Returning Player Seeking Advice

[Mark Mallari]

Hello all,

I stopped playin 40k back when the Necrons were just introduced to the game (got married started a family etc). Back then I played a chapter of the Space Marines (don't remember which one sadly). I just ran into a friend that also started playin again at our LHS (He plays Eldar). I am ready to start playin again. Can you guys please toss me suggestions on pretty much beginner armies. I am assuming there has been quite a few rule changes. My funding to start will be a bit limited, but I am sure they guys at the shop will let me borrow some minis and use them as proxies to play. I have trolled the boards here and saw a ton of people enjoy playin Orcs and Eldar. I am open to everything atm, and hopefully some guys down at the shop can answer questions about what editions some codex's are for armies etc. Give me your thoughts please!


Thanks,

Amirath

[Phototoxin]

Sphess mharines are always good, they just got an update, sexy models. Chaos is also cool. In fact most things are pretty awesome. Necrons can be a bit cheesy if built a certain way. A lot of it depends on what you like the play style and look of!

[SotonShades]

As Phototoxin said, it really depends on what kind of style of play you are looking for.

Any type of Space Marines (Codex, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Chaos) are quite forgiving and can be built to have a combat or shooty style force.

Tau, Guard, Orks and Eldar can all be great shooting lists, if only for the sheer number of dice you roll. If things don't go your way though, things can turn south very quickly. There can also be quite a lot of rules to remember for some of those lists.

If you want huge, hulking monsters wandering around smashing face, Tyranids are your best option. I'd say they are the epitome of a Rock, Paper, Scissors army though as some match-ups will just screw you over, but others will barely be able to touch you.

I don't think there are any truly bad armies for beginners any more. As a returning player as well you'll probably cope and get the hang of units and rules surprisingly quickly, especially if you have good opponents who will forego beating face in order to help you learn. To that end, go with an army you like the look and background of. You'll be more motivated to build/paint them and learn how use them so you aren't just taking your models straight off the table. Unless you want a horde... you'll always be scooping them off by the handful then, but that's just part of your tactics ;)

[Dave Mcturk]

if money/modelling time is tight then a smaller army is cheaper...and quicker..
a lot depends on the points limits you play to...

at lower points games [1250 - 1700] dont think you can beat marines
at 1750 upwards anything go's...

try an orc army like this
3 battlewaggons [4 big shootas + kannon] / ram
45 lootas [you could get away with as few as 30 as many [most !] die when waggons explode]
1 big mek with kff [to protect waggons]
1 dread [troop choice] [skorchas] [and hide like you arent a giant tin can]
1 orc bikestar [11 models - nobz on bikes + warlord+ dok][troop choice]
[main role to grab objectives... but v. useful for keeping gribblies off the battlewaggons]
{i like a fair few skorchas in there to deter zulus]

will field 1500 to 2000pts depending on flavouring...

[euansmith]

As this is Games Workshop, the fewer figures you need the cheaper things are going to be. Small elite armies, like Grey Knights and Death Wing offer a low body count. Alternatively, simply chose anyone faction you like the look of and play at low points levels. 500pt Combat Squad games can be a laugh.

[Mr.Pickelz]

I personally play Orks, Grey knights, and sometimes Space Wolves (sold army except for a unit or two i liked, biggest regret of my life). I'd recommend Orkz if you like shenanigans. The fluff explanations of why stuff happens is just comical. The model range has great plastics, the kitbash style of the Orkz Codex opens up an almost limitless conversion possibility. Not to mention, the book offers one of the more diverse faction rule sets, with Mechanized (Trukks, and Battlewagon spam) to Bikerz, "Green Tide"(nothing but infantry... Lots of infantry), to static a gun-line (massive amounts Loota's, Big Gunz, etc...). This isn't a cheap, monetarily wise, but it is one of the more rewarding books to play with.

Grey Knights are a different beast altogether. Their special rules need to be noted as their main psyker power "Hammerhand" has an explanation in the codex you need to know by heart. The Psycannon becomes your best friend, and Don't fall into the trap of "Draigowing" as a 24 model, 2,000 point list will get ripped to shreds in 6th ed. The common trait both these books share though, is balance. The best way to succeed with both these polar opposites is to find a balance in the list, do not go into the extremes with each book.
With Orkz, having a balanced shooting/choppy list will reward you more often than running Green Tide over and over again. And, the same goes for Grey Knights too. Having inquisitors, Grey Knight terminators, maybe even a land raider or a couple of Dreadnoughts will give you more options instead of sticking to a thematic fluff list.

Edit: Other notable mention for Orkz, is the Forgeworld support. Orkz have fantastic Forgeworld models that really add something to the force. Just beware of wonky rules, and you will need the FW Apoc book for some models like Lifta Wagons and Big Squggoths, as their rules in, "Imperial Armour 8: Raid on Kastorel-Novem", have been updated.

[SotonShades]

As this is Games Workshop, the fewer figures you need the cheaper things are going to be. Small elite armies, like Grey Knights and Death Wing offer a low body count. Alternatively, simply chose anyone faction you like the look of and play at low points levels. 500pt Combat Squad games can be a laugh.

Be careful of low model count armies as a starter force though; they don't tend to be overly forgiving as each model you lose can be a big chunk of your army/ability to kill your opponent's force. Take that as gospel from a man who's been playing a lot of Imperial Guard Armoured Company recently!

[Rough Touch]

I got married stopped playing, after a while ended up playing again after years.

I just went for the coolest looking models Dark elder, but I found out later there Really hard to win with (but I still love playing them just cos they look so good). Then I found out grey knights can have terminators as troops and you only need about 15 - 20 models max to play ( great when you got kids with grabbing hands trying to destroy your army and a wife who "puts up" with your models) so I got them too.
Sadly I have to say this did not stop my addiction to 40 k and Drinking when kids are asleep and e-bay are now making me buy a ork biker gang....so be warned!

As a "older" player now I find some of the chaos models a bit silly and not that great looking ( there space marines with batwings on the helmets etc) just have a look on the GW website and you will see something you like

[DarkLink]

Don't fall into the trap of "Draigowing" as a 24 model, 2,000 point list will get ripped to shreds in 6th ed.

I've had exactly the opposite experience.

[Mr.Pickelz]

@Darklink - In my experience, the people I tend to play know how to counter it and often times bring the right toys to utterly destroy my list. a few versions of it have had some success, but it still boils down to Deep-strike reliance, and shock/awe value. When armies are built to ignore those features, or counter them, then the list falls apart turn 2. So from my point of view, a newcomer can easily get overtaken if he or she plays that army style. Yes it's simple and easy to play, but it's also simple and easy to predict.

[Mark Mallari]

I went down to my LHS talked to a few people and watched their tourney askin questions when able to. There were 2 Orc, 2 Tau, 1 Imperial Guard, 1 Blood Angels 1 Eldar, and a Chaos Daemon army with Kairos on the field tearing everything up. I was told pretty much everything you guys are telling me and atm. I am cruisin Games workshops website lookin at all the models, reading their little blurbs about each army etc.

As for playstyle, I like combat mainly, shooty stuff to support and help me get into combat. One question is what armies codex's are currently being re-vamped? What ones have recently been done? 1 player told me to hold off on I think a Blood Angels army because it hasn't been revamped and point totals for units are off, and to pick which army looks cool.

Also would buying an armies battleforce set up be a good way to start off? Or maybe the Dark Vengeance pack if I choose to play that army?

Thanks Again everyone you all rock!

[DarkLink]

So from my point of view, a newcomer can easily get overtaken if he or she plays that army style. Yes it's simple and easy to play, but it's also simple and easy to predict.

I think here's where we differ. Against a good matchup, yeah, it's fairly easy to play. But it takes a lot of skill to play in certain matchups. At higher levels, Grey Knights aren't the point-and-click army people accuse them of being. At least, not anymore.

[White Tiger88]

I went down to my LHS talked to a few people and watched their tourney askin questions when able to. There were 2 Orc, 2 Tau, 1 Imperial Guard, 1 Blood Angels 1 Eldar, and a Chaos Daemon army with Kairos on the field tearing everything up. I was told pretty much everything you guys are telling me and atm. I am cruisin Games workshops website lookin at all the models, reading their little blurbs about each army etc.

As for playstyle, I like combat mainly, shooty stuff to support and help me get into combat. One question is what armies codex's are currently being re-vamped? What ones have recently been done? 1 player told me to hold off on I think a Blood Angels army because it hasn't been revamped and point totals for units are off, and to pick which army looks cool.

Also would buying an armies battleforce set up be a good way to start off? Or maybe the Dark Vengeance pack if I choose to play that army?

Thanks Again everyone you all rock!

If you want balanced shooting\CC go for Chaos Spacemarines or Tyranids both are fun to build\paint and easy to learn to play.

[Katharon]

Regardless of what army you choose, finding a balanced list is the best choice. A spread across the FoC chart: 1 HQ, at least 2 Troops, 2 Fast Attack and 2 Heavy Support.

[SotonShades]

Regardless of what army you choose, finding a balanced list is the best choice. A spread across the FoC chart: 1 HQ, at least 2 Troops, 2 Fast Attack and 2 Heavy Support.

Unless you're playing Orks. In which case swap the FA for Elites, but follow the same principle.

[Dave Mcturk]

bike armies ? Eldar / DE / Marine / orkz ... can all be fairly model light but look good
and in 6th mobility is no bad thing !

[chicop76]

I say go daemons with chaos marine allies. Since you already have marines you could go white scars with shooty elements. Although white scars are more shooty/ assault since they shoot assault leave combat and shoot and assault again.

Eldar have close combat and shooting support elements.

Dark Angels
CSM
Daemons
Tau
Eldar
Marines
Have been updated sooo far with nids being the next book.
Rumors are that orcs, sisters, and wolves are not far behind

Right now daemons is one of the better assault armies out there. White Scars, Tau, and Necrons are up there as well. If not daemons I would go white scars. Also white scars would be much easier to learn than playing daemons which have a lot going on with them.

For a beginner I think nids is a good army to play since that type of army presents both shooting and assaults. In some ways more simplified to play and gives you opportunity to take advantage of rule sets not available to other armies.

[bfmusashi]

Welcome my fellow returner, good luck getting over the loss of to hit modifiers, save modifiers, and movement stats. I think the first time someone said "cover save" to me I gave them the stink eye. When I came back I started collecting the Imperial Guard as they are straight up, the most heroic faction in the game. Their current book is also incredibly flexible and it's hard to play them wrong. This may change in a few months when the new book hits. I also collected Daemon Hunters as I'd dug the Grey Knights since I was wee. Still haven't played a game with the current 'dex though.

[Shotgun Justice]

Welcome back. You'll find a lot of people claiming the current edition is all about shooting and assault is underpowered. This claim has some validity with more experienced, tournament winning play styles. This doesn't stop close combat being more fun than shooting (unless you're an ork player in which case every phase of the turn is fun.)
Close combat supported by shooting? The brand new space marines codex allows this build - especially if you like bike armies. Daemons although their shooting is not great and they are probably the most complicated army to learn at the moment. Tyranids have very average shooting but great models and fantastic assault prowess. Eldar are also a possibility although they are an army of glass cannons - each unit specialises and can suffer badly in other situations. Eldar require a synergy of units supporting each other if you want to use their close combat troops. Their jetbike lists are circle, shoot, circle and shoot some more with combat to finish things off. I think Dark Eldar might be your best bet. Strong melee, excellent guns but on weedy elfin bodies. Their models are great, they have jetbikes, are not the most expensive to collect and are always fun to use or play against.