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Hello all. Just getting into 40K and wow there's a lot to learn. I mean the damn rule book is over 400 pages. So I figured the first step would be to pick an Army I've opted for Space Wolves as they seem the most badass and ride wolves for crying out loud. I've ordered paints, and a 10 man squad to get started but was wondering if anyone out there had any other advice for a newbie noob?

Thanks guys.

WELCOME TO DAKKA Its alot to take in at once so start small and go from there. If you have the big book about 260 pages are fluff try to get the small Rulebook from the starter box

Does the mini rule book cover all of the rules I would need to play?

Yes it does - you will also find updated rules and FAQs on the GW website HERE

You'll also need the Space Wolves codex to understand the rules specific to Space Wolves (who have a few great army specific rules) and to find out the fluff assosciated with them hariy bikers.

Welcome battle brother from a fellow newbie

Thanks for the welcomes guys! And yeah I've got the codex and it was the weird thing where right when I have a 'I've got it!' moment something else would confuse me and I'm not normally easily confused. Anyways, I do have a question regarding painting. I've read that it's OK to paint however you like as long as your minis war gear conforms to the rules in the codex but I was wondering if there were any do's and don'ts regarding freestyle painting and the fluff involved with each chapter? Is there anything I shouldn't do to refrain from looking like a total idiot at the table. For example, I've chosen the space wolves for their awesome characters and interesting style (From what I understand of it) but really want to paint them a different colour like purple perhaps. What do I do? do I come up with a background for my squads and a reason why they are different?

Sorry that was a bit more long winded than I'd hoped. Thanks guys.

 andywalker07 wrote:
Thanks for the welcomes guys! And yeah I've got the codex and it was the weird thing where right when I have a 'I've got it!' moment something else would confuse me and I'm not normally easily confused. Anyways, I do have a question regarding painting. I've read that it's OK to paint however you like as long as your minis war gear conforms to the rules in the codex but I was wondering if there were any do's and don'ts regarding freestyle painting and the fluff involved with each chapter? Is there anything I shouldn't do to refrain from looking like a total idiot at the table. For example, I've chosen the space wolves for their awesome characters and interesting style (From what I understand of it) but really want to paint them a different colour like purple perhaps. What do I do? do I come up with a background for my squads and a reason why they are different?

Sorry that was a bit more long winded than I'd hoped. Thanks guys.

In regards to painting and modelling:

1) Rule of Cool: The better it looks, the less people will complain

2) WH40k is rather big on conversions. Swapping armour pieces, heads, additional decorative parts are generally favourable things to do to add flavour to your models.

3) Paint them however you want, but it is always good to keep a theme going for your army, to identify them. For example, two people may have Green marines, but one of them uses black on the shoulder pads, and the other uses blue.

4) It's fun to organize your units by paintjob (Tactical Squad 1 may have red hands, Tactical Squad 2 may have blue hands), but it's all personal preference.

5) Originality is the best part, you can mostly do whatever you want

Thanks, I'll try my best to keep all that in mind. In terms of colour I've bought Xereos purple and plan to keep this as a base colour for all my units. If pressed I intend to link it to the lost Shadow Wolves chapter in that my company (13th) has travelled the former home world of the aforementioned SW. They had white trim and I may keep this, or modify it to dark and call them the Dark Shadows or something.

Conversions I have less of a handle on. I'm hoping I'm right in thinking that space wolves packs can be transformed into pretty much any type of infantry unit for
SW given the correct loadout/points system. However I'm curious as to two things:

1st - Can I use 'nilla tactical squads and paint/load them as any squad I want (Blood Claw, Grey Hunters etc.) or are there rules to which kinds of pieces you can use to assemble units.

2nd - WG TDAs are WG (Which are just wolf packs) with TDA and I assume they have different torsos, but does it matter which other parts you use ie can you just pop a Termie torso on a wolf pack unit and hey presto he's a terminator.

If these questions seem dumb it's because I've only been reading about this for a week and feel I have a long way to go.

 andywalker07 wrote:
Thanks, I'll try my best to keep all that in mind. In terms of colour I've bought Xereos purple and plan to keep this as a base colour for all my units. If pressed I intend to link it to the lost Shadow Wolves chapter in that my company (13th) has travelled the former home world of the aforementioned SW. They had white trim and I may keep this, or modify it to dark and call them the Dark Shadows or something.

Conversions I have less of a handle on. I'm hoping I'm right in thinking that space wolves packs can be transformed into pretty much any type of infantry unit for
SW given the correct loadout/points system. However I'm curious as to two things:

1st - Can I use 'nilla tactical squads and paint/load them as any squad I want (Blood Claw, Grey Hunters etc.) or are there rules to which kinds of pieces you can use to assemble units.

2nd - WG TDAs are WG (Which are just wolf packs) with TDA and I assume they have different torsos, but does it matter which other parts you use ie can you just pop a Termie torso on a wolf pack unit and hey presto he's a terminator.

If these questions seem dumb it's because I've only been reading about this for a week and feel I have a long way to go.

Hmmm... good questions

1) Pretty much. Tbh, I'm no expert on the SW's, but as long as they have the correct wargear, and any necessary iconography it's all good

2) Ah, I see where I didn't cover things properly. What I meant was that you can mix the diffeerent Mk versions of each armour. When converting TDA with PA, it's a little awkward. If it looks like the model is wearing, for the most part, the correct armour, it's fine, but it may get confusing (or look odd) if you have a Terminator with PA arms and legs etc. In theory you should keep all parts in the same armour type, but depending on how you do it, that rule can be bent.

Long story short, follow WYSIWYG and the rule of cool, and you won't go too far wrong

Thanks Selym that really helps. Suppose I had better start creating my list then. Rule of cool duly noted.

Greetings! Welcome to Dakka Dakka!

Hello and welcome to dakka dakka!

My advice would be DIE OOMIE GIT! WAAAGHH!!!

Also; welcome to dakka.

Welcome aboard!