Warhammer 40k. Help a beginner.

[Warrior Irme]

Hello and thank you for your time in advance. Right now I am debating getting started in Warhammer 40k. I am new to the tabletop scene with magic the gathering (I know it is no comparison)being the closest thing to one I have played. Any suggestions on race, starting equipment, places to purchase, and whatever else you think would be helpful to someone that wants to start, would be very helpful. Thank you again for the time.

EDIT: I will be checking back on this thread even after I start because every little piece of advice is helpful.

 

[rossatdi]

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

 

[Elhueno]

To be honest the easiest race to start with is Space marines. Buy a box set from your local Games Workshop or whatnot and start from there. Also realise there are alot of rules etc to remember, that comes with time. I personally couldnt continue on with 40k or tabletop games because of the price but it was fun while i played them

 

[Simriel]

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

 

[Warrior Irme]

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.

 

[bjj hero]

I played when I was younger, its an expensive hobby.

Think about eldar, whole armies with sustained fire weapons. Play as much as you can before buying anything.

 

[Warrior Irme]

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)

 

[Simriel]

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.

 

[Aedwynn]

Pick the army you like the look of best, at first. You can develop a play style later. The first thing you'll want is the races codex and the rulebook. Don't buy anything else until you've given it a good read-through.

After that, just buy a couple of boxes of basic infantry and a commander model. Paint 'em up and try and play a game with 'em. Then add from there. Resist the temptation to splurge and buy a load of models of an army you don't know about.

Or convince a friend to go halfsies on the starter set. The 40k starter set is really good value, and if you buy with a mate you get the rulebook and a decent small army each.

 

[Warrior Irme]

Simriel:
I would hope not. Its an excellent passtime. A couple of sessions a month would satisfy your tabletop gaming needs.[/quote]

I figure the higher cost for Warhammer 40k will keep my desire to just blindly expand my play in check. At least I realize I have little self control.

 

[Warrior Irme]

Pick the army you like the look of best, at first. You can develop a play style later. The first thing you'll want is the races codex and the rulebook. Don't buy anything else until you've given it a good read-through.

After that, just buy a couple of boxes of basic infantry and a commander model. Paint 'em up and try and play a game with 'em. Then add from there. Resist the temptation to splurge and buy a load of models of an army you don't know about.

Or convince a friend to go halfsies on the starter set. The 40k starter set is really good value, and if you buy with a mate you get the rulebook and a decent small army each.

Sounds good to me. Any particular website I should be looking at for the starter set cheap?

 

[Sane Man]

Watch some games before you buy anything, and certainly purchase and read the core rulebook. A lot of questions will be answered that way.

As for starting out, it depends on what you are wanting out of this. It can be a hobby, or a completely competitive game. If you are looking at it purely for fun so you can assemble models, paint them, and play some games then pick whatever army appeals to you as it won't matter.

However, from a competitive standpoint, Space Marines are certainly the easiest army (actually I'd say Orks are easier to get into now) than the others because they give you MUCH more leeway with mistakes than for instance, the Eldar army.

Anyways, you need to know what you want from the game, as well as watching games will give you a good idea of what you would want to play or how you want to. Do you like vehicles, or more infantry? Do you like shooting more, or assaulting? Do you like overly specialized units, or have everything a "jack-of-all-trades" sorts. These are questions that watching or if you are lucky playing a few games (with someone else's stuff) will answer.

 

[Wolvaroo]

You can get great deals on ebay. As for starter army it's all up to preference. Although Space Marines would be the easiest to get the hang of, you'd end up being "just another space marine player" that ammount to about 70% of the hobbyists.

You could always buy the codex/rulebook and use tokens to represent the models.

 

[Chibz]

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.

It all depends on what sort of army you wish to play. If you want an army that's fast and shooty for example, try tau.

 

[Warrior Irme]

Watch some games before you buy anything, and certainly purchase and read the core rulebook. A lot of questions will be answered that way.

As for starting out, it depends on what you are wanting out of this. It can be a hobby, or a completely competitive game. If you are looking at it purely for fun so you can assemble models, paint them, and play some games then pick whatever army appeals to you as it won't matter.

However, from a competitive standpoint, Space Marines are certainly the easiest army (actually I'd say Orks are easier to get into now) than the others because they give you MUCH more leeway with mistakes than for instance, the Eldar army.

Anyways, you need to know what you want from the game, as well as watching games will give you a good idea of what you would want to play or how you want to. Do you like vehicles, or more infantry? Do you like shooting more, or assaulting? Do you like overly specialized units, or have everything a "jack-of-all-trades" sorts. These are questions that watching or if you are lucky playing a few games (with someone else's stuff) will answer.

I have been watching videos of the game being played and explained a little online. I think with all of the suggestions for space marines that will be a good place to start. Thank you for the detailed suggestion.

 

[rossatdi]

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.

Genuinely, if you don't have a network to play it with, don't bother. Unless you particularly like the models and painting, in which case do that.

It's a great hobby but only (in my opinion) if you have people to play it with. Otherwise it's just expensive toy collecting!

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Unless you have lots of money and people to play with I would stick with Dawn of War. I must have spent loads on my Iron Warriors army. Now they're just collecting dust with an unbuilt box of Kroot Mercenaries. I, however, love the background source material and read all the books. So unless you have the time and money I would give it a good think first.

If you do want to play. First buy (or get a copy of) the rulebook. read the source material, find a race you like the sound of and then get the Codex book for it. Personally I would say Space marines as they are cool, simple to paint (with the possibility to have lavish painting on special units), and the basic infantry units (Space Marine squads)are better than some races elites. If you like evil go with Chaos Marines as strong as regular marines, but with a larger scope for customisation. Iron Warriors (Chaos marines) are cool, but the new Codex rules screwed them over.

I haven't read the new rulebook so I'm not sure how the new rules affect the balance of races. If you like the background stories go to www.blacklibrary.com for some good sci-fi books

 

[The_Farmer]

Yes but the other teams can be just as boring.
thats why you paint them in your own coulours and your own way and make them unique.
The necrons are very powerful and if you know what you are doing the can be very very veryt good!!!