Quote from: TristramEvans;914439Craigslist I'd recommend over ebay. For $50 a few months ago I got three boxes containing a complete 2000point dwarf army, about 1000 points of Tyranids and Chaos marines, a 3000+ point dark eldar army, and two copies of the warhammer fortress and other scenery bits. Just a lady cleaning out her garage after her sons left for college.

I haven't used Craigslist myself.

I've actually got fuckloads of Space Marines laying about in pieces.  Why?  

Because I'm a picky bastard.  I don't like standard Astartes helmets or Corvus helms (beakies), I don't like using them without helmets- I do my best to use the variants.  So far, between my Black Templars and my working Deathwatch army- I'm using no standard helms.  I also don't like using the normal torsos or the legs that don't have kneepads.  I spent a shitload at Forge World on Heresy-era helmets of all sorts when Brexit happened and the Pound dropped just to trick out my dudes and make them look awesome.

That being said, I've probably got 2 squads of troops, some blank shoulderpads, and a shitload of random arms and guns.  Eventually, I'll count them up and put them out there for sale- or keep them at my place for a 'demo army' for someone who seems interested.

Quote from: TristramEvans;914437OR just play Rogue Trader, and screw any codexes.

Yep, still my favorite version of 40K fluff and rules... MUCH more open-ended and pretty much a proto-RPG. Good for a skirmish game now and then.
Otherwise, there are MUCH better rules to be had where you can still play in that setting if you want.

Quote from: Simlasa;915573Yep, still my favorite version of 40K fluff and rules... MUCH more open-ended and pretty much a proto-RPG. Good for a skirmish game now and then.
Otherwise, there are MUCH better rules to be had where you can still play in that setting if you want.

In my area, 5150 Star Army is the rules system alternative of choice for most 40K gamers.

I'm interested in Priestly's new game through Warlord...Gates of Antaros or something? Hear the rules are very good.

Haven't heard about Priestly's new game, but I'd love to learn more.

Any links?

Quote from: Crüesader;914676So far, between my Black Templars and my working Deathwatch army- I'm using no standard helms.  I also don't like using the normal torsos or the legs that don't have kneepads.

Post some pics!

Quote from: Spinachcat;915656Post some pics!

'Working'... I should have been more clear- a 'work in progress'.  Not all of the Forge World helms are playing nicely with the high gorget on the new Death Watch models.  I'm having to do a bit of work.

Good news, though- rumor has it the 'Kill Team' rules are coming back!!!

EDIT: CONFIRMED they are coming back.

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Honestly, this is a great little spot to start 40k.  A handful of dudes and you're ready to do some quick games.  Easy to build onto and around this.

SO, I know that the 'rules' I put in the first post should cover a lot of things, but I'm going to clue you in on some types of gamers you should avoid.  Fortunately, they are rare- but scumbags exist EVERYWHERE.  I'll tell you the name, and how to deal with them.

1- The Rules Scholar:  Not to be confused with someone who knows the rules, but these are guys that will tell you rules and never manage to show them- most often, this 'rule' will work to your disadvantage or his advantage.  Spoiler:  He's pulling this 'rule' out of his ass.

How to deal with him:  Ask him to show you where that rule is:  "Oh, I didn't know that.  Can you show me where that is?  I feel like an idiot for missing that."  No matter what, press him to 'help you find that rule' but do it cool- the rules are pretty complex and it's normal for folks to remember old rules or remember something incorrectly.  Accusing someone of 'cheating' is pretty serious in gaming communities that are as small as your local 40k group.

2- The WAAC (Win At All Costs) gamers.  These are guys that are less concerned about having fun, and more concerned about winning the game.  They'll suck the enjoyment out of it, and to them- victory is all that counts.  They aren't even about 'challenge'- the sense of victory from mopping the table with an autistic ten-year-old that just got his first minis last week is no different than defeating a decades-seasoned veteran.  

How to deal with him:  Leave the game, if you've already started.  Otherwise, don't even play with him.  No sense in wasting your time on this guy, he's probably already known and hated in the community.  Even if you do break his winning streak- his reaction will be something you don't want to experience.  Rest assured, you can't 'win' without a game, and he'll think himself the master of 40k and he'll move back over to the Yu-Gi-Oh table to crush some grade-school children and be someone else's problem.

3- The Great Unclean One:  Some dudes STANK. This isn't exclusive to 40k- but the name is of Warhammer/WH40k origins so I just felt like it needed to be included.

How to deal with him:  In all fairness, I can't give you a good answer.  I'm biased- military life taught me to be as clean as possible, as often as possible (one nasty guy in the barracks could make everyone sick).  I have absolutely no problem looking at someone and saying, "Dude, you need a shower because you stink."  Yes, it's mean as fuck but the fact is- he probably stinks like that because no one else was willing to be mean as fuck.

So, a few questions about "doing Warhammer 40k".

Let's work from the premise that you don't have friends that are buying into it at the same time. That you're not part of a wargaming club. And that it seems that wargaming stores, GW and otherwise, seem like a dying breed in your metropolitan area. How do you go recommend going about finding other players that aren't dicks, don't play just for the win and don't smell like a dumpster? Are there forums that you recommend to find groups/clubs to get the ball rolling? Or is the best method to visit GW stores, try to get some games in with other customers, and network there? Does WH40k still have a driving presence in most major metropolitan areas, or has it started to decline? (It sure seems to be on the downswing in the Seattle area. 'Bunker' closures and GW stores closing or moving more to the outskirts of the metropolitan area).

The only time I've started my own wargaming club was with some friends back in 2011. I'd picked up some discounted AT-43 minis in 2010, and was really excited about the game. I'd convinced these friends to invest in their own armies - because you could do it pretty affordably, since the game was past the point of its decline, and there was no need for modeling. But that lasted maybe a year, as friends started having children and the group fell apart. I don't think that I'd be able to establish something like that again among friends.

As some background, when it comes to wargaming I really enjoy the modeling and painting. It's been more entertaining for me than playing historically, probably due to some bad play experiences. Case in point, around 2002 I started putting together a Warhammer Dwarf army. And I enjoyed the hell out of buying some random models to fill in gaps (like a bunch of drunken dwarf infantry), assembling all the war machines, and painting everything up. When I actually went down to a local GW store and tried to get some games in, I didn't enjoy it. It was confusing, and rules-laden, and not what I expected at all. That's likely on me, because I made the immediate leap to a 2000-point army in my excitement to build a large force, and missed out on development and learning opportunities that might have come if I'd started from a smaller 'warband'. After a few failed games I lost some inspiration, and ended up photographing the army, packing everything up, and selling it on eBay for a profit.

Quote from: K Peterson;915716So, a few questions about "doing Warhammer 40k".

Let's work from the premise that you don't have friends that are buying into it at the same time. That you're not part of a wargaming club. And that it seems that wargaming stores, GW and otherwise, seem like a dying breed in your metropolitan area. How do you go recommend going about finding other players that aren't dicks, don't play just for the win and don't smell like a dumpster? Are there forums that you recommend to find groups/clubs to get the ball rolling? Or is the best method to visit GW stores, try to get some games in with other customers, and network there? Does WH40k still have a driving presence in most major metropolitan areas, or has it started to decline? (It sure seems to be on the downswing in the Seattle area. 'Bunker' closures and GW stores closing or moving more to the outskirts of the metropolitan area).

I get it.  When I was a teenager, the nearest place to play was an hour away.  But the way I've found most games is by looking at those few stores that are still there for ads- or put up an ad yourself.  You can also go to forums for the particular type of game you want and put something out that you're seeking people in your area to play.  It's Seattle, probably quite a few.

Quote from: K Peterson;915716As some background, when it comes to wargaming I really enjoy the modeling and painting. It's been more entertaining for me than playing historically, probably due to some bad play experiences. Case in point, around 2002 I started putting together a Warhammer Dwarf army. And I enjoyed the hell out of buying some random models to fill in gaps (like a bunch of drunken dwarf infantry), assembling all the war machines, and painting everything up. When I actually went down to a local GW store and tried to get some games in, I didn't enjoy it. It was confusing, and rules-laden, and not what I expected at all. That's likely on me, because I made the immediate leap to a 2000-point army in my excitement to build a large force, and missed out on development and learning opportunities that might have come if I'd started from a smaller 'warband'. After a few failed games I lost some inspiration, and ended up photographing the army, packing everything up, and selling it on eBay for a profit.

Yeah, I would say that it's best to focus on a small army now.  Play games with just your core stuff and learn some in and outs.  Perhaps even just play an 'unbound' 500-point game with only Troops and a HQ unit, Hammer & Anvil.  This gets you familiar with the flow of the game and the phases of the turns, plus gives you an idea of how your special rules are going to come into play.

Rick Priestly's Beyond the Gates of Antares by Warlord Games

https://us-store.warlordgames.com/collections/beyond-the-gates-of-antares/products/beyond-the-gates-of-antares-starter-set

I'm excited by this one but I haven't brought it into my store beyond the early Beta version.  Hopefully I'll have the money to take a chance on more Warlord Games stuff.  Conflict 47 looks good.  I love Warlord Games but they haven't sold well for me.  Maybe now that they've moved on to more fantastical products they'll do better but I wish historical games were more popular.  It's sad to see a big historical company dash off after the scifi money.

BtGoA is indeed a transhumanist space opera set in the distant future where ftl is accomplished by means of warp gates for which the Antares system is a major nexus.  There are the advanced but rigid Concord.  Their troops are recognizable as human but are deeply linked to a network and lack personal volition and decision making skills.  The Isorian Shard are a branch of the Concord that got lost for a while and merged their network with an alien network, when they returned they had a variant operating system and they've been at war with the Concord ever since.

The Algoryn are a noble warrior race with scaly skin.  They're less advanced than the Concord and Isorians but better fighters.

The Ghar are a somewhat primitive race with leperous skin and feeble little goblin like bodies.  The Ghar are highly aggressive and fight in large three legged battle suits with heavy weapons.  Ghar outcasts fight in poorly armed mobs.

The Boromite Mining Guilds are Squats in rubber Ben Grimm suits.  They're cool but try not to think about it too hard.  They get some cool gravitic compression guns and mining tools.

The game itself runs on a variant of the Bolt Action order dice mechanic.  One die is placed in the cup for each unit you and your opponent have.  When a die of your color is pulled you get to activate a unit.  The dice have the orders printed on them and act as an activation marker and a reminder of what the unit did.  You can react to attacks by taking one of your dice out of the cup and play a "DOWN" order to make your guys a bit harder to hit.

Beyond that it's a pretty standard kind of d10 roll under profile stat game.  This makes it a bit more detailed than Bolt Action.  Drones and sensors play important roles in the game and many of the vehicles are robotic not manned.  Common weapon ranges run around 36 inches so it's a good deal more science fictiony than 40k and close combat is less common.

All told, I really like the looks of it but it's hard to say what customers will go for.  I've been burned too many times by bringing in things I think are cool.

Quote from: Crüesader;915664[ATTACH=CONFIG]315[/ATTACH]

Honestly, this is a great little spot to start 40k.  A handful of dudes and you're ready to do some quick games.  Easy to build onto and around this.

I saw this in my email update from GW and had to come comment.

Holy shit, GW have taken their heads partway out of their asses and put together a reasonably priced entry to 40k. I left at 6th edition because I just couldn't keep up with re-buying the core rules and codexes over and over. I'll definitley get this.

Quote from: Ratman_tf;915875I saw this in my email update from GW and had to come comment.

Holy shit, GW have taken their heads partway out of their asses and put together a reasonably priced entry to 40k. I left at 6th edition because I just couldn't keep up with re-buying the core rules and codexes over and over. I'll definitley get this.

I'm impressed.  The little squad engagements seem like almost a throwback to Necromunda in some way.  I'd love to see THAT make a comeback.

Of course, GW's head is still firmly up their poop chutes when it comes to pricing their scenery.  I say this when I've bought damned near half of it (I got a bonus and it was for my table).

Quote from: Crüesader;915900I'm impressed.  The little squad engagements seem like almost a throwback to Necromunda in some way.  I'd love to see THAT make a comeback.

Of course, GW's head is still firmly up their poop chutes when it comes to pricing their scenery.  I say this when I've bought damned near half of it (I got a bonus and it was for my table).

Any indication of rules for using other forces than SM or Tau?

Quote from: AaronBrown99;915901Any indication of rules for using other forces than SM or Tau?

I think the rules in one book.

"The Kill Team booklet is an updated version of the 6th edition rules and features:
· Expanded rules for Kill Team Leaders and Specialists, plus new special rules specifically written for Kill Team games
· Six Kill Team missions
· A section on additional gaming ideas – linked games, multiplayer Kill Team battles and games against hordes of enemies or powerful battle tanks "

That's what I've got so far, but this is available as well:

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Kill-Team-Rules-EPUB

Quote from: Crüesader;915902I think the rules in one book.

"The Kill Team booklet is an updated version of the 6th edition rules and features:
· Expanded rules for Kill Team Leaders and Specialists, plus new special rules specifically written for Kill Team games
· Six Kill Team missions
· A section on additional gaming ideas – linked games, multiplayer Kill Team battles and games against hordes of enemies or powerful battle tanks "

That's what I've got so far, but this is available as well:

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Kill-Team-Rules-EPUB

So you'll still need codexes, then?