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Looking to join 40k with astra militarum and thought these purchases may be good:

2 start collecting boxes
2 chimeras

So two squads of vets in the chimeras, two tanks and an hq (the second in would cut to make a tank commander I think) along with some mortars....


Is this a good starting point?

Its ok.

depends on your environment.

dont let anyone tell ya otherwise.

There's something I got to ask you. Do you want to win? If so how bad? If your an extremely competitive person let me know. If you really have a favourite and don't mind playing then do what you feel is right.

The Imperial Guard are not a competitive race and are among the worst from a rules perspective. So if you do pick them don't necessarily expect to win with them especially if your meta is competitive.

If that's not an issue and you just want a cool looking army then dive in and get what you like.

The standard Russ is ok but just be sure to build it with swap-able weapons as 'builders remorse' is pretty common with IG.

The 2nd commissar from your start collecting bundle can be quite fruitfully converted into a tank riding one with little hassle if you want a tank commander some personality.

The heavy weapon team sprue comes with enough bits to make a mortar or missile launcher, and also a heavy bolter, autocannon or lascannon but only two crew - it may be helfpul to plan around this.

One thing to keep in mind is that the start collecting box doesn't come with much in the way of useful veteran upgrade weapons, so you may want to shell out for some plasma or melta guns separately.

Otherwise, welcome to the guard! It gets better.

First, how's your local group? Check if 40k is alive and well. Second, are they casual or more competitive? If the latter, then you may want a stronger army, Guard are tough but not impossible to win with, if the former, then you'll be fine.

Remember IG should get a new codex....someday. Perhaps this year.

If so, you'll join the rest of us in dread/fear/panic/disappointment/loss over what they changed (if you get a 7.0 dex) or joy/triumph/ecstasy if the codex is 7.5. No way to know until you get it.

I appreciate the honest feedback guys!

Most of the local area is fairly competitive; so it's looking like guard won't be the best. Truth is I just love tanks; is there another army that can field them in a similar capacity?

Tanks in general have a lot of issues.

it really wont matter which book it comes from.
i think the renegade and heretics ones from forgeworld might be ok

which is why you shouldn't worry about it and just ask for more casual games.

you may get stuck with some spanks but not much to do about it.

edit: also to mention, playing lower points helps remove some of the cheese. and your tanks should be fine at like 1000 points.

as brian stated to space marines have decent tanks some are very over costed, most are still very slow, but they got a new psychic power that could potentially put them over the top.

Space Marines. they're not thought of as a tradtionally tank heavy army but they can field a ton of tanks right now. and the army is considered quite strong and compeitive so you could build a compeitive tank heavy list without too many worries

BrianDavion wrote:
Space Marines. they're not thought of as a tradtionally tank heavy army but they can field a ton of tanks right now. and the army is considered quite strong and compeitive so you could build a compeitive tank heavy list without too many worries

*expaning on the above post for the OP*

(Bear in mind that this is from the perspective of someone who hasn't really shown much in the way of caring for competitive at the moment)

If you go with Space Marines for a tank heavy army, then you'd be looking for the Iron Hands chapter tactics/Fist of Medusa Strike Force (in the Angels of Death Supplement), as you can take the Space Marines "Armoured Task Force" as a main setup/core setup for your army.

Outside of that, I'd say that if you want to start out with those 2 boxes from Guard and the Chimeras and then see about starting space marines, you'd then have something you can ally in when you'd like to experiment with things a little bit. Space Marine tanks have a problem where they lack the range that the Imperial Guard tanks have to offer. In lower point environments, that force right there shouldn't have a huge issue getting things done, but once you get to higher points you'd probably start having issues with just exclusively playing Guard.

Pretty much if you're going tank heavy, the Guard really are one of the armies that can field the most tanks possible, or maybe an Iron Hands focused army of Space Marines. In truth, if you enjoy tanks, then go based on that, especially if the Guard tanks look like something you'd enjoy putting together and painting, otherwise just kinda peruse the GW site for what factions might have tanks you'll enjoy looking at, assembling, and painting. Part of the whole process is finding an army you like to look at, as picking an army based on their competitive appeal that you can't even stand to look at really won't work out in the long run.

Vehicles almost across the board are in a bad spot with a few exceptions. So if your going vehicles may as well go guard. Just talk with your opponents and let them know you want a casual game ect. communicate.

If you have your eyes set on being competitive in a tournament scene with a good chance at winning or doing well you need one of the following armies from strongest to least. Eldar, Space Marines, Necons, Chaos Deamons, or Tau.

Tyranids are a middle of the road codex that have a few solid builds that can do okay at tournaments without being so overpowered you might turn off any casual players. Admech/Skitarri is also a mid tier codex and Chaos Renegades which are basically Chaos IG but better in every way but costly since ForgeWorld.

One thing all these have in common? No tanks. So basically just play IG since they got the tanks you like.

A huge factor to consider, in my opinion, is the whole process of building and painting your army. This can be more significant then playing the game itself particularly horde armies which IG is. For me this factor weighed more heavily for me then whatever current rules is being used for competitive play. Rules change and new flavors of the week come and go.
My advice to new comers has always been to go with the army that aesthetically pleases you. It'll make the whole process of building and painting your army so much more enjoyable. Horde armies are a big dent in the wallet and time. I'm an ork collector myself and I'm putting in all the tlc I can to make them look proppa. Don't underestimate the work you'll have to put into this hobby. Make it easier on yourself by liking the army you want to start.

Zelarias wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
Space Marines. they're not thought of as a tradtionally tank heavy army but they can field a ton of tanks right now. and the army is considered quite strong and compeitive so you could build a compeitive tank heavy list without too many worries

*expaning on the above post for the OP*

(Bear in mind that this is from the perspective of someone who hasn't really shown much in the way of caring for competitive at the moment)

If you go with Space Marines for a tank heavy army, then you'd be looking for the Iron Hands chapter tactics/Fist of Medusa Strike Force (in the Angels of Death Supplement), as you can take the Space Marines "Armoured Task Force" as a main setup/core setup for your army.

actually, all chapters have access to the armored might task force which is pretty much the "ALL THE TANKS!" army.

but yeah I agree Iron Hands is proably the best way to go

Zelarias wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
Space Marines. they're not thought of as a tradtionally tank heavy army but they can field a ton of tanks right now. and the army is considered quite strong and compeitive so you could build a compeitive tank heavy list without too many worries

If you go with Space Marines for a tank heavy army, then you'd be looking for the Iron Hands chapter tactics/Fist of Medusa Strike Force (in the Angels of Death Supplement), as you can take the Space Marines "Armoured Task Force" as a main setup/core setup for your army.

Just like to point out that the Angels of Death supplement just added the Anvil Strike Force detachment that allows the same thing with a few other Auxiliary options and can be used with any chapter tactics. I haven's seen either formation used yet, so I'm not sure which one would actually be stronger, but just pointing out the Iron Hands isn't necessarily the only option for a SM tank army (though it's still probably the best option).

malamis wrote:
The standard Russ is ok but just be sure to build it with swap-able weapons as 'builders remorse' is pretty common with IG.

Indeed. When I was younger, I built my first ever LR as a vanquisher with plasma sponsons and a heavy flamer, just because it looked cool. Never has a more schizophrenic tank graced the battlefields of the 40th millennium! (funnily enough, now that I converted the vanquisher cannon back to a battle cannon it actually does a surprisingly good job supporting infantry gunlines )
A good way to safe (a lot) of money with IG is to magnetise your LR tanks so that you can swap between the different weapons.

Space Marines are probably the best vehicle army right now.

Depending on the point values theres lots of cool things you can do with space marines. Just in the core space marine book you can run a 2 demi companies supported by an armored task force. I've done it before and I had a freaking blast.

Wow. Thanks all!!! I'm leaning towards SM tanks at the moment as unlike thier look as much as a leman Russ but the army as a whole seems to have a lot more to offer. Is magnetizing the predator a neccessity as well?

 targetdg15 wrote:
Wow. Thanks all!!! I'm leaning towards SM tanks at the moment as unlike thier look as much as a leman Russ but the army as a whole seems to have a lot more to offer. Is magnetizing the predator a neccessity as well?

Its nice if you want to switch things up occasionally.

and honestly not that difficult.

this is for every vehicle.

Typically the best load out for the predator is with lazcannon sponsons and autocannon top turret. There is basically no reason to take the twin linked lascannon turret on the pred as it cost additional points but really ins't better than an auto cannon vs most thing. The side sponsor heavy bolter option is cheaper and sometimes useful - I would magnetize the sponsons if you could. They are prone to breaking if you don't anyways.

Units of 3 of them are pretty brutal as they get bonus tank hunter and monster hunter. I prefer the heavy bolter load out just because it is cheaper to field - that's just me though - both are good options.