Perhaps the most important part of starting up any war game is choosing an army that you like. You'll want to choose an army based on these three points (in order of importance):
1. How the army looks. This is perhaps the most important point. Most people stick to an army they like the look of.
2. The army's lore and background. You want an army you can see yourself commanding.
3. How the army plays. Choose an army that suits your play style. Look back at all the video games you've played. Played Nod in Command And Conquer? You might enjoy playing Tau or Eldar. Really enjoy playing the Zerg in Starcraft? Go for Tyranids- you'll love them.
Ideally you'll want to look for an army that will fill out at-least two of the above points.
Because I strongly feel that a new player should choose armies based on their looks, I've included pictures of one of the several different basic rank-and-file troopers of each of main armies in Warhammer 40k only.
For a retail price of $120. I'm saving about 40 dollars. But say, I don't want the Kroot carnivore squadron. A kroot carnivore squad will cost me $36, so its still smarter for me to go buy the whole battleforce because I'll still save money and get some figurines I don't want- which is better than not getting anything at all.
1. How the army looks. This is perhaps the most important point. Most people stick to an army they like the look of.
2. The army's lore and background. You want an army you can see yourself commanding.
3. How the army plays. Choose an army that suits your play style. Look back at all the video games you've played. Played Nod in Command And Conquer? You might enjoy playing Tau or Eldar. Really enjoy playing the Zerg in Starcraft? Go for Tyranids- you'll love them.
Ideally you'll want to look for an army that will fill out at-least two of the above points.
Because I strongly feel that a new player should choose armies based on their looks, I've included pictures of one of the several different basic rank-and-file troopers of each of main armies in Warhammer 40k only.
Blood Angels
Chaos Daemons
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Chaos Space Marines
Dark Eldar
Eldar
Grey Knights
Imperial Guard
Necrons
Orks
Sisters Of Battle
Space Marines:
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| A basic space marine tactical squad |
Space Wolves
Tau Empire
Tyranids
Beautiful, aren't they? Games Workshop prides itself in its quality of miniatures. It's one of the reasons why their games are so popular. After looking at the pictures above you might already have an idea about what to buy. Here's a guide on how to obtain these miniatures while still saving money.
1. Starter sets
Even if you buy these totally new, starter sets are literally a steal compared to the individual boxes you can buy. They come with a mini-rule book, dice (including the scatter dice), templates and measuring sticks- everything you need to play a basic game. They also come with two armies. The newest starter set, "Dark Vengeance" released by Games Workshop includes Chaos Space Marines and Dark Angels. If you've collecting just one of these, go ahead and buy the whole box because you'll get a rule book and other goodies (such as exclusive miniatures) inside. Put the army you don't want on Ebay.
1. Starter sets
Even if you buy these totally new, starter sets are literally a steal compared to the individual boxes you can buy. They come with a mini-rule book, dice (including the scatter dice), templates and measuring sticks- everything you need to play a basic game. They also come with two armies. The newest starter set, "Dark Vengeance" released by Games Workshop includes Chaos Space Marines and Dark Angels. If you've collecting just one of these, go ahead and buy the whole box because you'll get a rule book and other goodies (such as exclusive miniatures) inside. Put the army you don't want on Ebay.
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| The Chaos Hellbrute, an exclusive miniature only found in Dark Vengeance |
If you already have the rule book and templates, there won't be much point in buying the whole box. Instead, go on Ebay and search for Dark Vengeance miniatures. Most people that bought the box sell the miniatures they don't want for a cheap price. For example, possessed chaos space marines, which are usually $33USD retail price, go for as little as $12 on Ebay. Awesome, isn't it? You could put together an army totally made out of starter set miniatures without actually buying the starter set.
Alternatively, you can start Warhammer or Warhammer 40k with a friend and split the armies. You'll pay half the price and both of you will get the army you want.
You can also do this for the older starter sets such as Assault On Black Reach, but if you buy the whole box you will get the old rule book- so just purchase the models from the starter set from Ebay.
2. Battleforces
What if the army you want isn't included in the starter set? Then you can buy a battleforce. Each battleforce includes enough miniatures for a small army, and is cheaper than buying each of the miniatures individually. Along with the things that you'd like in your army, you'll also get the stuff you don't want. So how do you know whether buying a battleforce is a good choice or not? Just compare the price of the battleforce box with the price of buying each miniature individually. For example, I want to buy the Tau Battleforce.
That includes:
12x Fire Warriors
12x Kroot Carnivores
3x Stealth Suits
1x Devilfish
1x Crisis Suit
6x Drones
For a retail price of $120. I'm saving about 40 dollars. But say, I don't want the Kroot carnivore squadron. A kroot carnivore squad will cost me $36, so its still smarter for me to go buy the whole battleforce because I'll still save money and get some figurines I don't want- which is better than not getting anything at all.
If, say, I don't want the stealth suits either, then it's more logical for me to go buy the individual models I do want separately because it's going to be cheaper for me to do so as I won't have to pay up for the stuff I don't want.
A battleforce is a good idea whether you're looking to start Warhammer or Warhammer 40k or just want to expand your army.
In the next article I'll tell you where you can buy your miniatures to save money.
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