Warhammer 40K.... Any advice?
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I'd advise you to choose a cheaper hobby. 
Seriously, man, I could've bought a new PC with the money I'd spent when I finally got hacked off with Games Workshop...
£40 for a six-inch tall plastic dragon is not good value.
I quite like the expanded universe media (comics, video games, etc), but the wargames themselves are just... preposterously expensive unless you're talking about Mordheim, Necromunda, or one of the other ones that only require about 20 models max.
Seriously, man, I could've bought a new PC with the money I'd spent when I finally got hacked off with Games Workshop...
£40 for a six-inch tall plastic dragon is not good value.
I quite like the expanded universe media (comics, video games, etc), but the wargames themselves are just... preposterously expensive unless you're talking about Mordheim, Necromunda, or one of the other ones that only require about 20 models max.
Like any hobby, Warhammer costs money. Arguably far too much money, espicially when you take into account all the recent price hikes Games Workshop have slapped across the board.
That being said, if you want to play Warhammer then go for it - and for two people looking to get into the game I can think of no better introduction than getting the Assault on Black Reach boxed set. It contains Space Marine and Ork models (actually pretty decent ones at that) and represents very good value for money. There's no shortage of the boxed game (or just the models, if you want to buy extra) on Ebay.
Happily, both Space Marines and Orks are among the cheaper armies to play - Marines because you'll be fielding so few models, and Orks because you can scratch-build and convert so many of your vehicles.
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Alternatively, play Blood Bowl instead. It's AWESOME, the rulebook is available as a free download, and you only have to buy a dozen or so models.
That being said, if you want to play Warhammer then go for it - and for two people looking to get into the game I can think of no better introduction than getting the Assault on Black Reach boxed set. It contains Space Marine and Ork models (actually pretty decent ones at that) and represents very good value for money. There's no shortage of the boxed game (or just the models, if you want to buy extra) on Ebay.
Happily, both Space Marines and Orks are among the cheaper armies to play - Marines because you'll be fielding so few models, and Orks because you can scratch-build and convert so many of your vehicles.
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Alternatively, play Blood Bowl instead. It's AWESOME, the rulebook is available as a free download, and you only have to buy a dozen or so models.
Given the price hikes and the dogheaded consumer base, I'd say citadel miniatures are a real world example of a giffen good. But what do I know? Anyway, it is expensive, and time consuming. I go on and off of it, currently off of it. But if you want to get started, space marines are a good place to start because for a legal army you'll only need to buy 3 units (a commander and two tactical squads), and you'll be surprised how much punch such a small force can field. if you choose any other army though your expenditure will skyrocket.
The best way to start is to pick up the box set, Assault on Black Reach, I think. It comes with a pretty good spread of guys to start with; both Space Marines and Orks...and you actually a lot for your money in miniatures alone, plus it gives you the rules to play the game.
The next thing you'll want to do is pick up your army's codex, this is the book that has the specific rules for each army. Now, there's a few different Space Marine books out there so do a little research into how you'd like to play. Also, keep in mind that you can paint them however you want, so don't think just because you want to play a red marine army means you have to buy the Blood Angels Codex.
I won't lie to you, my husband and I have about 10 armies between the two of us (he used to own a comic/game store), and it can get expensive; so take the time to play around and think about how to build your army from the starter set. That being said, it's not really much more expensive than owning a video game console, plus you can go to places like ebay and bartertown.com and trade and buy minis.
One last thing, buy and play the stuff you like. Don't be pressured by some of the game forums to build and play in a specific matter...most of the time they're wrong, or at least only right for their local metagame. You can PM me if you have any specific questions, and here's a list of resources.
www.bartertown.com (buy/sell/trade forum, good place to get deals)
www.ebay.com (not always the best value, but somebody usually has what you need and it's worth shopping around for a deal)
www.dakkadakka.com (one of the better and largest fan sites out there)
wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Main_Page (Best collected resource of lore and story anywhere)
www.warseer.com (Decent site, not as big as dakka but a little less up its own butthole)
If you really want to low-ball a GW game, play Battlefleet Gothic. You can have an army of 3-4 models if you want.
The next thing you'll want to do is pick up your army's codex, this is the book that has the specific rules for each army. Now, there's a few different Space Marine books out there so do a little research into how you'd like to play. Also, keep in mind that you can paint them however you want, so don't think just because you want to play a red marine army means you have to buy the Blood Angels Codex.
I won't lie to you, my husband and I have about 10 armies between the two of us (he used to own a comic/game store), and it can get expensive; so take the time to play around and think about how to build your army from the starter set. That being said, it's not really much more expensive than owning a video game console, plus you can go to places like ebay and bartertown.com and trade and buy minis.
One last thing, buy and play the stuff you like. Don't be pressured by some of the game forums to build and play in a specific matter...most of the time they're wrong, or at least only right for their local metagame. You can PM me if you have any specific questions, and here's a list of resources.
www.bartertown.com (buy/sell/trade forum, good place to get deals)
www.ebay.com (not always the best value, but somebody usually has what you need and it's worth shopping around for a deal)
www.dakkadakka.com (one of the better and largest fan sites out there)
wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Main_Page (Best collected resource of lore and story anywhere)
www.warseer.com (Decent site, not as big as dakka but a little less up its own butthole)
If you really want to low-ball a GW game, play Battlefleet Gothic. You can have an army of 3-4 models if you want.
My advice would be to find out as much as you possibly can about each army before picking one or you'll sink money into some models that never get used.
I don't play the tabletop game any more but if I was going to start collecting again the things you should think about are:
-Tactics: Would you prefer a shooty army or a melee one? Do you like small forces of large beasties or vaste hordes of small critters? Do you like to be able to customise each unit heavily for a role or do you prefer jack-of-all-trades?
-What army's background sounds the most interesting?
-What army's models look the best, bearing in mind that you have to paint them.
Once you pick an army, buy one of the £50 battleforce thingies because they tend to give you enough models to make a playable force instantly. Also buy the codex book for said army + the rulebook. For the books I would recommend getting a 2nd hand copy because they're stupidly expensive otherwise, also make sure the copy you get is current - edition.
EDIT: also definatly go into one of the stores. The guys in there are usually really friendly so just go in and tell em you're thinking about starting and get their advice. But be wary that they're probably going to be biased in favour of whatever they play.
I don't play the tabletop game any more but if I was going to start collecting again the things you should think about are:
-Tactics: Would you prefer a shooty army or a melee one? Do you like small forces of large beasties or vaste hordes of small critters? Do you like to be able to customise each unit heavily for a role or do you prefer jack-of-all-trades?
-What army's background sounds the most interesting?
-What army's models look the best, bearing in mind that you have to paint them.
Once you pick an army, buy one of the £50 battleforce thingies because they tend to give you enough models to make a playable force instantly. Also buy the codex book for said army + the rulebook. For the books I would recommend getting a 2nd hand copy because they're stupidly expensive otherwise, also make sure the copy you get is current - edition.
EDIT: also definatly go into one of the stores. The guys in there are usually really friendly so just go in and tell em you're thinking about starting and get their advice. But be wary that they're probably going to be biased in favour of whatever they play.
I currently have 3 armies, and whilst it is damn bloody expensive, if that is your hobby - and particularly - if you have friends who do it with you - it's well worth the price. Takes up time, gives you a few cool painting skills, you get to work with your imagination, and then there's the delicious violence.
Plus now whenever I'm not training/teaching or looking for a stable income, I'm at the local GW store.
Personal advice?
Don't do Space Marines unless you really REALLY like the hauty always gotta be good guys kind of thing. After a while (imho) Space Marines get really stale really quickly.
I know that's hypocritical considering one of my armies is Black Templars, but I'm customizing the hell out of them.
I also have Chaos Marines and Dark Eldar...so there's always some variation.
To start off, if you can - go to a GW store. Ask them! Most of the time you'll hear "buy Assault on Black Reach. SM + Orkz + Rulebook = Gives you a taste" but if you know you aren't interested in those armies, or you want something you can fiddle with, then look around. Find models you like, buy a troops choice and build them. Go from there, and don't worry about making stupid decisions.
This is a personal hobby that is damn expensive, very time consuming and based around your own interests.
The only way you can really stuff up is if you have hundreds' at the ready and you buy a bunch of unnecessary crap (like tanks, bikes, greater daemons, knights etc) for your force, because then you can't play
Like the guys above have said, HQ + 2 Troops. Hell, rummage through the GW site. That'll give you an idea.
Plus now whenever I'm not training/teaching or looking for a stable income, I'm at the local GW store.
Personal advice?
Don't do Space Marines unless you really REALLY like the hauty always gotta be good guys kind of thing. After a while (imho) Space Marines get really stale really quickly.
I know that's hypocritical considering one of my armies is Black Templars, but I'm customizing the hell out of them.
I also have Chaos Marines and Dark Eldar...so there's always some variation.
To start off, if you can - go to a GW store. Ask them! Most of the time you'll hear "buy Assault on Black Reach. SM + Orkz + Rulebook = Gives you a taste" but if you know you aren't interested in those armies, or you want something you can fiddle with, then look around. Find models you like, buy a troops choice and build them. Go from there, and don't worry about making stupid decisions.
This is a personal hobby that is damn expensive, very time consuming and based around your own interests.
The only way you can really stuff up is if you have hundreds' at the ready and you buy a bunch of unnecessary crap (like tanks, bikes, greater daemons, knights etc) for your force, because then you can't play
Like the guys above have said, HQ + 2 Troops. Hell, rummage through the GW site. That'll give you an idea.
Well that pretty much says it all. Pick it up, I think you can get it for about £60 from the main website. It comes with just about everything you need to start a game up.Salad Is Murder said:
You get an army of Orks and Marines, the rule book which also contains the stats of each figure (which is bloody useful). However I recommend you buy some glue(strong glue like liquid poly or something like that) as they don't come ready made
. You could also do with picking up some paints (which will be expensive) if you want to make them look cool however, its not essential and you can play with them looking bland.The booklet that comes with it should give you an idea on how to paint them, however you can go off and experiment. If you've got an hobby store local to you then I'm sure they'll give you some extra advice on the whats and hows on painting them. If not there's a lot of youtube vids on it or send me a PM and I'll help if I can.
You'll need a good amount of space to play too and I'm not sure if the pack comes with a tape measure, if not... You'll need one.
Also don't buy Games Workshop paint/glue/brushes etc cos they're overpriced, get them from somewhere like Modelzone instead. And any acrylic paints will do (although the GW washes are really damn nice.)
Hmmm, 40k advice.
Make sure you have some HUGE flat surface to play on.
Space Marines are a good starter army, though you'll find you'll be fielding considerably smaller armies than some other races due to the high points cost of the units, so you gotta be careful with em and use em well together.
If your looking for a very pretty but incredibly fiddly to paint army, then you can't go far wrong with Eldar, and they also have the benefit of having a unit for every situation. If your looking for something easier to paint then Orcs or Guard are a good call, though bear in mind that buying tanks for a Guard army is stupidly exspensive in a hobby (and this has been mentioned before) that is already ludicrously pricy.
But yeah, fun game, hella hard on the wallet, but a nicely painted army you've constructed yourself is a thing of immense pride. If you really wanna enjoy it, try to get into the lore side of things a bit. Give your main characters names and brief histories and let them evolve over the course of games. I remember a Dark Angel Chaplain of mine called Zeke who came to hate the Guard with such a passion he'd go out of his way to run over guardsmen.
Oh, and if you do go Space Marines, make sure they're Dark Angels. Easily the badass-est (is that a word?) of an already epiccly badass bunch of dudes.
Hope this helps.
Make sure you have some HUGE flat surface to play on.
Space Marines are a good starter army, though you'll find you'll be fielding considerably smaller armies than some other races due to the high points cost of the units, so you gotta be careful with em and use em well together.
If your looking for a very pretty but incredibly fiddly to paint army, then you can't go far wrong with Eldar, and they also have the benefit of having a unit for every situation. If your looking for something easier to paint then Orcs or Guard are a good call, though bear in mind that buying tanks for a Guard army is stupidly exspensive in a hobby (and this has been mentioned before) that is already ludicrously pricy.
But yeah, fun game, hella hard on the wallet, but a nicely painted army you've constructed yourself is a thing of immense pride. If you really wanna enjoy it, try to get into the lore side of things a bit. Give your main characters names and brief histories and let them evolve over the course of games. I remember a Dark Angel Chaplain of mine called Zeke who came to hate the Guard with such a passion he'd go out of his way to run over guardsmen.
Oh, and if you do go Space Marines, make sure they're Dark Angels. Easily the badass-est (is that a word?) of an already epiccly badass bunch of dudes.
Hope this helps.
I have played 40k for years (since pre Dark Millenium), and in spite of the cost it is a very rewarding hobby, and now all these years latter even my kids play. I can only give you one bit of advice. When it comes to picking an army DO NOT get all rules lawyer or have some one fill your head with "such and such is better then so and so on the table cause of X" Pick the army that you think has the coolest looking models and go from there. If you do not like the look of your army you will never get it painted. Some are in fact better then others (ask any Grey Knight or Blood Angel player) but ANY army can beat ANY other army on ANY table. So in short go with what looks cool.
Tip #1 DON'T GET SPACE MARINES! While they are decent and make good starters, they are the most boring/ generic faction in 40k
You should really just chose which faction you like the most or which ones intrigue you. If you take someone else's advice and then decide it's not for you, your kinda screwed. Also you should go buy some necrons or tau
You should really just chose which faction you like the most or which ones intrigue you. If you take someone else's advice and then decide it's not for you, your kinda screwed. Also you should go buy some necrons or tau
You should have a lot of free money and time. And patience if you care about painting models-especially if you want them to look right.
The Assault on Black Reach pack (as described in most other posts) is a good starter set, giving a basic set of rules for understanding and allowing playthroughs of basic games. If you want to expand on Space Marines or orks (I don't play the latter), the units AoBR gives you are priced way above the actual pack itself, so it's pretty great.
The Assault on Black Reach pack (as described in most other posts) is a good starter set, giving a basic set of rules for understanding and allowing playthroughs of basic games. If you want to expand on Space Marines or orks (I don't play the latter), the units AoBR gives you are priced way above the actual pack itself, so it's pretty great.
Patience indeed, I was painting them hardcore for a college media project through Christmas holidays and it took me about a full week, week and half to glue and paint them all. Granted I had a serious case of the flu back then so maybe that slowed me down but still... Takes a while but its definitely worth it. There's a lot of hows and why on which to paint them but I like most like to give them my own personal touches and I recommend you do too cause its a lot of funAlssadar said:
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