First Time Building an Army List

Hello everyone,

I understand this is a very newbie question, but when putting together an army, should I focus on getting a list down first (i.e. figuring out all my upgrades and such) before I start painting?

I'm mainly worried about making sure that my models reflect their upgrades while playing (something that I just learned I need to do)

Sorry once again if this question seems really obvious.

It's not necessary, but if you would like to get your primary models painted first to play games then it's always a good idea.

Depends on what stage of putting an army together you are in. If you are just starting and have yet to purchase models I would make as many possible upgrades swappable as you can on any new purchases (generally using magnets on the weapons/arms). This is especially nice since what is good is cyclical between editions of the game (for example plasma was considered rubbish during 3rd edition since rapid fire weapons dropped to half range if a unit moved. therefore meltaguns were much more prevalent).

If you have already assembled your models I wouldn't worry too much about it except for your really important characters. Most opponents are fine if you let them know at the start of a game that "these plasma guns are really flamers" or "all my missile launchers are really lascannons". As long as you keep it simple people around here are very forgiving. Especially since it sounds like you are new to the gaming aspect of the hobby. It is especially good manners to remind an opponent during the game if it appears they have forgotten (they wander some terminators near your "flamers" that you are using as plasma guns).

Okay awesome, that really helps.

I'm currently at a stage where I have some of my units purchased (7 plague marines, a Deamon Prince of Nurgle, and the chaos units from the Dark Vengence box (20 cultists, 6ish chosen, 1 Helbrute)) But I haven't put together an army list or anything like that.

The only guys I have put together are the 7 plague marines, but I plan on having larger squads so the next 7 that I buy I will use as the special upgrade units if I end up upgrading them.

Yeah basically what Tom said. The magnetization idea is a good one. Im currently putting together some marines and im going with just gluing them together with the options i have for my list. (in the end you will always buy more marines so for me its eh.)

But yes i think its good to have the book and plan out a list you think you would like to play. It helps you know what options you want on your troops. It helps you know what models you need to buy next. And as you play games with the models you currently have then you can modify the list as you need. You can then decide to change things based on how you find you like to play the game and how things go in your game to see if there are certain important things you think you're missing.

But yeah as someone who wasted alot of money on wargames for no reason other than simply because i didnt have anyone to guide me and had to learn all the stuff myself, i HIGHLY recommend making a starting 1000 or 1500 pt list that you aim to get going first as your core and then you can add to that in smaller pieces after.

Magnets are very much your friends when you can pull it off. The Dark Vengance stuff doesn't offer you much in terms of weapon swaps and the like, short of really going to town on conversion work, but Cultists don't have that many options to start with and the Chosen can be used as squad champions in a pinch.

If you're ever looking at either getting fancy with your army, or some form of "kit-bash-frugal", feel free to ask around as there are lots of us who tweak out our armies like that.

Main thing is, I don't know where to get the right Bitz for Chaos (Games workshop doesn't have any weapon ones) and I don't know where to get the magnets that would work with the miniatures

The magnets are easy, as the Den sells a bunch.

As for bits, more often than not you are looking at cannibalizing other kits, if the kits you have don't come with the bits you need. If you see yourself wanting to use lots of one particular bit (like I did with the Ymgrll genestealer heads), the Den also sells Instant Mold (used to make a casting of said bit), and Green Stuff (used for, among MANY other things, using those castings to make copies of said bit). This process can be finicky, though, but rewarding if you really need to make a lot of one thing. Just be mindful of the cost of Green Stuff based on the volume of the thing you are making, as this method isn't the best for everything. I wouldn't clone a LasCannon with this method, for example, as that's better suited to a scratch build with Plasticard or simply tracking down an extra one from someone else.

Awesome, that's a ton of help. I'll look into what upgrades I should take and build an army list first. Thanks for your help everyone

I know some people really like magnets.. but on standard infantry troopers ive always really found it easier to pint up.a weapon guy and be done with it.

So for chaos.. ive got two units of plague marines. 2 olaguers have melta guns.. 2 have plasma guns. Whwn i make a list i just work them into it. Once youve played a solid chunk of games.. youll start to get a feel for what the weapons do and what suits youre style.

Magnetizing vehicles/walkers start to.make a lot of sense though. Painting up or investing in some spare infantry models is a lot different than dropping $100 for a vehicle. Plus.. those are muCh easier to.magnetize.

While youre starting out.. proxies here and there arent too bad.. but when youve got a sgt. Modelled with a power fist and he doesnt have one.. sometimes players forget if you mentioned it as the beginning of the game. So trying out here there is ok.. but i really try to just model a guy and stick with it. Ive got champions with powerfists and powerswords/axes.. so ive got some flexibilty here years on.
Chaos doesnt have a lot of good options for getting weapons.. as in physically. You bjy a unit of havocs and you get one of each weapon.. and not 4 lascannons or 4 autocannons which would be the preference.

Oh.. and the newest rumour is chaos is getting a new book shortly. Hold off any big big purchases .. that unit that looks good now might be garbage shortly.

If you want any general chaos advice or questions.. were here for you.