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I gave up playing GW games last year, but due to being asked to be best man for a friend, he has asked to visit Warhammer World later this year to play some games (getting to the bars afterwards) and I have to buy a new 40k army.

I've decided that if I am going to buy a 40k army, I'm going to build one to last and make it into a bit of a project, but my funds are limited.

My friend has GK, DW and Imperial Knights... What armies are quite powerful, but also quite cheap?

If your aiming for 2k games knights from a third party seller may be one of the cheaper options.

Gk draigo wing isn't that strong anymore, DA terminator builds don't really work and loganwing is too expensive pointswise if you want to buy assault troops.

Imperial Knights do not appeal to me as they didn't include all the other types of Knight.

I don't want to collect an army that my friend has either.

I'm pretty screwed aren't I?

Wait, so you're looking to buy an army just for a single event before a night of bar-hopping?

 Ailaros wrote:
Wait, so you're looking to buy an army just for a single event before a night of bar-hopping?

No, no, no.

I intend to use the army as a painting and modelling project too. I fully intend to collect the army, but it needs to be cheap.

The bar hopping is just something to get some beers in for the lad. I don't drink, but the rest of our party does.

What does your time horizon look like? Do you just need the minis, or do the minis need to be done up? Do you need them for a couple of weeks from now or a year from now?

An army that can last a while? Well the strongest codexes at the moment are Tau and Eldar, but Marines will always be the most updated and supported army.

The models need to be ready before the end of the year, so I have a bit of time to build and paint 1850 points.

Tau, Eldar and Marines?

Hmmmm... all of which are pretty expensive, but a custom Marine army can be used across a number of codexes.

There are no cheap 40k armies anymore.

 ClockworkZion wrote:
There are no cheap 40k armies anymore.

So I've seen. It was the reason why I quit playing, but I really want to do this for my friend.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh well... i'll just have to pick an army and get on with it.

Cheers guys.

I'd say just look for some marines on ebay or some other online seller. heck even craigslist might help.

Can pretty much do whatever you want and can use whatever chapter tactic you want to use at your whim.

I vote you do space marines.

Well, unfortunately, the cheapest army by a long shot at the moment is DA, which you say your friend already has.

It's possible to do something reasonably cheap, and with relatively few models, especially if you're looking at eBay.

For the "and powerful" part, we're in a new era of 40k. It's not a matter of picking the strongest codex and then picking the strongest units from that codex. It's now a confusing milieu of codices, allies, dataslates, formations, and expansions where you can just sort of throw everything together.

Picking what's best in that isn't straightforward, and is likely to change drastically as they continue to dump more content at their breakneck pace. I mean, we just got two new armies in a month, for goodness sake.

Plus, looking for a high power army implies that you're either looking to win, or that you think that 40k is a strategy game, neither attitude of which is going to suit you well in your 40k career.

I will speak forthe armies I know the best.

Even though I am in no way a Sapce marine player, I am by dent of the fact that 70% of my opponents have been over time. I know their codex's as well as Ive ever known mine.

I'd say that you can get away with the least amount of specialized models by going Thunderwolf Cavalry Space Wolves. Hard hitting like an SOB, BEAUTIFUL on the table, and they are not overall as expensive to build.

$275 Thundercavalry(15)
$173 Whirlwinds(3)
$60 Wolf Guard(3)
$41. Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf
$115 Grey Hunters (30)
$115 Drop Pods (3)

So you can have a DAMN striking army for about $800 retail. But you can get a lot of this for less from different people, trades and EBay.

Drop Pods for can opening, Thunderwolves for more can opening and Wolfguard for yet more can opening if need be. then let it rain.

But the coolest part about space wolves is they are Space wolves. I mean.... Its pretty awesome right?

Well, I'd opt for Necrons since all units are useful (bar Flayed Ones) and Necron armies can be very competitive.

For an army that weathers the edition and codex changes the best, your basic SM army is a solid investment. You might never be top tier, but are consistently in the middle of the pack. FOTM might come and go, but marines endure.

Puscifer wrote:
What armies are quite powerful, but also quite cheap?

First of all, you are going it the wrong way. What you are asking for is what army is easy to win with plastic toy soldiers. What ever army you choose you are not going to have fun. If that is all you want, to win, you are just wasting your money. There is cheaper alternatives to win at things. I am sure this is not your intent.

So what you need is, what army looks nice to you. What minis appeal to you. What fluff do you like? This will help you when putting and painting the minis together. What kind of player are you? Are you a shooty player or assaulty player? A horde player (not good for money) or a small elite player (also can be expensive). Maybe a combination of all of them.

Also if buying new and not used, it can cost about $300-$700 for a "powerful" army depending on what you choose to play and what books your gaming group is using.

You want powerful. That would be Tau and Eldar. If you like to gamble, Deamons as well if you are lucky on your rolls. So with Tau/Eldar or Eldar/Tau allies you can have a very powerful army there. Cheap, no but can be very "powerful".

Well, Tau, Eldar, and Daemons are too specific. They are geared towards either shooting or cc. Necrons are more well-rounded with units that are both strong at shooting and cc. And Necrons have one of the best flyers in the game with a unique delivery mechanism which makes them very attractive and effective to use.

FMC Daemons are dirt cheap and can be challenging to paint. PRoblem solved...

Davor wrote:

Puscifer wrote:
What armies are quite powerful, but also quite cheap?

First of all, you are going it the wrong way. What you are asking for is what army is easy to win with plastic toy soldiers. What ever army you choose you are not going to have fun. If that is all you want, to win, you are just wasting your money. There is cheaper alternatives to win at things. I am sure this is not your intent.

So what you need is, what army looks nice to you. What minis appeal to you. What fluff do you like? This will help you when putting and painting the minis together. What kind of player are you? Are you a shooty player or assaulty player? A horde player (not good for money) or a small elite player (also can be expensive). Maybe a combination of all of them.

Also if buying new and not used, it can cost about $300-$700 for a "powerful" army depending on what you choose to play and what books your gaming group is using.

You want powerful. That would be Tau and Eldar. If you like to gamble, Deamons as well if you are lucky on your rolls. So with Tau/Eldar or Eldar/Tau allies you can have a very powerful army there. Cheap, no but can be very "powerful".

Oh, I don't mean powerful by I must win at everything. Just something that isn't going to flop at the first wiff of a dice roll. Something that is going to last a while across the editions and is tactically engrossing. Something that has an answer to everything.

Fluff wise, I'd go with Marines/CSM everytime. Gameplay wise, I always play the strong elite armies. Model wise, I like Marines/CSM, Tau and Eldar.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I'm going to have to construct the army bit by bit. No bulk buying here. After getting a core force, I'm limited to £50 a month.

Don't play Daemons if you don't want to worry about the wiff factor. One bad roll on the Warp Storm table and your army is basically toast.

Yeah, I'd go marines then, or CSM, as you say. They're pretty steady over the rules editions and have many various ways to play them. Especially vanilla SM.

 ClockworkZion wrote:
Don't play Daemons if you don't want to worry about the wiff factor. One bad roll on the Warp Storm table and your army is basically toast.

As a Daemon player, agreeing with the sentiment. If you're not prepared to deal with that, you'll have a bad time. Converesly, it's pretty entertaining when enemies pyskers turn into mutants or Khorne rains skulls on your opponents. It can be a cheap army to assemble though.

How are Daemons Cheap? They are a horde army aren't they?

Also... I wouldn't take them vs GK. That is akin to feeding ones testies to a Piranha.

You can end up spending a majority of points on daemon princes and greater daemons if you so wish it, and even the GW kits aren't that poorly priced (35 USD for a plastic prince). They don't have to be horde.

GK aren't an instant anti-daemon force either, considering that daemons do not have to deep strike in any longer. Besides that, the force weapons are the only other concern against multi-wound daemons. Considering the maneuverability of daemons and the availability of fliers, GK aren't an auto-win versus daemons.

There are caveats. many consider Kairos an auto-include to mitigate the randomness. And you will likely be rolling a lot of psychic abilities, so be aware of psychic defenses.

Davor wrote:

Puscifer wrote:
What armies are quite powerful, but also quite cheap?

So what you need is, what army looks nice to you. What minis appeal to you.

Yes. So Space Wolves. Are. Awesome. If I was a Space Marinaholic, those guys would certainly make a compelling argument for being ON MY SHELF!

Lol.

But what will things look like in a year when he's actually playing?

Talking about army power now is nearly pointless.

Puscifer wrote:

Davor wrote:

Puscifer wrote:
What armies are quite powerful, but also quite cheap?

First of all, you are going it the wrong way. What you are asking for is what army is easy to win with plastic toy soldiers. What ever army you choose you are not going to have fun. If that is all you want, to win, you are just wasting your money. There is cheaper alternatives to win at things. I am sure this is not your intent.

So what you need is, what army looks nice to you. What minis appeal to you. What fluff do you like? This will help you when putting and painting the minis together. What kind of player are you? Are you a shooty player or assaulty player? A horde player (not good for money) or a small elite player (also can be expensive). Maybe a combination of all of them.

Also if buying new and not used, it can cost about $300-$700 for a "powerful" army depending on what you choose to play and what books your gaming group is using.

You want powerful. That would be Tau and Eldar. If you like to gamble, Deamons as well if you are lucky on your rolls. So with Tau/Eldar or Eldar/Tau allies you can have a very powerful army there. Cheap, no but can be very "powerful".

Oh, I don't mean powerful by I must win at everything. Just something that isn't going to flop at the first wiff of a dice roll. Something that is going to last a while across the editions and is tactically engrossing. Something that has an answer to everything.

Fluff wise, I'd go with Marines/CSM everytime. Gameplay wise, I always play the strong elite armies. Model wise, I like Marines/CSM, Tau and Eldar.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I'm going to have to construct the army bit by bit. No bulk buying here. After getting a core force, I'm limited to £50 a month.

Looks like SM is the way to go for you, for now. As you say, start small. This way they can be CSM, later if you so wish. (Internet claims they are a crappy codex and can't win with them.) So if yo start with SM, then build up slowly, in time, Eldar or Tau can be allied in as well.

Iyanden Eldar perhaps? The model count is pretty low.

Iyanden are pretty low model count. That is very true. Wraith Knight heads are gawd awful but...that can be replaced.