# The best starter army for a 40k newbie?



## BrotherLudovic (Feb 22, 2012)

Hello all!

I'm pretty much a complete newbie when it comes to 40k and as I have no army, little knowledge rules-wise, but determined to start out an army, I need a bit of help with the selection process. What is, according to you, the best army for someone starting out in 40k and why did you choose that army?

All replies as well as additional advice are greatly appreciated 

Cheers,

Ludovic


----------



## arlins (Sep 8, 2010)

look over all of them 
decide which you think look and sound cool, then go with it .
vanila marines ( space marines) are easy to start with (IMO) BUT doesnt mean its the army for you .
You could like many end up with something youd rather not have and painting models
that you may not care for is laborious and will put you off.
good luck and welcome to the forum and hobby


----------



## BrotherLudovic (Feb 22, 2012)

Cheers for the advice arlins  I'll take a look at the armies then!

Ludovic


----------



## misfratz (Feb 9, 2012)

arlins said:


> look over all of them
> decide which you think look and sound cool, then go with it .


I'd just add to this that you can make this simpler by just looking at the troops in each army. You'd expect that these would make up the largest single part of your army, so it's particularly important that they grab your imagination in some way.


----------



## arlins (Sep 8, 2010)

BrotherLudovic said:


> Cheers for the advice arlins  I'll take a look at the armies then!
> 
> Ludovic


look them over , then ask here about the ones you like and youl find out more about
there pros and cons .

for instance this time last year if you were asking about Necrons you would have found 
out they were being updated ( so you wouldntwaste money on the old codex) :grin:


----------



## BrotherLudovic (Feb 22, 2012)

Well I'm thinking of going for either Eldar or Imperial Guard (I first thought Sisters of Battle, but they're way to expensive for me, even if I DO like the metal models). Not sure which one though. Any help?

Ludovic


----------



## arlins (Sep 8, 2010)

1st bit of advice dont buy the rulebook , rumours are heavy that come summer
the 6th edition rule book will be out ( were at 5th now)
buy the small rulebook from the assault on black reach starter set , its exactly
the same as the big rulebook (page numbers are even the same).
Get it of ebay dont pay more than £10-14 posted.
this will get you going .

IG are fun but can be model heavy,,lots of tanks , lots of troops 
special charachters , orders, can be daunting to take in but it doesnt take long
to getthe gist .Just post on here what you dont understand .

Eldar, im not very familiar with them , its a older codex and they seem to be a bit 
of a glass cannon though older exp players can make them hurt you lots


----------



## BrotherLudovic (Feb 22, 2012)

Thank you for the tips arlins 

Yes, I thought a bit more about Guard and there are a lot of models to collect. Also, Eldar do seem to be a very "elite" army that isn't too easy to get a hang of... I may just stick with Space Marines and then when I've built up a small force and played a few games, I may start something else 

Ludovic


----------



## arlins (Sep 8, 2010)

space marines are easy to pick up (both playing and second hand from ebay)

i started with marines , as do most and i still have about 2000 pts 
which get played regularly ( my 10 yr old uses them)

One last piece of advice 
dont worry about getting beat, play freindly to start with and the wins come along 
with experience , good luck mate :biggrin:


----------



## Creator of Chaos (Feb 8, 2012)

Depends on what exactly you want to do Are you primarily playing or painting. 

If your primarily playng and want an army thats easy to paint but capable of building a big army quickly for game playing and cheaply go with necrons or Vanilla Space Marines. Both have good battle force's (Necron one comes out shortly) that are pretty much ready to play out of the box the only additional thing needed is a HQ. Both are relativly simple to play in under 1000 point games, they are both easy to paint and get a good finish out of and both are very fun armies. I usually recommend these for new players 

Now if your more into painting and have paitiance then Eldar or Dark Eldar would be better choice's. You dont need as many models on the table and while there battle forces are both sort of lacking you dont need as many models as other armies to play a standard game so you can focus more on painting instead of just getting the army ready. 

Now at the end of the day the choice is yours, nobody here can tell you which army to play or start with they all have there ups and downs and while I wouldn't recommend orks or Sisters due to either the expense or the sheer number models you need if you like them its up to you and you must truely be into the army to actually enjoy them. I personally love necrons and there old fluff, I love there resiliance and I love how the army plays on the field. It just suits my style of gameplay and my stubborn tenacious personallity.

Tell us abit about your gameplay styles and personallity and we may be able to recommend an army that fits you if you wish


----------



## stalarious (Aug 25, 2011)

Well I dont know for the other guys but if you have friends already with armies see if they will let you play test them because I did a find models that look awesome and play them. I choose Tau and then found that they dont fit how I like to play(example I charged a full unit of genestealers "close combat monsters" with a full unit of fire warriors "suck at close combat") after trying other armies I got turned to Black templars which I love. So I suggest trying them and trying to find your play style then see if you like the way they look.


----------



## BrotherLudovic (Feb 22, 2012)

arlins: Again, many thanks for your help 

CoC: Well, here we are 



> Play: Not regularly, no. Don't really have the time to.
> 
> Paint: I love painting and I have a fairly good level I'd say. Just above table-top/gaming quality
> 
> ...


Stalarious: I do have a couple of friends, but I never really get the opportunity to do so. And I don't see them often. Cheers anyway 

Ludovic


----------



## misfratz (Feb 9, 2012)

If you're looking to experiment with a bit of everything then you can certainly do that. Try one box of each army in turn.

If you google for the Warhammer 40,000 kill team rules you'll find a way to play with small numbers of models per side - that way you don't need to worry so much about collecting enough for an army of x points. The idea of a Kill Team game was one where you had a special forces raid behind enemy lines - to destroy a communications beacon, or assassinate an enemy general. So there were rules for sentries and what have you.

To be honest I don't know why GW didn't persist with that, as it's a lot easier to start the game if you're not having to get 500+ points together all in one go.


----------



## BrotherLudovic (Feb 22, 2012)

That's a very good idea misfratz  I've known Kill Team for a while but I never thought of that... Are the 4th Edition rules still available or do we have to make do with the new ones (I remember the old ones being much more fun than the newer ones)?

Ludovic


----------



## misfratz (Feb 9, 2012)

BrotherLudovic said:


> Are the 4th Edition rules still available or do we have to make do with the new ones (I remember the old ones being much more fun than the newer ones)?


They're not available from GW, but I'd have thought you'd find an old copy on ebay easily enough. Or you might be able to find an old beardy vet somewhere who would photocopy or scan it for you.

I won't comment on the potentially virus-laden PDFs you might be able to find for download from disreputable sites on the internet.


----------



## BrotherLudovic (Feb 22, 2012)

No worries, I've found them  But I may just stick with the new ones as the old ones seem quite outdated. I may get round to updating them if I can once I get a better grasp of the rules 

Cheers,

Ludovic


----------



## Creator of Chaos (Feb 8, 2012)

BrotherLudovic said:


> arlins: Again, many thanks for your help
> 
> CoC: Well, here we are
> 
> ...


Well since you lack time to play games and only really want to paint Eldar would be a really good choice. Not the best on the tabletop but you could still produce stunning paintjobs and if you only intend on playing casually it wont matter much. Chaos is also a good one if you want to paint (you can do some really impressive stuff with chaos plus there battleforce is good) plus both sides are good in kill-team or 500-1000 points. Its also not that hard to build 500 points of models either with both armies. but as I said before its up to you but since you lack time and want to primarily paint Chaos or Eldar would be a good choice for you.


----------



## Samules (Oct 13, 2010)

Just an FYI Yes eldar can be a bit difficult to learn when you are just starting but certainly not impossible. Eldar were my first army and I got a decent win rate fairly soon. (everyone says they are hard to play but I just never see it.)


----------



## MetalHandkerchief (Aug 3, 2009)

To answer your question literally; the best army for beginners, in each category:

Cheapest investment:
Necrons

Easiest to paint:
Necrons

Easiest to play:
Necrons and vanilla Space Marines



The worst armies for beginners:

Biggest investment:
Tyranids and Imperial Guard

Hardest to paint:
Imperial Guard, Dark Eldar and Sisters of Battle

Hardest to play (from hardest to easiest):
Eldar > Tau > Tyranids > Dark Eldar > Sisters of Battle > Orks > Everything else is pretty easy.


----------



## Starship Trooper (Dec 2, 2009)

This is all relative people... 

I've met people you have to explain tic tac toe to twice before they get it, and then there are people like my 9 year old son. He received a Ork battleforce and some burna boys for his birthday.... read the codex once and asked when he can get a pain boy for his nobz and heavy ordnance to force the other person to move forward quicker so his burna boys can use there flammers... 

I've always felt this is a hobby first and foremost. Buy what you will enjoy putting together and painting and then learn how to play it.

Good luck!


----------



## Antonius (Jan 10, 2012)

Imperial Guardsmen have a tendency to become VERY repetitive in the painting style, but this to an extent can be rewarding for a gamer, and allow you to perfect painting. The lack of fancy paintjobs (the Imperium is rather drab colour scheme, but with small exceptions for special markings etc). Not to put you off, but you will end up with a very large number of models for any army build (even mech players have to build and paint LOTS of the same units), which can look cool as a "wall of death" or 20th Century esque Platoons (Excellent for true/realistic camo painting of tanks and fine details). IG also have less space for detail on shoulder pads than SM and generally lack many Infantry markings save unit numbers/ whiteshield symbols.

Don't let me dissuade you from the Imperial Guard (always happy to welcome another to the IG family - I play Mech Cadians, but i started off as an SM player). SM perhaps are best as an interlude, due to the slightly less complicated rule systems (lack of orders) and better wargear and more balanced stats than Guardsmen. I found that the 1 HQ 2 Troops sets you up almost straight for a 500pt game, and this probs is aided by the AOBR set (i got Macragge, which was less worthwhile due to all the terrain and lack of smurfs).


----------



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

As was already said ... DON'T BUY A RULEBOOK.

If your only new to 40k it will take you a few months to get a 1000-1500pt army painted and assembled, by that stage 6th edition should be out, and you can then buy that rulebook.

As for which army is best for a newb?

First: The One who's background or 'fluff' you enjoy the most. Read up some of the info at Lexicanum, or 40k wiki, or ask around here at Heresy, and decide which army you like the sound of.

Then look at the model range, which looks the best to you, or which do you think you would have the skills to paint to a decent standard.

Finally, I would recommend picking one of the armies which have been given a recent update, as they tend to have decent and competitive rules, and pretty good choice, so: Grey Knights, Dark Eldar, Tyranids, Necrons, Space Wolves, Blood Angels and 'vanilla' Space Marines.

Those are just a few thoughts, hope they help.

(oh and be sure and let us know which army you decided on, I hate when people ask for help deciding and we never know what they ended up choosing!  )


----------



## BrotherLudovic (Feb 22, 2012)

Hello all! I must thank each and every one of you for giving me your advice! It has proved to be most helpful 

It's a difficult choice, but I'm going to start with Space Marines, get a 500-point army, play with it a couple of times and then see if I want develop it further or try something else 

Again, thank you all very much, I do appreciate it!

Ludovic


----------



## Caremal5 (Sep 20, 2013)

Hi, everyone I'm completely new to warhammer and was just wondering if anybody would be able to tell me a decent little starter army that's easy to paint and get the hang of quickly too. I did try finding the vanilla space marines and necron's but after that I had no idea which parts exactly to buy so if you could posts links too it would be massively appreciated . By the way I'm a total newb to this so go easy please


----------



## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

You have 2 options, chaos or dark angels......if you want to start something else then you better be very rich


----------



## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Stella Cadente said:


> You have 2 options, chaos or dark angels......if you want to start something else then you better be very rich


Spending hundreds on bikes or hundreds on ugly plastic dragons?

Midnight


----------



## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

MidnightSun said:


> Spending hundreds on bikes or hundreds on ugly plastic dragons?
> 
> Midnight


True, but at least the starter gives you something, if you go chaos you can trade the DA
If you go DA you can trade the chaos
And both armies in the box can be legal (small) forces.
And you do not need a codex until later for both.
The main advantage is rulebook, dice and basic rules to play with.

But if you try starting from scratch anything else, forget it.


----------



## Ryu_Niimura (May 1, 2013)

The hobby can get expensive pretty fast unless you know where to look; Ebay or even Wayland Games who advertise on this website are good alternatives imo.

As with what army to start, I like playing armies that aren't seen very often i.e. I'm the only Daemon player at my local GW so nobody really has a clue as to what my units do:grin: I would advise sticking with whatever army picks your fancy. Once you have decided pick up the codex so you can get an idea of what the army is like and what kind of play style you're going for (1d4chan really helped me to get started with my army as they give a good rundown of all the strenghts and weaknesses of every unit in the army).


----------



## Farseer Darvaleth (Nov 15, 2009)

The best army for a new players would have to be Space Marines. No, this isn't fanboyism, just pragmatism. GW is Space Marine-centred: they have a range of options to suit taste, which can be both effective in the hands of a skilled player and still strong with a beginner, owing to their forgiving playstyle and strong statlines. The model-count isn't as prohibitive as, say, horde Tyranids, and the larger size of a Marine compared to, say, an Eldar model means painting is also more forgiving (larger surfaces, less accuracy required for a decent paintjob).

Even just a small 750 points Space Marine army will get you into the hobby and let you know what's what. From there you can choose whatever, but I strongly believe Marines let you into the hobby the best. Besides, everyone has a Marine army at some point anyway, so you may as well let it be your first army to get to know the ropes. Marines are a bit like learning Piano as your first musical instrument; once you have keyboard skills you have a visual knowledge of scales and theory, and sight-reading on other instruments becomes a cakewalk because you only have one line to read.


----------



## iamtheeviltwin (Nov 12, 2012)

Farseer Darvaleth said:


> The best army for a new players would have to be Space Marines. No, this isn't fanboyism, just pragmatism.


Also if you are buying new, the new Strike Force box contains a field ready 1000-1300pt army that is legal to field and is not a bad All-Comers list. All that for a bit over $200 (US), but a pretty cheap entry into the hobby overall.

Other than that, eBay does wonders and makes any army relatively affordable.


----------



## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

If your getting direct from GW the strikeforce is the only viable alternative, but still crippling
Strikeforce £140
Rulebook: the rules £30
Codex £35
Hobby starter set+standard brush so your not doing basing and painting with 1 brush £38.75
Dice £5
Templates £8
Figure case £36
Tape measure £3.10
£265.85 so £300 almost......better get the loan paperwork ready.


----------



## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

If your getting direct from GW the strikeforce is the only viable alternative, but still crippling
Strikeforce £140
Rulebook: the rules £30
Codex £35
Hobby starter set+standard brush so your not doing basing and painting with 1 brush £38.75
Dice £5
Templates £8
Figure case £36
Tape measure £3.10
£265.85 so £300 almost......better get the loan paperwork ready.

If you want to wargame, do Napoleonics, its cheaper


----------

