Basic Army Theory for Warhammer 40K

Playing Warhammer 40K

While this was written with Warhammer 40K players in mind, it holds true for any wargame, whether it be WARMACHINE, The Lord of the Rings, or any other minatures war game. So here we go. . .

When you get into a table top miniature war game, your army is a big investment in time, money, and effort. To help out, here’s a few tips for new Warhammer 40k players to help you get started on the right foot.

Learn The Rules.

Obtain the main book and your codex of choice. Take time to read both of them thoroughly before you start building an army. When you pretty well know how it's supposed to all work, it makes it much easier to put together a decent starting force.

Pick what you like.

It sounds obvious, but as you’re designing your army list, start with models you like. Think about it. If you buy models you don't really like, you won’t be as motivated to get them built and painted, and you probably won’t enjoy fielding them as much. Since the vast majority of units in 40K can be made useful, just pick out a few favorites you just gotta have, and go on from there.Start with something that will deal with all the main types of enemy.

That would be heavy infantry (like Space Marine Terminators), horde infantry (like ork boyz), Psykers (like Chaos Marine Sorcerers), light tanks (like Eldar Vypers), and heavy tanks (like Necron Monoliths). It doesn't matter if you deal with them at range or up close, just be able to kill it. Once you’ve got at least 1 thing to do that, find 1 or 2 more that can pull it off in a pinch, preferably one of your other existing units. You don’t want to be crippled when just 1 squad gets plastered.Cover the mission objectives.

At this point you can kill most enemies, and that covers 2 out of the 6 basic missions. Now you need to make sure you have a few units that can take and hold objectives. Doing that will keep you covered for the other 4 basic missions.

Use proxy first, buy later.

With list in hand, try to proxy it with stuff you have handy before shelling out the dough. Make sure you like it by playing a couple of games first. Try tweaking it a few times. After you feel like you’ve got a decent start, make the plunge and start collecting that army. And who knows, maybe I’ll see you on the battlefield!

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