Collecting a 40k army

kertap

How ye. I got a few lotr books and my bro is still getting them but I want to play 40k.

I was thinking of getting space marines to start off and I was wondering how much a 1500 pt army would cost. Also which is cheaper buying miniatures online or buying them in the local gaming shop. (Mine being galway).

Lemming

Hey kertap, and welcome to the hobby

Space Marines are pretty good to start off with, being rather flexible in their abilities and rather durable in a fight. The "added bonus" (from a beginners point of view towards building an army) is that they're expensive (in game terms), so a few models quickly adds up to 1500 points.

GW also do army packs of varying sizes, the costs of which I'm oblivious too.

As for buying online/shop I don't know about that. Look at prices, then look at conversion between currencies and shipping costs.

Pugsley

SPace marine are a good beginners army, hard as nails, more firepower than a red bull on speed, and some mega tanks (nothing to the imp guard tho).

Their also very simple to paint (good for beginner, bad for experiance painter) as all you need is an undercoat of blue, and some yellow rims on the shoulder pads then some helmet detail and a bolter, and tadaa, a marine.

And for £15 (dunno euro price) you can get about 200 points of miniatures, very good for getting up a cheap army.

However I personally dont like marines much, they have nothing out of the ordinary, they just got bigger, beefier and more firepower, then a few bikes and anti grav units. I prefare chaos over them in every way, but thats just me maybe, as they have the usual space marines, except this time with more detailed armour, and the options for converting are open as you can do more or less anything with your army depending on what army you create (khorne, nurgle etc). THen you have the added fun of deamons, special units with special rules (tousand sons rock).

Lemming

Not meaning to get off topic, but I must disagree with some of Pugsley's points, namely the fun of painting Space Marine armies, and the variety of units available to them.

Yes, space marines are very easy for beginners to get to grips with for painting purposes. I differ in the opinion that they are boring for experienced painters to paint.

A model is only as entertaining to paint as you believe / want to get creative with . I have endless hours of fun (and end satisfaction) from taking my time with my Space Wolves space-marines trying to cram as much detail into them as I can whilst trying more and more advanced techniques to improve myself. I've gotten to the stage where I'm contemplating buying mail-orders of all my old units from 2nd edition W40k to repaint to the same standard as my newer units.

Then there's other armies. I had a lot of fun painting my Imperial Guard troops, and my Eldar units really pushed me in regards highlighting gems and smooth surfaces whilst trying to make them look graceful.

Also, every time I look at my Marine Codice, I'm coming up with new combinations of units & tactics.

So what I'm trying to get across is that you are only limited by your imagination & creativity

kertap

Thanks guys, I bought the space marines codex yesterday and I'll be buying an HQ and some troops soon as I'm finished my exams.

I've been kind of playing around with the idea of making a Dark Angel army. I like there colour scheme and they seem pretty cool. Is there anything I should take into account when I set about getting a specific chapter army?

Also I took good look at the space marine weapons tables but I didn't look close enough to see if there infantry has any indirect fire capabilities. Do they have any as this is something I find very important in a tactical sense.

Lemming

Originally posted by kertap
I've been kind of playing around with the idea of making a Dark Angel army. I like there colour scheme and they seem pretty cool. Is there anything I should take into account when I set about getting a specific chapter army?

The likes of the Dark Angels, Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Salamanders, Legion of the Damned* have VERY specialised or distinctive styles of play which may limit their effectiveness in certain scenarios, but they are extrordinarily good at what they do.

Not to say they're any better or worse overall than any other army out there, but at the core of their organisation they are not as orthodox as "standard" space marine chapters. For example, space wolves can't take scouts as troop choices (elite choice instead) and the weapons available are not the same as more "codex" chapters, etc.

I like having slightly less than orthodox units/tactics anyway. Much more fun

Also I took good look at the space marine weapons tables but I didn't look close enough to see if there infantry has any indirect fire capabilities. Do they have any as this is something I find very important in a tactical sense.

iirc, space marine infranty units don't have indirect fire abilities. Only space marine vehicles like the whirlwind or the vindicator (??) have this ability. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.


* This "chapter" isn't a chapter as such anyway and more of a living myth used to scare the bejaysus out of naughty ork kids at night.

Sarky

Space Marines are dead easy to paint to a half decent standard, but it still takes a skilled painter to paint them well. Look at the opportunities, adding on purity seals is easy but effective, and does anyone remember the Sons of Sparta chapter that was in a recent Golden Demon? What about that really "scottish highlands" themed chapter (forget the name, lots of tartan though)

Space marines themselves are rock hard. If you make a tactical error on the batllefield, you're never punished as severely as other armies (Imperial guardsmen charging genestealers springs to mind...) So it's harder to lose with them.

I much prefer my Orks though. Sloppy paint jobs look the part! and some real fun can be had in the conversion stuff (anyone gere go to warpcon? that was MY space wolves looted Battlewagon! )

Good luck in your endeavours anywho.

Sigard

Compared to some of the other armies, the Dark Angels are the closest to a strictly 'Codex' army, but with a few advantages. Plasma Cannons in tactical squads, and rules for specialist units (Deathwing and Ravenwing). The Space Wolves, Black Templars and Blood Angels excel at assault, and have plenty of special rules to help them in this respect.

Pugsley

Originally posted by Sarky
Space Marines are dead easy to paint to a half decent standard, but it still takes a skilled painter to paint them well. Look at the opportunities, adding on purity seals is easy but effective, and does anyone remember the Sons of Sparta chapter that was in a recent Golden Demon? What about that really "scottish highlands" themed chapter (forget the name, lots of tartan though)

Space marines are easy to paint, it gets hard when you start converting your army to a theme

orangerooster

My first armie were ultramarines.I sucked with them and found them boring and now kick my regular opponents up and down with my eldar,but having played with some space marines recently im seriously tempted in repainting my marines due to the henious amounts of saves I made!

Sarky

If I was to start a Space marine army, I'd have to go with a non-codex chapter, or a specific theme. I like the Ravenwing armies, very unique style of play. Wouldn't mind having a go with some Grey Knights, either, although chances are everyone else would...

Something non-standard, so it could really stand out. I felt a lot of the SM armies I saw in tournaments and stuff looked pretty much alike. Similar paint jobs, similar unit choices... I like something different. You should have seen the Slaaneshi army (there may have been two, I'm not sure anymore) at Warpcon, for instance. That was fantastic. And grotesquely in character too...

kertap

I know what you mean by the whole uniqueness thing. I'll probably just do a normal space marine army except I think I'll maybe paint them purple and green. Cow style. I used to make model planes see and It'll be loads of fun. They'll stand out and everything.

I'll give them a big smiley face for a decal on the shoulder.


Ha ha ha ha. Sorry I'm a bit mad. That was all a joke by the way.

I suppose tartan has been done. I was in the gathering in limerick ages ago. That guy that owned the place had a tartan axman. That was cool.