Trying not to jump to far in...

[Walican132]

So, i recently came into a rather large collection of un assembled and unpainted Space Marines, and several Dark Angel Conversion packs, and one (or three i can't remember) Raven wing Squads, as well as one assembled and painted Land Raider And an un assembled Land Raider Crusader. Id like to start a Dark Angels army due to this Amazing and cheep find. Im just wondering how i can go into this with out going over my head or in the wrong direction. Id like to start a small army. This would be my first Jump into 40k and i don't want to spend time assembling models i wont want to use right away. The local place plays 500~1500 games. I was just hoping for maybe sudgestions on what would help me achieve roughly 500pts to play at the LGS.

Ive got Several HQ models Several Terminators, 3 maybe four Drednaughts.

Im missing the codex and ill be ordering it on my pay day.

[Culven]

I would suggest that you wait until you have the codex before assembling too many models so that you don't build too many with options that are limited in the units.

In the meantime, you can ponder what kind of army you want. Dark Angels can field a Terminator army (Deathwing), a Bike army (Ravenwing), or a mixed army which uses yout Tactical squads. If you are just learning, you may want to start with a mixed force so that you can figure out what different units do, and then build up your army focusing more on those units.

[Chumbalaya]

Something to consider, unless you're taking advantage of the DA special rules, namely Terminators and/or Bikes as Troops, I'd prefer to use the normal Space Marines Codex. The DA book is currently outdated, so unless you want scoring Terminators anything it can do, the SM book does better, cheaper, and with more options.

Beyond that, pick up your rulebook and Codex (I'd recommend Black Reach for more cheap models and pocket sized rulebook all for a very good price), see if you can find some people who already play and get some test games in to figure out what you want to do, then you can put together your models without worrying about building something you'll never use.

[fade_74]

Start with a couple HQ....a couple troops....a dread....and a Land raider. That will give you a solid start. With those units you can learn the rules and go from there.

[Lerra]

You can easily work with either Codex: Space Marines or Codex: Dark Angels. More people are familiar with C: SM and will be able to help you, though. Of the people who play with dark angels models, about half use each codex.

The land raider is a really tough cookie to build. I'd leave it alone until you get your feet wet. It's a long project.

A good start for 500 points:

An HQ of your choice - a Captain is pretty common but pick something that looks fun to you.

Two tactical squads of 10 marines each. I would not recommend upgrading or changing any weapons for your very first game. Just 10 guys with bolters. Add special weapons later.

After your first game, you should have a better idea of what your playstyle is. Do you like shooting or assaulting? Playing aggressively or defensively?

[Walican132]

Heh I thank you guys for your help, i have the up-to-date SM Codex is the general idea then to use that? I rather liked some of the special rules mentioned in the DA codex. My next question would be, If i get the DA Codex, can I mix Ravenwing/Deathwing/troops in an army or are those rules designed to make your army dedicated to one section of the army?

Still Random Tips and sudgestions would be appreciated.


Oh,


The land raider is a really tough cookie to build. I'd leave it alone until you get your feet wet. It's a long project.

Im actually very familure with building models of various sizes, mostly cars and aircraft, but advanced ones either way.

[Chumbalaya]

DW/RW works best when mixed together, but it's a very tricky build and requires an extremely lean list, whereas with normal marines you have more breathing room.

[SeattleDV8]

You can mix and match quite easily.
the Terminator based is called Deathwing, the Bike Ravenwing, a mix of those the doublewing.
You can add the other units at your taste, Although a bit behind the times Codex wise, it is still a fun and fully army.