Best Warhammer 40k Armies for Beginners

This list is mostly recommended armies for players new to the tabletop game. We look at some armies that seem to be good for players new for the game from their strength and why they are a good armies to start out with.
The Top Ten
1 Necrons

The Necrons are a great choice for new players who want a powerful armies that dosen't rely to much on complex schemes. They shoot quite well, have decent armor, and some nicley powered vehicles. They are also arguably the most resilient army in the game.

A tought opponent, easy to paint yet cool and effective colour scheme.

More than just Skeletons in Space.

They look awesome and are pretty OP!

2 Space marines

This is one that most people probably start out with. As a whole they have good rules and decent weapon and vehicle selections. As well as lots of options for the color schemes (ex: Ultramarines,Salamanders,Iron Hands,etc), forgiving armor saves, and not a huge model count to buy. There are also separate Space wolves,Blood Angels, and Dark Angels armies.

Polyvalent, diverse, elite. You have the option to build any type of army you want. Do you like tanks? Melee? Shooting? Bikes? You can do it all with the Space Marines.

Yeah most underrated unit in 8th edition are the company veterans (actually though, they have the best best war gear choices)

3 Eldar

The army that's currently dominating the tabletop. The Eldar are pretty well rounded and a good mix of the sturdy Space marines and their lethal Dark Eldar cousins. They also have some of the best vehicles in the game.

One of the most balanced armies out there, good at shooting and melee

4 Chaos Marines

My personal favorite army. The Chaos Marines may not be at the top of the power curve, but the various marks you can give your army can work for various players taste (ex: Mark of Slaanesh makes your troops faster, Mark of Nurgle makes your troops more tough.) They have the durability of regular space marines with some extra stuff added to them.

5 Orks

The Orks draw many new players because of their craziness and hilarity and also use lots of dice. They are usually used in hordes and are a assault oriented army, they are also worth noting that they are not very great at shooting. They are also average on the power curve. However they are possibly the easiest army to paint in my opinion.

They are very epic

Badass, the army

6 Tau

The Tau can be a nicley powered army if used well. They are the shootiest army in the game and for good reason, that are crap at CQC. They also have mediocre leadership and armor and heavly rely on teamwork. Not a good choice for new players who have a fascinating for Melee combat.

With For the Greater Good rule during overwatch closes the small gap of not being able to do close combat. It's also like a second shooting phase.

Tau have amazing battle suits. They are good for players who like to do a lot of shooting and not much close combat

Tau are amazing and should definitely rank beyond dark eldar

7 Tyranids

One of the scariest armies on the field once you learn them. Don't underestimate a huge blob of devil gaunts in a fire fight. Play your cards right with a swarmlord and some genestealers and you can charge into melee turn one.

The Tyranids are the most melee oriented army in the game. They may have fewer viable builds than other armies but if used to good effect they can be used to good effect.

Great army fun to play with!

I think tyranids look cool cause I like alien and scary like army's

8 Imperial Guard

The meat bags of the guard are a versitle army with a tone of vehicle options. Their regular troops are dirt cheap, but are nothing to write home about. They make up for this for having very tough vehicles such as the Bane blade tank. Overall not very overpowered but not very underpowered either,

Well rounded army with plenty of options, want to table someone? Tanks. Want to capture objectives? Mass infantry to the point where casualties aren't an issue. Overall just very straightforward

Cheese your way to victory with Baneblades behind fences, teamkilling, tarpits, and Leman Russ.

Very easy and overly rewarding. Just don't expect to make friends with an IG army.

I disagree the old fashioned doctrine of war is one of the best reasons in the game

9 Grey knights

This army has fairly simple rules and are usually forgiving. They also have a small model count so they are one of the easier armies to collect and they can also dish it out with any other army.

The best of the best, devastatingly devoted to their life's purpose, there is no other more pure than a Grey knight!

10 Dark Eldar

These guys are the best because they have the most powerful army and they have dark magic so they can just kill every little army that they face so they will always win.

From F gamer FC

The Contenders
11 Adeptus Mechanicus

A mix of long range destruction with some great ambush tactics that allow them to hold there ground. If you set them up in the back they can defend an area with ease also shooting artillery into objectives and then taking them with their scouts.

An epic army with a great role in the 40k universe, lots of tactical options and they look EPIC!

12 Blood Angels

The Blood Angels are one of the more unique Space Marine armies. While other Marines have a focus on different troops and vehicles to fight, the Blood Angels rely more on elite troops which each have their own benefits. Sanguinary guard can take out heavy infantry, the Death Company can wipe out regular guys with lots of attacks, and unique dreadnoughts with different fighting styles. All this with the Blood Angels having better melee power than regular marines.

These are uniquely brilliant in every way, their fighting, speed and their rage produced in battle making them one of the most fearsome and effective armies in the Warhammer 40k Universe!

First army I picked up, and these guys are unmatched when it comes to shredding enemies in close combat. Their tactics and rage make for an interesting game every time

13 Dark Angels
14 Genestealers

Genestealer cults have really cool lore and are fun to paint. They are hoard oriented and can use tyranid and astra militarum models, they really have everything.

15 Chaos Daemons

This army mostly rely melee oriented and have the smallest number of shooting units of any army. I suggest you use daemons with Chaos Marines for more durability. But as a single army they require skill and experience.

Very cool looking models, easy to play as well. Blood for the blood god!

16 Deathwatch Marines
17 Death Guard
18 Space Wolves

Good army as is simple to use and kind of like the warhammer equivalents of Viking's and werewolves but does have good ranged potential also.

19 Adeptus Custodes

1. Cheap, 2. Strong, 3. versatile.

1. They are very cheap to start buying and and get a 500pt army out of 7 or 8 models.

2. They are Very strong at the moment.

3. For the limited model count, they are a very versatile force, be it just a gun line, melee focused force or speedy attack units; they have a very good tool for every need.

20 Harlequins
21 Battle Sisters
22 Death Korps Of Krieg
23 Thousand Sons
24 SerAphon
25 Black Templars
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