Which faction to choose and why?

[Del K]

Hi,

My 10 yr old was introduced to Warhammer 40k in September at an after school club. 6 months in and he’s completely hooked. He’s exploring the different factions and choosing models he likes the look of. Currently has tyranids, death guard, space marines, necrons and chaos space marines. His ultimate favourite though is the death guard faction. 
I, his mother, am being encouraged to participate in the campaigns with him however I can’t decide which faction of my own to choose. I don’t have much time to build & paint a huge faction but if I’m going to play with him, I want to win, lol. Apparently he has a ~2,000 point army which includes a Mortarion daemon primarch of Nurgle and tells me I should be worried.
I’ve done some looking at the local store and like the look of the thousand sons, blood angels and Adeptus custodes. Can anyone please advise which faction I should collect and why?
Thank you in advance for sharing your expertise. 
Del. 

[crimsondave]

Of the the ones you mentioned you like I would vote Custodes for no other reason than they are so easy to paint.  Spray prime black and dry brush gold and your 90% done.  If you decide you want to get fancy with the paint, Custodes can be dolled up a ton. Custodes are also one of the cheaper armies.  2 Custodes Combat Patrols, Trajan Valoris, and another box of some type of Custodes infantry unit and your probably close to 2000 points under $500.  They are points expensive models so you don’t need many models.

Also, unless something has changed recently I’ve missed, beating Death Guard with Custodes is not difficult.

 

Edit:  Sorry, forgot the “Welcome to B&C.”

 

Edited February 25, 2023 by crimsondave

[tychobi]

I play a lot of death guard it's a fantastic faction. Just did a live stream beating up on the new Desolators on Playontabletop. My Mortarion + drone focused army is deeply feared in my area. Custodes are tough but struggle a bit vs -1 damage and Morty cuts em up something fierce. To provide another idea that enjoys much of the same benefits of Custodes in terms of model count and straight forward painting I suggest Knights. Chaos or Imperial either flavor works and would provide a powerful foe to overcome and prepare learning players for the wild world of Warhammer 40k. Good luck n have fun!

[Special Officer Doofy]

4 hours ago, crimsondave said:

Also, unless something has changed recently I’ve missed, beating Death Guard with Custodes is not difficult.

 

Custodes is one of the few factions I never lose to as Death Guard. Their whole army is 2 damage and DG's disgustingly resilient is a hard counter to that (-1D).

 

I recommend you play whatever you think looks coolest, rules come and go, same with the power shift between factions. But yes custodes are easy to paint and one of the cheaper armies. But thousand sons do better against death guard then blood angels or custodes. I say this as a DG primary player with over 5k points of DG.

[crimsondave]

I was just looking at the GW released win rates that had Custodes near the top and DG in the lower half.  I don’t play either so I can’t speak from experience.

[Special Officer Doofy]

20 hours ago, crimsondave said:

I was just looking at the GW released win rates that had Custodes near the top and DG in the lower half.  I don’t play either so I can’t speak from experience.

 

Custodes do much better over all when factoring in other factions, I would never argue that. It's just most of their weapons are all D2 which Death Guard is a hard counter to. Blood angels also have a better win rate than death guard, but death guard has a way to turn off fight first and making it count as if they never charged, which really hurts blood angels. Thousand sons can mortal wound spam DG because they lost their 5+++ and have no defenses against them.

[Jolemai]

Welcome to the B&C 

 

Given your time constraints, perhaps the Custodes will be the better choice as they are a more elite force (so less models). However, it really depends what you want to do and how you want to play. If melee appeals, then go for Blood Angels. Durability, the Custodes. Lots of magic, then Thousand Sons. Hope you find something you like