Startin´ with 40K

[BoH Montevideo]

Well friends I was playing warmachine for a few months now and I have played a little of fantasy but I would really like to try 40K, I do not know anything about it, I just saw the batreps here.
I want to hear what the experts as you have to say about the armies and which one you recommend the most, the one I was thinking to start buying was the eldars but I am not sure. If you could help it will be just great!
Thanks!


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[DrLove42]

Well If you pick an army you like the look of you can't really go far wrong.

Eldar are a decent army, with a lot of variety. They were my first army so don't worry about people saying they're unforgiving. They are...treading water a little bit right now. Not exactly top of the pile...

Also...theres supposedly 6th edition coming out soon. So a whole new set of rules. It might be worth just getting some models you like first, then waiting for the new rule book to come out, rather than learning a rule system that might be completly wrong....

[Kawauso]

The doc has a good point.

This summer is looking a lot like the start of a new edition, so rather than learning the rules right off the bat as they're likely to be invalid in the next few months, just go with some models you like.

Check out the armies, read the background, grab a few kits you like the look of, and get painting. When the new edition drops, start getting some games under your belt with your awesome painted models, and then you'll start figuring out where you want to take your army.

[DrLove42]

Its a good time to come in after 6th ed. A lot of people wil be having to learn the new stuff so you won't b as far behind

[Rissan4ever]

Eldar have lots of specialist troops, and their grav tanks let them move super fast. Their Codex is ancient, so that puts them at a competitive disadvantage in tournaments, but they're still a perfectly viable army.

Pick an army that looks cool and has fluff you like. If those two things are in place, you'll still love it no matter what happens to the rules. I caught on to Imperial Guard for those two reasons way back in 3rd Ed., and I've never gotten tired of seeing them on the table.

[MaltonNecromancer]

I would always recommend buying an army purely because it looks good, but then, I'm coming more from the modelling/painting side of the hobby than the gaming one. Basically, what are your goals?

a.) Play fun, pick-up games with friends.
Choose any army you like the look of, paint models, have fun. Ignore naysayers who tell you that your army is bad - it won't be when the new codex is released. 40K is cyclical, and no army is bad (or good) forever.

b.) Play competitive tournaments to win.
Go for one of the stronger codicies. Grey Knights are the current flavour of the month, as well as being a very good beginners army (few models, easy to paint, very easy to play with). Blood Angels and Space Wolves are also strong choices, as is mechanised Imperial Guard.

c.) Play competitive tournaments to test my skill.
Go for one of the more challenging codicies. Dark Eldar and Necrons are the obvious choice at the moment; both are powerful, but unforgiving of mistakes, making them excellent fun if you fancy yourself a strategist. Vanilla Marines are also in this bracket, but more because the other Marine variants are "better" (read - more specialised, and thus have obvious, explicit playstyles that Vanilla Marines don't). Eldar are definitely in this bracket; their codex is old, and thus better suited towards earlier versions of the game, meaning it has a hard time defeating more modern codicies. Doesn't mean it's bad, just difficult. I guarantee that when the Eldar get a new codex, it'll still be difficult to win with - basically, Xenos armies always call for a different play style to Marines (which throws off a lot of ex-Marine players), as well as generally having some severe weaknesses that Marines lack (fragility in the case of Eldar and Dark Eldar; ability at close combat in the case of Necrons; synapse and some severely overcosted/underpowered units in the case of Tyranids).

d.) Make the models 'cause they're pretty.
Go for whatever you like. Be aware that conversion opportunities for Eldar are currently very, very limited, largely due to the vast majority of the line being finecast/metal. This will undoubtedly change as and when they get a new Codex, but even the Dark Eldar (who have some lovely new models) still don't have quite the modelling potential of the Space Marines (who have approximately one hundred billion compatible kits) or the Imperial Guard (who have many, many other non-GW companies producing compatible parts). Eldar do get some lovely colour schemes though, so that kind of balances out.

At the end of the day, Eldar is a pretty good army if you're just playing mates. At tournament, you may have a hard time, and you may find your opportunities for conversion are slightly more limited than other armies, but they're not a bad choice at all.

[Psychosplodge]

Don't do it, it's like plastic crack...

[Kaiserdean]

I find that you need to pick an army you'll enjoy painting. Games may come and go but if you're invested into the actual models, you're more likely to stick with the game and enjoy it more.

[Chuck777]

Pick the army you think looks cool, that is always the best way to pick armies.

I highly recommend all of the Space Marine codices, they are balanced, fun and very forgiving.

However, ask yourself the following question: Do you like shooting or assaulting or both?

For shooting, pick - Tau, Necrons, Eldar, Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle or any Marine codex except Black Templars.

For Assaulting, pick - Tyranids, Orks, Dark Eldar, Gray Knights, Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Black Templar, Chaos Marines or Daemons.

For a good balance between the two, pick: Any codex except Tyranids, Orcs, Tau or Imperial Guard.


If you have no idea what you may like, then I suggest buying the Assault on Black Reach starter set and play with the Space Marines and Orks for a few games and get an idea of what the game is like, then make a more informed decision.

[Nosmo75]

d.) Make the models 'cause they're pretty.
Go for whatever you like. Be aware that conversion opportunities for Eldar are currently very, very limited, largely due to the vast majority of the line being finecast/metal. This will undoubtedly change as and when they get a new Codex, but even the Dark Eldar (who have some lovely new models) still don't have quite the modelling potential of the Space Marines (who have approximately one hundred billion compatible kits) or the Imperial Guard (who have many, many other non-GW companies producing compatible parts).

Be fair, virtually all of the Dark Eldar kits are composed of interchangeable components, it's just that Space Marines have *more* kits that are composed of interchangeable components.