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Doing a bit of research on the game and such but damn this is one hell of an expensive hobby. Granted I think you get much more out of it than a card game like Magic but the prices on the books and models are pretty up there.

Anyway, I'm new to wargames completely. I've played card games and RPGs like DnD but never tried tabletop so I'm quite the noob. Hoping to meet some cool people that I can chat with about the game.

It's not a dirt cheap hobby but honestly compared to a lot of others its pretty cheap (it tends to always look expensive because its oft marketed to teens ).



Tabletop wargames can be great fun and since you're already well into the geek scene it sounds like it could be a great thing for you. What parts are you curious about or what factions are interesting you?

For my one tip there's generally two "extreme" ways to pick a faction.
1) Looks. You head over to the website and go through each army and see what you like and what you hate. Sometimes it can be neat to open each unit in an army up on a new tab then go through and look at each one; close any tabs that you don't like. If you're left with hardly anything chances are you don't like the army overall in appearance; meanwhile if there's a few where you've got a lot more left open you know that you like their apperance more so.

2) Playstyle/difficulty - different armies play their best differently and some are easier to use than others. This TENDS to be an approach used once you've actually played for a while and have a good idea of how the game works and how you like/want to play. So this extreme tends to be chosen by those doing a second army or coming to a new wargame from another wargame.

Hi there. Welcome to the war.

40k rules are free. Look for the Battle Primer on the GW website.
Once you know which army you want to play, get the codex (if it's out yet) or the Index, for it, and find some models. Any models, as you can proxy with them as you get going.
If you have players to game with already, see what they will put up with, or ask around in the local gaming forums here to find people.

It's a fun hobby - it is also an expensive hobby, but most hobbies aren't cheap.

Always nice to see new people interested - how did you get interested, and are there any armies in particular that you're interested in?

Regardless, this is a pretty good time to start, a new edition just came out, and it is a rather simplified one.

One reason I really like the 40k hobby as opposed to, say, magic, is that though the models are expensive, you can play with them forever - GW has very, very rarely made models they have produced obsolete.

But it's fun, and modeling and painting is creative, and it's nice to get out and play with our plastic army men.

You may want to say whereabouts in the US you're from, there might be places people can recommend to talk about it in person.

Wow that was quick!

Thanks for all the responses, guys.

I do intend on choosing an army based on which on which one's appearance I like the most since there's a lot of time dedicated to constructing and painting them.

I've known about 40k for quite a while now but it always seemed like too much work, too expensive and maybe not enough people I knew that played? I was first introduced to 40k when a friend suggested I try the Space Marines game for xbox.

Warhammer just seems really appealing in many aspects such as how diverse you can be with the hobby--choosing to either just build and paint models for fun, collect or to actually play. This appeals to me more than something like MTG where like Kap'n Krump said, once you have your model you can use it forever on top of the value of building and painting them.

Even if I never played the game it's still cool to pretty much build your own "toys".

Then there's the background of 40k....the Orks,with their shenanigans and the Space Marines with their chainsaw blades---that's just awesome.


Magic is a lot of fun to play but like anything else that has become mainstream, to me it ends up feeling a lot more like work than fun.

One thing with magic is the constant need to keep buying as they change the current blocks. It's fun for a while but once you're "out" of it it kinda seems like madness at times

40K armies can suffer a slightly similar effect as many units have alternate weapon options. Sometimes new editions change which weapons are best or even viable for certain builds. A new edition just started so its a great time to jump on in and get started.

At present each faction is getting a new codex and they should all be out by early next year; however each army currently has viable rules in the compendium rule collections which collect rules for a select number of armies in each one (store page on the GW website lists out which one fits in each factions grouping).


Going back to the subject of alternate weapons you might find magnets a neat hting to experiment with. A quick search should bring you loads of how-too and its pretty simple to fit them in to most larger models. It can save you a bit and let you play with different main weapons


Any ide which faction(s) you're thinking of going with?

My recommendation is go to your local game store (if you have one) and see when most of the 40k players are there. Subsequently, return at that time and meet the players. Most people that play (at least in my area) would be very eager to let you watch and/or play a game with them. I used to carry a second "demo" army that eventually ended up becoming a store demo army. Getting table time in a small 250-500 point game will let you see how fun this game can be!

The Magnet thing definitely seems like a good idea.

As far as which faction I have no clue, haven't checked out the armies yet.

I'm trying to figure out the most cost effective way to giving 40k a shot. One thought was maybe buy a model and see how I like putting it together and painting it.

If that's a good route, is it wiser to just go with a single model or decide on which faction I like best and buy some kind of starter set?


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That's a good idea too papa seven. I do have a game store that's "loca" and for where I live that's a 30 minute drive lol Anywhere else and I'm probably looking at 1.5 hours of drive time. I know I saw people playing tabletop at my local but I think it was Star Wars. Hopefully there's someone there that plays 40k...if not I'll just make the drive.

That's what I like about 40k....even if I have no one to play with I can still enjoy the hobby by painting and collecting and when there's someone to play I can just play.

If you've never tried them, I'd recommend checking out some of the 40k video games, they will help you get a feel for the different races, and of the universe in general.

Dawn of war 1: dark crusade was an excellent game. A bit old at this point, but still fun, and pretty cheap, but let you really get an idea of how the different factions looked and acted.

Dawn of war 2 was mostly focused on space marines, until the retribution expansion, though I liked DoW1 more.

Dawn of war 3 was somewhat polarizing, but I thought it was pretty fun.

'Space Marine' was a pretty solid last gen 3rd person shooter.

There's also tons of wiki information on sites like lexanium (serious) and 1d4chan (silly).

The video games give flavour but play nothing like tabletop.


I also second going to your local club; most gamers are keen for new players so you can easily get a demo game (if possibly try and contact before you go to set things up so that they know to expect you).

As for the most cost effective; well some factions run with less units. Marines do well with fewer higher powered units on the table. That said the cheapest is actually to buy a pre-made army on ebay or parts of one and build it up. Barring a few legacy and metal models most things go cheaper once they are painted and assembled than they are band new - unless they have a seriously good paint job.

Of course then you miss out on the building and painting aspects. You can snag a few deals on ebay but otherwise your local store and an army not focused around swarm would likely suit getting started on budget.

I'd recommend looking at the Start Collecting boxes and figuring out which army looks good to you; it's hard to guess what you would like mechanically since you have no previous experience in this type of game, so going by aesthetics might be wise for starting out.

 Overread wrote:
The video games give flavour but play nothing like tabletop.

Very, very true, they don't play like the tabletop, but like you said, I think it helps introduce the basic themes and setting of the universe and the factions. Plus, the older ones are pretty cheap.

I was just trying to check out some armies on the GW site and there are so many. Is there an easier way to browse through the armies like a fan made catalogue or something?

Those start collecting boxes look like they're more geared towards players who know which faction they want to play but they do look cool.

Also, say I wanted to just try building a model and paint it. What's the cheapest route to go for that?




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I've played Space Marine but that's it. I've also seen the animated Ultramarines movie.

Side note...how to I respond directly to other users posts?

 MetalDakka wrote:
I was just trying to check out some armies on the GW site and there are so many. Is there an easier way to browse through the armies like a fan made catalogue or something?

Those start collecting boxes look like they're more geared towards players who know which faction they want to play but they do look cool.

Also, say I wanted to just try building a model and paint it. What's the cheapest route to go for that?

You can get the Easy to Build Plague Marines and matching paint set for thirty bucks, there's a similar thing for the primaris intercessors if you prefer the corpse emperor's lapdogs.

Metal click the quote button in the top right of a post to quote it in your own post. Otherwise just say a name of who posted and respond


The website isn't too bad, just click the name of the faction and go through them. It is bit more complicated for Space Marines and their lik because they've got a lot of full armies and subfactions. I'm sure there's a fansite out there that does it better but I can't link you to it as I don't know it.

The getting started boxes are an ideal way to get started with an army; offering a good solid core of units to begin with and generally at a good deal.

Hi,

Welcome to Daka

Arachnofiend wrote:

 MetalDakka wrote:
I was just trying to check out some armies on the GW site and there are so many. Is there an easier way to browse through the armies like a fan made catalogue or something?

Those start collecting boxes look like they're more geared towards players who know which faction they want to play but they do look cool.

Also, say I wanted to just try building a model and paint it. What's the cheapest route to go for that?

You can get the Easy to Build Plague Marines and matching paint set for thirty bucks, there's a similar thing for the primaris intercessors if you prefer the corpse emperor's lapdogs.

Uh, yeah...there we go.



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 Knightley wrote:
Hi,

Welcome to Daka

Thanks Knightly. Btw, what's the DCM stand for when you donate?


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Nevermind...lol I saw it in the glossary after posting.

Hello MetalDakka

Welcome to the forums, you'll find there are lots of people willing to help on here.

I clicked on this post purely randomly just to see what people where saying and came across a wonderful sight. I love the Avatar you have chosen, how did you find it? (its one of my conversions )

For me the hobby is actually more about building models and painting rather than playing the game so there is that side of things to consider as well.

I really like the lore and universe that 40k is set in it is an investment in time to even look at a small portion of it but it really adds to the overall game, I've recently started playing games again with the release of 8th edition as it seems so have quite a few others so its a perfect time to join in.

I do tend to get quite a few models off Ebay to reduce costs or to get ones no longer in the stores.

There are some articles online to to look at e.g.

https://www.gameskinny.com/fywle/how-to-pick-your-first-warhammer-40k-army

https://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Starter_Army_Lists_for_each_40k_Race_with_Costs%21

https://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Category:Warhammer_40%2C000_Armies

As long as you are enjoying what you chose to do with your spare time then its all good.

 Midget Gems wrote:
Hello MetalDakka

Welcome to the forums, you'll find there are lots of people willing to help on here.

I clicked on this post purely randomly just to see what people where saying and came across a wonderful sight. I love the Avatar you have chosen, how did you find it? (its one of my conversions )

For me the hobby is actually more about building models and painting rather than playing the game so there is that side of things to consider as well.

I really like the lore and universe that 40k is set in it is an investment in time to even look at a small portion of it but it really adds to the overall game, I've recently started playing games again with the release of 8th edition as it seems so have quite a few others so its a perfect time to join in.

I do tend to get quite a few models off Ebay to reduce costs or to get ones no longer in the stores.

There are some articles online to to look at e.g.

https://www.gameskinny.com/fywle/how-to-pick-your-first-warhammer-40k-army

https://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Starter_Army_Lists_for_each_40k_Race_with_Costs%21

https://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Category:Warhammer_40%2C000_Armies

As long as you are enjoying what you chose to do with your spare time then its all good.

Thanks for the references!

What did you mean about my avatar being one of your conversions? I just found it on google lol.

Welcome to the grim darkness!

Expensive hobby. On the face of it-yes. However I have models I bought when I was 11. I still run them in my army today...and I'm 27. So they seem pretty good value when I look at it like that.

There are great ways of getting into 40k cheaper. Start collecting boxes are great. Also eBay - ifb you don't mind second hand models - is my number one way of getting new (old) toys. If buying second hand, armies.that have been around a long time, and have featured in recent starter sets are often easy to find for relatively cheap. Space Marines, chaos Marines and orks can be snatched at a bargain.

Hope you get involved in the hobby, keep us posted on how/if you get involved and how it all goes! Beware though.. This may consume you're entire life like it has mine haha.

"... and whatever happens. The universe is a big place and you won't be missed." :p

 jac_boj wrote:
Welcome to the grim darkness!

Expensive hobby. On the face of it-yes. However I have models I bought when I was 11. I still run them in my army today...and I'm 27. So they seem pretty good value when I look at it like that.

There are great ways of getting into 40k cheaper. Start collecting boxes are great. Also eBay - ifb you don't mind second hand models - is my number one way of getting new (old) toys. If buying second hand, armies.that have been around a long time, and have featured in recent starter sets are often easy to find for relatively cheap. Space Marines, chaos Marines and orks can be snatched at a bargain.

Hope you get involved in the hobby, keep us posted on how/if you get involved and how it all goes! Beware though.. This may consume you're entire life like it has mine haha.

"... and whatever happens. The universe is a big place and you won't be missed." :p

Haha I'll keep you posted. I still can't decide if I should pick an army and go with a start collecting box or just buy a single model and whatever I need to paint it. Do the start collecting boxes come painted?

There are a lot of people saying how expensive it is, and trust me...I don't disagree, but I must say it CAN be done on a fairly good budget.

It may take time to acquire ample amounts for bigger games, but you can usually find some pretty darn good deals.

Welcome to the world of 40k. It's a hell of a ride that gets better and better. I hope you find something you enjoy and jump right in!

 Kap'n Krump wrote:
It's a fun hobby - it is also an expensive hobby, but most hobbies aren't cheap.

Always nice to see new people interested - how did you get interested, and are there any armies in particular that you're interested in?

Regardless, this is a pretty good time to start, a new edition just came out, and it is a rather simplified one.

One reason I really like the 40k hobby as opposed to, say, magic, is that though the models are expensive, you can play with them forever - GW has very, very rarely made models they have produced obsolete.

But it's fun, and modeling and painting is creative, and it's nice to get out and play with our plastic army men.

You may want to say whereabouts in the US you're from, there might be places people can recommend to talk about it in person.

I'm in the state of New Hampshire.

 MetalDakka wrote:

 jac_boj wrote:
Welcome to the grim darkness!
http://i40.tinypic.com/vpenpf.gif/>

Expensive hobby. On the face of it-yes. However I have models I bought when I was 11. I still run them in my army today...and I'm 27. So they seem pretty good value when I look at it like that.

There are great ways of getting into 40k cheaper. Start collecting boxes are great. Also eBay - ifb you don't mind second hand models - is my number one way of getting new (old) toys. If buying second hand, armies.that have been around a long time, and have featured in recent starter sets are often easy to find for relatively cheap. Space Marines, chaos Marines and orks can be snatched at a bargain.

Hope you get involved in the hobby, keep us posted on how/if you get involved and how it all goes! Beware though.. This may consume you're entire life like it has mine haha.

"... and whatever happens. The universe is a big place and you won't be missed." :p

Haha I'll keep you posted. I still can't decide if I should pick an army and go with a start collecting box or just buy a single model and whatever I need to paint it. Do the start collecting boxes come painted?

Nothing comes painted. Paintings half the fun.

 MetalDakka wrote:
I still can't decide if I should pick an army and go with a start collecting box or just buy a single model and whatever I need to paint it. Do the start collecting boxes come painted?

Buy a Getting Started with a variety of model types. Some are easier and more fun to put together than others, and you might prefer some to others.
Whatever happens, while you are getting going, use what you have. Try armies you like the look of, and use the models as them.
But, do a couple of models at a time. Try a whole squad at once if you want, but experiment with a couple first. Use the Gallery here to find inspiration, and the GW site for the 'official' colourings.
When you've done a few, post them in your Gallery section, and post them in the Painting and Modelling section for comments.

 MetalDakka wrote:


Thanks for the references!

What did you mean about my avatar being one of your conversions? I just found it on google lol.

Not a problem.

I'm quite happy my models are appearing in Google searches

Not wanting to get too off topic from your thread but heres the WIP on that model and the finish pic. I converted and painted it for a painting challenge on this forum Link



Once you have models and paints selected you and anyone else are more than welcome to join us in the painting challenges, its a good way to get some painting done and ask questions if needed. Current challenge
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/734754.page

Have fun with whatever you decide to go for

Well balls....my local game shop doesn't have 40k :(


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 Midget Gems wrote:

 MetalDakka wrote:


Thanks for the references!

What did you mean about my avatar being one of your conversions? I just found it on google lol.

Not a problem.

I'm quite happy my models are appearing in Google searches

Not wanting to get too off topic from your thread but heres the WIP on that model and the finish pic. I converted and painted it for a painting challenge on this forum Link

Spoiler:

Once you have models and paints selected you and anyone else are more than welcome to join us in the painting challenges, its a good way to get some painting done and ask questions if needed. Current challenge
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/734754.page

Have fun with whatever you decide to go for

That's awesome! Looks great man.