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Not that long ago, I ragequit 40K and sold my rather large Tyranid army for peanuts. Back in the day, I felt that I had good reasons for my decision and I had made at least few games under the 7th edition to justify them. Since then I started Dropzone Commander, Warmachine, Malifaux and recently Infinity. All of them are good, but I've decided to focus only on Malifaux and Infinity ,as I've discovered that I enjoy skirmish games the most. All was well, but one of my friends decided to get back into 40K by starting Necrons. This roughly coincided with one of my most eye-opening experiences in my time as a TT wargamer. After 3 years, 5 game systems and 8 factions, I've finally found an army that I really like- Malifaux's Arcanists. As I result, I started winning - my first five games with them were wins. This was something that I've always wanted and even the wins against experienced player were rather effortless. But my last game was terrible- I tabled my newbie opponent without losing a unit (which is incerdibly rare in Malifaux). It was brutal and the poor kid was close to tears. I didn't want push too hard and I warned him that I won't hold back, but we will discuss the game after it is over. I tried to be gentle and explained all of my abilities and the rationales behind my moves , but it ended being simply terrible. What I was doing? Finally, I was having what I've always wanted , but why I wasn't feeling good? Then something quite simple occurred to me- the winning is not what's important , but having a good time with another person. And this bring us back to 40K. Sorry for the saccharine detour.

I will tell you how I feel about 40K after the dust has settled. I will be completely frank and won't hold back anything. As far as rules go, it is somewhat competent, but I've played much worse. Actually, I like it's old school feel and clunkiness. It certainly has it's charms. The balance is totally out of the window,but it shouldn't matter when playing with a group of like-minded friends .After Malifaux and Infinity, I find a good part of GW's models (especially the human ones) quite unimpressive and not to my liking. On the other hand, many of my favorite models of all time come from Warhammer/40K. Most of the End Times stuff is absolutely stunning and many of the monstrous creatures in the game are simply brilliant. Also ,the models are great from a technical stand point and are an absolute blast to work with. I don't like most of the more recent fluff, but 40K's core is quite solid and I still find it extremely enjoyable. The emergent storytelling aspect of the game is almost unparallelled , which is a huge plus for me. So, my fate is settled- I will restart 40K, this time as a casual. But here comes the problem and I need your help.

The thing is that my most likely opponents play Necron and CSM , two armies on the opposite sides of the power spectrum. I don't want to curbstomp, but I don't want to be curbstomped too. I don't mind losing, but at least I want to go down fighting. I find my current position quite uncomfortable and maybe the solution is to settle for a mid-tier faction. Although ,they certainly don't fit that criteria, my first impulse is to start the first 40K faction that caught my eye- Tau. I like mecha and their animesque aesthetics, but I am constantly hearing that they are quite boring and aren't very fun to play against. This is a big no for me. Maybe there is a build that doesn't have this problem? My other option is Daemons. I find their whole model range quite to my liking and even if I don't play a single game of 40K, they will be a blast to collect, built and paint. This is the only horde army that I would play after the horror that were the Tyranids. I don't know how will they perform against Necrons though. I haven't ruled out the other factions, except Dark Angels. They were my first 40K army and now I hate those guys!

So, can you help me choose a fun faction that can stand comfortably between the Necrons and CSM? Also, I would like to add that I don't want to stir the hive or project any negativity towards 40K, I feel that I am quite aware of its shortcomings and strengths. Thanks!

Go Tau. I will personally send a Deathwatch operative to nuke your home, but you'll enjoy playing as those blue fish people in the meantime.

Daemons weird me out and I don't understand their army principles, but I have seen them be devastating and they can do well. Again if you like them, play them.

Go for what catches your eye and don't worry about strengths. All armies have perks. Apart from Sisters, who deserve none (hur hur)

I would say go for daemons, they have a large model ranges meaning you can play with at least 4 different play styles and their models are fantastic and full of personality.
Also you say you like the end times models, I am sure you could find ways of converting some of the units to 40K.

I've found my daemons either table or get tabled so they can go either way but with the loci, rewards and so many characters-from heralds or unit champions- for challenges the games are always unique. People always seem to have a positive reaction to playing daemons (mainly I guess because they aren't too common) and with the new blood thirster hopefully there might be more daemons on the way.

All I will say is that they lack range, I am not a fan of tzeentch as means of shooting because I have never really been a fan of psychic powers but soul grinders are good though a little limited to what they can do and the khorne skull cannon looks interesting though I haven't used it.

So yeah, that's all I have to say, and if you do chose them I would say go mad, don't hold back that will just get you shot up; take risks, go all out and hopefully the gods will reward you. They have enough crazy rules that even you might not know what's going to happen, let alone your opponent.

I would say go for whatever army you like the most and than ragequit again.

Same here...
Choose what you like.

I play many game systems and never (rage-)quit anything.
I sometimes played games or armies less or not for a while, but always to return to them later on. Variety helps.

In regard to variety any Imperium combo is currently a good idea. They can all be allied (battle brothers), so the options are endless. All space Marine chapters, Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard), Imperial Knights, Adeptus Mechanicus, Assassins, Inquisition; anything can be combined with all combos legal. And you can also ally with many other codexes, but sticking within the Imperium is probably best (at first ;-)
While with other armies you choose 1 army and in most cases small allied force at most.

And nothing wrong with tyranids. Not best-in-class in "the current meta". But I always liked playing my Tyranids for instance, in every edition since 4th. I never played monstrous lists, no twin-linked devourer or winged tyrant ever and still did well with a bit of everything with warriors for synapse as core concept.

Infinity and Malifaux have their own problems and balance-problem reasons why people quit them.

Thanks! I will probably get Daemons as I like their look the most.

3 game systems in 5 years? Man, I wish I bounced around and scoped out some more options... Here I've just been wallowing in 40K for some 10 odd years.

No,no,no- 5 game systems in 3 years.4 of them were started in the last year .After 40K crumbled for us , we were like kids in a candy store. Now I can safely say that I've tried almost everything big on the market. Oh, I forgot to include X-Wing in those 5!

Haha, oh wow. I'm jealous you've had a chance to toy around with so many of the other options. But that sweet, sweet plastic 40K crack brought you back!

I've wanted to dabble in X-wing. Is the introductory pack worth it?

II think it is. It suffers from the starter syndrome, just like almost every other starter in existence - It is good for showing you the mechanics of the game,nothing more. There are few scenarios though to spice things up a bit. Splitting two starters with a friend is a good option. Maybe you should try to find someone who can demo the game- X-Wing should be wildly popular in the US.

I can safely recommend X-Wing. It is quite fast, dynamic and dirty cheap. It is quite easy to build your "army" to 100 points, which is the normal point level for a game. Although, not without problems, the prepainted minis are the best that I've seen. The list building is good with lots of options like upgrades and different pilots for the various ships. With a typical game that can be played in an hour, streamlined and clear rules, the reasonable cost and the zero prep time for the minis, X-Wing is perfect as a side game. It doesn't cry for attention like practically every other TT wargame on the market.

Awesome, I'm going to have to get myself to a demo here. I really have no excuse either, FFG is about 30 mins from me (finally Minnesota has something!).

The scoundrel faction or whatever they're called look really interesting. Gotta talk a friend into picking up some starter boxes with me.

X-wing has been a very fun aside to playing 40k for me.
Buying 2 starter boxes for myself is how I started = no regrets. I now have at least (very least) one of everything including the "Scum and Villainy" faction.
Very little time investment to get going is a win.

abuse necron decurion. WAAC

 Filch wrote:
abuse necron decurion. WAAC

I am not sure what's that supposed to mean. The Decurion is the main part of the problem. With the money I will throw at Daemons, I can buy Necrons instead - I like their models and I even like the newcron fluff (HERESY!!!!). But I don't want to play something that feels broken and unfair. It sucks the fun out of the game. I remember 40K being quite enjoyable, but that was before the triptides , taudar, the latest FW hotness started to appear in our community at the end of 6th. This pushed me over the edge, and the half-baked money grab that was the 7th edition was the last drop. I felt that I had no choice ,but to leave. Now I want to return for the sake of those old times. It's just that one of my friends is set on playing Decurion. Daemons have cheese too, but that's not why I am considering them- I really like their models ,fluff and playstyle the most. Isn't that what 40K was about?

40k will Always gave holes in the system and players will always use them.

And the Necron Decurion is good, maybe a bit too good, but in every edition of 40k including this one there were much worse combo's. The only problem with the decurion is that is works with an average army which is easily fielded.
While most other involve broken units/models, upgrades, special characters and allied combo's...

I play X-wing too. I love the simplicity and can play and feel like a superb and fun dogfight at it's best.
But that game has less then 25 models (i have most) and even that game has broken combo's.
Especially the 360-turret builds are the no-brainers for players that want to win without having to think much.
No dogfight needed, just move forward and shoot around you.

I own Xwing (every available model), but never play it because without models that I paint myself and personalize, it's missing the hobby aspect (which is important to me).

Three of the best things about 40k for me are also aspects that some people hate:

- models can be configured with many options, and options matter.
- it promotes tons of models. For me, the more the better.
- I will never in my lifetime be able to model everything made for the game... So there is always something to look forward to.

In terms of a faction... I think identifying with the aesthetic is really important. If all else fails, you could go with Space Mariens ;P they always have a fighting chance, and can ally with half the models GW makes -- including the new skitarrii, if those appeal to you.

 Talys wrote:
I own Xwing (every available model), but never play it because without models that I paint myself and personalize, it's missing the hobby aspect (which is important to me).
Three of the best things about 40k for me are also aspects that some people hate:
- models can be configured with many options, and options matter.
- it promotes tons of models. For me, the more the better.
- I will never in my lifetime be able to model everything made for the game... So there is always something to look forward to.
In terms of a faction... I think identifying with the aesthetic is really important. If all else fails, you could go with Space Mariens ;P they always have a fighting chance, and can ally with half the models GW makes -- including the new skitarrii, if those appeal to you.

Yep, all this in a nutshell.
Many of my larger models get magnets to be configurable but the average joe grunts get committed to the weapons being glued on.
It does become the more the merrier with some armies.
Not sure I like the latest skinny Skitarrii but the joe troopers look cool with the tin can helmets.
At least now there is an insane amount of bits to make any mechanicus adept you can imagine.
The standardization of fits make kit-bashing particularly easy to do, that would be the single best thing I think GW does.

I fully agree!

I am in this hobby for the creative part above all.
The game is important, but without the creative aspect i could just as well play boardgames and/or computer games instead.


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40k is, creatively speaking, my favourite game and it has been since about 25 years now.

And my favourite army are the Orks, the army for which you can build about anything and use it.

Which chaos god you prefer? Khornate daemonkin is out and others comes later. What kind of CSM your friend plays?

Don't afraid Tau, if you like them fluff and looks. You can use allies if you want more diversity.