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.

Thinking of getting back into 40k but not sure which force to collect... I like converting / building my own models as well as painting, so something that allows that would be good. Also, I quite like big guns and psychic powers, not so concerned about speed. I would rather be able to stand my ground and take a beating that be able to avoid the hit. Psychic powers also appeal, whether they buff or attack...

I have thought of the Chaos Space Marines that are supposedly coming out soon as they have options that cover all of the above. From what I recall though, Chaos seemed to be more biased towards melee than ranged.... I remember annoying things like crazy dreadnoughts that have two ranged weapon systems deciding that charging would be better than shooting.... rollling a 1 on their "crazy chart" or such is what I recall. That makes no sense to me and wastes a costly unit. Obliterators were always a favourite, though the models were horrid. I've thought about an Iron Warrors style force for Chaos Warriors, though will be interesting how I could represent their favour for seige and heavy guns. Though also Iron Warriors don't generally like psychic powers.... Thousand Sons would also be an option, or I could create my own legion, though I tend to find people dislike house-ruled armies. I have thought of a converted Dreadknight as a Iron Warriors Daemon Prince....

Dark Angels are interesting as are Space Wolves, but those are pretty much set in stone in terms of their style and appearance so conversions are limited. Space Wolf Long Fangs are also sort of what I like... bit like Eldar have specialised units.... I like that concept. So normal Space Marines are a bit too "dogmatic" in terms of their look.

Could get Necrons, though they are even more less-conversion friendly.

Orks I could get but someone else I know already has a sizeable force so doing those would limit our gaming options.

Eldar/Dark Eldar are a bit flimsy and not fitting the concept really.


Any other suggestions?

graeme27uk wrote:
I've thought about an Iron Warrors style force for Chaos Warriors, though will be interesting how I could represent their favour for seige and heavy guns.

Take IG allies with big guns and a platoon of cultist meatshields.

though I tend to find people dislike house-ruled armies.

That depends on what you mean by "house ruled". If you mean coming up with different rules for the army, then no, you're not going to be able to make that work unless you play with a known group of friends and develop rules together. However, if you mean taking a mix of units that doesn't match the fluff, then nobody cares. Take whatever (legal) units you want, paint them however you like, add your own fluff. Some people might whine about it, but anything you do in this game is going to make someone complain.

Any other suggestions?

Honestly, narrow down your focus a bit. Big guns means IG or Tau, but forget about psychic powers and durability. Or you could take any of the marine armies for durability and psykers, but then you aren't really getting big guns anymore. You can kind of solve the problem with allies, but if you're starting two new armies simultaneously then you're probably going to have a hard time getting everything done and having a balanced force at all point levels as you scale up.

I'm an Eldar player who's got a Corsair army as well. I'm starting a Space Wolf army since their rules best fit the models I am going to use. I don't give a dog's buttocks about the Space Marine dogma or aesthetics, which I loath, Space Wolves allow me to make best use of Scibor's miniatures since I'm in love with the bear cavalry and the celtic and lion marines. Sadly I won't be able to use the angel marine with wings, but... oh well.

I should say, I'm also planning on using Infinity Wu Jing as rangers for my Eldar and am seriously considering converting Wood Elf Dryads into Wraithguard - or Warmachine Retribution of Scyrah mechs, although they are extremely expensive for this purpose.
We'll see how the new Eldar range looks like, though.

With the standard Eldar range I love Warp Spiders and the tanks the most. Large areas where I can practice freehand and effect-patterns. I'm in the process of covering my Warp Hunter in red runes on a chocolate-coloured background. You'd be surprised how aggressive this looks.
Also, the Eldar aren't flimsy - they are (currently) (too) expensive in points. This is why they fold quickly, not because they die so easily. Guardians we can ignore.