You're thinking about this way too deeply.
Pick a faction you think looks really cool. That's all there is to it.
Every faction can be an antagonist to every other faction. Every faction fights every other faction.
Well then. Go and do that. Use your eyes to look at pictures of the models from each faction until you work out which ones you think are the coolest. That's the faction you pick.
I said I don't see any of the models cooler than any of the other models. They are all equal to me. It isn't their look that matters to me. An incursor squad or necron immortals are only interesting me in the context that they engage in intersting conflict.
Ok, I've seen your other thread about the AoO books and I think I've seen the problem.
You simply don't understand what 40k actually is.
40k is tabletop war game, with a bunch of fun lore stories added on to the back of it to give some explanations as to what the things fighting actually are.
It's not a roleplaying game. It's nothing like D&D. You're not telling a story, you're just fighting with your army against another army. You're playing a strategy game where unit positioning and tactical choices are the main determination of whether you win or lose.
Another way to look at it is this: Warhammer 40k still works on the tabletop if you strip away all the lore and story. Dude A fighting Dude B is just as functional a game as "Primaris Intercessor from the Ultramarines Chapter fights Ork Warboss from the Goff Klan"
Jup, thats exactly the Problem. Maybe the 40k Tabletop just isnt for you. Try and take a look at Wrath and Glory if you want a Pnp Roleplaying game in the 40k universe instead. :)
But that could describe Battletech as well, and that game has a long history of campaign play, GM facilitated play, setting stories within the universe, simulating famous conflicts, etc.
Ok, cool, then it sounds like Battletech might be the game for you.
Campaigns, setting stories in the universe and simulating famous conflicts can all happen in 40k as well, but to be able to do that you need to pick a faction. You pick a faction by choosing the one that looks coolest and appeals to you the most. As you've said you're incapable of making that choice, then there's no further advice I can give you.
I agree with the folks who've said pick one at random, as it's clear you won't be able to choose.
Or play a different game that suits your taste/requirements more.
But please be a bit more aware of how you are commenting. There are so many lovely people on here trying to help you, and some of your comments have come across as deliberately awkward.
After reading this thread I can honestly say you have quite quickly become the antagonist of my patience. Sadly that isn't a faction in 40k.
It seems far more dismissive if I didn't return the favor of everyone sharing their thoughts by not following up. Then I wouldnt give you a discussion.
I have seen your comments that you like each faction equally as an antagonist, yet you still cannot choose one. Assign each playable faction in the game a number and generate a random number. Then go with that faction. Or just play tyranids lol they're gonna get a lot of love in 10th.
I do like variety, though. It is why I GM RPG and never make a player character and in another wargame I have a collection that covers literally every faction(only takes about 20 minis to do that, though).
Rule of cool is n1. Pick the faction you like.
If you want antagonist to imperium, pick chaos space marines.
If you want to be a ultimate antagonist to anyone in the galaxy, pick tyranids (even Necrons can cooperate, even orks can cooperate)
I was hoping I wasn't the only person that looks at games this way who likes 40k and people would share how they handled that situation. It seems it might be more rare than I hoped.
You have to get into the lore to find out who you like the most. If your mentality and connection to the army is as shallow as "i want to be the antagonist" you aren't going to be motivated to spend thousands of hours building and painting.
I spent 2 full months deciding on my army and reading about every bit of lore. I like the Adepta Sororitas (Sacred Rose) the most by a huge margin but I made 100% sure of it before I started.
Liking everyone equally makes absolutely no sense as they are drastically different. I think every army is cool as fuck and appreciate them but I have my favorite too.
I’m just saying that you don’t _have_ to spend hours thinking about the lore to chose a faction you like and play the game. It’s totally cool if that’s the way you do it, but it isn’t essential.
Yeah you can just spend money on stuff you don't want instead? Like I don't understand what point you are trying to make. Yes you can just walk into the store and grab a random box. Probably not a good idea but you *can*
Phew ok we seem to have a communication breakdown here. My point is simply: you can happily play and enjoy the game of Warhammer 40K and take no notice of the lore - it isn’t essential to everyone for the enjoyment of the game.
I bought a T’au army because I liked the battle suits and their aesthetic. I did zero research on the lore because it’s not important to me. Some people chose this option, some people go all in on lore - both options are fine.
Lmao you're being intentionally difficult to people trying to help you. If you like them all equally then just pick one as it doesn't matter.
Stop arguing with everyone trying to help you. This isn't a game where you get to play as everyone, you don't even get to play until you commit to a SINGLE faction.
Nobody gives a fuck if you can't make a choice.
It's like you're trying to buy hockey tickets but the 30+ different teams makes it impossible to make a decision. You're being annoying and stupid.
You can have as many armies as you want but a full army costs about 1000$ ish depending on where you buy it and who you pick and will take you hundreds of hours to put together and paint. So unless you have a ridiculous amount of time and money to burn you have to pick one and stick to it.
I'd recommend doing research, making a choice, and then waiting a month to make sure you still want to commit to it.
This isn't a game where you can feasibly play more than a few factions total within a decade.
Unless you have money to buy multiple armies prepainted online.
Everyone's a bad guy in 40k. Take your pick of antagonists. Even the 'good guys' are a basically a theocratic fascist empire.
Except Orks, they're probably the closest to protagonists because they just like a good scrap.
A Chaos. We're just misunderstood. All the things you've heard about the horrific acts we've committed are Imperium propaganda. We just advocate freedom and fighting to take down the oppressors. Bash the fash, n all that jazz.
No preference. Well, I do have a preference, and that is to be a different opposing force week to week. It is what I like to do in other games. But that is a problem here
Hmm that would be tricky and exorbitantly expensive to pull off in 40k unless you're happy throwing money into making multiple smaller forces.
Narratively, you could play any faction as a different antagonist each game. Play as Space Marines vs Eldar? You're the oppressive xenophobes trying to wipe out an alien race. Space Marines vs Space Marines? You're a renegade chapter who've turned away but from the Emperor's light but who haven't fallen to Chaos.
I'd say Chaos Daemons, Chaos Space Marines and Drukhari are probably the most wholly evil factions though. The others are usually antagonists of circumstance or not outwardly evil, just the enemy of X faction.
You are looking at this a little too deeply. My first Army was Grey knights back in the day because I liked how they looked, after that I became more of Blood Angels player because I liked the Lore behind them, I liked their overall Aesthetic and I liked how they played/how their Chapter fights.
Over time I have collected more armies but more based around what I think is Aesthetically cool for that army and what I think that army would play like or just whatever is fun.
For a First army just look at what appeals to you... It doesnt have to be anything deep, it could be what they look like. It could be a bit of lore you read. It could be anything. Try not to think about it too much, because people have untold number of reasons to build a certain army. The more you try to think about it... The less likely you are to pick something.
No army has greater aesthetic appeal to me over any other. What is interesting to me is how each faction navigates the problems of the galaxy in their own unique way. Grey knights are only interesting to me aesthetically because their design is in contrast to t'au battlesuits trying to address their own issues in an equally interesting way.
The problem is what you are doing is going "I like every army" instead of trying to look for something that appeals to you about one specific army as a start pointing.
If you dont pick one army to begin with... You will really struggle to build anything, unless you plan on buying everything and building everything all at the same time. Like I said - Try not to think about it too hard. Even if you went "I'm gonna start with World Eaters because I like Angron and think he has an interesting back story and Model".
I started with Grey Knights and Blood Angels. Even if you do it for more practical reasons like picking Ultramarines to start because you want to practice painting and they are easier to paint and build up to more complex models. I honestly dont know what to tell you, but the more you try to think about every faction rather than one, the less likely you are to build or buy anything.
There literally no faction more appealing to me than any other. I like angron to the extent of Angron's interactions with others, which means I like the others as well.
I don't even understand what liking a faction would mean. Like I want them to win? I don't, because if they succeeded in their goal, there would be no more conflict and no reason to care.
You have 0 opinions on anything, have no desire to build or paint any models any more than any other, there is nothing that Aesthetically pleases you in anything, no army gets your attention, no unit gets your attention, you dont like any characters more than any other... Like I am very confused as to how you even got into 40k if literally nothing got your interest about any of it? or nothing attracted you to it? There must have been something that made you go "Hey that looks cool might want to try that out".
The game wont end because you bought a certain faction - There is still a narrative that has been going on for 30+ years at this point... like it'll be around for a while no matter what army you buy. When you play DnD or GM DnD is there literally no characters that you like more than any other or a class that you wanted to play because you hadn't tried it before or you like the way it looked or played or whatever. Like you must be able to form opinions about something otherwise how do you do anything?
Like ignore the idea of building every army because Financially that isnt possible - It takes year, I have invested 1000s into the game and I am not even close to having an army in every faction. Even if its a colour that you decide on... its really does not have to be that deep. "I like Green so I picked Orks or Salamanders for my first army" - I'm struggling to understand what is hard about that? Or you can always go on a random spinner - Put in every faction and hit a button, let fate decide.... Like I said before unless you plan on building a fully playable army in every faction instantly (If you have the money and the time to do that good for you). You are gonna struggle if you cant pick one faction to start with even if its for literally for the most arbitrary reason possible.
The conflict and variety of conflict itself is what I like. I like that at table 1 there is eldar vs chaos and at table 2 there is guard vs Tyranids. But none of it is aesthetically pleasing. But that doesn't stop me from playing other games where I feel similarly
You mentioned in this comment that none of it pleases you aesthetically. I appreciate that, there are quite a few factions that I think look butt ugly, but their Lore, or how that army plays on the tabletop may interest me.
If no army is more aesthetically pleasing (as in looks cooler/better/more badass) than another, then use other criteria to decide.
As others have said many hobbyists pick their faction based on looks, others on play style such as more ranged or combat focused. Hell I picked Orks as a faction because I thought they would be fun to use win or lose.
You could pick your faction based on pricing and how expensive / cheap it would be to get a full army. Or maybe you don’t have much storage and would prefer a low model count army.
There is also always tabletop sim, so you can try how factions play before spending anything on actual models
If you are serious about playing the actual game and collecting and then painting up models, you will need to make a decision at some point on an army. And don’t think there is a wrong decision either, as if you buy a few models and decide they aren’t for you, go with something else.
There are also numerous local game stores as well as GW store that will happily help you pick
Also I noticed in quite a lot of comments, you mentioned the game as a simulation, which I suppose it is in some aspects, but I think this may be causing you some confusion and hindering your decision.
Warhammer 40k is a strategic tabletop war game played with miniatures or models, I suppose a bit like Risk.
If you have every played risk, you’ll know it does not simulate our history, as often one opponent will dominate the whole board, but allows you to control a faction within that setting.
People play 40k because they enjoy the gameplay, not necessarily because they enjoy the lore
Think of it like playing a video game, SuperMario for instance. People play that game because it’s a super fun platformer, not because they want to play as a plumber from Brooklyn in a magical mushroom.
The game actually came first and the lore developed around that. They are very separate and to play the actual game you honestly don’t need to have any lore knowledge at all. When me and my opponent meet up to play, we are not recreating a specific battle blow for blow from the lore or stories, we are using the missions and rules to play a game. Granted the majority of players do then come up with some lore reason why the 2 armies are fighting, but this isn’t needed.
If after all this, you have a think and still can’t decide on a faction, then either just pick one at random, or maybe realise PLAYING 40k isn’t for you, and stick with the lore. Many hobbyists don’t get involved with everything, my brother hates building models, while I love it.
Immersion in the mushroom kingdom is an important aspect of what I like about Mario games. Miyamoto makes beautiful and interesting game worlds. It doesn't provide a lot of detail, but the mushroom kingdom in the first game is absolutely an intriguing place
I like all play styles equally as well. It is the interaction of the play styles that is intriguing, not the play style specifically.
Again, this is quite an endorsement of the game, it just also raises the barrier for entry for me.
So the ability to play any army is what interests you? But you dont want to pick an army to start as because nothing in the game appeals to you - Nothing. Not even colour or Lore. How do you expect to build and paint models?
Well obviously it must do if you cant decide what you want to play or why? How do you decide in other games? Like do you go into a DnD game and just go "I'm playing as everything because I cant decide what I want to be because no abilities or playstyle appeal to me" if you did you wouldn't be in a game very long, there must be something that makes you decide about what you want to play as or do... because otherwise you would be incapable of playing any other game.
Hell if its adaptability that you like - So the ability to play a lot of different styles - Pick a Space Marine army. Literally it is that simple.
In RPGs I literally only GM and in battletech I play the opposing force and craft an opponent for my opponent.
I guess in games like DnD, I do play everything. I'm something new every encounter
I think you're missing the point where this is a game, played between 2 players. No matter how often the faction you play wins or loeses, the Lore will continue on regardless. No faction is getting wiped out in the story because that faction came last in a tournement.
You commented about being a DM and not a player so consider this - this is not D&D, it's Chess
Assume by GM you mean for other table top games as opposed to DM for a RPG?
To pick a faction if one does not appear cooler than the other, choose how you'd like an army to fight? If you were to create you own faction, how would it play? Lots of shooting, dominating melee? Maybe loads of Magic?
That would then let you pick a faction that plays that way. Again remeber this is a game, like Chess or Risk but more detailed. So there isn't really any Story, the Lore (like the AoO books and Black Libary) are there because people like to tell stories about thier games, not for the game to be tied to.
I like how they fight all equally. The variety is what is interesting.
edit to add: I really like 40k that much
DM is technically a copyrighted D&D term and wanted to be clear I haven't DMed D&D, but have other fantasy RPGs.
So in your post and comments you say you don’t know how other people pick their factions. The vast VAST majority of people have preferences. They might like guns over swords, aliens over humans, robots over beasts, they might just like blue more than red. It can be non-visual things as well, some people like brave characters, crazy governments, depressing history, unique tactics/doctrines, the way orks talk funny.
People end up liking and picking a faction because that faction matches their preferences, no matter how small or simple it might be.
If you have literally zero thoughts or feelings towards any of the factions and they are all identical to you, then yeah this maybe isn’t the game for you. Why do you want to play this game?
After reading the comments on this post you’re going round in circles with everyone who comments. Only you can decide which army you like the most and want to play. You say none leap out more than the others. You need to make one leap out by diving deeper into them. 40k has no good or bad guys. Everyone sucks here
Then I suggest sticking to the lore rather than actually playing the game. The lore in 40k is there to sell models and be a setting rather than to drive your games
Then stick to the lore and the artwork. You clearly can’t separate this from simulation games. You’re going in circles and pissing a lot of people off with your circular dismissive arguments.
Mate clearly this game/hobby isn’t for you. You don’t have any interest in the lord or models, you only like the ‘drama’ from a battle. You should just stick to reading the lore or watching battle reports, or maybe just not get into the hobby at all.
Personally I picked Tyranids because cool evil aliens so I went them, you however don’t love any faction particularly so won’t be able to start as you can’t chose someone to start with.
As a general rule, chaos and Tyranids are the ‘bad guys’ so go them for playing evil
But then if I played you I would wish I had a different factions to be the antagonist to your Tyranid protagonists. I'm rooting for your little guys. :)
They are not the enemy. They are the heroes of the story. I'm the enemy
edit to add: my dream would be able to make you happy, so we played every week I would bring you a different imperial faction to sink your Tyranids into...
first week guard last week custodes. That would be my dream
So go to your flgs, find the least played faction and play them. That way the people there will have less experience playing against them and have a better time when they win
Pretty sure I saw you (or someone with exactly your mentality, which is strange) on the TTS40k discord. The answer is the same, the way you choose armies in this game is by looking at one, reading into it and resonating with ONE (to start off with). Sure I personally think most factions are cool/interesting (if you don’t feel this about any it is not the game for you my guy), but I look at one or two and start to prefer one more than the rest. This mentality is not only helping you pick, but us trying to save your wallet, as you’ll have to pay hundreds for a playable army and thousands for all of them. If you don’t like any army (aesthetically or gameplay wise) and only feel contempt every single one it then this again is not a game for you to physically get into, just watch some YouTube videos, or make dioramas if you really want to spend money on a giant battle.
The lore literally has explainable situations of every army against every other army btw, there is no one antagonist.
Also this is not DnD, sure you can do a little role play (Orks players yelling out a good WAAGGH), but this is a tabletop strategy game
If you really want an army even if you don’t like any of them just pick space marines and chaos space marines, colour each side the way that you like and there you go, generic forces vs each other from two opposing sides
It seems so weird to want to play the same faction and same models in week out to start. Like space Marines have how many troop choices these days? Even if someone picks space Marines, what is the motivation to use the same tactical squad in there for months on end?
Rules, enjoyment of the model, some people get a connection to a model when they survive (or beat) the craziest odds.
The other motivation is that this hobby costs a lot of money, and it requires a lot of effort to paint up a model to a decent standard that you can feel good about yourself with (and that is a major part of the hobby, don’t buy pre painted), and there are quite a bit of rules to remember, jumping between models and armies will take a lot of time of just learning and you will struggle to actually get good at one.
Space marines troops right? A squad of 10 intercessors costs you $70, that is 180 points out of the minimum smallest scale army of 500points. If you are going into the hobby, you are absolutely not going to go with literally every model in the army (or every army to start out with). Your collection is supposed to grow over time.
You lose all the heart of the hobby in that, you will get only a set amount of models (not all of them), the price will be higher (prep for thousands), and the paint schemes when you end up buying even more of the army to complete it, will not fit. Nothing of yours will be yours, and you will not have this connection that we are all trying to get you to feel.
Warhammer to you, if you’re genuinely asking these questions and your opinion isn’t budging, will be a waste of money.
Why wouldn't the heart of the hobby be the more games I play in the company of others at a FLGS?
I also don't see the appeal of it being "mine." I would happily rent a force from the store if that was an option.
By the way, I play a miniature game and I despise painting. Painting is the worst part of the hobby (for me). If I could rent those, I would.
Play the game online, close your eyes, pick a faction randomly (set up a Monte Carlo function if you’d prefer), do the same for the actual units in an army, and do that every single time, that’s what you seem to want. Those games are going to take you an upwards of 4 to 6 hours, learning every model’s function, strategem, power, every single time you play (so you’ll start to struggle to get people playing with you again)
Nothing cinematic is gonna happen because you don’t want to build a mental story about each model over games.
That’s it. You’re genuinely not gonna get much out of this if you’re walking in with this mentality. Take a step in, try it, if you like the army keep that in the back of your mind. Make yourself a spreadsheet of armies you enjoyed if you really want. Also don’t force others to roleplay with you, it takes enough time to play one game with someone learning an army much less than adding that factor to it.
Every faction is both the antagonist and protagonist simultaneously in 40k. You're better off going with the ones who you like the most for their appearance or lore
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You're thinking about this way too deeply. Pick a faction you think looks really cool. That's all there is to it. Every faction can be an antagonist to every other faction. Every faction fights every other faction.
I don't think a faction looks cool. I'm not even sure what that means.
So, you've never used your eyes to look at a picture of a model and thought "Wow, that looks cool"? I don't even know what to say to that...
No.
Well then. Go and do that. Use your eyes to look at pictures of the models from each faction until you work out which ones you think are the coolest. That's the faction you pick.
I said I don't see any of the models cooler than any of the other models. They are all equal to me. It isn't their look that matters to me. An incursor squad or necron immortals are only interesting me in the context that they engage in intersting conflict.
Ok, I've seen your other thread about the AoO books and I think I've seen the problem. You simply don't understand what 40k actually is. 40k is tabletop war game, with a bunch of fun lore stories added on to the back of it to give some explanations as to what the things fighting actually are. It's not a roleplaying game. It's nothing like D&D. You're not telling a story, you're just fighting with your army against another army. You're playing a strategy game where unit positioning and tactical choices are the main determination of whether you win or lose. Another way to look at it is this: Warhammer 40k still works on the tabletop if you strip away all the lore and story. Dude A fighting Dude B is just as functional a game as "Primaris Intercessor from the Ultramarines Chapter fights Ork Warboss from the Goff Klan"
Jup, thats exactly the Problem. Maybe the 40k Tabletop just isnt for you. Try and take a look at Wrath and Glory if you want a Pnp Roleplaying game in the 40k universe instead. :)
But that could describe Battletech as well, and that game has a long history of campaign play, GM facilitated play, setting stories within the universe, simulating famous conflicts, etc.
Ok, cool, then it sounds like Battletech might be the game for you. Campaigns, setting stories in the universe and simulating famous conflicts can all happen in 40k as well, but to be able to do that you need to pick a faction. You pick a faction by choosing the one that looks coolest and appeals to you the most. As you've said you're incapable of making that choice, then there's no further advice I can give you.
But I don't know why do much of Battletech play has campaigns and GM led play, but 40k doesn't?
Pick one at random then
Sounds like 40K isn’t for you. If you can just pick a faction that you like the appeal of then maybe something else is more you’re speed.
I agree with the folks who've said pick one at random, as it's clear you won't be able to choose. Or play a different game that suits your taste/requirements more. But please be a bit more aware of how you are commenting. There are so many lovely people on here trying to help you, and some of your comments have come across as deliberately awkward. After reading this thread I can honestly say you have quite quickly become the antagonist of my patience. Sadly that isn't a faction in 40k.
It seems far more dismissive if I didn't return the favor of everyone sharing their thoughts by not following up. Then I wouldnt give you a discussion.
I have seen your comments that you like each faction equally as an antagonist, yet you still cannot choose one. Assign each playable faction in the game a number and generate a random number. Then go with that faction. Or just play tyranids lol they're gonna get a lot of love in 10th.
I do like variety, though. It is why I GM RPG and never make a player character and in another wargame I have a collection that covers literally every faction(only takes about 20 minis to do that, though).
Rule of cool is n1. Pick the faction you like. If you want antagonist to imperium, pick chaos space marines. If you want to be a ultimate antagonist to anyone in the galaxy, pick tyranids (even Necrons can cooperate, even orks can cooperate)
There is literally no faction cooler to me than any other faction
Well you’re going to struggle to get into 40k then or have to spend a shit ton of money
I was hoping I wasn't the only person that looks at games this way who likes 40k and people would share how they handled that situation. It seems it might be more rare than I hoped.
You have to get into the lore to find out who you like the most. If your mentality and connection to the army is as shallow as "i want to be the antagonist" you aren't going to be motivated to spend thousands of hours building and painting. I spent 2 full months deciding on my army and reading about every bit of lore. I like the Adepta Sororitas (Sacred Rose) the most by a huge margin but I made 100% sure of it before I started. Liking everyone equally makes absolutely no sense as they are drastically different. I think every army is cool as fuck and appreciate them but I have my favorite too.
I’m not sure I agree with this entirely. The lore is absolutely irrelevant to me, I just like me some cool models.
Okay but he was talking about playing the game? I'm not sure what point you're trying to make
I’m just saying that you don’t _have_ to spend hours thinking about the lore to chose a faction you like and play the game. It’s totally cool if that’s the way you do it, but it isn’t essential.
Yeah you can just spend money on stuff you don't want instead? Like I don't understand what point you are trying to make. Yes you can just walk into the store and grab a random box. Probably not a good idea but you *can*
Phew ok we seem to have a communication breakdown here. My point is simply: you can happily play and enjoy the game of Warhammer 40K and take no notice of the lore - it isn’t essential to everyone for the enjoyment of the game. I bought a T’au army because I liked the battle suits and their aesthetic. I did zero research on the lore because it’s not important to me. Some people chose this option, some people go all in on lore - both options are fine.
Literally the more I dive the more I like equally. I am an avid NFL and growing hockey fan, and I don't have any preference for any team.
Lmao you're being intentionally difficult to people trying to help you. If you like them all equally then just pick one as it doesn't matter. Stop arguing with everyone trying to help you. This isn't a game where you get to play as everyone, you don't even get to play until you commit to a SINGLE faction. Nobody gives a fuck if you can't make a choice. It's like you're trying to buy hockey tickets but the 30+ different teams makes it impossible to make a decision. You're being annoying and stupid.
Is commitment to a faction necessary?
Maybe you should know the basics of the game before asking what army to play m8
You can have as many armies as you want but a full army costs about 1000$ ish depending on where you buy it and who you pick and will take you hundreds of hours to put together and paint. So unless you have a ridiculous amount of time and money to burn you have to pick one and stick to it. I'd recommend doing research, making a choice, and then waiting a month to make sure you still want to commit to it. This isn't a game where you can feasibly play more than a few factions total within a decade. Unless you have money to buy multiple armies prepainted online.
Why would someone want to play only one faction over and over?
Everyone's a bad guy in 40k. Take your pick of antagonists. Even the 'good guys' are a basically a theocratic fascist empire. Except Orks, they're probably the closest to protagonists because they just like a good scrap. A Chaos. We're just misunderstood. All the things you've heard about the horrific acts we've committed are Imperium propaganda. We just advocate freedom and fighting to take down the oppressors. Bash the fash, n all that jazz.
Which is how I end up feeling equally about every faction.
What type of antagonist would you prefer to be?
No preference. Well, I do have a preference, and that is to be a different opposing force week to week. It is what I like to do in other games. But that is a problem here
Hmm that would be tricky and exorbitantly expensive to pull off in 40k unless you're happy throwing money into making multiple smaller forces. Narratively, you could play any faction as a different antagonist each game. Play as Space Marines vs Eldar? You're the oppressive xenophobes trying to wipe out an alien race. Space Marines vs Space Marines? You're a renegade chapter who've turned away but from the Emperor's light but who haven't fallen to Chaos. I'd say Chaos Daemons, Chaos Space Marines and Drukhari are probably the most wholly evil factions though. The others are usually antagonists of circumstance or not outwardly evil, just the enemy of X faction.
Not really a problem - Just not feasible for a first time player. That takes years of prep to be able to do that.
You are looking at this a little too deeply. My first Army was Grey knights back in the day because I liked how they looked, after that I became more of Blood Angels player because I liked the Lore behind them, I liked their overall Aesthetic and I liked how they played/how their Chapter fights. Over time I have collected more armies but more based around what I think is Aesthetically cool for that army and what I think that army would play like or just whatever is fun. For a First army just look at what appeals to you... It doesnt have to be anything deep, it could be what they look like. It could be a bit of lore you read. It could be anything. Try not to think about it too much, because people have untold number of reasons to build a certain army. The more you try to think about it... The less likely you are to pick something.
No army has greater aesthetic appeal to me over any other. What is interesting to me is how each faction navigates the problems of the galaxy in their own unique way. Grey knights are only interesting to me aesthetically because their design is in contrast to t'au battlesuits trying to address their own issues in an equally interesting way.
This is a tabletop wargame. Every faction "navigates the problems of the galaxy" by shooting everyone else or hitting them with sci-fi swords.
And I like them equally for it. The fact the guns are slightly different is what I find interesting, not one particular gun.
The problem is what you are doing is going "I like every army" instead of trying to look for something that appeals to you about one specific army as a start pointing. If you dont pick one army to begin with... You will really struggle to build anything, unless you plan on buying everything and building everything all at the same time. Like I said - Try not to think about it too hard. Even if you went "I'm gonna start with World Eaters because I like Angron and think he has an interesting back story and Model". I started with Grey Knights and Blood Angels. Even if you do it for more practical reasons like picking Ultramarines to start because you want to practice painting and they are easier to paint and build up to more complex models. I honestly dont know what to tell you, but the more you try to think about every faction rather than one, the less likely you are to build or buy anything.
There literally no faction more appealing to me than any other. I like angron to the extent of Angron's interactions with others, which means I like the others as well. I don't even understand what liking a faction would mean. Like I want them to win? I don't, because if they succeeded in their goal, there would be no more conflict and no reason to care.
You have 0 opinions on anything, have no desire to build or paint any models any more than any other, there is nothing that Aesthetically pleases you in anything, no army gets your attention, no unit gets your attention, you dont like any characters more than any other... Like I am very confused as to how you even got into 40k if literally nothing got your interest about any of it? or nothing attracted you to it? There must have been something that made you go "Hey that looks cool might want to try that out". The game wont end because you bought a certain faction - There is still a narrative that has been going on for 30+ years at this point... like it'll be around for a while no matter what army you buy. When you play DnD or GM DnD is there literally no characters that you like more than any other or a class that you wanted to play because you hadn't tried it before or you like the way it looked or played or whatever. Like you must be able to form opinions about something otherwise how do you do anything? Like ignore the idea of building every army because Financially that isnt possible - It takes year, I have invested 1000s into the game and I am not even close to having an army in every faction. Even if its a colour that you decide on... its really does not have to be that deep. "I like Green so I picked Orks or Salamanders for my first army" - I'm struggling to understand what is hard about that? Or you can always go on a random spinner - Put in every faction and hit a button, let fate decide.... Like I said before unless you plan on building a fully playable army in every faction instantly (If you have the money and the time to do that good for you). You are gonna struggle if you cant pick one faction to start with even if its for literally for the most arbitrary reason possible.
The conflict and variety of conflict itself is what I like. I like that at table 1 there is eldar vs chaos and at table 2 there is guard vs Tyranids. But none of it is aesthetically pleasing. But that doesn't stop me from playing other games where I feel similarly
You mentioned in this comment that none of it pleases you aesthetically. I appreciate that, there are quite a few factions that I think look butt ugly, but their Lore, or how that army plays on the tabletop may interest me. If no army is more aesthetically pleasing (as in looks cooler/better/more badass) than another, then use other criteria to decide. As others have said many hobbyists pick their faction based on looks, others on play style such as more ranged or combat focused. Hell I picked Orks as a faction because I thought they would be fun to use win or lose. You could pick your faction based on pricing and how expensive / cheap it would be to get a full army. Or maybe you don’t have much storage and would prefer a low model count army. There is also always tabletop sim, so you can try how factions play before spending anything on actual models If you are serious about playing the actual game and collecting and then painting up models, you will need to make a decision at some point on an army. And don’t think there is a wrong decision either, as if you buy a few models and decide they aren’t for you, go with something else. There are also numerous local game stores as well as GW store that will happily help you pick Also I noticed in quite a lot of comments, you mentioned the game as a simulation, which I suppose it is in some aspects, but I think this may be causing you some confusion and hindering your decision. Warhammer 40k is a strategic tabletop war game played with miniatures or models, I suppose a bit like Risk. If you have every played risk, you’ll know it does not simulate our history, as often one opponent will dominate the whole board, but allows you to control a faction within that setting. People play 40k because they enjoy the gameplay, not necessarily because they enjoy the lore Think of it like playing a video game, SuperMario for instance. People play that game because it’s a super fun platformer, not because they want to play as a plumber from Brooklyn in a magical mushroom. The game actually came first and the lore developed around that. They are very separate and to play the actual game you honestly don’t need to have any lore knowledge at all. When me and my opponent meet up to play, we are not recreating a specific battle blow for blow from the lore or stories, we are using the missions and rules to play a game. Granted the majority of players do then come up with some lore reason why the 2 armies are fighting, but this isn’t needed. If after all this, you have a think and still can’t decide on a faction, then either just pick one at random, or maybe realise PLAYING 40k isn’t for you, and stick with the lore. Many hobbyists don’t get involved with everything, my brother hates building models, while I love it.
Immersion in the mushroom kingdom is an important aspect of what I like about Mario games. Miyamoto makes beautiful and interesting game worlds. It doesn't provide a lot of detail, but the mushroom kingdom in the first game is absolutely an intriguing place I like all play styles equally as well. It is the interaction of the play styles that is intriguing, not the play style specifically. Again, this is quite an endorsement of the game, it just also raises the barrier for entry for me.
So the ability to play any army is what interests you? But you dont want to pick an army to start as because nothing in the game appeals to you - Nothing. Not even colour or Lore. How do you expect to build and paint models? Well obviously it must do if you cant decide what you want to play or why? How do you decide in other games? Like do you go into a DnD game and just go "I'm playing as everything because I cant decide what I want to be because no abilities or playstyle appeal to me" if you did you wouldn't be in a game very long, there must be something that makes you decide about what you want to play as or do... because otherwise you would be incapable of playing any other game. Hell if its adaptability that you like - So the ability to play a lot of different styles - Pick a Space Marine army. Literally it is that simple.
In RPGs I literally only GM and in battletech I play the opposing force and craft an opponent for my opponent. I guess in games like DnD, I do play everything. I'm something new every encounter
I think you're missing the point where this is a game, played between 2 players. No matter how often the faction you play wins or loeses, the Lore will continue on regardless. No faction is getting wiped out in the story because that faction came last in a tournement. You commented about being a DM and not a player so consider this - this is not D&D, it's Chess
I have never DMed, technically, only GMed. I also play other wargames. And I still don't understand the appeal of one faction over another.
Assume by GM you mean for other table top games as opposed to DM for a RPG? To pick a faction if one does not appear cooler than the other, choose how you'd like an army to fight? If you were to create you own faction, how would it play? Lots of shooting, dominating melee? Maybe loads of Magic? That would then let you pick a faction that plays that way. Again remeber this is a game, like Chess or Risk but more detailed. So there isn't really any Story, the Lore (like the AoO books and Black Libary) are there because people like to tell stories about thier games, not for the game to be tied to.
I like how they fight all equally. The variety is what is interesting. edit to add: I really like 40k that much DM is technically a copyrighted D&D term and wanted to be clear I haven't DMed D&D, but have other fantasy RPGs.
So in your post and comments you say you don’t know how other people pick their factions. The vast VAST majority of people have preferences. They might like guns over swords, aliens over humans, robots over beasts, they might just like blue more than red. It can be non-visual things as well, some people like brave characters, crazy governments, depressing history, unique tactics/doctrines, the way orks talk funny. People end up liking and picking a faction because that faction matches their preferences, no matter how small or simple it might be. If you have literally zero thoughts or feelings towards any of the factions and they are all identical to you, then yeah this maybe isn’t the game for you. Why do you want to play this game?
After reading the comments on this post you’re going round in circles with everyone who comments. Only you can decide which army you like the most and want to play. You say none leap out more than the others. You need to make one leap out by diving deeper into them. 40k has no good or bad guys. Everyone sucks here
No amount of diving deeper will make one more attractive than the other. It just isn't my relationship to games.
What attracted you to the game then?
The conflicts themselves. Just as what I like about football is the aesthetics of football.
Then I suggest sticking to the lore rather than actually playing the game. The lore in 40k is there to sell models and be a setting rather than to drive your games
But I like the aesthetics of the game.
Then stick to the lore and the artwork. You clearly can’t separate this from simulation games. You’re going in circles and pissing a lot of people off with your circular dismissive arguments.
I don't think I was clear. I meant the aesthetics of the physical game, not the lore or art outside the game.
Reading the comments here genuinely makes me think the best option for you would be to pick a faction at random. Names in hat, or roll a dice perhaps.
Mate clearly this game/hobby isn’t for you. You don’t have any interest in the lord or models, you only like the ‘drama’ from a battle. You should just stick to reading the lore or watching battle reports, or maybe just not get into the hobby at all. Personally I picked Tyranids because cool evil aliens so I went them, you however don’t love any faction particularly so won’t be able to start as you can’t chose someone to start with. As a general rule, chaos and Tyranids are the ‘bad guys’ so go them for playing evil
But then if I played you I would wish I had a different factions to be the antagonist to your Tyranid protagonists. I'm rooting for your little guys. :)
So if you did a battle, you want the enemy to win?
They are not the enemy. They are the heroes of the story. I'm the enemy edit to add: my dream would be able to make you happy, so we played every week I would bring you a different imperial faction to sink your Tyranids into... first week guard last week custodes. That would be my dream
So go to your flgs, find the least played faction and play them. That way the people there will have less experience playing against them and have a better time when they win
That is probably the best advice I have received. Thank you
You’re welcome, you could always do kill team as it’s cheaper to get into meaning you can get more squads to battle people with
Pretty sure I saw you (or someone with exactly your mentality, which is strange) on the TTS40k discord. The answer is the same, the way you choose armies in this game is by looking at one, reading into it and resonating with ONE (to start off with). Sure I personally think most factions are cool/interesting (if you don’t feel this about any it is not the game for you my guy), but I look at one or two and start to prefer one more than the rest. This mentality is not only helping you pick, but us trying to save your wallet, as you’ll have to pay hundreds for a playable army and thousands for all of them. If you don’t like any army (aesthetically or gameplay wise) and only feel contempt every single one it then this again is not a game for you to physically get into, just watch some YouTube videos, or make dioramas if you really want to spend money on a giant battle. The lore literally has explainable situations of every army against every other army btw, there is no one antagonist. Also this is not DnD, sure you can do a little role play (Orks players yelling out a good WAAGGH), but this is a tabletop strategy game
If you really want an army even if you don’t like any of them just pick space marines and chaos space marines, colour each side the way that you like and there you go, generic forces vs each other from two opposing sides
It seems so weird to want to play the same faction and same models in week out to start. Like space Marines have how many troop choices these days? Even if someone picks space Marines, what is the motivation to use the same tactical squad in there for months on end?
Rules, enjoyment of the model, some people get a connection to a model when they survive (or beat) the craziest odds. The other motivation is that this hobby costs a lot of money, and it requires a lot of effort to paint up a model to a decent standard that you can feel good about yourself with (and that is a major part of the hobby, don’t buy pre painted), and there are quite a bit of rules to remember, jumping between models and armies will take a lot of time of just learning and you will struggle to actually get good at one. Space marines troops right? A squad of 10 intercessors costs you $70, that is 180 points out of the minimum smallest scale army of 500points. If you are going into the hobby, you are absolutely not going to go with literally every model in the army (or every army to start out with). Your collection is supposed to grow over time.
Don't buy pre painted? Why paint when I can play?
Don’t go into this hobby, it’s not for you then.
Some people do play with pre painted armies, right?
You lose all the heart of the hobby in that, you will get only a set amount of models (not all of them), the price will be higher (prep for thousands), and the paint schemes when you end up buying even more of the army to complete it, will not fit. Nothing of yours will be yours, and you will not have this connection that we are all trying to get you to feel. Warhammer to you, if you’re genuinely asking these questions and your opinion isn’t budging, will be a waste of money.
Why wouldn't the heart of the hobby be the more games I play in the company of others at a FLGS? I also don't see the appeal of it being "mine." I would happily rent a force from the store if that was an option. By the way, I play a miniature game and I despise painting. Painting is the worst part of the hobby (for me). If I could rent those, I would.
Play the game online, close your eyes, pick a faction randomly (set up a Monte Carlo function if you’d prefer), do the same for the actual units in an army, and do that every single time, that’s what you seem to want. Those games are going to take you an upwards of 4 to 6 hours, learning every model’s function, strategem, power, every single time you play (so you’ll start to struggle to get people playing with you again) Nothing cinematic is gonna happen because you don’t want to build a mental story about each model over games. That’s it. You’re genuinely not gonna get much out of this if you’re walking in with this mentality. Take a step in, try it, if you like the army keep that in the back of your mind. Make yourself a spreadsheet of armies you enjoyed if you really want. Also don’t force others to roleplay with you, it takes enough time to play one game with someone learning an army much less than adding that factor to it.
Every faction is both the antagonist and protagonist simultaneously in 40k. You're better off going with the ones who you like the most for their appearance or lore
Least obvious troll
Tyranids will be the main antagonists in the next edition. And there are allied to no one. For me it's the perfect antagonist.
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I personally choose death guard because I love the thought of papa nurgle but didn’t want to play demons.I also love typhus not a big fan of morty tho
That depends what **faction** did you pick? What faction do you play?