"Starting over from scratch...." Topic

So I find myself years (almost two decades) on from my last game of 40K, and circumstances are aligning to possibly bring me back in to playing.

Unfortunately my one remaining, or so I thought, army, my Eldar infantry force seems to have dissapeared into the Warp.

If you were starting 40K from scratch what and how would you do it?

Just by looking at the GW webstore I can see a lot of new unit types and even a couple of armies that I am completely unfamilair with. Prices have gone up, but so has sculpting quality, and there is always used on eBay. :)

Any armies easier or harder for a new comer to the current version to come to grips with? Any must have or not worth the points units?

What is the current state of 40K?

Much of this of course will become moot if I can find those Eldar again, but I am not overly hopeful.

I would start with a generic Space Marine force, buying minis from the starter box from ebay or online shops for cheap. I think now there are Terminators and Dreadnoughts too from the starter, so you can have a cheap force to go with. Spray the lot of them black, pick out the gun barres in steel and the eyes in blue or red, do the bases nicely and it's an army. Quick to buy, quick to build and paint, and gets you gaming quickly to see if you like the new rules. It is a LOT different than it was 20 years ago. I did exactly this a while back.

Eldar has split off into Craftworld Eldar and Harlequins. You can also use a Wraithguard-heavy force like the Iyanden Craftworld or a fast jetbike host like Saim Hann.

Start on Ebay or the consignment case of your FLGS. Otherwise, get the "army deals" rather than piecemeal:

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With 15mm non-GW figures. Play your game not theirs.

W/O knowing your reasons for wanting to get back in, it's hard to say what will best suit you.

Some points to consider:

* Do you want to use GW rules?

While the majority of 40k players use the latest official rules and codexes, many individuals play in the GW 40K-verse with alternative rules, such as Tomorrow's War, Stargrunt 2, or any number of other rules. Likewise there is a fairly large and thriving community of players who are using older rulesets.

If you are joining an established group, that will likely not be something you can choose, but if you are able to choose, you should consider all your options

*What style of play are you interested in?

A few powerful models (e.g. Grey Knights)? A large number of models (e.g. Tyranids or Orcs)? A force that emphasizes mobility (e.g. White Scars chapter of Space Marines)? Do you want tanks & artillery (e.g. Imperial Guard)?

*Does visual appeal and/or fluff matter to you and if so how?

Some enjoy playing a force of Tau for their animae-esque appearance, others like them because they are the closest thing to a "good" faction in the 40k-i-verse. Some enjoy playing Chaos Marines or Dark Eldar because they enjoy being the villain or because they like look of Dark Eldar.

*Does cost matter?

While models are priced according to their utility in the game (at least that is the theory) certain forces are more expensive than others. Usually anything included in the latest starter box is cheaper in reality than theory would suggest

*Does being able to defeat all opponents matter?

Certain factions seem to have great difficulty against other factions. These mismatches usually change over time and from edition to edition (sometimes a new Codex renders a certain force much more powerful than before).

*Will you consider proxy models?

There are many manufacturers who produce models that will fit with GW models in terms of style and size. While these models are not allowed in GW stores or GW sponsored tournaments that may not matter to you.

A few examples:
These Trollforged make good Imperial Guard proxies:
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and these will work well if you have an Inquisitor and can fill a few other roles as well:
link
If you are interested in Chaos these figures Ultraforge will likely be of use:
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Some manufacturers, such as Scibor, can provide virtually anything you might want for several 40K armies:
sciborminiatures.com

All-in-all you will find you have many more choices to make, from rules to models, than was the case 20 years ago.

My formerly West Coast cousin is relocating to the East Coast, only about 5 hours from me. This greatly increases the chances of getting in casual games.

Proxy models are fine, in fact they may be the way to make IG armies affordable.

Out of curiosity, why are you thinking about going back to 40k?

If you're set on 40k, here's a few suggestions.

1) buy one of the mini-rulebooks from a current starter set rather than the full sized rulebooks. You can usually find them on ebay for 20-30 bucks which is too much, but alot less than $80 USD for the hardcover version. On the other hand, buying one of the starter sets can be a great way to get a deal on the beginning of an army as well as the rules.

2) Bartertown is your friend. Keep your eye on the TMP classifieds as well, but BT has a wealth of 40k stuff. Ebay and DakkaDakka are good places to check as well. If you have some stuff to trade, you may be able to work some good trades from someone leaving the hobby.

3) If you're wiling to strip minis, you can also save alot of $. USD

4) I'm not sure as to their effectiveness, but the various varieties of space marines are good for: finding cheap second-hand minis, using less figs per army and being fairly straitforward in playstyle.

5) IG is great for proxies and there's alot of IG stuff on the used market. However, unless you do some sort of armor-heavy force, you will be painting ALOT of figures.

6) If you're going to invest in 40k, I'd strongly suggest going with the current edition of the rules. Most folks playing 40k are playing the current rules, and in my mind, the biggest reason to play 40k is the large, established player base. Unless you've got a line on players using older ules, if you go with an older set of rules, you're losing the best thing that 40k has going for it.

-Unless you're going to be playing at a GW store, I wouldn't worry about necessarily sticking to GW figures only. GW doesn't have a US tournament scene anymore and most independent tournaments don't require GW-only minis.

Got back into 40K this past year too. Went with orks because…well… Their Orks.
Having a blast getting back into it. Bought a couple of minis on ebay and at the convention flea markets to get started and picked up a box or two at the local hobby shop.
I have enough to paint an keep me busy.

We play about 600 to 700 point armies and I limit myself to about 10 to 15 orks per skwad. Keeps the bucket of dice effect at a minimum and allows a nice mix of troops and models without going overboard.