Best Starter Army?

[Koineboy]

Hello,

I've been painting 40k models for the last year, but really haven't started playing the game. I have models from GK, Ork, Necron, SM and heir codexes. Which is the most forgiving beginner army?

Thx

[Javin]

I would say space marine just because I find Space Marine armies are cheapest to come by, they are tough and easy to learn. However, I would say which side inspires you? What back story intrigues you? Play a few games, if possible, with a friend to see if you like any faction. Watch some games and see what you like. In the end, the game is about fun, pick whichever you think is most enjoyable.

[DarkLink]

Grey Knights. Cheapest to build and easiest to learn the basics quickly. Literally everyone else is doing it, though.

[Hogleg]

Consider Blood Angels. You can build out a small force and get to know the rules using what are basically marines with a better curve (taking assault marines as troops too), then really open up the versatility of the Codex as you grow. Most marine boxes work with Blood Angels, as well you'll get access to some really great kits like the Sanguinary Guard, Furiouso, and Death Company.

[Mystery.Shadow]

Necrons are pretty forgiving and you get that nifty Reanimation Protocols roll.

[Pandarchon]

There is nothing like power armour to help you if you get caught in the open or into a bad assault.
Grey Knights!
Power armoured armies are also in general cheaper

[Bean]

Yeah, my top pick would be Grey Knights or Space Wolves. Marines are the classic starter army, and they tend to be fairly forgiving, but with the way the Codices are right now, vanilla Marines just aren't that good. I wouldn't advise a new player to start with an army that is likely to leave them frustrated and jealous when looking at the toys of other very similar--but essentially better--armies.

Grey Knights and Space Wolves are definitely at the top of list for Power Armor armies, and that makes them my top picks.

Also, Dark Link is right--Grey Knights are surprisingly cheap to build, and they have wonderful new plastic kits for all of their basic stuff, which makes them particularly rewarding to build.

[Drunkencorgimaster]

Definately Space Marines of some type. Very forgiving and reasonably inexpensive. You might think about vanilla marines (basic space marines, aka no Angels, Wolves, Knights, or Templars) too. For those of us who have done it, one of the more satisfying things in 40k is to invent your own chapter with your own fluff. It makes your army totally unique and really yours.

[TheStrategist]

I would def say some form of SM to start off with, although my first was IG and I've never looked back. :P

See if your friends would be up to allow you to use your SM minis in a couple of skirmish games to represent all the "space marine" codexi out there: space wolves, dark angels, blood angels, grey knights, black templar, generic SM, heck, even CSM.

You'll find that they are pretty forgiving to play and are generally good all rounders (some more than others).

Enjoy!

[bubblehearthz]

necrons aren't too bad. If you buy 2-3 battleforces and a unit of lychguard, you are good to go.

[Nightspawn]

I agree that a power armor army being the easiest to learn with.

[Senger285]

would have to go with marines. they have enough guns, hard hitters and heros to tackle most anything.... and they are marines.

[Mr.Pickelz]

IMO, Orks or Space Marines. Space Marines, because of the reasons listed above, and Orks because they give you a good overall feel for each phase, along with some fun stuff added in, in the form of special rules (aka. Mob Rule, Red Paint Job, Don't Press Dat!, etc...). However, Orks will get fairly expensive to build with their effective lists containing lots and lots of models, but this can easily be trimmed down thanks to the Assault on Black Reach starter set and Ebay/online retailers. Also if you like detailed models, Forge world has a lot of good Ork models and are always getting something cool looking to use. The Looty-ness of their fluff allows for unlimited possibilities for each unit entry (look up Looted Carnifex pictures). So you can pretty much take a WW2 tank kit and pop some orky stuff on it and call it a battlewagon or Looted Tank. This also applies to the individual models as well.:D

[sorienor]

Orks. Cheap models from AoBR and are very forgiving, ie can make mistakes and still have shot at winning.

[kellyj]

Space Marines. Baseline stats across the board along with a 3+ save make them forgiving in combat when you make a mistake while strong enough to dish out some pain. The HQs are generic enough that you can learn special rules and actions from Chaplains, Libbys, and Captains as you go without having to get bogged down in unusual or unique rules. Just about every type of unit is covered (except flyers) so you get to learn a broad variety of unit movements and shooting restrictions.
Finally, once you have a handle on the flow of the game AND how your army functions, you need only add a Special Character (Vulkan, Lysander, et al) to make the army different enough to keep boredom at bay and explore different lists that build off your Characters abilities.

[a94marbo]

Many models: IG
Few models: GK

An army almost noone else plays?: Sisters

[bladeofdeath3]

Marines are a good starter army. They are very durable and can run a variety of lists.

[Oelber]

Definitely Space Marines. They have a forgiving save, are decent in the shooting phase, decent in the assault phase, and are available in the starter set.

[Silverclaw]

You allready have models from several different armies, but do you have enough of any of them to compose an army?
If you have the models for an army just try it out, and if you have sevral entire armies then i would sugest trying the one with the playstyle that apeal most to you...

[Drakkan Vael]

Of the armies you own models from, Space Marines are the easiest to learn, offer the most variety in models (and the most complete line of models apart from Orks), but also the most boring.
You should play what you like most.
Necrons are a great army, but the 2nd wave has not arrived yet (so some models are still missing).
They are fairly easy to lern, offer a wide variety of builds and are relatively easy to paint.

[Wolfshade]

I would have to say Space Marines. Which, I know is kinda boring, but they are quite simple to play, their rules make them very forgiving to play, so if you make a mistake you still have T4 and 3+ Sv. While I agree that GKs are essentially the same, the mechanics of how their special weapons and rules work add a level of complexity that you may not be ready for if you are just starting out.
I would suggest get a force around 500pts (AoBR) and play with that until you are happy with the rules and how the game mechanics work and then maybe proxy them as GKs using their special rules and see how they play.
Then once happy with the mechanices, read the fluff, look at the models and which ever one you like the most play them

[dave1032]

Space marines

[Obergrot]

same as the posters before: to learn the game, the easiest way to do so, is playing vanilla space marines.
The combination of good basic troops, the average stateline, etc. helps to learn quite many of the aspects of the game. While other armies may be better suited for your kind of gameplay in the long run, to learn the game i would first play some games with space marines. And then, especially in your case, play the army which you like most from the background and/or feeling.

[Dameon01]

space marines

[Koineboy]

Thanks for all of the great replies!

I hadn't even thought about Blood Angels, but I do have quite a few great knights as I love the models and the fluff. I think I'll go with GK and start a new thread for 500 points!

Thanks!

[Transgressor]

I'd say space marines for sure. Pretty fogiving and simple rules for the most part. As you get more experienced you can add more depth with the special characters and their abilities that change the way the army works. Plus you can always pass them off as blood angels or space wolves later :p

[Koineboy]

Grey Knights...not great. THough they are great models.

[Fxeni]

Space marine is commonly the starting army, simply because they are a "Jack of all Trades, Master of none". If they fail at one thing they tend to be rather forgiving, unlike other armies (i.e. Eldar).

[kingsfan2099]

I think everyone has pretty much stated the same thing and that Space Marines, of whatever flavor suits you, would be the way to go. They are very forgiving when it comes to making mistakes. I would go with whichever SM chapters fluff you enjoy. Good luck man.

[Nrthstar]

Grey Knights or Space Wolves. GK's have some crazy melee power and SW have some good swiss army knife units, allowing for some forgiving games.

[xxvaderxx]

GK Hands down. Its more important to have a legal army on the table faster, than it being more or less forgiving.

[Ork E Nuff]

First playing army? I'd have to say the SM. Any vanilla chapter will do. It's the easiest to understand, the easiest to build, and if you've been collecting for a while, the easiest to field. Good stats, good all around units, great character and background fluff. Purists will dictate that you have to stick to one chapter or the other, but today is the day of "counts as" units, so go crazy! Build you a balanced force with a great character, either spelled out in the codex SM or one of your own making, and remember to have fun...it's still just a game, a great hobby, not a life's calling.

[Ziac45]

I really would have to go with Grey Knights. Small model count allows for a quick army to paint, a cheaper cost, and they are a powerful and forgiving book. So all in all if you are a brand new player getting into the game you get a less imposing amount of models that need paint aren't paying an arm and a leg, as well as having a strong army. That is pretty much everything a new player needs.

[Eupackardia]

Since you have the models I suggest you just start with ''count as'' armies and test out which play style suits you best. Though of course if ya want to play nids and only have Space Marine models it might be a pain... but meh, gather up some friends and test those codices.

The important thing is to have fun.

[Panxer]

Space Marines; of any of the varieties...just choose your aesthetic. You like red and fast? Blood Angels. You like green and terminators? Dark Angels. You like black and shooty/choppy? Black Templars. You like blue and vikings? Space Wolves. You like shiny and overpowered? Grey Knights.

Marines are like bumper bowling, which is apt for new players. There's no inherent risk. Straight out of the box you have superior everything. You automatically regroup if you lose morale and fall back, you have elite level everything as standard options, everything either can deepstrike or drop pod in, everything hits on 3's in the shoot phase, you can loose half your army to bad tactical decisions and still pull out a win, and it's a great opportunity just to learn the game without stressing too much about getting knocked around a bit.

That said: This is the 41st millennium. There is only war. This is as Sci-Fi as it gets on the table top; you have all these other non-human races with equal ability (albeit more finesse required). A buddy of mine made a good point when he said something to the effect of, 'is that all your imagination can handle? The universe is vast and all you want to play is an army of master chiefs? Play something that will make you think more than you normally would. Challenge yourself!'. I tend to agree with him. I play almost exclusively with Tau, and it hurts my psyche every time, but I also play IG, and nothing is more satisfying than putting some manticore hits which obliterate whole squads of termigaunts or monstrous creatures.

Just some food for thought.

[eldargal]

Whichever army you like the most.

Not very helpful I know, but it is true. Pick an army you like, not one that will win battles. A few games with something like Space Marines to learn the rules is one thing, but when it comes to actually collecting an army you should go for one that interests you. The learning curve may or may not be steep, but by picking an army you like you are more likely to maintain enthusiam for it and by persevering you will learn how to use it effectively over time.

I started with Eldar, a 'veteran's army, and while the learning curve was steep I'm now an extremely capable Eldar player. I know the army well, I know what synergises, I can see when the internet choice is right or wrong and I never get sick of my army.

Personally I think starting with the easy-to-play Marines tends to stunt ones tactical growth. I see a lot of Marine players who really struggle when they make the change to other armies because they are used to a forgiving playstyle. Better to get used to things not going your way from the start, in my opinion.

[Bean]

Whichever army you like the most.

Not very helpful I know, but it is true. Pick an army you like, not one that will win battles. A few games with something like Space Marines to learn the rules is one thing, but when it comes to actually collecting an army you should go for one that interests you. The learning curve may or may not be steep, but by picking an army you like you are more likely to maintain enthusiam for it and by persevering you will learn how to use it effectively over time.

I started with Eldar, a 'veteran's army, and while the learning curve was steep I'm now an extremely capable Eldar player. I know the army well, I know what synergises, I can see when the internet choice is right or wrong and I never get sick of my army.

Personally I think starting with the easy-to-play Marines tends to stunt ones tactical growth. I see a lot of Marine players who really struggle when they make the change to other armies because they are used to a forgiving playstyle. Better to get used to things not going your way from the start, in my opinion.

Very good advice. If there's something you like the looks of you should go with it and not bother with whether it's good or easy to learn.

That said, I would still suggest Grey Knights if you're just kinda drawing a blank. They're good, they're not particularly hard to learn, and they're totally awesome.

[Dubledox]

Grey Knights...not great. THough they are great models.

They are arguably the best codex out their right now. NSIS

[gdmnw]

Oh man, just starting out is the best bit of the whole kaboodle.

Read around, talk to people in stores, buy the codex of the army that sounds like the most fun.

Go from there.

[o0HoldFast0o]

For me it was buying the army where I liked the models most first. I can't stand putting anything on the table unpainted- so liking the models was a plus! I have since added 2 other armies to my roster. I went Tau first (almost went eldar) and I love them. Fun army, if limited at the moment. After that I went grey knights- because out of all the marine chapters out there I liked their armor best! Doesn't hurt that they are a forgiving army that beats face!

[Brother Dvorn]

Marines also have the advantage of sharing similiar wargear to quite a few other codexs, such as GK, BA, SW, and imperial guard, meaning you already know some of your enemies rules too boot. Space marines also have the widest range of plastics kits, and are much easier to convert.

[juliusb]

Another vote for Marines. You can always find used models to build an army quickly and they're forgiving to play.

Another reason is that with a few models you can play multiple codexes to get variety out of one set of models. I know some people think this is cheesy when a veteran converts to the newest SM army "flavor of the month" but for a beginner, most people would understand.

[1lainie1]

space marines for sure(any flavor)., probobly orks next just because of the starter box. I also really like the necron battle force.

[Loshkins]

GK. Easy to paint, low model count, models can be changed around to represent various things, thus making it easy to build all kinds of lists from a limited number of miniatures.

[Ravenger]

I think orks are really a perfect starting army, not much to painting or a lot if you choose to. you can pick up any unit and just run them at your enemies and have fun win/lose or draw. I agree about space marines because they are the poster child yeah but they always seem like a more tatical approach to getting my friends into the game.l

[Bean]

@ Ravenger:

What is a Ravenger?

[amrogers3]

probably marines for ease of play, however, my vote is necrons for short time of assembly and paint.

[gredert]

Having played most of them I would say necrons. You have solid troops that can take a beating, and even when they do go down, they tend to get back up with the right upgrades. Another big benefit is that the models are expensive points wise, and actually give some of the best pts for money values available in 40k. Lychguard are both pricey in-game, and with a good online price quite cheap. The annihilation barge also is a great deal, since building it leaves you an HQ on foot. So for a decent army to play out the gate a battleforce, an annihilation barge, and a box of lychguard gets you quite a good force (although a couple of lords will help a lot). This is also quite a decent sized beginning force.