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the first dawn of war, if you include the expansions, provides a decent cross-section of the various factions in 40k, with nine playable races total. haven't played 2, so i can't say how good it is.
as an ork player, i'd recommend them. as everyone has mentioned, they're fun to model, paint, and play. you can build their vehicles out of just about anything made of plastic, so they can be made on the cheap, and you then have the added satisfaction of having unique trukks and battlewagons, etc...
also, if you have no intention of playing on a competitive level, and having the latest and greatest rules available isn't an immediate concern, they are about to have a new codex released... which means you'll be able to get the old one for a hefty discount, and it's still pretty good...

Maybe take space marine or grey knights

From someone who has been gaming for 27 years, I recommend that you:

Look at the models you like.

Paint a test one.

If you liked painting it, grab the codex.

Read up on the army you want to start.

If you like what you read, buy a squad to paint.

If you liked painting them, make an army list and then if your army has a battleforce, buy that.

You can't really go wrong with that strategy.

I would also look at how the army plays. That will affect how you like the game. I started playing/collecting a year ago and the army I chose based on aesthetics was Tau. I love the army and all. But it's a shooty arny that pretty much ignores two phases of the game. After realizing that I knew very little about the assault phase, I decided to start another army that is involved with all elements of the game. So ask yourself...

Do I want a shooting army, a close-combat army, a psychic army or a specific combination of the three like good shooting, good psychic ability and melee is unimportant?

Puscifer wrote:
From someone who has been gaming for 27 years, I recommend that you:

Look at the models you like.

Paint a test one.

If you liked painting it, grab the codex.

Read up on the army you want to start.

If you like what you read, buy a squad to paint.

If you liked painting them, make an army list and then if your army has a battleforce, buy that.

You can't really go wrong with that strategy.

This is solid advice that I wish I would have followed when I started (or even now to some extent to be honest )

Kyroboru wrote:
Hi there

I have a group of friends who are just starting out with the table top game (although they all know more about the game than me; they have played dawn of war and know a lot of the games backstory etc.)

I've been helping them paint and assemble their models and their board and I'm not so sure about the game itself yet, but I'd really like to get into the model painting.
The races they play are space marines, chaos space marines and necrons and we have another friend who might be joining us with dark angels(?)

The reason I'm turned away by the idea really is the cost of it. The models and codex, etc. We share our resources like glue and paints, and we buy a majority of our models second hand and strip them, but still. It's my boyfriend who's roped me in and I just am not sure if I'd actually enjoy the game as much as assembling the models, as I know so little.

Race wise anyway, I really love the tyranids. They are very cool. They're the thing I saw in the model shop and went 'wow!' at. I also quite like the space wolves, and the dark eldar.
The orks look like their play style is very fun too though.

I was just going to get some second hand tyranids to strip and paint for fun but it seems like you need a lot of them, and it seems like they have a hard learning curve. (I picked up dota 2 quickly enough so even though they are nothing alike lol I presume with my friends help I could learn)
I don't really want space marines.

TLR what race should I start out with for 40k, keeping in mind the cost, difficulty and friends I have already playing?
Is it worth even picking up or should I just paint the models for fun?

Thanks <3

Well...I play Nids, so I reccomend that. I think that they are a lot of fun to mod, and paint, and if you don't over value winning Nids are a fine choice. Cost is an issue with all GW products, but you should be able to run Tyranids in a reasonably economic way.

I reccomend the current "Swarm" box, a Hive Tyrant, and a box of Warriors. That way you can build up to 1250 worth of units, and get reasonably fun play. As you go along, you can add in units that catch your eye. If you check the internet (E-Bay for example) you can find some exelant bargains. The only real downside is that they often come pre-built.

So, I have decided to stick with the nids. I did definitely consider the grey knights, but I figured in the end, I'm probably not ever going to be doing tourneys etc, it would just be for fun.
As I said, I will be primarily fighting against chaos space marines, necrons and dark angels.

I have acquired some termaguants and hormaguants and had fun painting those. I'm not sure if this is the right thread for pictures though.

This was the list I was thinking of eventually making. These are all vanilla point values though. The things in brackets I know I wouldnt be able to have due to like the limits in each slots but if I could get any feed back on the list that would be great.

I've had a lot of trouble trying to put it together. Tyranids seem to be better in close combat but since the main armies I'm fighting against can shoot me to pieces it's an issue getting them close enough. Things like land raiders and monoliths are troublesome too. That's why I've had trouble choosing between a ranged army, a melee army, a mix or a more swarmy army. Yes I am very new but how i percieve it if the melee synapse creatures run away there is noone to give the ranged ones synapse? But if they wait for the other army to reach them they get shot to bits.

HQ
Flyrant x 1
[Cos wings make everything better... right? I'd perfer one to a tyranid prime but my army will probbaly never exceed 1500 points ish so i figure i can invest]

Tyrant guard x 3
[not too sold on these guys]

(deathleaper also looks fun but he seems very fragile)

Troops
Warriors x3
(not too sold on these guys either, but synapse.)

Termagants x30
Hormagauntsx10

Tervigon x 1

(I also have some genestealers lying around, i know theyd wreck necron warriors, cultists, teminators but how to get them there withouut dying? also expensive)

Elites
Hive guard x 3
(if anything this is the one unit i really want to include whether in 2 broods of 2 or a brood of 3)

Zoanthrope x 2
(for tanks, but they seem unreliable)

(also like the looks of venomthropes for shrouding of harpy and flyrant)

Fast Attack
Harpy x 1 (or 2)
(infantry control. I'd like to include a crone or harpy and i think for my opponents im against harpy would be better)

Heavy Support
Carnifex x1
Biovore x3
Tyrannofex x1
(Also love the look of trygon and mawloc)

Not sure again if this is the place but I'm very new and I know there's some people here that would lend me a hand.
Thanks :3