hello
my name is jeremiah and i am on the edge of starting 40k.
i would probablly run space marines, but wouldnt know haw many i would need to play an average game. also i have heard that 40k rules are changing constantly and i would wonder if i could afford to keep up with it. plus being new to flames of war has been great, i have met alot of great people and have loved painting the mini's. would the be enough people for me to find a group easily enough. just wanting to know.

You're in luck as there seems to be a big 40k following here in the area.

Jf you're just starting, I'd recommend building up to 1000pts and start playing the "patrol" missions to get a feel for the games and space marines. Marines are a good starting army as they are a lot more forgiving than others. 1000pts should provide you enough options at the patrol level.

At a 1000pts, the cost start up can be a bit steep but don't let that deter you if you're really interested in this. But start small and make sure you like it enough to be able to spend the money to expand your army. The Megaforce box now available is a good place to start.

Typically, Merlyn's run tournaments ranging from 1500-1850pts. I've seen a lot of pick up games in the shop and points vary but it seems that 1500pts is the lowest.

As far as rules go, they don't change that constantly, it's more interpretation and people being "rules lawyers" that cause the most hang ups with the game. The current edition out (4th) is a significant improvement. I've played since 1989 and the current rules set is not perfect but pretty good.

I'm sure you can find a bunch of eager individuals willing to show you the ropes. For all things space marine check out the Bolter & Chainsword.

Also there's a local 40K Fightclub here in the area. There's a lot of dedicated and superb players in the club but they usually base their games out of another shop.

thanks alot,
thats all i need to know

If you go down to merlyns ask Josh, one of the guys that works there on the weekends, to help you out. He is hella knowledgable about everything 40k and can help you pick an army that will cater to your play style.

So how many poitns would a mega force be? What about the new starter set, is that any good?

The mega force boxes are a pretty good deal and they give you a good variety to start out with. The actual points value of the box can vary based on the army you have decided to built out of it.

Dungeon_Master123 wrote:

So how many poitns would a mega force be? What about the new starter set, is that any good?

The points for the Mega Force box varies. It includes a 10 man tactical squad, 5 man combat squad, a razorback, predator, dreadnought, 5 man assault squad, command squad, commander box, and a scout squad. The configurations on any of these elements is totally up in the air.

For example, the predator can be configure for autocannons and heavy bolter sponsons or lascannons all around. The razorback can have either heavy bolters or lascannons OR leave them off and just have a plain rhino. The scout squad can have sniper rifles or not. Heck, the command squad is a big chunk of points or you can use the pieces to build another 5 man combat squad and use all the fancy bits to spruce up your other marines, sgts, etc. Same goes for the commander box...make one cool commander (tooled up or not) and use the extra bits to add some variety to your sgts. One could surpass 1000pts on this. Two Mega Forces and you easily have 2000pts without breaking a sweat.

The starter box just has (I believe) ten marines and bunch of nids along with some terrain pieces.

The Battle For Macragge is a fantastic buy, you get 10 marines, some gaunts & genestealers, a set of crashed ship terrain pieces, and the shining jewel of the box is the mini-rulebook. It's a page for page copy of everything you'll need to play, the only difference between it & the main rulebook is a lot of back story & modeling tips. I carry the small one to tournaments because the big black book is a bit hard to carry round.