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Hi all! Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, still finding my bearings on this site.

The last time I played WH40K, I was a younger person indeed - to the point where I don't remember a single thing about the hobby, beyond that I enjoyed it and my parents hated me talking about it. Or indulging in it. To the point that they cut off my pocket money from doing chores until I stopped talking about it/going to my local hobby store etc.

But I'm an adult and have been for a few years, and recently I've had massive cravings to get back into the hobby. I think I'd like to play a Sisters of Battle army to start with, and wanted to ask:

- Are the Sisters of Battle an army that is worth collecting? I love their aesthetic, but I'm worried they'll be really complicated and it'll put me off the hobby. For reference, back in the day when I was a wee lad, I played Tyranids (lots of Genestealers, lots of gribbling!) and Space Marines (I found them kind of lame, if only because everybody played them in my local gaming store.)

- Where would be a good place to start? For example, should I just buy a box of Battle Sisters and get them built/painted before I consider doing anything else?

- I don't have any friends who are interested in playing 40k, and I'm terribly socially anxious. Are the local Warhammer stores welcoming to newcomers, in your experience? Without getting into it too much, I am very shy and struggle a lot with talking to anyone that's not in my immediate friendship circle, and I'd hate to rain on anyone's parade when we're all trying to enjoy the hobby together.

- I've heard a lot about Kill Team, and how it's a good way to see if the hobby is for you in its current state. Is Kill Team something that is easy to pick up/cheaper than buying a full army out the gate while also being fun?

- I have all the artistic talent of a duck. Is there a guide for painting that is friendly to people who struggle with some learning difficulties? (e.g. no blaring music/over-enthusiastic "HEYYY GUYS" that is all over YouTube. I can't watch them without my brain just going "nope.exe".)

Thank you for reading, and sorry again if this is too much/in the wrong place, hope I'm not upsetting anyone by posting this here. Ta-ta for now all <3

EDIT: I read online something about "detachments"? Does this mean I can finally live my dream of having Space Marines/Sisters of Battles partnered with Imperial Guard, all in one army?!

Hello and welcome!

My understanding is that Sisters are in a pretty good place now, having just had a near-total model refresh. They are due a new 9th edition army book (codex) soon however, which may affect them rules-wise. I wouldn't worry too much though, all the 9th edition books have been pretty good so far.

I don't play in stores - not sure anyone does in the UK at the moment. But my mate and I did have an introductory game in our local (Southampton) when we first got started and they were pleasant and friendly and helpful.

Kill Team is supposed to be pretty good, and would be cheaper to get into than full-fat 40K, as you'd likely only need a box of troops and maybe a leader, depending on the faction you pick. It's not necessarily a direct indication of whether you'll like 40K, as it is a slightly different set of rules.

For painting, Games Workshop do their own painting guides here - https://citadelcolour.com/. The videos are suitably non-boisterous. Also check out Duncan Rhodes painting academy on YouTube. He used to do the GW videos but has since gone solo. Have a look at the Contrast paints, they're not cheap but are very effective for getting a decent tabletop result reasonably easily.

Finally, yeah you probably can field that as an army. Those 3 factions are all linked by.the IMPERIUM keyword so can ally with eachother. Couldn't tell you whether it would be beneficial to do so though, will depend on how cut-throat competitively you intend to play...

Thank you so much for your reply! <3 I sent you a PM because I dunno if you see this post when I make it, so I won't type it all out again. But, update to anyone else, I've been swayed back into the hobby.

Man.

My credit card is going to hate me.

 BHBrowne wrote:
...My credit card is going to hate me.

This is the big reason I strongly recommend anyone considering 40k start off with Kill Team. It gets you on the table a lot faster, you don't have anything like the sunk-cost commitment of trying to get a full-size 40k army together, and you can play a game in an hour on a much smaller table with a lot less terrain. It's more of a hobby and less of a lifestyle.

Crispy78 wrote:
For painting, Games Workshop do their own painting guides here - https://citadelcolour.com/.

There's only a handful of painting guides on the Citadel Colour website. You would really want to check out the Warhammer YouTube Channel, specifically the 'How to Build and Paint' playlist with close to 900 tutorials and tips.

 BHBrowne wrote:

EDIT: I read online something about "detachments"? Does this mean I can finally live my dream of having Space Marines/Sisters of Battles partnered with Imperial Guard, all in one army?!

You certainly can! Although you probably started an edition too late too really enjoy it. Previous edition there were 0 downsides to making such an army nowadays you will lose some good rules if you take a "soup" army as it's called. But if you and your group are somewhat casual in list building it probably wont be too bad.

I don't have any friends who are interested in playing 40k, and I'm terribly socially anxious. Are the local Warhammer stores welcoming to newcomers, in your experience? Without getting into it too much, I am very shy and struggle a lot with talking to anyone that's not in my immediate friendship circle, and I'd hate to rain on anyone's parade when we're all trying to enjoy the hobby together.

In my (admittedly limited) experience, yes they are welcoming to new players. They might have a clique of veteran/regular players but are generally not opposed to new blood. Only issue might be in how they approach the game. For example I'm mostly a garage hammer player but the few times I visited a shop it went okay, except the one that had mostly competitive/cutthroat list building players. Not necessarily an issue for me but if you prefer more fluffy/casual games it can be off putting or force you to adapt.

Kill team IS a good game. Lots of folks like it because it includes a style of alternating action, whereas with 40k, each player takes their entire turn, moving, shooting, charging and fighting with every unit before the other player gets to go.

But keep in mind that not every 40k unit is suitable for Kill Team, so there might be a model you LOVE, but if it's a vehicle, you're guaranteed that you won't be able to use it in KT. You also probably won't be able to use it if it's a Fast Attack or Heavy support unit.

The small number of models that KT uses used to be another draw, but now 40k actively supports games that are 500 points, 1000 points, 2000 points and 3000 points.

I have a 500 point Deathwatch army that is literally 12 infantry models- it might as well be Kill Team, but it's actually a 40k army.

There are also 3 ways to play. Open has fewer rules, simple missions that are randomly generated using a set of cards, and it's designed to let you be fast and loose with army building restrictions. Not a whole heck of a lot of Dakkanauts play the game this way.

The most popular way to play is Matched; if you're playing in a store with strangers, this is the easiest type of game to set up. If you like tournaments, almost all of them are this format. The Missions for this type of play don't support 500 point games or 3000 point games as well as the other two ways to play. This method has fairly in depth rules for how your models group up to form an army. Think of this as the default play mode, and it's just about the only way to play that Dakkanauts ever talk about- mostly because of its status as a) tournament mode and b) the most popular for pick-up games in stores.

Then there's my favourite, which is Narrative Play. It uses a progression system called Crusade, which allows every single unit you bring to battle to earn experience and learn new skills and get new equipment based on how they perform in the game. There's also rules for adding new units to the army, so most people start with 500 points, and the army grows a bit at a time- great for slow painters. Also, the skills and equipment units earn increases the customization available, so you can really personalize your army.

So from MY perspective, while Kill Team is a great game, Crusade is better. The only thing Kill Team has on it is the alternate activation- which a lot of people on Dakka really like.

Now while Crusade is MY favourite, some folks complain about the book keeping (which is fair- there is a lot of it). Some folks also don't feel like a progression system provides ENOUGH narrative- they want it to include campaign rules, and they want the missions to link up a little better. Personally, I don't feel this complaint has as much legitimacy as the first; if it DID include a campaign rules, that might inhibit your creativity, and story links between missions are best left for players as well.

So that's a basic primer about the options you have for deciding which game and which way to play works best for you.

As for the Sisters question- yes, they are fabulous; their new Codex preorders this Saturday. The army IS complex, but ALL 9th edition armies are complex. There's a lot of moving parts and bonuses from different sources, so they stack and create combinations. I personally love this and think at adds customizability and flexibility, but a lot of the more competitive minded, matched play Dakkanauts rightly point out that this stackability makes the game difficult to balance.

Kill team IS a good game. Lots of folks like it because it includes a style of alternating action, whereas with 40k, each player takes their entire turn, moving, shooting, charging and fighting with every unit before the other player gets to go.

But keep in mind that not every 40k unit is suitable for Kill Team, so there might be a model you LOVE, but if it's a vehicle, you're guaranteed that you won't be able to use it in KT. You also probably won't be able to use it if it's a Fast Attack or Heavy support unit.

The small number of models that KT uses used to be another draw, but now 40k actively supports games that are 500 points, 1000 points, 2000 points and 3000 points.

I have a 500 point Deathwatch army that is literally 12 infantry models- it might as well be Kill Team, but it's actually a 40k army.

There are also 3 ways to play. Open has fewer rules, simple missions that are randomly generated using a set of cards, and it's designed to let you be fast and loose with army building restrictions. Not a whole heck of a lot of Dakkanauts play the game this way.

The most popular way to play is Matched; if you're playing in a store with strangers, this is the easiest type of game to set up. If you like tournaments, almost all of them are this format. The Missions for this type of play don't support 500 point games or 3000 point games as well as the other two ways to play. This method has fairly in depth rules for how your models group up to form an army. Think of this as the default play mode, and it's just about the only way to play that Dakkanauts ever talk about- mostly because of its status as a) tournament mode and b) the most popular for pick-up games in stores.

Then there's my favourite, which is Narrative Play. It uses a progression system called Crusade, which allows every single unit you bring to battle to earn experience and learn new skills and get new equipment based on how they perform in the game. There's also rules for adding new units to the army, so most people start with 500 points, and the army grows a bit at a time- great for slow painters. Also, the skills and equipment units earn increases the customization available, so you can really personalize your army.

So from MY perspective, while Kill Team is a great game, Crusade is better. The only thing Kill Team has on it is the alternate activation- which a lot of people on Dakka really like.

Now while Crusade is MY favourite, some folks complain about the book keeping (which is fair- there is a lot of it). Some folks also don't feel like a progression system provides ENOUGH narrative- they want it to include campaign rules, and they want the missions to link up a little better. Personally, I don't feel this complaint has as much legitimacy as the first; if it DID include a campaign rules, that might inhibit your creativity, and story links between missions are best left for players as well.

So that's a basic primer about the options you have for deciding which game and which way to play works best for you.

As for the Sisters question- yes, they are fabulous; their new Codex preorders this Saturday. The army IS complex, but ALL 9th edition armies are complex. There's a lot of moving parts and bonuses from different sources, so they stack and create combinations. I personally love this and think at adds customizability and flexibility, but a lot of the more competitive minded, matched play Dakkanauts rightly point out that this stackability makes the game difficult to balance.

 AnomanderRake wrote:

 BHBrowne wrote:
...My credit card is going to hate me.

This is the big reason I strongly recommend anyone considering 40k start off with Kill Team. It gets you on the table a lot faster, you don't have anything like the sunk-cost commitment of trying to get a full-size 40k army together, and you can play a game in an hour on a much smaller table with a lot less terrain. It's more of a hobby and less of a lifestyle.

I don't know if you get pinged when I reply to messages on the forum - the last forum I used was the Telltale Games forums, and that was a weird one - but if you do, great! If not, I'll also send you a PM to thank you for your reply to my thread

I've heard Kill Team is cracking and really great for new players. I was wondering if, in your experience, a lot of people play it at local games stores (before the "incident" in 2020, anyway ...)? My friendship circle aren't interested in Warhammer 40k, which really sucks because my fondest memories were doing more "fluffy" games with my brother. Like, a larger focus on narrative and making a story out of our various skirmishes. Man, his Chaos Space Marines were wicked good at just tearing through my defensive lines.

Sorry, went on a tangent there. I was wondering though if Kill Team is easy to start from nothing? I don't have anything related to tabletop gaming beyond my DnD dice and books, so I'd need to obviously have models and the codex for the army (and probably the rulebook for Kill Team ...), but I was also wondering how large of a board is recommended for Kill Team, and how much terrain is needed? My brother and I used forts made from cereal boxes on a dining table, and I get the feeling that won't cut it nowadays

Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it <3


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Ghaz wrote:

Crispy78 wrote:
For painting, Games Workshop do their own painting guides here - https://citadelcolour.com/.

There's only a handful of painting guides on the Citadel Colour website. You would really want to check out the Warhammer YouTube Channel, specifically the 'How to Build and Paint' playlist with close to 900 tutorials and tips.

Thank you very much for the recommendation! It's nice to see that the videos aren't filled with really jarring cuts and load over-enthusiastic presenters screeching at the top of their lungs, as I simply can't watch those without my brain going into damage control mode

I'll add that channel to my Subscribed list, and give them a watch as/when I get my first box of minis. Found out the new codex is coming out soon so might wait before I assemble them so I don't make any "illegal" units.

Cheers!

- I don't have any friends who are interested in playing 40k, and I'm terribly socially anxious. Are the local Warhammer stores welcoming to newcomers, in your experience?

From personal expiriance, this can end really bad. But in general SoB are a nice and fun army, with new models and new book coming out soon.

For kill team, I am not sure about SoB, buy lists. But if they are anything like other armies, you still probably need to buy 2-3 boxs, to have an efficient force. And knowing GW a bit, the new up comming storm shield armed celestians are probably going to be good units in kill team too. Also each of the new armies did get a big patrol box with a new book. SoB will probably get one of those too. So starting by buying that, and box regular sisters, and something you like would probably be a good army start. Heck for all we know maybe a good way to start SoB is going to be to buy two patrol boxs.

 Castozor wrote:

 BHBrowne wrote:

EDIT: I read online something about "detachments"? Does this mean I can finally live my dream of having Space Marines/Sisters of Battles partnered with Imperial Guard, all in one army?!

You certainly can! Although you probably started an edition too late too really enjoy it. Previous edition there were 0 downsides to making such an army nowadays you will lose some good rules if you take a "soup" army as it's called. But if you and your group are somewhat casual in list building it probably wont be too bad.

I don't have any friends who are interested in playing 40k, and I'm terribly socially anxious. Are the local Warhammer stores welcoming to newcomers, in your experience? Without getting into it too much, I am very shy and struggle a lot with talking to anyone that's not in my immediate friendship circle, and I'd hate to rain on anyone's parade when we're all trying to enjoy the hobby together.

In my (admittedly limited) experience, yes they are welcoming to new players. They might have a clique of veteran/regular players but are generally not opposed to new blood. Only issue might be in how they approach the game. For example I'm mostly a garage hammer player but the few times I visited a shop it went okay, except the one that had mostly competitive/cutthroat list building players. Not necessarily an issue for me but if you prefer more fluffy/casual games it can be off putting or force you to adapt.

I know that I am very casual when it comes to army building, and so was my brother when I played with him. I think my biggest worry would be making a team like Imperial Guard/Sisters of Battle and having people not want to play with me because it's not a very orthodox group, I guess? If I had friends, I doubt it would be as much as a problem as when we play DnD together they're used to me either DMing weird things or playing weird characters, but I'm also aware that I am a bit odd and that my oddness would likely spill into my armies.

Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, mind! Imperial Guard/Sisters is definitely a much later project for me though if only because I need to budget myself and having a pile of boxed miniatures that need assembling and painting sounds like a great way for me to lose interest immediately with how my attention darts about like a gerbil on speed.

I think you hit the nail on the head with what I was worried about with the local hobby stores, and I am very grateful to you for giving two perspectives. I did imagine they'd mostly be wonderful, besides the "power-gamers" I guess (is that a phrase?) who are ultra-competitive and might be a bit much for me. Maybe I'll try bribe some friends so we can play from the safety of my flat. Maybe ...

Thank you for your reply, everybody in this thread has made me feel very welcome <3


Automatically Appended Next Post:

PenitentJake wrote:
Kill team IS a good game. Lots of folks like it because it includes a style of alternating action, whereas with 40k, each player takes their entire turn, moving, shooting, charging and fighting with every unit before the other player gets to go.

But keep in mind that not every 40k unit is suitable for Kill Team, so there might be a model you LOVE, but if it's a vehicle, you're guaranteed that you won't be able to use it in KT. You also probably won't be able to use it if it's a Fast Attack or Heavy support unit.

The small number of models that KT uses used to be another draw, but now 40k actively supports games that are 500 points, 1000 points, 2000 points and 3000 points.

I have a 500 point Deathwatch army that is literally 12 infantry models- it might as well be Kill Team, but it's actually a 40k army.

There are also 3 ways to play. Open has fewer rules, simple missions that are randomly generated using a set of cards, and it's designed to let you be fast and loose with army building restrictions. Not a whole heck of a lot of Dakkanauts play the game this way.

The most popular way to play is Matched; if you're playing in a store with strangers, this is the easiest type of game to set up. If you like tournaments, almost all of them are this format. The Missions for this type of play don't support 500 point games or 3000 point games as well as the other two ways to play. This method has fairly in depth rules for how your models group up to form an army. Think of this as the default play mode, and it's just about the only way to play that Dakkanauts ever talk about- mostly because of its status as a) tournament mode and b) the most popular for pick-up games in stores.

Then there's my favourite, which is Narrative Play. It uses a progression system called Crusade, which allows every single unit you bring to battle to earn experience and learn new skills and get new equipment based on how they perform in the game. There's also rules for adding new units to the army, so most people start with 500 points, and the army grows a bit at a time- great for slow painters. Also, the skills and equipment units earn increases the customization available, so you can really personalize your army.

So from MY perspective, while Kill Team is a great game, Crusade is better. The only thing Kill Team has on it is the alternate activation- which a lot of people on Dakka really like.

Now while Crusade is MY favourite, some folks complain about the book keeping (which is fair- there is a lot of it). Some folks also don't feel like a progression system provides ENOUGH narrative- they want it to include campaign rules, and they want the missions to link up a little better. Personally, I don't feel this complaint has as much legitimacy as the first; if it DID include a campaign rules, that might inhibit your creativity, and story links between missions are best left for players as well.

So that's a basic primer about the options you have for deciding which game and which way to play works best for you.

As for the Sisters question- yes, they are fabulous; their new Codex preorders this Saturday. The army IS complex, but ALL 9th edition armies are complex. There's a lot of moving parts and bonuses from different sources, so they stack and create combinations. I personally love this and think at adds customizability and flexibility, but a lot of the more competitive minded, matched play Dakkanauts rightly point out that this stackability makes the game difficult to balance.

Oh wowser-oonie, what a reply!

Would it be okay to DM you to talk more about Kill Team? I'm a bit shy and don't want to waste your time/embarass myself with a bunch of noob questions, and Kill Team is something I've been really curious about. The paragraph you wrote about "Narrative Play" and "Crusade" sounds right up my alley, if I'm understanding it correctly, and I'd love to learn more about it <3

In case you don't get pinged when I quote reply, I'll send you a DM in a bit to ask some stuff about Kill Team. Thank you for your reply <3


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Karol wrote:

- I don't have any friends who are interested in playing 40k, and I'm terribly socially anxious. Are the local Warhammer stores welcoming to newcomers, in your experience?

From personal expiriance, this can end really bad. But in general SoB are a nice and fun army, with new models and new book coming out soon.

For kill team, I am not sure about SoB, buy lists. But if they are anything like other armies, you still probably need to buy 2-3 boxs, to have an efficient force. And knowing GW a bit, the new up comming storm shield armed celestians are probably going to be good units in kill team too. Also each of the new armies did get a big patrol box with a new book. SoB will probably get one of those too. So starting by buying that, and box regular sisters, and something you like would probably be a good army start. Heck for all we know maybe a good way to start SoB is going to be to buy two patrol boxs.

Hiya!

Was wondering if you could expand, either here or in DMs, about in what way local Warhammer stores can "end really bad"? I don't want to alienate anyone I the hobby. I like to think I'm quite friendly when you get past the nervousness and quiet talking, but I don't want to "rock the boat" so to speak when I try and get invested in a new hobby.

Thank you for replying to my thread <3

 BHBrowne wrote:



Would it be okay to DM you to talk more about Kill Team?

Yep, anytime. I'm not used to getting a lot of DMs, so I don't always remember to look for them, but I'll try to keep my eyes open.

Cheers!

 BHBrowne wrote:
...I was wondering if, in your experience, a lot of people play it at local games stores (before the "incident" in 2020, anyway ...)? My friendship circle aren't interested in Warhammer 40k, which really sucks because my fondest memories were doing more "fluffy" games with my brother. Like, a larger focus on narrative and making a story out of our various skirmishes. Man, his Chaos Space Marines were wicked good at just tearing through my defensive lines.

Sorry, went on a tangent there. I was wondering though if Kill Team is easy to start from nothing? I don't have anything related to tabletop gaming beyond my DnD dice and books, so I'd need to obviously have models and the codex for the army (and probably the rulebook for Kill Team ...), but I was also wondering how large of a board is recommended for Kill Team, and how much terrain is needed? My brother and I used forts made from cereal boxes on a dining table, and I get the feeling that won't cut it nowadays ...

Whether you can find people playing Kill Team at game stores is very heavily dependent on your local group; you're going to have to do some scouting on your own. As to terrain if you're playing at a game store there will often be terrain there for you to use; if you're playing on your own making forts out of cereal boxes is absolutely a workable solution.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 BHBrowne wrote:
...Hiya!

Was wondering if you could expand, either here or in DMs, about in what way local Warhammer stores can "end really bad"? I don't want to alienate anyone I the hobby...

I'm big into homebrew rules, but my local Warhammer community is very tournament-happy. I tried asking for feedback on some homebrew rules in the Facebook group of a local game store, the players in that Facebook group got very offended at the idea that I was so bad at Warhammer I felt I needed to cheat, I got very offended at the accusation that my goal in writing homebrew rules was to win more easily rather than making the game more interesting/use models I otherwise couldn't, and because I was the newbie the mods shut me down and told me to stop talking about homebrew rules. I don't go to that game store anymore.

The lesson here is to do your scouting, listen to people, and try and figure out what kind of community you're wandering into. 40k isn't monolithic and is very much a shared experience; finding/building a community is very much about figuring out what other people want out of the hobby and finding people who want the same things you do to play with. I've moved almost entirely to side-games (my homemade Necromunda conversion and 30k, mostly) because the people who play full-size 40k near me are almost entirely very tournament-happy and I don't find that style of play fun, but I've got people I know who enjoy the more detailed and unpredictable games I do, so I can still play games and have a good time.

 AnomanderRake wrote:

 BHBrowne wrote:
...I was wondering if, in your experience, a lot of people play it at local games stores (before the "incident" in 2020, anyway ...)? My friendship circle aren't interested in Warhammer 40k, which really sucks because my fondest memories were doing more "fluffy" games with my brother. Like, a larger focus on narrative and making a story out of our various skirmishes. Man, his Chaos Space Marines were wicked good at just tearing through my defensive lines.

Sorry, went on a tangent there. I was wondering though if Kill Team is easy to start from nothing? I don't have anything related to tabletop gaming beyond my DnD dice and books, so I'd need to obviously have models and the codex for the army (and probably the rulebook for Kill Team ...), but I was also wondering how large of a board is recommended for Kill Team, and how much terrain is needed? My brother and I used forts made from cereal boxes on a dining table, and I get the feeling that won't cut it nowadays ...

Whether you can find people playing Kill Team at game stores is very heavily dependent on your local group; you're going to have to do some scouting on your own. As to terrain if you're playing at a game store there will often be terrain there for you to use; if you're playing on your own making forts out of cereal boxes is absolutely a workable solution.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 BHBrowne wrote:
...Hiya!

Was wondering if you could expand, either here or in DMs, about in what way local Warhammer stores can "end really bad"? I don't want to alienate anyone I the hobby...

I'm big into homebrew rules, but my local Warhammer community is very tournament-happy. I tried asking for feedback on some homebrew rules in the Facebook group of a local game store, the players in that Facebook group got very offended at the idea that I was so bad at Warhammer I felt I needed to cheat, I got very offended at the accusation that my goal in writing homebrew rules was to win more easily rather than making the game more interesting/use models I otherwise couldn't, and because I was the newbie the mods shut me down and told me to stop talking about homebrew rules. I don't go to that game store anymore.

The lesson here is to do your scouting, listen to people, and try and figure out what kind of community you're wandering into. 40k isn't monolithic and is very much a shared experience; finding/building a community is very much about figuring out what other people want out of the hobby and finding people who want the same things you do to play with. I've moved almost entirely to side-games (my homemade Necromunda conversion and 30k, mostly) because the people who play full-size 40k near me are almost entirely very tournament-happy and I don't find that style of play fun, but I've got people I know who enjoy the more detailed and unpredictable games I do, so I can still play games and have a good time.

Oh jeez, that sounds like a handful. I'll definitely do my scouting before I make any commitments with my local game store. I'm big into homebrew rules for DnD as well and had some headaches when I was accused of trying to power game when all I was trying to do was make a Pandaren sort of race from WoW for my monk. Never again...

I think my biggest worry is I'm into narrative above all else in games, especially tabletop. Something about each battle being a part of a larger story really appeals to me. I also loved reading "Tale of Four Gamers" back in White Dwarf (The 40k one, I think it started issue 343? It was when the new Space Marines codex came out, iirc), and if I could get three friends to play with me and go on a "Tale of Four Gamers" adventure I know I'd have a good time. However, one of my friends lives across the Atlantic, and the other has to spend all their time with their better half lest said better half has a hissy fit to top all hissy fits, so I don't think that dream will ever come into fruition - as I fear my local gaming store is much more into tournament play and win-win-WIN! At least, that's vaguely how I remember it when I was a kid.

(I remember vaguely someone being really snarky and rude to me when I was, like, eleven ish? Towards the end of my last stint of Warhammer, anyway. And my dad was in the store and yelled back and it got very uncomfortable. Probably won't go back to that store, if only because I look a lot like my dad and don't want any trouble!)

I might try get in touch with the local Facebook group for Warhammer in my area, and see what sort of games people are into so I can gauge if the gaming part of the hobby is something I can get into with them. Failing that, maybe I'll just bribe my friends to play with me

Thank you very much for your insightful reply. Loving this community so far, you all are very nice and welcoming <3

I know that I am very casual when it comes to army building, and so was my brother when I played with him. I think my biggest worry would be making a team like Imperial Guard/Sisters of Battle and having people not want to play with me because it's not a very orthodox group, I guess? If I had friends, I doubt it would be as much as a problem as when we play DnD together they're used to me either DMing weird things or playing weird characters, but I'm also aware that I am a bit odd and that my oddness would likely spill into my armies.

Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, mind! Imperial Guard/Sisters is definitely a much later project for me though if only because I need to budget myself and having a pile of boxed miniatures that need assembling and painting sounds like a great way for me to lose interest immediately with how my attention darts about like a gerbil on speed.

My concern with such a list was mostly that you'd be hamstringing yourself. Guard and Sisters don't have a 9th codex yet (Sisters are soon though) but once they will they will have some special rules you won't get access to by having a mixed army. So if your worry is finding people willing to play against it you should be fine. If anything you are doing them a favor by making a mixed army like that.

I think you hit the nail on the head with what I was worried about with the local hobby stores, and I am very grateful to you for giving two perspectives. I did imagine they'd mostly be wonderful, besides the "power-gamers" I guess (is that a phrase?) who are ultra-competitive and might be a bit much for me. Maybe I'll try bribe some friends so we can play from the safety of my flat. Maybe ...

Thank you for your reply, everybody in this thread has made me feel very welcome <3

There is nothing inherently wrong with powergamers, but it seems they and you want different things out of the game which could make finding satisfying games for both of you hard. As the others said, definitely scout out local groups on Facebook or some other social media platform and try to find one that best suits your style of gaming. Maybe there is a local Crusade group that suits your style of bigger narrative gaming.