NagoyaHammer.com

So which army do you play?

Also, a friend of mine is going to purchase her first army in a couple of months, and doesn't know what army would best suit her. Yeah, Space Marines are really well-rounded and probably the default recommendation by GW to new players, but what are the main tactics used by the other armies?

For example, I believe tyrannids' army tactic is mostly, "Let's swarm the field and overpower their defenses," whereas Imperial Guards' tactics are "Shoot it with great numbers!" Or, something like that.

I'm a newbie myself. What tactics are most associated with which army, and which would you recommend for my friend?

I'm playing Imperial Guard, Tyranids, and Blood Angels.

Most armies have several different play styles though each has a main.

For example, the Imperial Guard serves as a gun line army primarily with lots of ordinance. however it can mechanize up and become very mobile or it can become airborne. It can also become assault oriented by using priests ogryns and Straken.

My advice would be to take the army that is most appealing to the player.

<edit> sorry - i forgot to say: I've been playing Eldar for 15 years, started a Tau army about 4 years ago and barely used it (I realised that I still really enjoyed the Eldar) and about 6 months ago bought, painted and completed a 3000pt Nurgle Marine army, as a change from the Eldar both visually, paintingly, and tactically. I promise to go back to the Tau soon. Honest guv...Anyway, on with my original post....</edit>

I've been playing 40k for over 15 years, and I've found that the one absolute golden rule when picking an army is:


get the one that looks cool


That's it. All the stuff about assault oriented, or shooty, or whatever pales into insignificance when you consider that you'll spend, on average, about 4-8 hours a month playing the game (if you're lucky...), but if you paint for even 1 hour a night, you're looking at 28-31 hours a month painting time. Thus, if you get an army that you think will play well but doesnt float your boat when it comes to looks, you're gonna drudge your way through the painting side of things and come to hate the poor wee plastic men. But, if you buy an army that appeals to you visually, you'll end up enjoying the painting, and won't really care whether you win or lose.

Besides, most armies can be tailored (to a greater or lesser extent) to suit your own style of play. It's hard to categorise armies as one particular play type without really getting into the nitty gritty of game mechanics, and even then, it's just something theyre better at, rather than "the only thing they can do."*

So, the bottom line is: your friend should get the army that she thinks looks cool. Spend some time looking at the GW website. take a shufty at the Forge World site (way mondo cool stuff. Pricey, but cool as...). Once she's browsed to her heart's content, she'll be able to make an informed decision.

hope that helps. Feel free to ignore my advice. most do, and it hasnt done them any harm

-d

*note: except Tau. They suck at everything. But they look cool, so...

Th eposts above are basically all correct. To summarize:

Rule #1 - Pick the army that you think looks the coolest.

Rule #2 - Pick the army that you think you can actually paint.

Rule #3 - Don`t pick the Tau.

Danguinius

...

M_i_J and Danguinius have it right. Pick what looks good and whose fluff you like and go from there.

I also agree about the Tau thing. They look nice and the fluff is kinda interesting but ....

I actually sold my Tau minis and codex without playing a game.

MTP

T B H I did not really read the Question before I told you what armies I do not like... but it makes sense now...
For a First army I would say take something that is easy to paint

Necrons are very Easy to paint but are a bit difficult to collect and they are very hard to play with out certain models... that cost a lot...

I like 30K Marine armies because they are like 6 armies in one.. they can be Blood Angles/ Dark Angels/ Space Wolves/ BlackTemplar / Chaos Marines/ or even Codex Marines... and lets not forget all the none GW rules that are out there for them... It will not be that expensive... the modeling could be as much or as little as you like...

but if you just hate the way marines look or you do not want to be another Marine player A dirt cheap army that is easy to play and fun to model are DA ORKYZ most Marine people have a box of Black Reach or would like the Marines found therein you can get someone to go halfzies with you and buy 2 boxes of it instant Marine Army of about 1000+ points 2 Chap 10 terminators 20 tactical Marines and 2 Dreads not bad at all

Orks get a great deal that would be 40 Boys!!!! 10 Nobs 6 DeffKopters and 2 WarBosses all you would need now is a few tanks for either army and you are good to go... get a few Killer KANZ and you will be one and a Truck or 2 you will be good to go... Keep it all and you can play with your Board gamer friends that have heard of it but never tried it...

I guess that is my 2 teef on the subject

Got to agree with what the others have said. If you like the models you will generally enjoy gaming with it.

What kind of gamer is your friend? Is she more fluff oriented or quite competitive? I personally put fluff and minis first and then winning second. If your friend take a different view it might be worth her taking a look at the codecies and weighing up the strengths and weaknesses of each army.

Blood Angels, Tyranids, and Space Wolves are considered quite strong lists at the moment.

is your friend interested in painting much? Would they be put off by a high model count?

If painting lots of models is no probs then you could go the way of the Imperial Guard. if you wanted a smaller, more elite army then Space Marines can have a very small model count.

Basically, they should think about what they are looking for in the game and then buy an army accordingly.

What Dan and Speve said is the best advice... I have heard so far...

it really all depends on what you are hoping to do with the game... Competitive gaming is ok but friendly gaming is where the fun is.. If you do not mind losing... Take what ever army you like the look of.

Admiral-Badruck wrote:Competitive gaming is ok but friendly gaming is where the fun is..

Says he who brings 120+ Ork Boyz to a Friendly match. Says he who brings 3 Soulgrinders to a small scale local tourney. Says he who brings multiple Land Raiders and non-Codex characters to a friendly match and then runs away.