# I'm new and need help picking an army



## Mr. Vulcanator (Nov 15, 2016)

At the moment (based on looks at least) I'm interested in Necrons, Chaos Space Marines, Orks, Tyranids, Tau, and Grey Knights.

I'd like to know what the playstyles are of these armies, their strengths and weaknesses, gimmicks, how many I would need just to start out, and how good they are.


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## Shandathe (May 2, 2010)

First off, you're generally best off with an army that speaks to you, so good on that  

Assuming you're looking to fill a basic point total, the really short version is that Grey Knights and Chaos Space Marines are elite forces of fewer models with more asskicking/model, the Necrons and Tau are in the middle in how many you'll likely need, and Orks and Tyranids tend to want a LOT of models on the table. Mind you, for most the basic FOC (1 HQ, 2 Troops) will be 21 models or so.

Slightly longer for playstyle and gimmicks, but still short and I'm sure people that play them will speak up and correct me 
Necrons are something of an odd duck because their basic weapon will glance any vehicle to death, and they have a habit of not actually being dead themselves. Can field something decently competent in every role you want.

CSM are Space Marines with some different tricks. No access to some of the toys the loyalists get to play with, but you get other toys and a remarkably easy time getting other armies allied to yours (don't ask me WHY they trust you. I don't know!)

Orks Orks Orks Orks... Lots and lots of boyz, because your saves are bad. Very melee-focused, shooting not worth much though there ARE some interesting options for it (one of the few reasons to ever read the Artillery rules).

Tyranids are probably most capable of flooding the board with models, though there's also a lot of (expensive) high-Toughness beasties in there that can't be easily gibbed. 

Tau are the other side of the coin. Shooty as all hell, horrible in melee. Take the shooty gimmick perhaps a little too far, esp with some of their formations.

Grey Knights would need the fewest models just because they're small squads of very point-heavy (20+ points each) models. Very elite force. Everything that walks has some sort of Psyker rating to go with it. Army overall is mid-to-short ranged, you can outfight most things on a model-to-model basis but you're going to feel every loss. Troops start at 5 models.


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## Mr. Vulcanator (Nov 15, 2016)

I still like all the armies and I'm still can't decide. I'm trying to make up my mind at least a few weeks before Christmas.

I was told by a somewhat rude person that Necrons are bad because they can't run.

CSM get chaos boons, how does that work? What are the possible boons?

Thanks for giving me that answer by the way :]


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## Fallen (Oct 7, 2008)

Mr. Vulcanator said:


> At the moment (based on looks at least) I'm interested in Necrons, Chaos Space Marines, Orks, Tyranids, Tau, and Grey Knights.
> 
> I'd like to know what the playstyles are of these armies, their strengths and weaknesses, gimmicks, how many I would need just to start out, and how good they are.


Chaos Space Marines & Grey Knights (and by default all other Space Marine type armies) are a bit of a Jack of all trades, master of none type of army. There are some exceptions for each individual army. In general they are what I like to call a "fire fight" type of army - as in they are most effective 24" (the max range of their standard weapons) and closer and are decent at close combat at default than most other factions. Some intra-factions of Chaos (God Affiliation) vary in their desire for combat however. 

Necrons are basically the undead of 40K, so they are pretty durable with their basic units. They tend to be more of a shooting only style army with some dedicated close combat elements, rather than the all-rounder Chaos Space Marines & Grey Knights. Their basic weapon has the ability to damage any vehicle regardless of modifiers.

Tau are the Anime/Gundam force - and rely upon their Crisis Suits to deal the deciding blow to their enemies. They are almost solely a ranged fighting army, except the Kroot are their "close combat" units - they don't really have the capability to defeat dedicated assault units from other armies however. So in short they only really focus on shooting their enemies to death.

Orks are akin to Space Marines in that they are a "fire fight" army, however they tend to lean towards close combat rather than shooting their enemy to death. They tend to out number their opponents, and try to over-kill them with the number of shots/attacks that they provide.

Tyranids are the horde army as stated before. In general they want to overwhelm you with so many models that the "wave" with reach your lines and never stop attacking once they are there.

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I would recommend that you go with the army that looks the coolest to you, compared to how "powerful" that the army is, as I personally think that is what keeps people involved in the game.

Also if you're looking for some background/fluff I recommend that you look at Lexicanum.


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## ntaw (Jul 20, 2012)

I have often though of (and certainly collected) Necrons as a slow advance and shoot army but the more I play them and explore the Codex the more I realize they can assemble a quite fast and hard hitting force. You could use Destroyers, Praetorians, Immortals in Night Scythes, Annihilation Barges, and Wraiths to overwhelm quite a lot of different foes.

Of course, they still aren't faster than Blood Angels :grin:


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## Mr. Vulcanator (Nov 15, 2016)

*Tyranid questions*

Would I need genestealers in a tyranid army? Also how expensive in real money are synapse creatuers?


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## Fallen (Oct 7, 2008)

Mr. Vulcanator said:


> I still like all the armies and I'm still can't decide. I'm trying to make up my mind at least a few weeks before Christmas.
> 
> I was told by a somewhat rude person that Necrons are bad because they can't run.
> 
> ...


Necrons can Run, which is when you nullify your shooting action so that you can move your unit D6 inches. In general it's not worth doing so with Necrons, as they don't REALLY want to be in range of an assault.

Chaos Boons are a mechanic that allows "Champions of Chaos" - usually your squad "sargents" and your HQ models - to roll on a chart for a potential buff when they kill an enemy sargent or HQ in close combat in something called a Challenge, it doesn't really happen all that often in my experience, nor is it anything to focus on as an "army trait". You can also purchase a roll when building your army list, which is the most often experience that you will use. Again it's not all that amazing.

The boons range across a wide variety of stuffs, some do literally nothing, some turn your character into a Demonic Spawn or a Demon Prince, most tend to give your model a singular boost to one of their stats on their statline, such as +1 Wound, Toughness, Attacks, Weapon Skill, Initiative, Ballistic Skill.



Mr. Vulcanator said:


> Would I need genestealers in a tyranid army? Also how expensive in real money are synapse creatuers?


Do you require Genestealers - No.

Synapse creatures tend to be your most of your big Monstrous Creatures, or units like Zoenthropes / Warriors - Roughly $60 per box.

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-U...ing=rec&view=table&categoryId=cat440130a-flat

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I highly recommend to listen to The Independent Characters episodes on choosing your army - it is rather long, and it might be outdated with some stuffs regarding the actual armies, but they are a pretty good detailed breakdown. Episodes 42, and 43 respectively.

Search results for "choose your army" | The Independent Characters

No matter what army your looking to get into Your probably going to be spending around $150 to START the game, $50 for your codex/army book, and $85 "starting box" and maybe another box or two to get started. This won't give you an amazing army to start with, but it is a nice decent way to start.


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## Loki1416 (Apr 20, 2010)

Going to throw my 2 cents in on the origional part of this post topic. 
I'm of the opinion that you SHOULD NOT BUY anything until you've played with it. You ask 10 people how (insert random army here) plays/works and your going to pretty much get 10 different answers. Your best bet is to go to your local gaming place or hook up with friends who play, and try their army first. In your head you may think that you want a gunline type army that slowly slogs across the board while putting out hundreds of shots (and there is nothing wrong with that btw). So lets say that's what you want. You spend $500 on Necrons to do just that. Start playing and you realize "Shit, this is boring!" (again, nothing wrong with that), and you realize that fast attack/quick moving assault units is your thing. Now you just wasted $500 on what you don't want to play instead of on what you do want to play.
So in short: Play play play play then buy. Any hobby shop worth it's salt will give you some demo games. People sitting around in there will give you demo games. Please do yourself a favor and go in and play some games.
And, as always, Good luck!


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Personally I'd go with the army that you think looks the best, as you will be committing to painting up a lot of minis, and you'll need to want to paint them. If you pick an army just because you think it will win a lot of games, you could find after a unit or two that you really couldn't be assed putting in the effort to give them your best attention because you're not a fan of the minis themselves. This can be especially off-putting if you pick a horde army like nids or orks. 

To be honest as a first army I'd recommend a straight codex space marine army, as they can be forgiving on someone just getting into the game, and give you the options to tailor and tinker with your lists until you find a style that you like, be it a gun line, fast attack or close combat orientated.



Loki1416 said:


> Play play play play then buy.


Good advice. Try and get in a game with an army you really like the look of before making a final decision. Place all your choice of armies in a list in order of which you like the look of the most, and look for games accordingly. You really need to like how they look and play, or your enthusiasm will wane fairly quickly.


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## ntaw (Jul 20, 2012)

What are some of your favourite traits in an army? Speed, close combat prowess, tanks, walkers, massed infantry, that sort of thing.


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## Mr. Vulcanator (Nov 15, 2016)

ntaw said:


> What are some of your favourite traits in an army? Speed, close combat prowess, tanks, walkers, massed infantry, that sort of thing.


I want to be primarily focused on ranged weapons. 

I'd rather have a lot of decent troops than have a really small force of really strong units. I do want strong units, but I don't want to replace my infantry with it.

I think at this point I'm mainly interested in Necrons, Orks, and to a lesser extent Tau and CSM.


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## ntaw (Jul 20, 2012)

Well, as someone currently amassing a Necron collection my vote goes there. Orks and shooting is a kinda funny concept to me :laugh:


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## Fallen (Oct 7, 2008)

Mr. Vulcanator said:


> I want to be primarily focused on ranged weapons.
> 
> I'd rather have a lot of decent troops than have a really small force of really strong units. I do want strong units, but I don't want to replace my infantry with it.
> 
> I think at this point I'm mainly interested in Necrons, Orks, and to a lesser extent Tau and CSM.


For that set up I would rank the armies in this fashion; Tau, Necrons, CSM, Orks.

Tau are by far THE most defined army that revolves around shooting. They have Crisis Suits to bring in their version of "Punching Power" with close ranged weapons such as plasma and melta weapons. Also they have the Riptide and their bigger version of those...whatever they are called (Local Tau player doesn't own one)

Necrons probably next follow up the trend, they tend to be a shorter ranged army compared to Tau over all, but they are a lot durable in comparison.

CSM I would say are next, although not by much.

Orks I would say are dead last, they shoot stuffs because they too far away to assault generally. Some units - such as lootas - are nice long ranged units, but they are one of the only decent ranged threats that the Orks have, and generally get focused early on.


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