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I read he topic and my mind went to simplest as in what is the list that can do anything with fewest different models. My mind came to necron 1) Overlord 2)immortal (gauss for "anti-vehicle" tesla for everything else) sure it is bad in the sense of there are better things in the codex to do that but for an ultra minimalist you can't beat two models, right?

 n0t_u wrote:
Knights are probably one of the most simplistic to use.

Just need to know where to point and where to not stand around.

That's a good point, actually. Imperial Knights ought to win hands-down because in my mind you can't possibly get any simpler than an "army" with literally one unit.

Probably also one of the "cheapest" ones to build, too; just buy five plastic Knights from GW and the codex. Done.

 Sidstyler wrote:

 n0t_u wrote:
Knights are probably one of the most simplistic to use.

Just need to know where to point and where to not stand around.

That's a good point, actually. Imperial Knights ought to win hands-down because in my mind you can't possibly get any simpler than an "army" with literally one unit.

Probably also one of the "cheapest" ones to build, too; just buy five plastic Knights from GW and the codex. Done.

Indeed, IK is a rather simple army to play even in objective based missions.
Knights are fast, very shooty, and deadly in cc.

Im thinking the Deathstorm box currently released may be a good place to start. I like both armies and the set includes all the required rules to get started.

Theres enough variety in unit choices and seems like an open door into the hobby, gamewise.

Has anyone got this and could you tell me if its balanced?

The IK sound like the simplest, but I doubt theres much variety in tactics per game and come across as an ally type army.

I'm going to throw in Militarum Tempestus.

No special characters, almost no special rules, simple weapon choices, only 3 different infantry as well as 2 vehicle statlines and just one box to cover them all.

 wuestenfux wrote:

 Sidstyler wrote:

 n0t_u wrote:
Knights are probably one of the most simplistic to use.

Just need to know where to point and where to not stand around.

That's a good point, actually. Imperial Knights ought to win hands-down because in my mind you can't possibly get any simpler than an "army" with literally one unit.

Probably also one of the "cheapest" ones to build, too; just buy five plastic Knights from GW and the codex. Done.

Indeed, IK is a rather simple army to play even in objective based missions.
Knights are fast, very shooty, and deadly in cc.

"Simplest to play" is a moot point when nobody will play you...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
(Short explanation: Knights are the ultimate skew list. Either the other guy list-tailors to fight them and wins 100% of games or he doesn't and you win 100% of games, they're not fun to fight since you know the outcome of the game already.)

 AnomanderRake wrote:
"Simplest to play" is a moot point when nobody will play you...

Well then Tau and Eldar shouldn't be on the list, either.

And greentide with enough PK to kill IK.

Slightly off-topic, but I would argue that outside a fun theoretical question, I would never, ever, embark on a long-term hobby like 40k, based on the easiest way to start.

Growing pains in the beginning would be nothing compared to ending up spending a lot on an army you end up hating the fluff of, or aesthetics, etc...

Also "best" or "competitive" comes and goes, and will forever be in flux, so the "right" way to pick an army should almost always be the one you love looking at on a table, can imagine painting, or enjoy the fiction of.

You have to buy a lot of models but if you want simplicity, green tide orks. Charge, charge, pick up models after they're shot, fight with what's left.

Imperial Knights are #1 in simplicity.

Buy 3-4 Knights, put on board, move towards nearest thing, rip and tear until there's nothing left to rip and tear.

Its then followed by Tau, who literally just have to stand still and shoot the enemy to death, newbie vs newbie, the Tau player will probably win as its so simple to play them.

Marines are far from simple. All of the seemingly obvious choices, Tac Marines, Assault Squads, Terminators, etc are only barely useable at exclusively a low level if you know how to use them, and it isn't as simple as moving them towards the nearest thing and trying to beat skulls in. Tac Marines, even with Rhinos, are pretty garbage, latter two are still mostly useless. A lot of the obvious choices are just plain awful, hell.

Winning against a competent player with Marines as a newbie is leagues more of an uphill battle than if you were playing Tau or had an Eldar army with the odd wave serpent.

Honestly...

choose the army you like most and not what is the simplest army to play.40k isnt that complicated as it seems due to the mass of rules. You learn while you play the game. Okay, if you want a flat learning curve stick to armies like marines, eldar or tau. But dont listen to that competitive spamming crap like serpent spam, farsight bomb etc. unless you want to play in an competetive environment.

Spamming in general leads to really boring games, will earn you the hate of all the casual players and if a new dex arrives your whole army might become useless because of rebalancing.

If you cant decide what you like most, take marines:
- easy to learn, hard to master
- you can get them cheap on ebay
- you can decide between different books (Space Marines, Blood Angles, Dark Angles, Space Wolves) and Chapter Tactics with minimal adjustments
- Marines are more forgiving than most other armies
- real big selection of models
- can ally with every imperial army to overcome their own weaknesses

MoG

Some sound advice here, thanks.

@ MoG (and others), is it savvy to paint marines a neutral colour allowing me to switch up between chapters? How is that treated amongst the community and minor events?

Please base your choice on the faction you most want to get behind, not just the simplest. Aside from cautioning a second look if thinking of starting as Eldar (Dark, Craftworld, or Corsair), I wouldnt worry about it. And, if it is an Eldar faction that tickles your fancy, then go for it!

As for simplest, that depends on the list. For instance, Davu + WK is a lot easier, especially for a starting player, than a Demi company SM list. But White Scar bike spam - also an SM list - would be simpler still. From an army-wide perspective, the Eldar factions can be a bit more nuanced. I'm glad someone steared me towards Marines at first. But if you didn't care about your meta or its super competitive, davu CW Eldar is simple and easy.

What aesthetics/fluff does speak to you?

KSpen wrote:
Thanks for your feedback guys.

Looks like its not really an army, but a build that answers the question.

I like Tyranids, but when I see a Lictor has like half a dozen rules, It puts me off.

As a guy who gets in a couple of (fantasy) games a month in, I suppose its not really about my own army, but all the others.

I mean, once Ive got the hang of my own army and the rules, its all the other (army) rules that makes me apprehensive.

Im ranting now, but cant help feel that 40k in general is becoming really inaccessible with so many rules, by which I mean, to be on a tactical par with everyone, I need to know all their rules too.

If you like Tyranids then go for it. They're actually pretty easy to learn and there is a near on 300 page thread about them in the tactics forum. I'm biased as they're by far my favourite though
Lictors are unique with the amount of special rules they have and although they all have funny names they pretty much are just different ways of dictating deployment options ie. Chameleonic Skin: Lictors don't scatter when they deepstrike and Pheromone Trail: Units that deepstrike within 6" of a Lictor that was on the board in the previous turn don't scatter. The others are just generic special rules.

KSpen wrote:
@ MoG (and others), is it savvy to paint marines a neutral colour allowing me to switch up between chapters? How is that treated amongst the community and minor events?

Most of the People dont care, I think. As Long as you are using the right Units (not pretending a biker squad being Thunder Wolf Cavalary), you can Switch as you like.

Has the legion of the damned been mentioned?

KSpen wrote:
Some sound advice here, thanks.

@ MoG (and others), is it savvy to paint marines a neutral colour allowing me to switch up between chapters? How is that treated amongst the community and minor events?

There are about a thousand chapters of space marines, the majority of which can easily be represented by using the chapter tactics in C:SM, or by using the rules from the blood angels, dark angels or space wolf books. a Space marine is a space marine after all, and aside from a few specific units and rules, there is very little difference between any of the marine armies.

Designing your own chapter heraldry will allow you to switch between any of the Marine armies with relative ease, so long as you inform your opponent exactly which chapter tactic or army book you are using.

It can be a bit more tricky if you paint your army as, say, Ultramarines, as Ultramarines have a specific chapter tactic, and it can lead to some confusion if you are using the rules for blood angels, for example.

A simple trick i suppose, even if you decide you want to paint your army in the colours of a specific chapter is to leave the heraldry off the shoulder pads.

However, i personally know of only a couple of individuals who would object if I decided that my Imperial fists were going to rock up to the battlefield as black templars for a change. That said how people in your area would react is something you can only find out by asking them

As to how events would regard the issue, you would have to ask the organiser before hand.

I'll toss it up. IK, are definitely the simplest. Legion of the Damned, probably second simplest as they literally have only one unit and can only play unbound. As for full army lists, probably Tau. You point your guns, roll some dice, lose your combats then see where it goes. Unfortunately you don't learn the game that way.

I have the hardest time getting used to the assault rules considering my first army was Tau and now I play DE.

Most of the youngins here play space marines because they pretty simple to pick up, paint and play

 ChaosxVoid wrote:
Most of the youngins here play space marines because they pretty simple to pick up, paint and play

Indeed, I'd start with Space Marines.
It's a highly flexible army and forgiving to play.
Xenos armies are more difficult to play successfully for beginners.

Strait infantry guard are easy, orders are fairly straightforward and strategy amounts to swarm them with dudes. You can learn alot from them and guard have access to most of the game mechanics and usrs (deepstriking, psychic powers and other common things). With a large number of cheap troops that are fairly good for their cost they are fairly forgiving. The army allows room to grow and tactical depth. They are comparable to marines but for some reason are not as popular with beginners. Their strategy is fairly intuitive and a platoon is fairly good and can kill almost anything.

The army is point and click and forgivable.

Also the Guard is basically "World War II in SPAAAACE" which makes it easier to get your head around.