Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-26846442-20150802032746/@comment-6078851-20150802152843

it depends on how you want to approach the game: do you want to play for the fun of the game? narratively play in keeping with the lore of the setting? it also depends on if you will be painting your models: if not then it doesn't matter, but if you will be then armies like orks, imperial guard or tyranids will take a significant amount of time to paint.

if you're new to 40k tabletop then many (including me) would suggest space marines as a starting force - as mentioned they are beginner friendly, robust and powerful. plus, the rules of 40k aren't exactly a light read and it's probably best to start off with an easy to use army.

space marines do everything well so there's plenty of scope while using them to find out what kind of game you prefer to play: will you be a long-range shooter, charge heedlessly into close combat etc. once you've got used to the game then you can decide if you want to use another army.

eldar are almost as good as space marines (though not as easy to use as space marines, and both forces are points-expensive) but slightly less robust in exchange for greater speed. khorne daemons are almost exclusively close combat, but as supah says daemon armies are more of an intermediate level. dark eldar are an expert army though (i would suggest steering clear of them if you're a beginner) and even long time players can struggle with them, but like daemon armies if used properly they can be devastating.

if you want sheer volume of troops then go for imperial guard, orks, or tyranids.

as i said though it depends on how you want to play the game, but you should spend some time on this wiki reading up on the various factions that interest you.