Help picking a race

New to the game, done a bit of research, chose based on fluff and appearance.. but strugglign to find enough details to make an informed decision to start investing :(

I'd love a faction that is versatile, and can do both Melee and Ranged given the right build/need to do so in a battle.

So I have a few questions about each...
1) Admech

Are they mobile enough to make up for the lack of transports, flyers, and psionics? Are they Versatile?

What is their primary strengths/weaknesses? Playstyle?

Are they tanky or glass cannony?

Is there any build outside of War Convocation?

How strong are the doctrines in an actual game?


2) Space Wolves

Are there a million SW players like there are SM?

What are their strengths/weaknesses/playstyle?

Are they durable enough to get into melee?

Are they versatile enough within a game to adjust to changing situations?



Lastly; What would you recommend between the two for a starting player?

Welcome to the game!

I can't really speak for Ad Mech, but there doesn't seem to be much versatility in them and they don't seem to like combat all that much, though if you're interested in Imperial Knights, they fit best in an Ad Mech army. There's also the Ad Mech from the Horus Heresy era through Forge World to think about in terms of options and some really stunning miniatures.

Space Wolves! They're the best and the most fun! There aren't as many SW players as there were back when we ruled the roost, but they still get a good showing.

The strengths are ThunderWolves. They're fast, they're hard and they're tough as nails. Weaknesses would be a lack of all the toys available to their vanilla cousins. If you want to play competitively, have a look through the Champions of Fenris supplement, it's full of nasty formations that will let you take a bunch of TW and Dreadnoughts. SW playstyle is hitting hard and fast. A lot of people like the Drop Pod army, and TW are, as said, fast and brutal in combat.

As Space Marines they're more durable than most, so getting into combat isn't too hard, it's the Space Wolf's natural habitat, so it's relatively easy to get in. Drop Pods, Rhinos, Land Raiders and Storm Wolves are all the ways of getting up close to the enemy.

For a full tactical wrap, check out [URL="http://space-wolves-grey.blogspot.com.au/"]http://space-wolves-grey.blogspot.com.au/[/URL]

Admech can do fairly well in combat if you take Kataphron breachers and back them up with Kastellan robots, have the Kastellans advance popping the fnp program every turn until you're ready to charge, at that point pop the conqueror program and get stuck in, if you want some more hitting power I would advise bringing the skitarii along and using their sydonian dragoons with taser lances
If you don't mind sub-optimal units you can also bring electro priests with the electro glaives I think they're called? gives them decent swinging power in combat
The one massive weakness in admech especially if you're going more combat oriented is their lack of transport, you're basically running across the board praying you don't get blasted to pieces, while shroudspam can help with this it's still difficult

The main thing about Ad Mech is that there are so many additional rules that only they have - if you are not able to remember what units have what rules then go for somthing else.
that said if you run ad mech alongside skitarii, you can get plenty of fast units e.g. sicarians/dragoons (both have +3" when moving, running and charging, combined with scout if battleforged and you are quite likely to get a turn 2 charge).
alternatively take an allied Santic Psyker (i.e. grey knight librarian), add this to a unit of 20 strong fulgerite electropriests: hammerhand - S7, Gate of infinity teleport accross the board, santuary - once they wipe out a unit you have a 3++ save (2++ with sanctuary).

the doctorines/canticles i have found can swing the game if you use them at the correct time, one thing i would suggest is shroudpsalm on the first turn (second as well if you take the battle congregation) tokeep your units alive longer allowing you to shoot back.

Ad Mech's main weaknesses are against a horde army - you do not have enough shots/attacks to kill all the horde before it ties you up for the rest of the game, this is where allying with skitarii comesin handy - take a couple of 10 man vanguard squads (no upgrades) that is 100pts each putting out 60 shots per turn...
also they have no defense against psy powers, might wish to ally in a cluxeus assassin to mitigate this...

if ad mech get the first turn against an army that is mostly on the board they can quickly remove it off the board - with their long range guns - i.e. destroyers with plasma cannons/grav cannons. 3 squads of 3 with grav cannons puts out 54 shots rng 30" per turn for less than 500pts.

if a unit assaults you then most likely they will win the fight unless you have a unit deadicated to counter-assault i.e. fulgurite priests or kastellans (it may take them a turn to kill the breachers/destroyers, but the kataphrons only have 1 attack each so will not do much in combat at all).

The Tech-Priest Dominus - ALWAYS take the Conversion Field on him 5 pts to upgrade from a 5++ to a 4++ save, it makes all the difference, he can also repair vehicles (and wounds on himself) on a 2+, (Potentially he could repair 2x per turn if you rules lawyer it - he can shoot two weapons in the shooting phase, and the repair ability states: he may sacrifice firing one weapon to repair... bit iffy on that though). a good upgrade on him is the raiment of the technomartyer - granting snap shots to himself and his unit (if ad mech or skitarii) that hit on a 5+, combine with a large unit of breachers + Arc Cannons and they make great anti-air...

Even if you go for another army (like SW), ally in the Tech-Priest Dominus and a squad of Destroyers/breachers as the long range firepower combined with the dominus repair ability can really help most things.

one good thing about the ad mech and skitarii is that pretty much the entire army has relentless or equivelent allowing you to constantly advance/redeploy to other threats without giving up your firepower.

currently my 1500pts army looks somthing like this:

Battle Congregation:
Dominus - Conversion field, infoslave skull (+1 LD), anzions pseudogenator
4x destroyers + grav
3x breachers + haywire
1 Kastellan Robot Maniple (2 bots + 1 Smith) - all phosphot blasters, conversion field

Skitarii maniple:
10x vanguard - 3x plasma caliver + omnispex
10x Vanguard - 3x Arc Rifles
5x Infiltrators - The Omnicient Mask (Zealot)
1x Dunecrawler - neutron laser/icarus array

fairly simple tactics: the ad mech sits back on home objectives and shoots, kastellans on counter attack duty, dominus attached to one of the vanguard squads. with the skitarii (and dominus) advancing using cover and taking other objecticves with the infiltrators giving protection from assault units. like Tau i would focus on wipeing out one squad at a time or possibly use the infiltrators to mop up units.

The start collecting skittari box is a great value, if I recall you save something like $60.
I suggest collecting the army you are drawn to even if you don't win all the time (I rarely do, ha ha), you will have more fun painting and modelling your dude men, that is after all the majority of the hobby.
If your worried about versatility Space Wolves have been around for ages and have scores of different units, you could start with them and build mechanicus in a couple years, by then they will probably have some new units.

I agree with Brenlak, collect the army you like the look of as I did with Eldar. And that was way back in 3rd or 4th Ed when they didn't have D weapons or flash stuff. Then buy a start up box because most of them give you good value compared to the unit prices. Once you have the army you are going to have to learn how it works and how to adapt tactics for your different enemies. I have seen a guy use Orks to good effect despite their obvious deficiencies these days. And if you are new to gaming it will almost certainly be you rather than your army that loses the first few games.