What is the best 40K army for beginners?

[Archon]

Its the Space Marines (sad? but) true!

Buy the knew [URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440270a&prodId=prod2220 002a"]"Strikeforce"[/URL] Box and you got a whole Army to start with for less than 200,- € add the Codex and it´s 250,- (you can get it cheaper if you buy it at your local store or mailorder discount). Add in the basics for TT: Paints, Basing-Stuff, Brushes, Glues etc. this will eat up easy another 50,- €.

But the best way to start is simple: Look at the armys, read something about the armys, read some 40 K stuff and choice the army you like best - don´t look for playability. Buy some stuff (roughly about 500 pts), build it, paint it an make some games.

And: Play Chaos!

[Wolfshade]

The other option is Grey Knights, all the advantages of space marines, though more complicated rules. But for just 11 models you can play 1,500pt games

[Hello1701]

I went SM because they are durable (3+) forgiving of misplays. You don't generally break the rules so if you move on to another army you a good understanding of the basics. Easy to paint. Plenty of available used models so you can spend less $. Not to mention in the poll all SM are grouped together, if they had been separated I would probably went necrons.

[Power Klawz]

I just don't feel Space Marines of any flavor are overly beginner friendly in 6th edition. They are still rather resilient on an individual basis, but with their relatively high cost it would be hard to say that they're any more resilient overall than cheaper horde armies who can just throw bodies at problems instead of hoping to roll 3+'s.

Actually the depth of tactical nuance to the current (6th edition that is, i.e. DA and C:SM) space marine armies has made me take a much deeper look at them than at any point in the last decade.

But I don't think they're an overly easy force to get good results out of anymore. Their damage output when compared to reigning destruction kings Tau isn't all that amazing. They don't really have an all-killy iwin button personified in a single model and rely on synergy to achieve great results. Not the most technically complex army of course, but not the easiest either.

I'd have to say that Orks make up the easiest to grasp beginner army. You just need a lot of green bodies with guns and hacksaws. At its basic level its about having more boyz than the enemy has bullets and tossing lots of dice.

I make my estimation based on the intended use and spirit of the army, not necessarily on current strength within the meta game. Obviously most people consider Tau to be a might bit cheddariffic and its not very hard to obtain decent results even if you have no idea what you're doing. Just because a bazooka can cause a lot of damage doesn't necessarily make it a beginner friendly item.

I also wouldn't lump all the space marine armies together like that. I mean especially Grey Knights, they're hardly comparable to the other power armored armies.

[warflail]

I consider myself a beginner - bought the Dark Vengeance boxed set about a year ago and have been painting and building up the DA and CSM armies to 1500pt+ strength each. The boxed set was the easiest way to get into the hobby, as there were enough models for a variety of battles, as well as the beginner's guide, rulebook, dice and templates - in short, everything but the paint to get started.

I found both the DA and CSM armies quite easy to learn to play. Subsequently, I picked up an AoBR boxed set and my 12-year old son has been getting into building up an Ork army, which has also been pretty easy to learn (and paint).

I have little doubt that if the 6th ed boxed set had contained, say, Tau and Necrons instead, I would have gotten into those just as easily and would have put my vote for either of those. What's friendliest to the beginner is whatever is included in an all-in-one boxed set.

W

[khambatta]

Space Wolves, although the reasoning fits some other armies.
Grey Hunters give you a solid & versatile core of troops to build on. You're not locked in to a particular playstyle: Long Fangs let you stand back & shoot, but if you find you prefer to get stuck in, Thunderwolf Cavalry fit the bill. You're not overwhelmed with too many options, or too many rules; nor do they have the expense/model count of a horde army.
While they may not be regarded as top-tier right now, they are solid performers - anyone'll enjoy learning the game more if they actually manage a few wins now & then.

[Gunndrakk]

Space marines, especially vanilla marines...
Cause they are easy to learn and their rules are simple to digest

[Themaninthegreenhat]

The other option is Grey Knights, all the advantages of space marines, though more complicated rules. But for just 11 models you can play 1,500pt games

This, kinda(?)

i started playing 40K about two or three years ago. i Chose GK, the simple reason? I'm not confident in my painting, i didn't want to make a heavy investment, and they had an interesting backstory. I was drawn to the arthurian and Crusades inspired mythos and really liked the whole "secret agents of angry space Catholicism".

Later on i was really inspired to cross-breed and convert a unique Henchmen style army, and then i got some DA that i play like "fallen angels"

and so forth. I won't bore you with details.

About the same time i roped in a buddy of mine, and they run with Tau. And, well, yes, they do have a neasier time. Their main problem is "when you get in punching distance, DAf*Q do i do?"

Whereas i have, "How doez i'z antiarmour/Y MY GUYS DIE AL DA TIME/ HQ! Y U NO go for under hundred points" and so forth. Now i might be biaised (i keep winning our matches after all) but i think Tau is a pretty decent beginners army, but GK and DA as well. But neither is an automatic win army.