of the Imperium except for the few I've listed below.
-Tau (I like the idea of the Tau, but I'm not a fan of the battlesuit models so it kinda makes them unplayable for me)

Armies I'm interested in:

-Tyrannids
-Necron
-Chaos Daemons (I'd say this would be a distant third choice maybe, I love the chaos gods but I'm feeling more tyrannid or necron between these three)


Armies I'm not sure about or don't know enough about to really decide on:

-Aeldari (last time I played 40k they were still called Eldar and frankly I have no idea how they've changed over the years, also elves in general aren't something I'm overly fond of)
-Drukhari (I like the idea of space pirates/slavers, but I'm not overly fond of their vehicle models)
-Orks (I used to play Orks. I love them, but I think I'm itching to try something new if I'm coming back to 40k, but I haven't ruled them out completely)
-Astra Militarum (love the models, but they are squishy as heck and don't really excel in much I think? Overwhelming but weak firepower, not really sure here)
-Chaos Space Marines (mostly because they are generalized from what I can tell, most of their units can do anything to a certain extent rather than specializing)
-Leagues of Votann (this army didn't exist when I last played, I know virtually nothing about them)


Any input here on things I should look at or consider? Again, I'm more interested in style and fun rather than just trying to build the most powerful army.

Necrons were the main focus of the last edition and Tyranids are the current focus of 10th edition. So both armies have had some pretty big updates.

Almost the entire Necron line is modern plastics barring the regular Destroyers and named heroes - many of the latter are steadily being released as one-off models from GW now and then so Necorns are doing really well.


Tyranids just got a huge update with new gaunts and a bunch of other things - including two new specialist gaunt types. Barbgaunts (heavier hitting and disruptive) and neurogaunts (synapse support).

They also got a bunch of new lictor variations!



Honestly your view of wanting specialists not generalists is neat because Tyranids do that rather well and over the years whilst they had a lot of generalist "kits" the loadouts you'd take for games would be skewed to specialist. Ergo warriors for close combat would be close combat specialist warriors often without any guns etc.



I think Necron or Tyraind would suit you well. Tyranid is a good choice as you can get "Tyranid Leviathan" halves from the recent 10th editoin boxed set fairly cheaply on ebay/fb trade groups. So you can get a nice starting core really quickly.
With the updates they've had they finally got new bio/pyro vores and new lictors so basically their entire model range is now modern plastics. Carnifex are perhaps the only "long in the tooth" model left which could do with a bit of an update.



If you are willing to use magnets on warriors and bigger models (which I strongly advise you do) then you can specialise a lot with the Tyranids. (I also recommend it because GW is fond of changing up legal weapon options edition to edition so magnets saves you a lot of pain)

I noticed you didn't list the Adeptus Mechanics. While they're technically Imperium they are still a unique faction.
Tyranid does kind of sound like the army of specialists you're interested in though. Actually it's sort of their MO. Whatever the situation, there's a specialized bioform for that.

I was a big fan of Heavy Gear before I ever heard of Warhammer so the Tau were a no-brainer for me.

Just some thoughts of mine.

Custodes are rather new to the game and are very elite and specialized in that they're melee oriented, (they can shoot, but you want them in melee).

.I play Chaos Daemons, their models are VERY specialized and previous editions had special mono-god builds, now you soup them but you can basically go either of the Big Four gods or Be'lakor (expensive army). Chaos Daemons are 'realistically' all about the larger Greater Daemons with lots of characters and chaff, but you can go Nurgle, Tzeentch, Slaanesh, or Khorne if you'd like. (It's not the meta to do this, but it's there).

.Orks have gone from 'can kinda shoot' to basically 'you want to melee', GW seems to have taken their ability DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA away. Orks still have a lot of new models, such as buggies, and Beast Snaggaz though! Orks just want to get in the thick of it, but now they have Grots/Gretchin actually useful!

.There's also Votann/ Squats, but they're sort of shooter generalists.

I don't know much about Tyranids in 10th, I've faced them only once and I'm about to face them this weekend so I can't really help you there.

I've been collecting some Necrons, they seem to have some very specialized roles for their models as well. You got chaff, characters, big things, and even snipers now.

For specialization, I'd also like to toss in and recommend the Aldari and Drukhari, they have VERY specialized units with specific and very niche combat roles!

Go for the models you love most.

Thanks for the input all. I've got a lot to think about!

I didn't play 10th Edition yet so my advice is not from gameplay standing, but if you are new to hobbying then Demons and Tyranids are always good choice, and better than Necrons I think.

Nids & Demons are very forgiving to assemble & paint; they have enough small detail that you can be very creative to paint them, but not enough that it will look too bland if you ignore them & just basecoat->wash.

Necrons used to be great for that too (base colour, ink in voids, dot for eyes if you feel spunky) but new Necron have some sigil & detail everywhere.

Also modelling is easier for Nids & Demon than Necrons. Necron range is all armored skeletons, i.e. regular figure with regular geometries, so mistake when assembling (some slipped disc or badly-seated limb or superglue fingerprint etc) need effort to fix. With Nids & non-Tzeentch Demons you just push green stuff into it & sculpt to vaguely organic shape that fit the surrounding tissue. With Tzeentch Demons you just treat the glue fingerprint as new mutation & paint it like normal lol