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Hi guys I’m a newbie to the hobby but am looking for the best way to dip my toes in and am a little intimidated by the sheer scope of the hobby. I’ve researched various factions and I find myself jumping between the Eldar (I’m a huge fan of sleek elvish style cultures), Dark Eldar (Same with Eldar plus I love playing the dark side haha), Orks because they just look super fun and kooky. And finally Chaos Space marines (Tzeentch and Slaanesh specifically) Tzeentch cause I love magic and Slaanesh because I love the aesthetic and theme.

Best place to start - where YOU want to really

40K is getting a new edition very very soon - in fact pre-orders for the new rules went live today so the game is going to change up a bit so things will be a bit all up in the air. That said the original Codex for each army remains valid for the new edition (some might get new ones for the new edition though we've no idea when that might be).

After that the choice really is yours as to where you want to start. Most people do start very visaully with their first army; because you're going to spend ages building and painting before you get to games. So having models you really like is far better than chasing the perfect type of army to win with. Especially since until you've real game experience you wont' know what you do/don't like.


You might try one trick which is to go to the GW website and go to each army you like. Open a new tab for every model in that army. Then go through the tabs and look at the pictures and 3D rotations and close the tab on any models you don't like. Sometimes it can help you realise that you only like one or two from an army; or that you like all of them.
IT can also help if you find you like the big named characters, but not really any of the warriors or troops that would form the bulk of an army (which tells you perhaps that's going to be a few characters to get to build, paint and display for fun).

If you want to dip a toe without splashing the cash, download the core rules for free: www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Lw4o3USx1R8sU7cQ.pdf

And this guy is a whizz at knocking together cheap and cheerful proxy models from hot glue and household junk: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOt6UN-cmqk1zHORa-HfJ5JFw7i2ChTF1

If you find the rules a little overwhelming, check out Grimdark Future at onepagerules.com

That said, if you're more interested in the modelling & painting areas of the hobby, I'd agree with Overreads advice.Hope this helps!

Yep, it's a lot!

Try finding a local group to be playing with first, and see if any of them play Kill Team.

Kill Team is essentially 40k in miniature. Rather than many boxes of models that act together, you but usually one, sometimes two boxes of models and they all act individually.

Personally, I recommend the dark eldar. They are possibly the single most consistently gorgeous model range in the game.

Eldar and Dark Eldar can be fielded together, Will probably continue in 9th.

I strongly suggest seeing if you have a local group on social media. You might be able to pick up one or two models from each faction to try painting them.I love Ork lore, the way they play, the sense of humour... but I hate painting Boyz. So I would never collect an Ork army... though I do have an Ork Kill Team because it’s just 14 models...

The Start Collecting boxes are a great place to start, as the name would imply; you get a taster of some iconic units in a given faction at reduced cost than buying them all in individual boxes.

This, of course, requires you to know which faction you want to play, which you don't seem to know yet. Do you have experience in other strategy games? Preferences in mechanical style could help narrow it down.

Welcome to the hobby.

Always buy the models you like the look of and the story/theme you like the most.

Rules change, but your models remain yours.

Dark Eldar are really cool, I own an army and just recently decided to redo them to bring them in line with the modern game. They are hard to learn and not very forgiving to a new player, but they are very rewarding in the hands of an experienced player and will probably force you to learn the game quickly in order to win.

Eldar are unfortunately showing their age. Some of those sculpts are 25+ years old. I've always wanted to start an Eldar army, but I hesitate to do so because I think they will be getting a massive update in the next few years. I've been in the hobby for around 20 years now, so I understand the frustration of throwing lots of money into something that is going to be replaced very soon. I personally would hold off on Eldar.

Thousand Sons are pretty much brand new and a very cool army. I don't think you could go wrong with these guys.

Slaanesh Chaos Marines (Aka. Emperor's Children) will probably be getting a huge update soon if the rumours are to be believed. I would hold off on these guys too until their army gets released.

Orks are probably safe.

Probably start by creating a small 500-1000 point army and learn the ropes a bit. If you like what you have collected, continue with it. If not, try other armies or ask around to see if you might be interested in something else.

Things are a lot more accessible than they were when I started some 20+ years ago. There are way more resources at your disposal.

Good luck.

 Mistresspaige wrote:
Hi guys I’m a newbie to the hobby but am looking for the best way to dip my toes in and am a little intimidated by the sheer scope of the hobby. I’ve researched various factions and I find myself jumping between the Eldar (I’m a huge fan of sleek elvish style cultures), Dark Eldar (Same with Eldar plus I love playing the dark side haha), Orks because they just look super fun and kooky. And finally Chaos Space marines (Tzeentch and Slaanesh specifically) Tzeentch cause I love magic and Slaanesh because I love the aesthetic and theme.

Picking an army is a big decision - follow your gut. Based on what you've posted I feel that Dark Eldar fit the bill. It is a somewhat large model count, but they are great models and its a mobile army. They make a nice counterpoint to the Slaneesh aesthetic, so you get that from your list in a round about way. That being said, they have no magic, so you are missing out on that...

The army you really want to play is, of course, Dark Angels.

The Start Collecting boxes are exactly what they say on the box. You get a pretty good deal on the basics of an army that'll usually get you to enough power/points to play a small game.
Some are a bit weird though. Like, the Eldar's SC having Wraith units instead of more standard Guardians.

As far as what army to pick?
Go on the GW site and have a look though the units the army has. If anything really resonates you for, that's the one to do - don't worry too much about rules (if you care about that to begin with, some are just in it for the modeling/painting). you can get pretty much any unit you really like into a casual game without worrying too much about how competitive it really is.
Beyond that I recommend uh....acquiring.... the 8th edition codex for the stuff you're interested in and giving it a read to see if anything there jumps out to you.
Try to figure out what a 500-1000 point army might look like (a tool called battlescribe might help you there) and then get a unit of two from it and get to building/painting!

If you want to know more about how armies play there are lots of decent battlereports you can watch on youtube.

One thing I really recommend is to be careful to not get too distracted by other armies you might want until you've got one that's in a playable state.
OR if you just can't help yourself, think about doing a Kill Team which is *usually* a much more manageable number of kits.

Read up and look at the models. You are going to be painting a lot of them, and what them to be ones you enjoy. And you want a faction you can get behind, to enjoy the narrative of the game.

We are on the cusp of a new edition, so more caution is needed then normal. Investing in books just to have them come out with a new one is less than fun. But models endure.

You will often hear that some armies are over powered, and that others are unplayable trash. A lot of this in internet hyperbole, and also refers to top end on the tournaments. At the FLGS, things are a LOT more forgiving. Grain of salt, some locals are more competitive than others, or spend all their time on tournament prep games. Your milage many vary. 40k is a game best when two people can agree on the level of game they want. Even the “bad” armies can be tuned to curbstomp the friendly locals.

From what you are saying, I’d probably suggest you start with craftworld eldar, with maybe a goal to ally in some of their dark kin, probably with the Yrcane.

You say you like elves. Major plus.
Magic? They are one of the psychic powerhouses, and use those powers to leverage their units to some crazy shenanigans. Plus good old fashioned deathbolts from the fingertip smites. But the real power is in the buffs/debuffs. Also big into necromancy (from a certain point of view...)
Even the “good” Eldar are kinda the bad guys. Obviously, the good-evil alignment axis is weighted towards the dark side in the 40k universe, but these guys will throw a human planet under the bus to save a handful of Eldar lives. They have all the haughty arrogance you’d expect from the pointy ears.

Besides the fluff and aesthetics, think about the style of army you want. Fast and hard hitting? Slow and resilient? Elite? Horde? Shooty? Choppy? Think about how you want your army to look and play on the tabletop. Many armies have units that can do multiple things, and armies have a lot of viable builds. You need to find one that works for you. This can be a little tricky, as some units don’t play on the table like they do in the fluff. Take Howling Banshees. In the fluff, they are lithe bringers of death, dodging lasers as they acrobatically leap across the battlefield to effortlessly slice through their foes with glittering power swords. On the table, they do one of those things well. They are crazy fast and can cover a lot of the battlefield. But they just don’t have a lot of attacks, and a low strength makes it hard to wound. Not that they are useless; they are cheep as chips, and with helpful Farseer casting Doom, they can pile the wounds on. With their speed they can get stuck into combat quickly, and not everyone can casually back out and still be effective. But if you just plopped a unit down on the table and expected it to perform like the books, you would be disapointed.

This is a lot trickier for new players. Once you narrow things down, just ask for more advice. There are very few “bad” units. Most things have a job they can do, but some require support to make happen, or their job is a little less obvious. On the friendly level, you can take anything and make it work, you might just have to tighten up other aspects of your list to make sure all your bases are covered.

Welcome to the hobby and Dakka!

I’d be tempted to whittle the choices down to two, then grab a Kill a Team force for each. Play them and then choose - at the very least you’d have two sides of a game in the event you want to press gang someone into playing :-)

It really depends on what element of the hobby is your key interest.

If you're more concerned about how the army will look then go with what catches your eye most. If it's how it plays then talk it through with someone at your local store to help point you at the army that might best suit your style.

Personally I'd avoid Slannesh Marines (Emperor's Children) right now as there is a lot pointing to them getting their own book and a large range update in the near future.

Some factions also allow you to more of a hobby butterfly then others. Orks are a single book faction, while they have a lot of choices in there they generally have the same generic look. Chaos currently has 5 separate armies that can be linked with potentially another 2-4 being added in the future.

orks remain the converters dream though. Ramshackle everything.

stratigo wrote:
orks remain the converters dream though. Ramshackle everything.

Chaos as well, with mutations.

Depends if you prefer rivets to tentacles.

Take your time right now, 40k is going into a new edition so don't spend too much on the codex as it will be out of date in due time and in order to get a "complete" set of rules for any faction right now you at least need their Psychic Awakening book (this is arguably not needed) along with the codex. Just keep browsing the ones you like and follow the updates on the warhammer community website to see what new stuff is coming out.

Thanks guys I’ve been doing my research and I think I’m leaning most with the Eldar atm. I’m big into speed, dexterity and skill style combat over brute force, tanky and hard hitting. Plus as Nevieon said they’re super magical (psychic I mean haha). I also kind of love that they arnt the generic good guys and are stuck up and haughty. Gives them more depth and gives me more fun fluff wise designing their backstories.

Now the question is where to start model and paint wise. My favourite colour palette is magenta (well most shades of pink in all Honesty) black, white, silver and gold. I also love deep violets too.

First find the Armybook for Craftworlds (the Eldar codex). Look for used copies on ebay as it will probably be out of date in a few months.

For the models either look at the Craftworld Start Collecting boxset and see if you like those models, if not, find an HQ unit you like and a Troop unit you like. Two troop boxes is a good start.

For paint you can go full Games Workshop which is pretty expensive or look into Vallejo, army painter, reaper, and other 3rd party model paint companies. Go to a hobby store and get a cheap set of brushes to start.

 Mistresspaige wrote:
...Now the question is where to start model and paint wise. My favourite colour palette is magenta (well most shades of pink in all Honesty) black, white, silver and gold. I also love deep violets too.

General advice on models: Most armies have a "start collecting" box that gives you a decent core for a discount; the Craftworld one is odd, unfortunately. Since all their core infantry are really old models the Start Collecting box is all big hard-hitting punchy units that aren't really staples of the army; if you like the idea of the Wraith units (constructs piloted by the souls of dead Eldar) it's a good place to start, but if you're not going in that direction you can probably skip it. The most important things to get starting off are at least one HQ unit, which will probably be a Farseer just starting with Eldar, and some Troops, which could be Guardians, Dire Avengers, or Rangers depending on what sort of list you're building. The most consistent staple of the Craftworld Eldar in my experience is the Wave Serpent; it's a tough unit in a squishy army, helps you hide units that don't want to get shot, lets you move short-ranged infantry around quickly, and packs a lot of firepower.

General advice on paint: GW paints are more expensive than most of the alternatives, but they give you a lot of shortcuts most paint manufacturers don't. GW divides paints into different consistencies (base vs. layer vs. shade vs. dry) that are pre-mixed to the right consistencies to use at various different points in the painting process/different techniques. The other downside to GW paints is that they come in pots that don't seal very well so they dry out more quickly than other brands if you're not going through them quickly.. Vallejo can be overwhelming at first look since they've got such a wide range of products, but I've never had any problems with any of it, everything I've ever bought from them has worked perfectly. I haven't used Reaper and Army Painter much (though I do really like Army Painter's sprays) but they're low-cost easily-available alternatives.

On paint schemes: Eldar have a lot of big flat surfaces, particularly on the vehicles, that are ripe for freehanding (painting outside the lines, if you will), the studio models you'll see in the box art have a simple variation (the red-with-black-stripes Saim-Hann scheme) and occasionally a much more complex variation (the green-and-white Biel-Tan scheme with the thorny vines). Freehanding often seems scary but I find people will often be so impressed that you've made an effort that they're not really bothered with how neat it is, and Eldar vehicles are a really great place to try it out.

On colour palette: It is generally worth having at least a basic look at colour theory when painting wargaming miniatures to figure out a scheme that's going to help you see details of a tiny model from a distance. As a general rule of thumb I advise people have two, maybe three major colours on the model that contrast with each other in multiple ways (hue, saturation, brightness), then use spot colours that contrast in only one way. Consider the studio Ultramarines as an example here; the main colour is a mid-brightness high-saturation blue, which they contrast with white (very bright but very low saturation) and gold (dark, moderate saturation), and then they use bright red for spot details. The model is largely blue, with the other colours to break up the shape so it doesn't look like just a blue blob, but they make sure that the other colours aren't competing with the blue for dominance.

(I also tend to like Eldar schemes much better when there are no metallics, but that's purely a matter of personal preference, if you disagree by all means make your Eldar as shiny as you like.)

 Mistresspaige wrote:
I also kind of love that they arnt the generic good guys and are stuck up and haughty.

The beautiful part of grimdark 40k is that while everybody claims to be the good guys, no one actually is. Except maybe tau, but they have always stricken me as the naive innocent child that tries to befriend a galaxy full of serial killers.

 Jidmah wrote:

 Mistresspaige wrote:
I also kind of love that they arnt the generic good guys and are stuck up and haughty.

The beautiful part of grimdark 40k is that while everybody claims to be the good guys, no one actually is. Except maybe tau, but they have always stricken me as the naive innocent child that tries to befriend a galaxy full of serial killers.

A caste system controlled by a rulling class that rules through pheromons and tyranny and nothing else?

That's not much behind the IoM or the aeldari.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Nevelon wrote:

stratigo wrote:
orks remain the converters dream though. Ramshackle everything.

Chaos as well, with mutations.

Depends if you prefer rivets to tentacles.

Chaos can be both, chaos can look extremely clean, with legions such as AL, or traitor regiments.
But also more like what Kernelterror builds, with tentacles everywhere, with mortars beeing alive.¨

Not Online!!! wrote:
A caste system controlled by a rulling class that rules through pheromons and tyranny and nothing else?

That's not much behind the IoM or the aeldari.

Eh, that's just imperial propaganda. It think it has been a decade since I last cared for tau fluff that wasn't "Orks stole their space ship" and much has been retconned in the meantime.

 Jidmah wrote:

Not Online!!! wrote:
A caste system controlled by a rulling class that rules through pheromons and tyranny and nothing else?

That's not much behind the IoM or the aeldari.

Eh, that's just imperial propaganda. It think it has been a decade since I last cared for tau fluff that wasn't "Orks stole their space ship" and much has been retconned in the meantime.

Meh you don't survive that long in 40k without some serious thing messed up in your society from our standpoint.

Not Online!!! wrote:

 Jidmah wrote:

Not Online!!! wrote:
A caste system controlled by a rulling class that rules through pheromons and tyranny and nothing else?

That's not much behind the IoM or the aeldari.

Eh, that's just imperial propaganda. It think it has been a decade since I last cared for tau fluff that wasn't "Orks stole their space ship" and much has been retconned in the meantime.

Meh you don't survive that long in 40k without some serious thing messed up in your society from our standpoint.

I get the whole alien/chaos stuff and the over all higher deadliness of conflict, but every day life in the empire seems similiar to what we have no. Nothing messed up just more people stacked on top of each other.

You must have missed the part where your entire planets gets blown up because someone found a symbol of tzeench in an ancient ruin. Or the part where kids get taken way by huge black ships with no explanation. Or where one in every ten people you know gets drafted into military service to never be seen again because they were used to buy a few seconds for the space marines to arrive. Or where a good deal of the population is worked to death on planets with toxic atmospheres.

Sure, there is a chance you get born as noble on Ultramar, but the vast majority of people in the Imperium probably don't have it better than we do now.

Yeah. Throw a stone an an APC troop carrier as a kid and the whole village ends up burned. That is normal in more then a few places around the world.

And as the kids thing go, a few years ago, the norway took away kids from a polish family working their, because their daughter was sad after her grandmother passed. She had to be be stolen out from a foster family and brought to Poland to rejoin her family. And that is the western world. China and India have reeducation camps for specific populations they don't like much.

 Mistresspaige wrote:
Thanks guys I’ve been doing my research and I think I’m leaning most with the Eldar atm. I’m big into speed, dexterity and skill style combat over brute force, tanky and hard hitting. Plus as Nevieon said they’re super magical (psychic I mean haha). I also kind of love that they arnt the generic good guys and are stuck up and haughty. Gives them more depth and gives me more fun fluff wise designing their backstories.

Now the question is where to start model and paint wise. My favourite colour palette is magenta (well most shades of pink in all Honesty) black, white, silver and gold. I also love deep violets too.

Well if you must play some elfy gitz you probably should google 'Why play Eldar 40k' and follow the 1d4chan wiki link to get an idea of what you are getting into in terms of tactics in an army.

I also recommend you watch this video about eldar sometime https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya660UG4i9o. When I was new I wish someone would have shown me this guy's videos so I had a better understanding of the lore. If you dig around in his channel on youtube you'll find he has a pretty good lore breakdown, probably would feel good to know just passed the horus heresy at least.

 Mistresspaige wrote:
Thanks guys I’ve been doing my research and I think I’m leaning most with the Eldar atm. I’m big into speed, dexterity and skill style combat over brute force, tanky and hard hitting. Plus as Nevieon said they’re super magical (psychic I mean haha). I also kind of love that they arnt the generic good guys and are stuck up and haughty. Gives them more depth and gives me more fun fluff wise designing their backstories.

Now the question is where to start model and paint wise. My favourite colour palette is magenta (well most shades of pink in all Honesty) black, white, silver and gold. I also love deep violets too.

You can paint your army however you want.

Here's my approach to starting an army:
Browse the catalog of available models, and determine which units it is that draws you to that faction.
Then, compose a ~500 point list that contains this unit. It shouldn't be that difficult; there aren't that many options at 500 points after you've selected your shiny. Something like 2-3 troop choices, 1 AT-capable HQ, maybe 1 more cheap HQ if you've got a horde army, and the unit you like. Try to have 2 AT solutions in your 500 point army.
Once you've got a 500 point list and a few games in, plan out a 1000 point list and a 2000 point list; and start building your way there.


I don't really believe 1d4chan's tactica is particularly good, and it's definitely not a substitute for learning to read the datasheets yourself and develop your own idea of their capability and composing your lists on your own.

 Mistresspaige wrote:
Hi guys I’m a newbie to the hobby but am looking for the best way to dip my toes in and am a little intimidated by the sheer scope of the hobby. I’ve researched various factions and I find myself jumping between the Eldar (I’m a huge fan of sleek elvish style cultures), Dark Eldar (Same with Eldar plus I love playing the dark side haha), Orks because they just look super fun and kooky. And finally Chaos Space marines (Tzeentch and Slaanesh specifically) Tzeentch cause I love magic and Slaanesh because I love the aesthetic and theme.

Not bad choices.

Kill team is the best way to start, minimal investment and allows you to get a feel for the flow of the game.

If your intrested in command armies not squads, find someone who is will to let you proxy entire armies and play a few games with each of your desired armies.

Fair warning you might decide you want all 3/4 armies.

 Thousand-Son-Sorcerer wrote:

 Mistresspaige wrote:
Hi guys I’m a newbie to the hobby but am looking for the best way to dip my toes in and am a little intimidated by the sheer scope of the hobby. I’ve researched various factions and I find myself jumping between the Eldar (I’m a huge fan of sleek elvish style cultures), Dark Eldar (Same with Eldar plus I love playing the dark side haha), Orks because they just look super fun and kooky. And finally Chaos Space marines (Tzeentch and Slaanesh specifically) Tzeentch cause I love magic and Slaanesh because I love the aesthetic and theme.

Not bad choices.

Kill team is the best way to start, minimal investment and allows you to get a feel for the flow of the game.

If your intrested in command armies not squads, find someone who is will to let you proxy entire armies and play a few games with each of your desired armies.

Fair warning you might decide you want all 3/4 armies.

Haha if I did I’d be broke lol. Least I don’t have a husband who would kill me because of it lol.

Hi Paige. Also recommend Kill Team as a beginner friendly introduction to 40K.

Painting even a small army will take some time whereas a team will be ready for tabletop mischief much sooner. The game itself is really good too and well balanced.