40K - Should I .... or not? Where to start?

Not me!

The Hive Mind recoils at the sight of such beasts polluting the biomass of the galaxy.

 

I got into this hobby by walking into my local GW a couple of years ago, sitting down at the internet ordering station, and buying a rather silly number of US dollars worth of Sisters of Battle. I have a very large collection of metal Sisters and their various vehicles and support units, almost all built and primed, none painted except for a small squad I used in a Kill Team tournament at the end of the last edition (which I won!). And now that I think of it, I actually reprimed them because I've completely changed my ideas on color schemes for them. One of the very first things I did was build a Penitent Engine, and boy was that a trial by fire. I've got two more still in the box.

Right now I'm really into AoS more than anything else, and am happily painting up my army, but I'm super-excited about the plastic line of Sisters. I'll probably turn my thoughts and brush to the Adepta Sororitas (and learn the latest rules set!) later this summer. Of course, about the time I figure out how to best play with them from their current rules, they'll release the much-anticipated Codex with the new models.

Anyway, yes! Very happy!

 

Well the best 40k armies are as follows...

1. Necrons
2. Tyranids
3. Dark Eldar
4. Orks
5. Who cares!

 

Here I am more or less in agreement with you - those top 4 armies are my favourites!

 

Based purely on looks and lore, my favorite 40K armies are:

1. Sisters of Battle
2. Genestealer Cults
   
3. Astra Militarum
4. Adeptus Mechanicus
5. Orks

Edited to add: the placement of those bottom three shifts from day to day. And I don't actually own any Orks or, other than Belsarius Cowl or whatever his name was from Triumvirate of the Empire, any Adeptus Mechanicus.

 

I think we know who will win here...

 

Looks like you need a visit from the Hive Mind then my friend!

 

I forgot about my Genestealer Cults and edited to slot them at #2! They're kind of hive mindy, right?

 

Y'know, I just thought of something that bugs me about Tyranids and Genestealer Cults. They're an extragalactic invasion force, right? Shouldn't their methodology be able to account for "converting" any and everything that has a genetic code? All the lore and stories I've seen about Genestealer Cults has involved them subverting human populations. Are there any about them subverting and converting Tau or Eldar or Orks?

 

They are indeed! They are used by the Tyranids to break up the forces of a Tyranid prey world so that it becomes easy picking for the swarm.

They have attempted to do so. One of the segments in the timeline of the 7th Ed codex featured the Tau experimenting with Genestealers until it all goes horribly wrong. Eldar would be quite difficult for a cult to infest because of their highly psychic nature - they would be able to easily detect and eliminate Cultists due to the Shadow in the Warp that they produce like all Tyranid life forms. Orks on the other hand would be oblivious to the cult initially infesting them but they fight each other all the time that they're not krumping enemies so would most likely destroy the cult without realising it.

 

Admittedly there is a big drop off after 1 & 2.

 

I based my list on looks and lore, and it would probably look more like yours based purely on aesthetics. I like the way Necrons look a lot. I like the Tyranids sculpts, but not the "official" color schemes, though of course, that would be on me. I think I'll probably buy some Tyranids to serve as Purestrains for my small-but-growing Genestealer Cults army sometime soon. Because I don't have enough models to build and paint already. As for the T'au, the very first models I painted up (quite badly) were the T'au from the last Kill Team box. I painted them purple, cream, and gold in honor of Prince. Used them for small practice games to learn (learnish) the then-current 40K rules set. Eldar? Well, there are so many now! Lots of them are awesome! I love their jet bikes.