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Hey guys and girls.
I just recently decided to get into 40k, and I'm having a crazy hard time settling upon a race.
I'm super torn between Imperial Guard, Eldar and a Space Marine faction of some sort.
My buddy who's getting into it as well picked the Grey Knights, and two of his friends picked Tau and Necrons.
We are all super new to this game and haven't played since childhood (in which I used Eldar.)

I was thinking of either Imperial Guards, an Alaitoc based Eldar army or something perhaps Space Marine related.

I would love some help if you don't mind sharing wisdom with someone new who has no idea where to begin.

Thanks!

Cheers

Firstly, welcome to Dakka!

What sort of army are you looking for? What I mean by that is - long ranged firepower or close-quarters brutal? Horde of bodies or small elite army? Fast / maneuverable or steady and implacible?

Do any of the armies suggested really jump out at you for either moddelling or painting purposes, or are you not that fussed about that sort of thing?

Next, how competative are you intending to be? Are you thinking of attending tournaments or will it just be your friend circle or maybe a gaming club?

Hey Quanar, thanks for the reply!

I like the idea of long ranged fire power, and a small elite army but in terms of looks the orcs are by far my favorite.

I will probably mostly play with a few friends, and gain some new ones through 40k. A gaming club would be very cool.
I don't think I'd like playing in a tournament, unless I got good enough.

But yes model/paint wise orcs are so dang killer, and so are the Imperial Guard. The eldar I've always liked, but they are little "clean" looking for my taste these days.

Thanks again!

You shall choice your army for the look first. At the end of the day, you will spend more time painting and collecting rather than playing.

Furthermore, nothing worst than playing an army just for its rules (if not ever body would field Eldar).

Even if Orc is a CC race, you can still set up your army to make it shooty and limited in models number if you spam the heavy support/elite section.

BUt keep in mind than, Space Marinew is the easiest army to play. Straight forward with similar rules for most of the models in the army.

Price wise, Space marine are the cheapest since all models are in Plastic and you can field a very limited number of units.

All up to you.

killaudio wrote:
I like the idea of long ranged fire power, and a small elite army but in terms of looks the orcs are by far my favorite.

{snip}

But yes model/paint wise orcs are so dang killer, and so are the Imperial Guard. The eldar I've always liked, but they are little "clean" looking for my taste these days.

Well, both Orks and IG can be happily 'dirtied up', and even Space Marines too.

Orks can do long-range, but it's really not what they are best at, ditto for 'elite'.
Imperial Guard easily do the long-range, and can manage somewhat with 'elite' by taking Veteran Squads as Troops instead of the more model-heavy Infantry Platoon.
Marines definitely fit the 'elite', and can do ranged firepower well using Thunderfire Cannons, Predators / Whirlwinds etc. but also handle well at shorter ranges.

I'll echo Xeno's point about collecting an army that you like the look of - you're going to be putting time and effort into it outside of the time it's actually on the table, and enjoying the models means you'll have more motivation to paint / assemble.
Xeno is also right that Space Marines are a good starting army (good all-round stats, simple paint schemes, and mostly ignore Morale (And They Shall Know No Fear)), but since the four of you are all learning at the same time, I think it's less of an issue.

So from all that, I'll recommend the Imperial Guard.

Yes, the most important part of picking an army is looks, rather than rules.
You will quickly grow bored of and likely never finish painting an army you start just because you like its rules.

A ranger themed alaitoc army would be awesome so long as you could resist the temptation of scat packs and wraith units.

D'know how effective it would be.

Marines can be made to be however you like. If you like things like Eldar rangers maybe have a look at Raven Guard. The Sneaky marines.

IG sounds like your best bet, and if you ever become interested in starting space marines you can ally them together!

+1 to what others has said. Looks come first, if you intend to paint. Also, marines and guard can be combined as allies, so it doesn't really matter which one you choose at first. You also get access to a lot of forgeworld goodies for both armies.

If you like orks, learn to dip, so you can churn out armies en-masse. If you want elite, there's always nobs, nob bikers and power armoured nobs. They've been getting the short end of the stick ruleswise, and will probably continue to get shafted, so be aware.

Don't pick eldar unless you really like their looks. If there's any players we need less of, its them.

I will list some of the questions I ask myself when considering a new army. This list is mostly in order of importance.

Which models do I think look the best?
Do I want swarm, elite, or in between?
How much psychic do I want?
What type of combat do I want to play? Long, middle, or short range shooting; or close combat?
Do I want a mobile glass canon or a slogging tank?
Is it competitive and do I care?

My criteria comes down to the asthetics first followed by play style. Two weeks ago I went through the decision process for starting a new army. I had it narrowed down to chaos demons, because I absolutely love the nurgle and tzeentch, and eldar because i really like the look of all the wraith models. From there I broke down the playstyles and made a decision.

A full Guard army looks pretty awesome on the table, whether that's a massive Infantry Platoon or a heap of tanks. Sure, you'll be painting alot of models if you go Infantry, but once you get the hang of washing/dry brushing you can paint alot of decent looking models up quite quickly. And with so many models on the table, their individual paint jobs don't matter so much as the entire unit of them all standing painted together does.

Plus Guard make great Allies for and with any Imperium Army. You can easily pick up Space Marines or Skitarri or Mechanicus or Knights or Sisters or Inquisition or Assassins to add into your force later on.

killaudio wrote:
Hey guys and girls.
I just recently decided to get into 40k, and I'm having a crazy hard time settling upon a race.
I'm super torn between Imperial Guard, Eldar and a Space Marine faction of some sort.
My buddy who's getting into it as well picked the Grey Knights, and two of his friends picked Tau and Necrons.
We are all super new to this game and haven't played since childhood (in which I used Eldar.)

I was thinking of either Imperial Guards, an Alaitoc based Eldar army or something perhaps Space Marine related.

I would love some help if you don't mind sharing wisdom with someone new who has no idea where to begin.

Thanks!

Cheers

Absolutely Eldar.

Read the background of Eldar, IG and SM if you didn't. It's gon' to help to make the decision.
+ looks, of course. Just rules and powah are boring as going through warp on empty space hulk.

++++++++++ RECORD EXPUNGED BY INQUISITORIAL DECREE ++++++++++

SHUN THE XENOS, THE MUTANT AND THE HERETIC. THIS GALAXY BELONGS TO MANKIND.

If you can't decide between Guard and Marines, you should split the difference and play Adepta Sororitas.

Thanks so much for all the great advice.
So with a lot of thought, I really like the idea of an elite army.
I like the idea of something sniper based?
I love the way the orcs look but it's just a play style that I've ever thought would be good for me.

Any thoughts with those in mind?
Elite, sniper/long ranged tactical based?

Thanks again for all the great info, this has helped a ton.

Sniper armies - you want Marines for Scout Snipers, or Eldar for Rangers, really.

The only other armies that really does 'snipers' as a thing are Guard and Tau, and they can't pull them in as their core force - they have to deploy as specialists (Ratlings in Elites, or SWS as part of a larger Platoon, or Pathfinders in Fast Attack) - that said, Ratlings are the best snipers in the game between low cost, high BS and crazy cover saves.

Simply, go with what you love or feel most drawn to. Don't over complicate it, just leave it at that.

See the link in my sig for a video about army choice. My first entry in a sort of video blog.

-SCP