# How did you pick your army? - The cricle of frustration...



## Moonschwine (Jun 13, 2011)

Hey folks.

I've spent the good past month or so; spending time on these here forums finding myself at somewhat of an impasse.

Having played imperial guard on and off since 3rd edition, I've really wanted to start afresh with a new army, dont get me wrong, I love my badly painted catachans like the next guy, but I just dont feel like I could or really want to continue any further with it. Initially I was thinking a BA Marines army, however several purchases of codexes, reading battle reports and judging the state of the meta-game I find myself increasingly walking in circles trying to decide what I want to collect! It's now either Blood Angels, CSM's, Eldar, Dark Eldar or Nid's, with Tau and Grey Knights being possible dark horse competitors for my rather lazily earnt disposable income.

Anyway, the point of this thread is to see what motivated people to pick their current "main army". What made you choose it? What do you like about it? What do you hate? And what motivates you to "stick" with it? I'm not looking for a "you should go these because xyz" but rather how people came to decide to thrash out the cash and time into their lovely toy solidiers


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## Bane_of_Kings (Oct 28, 2009)

I picked the Space Wolves and stuck with them for several reasons: 

_Battle of the Fang_ by Chris Wraight and _Prospero Burns_ by Dan Abnett. Pure, awesome novels and great portrayal of th Vlka Fenryka. (basically, for fluff reasons - several of The Space Wolves characters are among my favourite in the game, and the background of the chapter is just, fantastic. 

I also picked the Wolves due to their amazing models which can be assembled in a variety of ways. Also, they allow for converting with normal space marine kits as well as even chaos kits. The possibilities are endless, and that makes it fun if you're into that sort of thing .


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## Stephen_Newman (Jul 14, 2009)

I picked my Fighting Tiger Space Marines because I saw THIS WEBSITE FOR A COOL ARMY and decided I want a force of that. What also helped was because a lot of the marine kits are plastic rather than metal (I started these before finecast) which suits a lazy modeller like me.


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## yanlou (Aug 17, 2008)

How did i pick my main army? Hmmm
For me i think it was the first time i ever walked into a GW store in Derby, this was back on 2005, i went in for paint, trying to get the colours closest to the colour scheme of my particular model (at the time it was a B'rel Class Bird of Prey), the first thing that caught my attention was the Chaos Space Marines, at the time of course you could by the boxsets that could make Iron Warriors and Night Lords, i thought wow, id like to have them but at the time i was more interested in my other models, and so a few years after in 2008 i decided after going into the GW store in Nottingham a few times i wanted to start Chaos Space Marines, for me it wasnt the rules that got me interested but the entire look and ideology of it, 

Angels fallen from grace, corrupted beyond redemption in the eyes of those that believe they are the true and just, but still believing that there ideals are correct.

This is why i chose them, it was also of course the cool factor of super humans in chunky armour, been imposing and the fluff is great.


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## mynameisgrax (Sep 25, 2009)

Above all, I've found that people most often stick with, and most often enjoy, armies they love the 'look' of. If your army looks really cool, then you won't care as much if they win or lose. Personally, I love the Orks and their ridiculously junky/makeshift guns and vehicles.

Coming in second in importance is if you like their playstyle. Me, I love speed and being able to lose large numbers of troops without suffering too much, and the Orks provide both very well.

What shouldn't be important, but too often is, is how 'competitive' and 'powerful' they are. Granted, some people wouldn't have any fun if they were playing an army that was inherently at a disadvantage, like Necron, Tau, and Dark Angels. Too many players, however, are just too obsessed on winning to have very much fun, or even paint their armies completely. These people are too often switching their army whenever a new codex comes out, or becoming quickly discouraged when they don't win.

Looks and playstyle are what led me to play Orks and Daemons, and I'm getting ready to put together some Tyranids as well. I gave up on Space Wolves though. Despite being very powerful and competitive, I just wasn't having as much fun, so I sold them off.


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## Cowlicker16 (Dec 7, 2010)

Reasons for me to go to Tyranids after a few years of Chaos;
1)When I play a game I love the mindsets of the armys playing, I imagine the story of why everyone is there fighting, and to me I just can not wrap my head around the single-mindedness of the tyranids. They are there for 1 purpose and everything they do is for better achieving that goal of utter destruction so they can eat everything.
2)Goes along with mindest of army kinda but the fluff alone will get me into just about anything, the storys behind everyone and their motivations.
3) I wanted a horde army that can sacrifice entire squads of and still achieve victory, and no offense to Orks but I could not bring myself to play them.


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## Fire Tempered (Dec 16, 2010)

I chose Space Marines because of fluff (after playing DOW1 and 2, didn't have any knowledge of 40k besides that back then) and I chose Dark Eldar because of look mostly(although their fluff is one of the better xenos imo). New miniatures looks amazing.

I think it's important to pick something that looks good, because you will need to look at them a lot. And because you ll need to paint all that stuff. I got little bored with my Salamanders, because most units and vehicles looks similar to each other and it's little boring to paint one scheme over and over, so I started Dark Eldar. One reason was also that their are old enemies to people of Nocturne :biggrin: and I decided to start them as second army(instead chaos, tyranids and other options I thought about) after reading Firedrake.


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## Masked Jackal (Dec 16, 2009)

I think it's a combination of models, fluff and rules that makes me stick with an army. They all have to provide me with something to work with. I couldn't ever imagine playing something like Eldar, where some units suck, or Space Marines where the fluff sucks, or Imperial Guard where the models generally suck. I have to have the whole package.


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## Zerodyme619 (Jul 1, 2011)

I took a liking in DarkAngels the first time I walked into a GW-Store. It was back in 3rd Edition, and the Codex cover looked very cool to me, the dark coloured marines, the Robes in contrast. Since then, I just couldn't get away from them. I really like the Idea of SpaceMarines. Protecting a society, that they can never hope to be a real part of again. Superhumans, but with a strong idea of sacrifice, that appeals to me 
And DarkAngels to me have allways been the most interesting chapter: story, betrayal and redemption, background, organisation, it all mixes just perfectly =)


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## spanner94ezekiel (Jan 6, 2011)

I liked the DA from the outset 'cause of their cool shoulder pads ( I was 12, get over it  ). When I read the fluff, I was hooked and I love the colour scheme and themes of the chapter anyway. Sons of the Lion, the First Legion, the Unforgiven


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## Azkaellon (Jun 23, 2009)

Well my first army was nids because they looked awesome....and running 48 genestealers in 4th was a ton of fun even "IF" you lost with them!


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## aboytervigon (Jul 6, 2010)

I get a basis from a few armies then roll a dice if I feel disappointed with the result I roll it again.


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## SlamHammer (Mar 28, 2011)

I chose my army for three main reasons; fluff, models, and game play. Each one of these stood out to me individually, so I went with Daemonhunters.

-Fluff: I loved the Daemonhunters fluff. We had secretive Inquisitors, deadly assassins, and the Emporer's favorite sons, the Grey Knights. The Inquisitors really showed the resolve and ruthlessness of man as it persued perfection in the most extreme way possible. The Assassins setup and trained in hidden cults and facilities, waiting for that moment where a single blow from blade or bullet would change the fate of the Imperium. And lastly, the Grey Knights. Marines in skill above even other marines. Clad in ornate holy armor, ordained with purity symbols beneath thier skin, and wielding the dreaded Nemesis Force Weapon; they would be the light in a galaxy that was on the verge of going dark.

Now with some liberties taken by the writer of Codex: Grey Knights, a bit of the fluff has been tarnished. However, I do like some of the expansion on previous explanations we had. Overall, the fluff still appeals to me, but all the Grey Knights characters (excluding Stern and the Inquistors) seem a little to far fetched for my liking. However, I will defend them to the death, as any good Battle Brother would. 

-Models: They look fantastic! The armor, the posing, and the weapons looked amazing to me. The Grey Knight Terminators hold a place in my heart as some of the best models GW has ever put out as a unit. The Inquisitors all have a really unique look to them and can be customized to a ridiculous extent. Couple this with the variety of henchman you take and you have a very unique unit on the board.

The new models seem a little duller with thier poses and a rework of the weapon's look, but not so bad I dislike them. Oh, but WTF is with that ugly Dreadknight....

-Game Play: Outnumbered and out gunned, the Daemonhunters were almost always playing a game from behind (numbers wise). I love that. Facing immeasurable enemies and knowing that every single model mattered was an exciting tactical challenge every week. With cool powers versus Daemons, you could really have some epic battles with them.

The new rules really boosted the power of the Grey Knights. I like the Psychic powers that make each squad distinct, like Cleansing Fire on Purifiers and Warp Quake on Strike Squads. I love the new tricks Grey Knights can pull off when teamed up with Inquisitors and the way it was Force Organized. 

Overall this is why I picked the Daemonhunters and stayed on for the Grey Knights.


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## Helixfire (Apr 11, 2011)

*walk into gamestore* "I want Battle sisters! " 
"No, we cant get battle sisters since GW is sold out" *long awkward pause*
"What is all plastic then and I wont have to worry about that."
"Grey knights, they are really good too blah blah blah"
"Give me Dark eldar cause I don't like your marines :l"

That's how I came into my army haha. It was only a while later that I found out they were good.


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

I love the Dark Angels colour scheme, the idea of being Knights, and I've just finished 'Descent of Angels'. That really got me into a Dark Angels craze.

Midnight


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## khrone forever (Dec 13, 2010)

i got into nids cos id just read warriors of ultramar and really liked it, also the mentality of the nids apealls to me greatly


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## D-A-C (Sep 21, 2010)

I picked Chaos when the Gods came to me in my dreams.

After getting tabled by Tyranids by Turn 3 with my competitive (yes you heard me right competitive) Chaos Space Marine list, I went home and cried myself to sleep.

I was about to give up on the path offered by the Dark Gods, when Four Strangers came to me in my dreams, and told me that Mortals were fleeting, but that the things of the warp lasted for eternity.

So, I sold my soul that night and joined the eternal game in the warp. 

Now once every few hundred years (or every second Friday) my Daemon Horde breaks free of the warp to wreak havoc on the pink squishy things that like to scream, that live in the mortal realm.

So, that's how I got into my army.


As to which you should choose: I would say Chaos Daemons, Dark Eldar or Blood Angels. 

Preferably DE or CD.


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## TheSpore (Oct 15, 2009)

I chose daemons and CSM simply because of the endless amounts of converting and freedom merited towards how they look, I have always found the villians more interesting than the heros becaus ethere story is ever really told. Daemons what can I say I think daemons are cool even before I started in 40k.


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## D-A-C (Sep 21, 2010)

Plus with Chaos Daemons you'll be in a cool minority, rather than the masses of the 'in power armour crowd'.

Also, your take on Nurgle was cool, so you could do an Epidemius' Tally Nurgle List which is somewhat competitive. 

Or just do an amalgamation of the various God's like most sane people.


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## TheSpore (Oct 15, 2009)

daemons rock and they play so weirdly and random that it always keeps you and your opponent on their toes. Alos if your not down with big bloated green machine you can go slaanesh, who doesnt like sexy daemon chicks (at least the models before the currents were sexy)


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## scscofield (May 23, 2011)

I at first had planned to do the orks, I liked the quirky nature of them. I ended up going with the space marines because of the lower model count to field. I went with just vanilla marines because I want to do my own chapter and did not want to spend my whole time removing icons and whatnot from the armor. I plan to build up around 3k worth of models, more to have variety in choices for 2k armies than to play at 3k. After I have gotten to that point I plan to start looking at the other armies for something else to paint. Painting is the main draw to the hobby for me at this time and I really like the looks of some of the Eldar and Tau stuff. I might just start randomly buying models I like to paint after I get my Space Marines up to around 2k.


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## Luisjoey (Dec 3, 2010)

Seriously you should pick an army because you like the look and the fluff, more than the metagame or how cheesy-new is the army, because you would paint them and figure out battles in your mind, you care about them and feel the identity of the army.


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## Sarnath (Jul 3, 2011)

I feel you, ive been having a really hard time choosing army (i just recently got my interest back, been away from the hobby for about 8 years)

When I first started painting it was Orks, all the way

then I stopped only to pick the game up again, this time Orks again. After a short time i switched to Necrons instead, got me a 1500pts army and painted it up.

After that, i wanted to do something new, I got bored with my necrons and I choosed between Nurgle Marines, Speed Freaks and Grey Knights.

And before I could decide, my interest had faded and it would take 8 years before I started to think about modelling again.

This time around im choosing between Orks and Space Marines (I think at least, I mean ...I wouldnt mind Tyranids or Nurgle Marines either)

Its so hard to choose, I might have to get two armies just to get some release in the painting and modeling


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## Moonschwine (Jun 13, 2011)

D-A-C said:


> Plus with Chaos Daemons you'll be in a cool minority, rather than the masses of the 'in power armour crowd'.
> 
> Also, your take on Nurgle was cool, so you could do an Epidemius' Tally Nurgle List which is somewhat competitive.
> 
> Or just do an amalgamation of the various God's like most sane people.


Thanks D-A-C. I've been toying with the idea of a Chaos Undivided Army, or a non-red Khorne army (I'm just crazy like that). Sadly as much as I love Nurgle's fluff, I really am put off by his miniatures; don't get me wrong - they have lovely details. But too often I feel the bloated decaying look comes across more as "marine who ate too many doughnuts" than "plague infested rot".

Also sweaty, bearded wart covered super-men in power-armor just reminds me of...well a Young me too much! :shok:


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## chromedog (Oct 31, 2007)

How do I pick my armies?

By how cool the models look. If there aren't enough models in that army that I like, I simply DO NOT collect it. It's why I only have 4 40k armies after 23 years. Also space limitations mean I can only get a new army if I get rid of an old one first.
(There simply aren't enough models in the CSM, Daemons, Tau, Sisters, named SM, Necron ranges that I like enough. I quite like the new DE, but not enough to get rid of my SM, eldar, GK or guard.)


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## Dicrel Seijin (Apr 2, 2011)

I've found that when I play games, I want to be better than what I am in reality, so I play the good guys, the heroes. It's escapism after all. 

I gravitated toward the space marines because this is what my friends were playing: IG, Tyranid, Orks, CD, CSM, Eldar, Tau, and possibly SoB and Necrons. Not wanting to play something someone was playing, that left me with the DE and SM armies. I eliminated the DE as by no stretch of the imagination could this army/race be "heroic." It took some time, but after about two months, I narrowed it down to the codex chapters and after that, it was just a matter of fluff. The Salamanders won because of the BL books (and I like the dragon, fire, and forge iconography).


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

I got into Eldar because i arrived late....true story, my mates and i got into 40k via adeptus titanicus and space marine back in 88/89, when we were dividing up the armies in spacemarine/adeptus titanicus i was late getting there so they started without me and i got what was left in the box, which was eldar pirates. Loved them then and loved them even more when they released the craftworld stuff few years later, which lead to starting 40k for real.
Anyway i think you have to "click" with an army if you want to do it long term, i have collected and dabbled with loads of armies but always come back to Eldar, for me its all about the models, if i like enough of the range of models i will collect that army, dont really give too much thought to how they play or the codex, its all about how they look, its the very reason why i have never had a guard army because i hate the leman russ and cadian models,was very and still am tempted by DKOK however, but i dont have the time or cash to start a project that massive.


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## coke123 (Sep 4, 2010)

I picked Eldar as my first army because they were described to me as High Elves in space, and I hoped it would give a smooth transition from Fantasy. I then picked marines because I was tired of the glass cannon, and because my friend gave me his marine army for free. Finally, I started GK because they have a low model count, I'm lazy, and fewer models=lighter case (assuming they're plastic) and quicker games. That, and they're totally sweet


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

I began with tyranids because I liked the look of the alien monsters and chittering swarm. Ditto necrons for their deathless advance imagery. 

Both variants of eldar appealed to me at one stage or another simply for the alien look of them and I have found that that seems to be the defining factor for me. I have turned into a true xenos player, playing every xenos army in the game at one stage or another. 

I have briefly toyed with marines and guard, but they never click for me. So it seems I am fated to forever disparage my own species in favour of far superior ones. :so_happy:


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## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

I like the bad guys. Form of escapism. Chaos for me all the way. CSM, Traitor Guard, Demons Dark Mechanicus. I do have some nids but they have never seen the table. The huge conversion opportunities for chaos and the fantastic models are what keeps me interested.


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## TheSpore (Oct 15, 2009)

There is one thing I forgot to say. Sinice Ive been playing for so long I like to take a codex that many say is not a competetive dex and prove folks wrong, hence forth another reason I play the CSM


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## Pigsnout23 (Jul 5, 2011)

I bought a Space Marine when I was 13 and looked through the books so I could figure out what color to paint him. I liked the Dark Green of the DA best, so I painted him to match. As I read the fluff the DA just got cooler and cooler. If your army looks cool, you'll feel cool.


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## wallythewise (Jun 1, 2011)

You gotta pick with the Fluff. When i picked my army i just went to Scribd and without reading any stats I read the intro fluff to most all the armies. The story of how they came into existance and the fluffs version of what they excel at will set you off in the right direction. Use that to narrow it down a bit then go into stat lines to look for paterns. that will tell you how the army will play... or rather how you will need to play the army. I.E. if you look into the eldar or dark eldar you notice that all their str and tough values are generally 3. Now i know that if i play them i have to play very stratigacally to focus on keeping my guys remotely safe.

I picked Eldar for two reasons. One is that they are an extreamely tactical army, without good strategy your sunk and i like games that make me think. I also picked them for the fluff. They are the technical super race with super psycic powers and the only reason that any of the other armies are even competative with them is because in their past they had an orgy and created slaneesh who mind raped like 90% of them making eldar an endangered race
So they are eternally fighting for survival... Pretty cool eh.


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## Brother Ultor (Jan 27, 2011)

I didn`t pick it,it picked me.

Seriously now,it was a combination of fluff and looks.When I started 40k coming from WFB,it was a toss-up between nids and some type of loyalist marine army.Having abandoned the Nids due to the projected long term financial cost,as well as the prospect of painting a horde of minis,I settled for marines.

I chose Black Templars before the GW FAQ that made them suck less,because I liked the fluff straight away after reading their codex,and from all possible color schemes out there,the black armor+ white shoulder pads + maltese cross chapter symbol + heavy doses of chains,seals,skulls,braziers and knights templar imagery totally sealed the deal for me.70 pts missile land speeders,Tank Hunter Venerable Dreads or Furious Charge,reroll to hit (and to wound) lightning claw terminators are just the icing on the cake.


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## SaintTom (Nov 26, 2010)

When I first walked into a newly opened GW store, which has now disappeared, I was drawn to the look and fluff of the Eldar. The plight of a tech advanced, but dying race really appealed to me.. but then I had my first run in with super glue, hard to put together legs and arms, and having to figure out how to get that fast drying glue off my stuck together fingers.. 

After that fiasco, which took a few days for me to get rid of the glue on my hands, I found out about the fallen sons of the Emperor. The look and potential to customize them however i wanted, plus loving the fact that their reasons for fighting were so just in their own minds and morals, but utterly corrupt in the eyes of the Imperium, just drew me into the embrace of the Dark Gods to fight as a Chosen of Chaos ^^


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## Groedius (May 9, 2011)

My first army was years back when i started off with a friend which is Space Marines. I just loved the idea of them being like super humans of the future and such lol. I still have my ultramarines. If i ever finish my Ulthwe Eldar army which I started working on earlier I will go back to my marines even if Ultramarines are the most hated on Marines in 40k and finish the stuff I have for them and most likely give them a new coat of paint.


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## C'Tan Chimera (Aug 16, 2008)

I fell in love with Necrons and got into collecting/painting them just early enough that once I put them on the board 5th ed came around and rendered them damn hard to use. 

So after trying my best for awhile, I gave up and looked to the Tau: A sleek army that had a nice change of pace from all the grimderp in both visuals and fluff. Playing Tau is playing the underdog, yes, but I wouldn't want it any other way.


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## MetalHandkerchief (Aug 3, 2009)

My most recent army, Dark Eldar, I picked because the codex is brilliantly balanced - by far the most balanced and varied codex in over a decade, if not ever. I can't stand to play something overpowered or cheesy, and I can't stand something underpowered and junky. On top of that, I am all about speed and stealth tactically, so I get at least 1 out of 2 of those (speed)

As a bonus, the Dark Eldar range is the best looking army out there, and strikes up a good contrast against the Space Marines of blandness or Chaos Marines of wannabe-vikingness.

The Tau I picked for many reasong (among them the speed/stealth) factor, way back when they came out in 2002. Both iterations of Stealth Suits are still my favorite models ever, next to the Eldar Warp Spiders. However, after two completely incompetent rules writers and Tau getting shoved to the end of the codex cycle, I picked up DE while I wait for Tau to get a proper treatment for once. I'm never buying any more Tau though. Simply because I'm not buying from GW at all anymore. But the prime reason I picked up Tau to begin with, like C'Tan Chimera has already pointed out, that in the far future of the comical universe - there is only derp. Except for Tau. So when they came out, the fresh breath of an actual race that made actual freaking sense was too much to pass up.


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## Wingman (Jun 27, 2011)

I originally got into Dark Eldar in 3rd edition when I was in high school, me and a friend split the box but I never really bought more due to GW being so far away and Dark Eldar never being in stock. (Also, the man boobies that Dark Eldar warriors had in 3rd edition turned me off of them, I loved the fluff and stories that were told but the models just weren't there yet). I love how the DE are so evil and twisted and the whole "I will swallow your soul!" thing is pretty awesome. I have started re-collecting DE now that the new codex and models are out and I'm having a blast now that I have gotten better at painting but for the most part they are on hold while I finish my Dark Elves for fantasy.

A few years later I run into a GW store in Mannheim and I walk in and see the Tau. I loved the look of the Hammerhead, stealth suits and firewarriors. Plus the story of how they colonize to build a better future and you fight for the greater good of the Tau rather than for personal greed. I'm not a big fan of the crisis suits which is why I still don't have a large suit army even though they are SO GOOD. 

Mobility and the ability to dictate where combat will occur is my favorite tactic which is why I think I prefer both these armies.


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## elmir (Apr 14, 2011)

I picked eldar at first because they had the best looking miniatures at that time (in my opinion obviously).

The codex demonhunters was released and those miniatures blew me away with all their detail. I played with them up untill this point (albeit with a hughe gap in between of over 5 years).


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## ohiocat110 (Sep 15, 2010)

I play DoA Blood Angels because vehicles are for sissies. I just love watching mech IG players pulling Leman Russes and Chimeras off the table. 

But seriously...well, yeah. I like to go against the grain of the metagame to see what I can do instead of power gaming (and buying). I'm considering starting a mostly foot Eldar army next, although that's a scarier proposition.


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## Loki1416 (Apr 20, 2010)

Personally, I had a few reasons why I chose my army(s) and I'm still choosing some more lol. For IG, I chose them because I liked the idea of attrition with a commisar at their back forcing them into the raging inferno of a battle even though they know that the guy next to them (or even themselves) are about to die. Lots of models on the table, lots of options, that's why they were my first army. 
My newest one, the Grey Knights, I chose because I'm a huge fan of their fluff. Everything thing that comes out for them (or anyone else to be honest) I read. Oddly enough, one of the biggest pluses of why I like them is the opposit of the IG: low model count. Sending out a very small army against a larger foe knowing that even though it's 2 or 3 to 1 against me that I am still "even" adds a thrill of excitement for me. I do have to admit though that their paint scheme does kinda disapoint me. They are so hardcore to the red/grey scheme that it's kinda in a way boring. I do have a few plans to spruce that up a bit (even though one guy took my idea of adding blue to his! grrrrr! lol). 
Next, I think I'm going to do Nids. Something about them that I like even though I'm SICK of reading stories about them if I were to be honest.
My son chose CSM purely off the looks of them. I toook him into the store and let him look at every army there is and with the awesome help (really cant praise these guys enough, they are so helpfull!) from the staff at the store, we answered every question he had and some he didnt even think of. We were in there for over an hour and he kept coming back to the plague marines. He just couldnt get over how, as he said, gross they looked. It's what he wanted. So bought him some to paint nad myself some to paint for him plus more of my own army to paint and we havnt looked back since. 
I did buy the blackreach set for us to start off with though and he likes the Orks a lot and has said that will be his next army. Told him he has to get his grades up first! haha


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## sickening (Jun 21, 2009)

Well, my brother got me interested in WFB but no one in my local area played WFB just 40k. I was just going to drop the idea because I really don’t like syfi all that much until a buddy of mine got himself a AoBR set and said "here you can have these orks I don’t want them". Then at that point I thought I would give the world of 40K so I went to the GW page to have a and I really liked the look of Necrons and of the tanks that the IG had, but in the end I just stuck with orks because I already had a starter set. 

After about a year of playing and collecting orks I was getting really sick of having a BS of 2 and a SV of 6+! and thought it was time to start a Marine army. I now had a choose what (color) of marines to play, so I thought to myself if I pick one of the newer books I could play the army longer without having to by new models unless I just really wanted to. BA or SW? it was a hard choice but in the end I liked the models and fluff and just over all feel of the SW better so I ran with that.

Now after getting a nice 2500 point army of SW together it was time to start of one of the first armies that I was interested in when I started playing 40k. I again has another choice to make Necrons or IG, but with all the rumors of a new Necron book I thought it would be best to build my IG army just to keep my busy till the Necron book drops, so I now have 1500 points of my 200 point list built for IG and another 500 points still new in the box.


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## jaysen (Jul 7, 2011)

I started with Blood Angels Space Marines, playing during the initial days of 3rd edition without a codex. I used the space marines rules from the main rule book. The reason I "picked" them is because a friend gave me two of the old 2-piece plastic squads that he had painted and didn't want anymore. I think what he said was, "This game won't be around long now that EQ is coming out next year." 

After playing them for about a year, I then bought a Chaos Space Marines army so that I'd have a "bad guy" army to play against my friend who played Imperial Guard. I also greatly admired an all nurgle army that a friend had. My army had mostly berserkers and noise marines. I later moved to an all emperor's children themed csm army when the "new" codex came out with the legion themed army and the Index Astartes and chaos books came out and featured background stories of the fallen legions.

After playing CSM and blood angels, I wanted to try a totally different army and decided to go with an Eldar army. I went on Ebay and bought up several armies for almost nothing and ended up with about 5,000pts worth. I tried playing mixed lists with banshees, scorpians, and guardians with tanks and walkers. I was so used to having toughness 4 3+ save marines, that I did a miserable job at playing eldar, losing most games. I then decided to scrap most of the army, but kept all the skimmers and walkers and ended up with a really nice jetbike themed Samhain army that I really enjoyed playing. I wish I would have kept this army, since jetbike prices have skyrocketed. I had about 30 or so jetbikes. 

Then, a new edition of the space marines came out that had customizable chapter traits that really peaked my interest... (2004?) I decided to build a few space marine chapters. One I designated the "mud" Marines as they were painted shades of earth colors and had infiltrate and the rule that let you take two assault weapons per squad. I also made a raven guard successor chapter. These I painted and played untill the newest edition of the space marines codex came out. 

Then, for some god awfull reason, let's call it living in 29 palms with no way to play 40k for 3 years, I decided to ebay off all my armies except the blood angels, my first, and my ogre kingdoms army for whfb.

Since then, I've been just building upon my blood angels, trying to build and paint a chapter's worth of space marines. So far, I've got 1st, 2nd, 4th, 10th, hq, and about a company's worth of death co.

I've also got an ork army, a tyranid apocalypse army (strictly for shock value), and about 2k worth of eldar. I have built about half of this and painted none.


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## Rahnshen (Jul 15, 2011)

I just looked at what i liked visually, then i read into the history and tactics and if i liked those i'd see


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## torealis (Dec 27, 2006)

It's really interesting to read a large range of opinions on this topic...

I've collected a number of armies over the years, and it's always been about the models for me. More and more now though it's a combination of the models and the conversion potential.

I've just started a nurgle marine army, and I'm loving the potential for greenstuffing, and LOVING the Typhus model.


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## Seph (Jun 30, 2011)

I chose imperial guard because i like to be able to play with an army full of normal basic grunt troopers, oh and TANKS cant forget the massive varied list of tanks that you can field in an army.  Its not that i love tanks but the space marine ones just look rubbish imo a leman russ just looks freaking awesome. Admittedly i have played with, at one point or another over the years, nearly every force you can get you're hands on in 40K but i always seem to go back to my one original love. The Imperial guard. So much so i have an imperial eagle tattoo on my shoulder blades.


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## Karnax (Sep 23, 2010)

I chose necrons because of the simple paint scheme, their ranged capability, and the awesomeness that is WBB.


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## jaysen (Jul 7, 2011)

Yeah, monoliths are crazy good and the necrons have some of the coolest looking hq's imho.


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## Achaylus72 (Apr 30, 2011)

I originally bought the Battle of Macragge box set, and i built the figures and did nothing with them, several years passed and i bought the Assault on Black Reach box set, get this for $75.00au, anyway i fell in love with the Orks and began to build up an impressive Army 6,500 points worth, but i don'y know i began to fall out of love with Orks.

So one day i saw a display of a Chaos Space Marine army and fell in love with them and i have been hooked for over 2 years now, i started to play with a borrowed Army and that lasted for 12 months.

The 12 months ago i bought my first lot of Chaos Space Marines amd within 12 months have built up my Army as by now folks would know has reached the 17,500 point mark.


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## TheSpore (Oct 15, 2009)

Achaylus72 said:


> The 12 months ago i bought my first lot of Chaos Space Marines amd within 12 months have built up my Army as by now folks would know has reached the 17,500 point mark.


Thats alot of damn points have you ever had the chance to field the whole damn thing in an apoc game


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## Scathainn (Feb 21, 2010)

I, too, find cricles frustrating.


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## Hattoria (Dec 14, 2009)

For me, it started years ago. In local hobby shop one day for a card game tournament and I saw some people playing 40k. One was using Tyranid, the other using a Space Marine army. It seemed interesting to me. I picked up the game Fire Warrior (was an alright game) and I loved Tau's story.

Building on the three armies I saw, I researched them and couldn't decide which one I wanted to play so decided to go with all three. I am working on making a Raven Guard SM army as well as a Tau army which is harder than expected. My fiance plays with me as well, she plays Tyranids.

To throw things into more frustration, I wanna start a Imperial Guard army when I can. I like their looks/tactics. I also like the air units they have. That alone is probably the selling point for me.


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## BearingTheWord (Feb 8, 2010)

Bane_of_Kings said:


> I picked the Space Wolves and stuck with them for several reasons:
> 
> _Battle of the Fang_ by Chris Wraight and _Prospero Burns_ by Dan Abnett. Pure, awesome novels and great portrayal of th Vlka Fenryka. (basically, for fluff reasons - several of The Space Wolves characters are among my favourite in the game, and the background of the chapter is just, fantastic.
> 
> I also picked the Wolves due to their amazing models which can be assembled in a variety of ways. Also, they allow for converting with normal space marine kits as well as even chaos kits. The possibilities are endless, and that makes it fun if you're into that sort of thing .


This is exactly why I also chose the Space Wolves....and why I chose Word Bearers as well.....and why my son chose Black Templars. Then my son and I started playing the computer DoW and DoW II games and decided to add a Blood Ravens Force to the mix. And how could we not then add a Tyranids army, and a Necron force. I also wasn't about to let those beautiful Orks from the Blackreach box go to waste. And then my son said, " Dad? I want to build an IG force up as well!" How could I say no? We are even discussing an Eldar, Thousand Sons, Death Guard, and Ultramarines in the future. Especially considering we now live in the middle of nowhere, with no FLGS near by to find other players, so we have to play against each other and the variety keeps it from being monotonous. Yeah it gets pricey. Yeah we are constantly adding new units and building forces as we can. But it's one of the coolest hobbies I've found, as well as one of the few that my son and I can enjoy together. 

So to answer your question. Go with what ya like. read and learn the fluff. Read and learn tactics. Most of all have fun...And if you are truly worried about whether you have an army that's competetive or not....it's usually not the army that that wins most games, it's the player behind said army. 

I've read and seen situations where a guy just can't win with army "x" and blames the army. Another guy with a sound tactical mind comes and plays that same army and wins multiple games in a row against opponents that were tabling the same army when it was being played by the first player. So the moral of this lengthy ramble is : Pick the ones you like....then learn to use them to their potential. :grin:

Good luck and keep us all posted on your choice and your progress k:


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## ItsPug (Apr 5, 2009)

I like tanks and modern infantry style armies. Guess which army I run? Yep IG.


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