Topic: 40k - suggestions for first army

[john]

40k gets played at my local club and I would like to join in but not sure what would make a good " starter " army.

I recently posted a thread about daemons in 40k but it would seem they need some experience to get the best out of - besides which I would prefer an army that involves a bit more shooting.

My biggest problem is - except Eldar , Dark Eldar ( just dont like Elves of any type - dont know why ! ) - I kind of like the idea of all the available armies for one reason or another - although it tends to be for the background and models rather than for the super duper stats lines ( that for me is no reason to pick an army )  .

Any suggestions ?

[Shadowlord]

I know this will probably be shot down by the IG players here but if you want an army that has variation, is forgiving to get into, and is decent get Space Marines. You have so much variation that you can practically tailor make your army to your best pleasure (that's right, to whatever that end is - hard list, great variation, or just cool stuff). Lots of people, the majority almost, get into 40K through these flagship boys and they have potential for all kinds of play except horde like Orks, Tyranid and IG.

In our group 2/3rds have SM armies in addition to other armies.

I have a Chaos Space Marine army myself but this is more limited than Space Marines and more combat oriented than their former brothers.

[Immovable Object]

Im not a frequent 40k player and haven't been for some time but I too would suggest Space Marines. As Shadowlord has already said, they are probably the most versatile army in 40k and can be pretty much tailored to any play style that best suits you. Another bonus is that they are relatively expensive points wise so you dont need to paint a billion miniatures to field an army. Most importantly though they look really, really cool.

[Aldaris]

Not much to add here - I too field a Chaos Space Marine force, which has less options than a loyalist force, but still plays rather similar. You might want to look at the special chapters like Space Wolves and Blood Angels as well - Blood Angels are basically super aggro cc focused Marines, and Space Wolves... well, they do everything the regular Marines do, only a bit better.

Let's see, what else have we got... Orcs for starters. Very potent army in 40k, plenty of variation is possible, and there's plenty of power in the list. And they're fun too. A bit on the expensive side perhaps because most builds will have a lot of models in them.

Imperial Guard - pretty much what I said about Orcs applies as well, but the focus is on firepower while the Orcs have a close combat fetish.

'Nids are nice as well, good looking army, midfield power level. I like 'Nids.

Tau I don't like, but that's just me. Hate the models, and I never had problems steamrolling them. If one likes the aesthetic they're okay I suppose. Very shooty, absolute, and I mean ABSOLUTE crap in close combat. Possibly the greatest sissies in that field in the game. Imperial Guardsmen are practically Khorne Demons compared to Fire Warriors.

Necrons. Oh well. Not a lot of variation in the list. It looks kinda cool, but is rather weak these days.

Hope that helps.

[Novogord]

If you want to have small army, you can go for two playable options: space marines and eldar. Both have a special way of playing, while space marines are very forgiving in game, eldar are nicer to field

[john]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I think I will give Space Marines a try and see how I get on.

[der Hurenwiebel]

I'm liking my spacewolves so far.  Thinking of buying a unit or two of Chaos marines just so I can do some 13th company veteran warriors  with heavily patched, resanctified, and repaired armour.  The modeling possibilities are tremendous.

[Jerseyboy381]

If you're considering Loyal marines at all, look at the Space Wolves and Blood Angels.  One or the other can do almost everything the codex marines do, only cheaper and better.  There are only really a few Codex lists that are decently competative.  If you're looking for something flexible with specialist troops you can bring to adjust your list to your playstyle, few armies do better then Chaos Marines.  I wrote a few articles recently addressing both of these armies on my blog, jerseygeneral.blogspot.com.  CHeck it out for more on the subject from soneone that has had plenty of experience with both armies.

[GamesPoet]

Jerseyboy ... read the blog and found it good to read.

- - - - -

I actually started out with Orks.  Yep, need more models and thus more money spent, but for anyone who is a modeler and likes this part of the hobby as much as any other or better, Orks can be wonderful to work with and fun to play, too.

[Jerseyboy381]

Jerseyboy ... read the blog and found it good to read.

Thank you for that...always hoping for more fans...   Ok, shameless plug over.  I agree that Orks are another good choice if you like modeling.  You can get away with a lot of things with Orks and really run almost any model in the range by just "makin' it Orky"  You'll need a ton of models though but ebaying Black reach helps that a bit espically when it's the only source of a Warboss with Klaw which is the best weapon for him.  Orks are a fairly competative army still, but beyond that Orks are just fun.  Grab a codex and read some of their special rules to see what I mean.  The Shokk attack gun alone is funny as hell...devestating when it works and interesting when it doesn't.

[WallyTWest]

One big advantage of 40K is model count. A good warhammer fantasy army is about  75-150 models. 40K seems to do fine with 50-75 models on the table. This is very true of space marines, even an Ork horde will have less than their fantasy equivalent. It means you get up and playing faster.

[Aldaris]

One big advantage of 40K is model count. A good warhammer fantasy army is about  75-150 models. 40K seems to do fine with 50-75 models on the table. This is very true of space marines, even an Ork horde will have less than their fantasy equivalent. It means you get up and playing faster.

Very much dependent on the army you use - infantry based Orks for example can easily reach 150-190 models. IG has no problem in heavily breaching the triple digits as well. But yes, Marine and other elite armies can do with a lot less. My CSM 2000 pts. army is just below 50 models I think.

[GamesPoet]

Jerseyboy ... read the blog and found it good to read.

Thank you for that...always hoping for more fans...   Ok, shameless plug over.  I agree that Orks are another good choice if you like modeling.  You can get away with a lot of things with Orks and really run almost any model in the range by just "makin' it Orky"  You'll need a ton of models though but ebaying Black reach helps that a bit espically when it's the only source of a Warboss with Klaw which is the best weapon for him.  Orks are a fairly competative army still, but beyond that Orks are just fun.  Grab a codex and read some of their special rules to see what I mean.  The Shokk attack gun alone is funny as hell...devestating when it works and interesting when it doesn't.

The Orks in the AoBR are a great way to start.  I've traded Space Marines in the box for more Orks from another.  I've got enough koptas for a Apocolypse formation which I just love using for such events.  In fact the whoel reason I got into 40K in the first place was to partake in Apoc games, so obviously no shyness towards accumulating a number of models here.

However, even if one doesn't do the AoBR, which really is an awesome purchase, particularly if you get two and can have 6 koptas, you can always find a way to convert a nob into a warboss with a claw.  And the Nob box is a great buy for an ork player, too.