Running a firstborn army worth of 500 points as a beginner?

[Awesomecakeman09]

I was wondering, is it still usable in 10th edition that now that GW released the space marine index and the points value list? Firstborn marines is my first model i bought 2 years ago when i only interested for collecting as part of diorama pieces and i planned to run them as my main army?

[Jye Nicolson]

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: you technically *can't* run a 500 point army of firstborn because the Combat Patrol format uses fixed models, you'd need 1000 to play Rules-As-Written. We always prioritise getting people a game though so there's no reason for that to be a barrier, we could just play 500 on a half sized board whenever.

Is it competitive? Depends on the models. For 9th whether a Primaris or Firstborn unit was best at a given role was a coin flip. As a result, while I intended to play Primaris only I ended up owning a lot of firstborn in spite of myself

10th I think has shifted in the direction of the Primaris as previous terrors like Vanguard Veterans got wound back, but there are still many solid Firstborn units (Devastators spring to mind), and each unit having a special mechanic means they all have roles they achieve well. A lot of the Firstborn vehicles are still very solid too, and box dreads are actually great.

If you're playing the non-Codex chapters you get even more Firstborn options; my Blood Angels will remain primarily Firstborn for the forseeable, and Space Wolves have some great choices too.

We usually play pretty casually too so you shouldn't need to worry about fielding an optimised army. Most of us play what we've painted and those of us who are a bit too online and exposed to competitive builds tend to have multiple armies and can go for a less cutthroat list - I can just not play my Aeldari for example

[Awesomecakeman09]

Well i hate to be competitive anyways so im good

The reason i stick to firstborn is simply because i grew on it and not to mention its very iconic and as much as i wanted primaris marines, i really just cant help but there’s something not right that i cant express

[Jye Nicolson]

as much as i wanted primaris marines, i really just cant help but there’s something not right that i cant express

They're just too awesome aren't they? You ask yourself if the Imperium deserves such wonderful defenders, and frankly the answer is no.



If the firstborn aesthetic is more your thing you can always keep an eye on proxying, as well as Terminators or Sternguard that are on the same base size either way. If your tastes take you towards 30k rest assured you will find opponents happy to play against you if your're using Legends of the Horus Heresy models as well (the HH tanks etc are getting 40k rules that can't be used in tournaments but should be fine for casual play).

[Awesomecakeman09]

I have a feeling that what have GW released about the space marine index list is just only the beginning when it comes to including 30k in the 10th edition…there will be much more as time comes

[Primarch]

I have a feeling that what have GW released about the space marine index list is just only the beginning when it comes to including 30k in the 10th edition…there will be much more as time comes

At some point soon there will be a pdf file containing the missing vehicles from 30K (and older models from other ranges) as well as a set of points values.
As time goes on GW will release updates to the points/rules of all the 40K units. They have specifically said that the 30K units won't be getting any updates.

The equivalent set of rules for using 40K minis in 30K is awful, as GW wants everyone to buy a separate army for each game.

The upcoming rules might be good, but I wouldn't expect much.

[Awesomecakeman09]

Ohh yeah i forgot about the separation between 30k and 40k.. welp gotta appreciate still that gw include some 30k dudes in 40k