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I am about to assemble my very first army - I have already decided that I want to assemble an army of Ultramarines. While I am a huge warhammer 40k fan (I have read countless novels and played numerous games), I have no idea whatsoever about the actual table top and how it plays. Could you give me any advice on what I should buy first? Glue, paints and brush goes without saying but what else? And what about the models themselves? Is Space Marines Battleforce worth getting or will I be better off getting separate kits? Or perhaps should I buy something else entirely. I already own a Space Marines codex (and the Grey Knights one for that matter) and read through both of them many times (though mostly the lore parts, ignoring all the game rules related pages). Thanks in advance for your help, I will greatly appreciate any tips you guys have for a beginner such as me.

The new space marines codex come out next month and it will supersede the current codex that you have. So as far as reading the codex goes I would wait until then and focus on the main rulebook. As for getting started on models the SM battle force isn’t a bad place to start as the bundle saves you a few bucks.

Spartak wrote:
The new space marines codex come out next month and it will supersede the current codex that you have. So as far as reading the codex goes I would wait until then and focus on the main rulebook. As for getting started on models the SM battle force isn’t a bad place to start as the bundle saves you a few bucks.

Yeah, I am aware that the new codex is coming out and I will most definitely be getting it. All right, then I think i'll get the space marine battleforce first of all. Other than that, what would you recommend?

 Devizz wrote:

Yeah, I am aware that the new codex is coming out and I will most definitely be getting it. All right, then I think i'll get the space marine battleforce first of all. Other than that, what would you recommend?

To field a small army that adheres to the rules you'll need to add an HQ choice. The simplest option would be to get the Space Marine Commander, a Librarian, a Chaplin or a Captain. Have a look on the GW website and find a model in the HQ section you like the look of.

As you're going for pure Ultramarines, Marneus Calgar (w/wo honour guard) or Captain Sicarius would also work.

After you have the HQ choice, perhaps supplement your army with another 10 man tactical squad.

To be honest, I would say that, rather than the battleforce, you might be better off with a couple of boxes of tactical marines and a captain, as this will give you a playable force to build from and more importantly give you a feel for how to build and paint SMs.

If, on the other hand, you do go with the battleforce and captain, I'd add another tac squad, and a box of devestators, which will also give you enough heavy weapons to make the 5-man squad in the battleforce a dev squad as well, giving you 2 tac squads, 2 devs, ASM, scouts and a captain, making a pretty good force from the off. Maybe add another rhino at some point for the second tac squad.

As mentioned, you'll need an HQ option. I'd go for a Librarian to start with, to go in the Rhino with a squad. watch out for transport changes, as Rhinos can take 12 in the current codex, but just that 1 version of the codex.

Another choice is to grab some more Scouts.
There's either the gung-ho squad, with bolters, pistols and shotguns, or the sneaky squad, with cloaks and rifles.
Both have their uses, being cheap and scoring.

I expect Land Speeders will get a bit of a boost in the new book, but that's just my guess.

How large a force to you intend to collect? Just a single list and done? Add some extra units to swap out on a whim? Or a reinforced battle company that you will pull lists from? What kind of budget are you working with? How competitive are you?

What part of the lore and tactics of the space marines tickles your fancy? There are a lot of different ways to build a codex marine army, you need to find one that works for you. If, for example, you want a more static gun line, and don't want to use assault marines the battleforce is not going to be a good option. Do you want a drop pod army? Mech? Hybrid? C:SM is flexible enough you can go with what you like, just as long as you build the rest of your list to complement what you chose.

We are in the pre-revision lull, which makes giving suggestions hard. There looks to be a new tactical squad box on the way, which might be the only place to find the new grav-gun. So I would not pick up a lot of the old boxes, as you are probably going to want one or two of the new one. Sternguard is another of our currently good picks, but they are getting a new box as well. While you need a HQ, each edition who's on top and what gear to give them gets shaken up.

The battleforce is a good core to your army. It does have a few drawbacks though. Most people field scouts as snipers, which is a different kit then one one you get. It's a rhino, not a razorback. Rhinos are fine, but for a few bucks more you could have the option of swapping. The assault marines and basic power armor guys are what they are. Not everyone likes assaults in codex lists. I'd still recommend the battle force for most generic collections. If you don't think you'll use parts of it, the savings you get by buying it go away, and you would be better off getting stuff ala carte.

The Devastator box is an excelent addition to a collection. Even if you never field them as a HS pick, just giving your tactical squads the full range of options is worth it. If you do get the battle force, you might want to save some of the extra power armored guys to build all the weapons in the dev kit. They give you more guns then bodies.

Part of my list building philosophy for a TAC Ultramarine list is to have something from every FOC slot. Troops is almost always 2 tac squads in rhinos, but the rest is flexible.

I'm going to make a different suggestion.

While yes the battleforce is a good start, I would recommend picking up the Dark Vengence box set. You can paint the Dark Angel Models Blue and no one is really going to care. But the big thing is that you get the mini rulebook, and templates in addition to models.

As others have said, Vanilla Marines are going to be getting an update in the near future, and with it some new kits. So I wouldn't invest heavily right now.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that the modeling and painting are as much part of the game as anything else. DON'T BUY MORE MODELS THEN YOU CAN PAINT.

Ralis wrote:
I'm going to make a different suggestion.

While yes the battleforce is a good start, I would recommend picking up the Dark Vengence box set. You can paint the Dark Angel Models Blue and no one is really going to care. But the big thing is that you get the mini rulebook, and templates in addition to models.

As others have said, Vanilla Marines are going to be getting an update in the near future, and with it some new kits. So I wouldn't invest heavily right now.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that the modeling and painting are as much part of the game as anything else. DON'T BUY MORE MODELS THEN YOU CAN PAINT.

While the DV box is a really good value for the minis you get, there is a LOT of DA iconography on the models. I was considering picking one up to expand my collection when it came out, but decided against, due to the work it would take to clean them up to field as Ultramarines. YMMV.

For your first army I'd wait for the new codex as its bringing new plastic kits. It is also better to wait till you understand what sort of list you are going to want to run to prevent purchasing models you won't use.

That said I'd suggest picking up a couple of boxes of tactical marines and devastator marines but not building them, as they'll give you useful bits and bodies to add on to the new kits when they come out. The cheaper option would be to pick up the Black Reach Marines from ebay, they can be customised with a bit of work but the default options aren't that bad.

Something like this:
1 Marine half of Black Reach giving you:
1 Commander - comes with a sword, you can swap for a power fist or ax if you prefer out of the other sets
1 Dreadnought (optional, personally I wouldn't bother until we see if the new codex improves them)
5 Terminators - look to pick up Thunder Hammer and shields from Games Workshop direct for these to swap the arms
10 Tactical Marines - try to pick up two sets of these at least if not three, cheap bodies for all the spare bits from the boxes below

Then get:
1 tactical marine box current version
1 tactical marine box new version
2 Sternguard new plastic box
2 Vanguard new plastic box
2 Dev boxes

That'd give you:
1 commander
5 Terminators with Hammers and Shields
10 Sternguard (using the bits from the box on the Black Reach Bodies
10 Vanguard
40 Tactical
2 Dev

I'd then look to sort out transports

Yeah the thing about the battleforce boxes is that they give you a small unit of each variety. So you get a small scout unit, a small assault unit and a tac force in a rhino.

Alot of people would rather get two or 3 boxes of assault marines and will never end up using the scouts, or others would want to get more scouts and will never use the assault marines.

At that point it is a better value to buy each individual.

On the flip side it is good because you get to try out each unit in small point games. You also get the enjoyment of painting/assembling each model. You may find that you like the look and feel of the assault marines and want more just because you like the models.

Thank you all for all the answers, as some of you have pointed out - the new codex along with new figures is coming out soon. That is why I am probably going to wait for these to get released before investing heavily in my army - though I am thinking of getting the following for now:
- Marneus Calgar and the Honor Guard
- Chaplain Cassius (read up on his lore and I really love the guy)
- Venerable Dreadnought
- Terminator Squad
- Close Combat Terminator Squad
- Drop Pod
- Predator Tank

Why these? Well, I simply love how the models look. I was also planning on getting both Sternguard and Vanguard veterans in addition to all of the above but decided to wait given that they are getting a new release soon. I also wanted to get Captain Sicarius but I heard that new captain is getting released, with his helemet on? If so, I am going to wait and buy the new one, cause generally I prefer marines with their helmets rather than without them. As you can see, I am aiming mostly for the elite because the idea is that my army will be made of the very best of the best - finest veterans of the 1st/2nd company. Other than all of the figures mentioned, I want to also buy the new tactical squad once it comes out.

And yeah, I was also thinking about getting the Dark Vengeance starter as someone here suggested (its price seems to be really, really good considering all its contents) but realized that a lot of models are meant for a Dark Angel army. Correct me if I am wrong, perhaps only a few models in the said set have imprinted dark angels symbols? How about the termies for example? Can they be made into Ultramarine termies?

That list looks good, it might be worth getting a current tac box as well as the new one as you'll probably need at least 2 squads, and it's a bit cheaper whilst still being a good kit, More parts to mix and match is always good.

Unfortunately all the SM models in the Dark Vengeance set have imprinted Dark Angles symbols and it is a lot of work to get rid of all the symbols. The list you wrote looks good and you like the models so that's great.
One more thing though: If you want to build your CC Terminators as suggested by Looky Likey, don't order the Storm shields and Thunder hammers from the GW website: The ones they sell are for Power Armour marines i.e. the arms are too small for Terminators. Instead you could buy them on ebay which is probably cheaper anyway. What you can do though is to buy the CC terminator box and 5 Assault on Black Reach Terminators and then build 5 with Thunder Hammer/Storm shield and 5 with Lightning Claws (the box comes with 5 of each)

 FlamestormA wrote:
Unfortunately all the SM models in the Dark Vengeance set have imprinted Dark Angles symbols and it is a lot of work to get rid of all the symbols. The list you wrote looks good and you like the models so that's great.
One more thing though: If you want to build your CC Terminators as suggested by Looky Likey, don't order the Storm shields and Thunder hammers from the GW website: The ones they sell are for Power Armour marines i.e. the arms are too small for Terminators. Instead you could buy them on ebay which is probably cheaper anyway. What you can do though is to buy the CC terminator box and 5 Assault on Black Reach Terminators and then build 5 with Thunder Hammer/Storm shield and 5 with Lightning Claws (the box comes with 5 of each)

Nice, good to know, ty mate.