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Hey everybody, im getting into 40k but at the moment i cant decide for the life of me which army i want to play. So far im very interested in Daemons, GK and Necrons but im not sure on which army to play. I am looking to start at around 1k to 1.5k points and while i plan on playing mostly for the fun of it all i also do want to have a army that if played well can still manage to compete. Fluff plays a minor factor to me and while i think its cool right now im not a very fluffy person.

So far from what i have read(which is a lot) is that Grey Knights and Necrons play very similarly as a very mid range shooting army, which i dont mind. I love the wraith's and models in general from the necrons and i feel they have a good balance between decent CC units and shooty units. Same with the GK, i love the models(the dreadknight has really grown on me) and the idea of building a very unit light army(cheap on the wallet is a HUGE plus) but i don't know if i want to be that guy playing GK. Lastly are the Daemons which kinda surprises me since when first deciding on armies daemons were the last army on my mind. Everyone says they are a much harder first army to learn to play, which doesn't really bother me, im also the most unlucky person alive when it comes to dice, but the randomness and fun factor of Daemons really has me intrigued. I don't really love the look of the models, and they are my least favorite easily of the 3, but I do love the idea of having a few big ol demons(and these are the models i do love) with wings running around causing mayhem. I also find that they would best fit my play style best since i dont know if i have the patience to sit back and play smart with Necrons or GK and i love the idea of dropping in and going crazy. If i liked the models more of Daemons i would play them no brainer but the perceived fun factor really evens my dislike of the models.

Thanks for the help in advance, its much appreciated.

Necrons are the strongest army right now. They are good at literally everything. If you want to play in tournaments and be hyper competitive then they are a strong choice. They have a large number of competitive and semi-competitive builds. You can run tons of wraiths, tons of spiders, tons of flyers, tons of foot soldiers, or tons of AV13. They are also very easy to paint compared to something like tyranids. Paint them metal and add a wash and you are half way to a table top quality army. They are about average in terms of cost, though Barges are one of the best deals out there since you get a free HQ with them.

Grey Knights are also very competitive, but not quite as strong as Necrons. You have to like running a small number of models since your basic units cost more than 20 points. They have some fun builds, but they aren't quite as varied as Necrons and don't have quite the model range. You are pretty much stuck with midrange shooting if you want to make a strong build with GK. However, they are one of the two cheapest armies to collect since a single squad costs so many points.

Daemons are awesome. You should totally collect them (I am biased). They have one of the most diverse ranges out there. You get to use completely different painting styles for different units. They have access to some extremely strong melee units (Fiends and Screamers) as well as the most frustrating HQ in the game (Fateweaver). They have access to some decent midrange shooting with Flamers and Horrors, but they are primarily a melee army. They are also very cheap to collect. MCs are a ton of points for their dollar costs and you can convert Tzeentch Heralds on Chariots from a Pink Horror and one or two Screamers. They aren't as competitive as GK and nowhere near Necrons but they have improved significantly with 6th edition and the WD update.

I'd pick the models you like best. Most people spend more time building and painting their models than playing games. You can build a solid 1000 point list for Daemons or GK for less than 250 retail and you can build a solid 1000 point list for Necrons for about 250.

hey thanks for the detailed response. unfortunately i know your right about picking the army with the models i like most, which leads me towards necrons most likely. i still think i might play daemons, but its between them and necrons.

i wish i could pick up anything for $250 retail, i live in Australia were the fatewaver model costs $91 or something stupid over $90. which means i have to pick up stuff off ebay or online to save money.

1 upside i do have is that there is a GW store 10 minutes from me which would mean i have a higher chance of playing 1k ish point games on a regular basis.

jimmyl wrote:
hey thanks for the detailed response. unfortunately i know your right about picking the army with the models i like most, which leads me towards necrons most likely. i still think i might play daemons, but its between them and necrons.

i wish i could pick up anything for $250 retail, i live in Australia were the fatewaver model costs $91 or something stupid over $90. which means i have to pick up stuff off ebay or online to save money.

1 upside i do have is that there is a GW store 10 minutes from me which would mean i have a higher chance of playing 1k ish point games on a regular basis.

If you dont like the look of the army you're fielding then dont field it. If you like the looks of crons. play crons. That the main reason I play GK

Necrons are by far the most powerful shooty army, but they are also very elite. Elite means (as far as I've put together)
that each unit is exceptional at one thing and one thing only but lacks in everything else. You will suffer in small point battles
up to about 1000 because you won't have enough to exploit this elityness.

Take the lychguard for example. 2 attacks, 3 on the charge. Hits on a 3, the hyperphase sword will usually wound on a 3,
the warscythe will usually wound on a 2. Both ignore armour. An armour save of 3+ and an invulnerable 4++ that can deflect
bullets into enemies. This is the best melee unit I know of, however there are better that I have not faced as of yet.
This is not a cheap unit though, A base of 200 for a minimum unit with 25 to switch out to swords and shields.
They are slow, only shoot if shot at and are limited by the enemies weapon for shooting, They are only good for there
durability and melee combat.

But the real threat in the necron army is it's shooting weapons. The tachyon arrow, perfect for suppressing enemy tanks
because the best weapon is truly the one that never has to be shot. the doomsday ark with it's ultra powerful and, as Matt
Ward (spit) put it, aptly named doomsday cannon. The gauss rule makes every unit anti-tank capable, But the most dreaded
weapon of all is the death ray. The doom scythe deep strikes in and fires a straight line 3 d6 from any where within 12 inches
to anywhere. All units under the line takes one hit for every model Str 10 Ap1.

Grey knights are as far as I know are very similar to necrons but focus more on melee and less on shooting. they are effectively
the opposite in this sense.

Deamons are mind frecors bulling bull poop abilities out of there asses every other attack. Thats not to say that the other armies
don't have abilities similar but deamons have more than anyone else.

Well, I'd opt for GK and Necrons since in the 6th ed you can include allies in your army.

Szeras wrote:
Necrons are by far the most powerful shooty army, but they are also very elite. Elite means (as far as I've put together)
that each unit is exceptional at one thing and one thing only but lacks in everything else. You will suffer in small point battles
up to about 1000 because you won't have enough to exploit this elityness.

Take the lychguard for example. 2 attacks, 3 on the charge. Hits on a 3, the hyperphase sword will usually wound on a 3,
the warscythe will usually wound on a 2. Both ignore armour. An armour save of 3+ and an invulnerable 4++ that can deflect
bullets into enemies. This is the best melee unit I know of, however there are better that I have not faced as of yet.
This is not a cheap unit though, A base of 200 for a minimum unit with 25 to switch out to swords and shields.
They are slow, only shoot if shot at and are limited by the enemies weapon for shooting, They are only good for there
durability and melee combat.

But the real threat in the necron army is it's shooting weapons. The tachyon arrow, perfect for suppressing enemy tanks
because the best weapon is truly the one that never has to be shot. the doomsday ark with it's ultra powerful and, as Matt
Ward (spit) put it, aptly named doomsday cannon. The gauss rule makes every unit anti-tank capable, But the most dreaded
weapon of all is the death ray. The doom scythe deep strikes in and fires a straight line 3 d6 from any where within 12 inches
to anywhere. All units under the line takes one hit for every model Str 10 Ap1. So if you knick the base of one model in a 30 ork
boy squad, about 24 will die and it can hit multiple targets and it still has a twin linked tesla destructor that usually gets 5 hits at
strength 7.

Grey knights are as far as I know are very similar to necrons but focus more on melee and less on shooting. they are effectively
the opposite in this sense.

Deamons are mind frecors bulling bull poop abilities out of there asses every other attack. Thats not to say that the other armies
don't have abilities similar but deamons have more than anyone else.

Take a look at the FAQ for the Death Ray, its good, but no where near as good as you seem to think it is.

Sorry, I was wrong.

Necrons are by far the most powerful shooty army, but they are also very elite. Elite means (as far as I've put together)
that each unit is exceptional at one thing and one thing only but lacks in everything else. You will suffer in small point battles
up to about 1000 because you won't have enough to exploit this elityness.

I wouldn't say suffer at all. I've won several 750 battles by taking Wraiths, a Dlord an Abarge and some small troops, and just wiping the floor with my enemies. They can't get all the cool toys until they go up in points, but they far from suffer.

Take the lychguard for example. 2 attacks, 3 on the charge. Hits on a 3, the hyperphase sword will usually wound on a 3

Lychguard more often than not, hit on a 4, as they are only WS4. With their Hyperphase swords being rather weak, since they are only AP3 now, I find them to be a terrible choice. I'd much rather take Wraiths.

the warscythe will usually wound on a 2. Both ignore armour.

The Warscythe is AP1, but the Hyperphase swords are only AP3.

.

This is the best melee unit I know of, however there are better that I have not faced as of yet.

There are much better Melee units, than Lychguard. Wraiths tend to be a lot more durable, and much quicker. While they lack powerweapons, they do have rending, and S6, so they tend to pump out a lot of wounds. Praetorians are arguably better than Lychguard now, with the buff to the RoC. I wouldn't run Praetorians without a Dlord though, because the PE is huge.

But the real threat in the necron army is it's shooting weapons. The tachyon arrow, perfect for suppressing enemy tanks

The Tachyon Arrow is a horrible upgrade, and a waste of points.

the doomsday ark with it's ultra powerful and, as Matt Ward (spit) put it, aptly named doomsday cannon.

While the Doomsday Ark did get a buff in the new ruleset, it's nowhere near the top of our heavy support slot. It should honestly be about 25 points cheaper. As of now, it costs the same as a Doomscythe, and there is no comparison between the two in the current meta.

But the most dreaded
weapon of all is the death ray. The doom scythe deep strikes in and fires a straight line 3 d6 from any where within 12 inches
to anywhere. All units under the line takes one hit for every model Str 10 Ap1. So if you knick the base of one model in a 30 ork
boy squad, about 24 will die and it can hit multiple targets and it still has a twin linked tesla destructor that usually gets 5 hits at
strength 7.

That's not how the deathray works. You need to read the FAQ. It only hits the models that the line crosses over, but it can hit multiple units.

well thanks for all the replies, been really busy lately, well im going daemons, i saw the new horror models and i love them, same with the fateweaver model, the Tzeentch models are awesome, i just dont like the nurgle models. So Tzeentch it is!

jimmyl wrote:
well thanks for all the replies, been really busy lately, well im going daemons, i saw the new horror models and i love them, same with the fateweaver model, the Tzeentch models are awesome, i just dont like the nurgle models. So Tzeentch it is!

Good luck with Daemons!

jimmyl wrote:
well thanks for all the replies, been really busy lately, well im going daemons, i saw the new horror models and i love them, same with the fateweaver model, the Tzeentch models are awesome, i just dont like the nurgle models. So Tzeentch it is!

Good choice. If you're going Tzeentch heavy, don't skimp on the flamers and screamers, they both just got new models and rules in White Dwarf.