[Gen] A guide to starting out in Warhammer 40k

[MooFreaky]

There have been numerous threads recently from people interested in joining the 40k community. So I thought it would be nice to have a thread where such people could come to get all the info they need.
If anyone has anything to add let me know and I'll edit it in.


First and foremost
How much time and money are you willing to commit to assembling and playing Warhammer 40k?
If you aren't willing to spend much time and/or you aren't willing to spend much money then Warhammer is not for you.

Warhammer is expensive. But remember you will use these models for many years to come.
Warhammer takes time. You need to take time to assemble and paint your army. It's not something that should be rushed through in order to start playing as quickly as possible.
Time and effort are required. But you will not regret it. As you paint your army you will undoubtably become attatched to it and so be eager to use it.
You will also be proud of the army you've put together and can display it with pride.
Even when your not using it many people have their army set up where it can be viewed. As they do look impressive and can be used for decoration too.

Where to begin?
The best place for a beginner is the 'Battle for Maccrage' boxset. This will give you all the tools you need to begin playing.
You will get basic armies, a rulebook, dice, measuring sticks and the 3 templates you will need.
Also some pretty good terrain.

Even if you don't plan on playing Space Marines or Tyranids (the two armies that you get) it is still a good buy.
You can play a few games and get a feel for it.
If you follow the scenarios in the book you will also be introduced to the rules at a nice pace.

The Maccrage set is also a good price. So I strongly recommend you begin here.

Where do I go from there?

Now it is time to decide what army you want to collect.
Do not rush this decision!! It's imporant that you get the right army for you and don't just buy the first thing you look at.
You don't want to spend all this money and decide that you don't actually like the models, or the style of game the army uses.

So go into your local Gamesworkshop and have a look at the various armies' Codex.
The Codex contains the rules for that army.
So the Space Marine codex will contain all the information about all the models which are in the Space Marine army.

It will also have plenty of background information and stories about that particular army. This can be important too.

You should also have a look at the various models around the store. You want to like the look of your army. So make sure you like the models that they use.

Also you can head to the Gamesworkshop site.
This is full of information about the various armies in the 40k universe.
http://uk.games-workshop.com/warhammer40000/

I've decided and now I want to collect!
You've decided what army to collect! Excellent!
Now you probably want to start buying the big boxes that have alot of models in them and cost like $350!
STOP! DO NOT DO THIS!!
Resist the urge! You will regret it!
You are just starting out so take it slow. These big boxes are best left for a time where you decide to start collecting a second army (if you do).

Just buy a Commander and a box or two of basic troops.
Nothing fancy. No vehicles. No guys with huge amounts of big guns on them. Just basical run of the mill troops.

You will need these guys, so get them first.
This has several advantages.
1. You don't get overwhelmed. Having dozens and dozens of unassembled and unpainted models will make you less enthusiastic about getting down to it. So only collect as quickly as you are painting.

2. You will get started faster. You only need a Commander and a few troops and you can start playing some small scale games. This will give you a feel for it all. And it's fun to be able to start playing. You know what you're working towards.
Getting those tanks first means you will not be able to play. You need your basic men.

3. You can practice painting on the basic guys! Get used to painting and get some experience painting you run of the mill troops. That way by the time you are around to collecting the more expensive models (tanks, expensive infantry etc) you will be able to do a better job. And you will be happier with them.

4. If for some reason you change your mind, you haven't invested too much money. You can pull out and not lose too much.
So you can change army, or even pull out of 40k all together.

Remember start small!!

Finally
Post around the forums. Talk to people here.
You can gain ALOT from listening to the 40k veterans around here.
Some may be a little gruff and even seem rude. But they will take an interest and help you out alot. But don't get upset if they correct you are point out mistakes. Remember you are new. It's expected you will make mistakes. Everyone does!
So don't get disheartened if Piccolo... uh... I mean any people... tell you your army is poor. Or you need to rethink.
Take their advice and learn from it.

And Good Luck!!


If anyone has anything to add please let me know.

[TheBladeRoden]

Yikes, Battle for Maccrage is $60! Any really really basic start up kits?

[MooFreaky]

But that is really cheap.
You get a rulebook (it's like $80 for the big rulebook. And you can easily just use the one that comes in Maccrage)
Dice (including the scatter dice)
Terrain (which can be pretty expensive if you buy it)
Templates (bout $15 ish)
And two starting armies. So if you end up playing Nids or Marines you have a solid force already.

[cfoley]

Fantastic post. This should be stickied.

Games Workshop does sell starter sets with paints and a squad of models but I don't really rate them.

I would advise you to start with the following:
A box of ~10 paints
A basic squad box (as described above). Make sure they are plastic.
A paint brush
White spray undercoat
Plastic glue (usually called polly cement)
a modelling knofe or clippers.

That will cost you enough and you need them all to get started. Once you have glued your models together take them into a GW store and ask them to show you how to use them in a demo game.

Now you can think about expanding your collection and getting the rules, etc.

[Scar Weaver]

You will also see a lot of supplement books on painting + modeling and books showcasing the bigger vehicles and such.

Such as "How to Paint Space Marines" and How to Paint Citadel Miniatures" or the "Imperial Armor" line.

These are not required and are more or less veiwed as showcases for GW and 'Eavy Metal painting teams. The do have some decent information in them and are cool to look at IF you have the money but there is nothing in those books this forum and your local GW store couldn't tell you.

[Cailet]

Other Game Systems. I thought I'd put it here as this is a beginer's help thread.

If you enjoy TT gaming but are turned off by quite how much 40k costs, fear not! Gamesworkshop along with a few other companies produce games that are rather easier on the wallet. Remember, you can always come back to 40k (or FB if you prefer that) later.

The downside to these games is that you will often have to find a dedicated group of gamers utside of a GW store. If you are fortunate enough to have an indie retailer with gaming space however, this will not (in general) present a major problem.

Any Fanatic game has a free rulebook on the web. (www.specialist-games.com) Some have supplements not yet on the web so watch it. Also, the figures tend to cost slightly more than standard (mostly because they are hard to get on the high-street).

Battlefleet Gothic. Dirt cheap space combat game from Fanatic. As with most systems here I haven't played it but I have never come across a player who didn't like playing it. 40 pounds for the boxed set containing 4 cruisers each for the Imperial and Chaos fleets, a rulebook, dice and all the markers you will ever need.

Epic Armageddon. A mass-strategy game from Fanatic. I can't say much about it but again most people are enthusiastic abut the game. No starter box.

Necromunda. Skirmish game from Fanatic. Uses 2nd edition 40k rules and uses them well, its a smooth fun game. No starter box.

Inquisitor. Large model skirmish/RP game from Fanatic. The mini's cost a bit (I say a bit...) but you only need 3-4 for a good game. Not many players and it has a pretty mixed level of appreciation from players.

Mordheim. Warhammer skirmish with extra detail from Fanatic. Few players but those who do play tend to be hardcore fans. Starter box contains a human and Skaven gang along with the rulebook for 40 pounds (IIRC).

Warmaster. Epic for Warhammer (Fanatic again). There are differences in control of troops (characters are vitally importat but are low-powered in a scrap). No starter box I know of.

Blood Bowl. Fanatic's take on American 'football'. Only available through the web. Funny and violent. Get a league going and you'll have a good time.

Warmachine. High-powered gaming from Privateer Press (www.privateerpress.com). Very easy to learn and a blast to play. Quite complex, you do need to be on the ball at all times or you will regret it badly (personal experience talking here). Starter boxes work in a different way to GW. 25 pounds for a small (c300pts) force from whatever army you choose balanced against the other starters with a copy of the basic rules inside. The Prime rulebook will cost about 15 pounds and the Escalation expansion 25. Overall it is very cheap to start.

Confrontation. Made by Rackham (www.rackham.fr, it's in french but there's a button somewhere to make it english). The mini's for this game are beauties every one. I haven't played but those who have tend to be very happy with it. The mini's do cost slightly more than GW equivalents.

Starship Troopers. Only just out but already people are praising it to the heavens. Personally I can't see it lasting but I am no kind of expert. http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/miniature/series.php?qsSeries=26 is the site.

There's more out there and I haven't even touched on the world of RPGs but that's the bigger games.

[Sierra 19]

I looked on the GW site, and the Battle for Macagge site and it contains additional missions that you can view and/or download. It seems like a nice way to do it. One mission adds assault marines, one adds an HQ unit, and one adds a Hellfire Dreadnought, so it would seem that if you play all of the missions (as the Space Marines-the force I'm leaning towards) you end up with a nice starting army by the end. Of course you have to buy the extra squads and vehicles, but it seems like a good way to start!

[Piccolo]

Battle for Macragge isn't something I recommend.

Go to your local store that sells GW stuff and has for a demonstration game, or just show up during their 40K night/weekend play time and POLITELY ask 2 people if you can sit and watch their game and ask them questions. Most players are more than willing to take the time to show you the ropes.

Buying the starter box is okay if 2 people want to start playing and don't have a shop to really play at, but if it is just you then the previous route is better.

[Sierra 19]

But for 45 bucks, you get a rule book ($50), templates ($10), dice including the scatter dice ($10), some scenery ($20-30), a tactical marine squad ($35), and a bucket'o'nids (about $100 or so). Add 20 bucks for a SM or Nid codex, and an FC ($15) and for 85 bucks you're way ahead of the curve, and ready to play a few games. Now for the infomercial part... purchased separately over a $200 dollar value-yours for a paltry $45

[gamza the chaos]

i like the chaos mega battle set it runs about $127-160$
but you get
12 chaos figures 30$
8 khorne BZKs 30$
3 chaos bikes 34$
1 rhino 25$
1 defiler45$
and mutation upgrades,champion upgrades,power fits,power weapons,heavy bolters,plasma guns all the good stuff

[Brother Wolf]

Yeah, but no rules, no codex and you end up with a ton of models to start. The idea is helping new players get in gradually.

Speaking of which, in most cases a new player will have to spend a fair chunk of change to get started. Rulebook, Codex & starting force, (HQ, 2 Troops), is going to tip the scales at about $125+. This is where the MacCragge set is a good deal. Rules & stats for the 2 sets of 'balanced' forces for the scenarios involved. So, you have everything to help get a friend addicted, er... um.. interested for $50.

Plus, even if you don't like playing Space Marines or Tyrannids, you end up with a bunch of bits you can use for Nid hunters, dead space marine trophies, etc. Finally, if you decide you don't like 40K, don't feel the cost is justified, (trust me, there are MANY days!!!), or what have you, you are really only out $50, $25 if you get your friend to go halvsies(sp?). So I would HIGHLY recommend it over the rulebook-codex-3 boxes of models approach.

I got involved because a friend introduced me to Necromunda. Small, squad based games which didn't cost me an arm & a leg. Now, many thousands of dollars later, I own more GW than you can shake a stick at, (as well as BattleTech(FanPro/Ironwind), Warlord(Reaper), Confrontation(Rackham) and Chainmail(Wizards) minis & games).

[Gazpoole]

I can't speak form experience directly about the Battle for Macragge set, but I do have experience in a similar field.

Only collect 40k if you have a friend that does, or will collect with you (not the same army) it will be a much more enjoyable experience if you don't have to always play strangers down at the store. Ok, so this is nice sometimes, but it is best to have friends to play and learn together.

I convinced 7 of my friends to collect with me within a month of starting (lol, GW owes me, bigtime!!!)

I bought the v3 starter set, with marines and dark eldar. My mate bought the dark eldar off me for £10 and so I spent £40 overall on a starter marine army, rulebook, dice, templates and everything, which is great because it solves all of your problems at once. I have seen many players start off with just buying a few boxes of troops and things. These people find it hard to learn the rules, and spend time slowly collecting all the other stuff they need.

Also, I have collected 8 armies in my time, all to about the 1000 point level, and there isn't an army so far that did well without me buying 2 boxes of troops and a commander first. It is appealing to just buy 1 box of troops and a commander so you can get that cool looking tank, DON'T, FOR CHRIST SAKE DON'T, you will regret it.

[Akranadas]

me, personally was going to buy a large force to start, but i found buy 1 tac squad a bit better on the pocket, plus after you pay for paints, codex, and rulebook (1 time buys mostly), you might not be in the mood to do anything.

My advice, either buy the painter starting thingy with 5 marines and paint to see if you like it, or if you already do, buy a squad box of men from you favoured army and a few paints , paint them, (which if your starting will most likely take about a week or 2 to get it to nice quaility) then if your up for it buy a HQ commander, paint him up nicely, then another squad, the lastly an elite, buy that time you should have about 500 points for your army, so now you can play!

[Cailet]

Depending which army. But yeah. Buy plastic bxes to start with. Cheaper and easier to work with plus they are far more use to you at the time.

[MooFreaky]

The initial post talks about this. Buying a big box set will just weigh you down, especially for a first timer. You will see all the models you have to paint, and this makes you less likely to keep going.
Plus you may not like the army you start collecting. It's best to start small.
The paintsets really aren't worth it. The pain has limited colours and the models are crap. Get the colours you want and buy a box of the base units and a commander.
Battle for Macragge is a good start too, if you dont have the rulebook, dice, rulers espc

[Cailet]

Squad boxes are probably best. Battleforces are a lot cheaper (overall) though so If you are confident you can stick to it they are good investments.

[MooFreaky]

But you just want to get settled. And get to know your force. There's nothing worse than spending lots of money then deciding you dont really like the models. Or the style of play.
If you have had experience at model building or other games like Warhammer, then by all means go for the bigger boxes.
But if you are new (especially if you are young...) get the smaller stuff first.

[Penitent]

As a TT collector of several years, I do advise that you buy a unit and paint it before buying another one. It really does give you some more motivation to paint them up. All the armies that I bought quickly of over 50+ models never got painted, now I know to take it slower.

Also there are other dedicated sites for 40k with a wealth of information, great painters and master strategists:
Portent (will soon be renamed warseer forums) (http://www.portent.net/forums/index.php)
Dysartes (strategy articles are handy) (www.dysartes.com)
Dakka (many vets hang out here, grizzled and grumpy) (http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakka/)

[WizWom]

Well, I'm 8 months into the hobby now, I guess I have an opinion on starting :-)

I chose Eldar, because I like a manuever game, where you have to be tacticlly and strategically alert. And firepower never hurts ;-)

After i chose, I bought a seer council, and a jetbike, and some guardian defenders. I converted one of the warlocks to ride the jetbike - which looks cool, was fun, and gt me playing very small games.

I then picked up off E-bay:
Some harlequins at $2 each
An old Armorcast Titan, $150
A falcon grav tank, NIB, $25
more guardians, a wraithlord, and some dire avengers, $40
A vyper, more jetbikes and more guardians, $25
Rangers, dark reapers, howling banshees came later, with even more guardians.
The GW main store in our region had a few returned items days - with stuff being sold for 25% retail; I snatched up pheonix lords, more jetbikes and another vyper.
My last purchases were writhguard (to fill out a squad), a wave serpent (to move said wraithguard to the battle fast), and a few fill-out items, like a high elves mages set, to make into less typical warlocks.

In other words, mostly bought stuff that I got cheap. This was more haphazard than i really would have done, but it saved me a ton of cash.

build slow, play as many other people as you can find, get an idea of what your list can do, buy more stuff to fill in tactical holes, or push you to the next level (1000, 1500, 1850, 2000, etc...)

Troops, in general, will win you objectives, tanks will help you control the battle. And we all know fast attack should be used to FLANK... and keep your enemy bunched up.

[ScootyPuff SR]

To: Timotheus

I'm not sure how old your post is, but allow me to offer some advice.
*EDIT*

I just found out where post dates are. Sorry, but I hope I can help someone else who just finds this all the same.

When painting your army, pick 2 colors. If one of the colors you chose is black or white, man, you just cut about 75% of your painting time. What I mean is, primer. Black primer is easy to cover with black paint, as is white with white. If you are a beginner, I suggest black as your army's base color because mistakes show up infinately more on white. Getting one of those colors as your base will help you field it faster.

Second color should be one that contrasts well. My online army is 0, 0, 0 base and 0, 255 (green) 0 highlights. I wish I would have thought about that the years ago I was playing the tabletop. My painting would have been SO much easier.

Brushes:

I would suggest getting brushes of multiple thicknesses and lengths. By length, I mean bristle length. I had 4 total.

The first brush would be the thickest and longest, then I would have a thin long one (I trimmed all but 1 bristle, but that was for the very fine details, which you shouldn't worry with yet) the third was a thick short bristle and the last one was ... can't remember /sigh.

Use the various thicknesses for the amount of work you are doing. For example: For heavy coating/coverage I would use my long thick one, and for dry brushing and bullet grazes I would use the thick short bristle one. For extreme detail, I would use the single bristle brush.

Customizing your army:

Decals, oh decals! GW makes some cool ones, but sometimes you can just go out and find your own. Whatever suits your personality. I had a buddy who ran a bunch of Harlequins so he put little tiny jacked up looking smily face stickers for his entire army's decal. He got them from a local hobby shop. Just a thought.

If you own Dawn of War then you could easily paint your online army and test out colors there. There is a limit to the detail, but it is a great way to get basic ideas for your colors. I am sure that GW has an online paint shop complete with color tiles of each of the paints it sells. Compare what you like with your DoW army with their selections. Hell man, it would benefit you greatly to just go pick up a copy of DoW if not just to test your painting. It is pretty cheap now and would save you a lot of frustration with testing pieces to see if you like the color schemes. What you spend on the game would save you from buying a couple of packs of plastic figures to test out your paint on. Just a thought tho.

IMPORTANT!!!

This is pretty noob, but some people may not even think of it... I didn't... lol

NEVER mix your paint in the bottle lids.

Back when I was into the tabletop, the paints came with really cool lids that had a small well for the paint. Well... I thought I would try to get a color lighter by adding white to it. I mixed it in the lid and finally got the shade I wanted. There was more white than the other color. Well, I did my painting and put my lids on to retire for the evening. The next day, I got off work and decided to do some more painting. I opened the lid to said paint, and the whole bottle was almost 5 shades lighter from the small amount of white paint I left in the lid. Lesson learned and a whopping 4 dollars down the drain for a new bottle of paint. (4 bucks for a bottle the size of a small stack of quarters is a bunch no matter where you are)

I hope I have been helpful in your adventures with 40k.

:)

[Chaos n00b]

I've been painting kinda random models for a bit now, so I'm not a modeling or painting noob, and am really interested in learning the rules of the game, building an army, and playing.

I've done loads of research, selected my army as definately Chaos, something I'll never ever change from, if only because they're so damn fun to paint and look so badass.

Now, I was planning on buying a WH40k rulebook and a Codex: CSM, then using those 2 to put together an army list, which I would post on this forum for maybe some tweaking, then go out and buy the stuff (just so I'm sure I'm not buying unnecessary miniatures). Here's my plan:

Buy Maccrage, codex, and a CSM squad (good starting block) right now, learn the rules and use the codex to put together an army list while I finish the CSM squad.

Once the list is done and finalized, go out and buy the CSM Megaforce (I'm positive I'm sticking with Chaos, so this will not be wasted $).

Later, pick up some other things I'll need to round out the army, like Bloodletters, Furies, and 2 Obliterators (I already have a Daemon Prince which I can use as an HQ).

This would leave me with a fairly large sized army built up over a period of about 3-4 months, but I'd have a CSM squad and a Daemon Prince to start with.

My question is, is that a good plan? Should I buy a CSM Lord or Sorcerer to use instead of my Daemon Prince until my army is larger? I really don't know the rules yet, and want something that'll work for me while I learn them. The Maccrage models I'll use for my bitz box pretty much, but the rulebook'll be better than the 50 buck one, since it'll be good enough w/out the extra $, and I'll get some pretty nice terrain and good bitz. Once I learn how to play with Maccrage, I can start using my CSM squad and whatever leader I end up using until my Megaforce, Furies, Bloodthirsters, and Obliterators are finished.

The reason I'm willing to make such a large initial army investment is because I'm positive I'm staying with the hobby and with Chaos, and I've done loads of research on each of these models to make sure I like the way they look (I've even researched color schemes for each one!)

Sorry about the long post, but if anyone has ideas for a n00b looking to get involved, thanks!

[eventhorizon]

if you are starting with chaos, which you seem positive about...

i wouldnt bother buying mccragge unless you really need the simplified rules, the painting practice, or plan on selling/making a lot of dead body terrain out of the 'nids and space marines in the box. instead go straight for the rulebook and codex, and sign yourself up at GW for sunday beginners course. impress them with your already large knowledge of the game and your army by reading both your new rulebook and codex...8 times...or at long as it takes to memorise the codex at least.

a good way to start learning your army is to read the codex and write army lists. you can post them here, we can comment, you learn a little more about your army.

dont buy the chaos megaforce unless you are sure you will definitely use the majority of the megaforce. im not sure what it come with, but the majority have got £20 worth of crap that you wont use...

edit- just looked up chaos megaforce, actually quite decent- linky (http://uk.games-workshop.com/storefront/store.uk?do=Individual&code=99120102014&orignav=10)

on the daemon price- you can use him if you like, but you might want to think about using a cheaper (both monetary and points-wise) sorcerer or leiutenant until your army hits the 1500 points mark.

[Chaos n00b]

Thanks for the advice. OK, I think I will get the real rulebook instead of Maccrage. That actually makes more sense.

I can't do the Sunday classes. Can I learn on my own, you think, as long as I get out once in a while to practice at my local GW?

Also, I already have the Daemon Prince, that's why I wanted to use him.

But I'll get a regular CSM Lord until then.

BTW, I changed my plan a bit.

I'm now thinking I'll get the CSM Squad, the Rulebook, the Codex, and some Bloodletters. I'm about to run into a bunch of vacation so I can paint up a storm and get those done while I learn the rules and put together a bunch of army lists. Then I'll post them here, get them tweaked, and go out and by the Megaforce at the end of December, when I'll have about twice as much vacation time, which should allow me to finish just about everything except the Defiler and maybe the Rhino, which I should pay more attention to anyways.

That's a $118 initial investment for the CSM Squad, Rulebook, Codex, and Bloodletters if I order from The War Store, plus a $118 investment later for the Megaforce. Is that reasonable?

[Lacrymosa]

Considering I'm planning on taking my love of IG onto the tabletop, Macraggre looks like a decent investment, even though I won't be playing 'Nids. I might add Black Templars at some point, so I can convert the SMs later.

My question is this. Just to be sure. Is Macraggre 4th ed.?

[Tinweasel]

The Battle for Macragge set is an excellent startup investment, in my opinion. While it doesn't have a great amount of backstory/narratives on the armies, much in the way of photos of minis, or any of the additional rules (Combat Patrol, Campaigns, etc.) to be found in the back of the full-sized 4th Edition hardbound, it's still a very solid set IMO.

The Macragge set 4th Ed. Rulebook has all the standardized rules needed to play, and the set comes with a lot of stuff: a whole squad of Space Marines and a special character, a whole squad of Genestealers, a whole squad of Hormagaunts, a Hive Node, 3 Infestation Markers, an assortment of Spore Mines, several pieces of very nicely molded crashed "spaceship" terrain, both Scatter and regular dice, and plastic blast/flamer templates.

The set also comes with a number of step-by-step missions to walk beginners through playing the game, with additional missions available for download on the Macragge website.

Would I recommend it for someone who's been playing the game for ages? Not especially, unless they want some extra non-poseable miniatures or a pocket rulebook. I'd definitely recommend it for someone who's getting into the game for the first time (or someone like me who hasn't played in about 14 years and is getting back into miniature painting as well...)

As an aside, the rules for Combat Patrol (a nice 400pt gaming setup good for beginning armies) are available for .PDF download from the GW website. The miniatures are also very detailed, realistically posed, and can be snapped together in most cases for quick assembly.

As another aside, and this from someone coming out of the gates with a Rogue Trader and "classic red" White Dwarf Compendium from way back when under his belt, I felt the fluff/pics in the full-size rulebook were kinda a letdown when I bought it after the fact for the sake of "completeness." I'm not saying I regret buying the hardbound 4th Ed. book in addition to the Macragge set, but I will say I was disappointed in the sparseness of the 40K "atmosphere" in the hardbound 4th Edition set compared to their older counterparts.

[Aesaar]

I have playing 40k for 4 years now and if anything, I have one piece of advice that has not been quite mentioned yet:

When you are just starting up, you are NEVER completely sure which army you want, even if you think you are. Always have a way into another army with your current miniatures that could look good in a conversion and that you could develop nice fluff for.

Example: I have a friend that started a CSM force and thought he would stick with it forever, so he bought a bunch of stuff for it. Around 6 months later he started wanting IG, so we figured out a way that his CSMs would not go to waste and he could play IG. The answer: Traitor Guard with CSM allies.

This is the kind of solution every new player should have at the ready, just in case. List down all the armies you like in terms of gameplay and miniatures and pick one as your start army. Save the list. Play a few games with it and see if you like it, if you don't, you can start another and find a way your existant models could fit with your new ones.

And, of course, always do at least some research on your chosen army's gameplay type, fluff and models before you buy anything other than the codex.

My bit of advice...

[cfoley]

Do not over purchase! You will feel bogged down! I speak this from experience....
That is very good advice. There is nothing more daunting than a huge pile of unpainted miniatures. The sheer number of them can put you off from even getting your paints and brushes out.

[MooFreaky]

Definately. I had that problem for a bit too. I overbought my Orks.
It also has the double problem of now most of what I bought is useless. I bought them, without really thinking about how effective they are in a game. And now alot of them aren't actually in my list.
So my Orks haven't ever really been finished, the sheer amount of work I need to fix them up makes me just go ugh.

[Valgadrigar]

Tell me about it. I got a ~1500 point DE army I inherited from someone who was more into the painting side. Problem is 3/4 of it never got past a base coat, some of it got as far as a wash, others are display quality. Theres about 5 different paint schemes and I'm not fond of any of them. I've been telling myself these guys are taking a bath for a good 6-8 months now, but every time I think about the ammount of work I have to put in I just get turned off and mess around with some of my other minis. Or worse yet, I get turned off from painting alltogether. I got as far as priming a few that weren't painted at all, but can't force myself to try out a few paint schemes to at least come up with one I like. Nevermind getting a TT qualtity WYSIWYG combat patrol, which was my initial goal by 2006. I don't know people playing against me as they are is a good thing, it's at least partially responsible for the procrastination. Maybe I should have stripped them and entered the painting competition, that could have been the motivation I needed and a more reasonable time schedule.

[Taliesin]

Actually some more painting guides would be appreciated. As a total newbie, I have no clue what to do...well, a little. First primer, then paint, then seal it wih finish. Sounds simple...

Anyway looked over the painting guides here and the tutorial section and am not too happy with them...come on guys, someone make a detailed guide for beginner painting, possibly with pics :-D


pretty please...Ive been looking for painting guides the past 20 minutes or so and Im not too happy either :(
I want to use them for decoration only though, Im a passionate chaos player in DoW and WA and I thought Id be cool to have some CSM, Chaos Lord and the likes around :)
I dont quite know how to start though.. should I assemble the models first or does it make more sense to paint each part and assemble them afterwards?
Also, if I make a mistake or want to redo the paintjob, do I paint over it or do I get rid of the paint with turpentine?
I got brushes in all sizes already, from really tiny to pretty big so Im set there already ;)

I spent hours playing with the paintjob function in DoW and WA already when I didnt even dream of getting my own models, it's gonna be fun :D

Thanks a lot guys :)

[Shas'ui]

I dont quite know how to start though.. should I assemble the models first or does it make more sense to paint each part and assemble them afterwards?
You can do it either way, if you do paint them before you assemble them, be sure to scrape off any paint in the areas where glue would go.

Also, if I make a mistake or want to redo the paintjob, do I paint over it or do I get rid of the paint with turpentine?
No, never use turpentine unless you want your plastic models to tourn into pile of mush. If you are going to strip a mini, use Simple Green or some equiveient of it.

[Scorpion]

Well, this may seem bold, specially coming from a newbie, but doesn't buying the Battleforce make more sense (atleast financially) than buying the models separately?

I mean, the Tau Battleforce is composed of:
12 Fire Warriors (1 Fire Warrior boxed set) - 30€
12 Kroot (3 x Kroot sprue 8€) - 24€
1 XV8 Crisis Battlesuit - 15€
1 Devilfish APC - 30€
3 XV25 Stealthsuits - Price Unknown

And all this for 85€. Even without the price of the XV25s, the minis, if bought separately, would have cost 99€. That's a 14€ saving! And more if you count the XV25s' price!

That sounds like a good deal to me...

[Brother Wolf]

The Battleforce boxes offer a significant price savings over buying the models individually, (some offer as much as $50USD under MSRP). Still, you need to know that's what you want. Most Battleforce boxes make an excellent start and offer enough to build a patrol or, in the Tau's case, enough to build an actually low level force, with enough to fill all mandatory force org slots.

[MooFreaky]

The other problem is you may by the battleforce, then decide on a list that doesn't use some/many of the minis. Then you have wasted money.
I mean I bought the Marines box set, and I don't use the Assault Marines or the Bikes. So I lost money.

[ZellFish]

There's the Battle Boxes, and the Army boxes. Army boxes tend to contain a tank, two squads, and your heavy support and fast attack options, along with an HQ. Battle boxes contain two troops, an HQ, and a heavy support. I just bought the Tau Empire Army box, in all of its glory. A piece of advice I have, for anyone. You may want to cut up and assemble all those awesome new models, but don't. Do a few at a time if you grabbed a big-ass box. I just got my Stealth Team done, and am now working on a battle suit. I still have 12 FW's, 12 Kroot, and 6 Vespids, not to mention the Sniper Team and Hammerhead. But if you don't assemble them, it really seems alot less to have to go through to get them all done, because then you don't have un-primed, angry Tau glaring at you everytime you look at your work bench.

[Lothar777]

Hi I'm new and I did buy the Space Marine Battle Force. I don't think it was a bad move since I enjoyed painting the command squad and will have fun tommorrow building the Razorback but I have a question about Captains. I'm building a second Company Ultramarine army and it says the captain's name is Sicarius. Can I create my own captain and give him like some semi-captain rank or what?

p.s. I also played Battle for Maccrage

[cfoley]

Yes, you can do whatever you want to do with your captain. It is 10,000 years since the Horus Heresy and there have been quite a few captains in that time.

[Lothar777]

I just learned the second company has an important role in the Medusa campaign. I'm writing backstories for my army since its a habbit I have with hobbies and I think I found a way of working Captain Leonidas into the mix;

While Captain Sicarius mans the Planetary Defense Forces on Medusa 5 he has given my Captain temporary power of half of the company and has appointed him sucessor if the campaign goes poorly and he meets his end.

I think this set me right up for my very first campaign lore-wise rather nicely.

[Havock]

No problems there I guess, keep in mind that the statlines only call it a captain because they have to call it something

You could use the master statline for him and simply call him a "lieutenant", íf you make your commanders a bit more detailed than average joe marine (as far as any marine can be rated "average"...), it's pretty obvious that he's the boss.

Started out with the hobby about 1,5 years ago, I remember some words I made back then "at 1500 pts of marines, I'll quit" (as in: stop buying).
I'm afraid I have to swallow those words:
I currently have:
somewhere between 1500 and 2000 pts worth of Black Dragon space marines, and roughly 1250 pts of guard.

I guess it's the glue *sniffs*

The BFM box is worth buying if just for the necessary stuff.
little rulebook that doesn't "dual role" as a bunker-buster, scatterdice, nice terrain, templates.
I would have been better if it weren't Ultramarines though :p

[Dooks Dizzo]

You could really go as far as you want with it. You could have a Sergeant commanding the force because everyone else got killed if you wanted to. Just pay the appropriate points an use the Captain stat line.

[Havock]

Or the Master's...

[Master222]

Ok now i think I'm into w40k enouch to try out some TT. I read the thread and everything makes sense, but i have some questions:

1) Curenty I'm not aiming to actually play the TT, only to paint and expose the models for fun (just as SHUMA22), so I'm not sure if the BFM is stil a good idea after all i don't need the rulebook, dices, etc. I was thinking of buying some cheap set of daemonhunters, paint and accesories, and a daemonhunter codex. Or a secondary option - the same but space marines.

2) Maybe this will sound stupid, but how big are the models? There are non GW stores in my town (and non i the hole country i think) and the models shop has only the fantasy warhammer models. So how tall, and how wide they are in cm? A picture with the provided measurements would be very helpfull.

[hoboman]

I have recently started a Tau aarmy and I have the codex and a box of fire warriors. I was thinking of buying the battle force and only talking a certain amount of models over a period of time. This , if what people say about large amounts of models can keep you unmotivated,would help. Is this a good plan.

[Havock]

big advantage of the BB is that it saves you some money.
*looks at BB's contents*
Yes, get it.

Also, mailorder the hammerhead sprue, and upgrade the devilfish to it.

Seems like a somewhat decentish 750 pts force you can deploy then.
somewhat because you might have to add a few steath suits or battlesuits, but it will come close.

[Win_Imperial]

Question: The models in the Maccrage set are un-painted, correct?

[MooFreaky]

correct.
The same as all the models you will purchase. They will be unpainted and unassembled

[BRGillespie]

I'm STRONGLY considering consolidating my status as an ultimate nerd and getting involved with the tabletop version of 40k.

I'm in Iraq, so... not like I can walk down to the local hobby shop in the mall to check stuff out. Question:

IG armies are about massed strength, correct? Is this reflected in real-life by having to spend more to amass an appropriately-sized force to hit the point plateaus (500,1000,1500,etc)?

In those terms, what's the "cheapest" army to consider investing in?

[Ethan.Satisfies]

But for 45 bucks, you get a rule book ($50), templates ($10), dice including the scatter dice ($10), some scenery ($20-30), a tactical marine squad ($35), and a bucket'o'nids (about $100 or so). Add 20 bucks for a SM or Nid codex, and an FC ($15) and for 85 bucks you're way ahead of the curve, and ready to play a few games. Now for the infomercial part... purchased separately over a $200 dollar value-yours for a paltry $45 Well I wouldnt pay 50$ for that small book. Dont get it confused with the regular book, its abridged so its pocket sized.

I find the armies all cost the same because you get 5 marines for nearly the same price as 12 gaurdians or 16???? orks. so just get what you like best.

[MooFreaky]

Well I wouldnt pay 50$ for that small book. Dont get it confused with the regular book, its abridged so its pocket sized.
Why?
It has all the same rules. It has the same fluff. All it's missing it the campaign stuff at the end.
All the page references are the same between the BBB and the SBB, so I don't see what's wrong with it.

It's actually more portable. Making it better for when you go to a club, mate's place or Tournie.

[LordAba]

I should be getting the Maccrage set today, so that's all good!
But some questions:
Before glueing, how do you hold your pieces together? I just want to avoid any problems when I realize I gave a figure two left arms. :)
And noone mentioned it, but is using a unit in the army by making a cardboard cutout of the base a good idea? I would hate to buy a heavy unit like a zanthropod and then realize a biovore is more suited to my style...
Finally, but most importantly, how easy is it to customize the rules and keep a balance? It would be interesting to play a huge game normally, and then a small chess battle where I move a piece, you move a piece, etc. Plus blind games were you only field units in your armies LOS would be interesting...

[Havock]

I'm STRONGLY considering consolidating my status as an ultimate nerd and getting involved with the tabletop version of 40k.

I'm in Iraq, so... not like I can walk down to the local hobby shop in the mall to check stuff out. Question:

IG armies are about massed strength, correct? Is this reflected in real-life by having to spend more to amass an appropriately-sized force to hit the point plateaus (500,1000,1500,etc)?

In those terms, what's the "cheapest" army to consider investing in?
(chaos) space marines are relatively cheap, the latter because you can spend a gazillion points in infiltrate and other veteran skills.

Imperial guard can be pretty cheap if you go the "canned meat" way :p

[Snake1311]

Im a new player, im slowly getting more and more into the game
The cheapest way to start off with w40k would be to buy yourself a box of the basic troops, especailly if you look in ebay shops.
borrow the rulebooks/codexes off someone who plays - you will likely almost always need those for reference, but until you've decided for sure you want to play W40k buying your own copy can really stretch your finances (especailly if you decided its not your thing). Once you play 1-2 games and you decide you like the game + the race you've chosen , THEN you can get your rulebook and codex.
Try to buy thing simultaniously with a friend or two, then you can share modeliing/painting supplies and tools

The main advantage of this over battle for macragge...actually maybe the ONLY advantage....is that you get to choose between all 11 armies. If you know you're going with SM or nids though, BfM is still your buy