Best small army option?

[Lord Kallozar]

I am looking to build a small but elite army of either space marines or chaos space marines (haven’t decided which way to go yet) but before I buy anything I would like some help and input about what to get. Money is tight at the mo so looking to literally have something along the lines of the following:

1 HQ

2 choices of bodied units

1 vehicle option

 

I’ve worded the list the way it is because I am not fussed about going unbound as I know the small force may have to be unbound to be worthwhile. So for example “bodied units” could be open to troops choice or elites choice etc etc.

 

Any suggestions on the best options for these? Obviously it wouldn’t be super competitive but at least a force that could do reasonably well.

 

Thanks.

Edited November 25, 2017 by Lord Kallozar

[Brother Lame]

How about Deathwatch? Lovely models and the Start Collecting boxset will give you a couple of Kill Teams plus a Venerable Dreadnought, plus Watch Captain Artemis. Lots of weapon variety to mix and match for different battlefield roles and you could expand by getting a second box to give you 20 dudes plus a second Venerable dude. You can also run that as a Battle-Forged army (is that the correct term?).

[General Strike]

Deathguard!

 

Malignant Plaguecaster

2x Units of Plague Marines

Blight Hauler

 

Or

 

Lord of Contagion

2x units of Blightlords

1x unit of Deathshroud

1x Landraider

Edited November 25, 2017 by HCMistborn

[klisof]

You could go full on terminator army, you should be able to find tartaros and caraphractii terminator kits on eBay for a good price from the boxed games.

Add in a terminator HQ and land raider or storm raven and your done :)

[bozo69pd]

How many points are you talking about here man? Cuz I could make you a 3 unit 500 point army, or a 3 unit 1500 point army.

 

Pick a color scheme you like. Do you like daemons? Do you like psykers?

Edited November 25, 2017 by bozo69pd

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

You can make a 2k Nipplewing army for pretty cheap. 5 Sanguinary Guard boxes and a Death Company box for characters will cost around $300/£120 

[General Strike]

Oh my god....is that what the Blood Angels Wing name is? Nipplewing? I love it.

[Lord Kallozar]

Cheers for the suggestions so far guys. I’m not too sure how many points because I haven’t even properly seen the new codexs yet I’ve not got into the full swing of 8th at all yet. All I know is that I’d rather use the new power points system than the other points. I’m not even sure what the standard power point army is?

[Shockmaster]

I may be wrong, as I don't study armies I don't personally own but you can probably do an elite army from most armies thanks to the detachments system.

 

My group uses the power system right now, we still prefer it but it might not be the ideal to focus on building your army around that if you play pick up games, as the looseness of it means it is more open to being broken, it tends to suit gaming groups of more casual players who know each other then against strangers but obviously others experience may be different.

[Silas7]

Ball park your budget. That will give people a better idea on what to suggest.

[Major_Gilbear]

Depending on your budget, you might want to consider either Burning of Prospero or Betrayal at Calth as starting points; each comes with a couple of characters, several troops squads, a Terminator Squad, and either a Dreadnought or a unit each of Custodes and Sisters of Silence.

 

Of these, I would suggest that Betrayal at Calth is the more "universal" of the two though, and would allow you to build 2 fancy characters (1 in power armour, one in Cataphractii Terminator armour), 4-6 power-armoured squads of various types and load-outs, 1 Terminator squad with various weapons options (technically Cataphractii, but you could run it as normal Terminator armour if you prefer) , and 1 Dreadnought. You could easily bits-buy a few odds and sods to round out your unit equipment choices if you need/want to.

 

For about half the price of the suggestions above, you might want to consider the Start Collecting sets. The Chaos one is probably the "worst" IMO simply because the Chaos Space Marines sprue is pretty old and worn, and the models feels pretty aged in design and detail (and have rather limited options compared to newer sprues).

[CMDR_Welles]

Wouldnt a Primaris army fit this bill? DI half, plus a box of Intersessors, Primaris Dread or two, and their tank or two? Maybe add some Aggressors, and another box of inceptors and Hellblasters? Pretty small elite army and loads of new models

[bozo69pd]

Wouldnt a Primaris army fit this bill? DI half, plus a box of Intersessors, Primaris Dread or two, and their tank or two? Maybe add some Aggressors, and another box of inceptors and Hellblasters? Pretty small elite army and loads of new models

and of course guilloman.

[CMDR_Welles]

 

Wouldnt a Primaris army fit this bill? DI half, plus a box of Intersessors, Primaris Dread or two, and their tank or two? Maybe add some Aggressors, and another box of inceptors and Hellblasters? Pretty small elite army and loads of new models

and of course guilloman.

 

For special games yeah. He is a great unit and centerpiece model. I just dont think he should be used ALL the time, especially for friendly casual games.

[Irbis]

For special games yeah. He is a great unit and centerpiece model. I just dont think he should be used ALL the time, especially for friendly casual games.

 

Actually big RG is pretty superfluous for Dark Imperium army, as you have ancient, lieutenant and captain (upgradeable to chapter master) in the box doing pretty much same buff for half the price, so, yeah. OP, I'd either go as suggested, with primaris half of Dark Imperium army, or Deathwatch, both are more costly than 'standard' marines but also fair bit better and will give you more points for the $. You can also go for one of the 8th edition starter sets, Know No Fear is great one and will give you 2 armies to play with and alternate playstyles...

[40Kcollector]

Grey Knights, grand master voldus, a landraider and 2 squads of terminators as troops.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

Custodes have an HQ coming out as of this morning, so I'd venture to say that they too are an option for you now.

[Xenith]

Blood Angels are the best small army.

 

Blood Angels are also the best large army.

 

Blood Angels.

[DuskRaider]

The best answer I can give you is a Terminator themed army. If going by that, the best Terminator-themed army you could field is probably Blightwing at this point. Granted you'll be using an alternate Detachment to do it, but it's perfectly legal. Also, with the point reductions coming in Chapter Approved (especially with Deathshroud) it's becoming even more viable. 

[Halandaar]

I think if cash is a concern, it's hard to look past Primaris or Death Guard; you can pick up the respective half of a Dark Imperium box for less than the price of a Start Collecting box on eBay and whichever set you choose, you'll get a fully functional 40-45 Power army with 2 HQs, 2-3 Troops choices and a couple of additional units (Elite and Fast Attack with DG, Fast Attack and Heavy Support for Primaris).

 

It's then really easy to add extra units at low cost; the Easy-to-Build range has a bunch of options for both armies, all at cheaper prices than the multi-part kits, and the range is being expanded this month with extra units for both sides.

[Xenith]

Agree there. If you can find a buddy who wants the other half, know no fear is an incredible boxed set for the price. £25 each gets you a hq, troop, fast attack and heavy choice. From there chuck in some easy build aggressors and you're golden!

 

Blood angels.