The last time I played Warhammer 40000 I was 15 years old give or take. We played about once a month on a pool table in my friend’s basement with half painted armies, makeshift terrain and more house rules than i care to remember. Fast forward a few years and I have a friend who dearly wants to pick up the game again and thats enough of an excuse for me. The problem, i need an army ready in a months time.

Army Selection

A hurried rule book purchase and speed read caught me up on the lore (which has seen some pleasant progression since I last played and holy crap Eye of Terror everywhere!) My first task was picking an army to build and paint in one month. Here are the guidelines i set for myself:

  • This army is not forever, do not get too hung up on it
  • I need to acquire ~1000 points of it in one month
  • The army needs to be easy to paint in the alotted time
  • Xenos or heretic only, everyone plays Imperium, try something different

The Candidates

Necrons

My gut reaction was to go Necron. They were practically non existent when I last played and it was fun seeing how they had grown into the lore, more importantly they checked all of my selection criteria. I did not love the idea though, not sure why. They stayed on the shortlist but I kept looking.

Dark Angels Fallen

I have always wanted to play an army of Fallen, I love the lore behind them and Dark Angels models are great. The catch, there was no way I was painting an army that ornate in time with my rusty modelling skills. This idea is on the back burner, but does not fit the criteria for now.

Craftworld Aeldari (Eldar)

Their name may have changed, and they may be one craftworld short compared to when I last played, but do they fit the criteria? At first I figured not, but then I remembered the fluff for Iyanden. Wraith models seemed to be easy to paint in bulk, and I had always wanted to give the Eldar a shot.

Next Steps

After settling on an Iyanden war host I ordered the Codex and the Start Collecting box (which handily is loaded with Wraith stuff). Next stop, testing paint schemes.