Warhammer 40k Army – Choosing A Faction

So you’ve decided to start a new 40k army. It could be your 1st, 5th or 15th, who knows. But what we do know is you have a choice ahead of you, and it’s probably a choice you want to take some time considering...or buy a load of models in the middle of the night on a whim, it happens to us all…but we at least go in intending to make a sensible decision. So let’s take a look at a few things you might want to consider.

Rule Of Cool

This is the golden rule. If this rule applies you can ignore all the others, because if you’re collecting an army you think is awesome, nothing else matters. There are many things that can attract you to an army. Visuals, rules, lore etc. Whatever it is, if you fall in love with an army, your choice is made. Simple!

Remember that if you love an army but hate the colourings (I personally can’t stand golden Custodian Guard), you can paint your army however you like.

Playstyle

Most people tend to play games a certain way, be that through stealth and cunning, defence and strategy, or just smashing things as hard as they can. You’ll likely know which one you favour, so try and keep that in mind when picking an army, as they all play differently.

For example, Space Marine chapters are pretty versatile style wise, so you can go any way you want. The Imperial Guard throw lots of ‘cannon fodder’ at opponents while blasting them with big guns. Necrons are a ponderous shooty army that don’t stay dead, and Tau are more of a stand and fire battleline army, bringing the most guns to bear.

Time Investment

This hobby requires a fair amount of time investment, but not everyone can spend countless hours building and painting models, let alone gaming. So know what time you want to commit to it going in. If you have plenty of time, then go for whatever army you want, but if you’re short on time, maybe pick one of the more elite armies. That way there are less models to build and paint. Custodes are a good example, and the elite of elite are the Imperial Knights, where one model is almost an army in itself.

Cost Investment

I won’t beat around the bush. Games Workshop models are expensive. That is generally because they are excellent quality and a lot of effort has gone into creating them and fitting them in the overall universe, but it does mean for us that our bank accounts might not thank us if we don’t keep things under control.

The best advice I can give is, know how much you want to allocate to this hobby and stick to it. To that end, you might want to factor in how much certain armies cost compared to others. For example, again because they are elite armies, Custodes and Knights are the cheapest. Whereas Astra Militarum, Orkz and Tyranids are the most expensive because they are horde armies.

Also, pro tip, buy from a reseller like Zatu, not from GW directly. You’ll usually get a considerable discount!