Getting Started

[still-young]

Hello,

I am returning to the hobby after a break of about 3 years, however i didnt game much before and didnt really have a proper army (i had a small Tau force)

I have spoken to my girlfriend and she also wants to collect an army. She wants to collect Chaos Space Marines and i want to collect Dark Eldar. I have a copy of the current rulebook, and i gave her my copy of the (current) CSM codex. However, we dont have much money (me being 17, her 16) and i want to make sure she likes the game before she spends loads of money on it. So im asking for ideas for getting started without dropping loads of money on it.

I had the idea of buying her a box of CSM and me a box of kabalite warriors and playing some games to test the water a
bit? any thoughts on that idea?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Noserenda]

With a new edition on the horizon that sounds like a solid plan, possibly a battleforce would be a good expansion. The Starter boxes are always a good choice too, even if the armies arent exact.

[still-young]

Thanks mate i was thinking about the battle forces if we both like it. If chaos are being updated soon, would it be worth hanging on til then in terms of models which arent like core models to the army? As in just get things that wont change much and will definately be used. Thanks

[Phaeron Setek]

I'm not sure how close the two of you are to your LGWS, but if you can make it in you could borrow the store armies to get a few games in wih your prospective armies before spending on them. Then I'd go with either the battle force, or just 2 troops boxes and an hq. Then you can expand over time in whatever direction you decide to go.

[still-young]

Ah were pretty close actually, its kind of half way between us. thats a good idea, i never thought of that cheers

[vitch]

Two halves to the hobby.

Modelling/Painting - You should already know if you like that part. (I paint all my mates Necrons as he has no interest in painting, only playing)

Gaming - Play with cardboard cutouts or proxy counters to see if you both like playing the game.

Simples

[artekfrost]

another good idea for your girlfriend may be to find an ork player willing to go 50/50 on an assault on black reach set, the space marines and termies are pretty easy to convert to chaos and the captain and dread can be done with a little bit of work.
this also has the benefit of the pocket rule book plus the template, blast marker and scatter die
for you, Ebay may still have a couple of the dark eldar christmas box sets which was an amazing deal

[still-young]

Thanks for the help guys I remember reading about the dark eldar christmas thing, was pretty gutted i missed it. And i never thought about the black reach set, isnt there a new one due soon?

[Gertjan]

There is a new one due soon which is even better. It means the old one is outdated and you might be able to persuade your lfgs to part with it on a discount. God knows you'll need it if you plan to build reasonably sized armies. It will just mean you have more templates and dice to boot, as you can ditch the rulebook (or keep it for the fun of it) and as we all know, you're always better of having more templates and dice as those seem to magically vanish every so often

[Kapeg90]

Why don't you and your girlfriend go half on the 40K Starter Set? It'll be something like £30 each, and she'll be able to tell if she likes the game by playing a few scenarios and general gaming. As someone else previous states as-well; the Space Marines can easily be converted to Chaos. On the plus side, you'll get the pocket sized rule book, some dice, and other bits and bobs. Have you already got paints and what-not? You could get the paint/hobby start set as-well

[Gop]

Be wary of Chaos, they are a bit underpowered in this edition so wait for their next codex. DE are a bit over powered depending on the build so you shouldn't have a problem with them!

Have a look for 2nd hand stuff too. There's no shame getting used minis. I prefer it because of the large price saving. You often find some that are nicely painted too! (I also prefer playing to painting).

You should be able to find lots of SMs for sale, possibly whole armies. Calculate how much you were planning on spending (new armies typically cost $300+) and I bet you can find a nicely painted army for sale in that vicinity. Of course if you want to paint it's cool to go new but it's slower of course. But you do get more chance to convert. Good luck with it. How cool that you have a GF who is interested. Most girlies like to paint but not play. Hopefully she keeps doing both.

[Kapeg90]

Be wary of Chaos, they are a bit underpowered in this edition so wait for their next codex. DE are a bit over powered depending on the build so you shouldn't have a problem with them!

Have a look for 2nd hand stuff too. There's no shame getting used minis. I prefer it because of the large price saving. You often find some that are nicely painted too! (I also prefer playing to painting).

You should be able to find lots of SMs for sale, possibly whole armies. Calculate how much you were planning on spending (new armies typically cost $300+) and I bet you can find a nicely painted army for sale in that vicinity. Of course if you want to paint it's cool to go new but it's slower of course. But you do get more chance to convert. Good luck with it. How cool that you have a GF who is interested. Most girlies like to paint but not play. Hopefully she keeps doing both.

This. Exactly this. It would be awesome if my girlfriend played. She's geeky, just not into Warhammer!

There's nothing wrong with buying second hand models, and there are some fantastically painted models. I prefer to build and paint them myself, though. So I'd always buy new models.