Warhammer 40k. Help a beginner.

[Trivun]

Don't play Necrons, they are awfuly boring to paint and assemble.

Actually, Necrons can be very good in battle, but only for experienced players. Generally they're really tough, although once a friend of mine won a game by destroying his opponent's Monolith in the first turn, with a single Lasrifle shot. He was lucky, but it still goes to show...

Personally I use Tau. Space Marines are good for a beginner, since they're pretty much tough as anything, but when I got bored with them I moved onto Tau and found them much better, easier to use, and they suited my style more (I'm a shooty type of guy, rather than close up, and good with stealth which means my Kroot are a useful diversion if need be). What sort of style do you prefer, OP? If you like to wade in then Orks or Tyranids will suit you, if you prefer a shooty sort then go for Imperial Guard or Tau. Eldar are excellent for a stealthy type of playing style, and Necrons are good because they can often be ressurected in following turns which means you'll have a much better chance at overwhelming an opposing army. It's all down to your choice of playing style, at the end of the day.

 

[Aunel]

get space marines, or chaos space marines, easy to play, easy to paint and assemble, just don't paint them blue.

if you get Space Marines, paint them Salamanders, they are awesome.

 

[Littaly]

Here's a few general things to think of if you have no prior experience:

1. Spray paint your models black before you start painting. It not only makes it look better, it makes it much much easier. Some models should be sprayed in white but you're probably better off with black for starters

2. To spray paint, use the Games Workshop brand of paint. Really, you may use any other brand of anything when it comes to painting (including paints and brushes) but you really want to invest in their spray paint. With any other brand you run the risk of damaging the plastic or get a flaking undercoat.

3. Decide on what color scheme you want and then buy your paints. It's an expensive hobby and the paints are probably what's going to cost you the most, especially if you're not really sure on what to buy.

4. Take care of the paints. Really, use a palette and make sure they don't dry up. They look small, but they can last for a really long time.

5. Choose an army that you're comfortable with, you can be playing a really powerful and easy army, but if you don't like the way it looks or feels you'll get bored quickly.

6. Look up some section on army building before you start buying. Your army needs to be built in a very specific manner. If you're uninformed you risk buying tons of models that you won't be able to play with.

7. Games Workshop employees are by standard really nice people (they have to be to sell plastic models at ridiculous prices xD). Ask them for help and they'll make sure you won't leave until all your questions are answered. Most stores host some kind of events for beginners as well. Just be careful, don't let them sell you anything you don't feel you have the need for.

8. Read Warhammer specific forums (maybe even one that is focused on your army). It will probably teach you more than you can ever read in a book. And ask questions, it's a complicated game and most people are more than willing to help.

9. Don't ever say that the Tyranids are Zerg ripoffs, that is a good way to make enemies.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

Start with Space Marines. They're an all-round good race.

No no no noooo..... Every damn noob in the game has Space Marines. Seriously. Play a real army, not that awful bunch of pansies. I've yet to lose to Space Marines, they're pathetically easy to beat and the single most boring army Games Workshop produces.

Imperial Guard (utterly useless)

You, sir, have clearly never played against a half-competent Guard player. Or I'd suppose any Guard player, because I can assure you - the Guard are anything but. Difficult at times, but brutally efficent and a fantastically flexible army. Yes, they fare poorly in assault, but after you finish throwing 100-plus lasguns shots at an enemy, plus heavy and special weapons, you will find that there is precious little left to assault a Guard army.


You want a decent army, I will reccomend:

The new Space Wolf Codex. It actually makes for interesting Space Marines. Well, semi-interesting.

Imperial Guard. Difficult to master, but far more rewarding and dangerous than most other armies.

Eldar: Like the Guard, but without the 'employ brute force option', or the 'innumerable tide' option. On the plus side, they can rock in the assault phase.

Orks. Funny, characterful and extremely competetive. Extremely varied way to play, but always fun.

Sisters of Battle: Expensive, even by GW standards, but extremely dangerous short-range shooting units.

Tyranids: Effective, and fun to play, with a lot of customisability and very, very good models. Good if you like endless swarms of nightmarish gribblies, or enormous, tank-killing monsters.

 

[Iron Mal]

For a beginner I would reccomend either Space Marines or their Chaos counterparts (if you want some variety or to have that 'evil bastard' feel to your troops) because they're the most versitile and simple to use armies avalible.

Some would say that that makes them the noob army but I personally think Space Marines adhere to the old phrase of 'easy to learn, hard to master', true, anyone can use Space Marines but it takes a lot of cunning and tactical thinking to employ them with great effectiveness (exactly the same for every army).

 

[Rolling Thunder]

For a beginner I would reccomend either Space Marines or their Chaos counterparts (if you want some variety or to have that 'evil bastard' feel to your troops) because they're the most versitile and simple to use armies avalible.

Some would say that that makes them the noob army but I personally think Space Marines adhere to the old phrase of 'easy to learn, hard to master', true, anyone can use Space Marines but it takes a lot of cunning and tactical thinking to employ them with great effectiveness (exactly the same for every army).

Not to be rude, but you forgot the third axiom: "Easy to defeat". Due to the prevalence of Space Marine armies, everyone, and I mean everyone, who plays 40K builds their army lists to kill Space Marines. Playing Space Marines will get you through the Young Bloods, but once you get gaming properly you are going to get butchered by other armies.

Oh, and from a fluff perspective, marines are extremely boring. There are exceptions, but they are just that - exceptions to the rule.

 

[rastlin1985]

If you can, find a gaming club. They are often fairly badly advertised, and there's sometimes not many people at them, but getting into a group of people who've been playing for some time would definetley be a good move.

 

[Iron Mal]

For a beginner I would reccomend either Space Marines or their Chaos counterparts (if you want some variety or to have that 'evil bastard' feel to your troops) because they're the most versitile and simple to use armies avalible.

Some would say that that makes them the noob army but I personally think Space Marines adhere to the old phrase of 'easy to learn, hard to master', true, anyone can use Space Marines but it takes a lot of cunning and tactical thinking to employ them with great effectiveness (exactly the same for every army).

Not to be rude, but you forgot the third axiom: "Easy to defeat". Due to the prevalence of Space Marine armies, everyone, and I mean everyone, who plays 40K builds their army lists to kill Space Marines. Playing Space Marines will get you through the Young Bloods, but once you get gaming properly you are going to get butchered by other armies.

Oh, and from a fluff perspective, marines are extremely boring. There are exceptions, but they are just that - exceptions to the rule.

This is where the 'employ them properly' part comes in, a good space marine player will be able to counter anti-Space Marine tactics (hence the 'good player' part). I've had games against a few veterans with anti-marine forces with my good ol' Raptors (a chapter I found in the back of the old codex) and still come out on top because of the simple fact that I was clever with how I used my troops.

There isn't an 'easy to defeat' army, just easy to defeat people (and hey, if you find Space Marines boring then that's your call, I can understand why you think that, I just happen to like them).

 

[Captain Pancake]

Be prepared to spend a lot of money, especially if you go for an attrition based force like imperial guard or tyranids. Space marines are the easiest to use, but are also the least flexible, and are pretty bland.

Don't play Necrons, they are awfuly boring to paint and assemble.

Actually, Necrons can be very good in battle, but only for experienced players. Generally they're really tough, although once a friend of mine won a game by destroying his opponent's Monolith in the first turn, with a single Lasrifle shot.

...

Tell me how that could possibly happen? you must mean lascannon or something, I mean that's like blowing up a challenger tank with a glock...

 

[Spitfire175]

FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE DON'T START WITH SPACE MARINES! They'll bore you to death.

As someone who has been collecting and playing Warhammer 40.000 for more than a decade I would advice you not to start buying stuff before you have some idea of what you want to collect. Try to partake in a few "learning" games at a local GW store if you can and get to know as much as you can about all the factions and races before buying a whole lot of junk you may not want or need.

If you can not, here is a very short description of the major factions:

Space Marines: Skilled fighters in thick armor and armed with (very) big guns they are good at both range and in melee. Are few in numbers. Come in many flavors; Vanilla (Ultramarines), Very Heavy Infantry and bikes (Dark Angles) , Melee death (Black Templars and Blood Angles)and Vikings in space (Space Wolves, they are awesome!)

Chaos Space Marines: The evil twin brother of the goody space marines. Also come in many flavors although divercity was toned down a bit last edition.

Sisters of Battle: AKA nuns with guns. The all female army is well armed and armored. Not as skilled as the space marines they do have the numbers to make up for it. Burny death!

Imperial Guard: A mix of Stormtroopers and Red Shirts, they cant hit anything and die in doves. They take horrendous casultys but have the biggest number of infantry and heavy weapons and tanks and artillery and everything!!! Not easy to use but very rewarding and very fun to collect and play with.

Orkz: Mr. Tolkien invented Orcs about 80 years ago. He has alot to answer for that man! Orkz are the mirror image of the Imperial Guard, lots of infantry, vehicles, warmacines, big guns and so on. While the Guard favors shooting, heavy tanks and order, the Orkz are all about melee, fast vehicles and chaos. Also not easy to use but very, very fun to collect and play with.

Tyranids. Six limbed aliens that remind you of the monsters from Aliens and Starship Troopers. Very good at melee, not so good at shooting. Have no vehicles whatsoever but have the biggest mosters in a game full of big scary monsters.

Necrons: Tough as nails undead robotic skeletons that fire green deathrays! Have undestroyable huge flying metalic pyramids that fire green explosive deathrays! Have god-like alien overlords tha eat souls or whole suns! Crazy sci-fi at its best. Are however very limited in their army selection so most Necron armys look the same.

Eldar: Elfs in space. If you like elfs this is the army for you. Otherwise avoid like the plage. Eldar are weak and frail, but have the best armed and most skilled specialist in the game. Their units are usually only good at one thing, but are very, very good at it!

TAU: The only "good guys" in the game. blue/gray skinned humanoid aliens that have good weapons and allied alien races (Kroot, Vespvids and even humans). They have a very Mecha-Anime-ish style and although their basic infantry is well armed and armored they rely on their Battlesuits and flying tanks to win battles.

That concludes it. Still, don't start with marines, there's way too many marine players. Be brave and go for nids or necrons.

 

[L4Y Duke]

If the tabletop version is anything like Dawn of War (which it probably isn't, given how many Closer to Codex mods there are), I'd go with Space Marines, purely for the Heavy Bolters.

 

[Sebenko]

Vikings in space (Space Wolves, they are awesome!)

You mean viking werewolves in space. And power armour.

 

[Joshimodo]

No no no noooo..... Every damn noob in the game has Space Marines. Seriously. Play a real army, not that awful bunch of pansies. I've yet to lose to Space Marines, they're pathetically easy to beat and the single most boring army Games Workshop produces.

You may want to read the OP's post-He's new. Jumping in the deep end with Tyranids or the Eldar would be ridiculous. Space Marines are easy to play, look decent and are moderately flexible. Good for beginners.

You, sir, have clearly never played against a half-competent Guard player. Or I'd suppose any Guard player, because I can assure you - the Guard are anything but. Difficult at times, but brutally efficent and a fantastically flexible army. Yes, they fare poorly in assault, but after you finish throwing 100-plus lasguns shots at an enemy, plus heavy and special weapons, you will find that there is precious little left to assault a Guard army.

Actually, I have. Not with the current rules (since I stopped playing about 4 years ago), but unless every other race has suddenly lost their armour/guns/claws/psyker brains, the IG are still lacklustre. In fact, when I played in a Warhammer World tourney, 3 of my 6 opponents were IG. Guess how many IG armies went down against my 'Nids?

Sure, 100+ lasguns can take out a chunk of Space Marines or Tau due to the chances, but when fighting anything with heavy armour or equal numbers, the IG are outmatched.

Their tanks/heavy stuff is a definitive bonus, but again, they aren't viable. Points (since the OP is a beginner) will be 1000 or under, and the board matters (line of sight/lots of difficult terrain=/=useful tanks). The IG infantry can't outgun Tau, can't outdo Nid's or Orks in melee, and can't outlast SM (though that one is debatable).

 

[Sethzard]

Necrons are easy to play,but unless you want to spend huge amouts of money on a game that you will hardly ever get to play because most of the shops are closing down, don't play full stop.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

For a beginner I would reccomend either Space Marines or their Chaos counterparts (if you want some variety or to have that 'evil bastard' feel to your troops) because they're the most versitile and simple to use armies avalible.

Some would say that that makes them the noob army but I personally think Space Marines adhere to the old phrase of 'easy to learn, hard to master', true, anyone can use Space Marines but it takes a lot of cunning and tactical thinking to employ them with great effectiveness (exactly the same for every army).

Not to be rude, but you forgot the third axiom: "Easy to defeat". Due to the prevalence of Space Marine armies, everyone, and I mean everyone, who plays 40K builds their army lists to kill Space Marines. Playing Space Marines will get you through the Young Bloods, but once you get gaming properly you are going to get butchered by other armies.

Oh, and from a fluff perspective, marines are extremely boring. There are exceptions, but they are just that - exceptions to the rule.

This is where the 'employ them properly' part comes in, a good space marine player will be able to counter anti-Space Marine tactics (hence the 'good player' part). I've had games against a few veterans with anti-marine forces with my good ol' Raptors (a chapter I found in the back of the old codex) and still come out on top because of the simple fact that I was clever with how I used my troops.

There isn't an 'easy to defeat' army, just easy to defeat people (and hey, if you find Space Marines boring then that's your call, I can understand why you think that, I just happen to like them).

Hey, I can understand that (the fluff), I just prefer my Guardsmen. My store has a lot of Marine players, I just tend to beat them. Even at their cheasiest.

No no no noooo..... Every damn noob in the game has Space Marines. Seriously. Play a real army, not that awful bunch of pansies. I've yet to lose to Space Marines, they're pathetically easy to beat and the single most boring army Games Workshop produces.

You may want to read the OP's post-He's new. Jumping in the deep end with Tyranids or the Eldar would be ridiculous. Space Marines are easy to play, look decent and are moderately flexible. Good for beginners.

You, sir, have clearly never played against a half-competent Guard player. Or I'd suppose any Guard player, because I can assure you - the Guard are anything but. Difficult at times, but brutally efficent and a fantastically flexible army. Yes, they fare poorly in assault, but after you finish throwing 100-plus lasguns shots at an enemy, plus heavy and special weapons, you will find that there is precious little left to assault a Guard army.

Actually, I have. Not with the current rules (since I stopped playing about 4 years ago), but unless every other race has suddenly lost their armour/guns/claws/psyker brains, the IG are still lacklustre. In fact, when I played in a Warhammer World tourney, 3 of my 6 opponents were IG. Guess how many IG armies went down against my 'Nids?

Sure, 100+ lasguns can take out a chunk of Space Marines or Tau due to the chances, but when fighting anything with heavy armour or equal numbers, the IG are outmatched.

Their tanks/heavy stuff is a definitive bonus, but again, they aren't viable. Points (since the OP is a beginner) will be 1000 or under, and the board matters (line of sight/lots of difficult terrain=/=useful tanks). The IG infantry can't outgun Tau, can't outdo Nid's or Orks in melee, and can't outlast SM (though that one is debatable).

One: I don't care if he's new. Like I say, he's going to have to learn how to play anyway, and, really, playing Space Marines isn't any easier than playing a real army once you stop playing the same circle of beginners in Young Bloods/Schools League.

Two: No, we got hard. Sorry, harder. Our tanks are tougher, our infantry cheaper, the basic lasgun can put out an insane amount of shots (3 at rapidfire with one of the orders), veterans are troops choices, we got a fast skimmer, supre-effective psykers, a tank that puts down 5 plasma cannon templates a turn, loads more other vehicles, artillery and tanks, we can combine squads, Commissars and Priests are now viable selections, hellguns are AP3...yeah. Go up against a competent Guard player and you're looking at a whole world of pain. As I said, my army list decimates powergaming and tourney builds quite regularly, so I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about.

(Oh, and 4 heavy Bolters in a Guard squad in cover, versus fire warriors in cover, with the correct orders will kill the fire warriors. Mainly because they get no armour saves, and have to re-roll successful cover saves).

 

[animebunny]

For a beginner I recommend space marines because they are the easiest to use and beginner friendly. Also you don't NEED a scene it just helps to add extra elements and authenticity.

 

[radred]

Buy a few books and play a few games at a local store (or with friends if they play) before you commit.

No store nearby for me to try things out at. I am hoping I can convince one of my friends to start with me, though without a store nearby that would sell I will most likely need to commit and order online, at least enough to get a game or two going.

Ask around and you will definately find someone in your area that plays
most plyers are happy to help others and vs/give you tips on how to start

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Buy a few books and play a few games at a local store (or with friends if they play) before you commit.

No store nearby for me to try things out at. I am hoping I can convince one of my friends to start with me, though without a store nearby that would sell I will most likely need to commit and order online, at least enough to get a game or two going.

Ask around and you will definately find someone in your area that plays
most plyers are happy to help others and vs/give you tips on how to start

You play as the Necrons don't you? ;P

 

[ThreeWords]

Unless you have a Games Workshop store near you, i would suggest getting into something like D&D. Warhammer is too expensive if you don't have the guarantee of a game

I was tempted with D&D earlier, until it claimed two of my friends. Don't want to end up as antisocial as they did. (not saying everyone that plays D&D is antisocial)

I would hope not. Its an excellent passtime. A couple of sessions a month would satisfy your tabletop gaming needs.

I was interested in starting D&D, but I knew not how to reach this realm of gaming. Have you any advice in how to find people to play with? Or for that matter, what I need and where I should go to get it?

 

[Everin]

go into your local store and do the beginners course. They give you a free model to paint and they play a game with you to get you to learn the basic rules. And then buy Space Marines and win every battle!