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Title says it all.
I’m really looking for an army I can paint up and assemble quickly to actually start gaming.

I do definitely want to make them tabletop quality and the bare minimum but would also like them to look nice when painted well.

I’ve tried Necrons but assembling them was a huuuuge pain.

Any other suggestions?

Well, I'd consider Space Marines - tin cans. Easy to assemble and paint (if you glue the bolter after painting the body).

Definitely Space Marines if you choose a chapter you can get a basecoat spray for.

Tyranids I would think because you can just paint them a mono color and wash them and it would be sufficient. Since they're all exoskeleton and no tech to pick out it shouldn't be to much of a bother. Not sure about how easy they are to assemble since I've never purchased any.

Tyranids are way easier than Marines for me. Marines have all those colours. Nids I spray and paint some red then done.

Necrons. Spray them black, dry brush them leadbelcher, pop the green rod in, flock the base with some glue and your flock of choice (I like the mud texture that gw sells). Done. You have a tabletop compliant / painted army done quick.

Also 60 warriors, 2 cryptechs, and an overlord. There is your starting force that has your basic bases covered.

Knights, get 4 of them you have a 2k point army

It has to be Necrons when you can almost get away with a base coat, wash and ta-da! Saying that, you can get away with almost as little work on Marines or Custodes.

At the end of the day, pick the army/models you like most - it makes painting less of a chore and you'll get them done quicker.

Custodes with gold spray and a wash probably takes the crown when you consider how few of them you have to assemble and prime.

The problem with Tyranids is that, although they're easy to paint, because you want to magnetise any models Warrior-size and bigger, assembling can be much more complex than plenty of other armies.

And for those suggesting Necrons the OP said that they were to hard for him to assemble. So, Necrons are not the answer he is looking for.

 wuestenfux wrote:
Well, I'd consider Space Marines - tin cans. Easy to assemble and paint (if you glue the bolter after painting the body).

Particularly Primaris since the Dark Imperium ones aren't too hard to assemble, and you can do Easy Build for the rest.

Crons can be a massive pain. epsecially the vehicles and non warriors.

Id say the easiest one to do would be Space marines. as they can be fairly plain meaning less gribbles to paint which eats up time.

iron hands id say would be fairly easy with a good hit of lead belcher spray over black primer

you come back and hit the belts and the guns and you are basicly done.

alternatively raven guard. spray prime black, hit the belts and guns with silver and you are basicly done.

I own Tau just started them they seem easy so far both assembly and painting

Leo_the_Rat wrote:
And for those suggesting Necrons the OP said that they were to hard for him to assemble. So, Necrons are not the answer he is looking for.

tbh, necrons are in a pain in the ass to build. it is thouse bloody arms. you need 3 arms you self to assemble them.

i would say eldar, space marines or imperial guard. reason?: push build infantry.
all thouse 3 races has a small box whit infantry that consists of 2 parts: the dude and the gun. they dont exactly look nice but you can snip them out, mouldclean and assemble the content of the box in 5-10 mins.

however, SM primaris has a few more easy to build kits, so if it is the building that is the issue, go SM.
(allso, infantry that holds both hands on the wep in normal kits are harder to assemble as there is no socket or peg for the arms/shoulder joint)

I can't believe Guard have been mentioned
They're like the opposite of what the OP wants right?!

Slashy McTalons wrote:
I can't believe Guard have been mentioned
They're like the opposite of what the OP wants right?!

Well building a bunch of the snap fit ones wouldn't be too bad. painting may be another thing though.

Another option is daemons.

asides from the gribbles, your just prime them white then hit them with washes or inks and they almost always look perfect.

regarding custodes while in theory they'd be quick an army like that has an unvoiced expectation fr you to lavish some care on.

Nids look good with just 1 color and the wash that matches, doesnt matter if its green, tan, red.

I prefer ushambti bone and agrax for a bone look. The troops i think are 1 or 2 pieces. Cant speak on the big bugs tho

My top 5 easiest paints.

Marines. 2 Colours, MAYBE 3, and your primary colour is 80% of the model. The rest is highlight.

Tyranids. Same as Marines, but unfortunatly nearly triple the models to paint.

Tau. Some tricky spots to paint, but otherwise they have the singular colour for 80% as the other two.

Necrons. Literally the easiest if you just want classic necrons. Spray metallic, dry brush a lighter metallic, done.

And finally, Custodes. I know they might be 'considered' marines, but they're their own thing. You can spray them gold, and youre BASICALLY done.

Custodes, no they are not easily assembled compared to marines.

I'd go with SM or maybe tyranids if mosters are more yout thing.

Little beats base+ nuln oil for ease of painting tough.

 Earth127 wrote:
Custodes, no they are not easily assembled compared to marines.

I'd go with SM or maybe tyranids if mosters are more yout thing.

Little beats base+ nuln oil for ease of painting tough.

Each model is harder, but you're assembling maybe a third of the models. A box of marines (10 models) costs only a few dollars less than a box of Custodes (3 models), and points wise the Custodes are leagues more expensive.

Marines. Obviously they always been a great starter force.

Easy to build, big shoulder pads forgive slight mistakes, often easier colour schemes. Bigger parts and glueing areas.

Custodes... Yeah for sure rate models. Your basically building big marines. They have alot of details but the build wise, if you done a few marines, you can do a custodes easily.

Just makes sure to match your arms and the weapons match etc. And bingo!

Custodes, paint em just like necrons, cloaks are for tryhards.

Space Marines if nothing else for the easy-to-build models. You can build infantry, elites, fast attack, heavy support, and HQ all in easy-to-build models.

This is probably of little help but I'd argue that every army possesses units which are easy to paint and assemble but then each army also has those which are an absolute pain.

One of the guys I know has a Necron army which he assembled and painted to table top standard very quickly, and which have turned out rather well. The only model he voiced complaint over was the Tomb Spyder out his current force.

Some Marine forces can be quick to assemble and paint but again, your force composition will have a big contribution to this.

Having completed a Tyranid force for a friend as a commission piece, I'd argue that they're a bit of a pain but they can be very rewarding as they can use a lot of different techniques when it comes to painting.

Chaos Daemon's can be a quick force to assemble and get ready for the table while also offering the advantage of being playable in Age of Sigmar, should you ever wish to try it. Also the codex for them hasn't long been released.

Custodes have been mentioned a lot as they have a very low physical model count compared to other armies and they have a relatively simply "standard" paint scheme. Should you decide to go Custodes this month's issue of White Dwarf has a fair few pages dedicated to them and actually makes reference to alternative paint scheme suggestions based on different duties.

Your biggest factors associated with how quickly you can get a force from sprue to table will depend on your army composition and paint scheme. If you're looking to get something onto the table quickly you need to figure out how many points or what power level you'll be playing at initially and from there you need to draft an army list for your chosen faction.

Edit: it may also be worth checking out YouTube for painting videos relating to each faction as this may give you an indicator of what to expect.

Death Guard has some easy assemble kits. Paint em snot green, use a wash. Presto.

Orks are pretty easy: prime black or white (your choice), find a green spray you like for them, then pick a color or two for pants, leadbelcher the weapons, and use the reikland fleshshade wash on basically every part of the model for added depth. If you want more complex you can always add more, and you can experiment with what colors you like and not feel like you have to repaint your whole army for the sake of uniformity if one squad has a slightly different color of pants or you learn a new painting technique.

They're also super easy to assemble with large spots for the your to be added and no ball-sockets like the necrons have; all flat surfaces as large as marines, as well as having put-fit kits like other armies mentioned.

And, as is my orky duty to say, you can take bits and guns from other armies to make yours look cooler and more unique. I have almost 2000 points of looted tau alone, and all my vehicles are from different armies, so you are free to buy the cool new hotness and add it to your army easily!

I need to say, oddly enough grey Knights can be one of the hardest armies to paint well simply because of how hard they are to hit all the detail on.

Primarius Marines. Easy to build kits. Minimal pieces, push fit for everything except their vehicle, and fairly inexpensive.

(Death guard also have easy to build sets, but mix older kits with them.)

Standard Marines have same issue as necrons due to holding their weapons with two hands, but vehicles are less finicky.

Custodes are large enough to be easier to handle, and you don't need many.

As for painting: Army painter spray paint, a gw wash and something for accent. Or leave your primaris blue.