New-ish to Warhammer 40k, looking for advice

[Cheatle]

Hey guys, 


So back between 2005-2009 I bought and painted a small Space Marines army (which for the new 8th edition rules most of everything still seems valid to use, or am I wrong?). Well recently I won a pretty significant gift card to Games Workshop, and decided to share it a bit with my sister and her husband. This is what all I bought, and what I have: 

 

Space Marines (just 1 of each box)

Space Marine Land Speeder Storm 

Adeptus Astartes Stormhawk/Flyer/Stormtalon

Stalker/Hunter

Venerable Dreadnought

Dark Imperium

First Strike

Already Have:
20 Tactical Space Marines
1 3-Man Bike Squad
1 Dreadnaught
1 Rhino
1 Predator Tank
1 Command Squad (Vet Captain, Apothecary, Vet Standard Bearer, Space Marine with Heavy weapon, and Space Marine with Power Sword/shield)
1 Terminator Captain 
1 Chaplain
1 Tigurius

 

Eldar

Star Collecting! Eldar 

Eldar Guardians w/ Support

Eldar Wraithguard/Wraithblade Box

Eldar War Walker

Warlock with Witch Blade and Shuriken Pistol

 

Tau

Start Collecting! Tau Empire  

Tau Empire Optimized Pathfinder Team

Tau Empire XV25 Stealth Battlesuits 

Tau Empire XV88 Broadside Battlesuit 

TX4 Piranha SW

 

Extras

Warhammer 40k, 8th edition rulebook

index: imperium vol 1

index: xenos vol 1

index: xenos vol 2

Space Marine 40k Codex Rulebook 8th edition

Warhammer 40k wounds trackers

Space Marine DATACARDS

Tape

Dice

 

Scenery

Battlefield Accessories Set

Honoured Imperium

Wall of Martyrs - Imperial Defense Line

Basilica Administratum

Manufactorum

Imperial Bastion

Munitorum Armoured

Firestorm Redoubt

Already Have:

Battle For Macragge Terrain

 

Paint+Tools

Tau Empire Paint Set

Eldar Paint Set

Essentials Set

Plastic Glue

So what I am looking for is suggestions for each army to really round the armies out, paint suggestions, tool suggestions, as well as anything else you might want to offer. 

Thank you guys for your time! 

[Daimyo-Phaeron Lenoch]

Welcome to the Bolter and Chainsword, brother! I'm sure you'll like it here.

 

Terra, what was the value on that gift card? You bought how much stuff?   (not derisive I just didn't know they were sold/given away in such numbers, unless you already had half of those boxes or something.)

 

For marines, I'd advise more armor for target saturation to keep your 3 (with very different roles) alive. Another predator or land raider, and more transports. I would also get some dedicated assault units, like vanguard vets or the like. Your SM army is sorely lacking in counter-assault (or any assault, really, except for bikes). Make your enemy afraid to charge you, so you can charge them.

 

As for everything else, I got nothing.

[Cheatle]

Welcome to the Bolter and Chainsword, brother! I'm sure you'll like it here.

 

Terra, what was the value on that gift card? You bought how much stuff?   (not derisive I just didn't know they were sold/given away in such numbers, unless you already had half of those boxes or something.)

 

For marines, I'd advise more armor for target saturation to keep your 3 (with very different roles) alive. Another predator or land raider, and more transports. I would also get some dedicated assault units, like vanguard vets or the like. Your SM army is sorely lacking in counter-assault (or any assault, really, except for bikes). Make your enemy afraid to charge you, so you can charge them.

 

As for everything else, I got nothing.

 

Thank you very much! Anyone have any other advice? 

[Cheatle]

I forgot to add, for those that don't know the Dark Imperium + First Strike includes: 

Space Marines: 
1 Primaris SM Captain
2 Primaris SM Lieutenants
1 Primaris SM Ancient + Banner
2 5-Man Primaris SM Intercessor Squads
1 3-Man Primaris SM Intercessor Squad
1 3-Man Primaris Reivers Squad
1 3-Man Primaris SM Inceptor Squad
1 5-Man Primaris SM Hellblaster Squad

Chaos SM: 
1 Death Guard Lord of Contagion
1 DG Noxious Blightbringer
1 DG Malignant Plaguecaster
10 DG Plague Marines
1 DG Foetid Bloat-Drone
26 DG Poxwalkers


If that helps at all. 


Also, any advice on a website that has good terrain for 40k? 

I am thinking of trading the Chaos Space Marines if I can for something else. 

[the jeske]

uuuu Tau, this is going to sting. But in general the stuff looks legal, the marines could probably be made in to a good casual army. The eldar would require more buying. And the tau, well, did you unpack the tau already?

[Smith Kappa]

Well if your new to 40k you have everything you need and more.

 

However if your new to model building I have a few tips in no particular order;

• Trim your mold lines, I prefer to use my knife or a nail file
• Use hobby pliers to cut men from the sprue, I use army painter pliers
• Methanol is cheap, a litre for a couple pound, its used to strip paint
• Cheap spray paints from poundland work well for base coating, just make sure to shake for 5 full minutes
• Any super glue no matter if its cheap will work well. I use army painter super glue, but every man to their own
• I use revell plastic glue, not all plastic glues work well
• Clean your brushes with white spirits, it helps prolong their life, I also use army painter brushes
• If you want to expand even further with your collection consider using a discount webstore such as "triplehelix wargames"
• Items such as filler or self raising foam are great for creating even more terrain on the cheap, you will find plenty vids on youtube
• Ebay can be a cheap way to add to your collection
• Green stuff is a putty great for sculpting and blue stuff is a thermoplastic used to create molds, cheapest at "greenstuff world" imo
• Wargame mats are an awesome addition to any wargamer, check youtube for sources, I just thought to mention that they exist

I think that covers the basics <(o.o)-b

Edited August 25, 2017 by Smith Kappa

[Cheatle]

uuuu Tau, this is going to sting. But in general the stuff looks legal, the marines could probably be made in to a good casual army. The eldar would require more buying. And the tau, well, did you unpack the tau already?

 

Whats wrong with the Tau? 

 

Do you have suggestions on SM, CSM, Eldar, and Tau? As in what else I should look at? 

Well if your new to 40k you have everything you need and more.

 

However if your new to model building I have a few tips in no particular order;

• Trim your mold lines, I prefer to use my knife or a nail file
• Use hobby pliers to cut men from the sprue, I use army painter pliers
• Methanol is cheap, a litre for a couple pound, its used to strip paint
• Cheap spray paints from poundland work well for base coating, just make sure to shake for 5 full minutes
• Any super glue no matter if its cheap will work well. I use army painter super glue, but every man to their own
• I use revell plastic glue, not all plastic glues work well
• Clean your brushes with white spirits, it helps prolong their life, I also use army painter brushes
• If you want to expand even further with your collection consider using a discount webstore such as "triplehelix wargames"
• Items such as filler or self raising foam are great for creating even more terrain on the cheap

I think that covers the basics <(o.o)-b

Thank you very much, do you have links to those places? 

 

Do you know a place that has nice terrain? 

[Smith Kappa]

If your really looking to expand, read the rules and choose units you beleive are good, but also units you like the look of. If you don't trust your judgment you can probably search for some competition builds, though not many will play you if you table your oponent 1st or 2nd turn.

 

Ps. not much wrong with your Tau I would happily have that collection, hope my previous post and comment helped

 

http://www.triplehelixwargames.co.uk

http://www.greenstuffworld.com/es/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/

http://www.pworkwargames.com/en/ -battle mats

Edited August 25, 2017 by Smith Kappa

[Cheatle]

If your really looking to expand, read the rules and choose units you beleive are good, but also units you like the look of. If you don't trust your judgment you can probably search for some competition builds, though not many will play you if you table your oponent 1st or 2nd turn.

 

Ps. not much wrong with your Tau I would happily have that collection, hope my previous post and comment helped

 

http://www.triplehelixwargames.co.uk

http://www.greenstuffworld.com/es/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/

http://www.pworkwargames.com/en/ -battle mats

Thank you very much, checking out the pworkwargames stuff, really cool, I am in America, so the other places might be out of the question shipping wise. 

[templargdt]

Welcome. First recommendation is to return the stalker for two boxes of scouts. You can then use the land speeder storm. Also, scouts are awesome. Use them to prevent guys from deep striking and blowing up your key units turn 1.

 

As for the rest, I think you can build a decent army with it. Build the flier as the stormhawk and outfit your dreadnoughts and predator with lascannons. Those are your armor killers. The rest of your army build to taste. When you use them, keep your captain near guys with plasma. Lieutenants near your boltgun guys.

[the jeske]

Whats wrong with the Tau? 

 

Do you have suggestions on SM, CSM, Eldar, and Tau? As in what

 

 

As far as tau goes, they do not have a codex yet[true for most factions by the way]. Right now they are not per se bad, but a 1 unit codex[was the case for tyranids back in the past]. And it can be rather frustrating to see tau, not just under perform, but plain  not work. If possible one should avoid starting to play tau, till they get their own codex.

 

For sm you have a ton of stuff that ranges from good to ok, very few trap units. And some very powerful models/units you don't have, but they are not obligatory to play[unlike tau cmd are for tau]. your stuff for example could make on ok list, even without any optimisation.

 

Something like a dread+termi cpt[run as chapter master]+tacticals+pred +hellblaster squad could let you grip the rules of 8th better.

 

IMO before starting to dive in to other factions [like eldar or csm], you should learn the basics and marines are great for that.

 

As eldar goes, am not expert with them. But from what I have seen they are in an odd situation. The good armies are REALLY good, and the random stuff is kind of a meh. No real in between like you have with space marines, but do not worry, they are not tau, the number of good combinations and good units is much higher then with tau[for which it is more or less 1, not counting any FW stuff].

[Cheatle]

Just to add a couple of things...

That Chaplain I have is actually Cassius with a jump pack. 
I also found that I have an Attack Bike (one of those bikes with a side buggy and mounted heavy weapon)

OK SO from suggestions:

Need to grab

x1 Land Raider
x2 Rhino 
x2 5-Man Scout Squads
x1 3-Man Inceptors (this brings me on the assault front to x2 3-Man Inceptors teams, and 3 Bikes+Attack Bike, do I need more?)
x1 5-Man Vanguard Vet Squad
x1 3-Man Aggressors Squad

Then I am thinking about getting Calgar, and then the Triumvirate of the Primarch pack. 

Any more suggestions/advice? Does this look good? 


ALSO, any more suggestions on Tau and Eldar armies? Places I can buy Terrain in America? 

[Cheatle]

 

Whats wrong with the Tau? 

 

Do you have suggestions on SM, CSM, Eldar, and Tau? As in what

 

 

As far as tau goes, they do not have a codex yet[true for most factions by the way]. Right now they are not per se bad, but a 1 unit codex[was the case for tyranids back in the past]. And it can be rather frustrating to see tau, not just under perform, but plain  not work. If possible one should avoid starting to play tau, till they get their own codex.

 

For sm you have a ton of stuff that ranges from good to ok, very few trap units. And some very powerful models/units you don't have, but they are not obligatory to play[unlike tau cmd are for tau]. your stuff for example could make on ok list, even without any optimisation.

 

Something like a dread+termi cpt[run as chapter master]+tacticals+pred +hellblaster squad could let you grip the rules of 8th better.

 

IMO before starting to dive in to other factions [like eldar or csm], you should learn the basics and marines are great for that.

 

As eldar goes, am not expert with them. But from what I have seen they are in an odd situation. The good armies are REALLY good, and the random stuff is kind of a meh. No real in between like you have with space marines, but do not worry, they are not tau, the number of good combinations and good units is much higher then with tau[for which it is more or less 1, not counting any FW stuff].

 

LOL you ninja'd me, do you have a suggestion for what to add from the Eldar? What is the Tau side? Mainly my Brother-in-law is going to be playing with them as a casual force. They aren't meant to be super competitive, and it might end up being Eldar+Tau vs Space Marines here at the house. I am just looking to add enough to each army to make it fun for them to play against each other and against me. (my sister and her husband)

[Xenith]

My suggestion would be to stop buying things for now and start painting!

[the jeske]

I know your not aiming for tournaments.  the problem with tau units is that they are build around synergy[and GW generally overcosts that], this time around their synergy are bad, they get nerfed [uncalled for] in almost every faq and their units cost an arm and a leg. So the chance that you will deploy some marines and the tau player does the same, and the tau player ends  up feeling as if his stuff does nothing is high. Plus tau miss two of the phases other armies generaly have. they do not melee and they do not have psykers.

They do have a cmd [untargetable because character near stuff] with 4 plasma weapons, which is scary and in most lists online you will see him taken 4-5 times with chaff added. The stuff that people liked [be it because of powergaming or because of army feel] like suits or tau tanks are bad to say the least [overcosted and not doing much]. What is worse those the units that were bad in the past didn't become good, so this is not the case of nerf good, so people buy new stuff.

 

As eldars go, again I am no expert on them, but I think we do have an eldar sub forum here so you can ask there. They  [like the tau] are synergy based. Only eldar have melee, have psykers and their synergies can become rather brutal very fast, although I think they were toned down a bit in faqs. They have very few trap units, the problem with them and new players is that [unlike in prior edtions] you do not really have a super resilient army that can't be killed, is faster then anything else other armies have and 2-3xtimes as shoty. A much higher skill cap army then lets say marines. 

 

As for running tau+eldar as one list. Well as long as your going with either house rules or not ranked play, it should be ok. Just look out for odd interaction or the no limit casting of eldar, so it does not skew the game too much. This you more or less have to check yourself, against the table/terrain you have.

 

My suggestion would be to stop buying things for now and start painting!

 

 

Unless he and his family enjoys painting, why bother when most seem to be only starting. They do even know, if those are the armies they want to play. And making people invest extra time and money in to something they may not want to play in the future seems like a drug sellers trick.

Edited August 26, 2017 by the jeske

[Xenith]

Then why buy anything more if they don't know what armies they want to play?

 

As with everything. Pick the models your like the most. Buy them. Make them, paint them, use them in games. You'll get enjoyment from that.

[Cheatle]

Ok so: 


What I have on my list right now, that is available to grab: 

x1 Rhino 
x1 5-Man Vanguard Veteran Squad
x1 5-Man Scout 
x1 5-Man Scout /w Snipers
x1 3-Man Aggressors
x1 3-Man Inceptors 
x1 Razorback
x1 Triumvirate of the Primarch

That is what I can get, does that look solid to most people as an add-on? 

[the jeske]

Then why buy anything more if they don't know what armies they want to play?

 

As with everything. Pick the models your like the most. Buy them. Make them, paint them, use them in games. You'll get enjoyment from that.

what do model looks have to do with getting enjoyment from playing? I don't think I met one person who liked how oblits look, yet they were the most used chaos unit till 8th ed, and those that tried to played chaos without them generally do not play the game over all or chaos. Same with tyranid players that didn't like hive tyrants times X or tau players and their commanders in 8th. Just because there is paint on a model, it does not somehow magiclly make the gaming xp better. It can feel better when you like painting in the first place, but the question were about unit compostion and viability not how to paint models. Something most new people, specially out of the hobby don't care much about.

 

 

That is what I can get, does that look solid to most people as an add-on?

 

With the other marine stuff you have? yes it is solid. Put the tacticals in to the rhinos, the veterans in to the razorback, scouts as support and chaff for your hellblasters+pred+commander support section.

[Cheatle]

Thank you very much! 

[Xenith]

 

Then why buy anything more if they don't know what armies they want to play?

 

As with everything. Pick the models your like the most. Buy them. Make them, paint them, use them in games. You'll get enjoyment from that.

what do model looks have to do with getting enjoyment from playing? (1) I don't think I met one person who liked how oblits look, yet they were the most used chaos unit till 8th ed, and those that tried to played chaos without them generally do not play the game over all or chaos. Same with tyranid players that didn't like hive tyrants times X or tau players and their commanders in 8th. Just because there is paint on a model, it does not somehow magiclly make the gaming xp better. (2) It can feel better when you like painting in the first place, but the question were about unit compostion and viability not how to paint models. Something most new people, specially out of the hobby don't care much about.

 

 

 

Jeske, you need to take your own advice and realise that people have different versions of "fun". 

 

what do model looks have to do with getting enjoyment from playing? (1)

C'mon, Jeske. This is basic, the first bite is with the eye. Models that you like the look of you will enjoy putting on the table more, regardless of how they perform. We all know that you only play hyper competitively, but when you play with the same group of people in a more laid back environment, units gain personalities, which adds to the enjoyment of games.

 

I'm reluctant to spend money on models I don't find attractive just because they are effective in game. Making and painting them is a waste of my life.

 

Just because there is paint on a model, it does not somehow magiclly make the gaming xp better. (2)

Again, basic, yes it does. two fully made and painted armies offers a more enjoyable gaming experience than grey plastic proxy wars.

[Cheatle]

UPDATE: 

Thank you all for your advice, and advice I got from other sub-forums, I went ahead and invested a bit more to make sure everything is going to be pretty nice. 

Here is what I have:


SPACE MARINES - 

x1 Land Speeder Storm
x1 Stormhawk Interceptor
x1 Stalker
x1 Venerable Dreadnought
x1 Dreadnought
x3 Bikes
x1 Attack Bike
x2 Rhinos
x1 Razorback
x1 Predator
x1 Captain in Terminator Armor
x1 Apothecary 
x1 Liberian 
x1 Ancient Flag Bearer 
x1 Champion 
x22 Space Marines (Regular, Sgts, and Heavy Weapons)
x1 Primaris Captain Mk X armor
x2 Primaris Lts
x1 Primaris Ancient Flag Bearer
x14 Primaris Intercessors
x3 Primaris Reivers 
x3 Primaris Aggressors
x6 Primaris Interceptors
X5 Primaris Hellblasters 
x5 Scouts 
x5 Scouts w/Sniper Rifles
x5 Vanguard Vet Squad
Roboute Guilliman
Cypher
Grand Master Voldus
Chaplain Cassius w/Jump Pack
Liberian Tigurius



ELDAR -

x1 Prism Tank
x3 Windriders
x1 Farseer on Windrider
x20 Guardians w/x2 Heavy Weapon Platforms
x10 Wraiths 
x2 War Walkers
x5 Dire Avengers
x1 Warlock w/ Blade&Shuriken Pistol
x1 Autarch w/Wings



TAU -

x2 Devilfish
x2 Piranha
x6 Crisis Battlesuits
x3 Stealth Suits
x20 Fire Warriors w/x2 Heavy Weapons
x20 Pathfinders

x30 Drones
x1 Broadside
x1 Stormsurge
x1 Commander
x3 Ethreals 
Aun'va w/x2 Honor Guard
x1 Tidewall Rampart (x1 Gunrig, x1 Droneport w/x4 Drones, x2 Shield Walls)



I also have like 700-1000 points of Chaos Space Marines that I might just trade away, or use for smaller battles. 

[Cheatle]

I also get plenty of stuff to work with in terms of Terrain and Painting: 


I got some stuff from this guy: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wargame-model-mods/tubular-builds-by-wargame-model-mods?ref=user_menu

I got a few buildings, plus the larger one there. 

As well as a double sided mat from this guy: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/379935449/double-sided-plush-terrain-mats-by-cigar-box-battl?ref=user_menu

Then I also got:

Tidewall Rampart (Gunrig, drones, shieldwalls)
Battlefield Assc Set (Ammo boxes, road block gear, barrels, wire)
Honored Imperium (Statues, fallen defenses, buried items)
Imperial Defense Line (tons of defense walls and trenches) 
Basilica Adminastratum (Pretty big building)
Manufactorium (Another big building)
Imperial Sector Box (Three Big Buildings)
Imperial Bastion (Fortress with guns on top)
Munitorum Armored (Three Armor Containers (think of armor cargo containers), barrels and crates w/6 Storm Bolter attachments)
Firestorm Redoubt (It has x2 Quad Linked Lascannons!) 
Bunker from First Strike
Aegis Defense Line (Tons of Defense Barriers w/ a couple Quad Linked Gun choices)
Ferratonic Incinerator (Really Cool Piece for a city)



Finally I got Painting Wise: 

x3 Sets of Ultramarines Paints
x2 Sets of Eldar
x2 Sets of Tau
x1 Essentials (Comes with a ton of paint, x1 Brush, x1 Clipping Tool, x1 Glue)
x1 Extra Glue
x1 Set of Super Glue
x1 PVA Glue
x1 Mouldline Remover
x1 Set of Essential Brushes/Tools (x6 different brushes and x1 effect tool)


Finally - 

I got a couple sets of dice, tape measure, wound trackers,  data cards, tactical cards, all of the Indexes, x2 Rule Books, the Space Marine Codex, as well as a full set of battlefoam. I made a ton of custom foam to match, literally, all of the above, including height, width, and depth, and it all fits inside of the 1050XL bag which I also got. 

I think that is all? 

Any thoughts?