Poll: Getting into Warhammer 40k, need advice

[MrMoustaffa]

So yeah, I'm thinking about getting into the Warhammer 40k tabletop game. I've been reading a lot of the fluff on the universe for a while, and after I found out there's a pretty big group of players near where I live, I decided to give it a try. I havent bought any units yet, so I've still got time to work on ideas for my army. I'll also be going to a mini tournament they're having this Saturday to meet the group and see what its like. I know theres a lot of 40k players here on the Escapist, and I was hoping you guys could help a noobie like me out with some advice.

I'm 95% sure I'm going Imperial Guard, mainly just because they look like they'd be a lot of fun to play around with and try out different strategies. Not to mention I really like their kind of underdog vibe and theyre hilariously awesome armored units. I'd like to make a pretty armor heavy army, using Sentinels (the scout walkers) as flanking and raider units, while moving up a big column of tanks and IFVs up the center of the map to crush any resistance. I dont know if the imperial guard really fit that strategy, but I guess I'll find out. The guy at the store told me to pick the army that I thought looked the coolest, and not to worry about what strategy I wanted to use (no joke) as he put it "You'll be spending 90% of your time assembling, painting, and finding these guys. If you dont like every little part of em, you'll hate yourself and end up wasting a lot of cash and want to make another army." When I said Imperial guard he told me they can be tricky to learn, but are a lot of fun and can be a really strong army once you learn how they work.

My 2nd choice would be Orks, but I dont know if I'd be able to paint all the crazy little bits on those guys.I have literally 0 experience with models and painting, and they do not look beginner friendly in that department. Not to mention I'd mainly be getting them just so I could yell "WAAAAAAAAAAGHHH" and do a bunch of stupid/funny tactics. While I may make a small force for playing around with later, I cant see myself fielding a large army of them anytime soon.

The guy at the store was really cool about me not knowing much and gave me a ton of advice while I was there. What i want to know is did he provide me with legit advice? He didnt really play Imperial much, so he couldnt help me much with what I wanted to do strat wise (he plays tyranids, Spacemarines, and is working on building a Chaos Tau army as a joke) but he said they have 2 really good imperial guard players that would be able to help me a lot.

You guys think I'm making good choices to start out with? You can try and convince me to try a different army, but unless you have an awesome selling point, i'm probably sticking with the Guard. (btw the army pole is mainly just the first two choices. I'd love to make a traitor guard army, but I'll wait until I know more about the game before I try it.

 

[Clobbertron]

It seems as if you are more into the Guard than the Orks so I would recommend going with them. Also buy the codex before you get any models so you can plan out your army lists to avoid wasting money on models for useless units.

 

[MrMoustaffa]

A good approach for painting guard initially will be to learn how to apply base coats, wash with a GW wash, and possibly dry brush. These techniques are fairly easy to learn and can produce reasonably good starter armies. Don't be intimidated by details, get in and get practice. GW paints are high quality, but cost more than usual for less paint. Other companies produce paint that is just as good, but cheaper. I recently switched to Vallejo paints, and I am quite happy (though I think GW's new washes are better). If you can't find Vallejo locally then it may be worth it just to buy GW paints and learn how to use them. Otherwise, do not buy any GW modelling products (glue, putty, brushes, etc). All of them are massively overpriced. Identical products can be bought elsewhere for far lower prices.

The most important thing to remember though is to have fun. People spend thousands of dollars on their collections of man-dollies (and if you want to get into Guard, you might seriously do the same) and can start taking them a little too seriously. Don't let yourself get wrapped up in that. This isn't an investment. It's a hobby. Do it because you enjoy it, and if you ever stop enjoying it, don't feel like you have to keep getting deeper in to get that enjoyment back.

Thanks for all the great tips. And yeah, I'm mainly getting into warhammer just because its the one guys around here play. I live out in the middle of Kentucky, so even though there are tons more games out there, they'd be a waste of time since nobody really plays them out here. I've been warned about the tons and tons of guys I'll have to paint, but thats kind of why I'm getting into this to begin with. There is almost nothing to do out here, so I have tons of free time to spend painting and customizing them. Guardsmen have a lot more possibilites to customize their looks than other armies, and its the main reason I picked them. Making a ton of different looking guys will be a lot more interesting than doing something like a Tau army and just spray painting them all white. I hope to have tons of individual guys that will all look different (I believe its called kitbashing or something) and have a unique army.

That being said I'm already figuring I'm going get beaten a lot, especially in the beginning. But at least I'll have a fun army to mess around with

 

[Aurgelmir]

WAAAAAAAAAAGH!

Go with the Imperial Guard, sounds like that's what you want.

downside to that is that you cant buy Assault on Black Reach and get a lot of kit for next to no money.


As for painting, go to you tube and search for "How to paint Imperial Guard" You'll get some hits I think, and pick up some pointers.

Painting isn't hard, but can be intimidating and frustrating when you have never held a brush before. My suggestion to you is:
Never paint from the pot, always take it to a pallet and ad a small drop of water to the paints. This will make the paint a lot easier to handle

Also the hint of getting the codex first is REALLY good, but if you have no experience with the game you have no point of referrance to know what is good.

FOR THE EMPEROR!

Anyways Happy wargaming!


PS: Katatori-kun you really don't like GW do you? And you make it sound like no units are worth anything after a codex/rule book change, which is not true. Besides if you like the hobby you will have more than just your bare minimum army anyways.