What's a good 2nd 40k army to start alongside Nids?

[Osedaxx]

Hey Hive!

Quick question for all of you. Besides some FW big bugs I'm pretty much done painting all my 'Nids (after 4 long years!) and have bit of a problem. Painting is what got me into Warhammer and now that I've finished more or less my 'Nids I don;t know what to do. My girlfriend and I have started her a Dark Elf WHFB army but it's more for her to paint. I'm looking for another 40k army that would complement 'Nids well in the sense that I'm looking for the complete opposite.

Somethings small, elite, fun to paint and a nice change from carapace and chitin! Any advice? Horde Armies are a hell NO for me.

Any suguestions?

[jimmyp]

Small fun elite army I would recommend the grey knights mate. The starter box set plus a HQ works out 1000-1200 points all for about £150 roughly. Lovely to paint too.

[vectron]

Well, I went for Necrons as second army, though I'd hold off them until their next codex drops - presumably sometime soon-ish - if you are worried about competitivness.

Regardless, Necrons can run multiple completely mechanized AV13 lists, and have probably the best multi-purpose gun platform in the game in the Annihilation Barges (being able to damage AA/invis units with ease with TL tesla). They also have one of the more ridiculous LoWs. Probably going to get hit with the xeno nerfbat though.

[gigasnail]

what's a good 2nd army besides nids? get something you like the look/style of. we can't really answer that for you.

[cyaneye]

Oct 12, 2014 23:11:55 GMT gigasnail said:

what's a good 2nd army besides nids? get something you like the look/style of. we can't really answer that for you.

This, really. Picking an army is solely up to you.

I myself am kind of in your shoes, where I want to start a second army. Personally I'm considering Dark Eldar. Main reason for doing so is actually taking a look at their models, and realizing how amazing they look...if not a bit disturbing.

So if I had to say anything, take a close look at the models from other armies to see what you like and go from there

[coredump]

Tau will give you close to 'exact opposite'....

Chaos will be different, but plenty of cool painting opportunities.

[grarik]

Personally when I started a second army I went with Grey Knights, although my reasoning was that I wanted to get a reasonably large points value army without spending a great deal of money. gigasnail is right though, we can provide advice, but in the end its up to you to decide on a force, you don't want to start an army only to realise you hated it after sinking a significant amount of money into it.

[infornography]

Small and elite screams Grey Knights.

I went with Space Marines for my second and enjoyed it. Tau would be a good counterpoint to Nids. And Necrons are on the short list for additional armies I would like to try.

[bolk]

Yeah, Grey Knights look awesome to paint. I`ve caught myself in almost buying a Paladin squad several times when looking through stuff on the GW site. But as eveyone has said, it`s you who`s gonna buy them and paint them. Take a big cup of coffee/tea/whiskey/whatever you fancy and look through GW models for a evening. You`ll find your new muse in the end

[seanster3000]

I have a Black Templar Space Marine force that I love to play as a break from my Tyranids (boy do I know how to pick the weak armies lol). Space Marines, in game terms, are hardy durable units and they are relatively easy to paint. My Black Templars are black (duh), white, and silver for metal parts. Rules wise Space Marines are fun to play, even though the Black Templar traits are some of the weaker ones given to Space Marines they are still fun to play. Playing as Space Marines also gives you a wide variety of models to field in your army. Legion of The Damned, Inquisitors, Assassins, Knight Titans, all the Forge World models, plus you are battle brothers with AM and all their tanky goodness!

Just my opinion though.

[macdaddyt]

Oct 14, 2014 0:41:59 GMT seanster3000 said:

I have a Black Templar Space Marine force that I love to play as a break from my Tyranids (boy do I know how to pick the weak armies lol). Space Marines, in game terms, are hardy durable units and they are relatively easy to paint. My Black Templars are black (duh), white, and silver for metal parts. Rules wise Space Marines are fun to play, even though the Black Templar traits are some of the weaker ones given to Space Marines they are still fun to play. Playing as Space Marines also gives you a wide variety of models to field in your army. Legion of The Damned, Inquisitors, Assassins, Knight Titans, all the Forge World models, plus you are battle brothers with AM and all their tanky goodness!

Just my opinion though.

You're forgetting the Zeal of playing Templars Brother. Never forget the Zeal.

[ilovethenids]

Personally I decided to get Astra Militarum, even though honestly I find their fluff and whatnot rather boring. I just like how they're the perfect army to forge a narrative against my Tyranids with - the "average Joes" of the 40K universe fighting bioengineered killing machines. Reminds me of Starship Troopers, Aliens, that kinda thing.

Honestly though it depends on why you want a second army. Do you want it as a solid opponent to put your nids against? Do you want an entirely different army to play with? I'd say as with making any decision to start something new, you should consider all the possibilities and make an informed decision based on what you want out of a new army.

[roughjnick]

It really is an individual choice. Like several people have already said Grey Knights allow for the smallest and most elite armies but if you're not too worried about competitiveness most armies offer the ability to make small forces. Personally I've been getting a lot of satisfaction out of painting up a smallish Khorne army recently. I've found the blood red and bronze colour scheme a nice change from my nids which are blue and tan). Plus I've always considered them the most demon-y daemons so it's been relatively easy to get a good looking force together with a bloodthirter (converted balrog), skulltaker, couple of heralds, Bloodcrushers and bloodletters.

[vectron]

Also, if it's mainly for having something to paint you could take a look at Infinity; a typical team is 10 models or less, and the minis are beautifully sculpted. I've yet to play the actual game myself, but I have a playable team I bought just because they look awesome. Beastsofwar.com is covering the 3rd ed release this week, so have a look.

[mattblowers]

Oct 13, 2014 2:00:10 GMT coredump said:

Chaos will be different, but plenty of cool painting opportunities.

Might as well play Chaos as he is used to sub-par codex, eh? Some of the best looking models in the game, my son plays them but they are not his go to army for anything approaching any level of competition. They do look good though and conversions are second to only Orks. CSM players are often some of the best painters.

To the OP, I play IG (I still refuse to use AM) and Eldar as well. IG was my first army and still has a special place in my heart. Eldar is one of the favorites as well. I play Eldar less now since everyone thinks they are OP. IG and Eldar are both great choices as they have excellent choices throughout the codex and both armies can play multiple play styles really well.