Wargaming: How to get started playing Warhammer 40k?

A small gaming store opened up near my house a few months ago and they have a huge wargaming following. I've been watching the matches for a couple weekends now and I was thinking of trying to get started playing Warhammer 40k but I am a bit overwhelmed. The store owner recommended that I buy the The Battle for Macragge Boxed Set ($50) to get started but I found a couple ebay auctions for a couple 1000+ point armies for not much more money.

So, does anyone have any tips on getting started? I've read how expensive it is to get started with miniature wargaming so I guess I'm trying to find the best deal for my gaming dollar to get started.

Any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

1. Win the lotto
2. Divorce wife
3.
4. Profit!

I can think up at least a dozen better ways to spend that sort of disposable income.

Start when you're ten. Quit during puberty.

Lock, the frustrating/stupid part about that game is that you're usually required to own the figures to use them, so it can be a very expensive habit.

I'd suggest finding people who don't take it too seriously and using paper counters for awhile to find out if you REALLY like it, before sinking all that money in.

Just don't.

Buy Dawn of War instead.

I'm serious.

yeah seriously.. Dawn of War..

I like GW's franchises but their actual games and those stupid figurines are insano.

Pick an army that you like the look and feel of, and just start small and expand. I used to have much more fun actually painting the figures than playing with them. I have 3 1000ish point armies, (Marines, Dark Eldar and Necron) and I think i've only played 2 or 3 actual games. But thats mostly because none of my friends were into it, and I dont really like the idea of just going into a game store and playing strangers, most of those types i'd feel uncomfortable standing around for a couple of hours...

I wouldn't buy the Battle for Macragge set if I were you. I work as an Outrider here in Northern Europe and have a decent amount of info stored. The Macragge set includes a few models you'll probably never use, a cliff-notes version of the rulebook and a few things like dice and measuring sticks.

If I were you I'd decide which army you would like to play first, then start out slow. I have no idea what floats your boat, but the Eldar have just gotten a new edition of rules and now wouldn't be a bad time to pick those up. If space elfs aren't your things though, don't go for them.

Tell me a little what you think and I'll give you some info on what you can do.

Go Tau man. They have the space pope.

Agemmon wrote:

I wouldn't buy the Battle for Macragge set if I were you. I work as an Outrider here in Northern Europe and have a decent amount of info stored. The Macragge set includes a few models you'll probably never use, a cliff-notes version of the rulebook and a few things like dice and measuring sticks.

I got BfM for my 13 year old brother for Christmas. I'd say start with the next step up.

Of course, there's always Dawn of War, as HPL said.

Mr E.B. Slugworth wrote:

Go Tau man. They have the space pope.

No they don't! This is the space pope!

IMAGE(http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/Drillin/124861108_059dea7993_m.jpg)

In order to enjoy WH40K it helps to have the following:

  • Lots of disposable income
  • Lots of spare time
  • Desire to paint lots of minis exactly the same
  • 5+ similarly invested friends who also play -or- a willingness to suffer whining 13 year old boys
  • Cyclical readiness to start over from scratch whenever GW decides to rewrite the rules and make your old figures obsolete

This may sound cautioning because it is. I've got to hand it to GW, their marketing efforts are exceedingly effective. They present their games in unachievably great light. I still pick up an occasional White Dwarf magazine to bask in the pristine projection of what they're promoting. Then I put it down and play a different game.

Anecdote 1: Back in college I played Space Marine which I believe is now called Epic 40K (6mm plastic figures five per base). I had a huge Eldar army that was painstakingly painted over two years (and won a few awards). A few years later they came out with a new rule set and minis. The old minis were on square bases and were situated like the five dots on a die. The new ones had rectangular bases where the five figures were in one row. As my figures couldn't be re-based, they were officially useless.

Anecdote 2: I had a Necromunda gang (40K skirmish game) and brought it to a GW store to play. When I fielded it, I said that the figure with the heavy bolter represents a plasma gun. They disallowed it because they had this inane policy that if you want to have a certain weapon, you need to have a model with that weapon. At first I thought it was just a terrible way of trying to squeeze every dime out of their customers. But what's funny is that they didn't even make a model with that weapon at the time even though the rules allowed that configuration. So it turns out it was just GW-sanctioned a**holery.

Crouton wrote:

In order to enjoy WH40K it helps to have the following:

  • Lots of disposable income
  • Lots of spare time
  • Desire to paint lots of minis exactly the same
  • 5+ similarly invested friends who also play -or- a willingness to suffer whining 13 year old boys
  • Cyclical readiness to start over from scratch whenever GW decides to rewrite the rules and make your old figures obsolete

[...]
Anecdote 2: I had a Necromunda gang (40K skirmish game) and brought it to a GW store to play. When I fielded it, I said that the figure with the heavy bolter represents a plasma gun. They disallowed it because they had this inane policy that if you want to have a certain weapon, you need to have a model with that weapon. At first I thought it was just a terrible way of trying to squeeze every dime out of their customers. But what's funny is that they didn't even make a model with that weapon at the time even though the rules allowed that configuration. So it turns out it was just GW-sanctioned a**holery.

I understand exactly where you're coming from, Crouton. I think everybody who has played at least one GW game does.

I really love the setting, the stories and the strategy, but I was never one for the finely painted miniatures and the hours & hours it took to play.
Necromunda was better and I think I would still play, but without people (who aren't GWhores) to play with on a regular basis...

So, now I stick to Dawn of War and the 40k fiction. And the occasional daydream about what it would be like to build a new army, until the reality of it comes crashing back into my head.

Another thing to know about Games Workshop is that generally speaking the quality of their games is inversely proportional to their profitability. Space Hulk, Blood Bowl, Necromunda, Man O War, even Talisman all have far better rulesets, affordability and fun-factors than WH Fantasy or 40K.

Good call crouton. I got started playing Space Hulk. Having that all painted out and on display was like having a fine chess set on display... but much more geeky. That game is hard, relatively easy to pick up and put down, and the figures can be used in traditional Space Marine armies. I'd start there.

My dream is to paint miniatures as a hobby when I retire, but playing with them is another matter. What I mean to say is if you're not into making the armies look good you will probably loose steam in a few months. Don't even get me started on scenery...

If only they made a digital version of the table top game.

thewanderer14 wrote:

I got started playing Space Hulk. Having that all painted out and on display was like having a fine chess set on display... but much more geeky.

Yes. Even geekier than a LotR chess set. I'd love to see pictures if you have them.

thewanderer14 wrote:

My dream is to paint miniatures as a hobby when I retire, but playing with them is another matter.

Same here. I started to do it again last year after a 5 year hiatus. Painting minis is therapeutic for me. I setup the table with all the accoutrements, put on some good music, and have at it. While I have a great appreciation for well painted armies, I've decided that I only have the time for single minis.

On a tangentially related note, during our courtship phase, my now-wife painted a genestealer in a wooing effort. It worked.

On a tangentially related note, during our courtship phase, my now-wife painted a genestealer in a wooing effort. It worked.

I love that story.

Totally agree about the inverse GW rule. I love Blood Bowl, very fun game, i think i have all the teams somewhere, grabbed from a store going out of business. I'm up for a game anytime. But not a title that appeals to the ladies.

Do any of you play Flames of War. It's a WW2 miniture game, turned out to be alot cheaper for me than my Wh40k army. The best representation of a table top game on the computer was the Combat mission games. If they would make a warhammer game using that style, I would be in Geek heaven.

Crouton wrote:

On a tangentially related note, during our courtship phase, my now-wife painted a genestealer in a wooing effort. It worked.

My ex-wife was a genestealer!

Thank you, folks, I'll be here all week.

I still love Warhammer and 40K. Here's my advice:

Don't get into it if you don't like painting.

Don't buy starter sets -- buy a few of the books and decide what you think is cool.

I'm a fan of tyranids -- while they CAN be complex, you can make very simple, pretty effective armies and you can basically just basecoat and drybrush and they look pretty damn cool.

Another thing to think about is how much you want to play vs. how much you want to paint. GW games tend to reward painting lots of figures -- big surprise. Something like Warmachine can involve a LOT less painting, and is a heckuva fun game in its own right.

Last, if you just want to get into the GW rule systems and play a fun game, download the rules to Mordheim and buy a bunch of stuff for it (warhammer figs) -- its a really fun system, its free, and its small, and it plays well in an hour.

I'm still undecided what I'm going to do but thanks for the alternative ideas and a look into some of the details that make this such an expensive hobby. The Flames of War game is also being played at the store so maybe I'll check that out too before I jump in.

As far as 40k army selection I was leaning towards a Space Marine or Necron army based on what I've read on the various websites.

Don't get into it if you don't like painting.

See, that's the one thing that I'm going to hate about miniature gaming that I keep hearing over & over again. I have some spinal nerve damage from a bad fall I had as a kid that affects small precision movements in my hands. Playing videogames and generally living my life isn't a problem, but working on miniatures and starship models in the past has been a total disaster. That's one of the reasons why I was thinking of buying an army off of eBay (possibly pre-painted) just to get in and get started. I figure worst case scenario, I hate the game and take the financial hit to resell it.

You guys have given me a lot to think about now. Between getting back into Magic:TG and my 360 I already have two rather expensive hobbies and I'm definately rethinking picking up a third now. Thanks again everyone for the advice and the jokes.

I had two 2k point armies in warhammer fantasy once - all I have now is a Minotaur warlord and a spawn of chaos. I never even got to play the game - by the time I felt like playing a game with it, all my friends had quit long before.

Lock, keep an eye out for two things coming out this year; the new Starship Troopers Miniatures game (written by ex-GW dude Andy Chambers, He helped craft W40k through its many cycles), and Battlefield Evolution, both from Mongoose. They both have pre-painted minis. The word i've heard on Starship Troopers is that it's a pretty good game system, i'm looking forward to trying it out.

Battlefield Evolution is starting to appear on shelves now.

Plus, for the number of minis, both are likely to be cheaper than a pre-painted W40k army will run you.

She's a cruel mistress but I loves me my Warhammer. I will second Crouton on the painting aspect of the hobby as it was a big part of my decision to get into it. There are alot of ways to achieve decent results without becoming a painting guru (dipping being the main one) so if that is a concern then I wouldn't let that stop you.

If you're going prepaints, serious, go buy heroscape. It's an exceptionally good minis system once you get past the box art. It's as strategic as warhammer (perhaps more so, as the draft system makes for really interesting gamesmanship) and the minis are pretty damned good for how much they cost.

But I imagine some of the allure here is going to a local store and having folks to play with. In that case, buying prepaints is really your only option.

Agree, Heroscape is more for your money, too. Plus, you'll be able to pit Robots and Zombies vs. superheroes.

My advice: buy the pertinent rulebooks. Then buy some cheap card or sturdy paper and cut out shapes of the appropriate sizes (mainly circles for 40K, and parallelograms for Fantasy). Write on each piece of card what unit it's supposed to be; I recommend dotting each unit type with a different colored marker, so that you can quickly assess which units are which. Cut out similar rough shapes to function as terrain, and indicate on each whether it's half cover, full cover, etc. Enjoy the game.

This advice comes from a former avid Fantasy player, who now refuses ever to spend another dime or another hour on all the minutiae so carefully engineered by Games Workshop to convince you that your passion equals their profit.

Lobo,

While I agree with the premise, I disagree with the result. If I want to simply play a solid miniatures wargame without regard for the feel and flair, there are vastly better miniatures rules out there than GW ones.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE good abstract games, it's just not the point of playing minis to me. Minis games to me are as much about storytelling and the spectacle as they are about the game. Maybe more so.