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I'm thinking about starting a 40k army. What should I look for as a new player, what constitutes a good, well-balanced army?
4 posters
Want to start an army.
Chris- Administrator
- Join date : 2009-11-20
Posts : 290
The Waste Character
Name: Rūk
Race: Minotaur
Class: Warden
Well, my opinion has always been (and this was backed up during my brief employment at Games Workshop) that you have to like the models first and foremost. Is there an army that looks particularly cool to you? Do you like the power armor of the Space Marines, the spiky adornments of the Chaos Space Marines, the anime-tech feel of the Tau Empire, the lowly grunts and lumbering tanks of the Imperial Guard, etc.
I started out playing Tyranids (mostly because I liked playing the Zerg in StarCraft) and hated them. I didn't like the models. For some reason, I just couldn't get excited about them, so I switched to Imperial Guard and I never looked back.
I started out playing Tyranids (mostly because I liked playing the Zerg in StarCraft) and hated them. I didn't like the models. For some reason, I just couldn't get excited about them, so I switched to Imperial Guard and I never looked back.
j-smuv- Administrator
- Join date : 2009-11-18
Posts : 166
The Waste Character
Name: Ordesso Badatu
Race: Minotaur
Class: Fighter
I agree with Chris. You are going to be spending a lot of time assembling, modding, and painting your army. If you don't like the models in your chosen army, you're not gonna stick with the game.
That being said, in answer to your question: Space Marines. . . Imperial Space Marines are the most balanced army. This is both good and bad, though.
A balanced army in 40k is a rarity; most armies are innately specialized to a certain aspect of the game's combat system. This means: a lot of the game is who you play. Some armies are very hard to beat with certain other armies. But starting with a handicap against some armies means you will pretty easily (tactics and luck permitting) roll over some other armies. Space Marines, being balanced, are always in the fight. They should be though. They're the heroes of 40k's overarching story.
To the nerdery! and bring your calculator!:
Every army has a virtual sliding performance scale. Each end is an extreme proclivity toward either the Shooting or Assault phase of the game.
Space Marines are "smack-dab" in the middle as you can see:
Shooting ]------||||||||||||||||||------[ Assault
A Tau army is going to be heavily slanted toward the Shooting phase:
Shooting ]-||||||||||||||||||-----------[ Assault
And a Chaos Daemons army is going to be heavily slanted toward the Assault phase:
Shooting ]-------------||||||||||||||-[ Assault
Now, the way you build your army list is represented by the variance in the scales above. A Space Marine army, kitted out for shooting, will never shoot as well as a Tau force kitted out for shooting; or, if kitted our for assault, will never assault as well as a Daemon army that is focused on assault. Either one of those specialized Space Marine armies, however, will have a better chance of taking on all comers than either of their specialized counterparts. In my opinion, this is the real strength of the Space Marines.
But ultimately, Chris is right. Look at the models. Look at the background stories of the Armies. Pick based on what you like. Despite what you may have heard from the raging nerd bitterness on the internet, NO army is too horribly under or overpowered. You CAN win with any army, but probably not with any army right away (most have a pretty steep learning curve though).
That being said, in answer to your question: Space Marines. . . Imperial Space Marines are the most balanced army. This is both good and bad, though.
A balanced army in 40k is a rarity; most armies are innately specialized to a certain aspect of the game's combat system. This means: a lot of the game is who you play. Some armies are very hard to beat with certain other armies. But starting with a handicap against some armies means you will pretty easily (tactics and luck permitting) roll over some other armies. Space Marines, being balanced, are always in the fight. They should be though. They're the heroes of 40k's overarching story.
To the nerdery! and bring your calculator!:
Every army has a virtual sliding performance scale. Each end is an extreme proclivity toward either the Shooting or Assault phase of the game.
Space Marines are "smack-dab" in the middle as you can see:
Shooting ]------||||||||||||||||||------[ Assault
A Tau army is going to be heavily slanted toward the Shooting phase:
Shooting ]-||||||||||||||||||-----------[ Assault
And a Chaos Daemons army is going to be heavily slanted toward the Assault phase:
Shooting ]-------------||||||||||||||-[ Assault
Now, the way you build your army list is represented by the variance in the scales above. A Space Marine army, kitted out for shooting, will never shoot as well as a Tau force kitted out for shooting; or, if kitted our for assault, will never assault as well as a Daemon army that is focused on assault. Either one of those specialized Space Marine armies, however, will have a better chance of taking on all comers than either of their specialized counterparts. In my opinion, this is the real strength of the Space Marines.
But ultimately, Chris is right. Look at the models. Look at the background stories of the Armies. Pick based on what you like. Despite what you may have heard from the raging nerd bitterness on the internet, NO army is too horribly under or overpowered. You CAN win with any army, but probably not with any army right away (most have a pretty steep learning curve though).
Rocktopotomus- Level 2 Poster
- Join date : 2010-04-30
Posts : 14
The Waste Character
Name: Feyodr-Har
Race: Changeling
Class: Sorcerer
When I played modeling was what I got the most enjoyment out of.
That being said I loved playing Chaos, so many possible mutations and bizarre paint /modeling schemes.
If i were to play again i would totally go ORK
all the customization and modeling fun of chaos (if not more so) and they are silly to boot, though you have to paint roughly 3x as many minis.
That being said I loved playing Chaos, so many possible mutations and bizarre paint /modeling schemes.
If i were to play again i would totally go ORK
all the customization and modeling fun of chaos (if not more so) and they are silly to boot, though you have to paint roughly 3x as many minis.