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Hey guys,

I am trying to get some friends into Warhammer 40K, and I want to put together some intro games to get them acquainted. So I'm looking for army lists & scenarios that perhaps you have used to bring new players into the hobby. Obviously I wouldn't want huge lists, just something that would give the players a few squads to get a feel of the game and the differences between units and armies. Ideally something around 500 points and lower.

I remember back in 4th when I was introduced to 40K at my local Games Workshop... I went in and they had a 4x4 table with city ruins as the theme. On the table were a few Space Marine units and a few Tyranid units. The worker there put me in charge of the Space Marines and gave me a few scenarios and objectives to learn the basics of the game. I instantly fell in love with 40K. I'd like to recreate this feeling for friends that are new to the hobby.

Thus, I wanted to ask any of you if you had any balanced army lists of Space Marine, Ork, Chaos, Tyranid, Eldar, etc. that you use to introduce new players? Any beginner scenarios?

**++ Combined Arms Detachment (Tyranids: Codex (2014)) [505pts] ++**

**+ HQ +**
**Hive Tyrant []:** Lash Whip & Bonesword

**+ Troops +**
**Hormagaunt Brood []**
. 15x Hormagaunt: 15x Toxin Sacs
**Termagant Brood []:** 10x Fleshborer Termagant
**Termagant Brood []:** 10x Fleshborer Termagant

**+ Heavy Support +*

**Carnifex Brood
Carnifex: Scything Talons, Scything Talons

Now this list I no where close to competitive, but its fun to play

The above list looks like a fun intro to 'nids, with 2 big creatures and a good supply of infantry. this provides a good feel for the army's play style.

-As for Marines maybe A core of Predator Annihilator, flamer missile launcher tactical squad, plasma cannon 5 man tactical squad, maybe a Captain to lead?

The tactical squad loadout is flamer to deter the horde units and missile launcher to try and hurt the MCs... without one-shotting them Grav Cannon style

Predator is an iconic old-school heavy weapons provider for marines, appealing to treadheads and giving a reliable way of putting down the carnifex? 5 man unit with plasma cannon can either horde damage, or try to damage MCs. obviously avoiding game breakers like grav.

Captain; Power Weapon 105
Tactical Squad (10) Flamer, Missile Launcher 160
Tactical Squad (5) Plasma Cannon 85
Predator (All Las) 140?
(490)-10pts left to allow for inaccuracies, no codex on me @ work.

I put together a few lists myself. Since apparently 8th is dropping formations, I decided to just focus on units that were interesting, unique, and easy to use, while also trying to give a good feel for what each army specializes in. Also I tried to keep the points relatively low (~400) to make the games short. Here's what I came up with:

Space Marines

1xCaptain (Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon) [105 pts]

5x Tactical Marines (1x Sgt) [70 pts]

5x Tactical Marines (1x Sgt) [70 pts]

3x Space Marine Bikers (1x Sgt) [63 pts]

1x Dreadnought (Multi-Melta, Power Fist) [100 pts]

Total Points: 408

Orks

1x Warboss (Shoota, Power Klaw) [85 pts]

12x Boyz [72 pts]

10x Boyz (10x Shootas) [70 pts]

5x Nobz [90 pts]

3x Warbikerz [54 pts]

1x Deffkopta (Twin-Linked Rokkit Launcha) [30 pts]

Total Points: 401

Tyranids

1x Hive Tyrant (Lash Whip & Bonesword) [185 pts]

12x Hormagaunts (Scything Talons) [60 pts]

12x Termagants (Fleshborers) [48 pts]

10x Gargoyles (Fleshborers) [60 pts]

1x Lictor [50 pts]

Total Points: 403

Necrons

1x Overlord (Staff of Light) [80 pts]

10x Warriors [130 pts]

5x Immortals [85 pts]

3x Tomb Blades [54 pts]

3x Canoptek Scarabs [60 pts]

Total Points: 409

My ideas for these was to provide a couple Troops, along with some fast attack for variety, a "super unit", and then the HQ. Space Marines get a couple troops of 5 Tactical Marines (though I'm considering putting it together into one 10-marine squad), a few bikers, a dreadnought, and their captain. The Orks get to specialize in a few more units than Space Marines would, as is their forte. I planned the two Boyz units with one being equiped with Shootas to provide a different feel to the units, though I may scrap the one Shoota squad to add models to the Deffkopta unit. The Tyranid plan was to emphasize swarm. Originally I had 3 gaunt units (1 horma, 2 terma) along with the Gargoyles to just provide that "tons of units" swarm feeling Tyranids are known for, along with some Warriors or a Carnifex, but I felt that an HQ would go better with them. Also threw in a Lictor for variety. As for the Necrons, I never really grasped how expensive Necrons were until now. A basic Overlord, 1 unit of Warriors and 1 unit of Immortals for some Troops. Tomb Blades to fit the Fast Attack variety slot, and a set of Canoptek Scarabs just for variety and assault.

Would anyone alter any of these? Does any list seem significantly more or less powerful than the others?

The space marine list, you should give a special weapon to one squad, and a heavy weapon to the other.


Do you have a list of models that you/they own? If y'all dont own any, the Swarmbox is a great start for any Tyranids player.