Much love to 40k 3rd, but its about as balanced as Rifts. And like Rifts, its hellishly fun.

BTW, SomethingAwful did a fun "review" of 40k
http://www.somethingawful.com/dungeons-and-dragons/wtf-rogue-trader/1/

Quote from: Spinachcat;912861Much love to 40k 3rd, but its about as balanced as Rifts. And like Rifts, its hellishly fun.

BTW, SomethingAwful did a fun "review" of 40k
http://www.somethingawful.com/dungeons-and-dragons/wtf-rogue-trader/1/

I saw a big stack of Rogue Trader magazines at a thrift shop and I beat myself up for not buying them.

...and then you joined a flagellant unit?

Cuz humans can't become troll slayers and you gotta do something after committing such an unforgivable act.

Quote from: Spinachcat;913096Cuz humans can't become troll slayers and you gotta do something after committing such an unforgivable act.

"Black Shield" will do just fine.

Ask a friend, 'cause friends don't let friends get hooked on the money pit that is GW.

Statement from a person online today:  "40k is an expensive game.  I can't afford to put down five hundred dollars just to get started."

Yes, it is.  And no matter how much you love 40k, you'll hate the prices.  But you don't have to lay down that kind of money right off the bat, and you don't need to spend that just to play the game.  

The best way to budget out your game is to determine what part of the hobby means the most to you- the gaming or the modeling.  

If you're into the modeling, then by all means pick the army that seems 'coolest' to you.  The 'Start Collecting' armies are a pretty good deal (They have the following sets: Imperial Guard, Tempestus Scions, Orks, Tau, Eldar, Daemons of Khorne, Daemons of Nurgle, Space Wolves, Tyranids, Necrons, Blood Angels, Chaos Space Marines, Space Marines, Skitarii (Mechanicus), and Dark Eldar).  These sets are $85.00 USD.  Also, there's a 'Dark Vengeance' boxed set with Dark Angels and Chaos Space Marines for $110 and it has all the books and everything you need to start playing these models (minus dice and measuring tape, of course).

Bide your time painting- you don't need Citadel paints, you can use Testors or any other cheaper brand and it works just fine.  TBH, I don't recommend getting anything from Citadel unless it's just a weird shade you can't get right or something you just can't find anywhere else.

Once you've got your dudes painted, you should probably have enough cash to get one of your books.  I honestly recommend going online to find the rulebook from Dark Vengeance if you didn't get the boxed set- this can run about $30.00, but you can also get the rulebook through less 'legitimate' means.  I recommend getting this to get the basic rules down pat.

The Codex should be your next purchase, so see if you can get a used copy.  You can also grab this up for the fluff reading if you want.  It runs about $40-$60, depending on how much you like Space Marines.  

You don't have to buy all this stuff at once.  Take your time, hell- maybe grab a model or two to paint up and watch some Battle Reports while you save your dough.  

And ALWAYS see if you can find it cheaper from a third party, or a personal sale.  Chances are you will.  And even if it's been painted already, there's ways to remove the paint.

No need to spend $500 or spend a minute painting or assembling...

A fully painted Space Marine army is going for less than $100 on eBay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fully-Painted-Space-Marine-Raptor-Army-Warhammer-40k-Games-Workshop-/272341483582?hash=item3f68d1403e:g:RV4AAOSw65FXsMAq

Fully painted Tyranid army for $200 (quite nice too!)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Warhammer-40K-painted-Tyranid-army-lot-with-Trygon-Tyrannofex-and-more-/142083799920?hash=item2114dabb70:g:f5UAAOSwZVlXrjvc

Fully painted Tau army (though I wonder if its 2000 pts)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Painted-Tau-Army-/201646511529?hash=item2ef31195a9:g:KegAAOSwqfNXiT08

Partially painted Tyranids (over 100 minis!!) for $200
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tyranid-army-40k-warhammer-Over-100-Models-4K-Points-Partial-Painted-Conversions-/191947076935?hash=item2cb0eff547:g:V2IAAOSwV0RXsoey

Partially painted Necron army for $60
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Warhammer-40k-Painted-Necron-Army-OOP-/182244733344?hash=item2a6ea1f1a0:g:zwAAAOSwV0RXsi7I

Quote from: Crüesader;913137"Black Shield" will do just fine.

BTW, just in case anyone reading didn't catch the reference.
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Blackshield

And Crüesader, that would be suitable penance as long as you're wearing Beakie armor!

There is a steady stream of players getting out of the game or selling their armies because they suddenly need money.  Be patient and watch ebay.

Quote from: yosemitemike;913407There is a steady stream of players getting out of the game or selling their armies because they suddenly need money.  Be patient and watch ebay.

I've bought both of the starter sets because they're a bargain and come with sick models.  Both times I've sold one army and the rulebooks and extra goodies out of the box that I didn't need for disgustingly cheap.

Quote from: Spinachcat;913398And Crüesader, that would be suitable penance as long as you're wearing Beakie armor!

The Corvus helm is incompatible with Mark VII power armor.  I would prefer a crusader helm.

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One thing to watch out for is buying more models than you can handle assembling and painting.  I went mad years ago and bought enough Lizardmen to make a 3,000+ point army including one of the big old army boxes, a number of additional boxes, special units and special HQ models.  The sheer volume of models to assemble, paint and base was overwhelming.  The entire army is still in boxes.  It was $700-800 worth of models back then.  It would easily cost double that now.  Every time I think of doing something with it, I look at the number of models I have to deal with and put it back.  I have a High Elves army that I got the same way.  It's not as big but it's easily 2,000 points.

Quote from: yosemitemike;913630One thing to watch out for is buying more models than you can handle assembling and painting.  I went mad years ago and bought enough Lizardmen to make a 3,000+ point army including one of the big old army boxes, a number of additional boxes, special units and special HQ models.  The sheer volume of models to assemble, paint and base was overwhelming.  The entire army is still in boxes.  It was $700-800 worth of models back then.  It would easily cost double that now.  Every time I think of doing something with it, I look at the number of models I have to deal with and put it back.  I have a High Elves army that I got the same way.  It's not as big but it's easily 2,000 points.

Do you want me to teach you a breakdown on how to do massive numbers of models at once?

Quote from: Crüesader;913646Do you want me to teach you a breakdown on how to do massive numbers of models at once?

I should probably do something with all of those Warhammer models sitting in boxes but the sheer number is daunting.  I haven't inventoried it for a while but I think there are 60 saurus infantary alone.  It's the monsters too.  I have maybe 2 tegadons, a carnosaur, a dozen or more pteradons and I don't remember what all else.

Quote from: yosemitemike;913932I should probably do something with all of those Warhammer models sitting in boxes but the sheer number is daunting.  I haven't inventoried it for a while but I think there are 60 saurus infantary alone.  It's the monsters too.  I have maybe 2 tegadons, a carnosaur, a dozen or more pteradons and I don't remember what all else.

One bite at a time.  Run a RPG campaign where there's Lizardmen and Dinosaurs and get them together bit by bit.  Eventually you'll have an army.

Quote from: Spike;912638My advice: Just don't do it. Or, if you absolutely must, wait until the inevitable crash, so they stop producing new editions every other year. Seriously, they haven't managed to produce a full line of codecii (codexes?), for a single edition since.. I dunno... third maybe? That was five teen years ago, give or take. They are on edition seven or eight now, I hear, and thats not counting apocalypse.  Hell, fifth edition managed to put out TWO core space marine codexes before they touched the Orks (I should point out I am not an Ork player, so this isn't a personal beef. In fact, i'm a damn Space Marine fan... so I'm the asshole stuck with having to rebuy my damn codex just in time for a new edition, with a god damn new fucking codex, before I even get around to making a new army list with the LAST god damn codex.... )

Also there is the small problem of moving to cheaper plastic models (that look fantastic, by the way), that nevertheless managed to cost twice what the more expensive metal models do.  

That was when I quit. When a single squad of a reasonably core unit (Terminator) would cost me a hundred bucks, I realized I had a problem and I joined 40k Anonymous. Their twelve step program (that is, tazing me right in the fuckign wallet twelve fucking times every time I glance at the 40k section of my local game store), has done me wonders.

Now days, when I get the urge to do model games (and that is increasingly rare, as I have had to lug giant boxes full of unfinished minis through three or four moves now...), I stick to Warmachine.

OR just play Rogue Trader, and screw any codexes.

Quote from: yosemitemike;913407There is a steady stream of players getting out of the game or selling their armies because they suddenly need money.  Be patient and watch ebay.

Craigslist 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.