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Help! I've been reading the lore for 40k for about a year now, and looking at the various factions as well as contemplating on which one to build an army of. The problem is... GW happens to make them all look so cool (except for humanity, seriously, there are other races too!). I was going to play Tau, then Dark Angels, then Salamanders, now Orks, but, being a minor in high school, I don't yet have a legitimate source of income, and Orks obviously aren't the most cost effective army in the game. So I've signed up for this forum to ask you guys what your thoughts may be for a faction that's somewhat cost effective (I'm not enough of a cheapskate to go for Grey Knights, though) and also somewhat close range faction. Sorry for the dumb question that I should probably be asking somewhere else, but I'm sure at least one of you experts will be kind enough to help me out! Thank you so much in advance if you help me!

Best advice I can say is to go with the army that appeals the most to you both in lore and how they look. No joke, the modelling and painting of your army will take a huge portion of your time and effort. It's so much easier and funner modelling and painting the army you love. Myself I didn't care about current competitive meta when choosing my first army. Myself I love ork fluff, love their models and love that ramshackle weathered look that I enjoy recreating. Yeah heheh orks can be pretty expensive but their boxes come with so many extra bit and gubbinz that you'll be converting in no time.

Ok, thank you for the advice, Prowler, you are absolutely right. I think just to be sure I'm going to narrow down the factions that I like and don't on the GW web store and on the wikia, is it ok if I post another reply with an update in about an hour or so?

It isn't a cheap hobby but for building an army on a budget I'd have a look at the start collecting bundles for factions you're interested in. Ultimately I think the appearance, background and play style of the faction should be the most important thing but practicality has to come into it too.

Orks aren't the cheapest faction but I'm sure there are ways to build a decent enough army without spending a fortune. The stompa is good value for money in terms of points, and the start collecting box is alright too. I think the problem with orks is they aren't really a beginner friendly faction. Do plenty of reading if that's the route you go down; ork tactic articles/discussion (1d4chan for example), army lists posted on forums (don't skip the comments) and maybe have a look at some of the ork army lists used at tournaments.

Do all the digging you need. With proper research you can save yourself some money and avoid builders remorse. I already decided how my army would be equipped and painted ahead of time and new which models, paint and tools I needed before making purchases. Forums like this one and YouTube videos played a pretty big part in my planning stage. I doubt it's necessary to be so thorough at the start but I do suggest you write up a plan/make notes so you have an idea what you are doing before reaching for the wallet.

Ok, thanks for the advice, I have officially decided on Orks, even goffs. However, contradictory to their green tide like tactics, I was going to try a more killa kan/naut/deff/stompa army, but of course including the recommended minimum of 30 boyz. Do you have any units to stay away from, or any to look into?

Your a lucky cat DJ.
I graduated back 20 years ago. The internet we had then was librarys and BBS's no google or youtube, heck we bairly had gaming stores in my neck of the woods.

You do not need permission to post in a thread that you started, the mods are cool and will move it if a better place works for where it shoulda been posted.

The biggest thing i can say, dont wait 19 years to finally buy a model. Ive been a fanbi of the space wolves since i first saw one. But i waited 20 years to buy one, and even then as a reward for getting a good chunk of the dark angel successor im building painted.

One of the guys i play with every week or two, has every army except tau, multiple chapters of loyalists and traitors, a couple different chaos armies. hes been collecting this whole time, just a unit or two he buys each paycheck.

I wish someone woulda told me i didnt have to get a whole bunch of guys to get started. that i could have gotten started with just one figure, or a single kit.

IF you do go orks, look around for orcs of other game systems. Nothing says you have to use GW snotlings for your baby orcs, you could use goblins with guns as the wee ones.

At the end of the Day, its your army mate. You are the one that has to look at it every day, not us randoms off the internets or even your buddies that you play against/with.

Hey, that's some good advice Ssisal, I have been told not to buy my whole army in one shot, so, since Christmas is coming up, I'll ask for the starter kit (I know a store that sells them for 80 CAD as opposed to 100) and probably a bunch of paints, so then I can build and paint those models, get an idea if I like them and that way it gives my wallet time to grow in case I want to buy more (which I hope is the case).

Also, do you want to play for glory (competitive) or for story (narrative)? This is a big thing to think about because if you're going for a more competitive army, you could end up shooting yourself in the foot for just taking the wrong gun on a unit, never mind the "wrong" army.

Is it possible to have a bit of both, cuz I live really close to Miniwargaming, but about 20 Minutes away, There's a legitimate club that plays competitive games.

An Ork walker army is very orky and looks fantastic on the table. Kan Walls were a big thing once. They suffer the same issue all vehicles do; the inclusion of hull points and being glanced to death. Walkers further complicate this issue by having the speed of infantry usually getting blown up before reaching the enemy. They also sit in the heavy slot of your cad which has some really nice options you dont want to ignore.

Still all is not list for your walker army. In the Ork supplement there is a dread mob formation that can be taken as is along with other formations or with the standard cad or it can for the core of a Ghazcurion (formation of formations). Poof now you can have your walker army and other heavy options too. Dread Mob formation bonuses include giving the walker Ere We Go which is orks fleet rule that allows the model to benefit from a Warboss''s Waaaaaaagh! which helps those walkers cross the table faster.

DJ Squidley wrote:
Is it possible to have a bit of both, cuz I live really close to Miniwargaming, but about 20 Minutes away, There's a legitimate club that plays competitive games.

It certainly is, but starting out you're probably better off focusing on one side until you have the budget/collection for more models to be flexible. Also I am very envious of you being able to visit MWG!

Dont forget to look at ebay/discount stores/online swap shops (like dakka has).
You can pick up some great deals on each of them, saving you money and hence allowing more bang for your buck.
Orks are on "old" army so its likely you can find tonnes of their models on ebay going for relatively cheap.
The only caveat is having the time/effort to strip/reglue/assess quality of said models.

Like mentionned above go for the army you really like the looks/lore/etc.

When I got back into 40k I really wanted to play sisters and just never did cause they were lackluster and ignored by GW.

After spending like 700$ on guard stuff, I ended up going for sisters cause that's what I wanted. Also helps I got a nice almost complete army used for a good price concidering they're an extremely expensive army to run in the first place.

I do ahve some fun playing with my guard here and there, but the point is, go with what you like the most.

If your primary concern is cost then have you considered Dark Eldar? As long as you stick with Kabalites and stay away from Covens, looking at you Wracks, then they are probably one of the cheaper, if not cheapest, stock armies in the game.

Avoid Wracks, Venom spam and the Voidraven Bomber.

Great looking minis but solo Dark Eldar are 40k hard mode due, in part, to a sub-par codex.

See I was in your boat man. I would jump around from army to army and never start because I didn't know what I liked. But what helped me is picking from a painting and modeling standpoint and from a fluff stand point. But I've finally decided on a Tau with human allies army that I'm starting after I paint these Green Bay Packers Space Wolves project. SO pick what makes you happy man and good luck!

As far as modeling goes, Orks are very versatile in that you can make the same thing in many different ways. however the actual units have very few upgrade options. some of them (burnas, lootas etc) dont have any at all. Personally i enjoy modeling my salamanders more because marines have so many upgrade options in general, and salamanders in particular because of the Master Artisan rule giving every character a special weapon. but you should go with what you like. If you pick an army you arent thrilled with, the modeling and painting will become a chore rather than a hobby.

Welcome to the Waaagh buddy. I am a bit jealous that you live so close to Miniwargaming, between that and Hockey I have been tempted to move to Canada .

1st off, Kanz, Dreadz, Stompas are actually fairly expensive...ironically the Stompa is the cheapest in regards to $$ (Stompa is $110 for 770pts, Kanz are $50 for 150pts) and what have you, its also not a very good model so be wary.

secondly, with a fixed budget you need to get creative, I know a lot of bitz sites that will sell you certain bits for a dollar or two. I suggest you find some form of torso replacement for a Killa Kan (Ive seen people use empty paint containers from Citadel) and attach those bits you purchased. Also if you have a good hand at crafts you can't go wrong buying some cheap PVC pipe and doing a lot of this yourself.

Lastly, for your competitive part, if your hell bent on playing a Walker Heavy list I suggest MSU Kanz. Kanz right now suffer from the same problem most vehicles do, HP. The best way around this is to field multiple small units (MSU). So instead of having 2 groups of 5 walkers, have 5 groups of 2. Doing this your going to have to have multiple combined arms detachments to keep it bound but so what?

And here is the best part. A Kan army just looks fething amazing! AND it will sometimes surprise the pants off the top performing lists who don't have an answer to 12-14 AV11 vehicles right away and they will make a lot of mistakes trying to deal with you.

Have fun and remember if at first you don't succeed you need more WAAAAGH

Thank you so much for the advice! You've helped give some excellent advice on walkers, so I might just do a few of kans then, the deff dread in the start collecting box, could I put it to good use? I strongly recommend moving to Canada, especially with the elections coming up, as long as you stay away from Toronto, you should be good, don't expect health care to be that good (even though it is free) you'd be waiting for almost 6 hours for something.

DJ Squidley wrote:
Thank you so much for the advice! You've helped give some excellent advice on walkers, so I might just do a few of kans then, the deff dread in the start collecting box, could I put it to good use? I strongly recommend moving to Canada, especially with the elections coming up, as long as you stay away from Toronto, you should be good, don't expect health care to be that good (even though it is free) you'd be waiting for almost 6 hours for something.

Kanz are really only going to be useful if you spam them with at least 6-12 of them, otherwise they will get prioritized and destroyed. Also Deff Dreadz are kind of a meh, keep it cheap and shield it with either some kanz or a Big Mek with a KFF.

imperial guard!