Diving into the wide world of Warhammer 40k can be overwhelming. There is a lot to learn in this deep and complex game that can play for hours, it can get really expensive building up your army of warriors, and painting your fighters can be a fun and rewarding experience or a feel like a gut-wrenching second job.
Before you get in over your head and bite off more than you can chew there are some things you can do to make it a smoother transition and keep things fun. Here are the things various fans wish they knew before jumping into this interesting hobby.
10 Brush Up On Lore
You might have done this already, but if you haven’t, go online and start browsing some forums, fan sites, and the official website. There are a lot of moving parts to the story of the game and knowing this a little better will help when it comes time to deciding where you want to fit into things.
You don’t need to be an expert by any means, but having a general understanding of the conflict, the major players, and the current story will make things more understandable and a lot more fun.
9 Pick A Side
There are three major players in this game, the Chaos, the Imperium, and the Xeno. Deciding which side of the fight you want to be on will make picking a faction much, much easier.
The Chaos are cultists who worship the Chaos Gods in order to obtain great power and fight side by side with demons, the Imperium are your standard human-based military faction seeking to survive the hostile galaxy, and the Xenos are the various extraterrestrials who’ve banded together to fight against the encroaching humans.
8 Choose A Faction
Given there are over two dozen factions in the game right now it’s impractical to summarize them all. Basically, your side will determine your overall fighting strategy and place in the story and your Faction is a more niche placement within that conflict.
Make sure to pick a faction that suits you both in terms of gameplay and story. Each side has a spectrum of fighters and a range of flavors. Worst case scenario take one of the many quizzes online to point you in the right direction.
7 It’s As Expensive As You Want It To Be
In this game, you can buy a library of books, brushes, paints, box sets, models, special edition models, and scenery, and that’s for one faction. Even at it’s most basic you can be sinking a decent amount of money into this hobby.
If you have the resources and want to go crazy, awesome, do it. But if you’re like the average beginner you’ll want to buy a basic set of models, a few paints, a brush or two and use online material instead of books whenever you can. Then over time, as funds allow, you can add to your new hobby. Another great tip is to purchase models off eBay, which can often cost less than brand new pieces.
6 You Decide How Much To Paint
After attending an event or two you can be left feeling you need to invest a lot of money and time into painting your models. This is simply not true, you paint as much as you want to. If you want very basic single-colored units, do it. If you want highly detailed models with a variety of colors, go for it.
You do want some kind of unifying color scheme and a pattern to identify your units and make them seem like they belong together in battle, but not everything has to be expertly done. If you have a bunch of Gretchins serving as Tarpit units they wont live long anyway so going all out with their appearance isn’t necessary.
5 Thin Your Paints
When you do start painting your models the main thing nearly every fan is in agreement about is that you need to thin your paints. If your paint is too thick it’ll cover up the miniature details and the units will look like mud monsters, but if the paint is too thin the colors will run and won’t cover very well.
Get a palette with some paint on it, use a clean brush with a little water to stir into the paint and thin it a little. It’ll take some experimentation to get the right consistency but getting this figured out will make painting easier and you’ll waste less paint saving you money.
4 Learn The Basics
This is a deep and complex game with a lot of moving parts and advanced strategies to implement and learn. Opening that large book of rules can be very intimidating and this gets compounded when you realize every faction has their own rules to follow.
Don’t worry about it; learn the basics, try a couple of mock games either by yourself or with a patient friend and you’ll do fine. Knowing the basics will let you hold your own and you can layer on more advanced rules over time as you continue learning and playing. Even the experts don’t know everything and the rules change now and then anyway.
3 Grab A Codex And Starter Kit
If you’re still concerned about starting out then the best thing you can do is grab a Codex for the faction your interested in and a basic starter kit. This provides you with a basic functional army you can start using right away and the Codex will explain the game through the eyes of the faction.
The game becomes much more digestible and you’ll develop a greater connection with your chosen faction. Once you get a handle on the game you can start expanding out into other factions or specialize with your starting army and deepen your strategies.
2 Make Some Friends
The absolute best thing you can do to get into this game is to make friends with people who are already playing. This is really important as you can’t play this game by yourself so having someone else to meet up with and play is key for learning and having fun.
It’ll also provide you with some nice side benefits. Experienced players sometimes have older models and books they can lend you, show you the ropes, and will help you find events and groups to play with. Do yourself a favor and make a friend or two.
1 Do What’s Fun
At the end of the day, the most important takeaway fans wish they knew when starting out is that this is a game and it’s meant to be treated as such. If you find yourself obsessing over the rules, how intricate your models are, lamenting you can’t afford more gear, or whatever, stop it.
This is meant to be a fun hobby and can be if you let it. Acquire enough gear to play, learn the basic rules, and start having fun with it. Pick the side/faction that seems most exciting, paint the models whatever you want to, and enjoy yourself.
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