Help me cut down the number of 40k armies I play

[Masked Thespian]

Hey everyone.

I’ve recently moved back to the UK after living for almost 6 years in Japan.  Sadly, I wasn’t able to do too much wargaming whilst out in the far east and I’m hoping to get back on track now.

I’ve been in the hobby for over 20 years and have accumulated a large amount of armies.  I’m no longer in position to store or even play with all of them so I’m looking at the rather unenviable task of cutting down the armies I have and I’m hoping that people here can maybe help me come to a decision as to which ones I can let go.

Ideally, I’d like to keep as few armies as possible and across those armies I’d like to be able to play with a variety of strategies, rather than having them all specialise in the same style of game play.

I’m going to rate each one on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 refers to the smallest value and 10 the highest, in each of the following categories to try and display my thoughts on each army:

• Size: how many models I own for this army compared to my others,
• Modelled/Painted: what kind of percentage of the army is modelled and/or painted,
• Fondness: how much I like the army and want to keep it.

Here are the armies I’ve acquired, in alphabetical order:


Adepta Sororitas
Size: 5.  I own a moderate amount of models for this, more than enough to make a decent sized army but it wouldn’t be one of my bigger ones.
Modelled/Painted: 1.  None of these models are assembled or painted.
Fondness: 8.  I’ve wanted to do an SOB army for a while and there’s a certain something about having such an out-of=print army like this.


Adeptus Astartes: Dark Angels
Size: 8.  Most Space Marine releases over the past 15 years or so I’ve picked up some models for this army, including a number of Forge World models, including a Thunderhawk, and a large number of limited edition models.  It’s probably one of my biggest armies.
Modelled/Painted: 1.  Barely any of these models are assembled and none are painted.
Fondness: 8.  I’ve been a fan of Dark Angels ever since Codex: Angels of Death dropped in 1996.


Adeptus Astartes: Grey Knights
Size: 4.  These were part of a large Daemonhunters army in 3rd-5th Editions, but that army was not exclusively Grey Knights.  They’ve not been updated to the newer editions so I don’t have any of the newer plastic models.
Modelled/Painted: 7.  Most of my Grey Knight models are actually assembled and painted.
Fondness: 10.  I’ve loved the Grey Knights ever since I first saw their rules in Second Edition and when they first appeared in 3rd Edition I snapped them up.


Adeptus Astartes: Space Marines (Raven Guard)
Size: 7.  Most of the models I’ve picked up for my Dark Angels could also be used for my Raven Guard.  I’ve never really distinguished between the two in terms of my unassembled models.
Modelled/Painted: 1.  None of these are assembled or painted.
Fondness: 8.  I’ve loved the Raven Guard ever since their Index Astartes article came out in the middle of 3rd Edition and subsequent releases have only further endeared them to me.


Adeptus Astartes: Space Wolves
Size: 1.  All of the models I bought for this are still in Japan and will likely not get sent back here.
Modelled/Painted: 1.  Only a handful of these are assembled or painted.
Fondness: 8/1.  I actually would really like to do a Space Wolves army, but the fact that I've left all of my models in Japan means that I'd have to build the army from scratch, which I don't fancy doing seeing as I'm trying to cut down my armies, not build new ones.


Astra Militarum (Praetorian)
Size: 6.  This is one of my older armies, having started it shortly after they were first released, including buying the original limited edition box.
Modelled/Painted: 4.  I have a moderate amount of this army assembled and painted.
Fondness: 9.  Like the SOBs, this is an out-of-print army.  Whilst that does make buying replacements more difficult, I think that it imparts a certain level of coolness to the army.  Plus, it lets me quote Zulu as I play.


Astra Militarum (Valhallan)
Size: 4.  My second oldest army isn’t actually one of my bigger ones.
Modelled/Painted: 3.  I have a small amount of this army assembled and painted.
Fondness: 3.  I loved these models when I first started but I quickly moved on to other things.


Astra Militarum (Cadian)
Size: 7.  I picked up a load of plastic Cadians for a good price a while ago.
Modelled/Painted: 2.  Not done too much with them, though.
Fondness: 2.  I’m not a huge fan of them, simply because they’re so widespread (look at how hipster I’m being…).


Astra Militarum (Catachan)
Size: 7.  Likewise, I bought a large number of these in plastic.
Modelled/Painted: 4.  I have a moderate number of them glued and painted.
Fondness: 4.  I used to be pretty big on them but my interest has waned in recent years.


Chaos Daemons
Size: 10.  This is probably my biggest army, having been the army I concentrated the most on in the years before leaving for Japan.
Modelled/Painted: 6.  Again, since I concentrated the most on it, it’s the one that has the largest percentage assembled and painted.
Fondness: 10.  I love Chaos Daemons.  I really don’t want to give them up.


Chaos Space Marines (Black Legion)
Size: 8.  My third oldest army, my Chaos Space Marines are one of my biggest armies.
Modelled/Painted: 5.  A moderate amount of my CSMs are assembled and painted.
Fondness: 8.  I love the Black Legion and have done ever since Second Edition.  This is another army I don’t want to give up.


Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard)
Size: 4.  Don’t have too many of these as I bought them second hand as a job lot.
Modelled/Painted: 8.  The job lot was purchased mostly painted.
Fondness: 2.  Meh.


Chaos Space Marines (World Eaters)
Size: 5.  I own a fair amount of these.
Modelled/Painted: 3.  I have a small number of them assembled and painted.
Fondness: 2.  I’m not terribly attached to them.


Dark Eldar (Wych Cult)
Size: 1.  I have a 400 point army under 4th Edition rules that I bought for a Doubles Tournament at Warhammer World.
Modelled/Painted: 10.  All 400 points are fully assembled and painted.
Fondness: 1.  Whilst I remember the event fondly, I’m not attached to the army or the models at all.


Eldar (Ulthwé)
Size: 10.  My first and largest army.
Modelled/Painted: 5.  I have a reasonable amount of this army modelled and painted.
Fondness: 1.  Despite being my first army, and the one I’ve spent the most money on, I just don’t care all that much for it any more.


Inquisition
Size: 3.  Mostly buoyed up by my Imperial Guard and Grey Knights, my strictly Inquisition models don’t number all that many.
Modelled/Painted: 7.  That said, the majority of them are assembled and painted.
Fondness: 8.  I love my Inquisitors.


Khorne Daemonkin
Size: 6.  I don’t have the new Codex so I don’t know what’s in it, but glancing at the GW website makes me think that I have a fair amount, based on my existing CSM (World Eaters) and the Khorne section of my Chaos Daemons army.
Modelled/Painted: 4.  Mostly the Daemons.
Fondness: ??  Unknown as I don’t have any knowledge of the army.  Depending on which armies I keep, this might be a “free” army that I can simply make up out of the others.


Officio Assassinorum
Size: 1.  Umm…  I have two or three copies of each Assassin.
Modelled/Painted: 10.  And they’re all assembled and painted
Fondness: 7.  Mostly as a layover from being part of Codex: Daemonhunters and Witch Hunters.


Orks
Size: 5.  Mostly made up out of “free” models that I’ve acquired over the years (like being in box sets like Assault on Black Reach) supplemented by buying a few extras.
Modelled/Painted: 1.  I’ve only modelled a single Battlewagon and three Nobs as a “proof of concept” for the army (it was going to be a Genestealer-infested Ork army, led by a Weirdboy-Magus).
Fondness: 1.  I’m not terribly bothered about keeping these.


Tau Empire
Size: 7.  I bought a large number of the plastics around their 4th Edition Codex release.
Modelled/Painted: 2.  I’ve assembled a very small amount of models and not painted any.
Fondness: 8.  I like the Tau from a modelling perspective as well as from a gaming perspective.



So, looking at these ratings, it seems pretty obvious that I'm most interested in keeping some of the following armies: Adepta Sororitas, Dark Angels, Grey Knights, Raven Guard, AM Praetorians, Chaos Daemons, CSM Black Legion, Inquisition, and Tau Empire.  It also doesn't seem like too much of a problem to keep my Assassins.  In terms of tabletop tactical applications, it seems that these armies can be divided up as follows:

Long Ranged	Short Ranged	Melee
Dark Angels	Adepta Sororitas	Grey Knights
Raven Guard	Grey Knights	Raven Guard
AM Praetorians	CSM Black Legion	Chaos Daemons
CSM Black Legion	Inquisition	CSM Black Legion
Tau Empire

Theoretically, I'd want to only keep two armies, with opposing game play applications.  I can kind of cheat in a couple of ways, by combining certain armies.  Inquisition, for example, could be combined with my Praetorians, Grey Knights, or Adepta Sororitas.  Likewise, my Black Legion and Chaos Daemons could be combined, whilst also allowing me to use the Khorne Daemonkin army list too.

So, does anyone have any thoughts on which armies I should try and cut down on?

[Waaaghpower]

Well, if you're really looking to condense, I really only see 6 or 7 armies here. 3 or 4, once you drop the 3 Xenos armies you don't care about. Adeptus Sororitas, Inquisition, and Assassins do not function as standalone armies due to their limited codex scope, but they have a lot of cohesion and can work together extremely well. Similarly, all your Marines are effectively one army, all your Guard are one army, and your Daemons/CSM can be easily fused as well.

The current ruleset makes it very easy to fuse different codices and armies together, so your imperial forces could really make a very nice single force.


Though... If you need someone to take your Sisters, Assassins, Inquisition, and maybe Orks off your hands, I would love to add them to my collection.

[Masked Thespian]

Well, if you're really looking to condense, I really only see 6 or 7 armies here. 3 or 4, once you drop the 3 Xenos armies you don't care about. Adeptus Sororitas, Inquisition, and Assassins do not function as standalone armies due to their limited codex scope, but they have a lot of cohesion and can work together extremely well. Similarly, all your Marines are effectively one army, all your Guard are one army, and your Daemons/CSM can be easily fused as well.

Okay, so with that in mind, I've effectively only got Inquisition (Inquisition, Grey Knights, Adeptus Sororitas, Assassins), Chaos (Black Legion, Chaos Daemons, maybe World Eaters), Space Marines (either Dark Angels or Raven Guard), AM Praetorians (which could get folded into Inquisition), and Tau Empire.  That does cut down on things somewhat.

[Irisado]

I think that combining armies, where possible, is the way forward here.  I get the impression that you are too emotionally attached to a lot of your armies to give them up .  As a consequence, I would suggest giving up playing armies independently and merge them into your existing larger armies that you care about.  You will, after all, be able to create quite a bit of space if you sell some of the larger forces you no longer want to keep playing, such as your Eldar army.

[Masked Thespian]

I get the impression that you are too emotionally attached to a lot of your armies to give them up .

Oh, I'm very emotionally attached to a lot of my armies.  My mother's a hoarder and I've inherited/been taught the same trait.  My wife has done her best to break me of it and she's been mostly successful.

I've just returned to the UK and whilst my parents have enough room for me to store my stuff at their house, I'm planning on moving out shortly and I doubt that I'll have room to take it all with me.  I have to get rid of a lot of things.  Me allowing myself to keep 2 or 3 armies is my compromise to myself.  I just have to try and work out which ones I'm going to get rid of...   

[Scout Sergeant Mkoll]

Looking at the information here I would recommend keeping the Black Legion as it is a favoured army which can double as long range or as a melee army. You could also keep a small Daemon contingent for use as allies.

I would also recommend keeping the Inquisition to function as the short range army. This way you have 2 armies but 3 play styles, the option of keeping some of your other models to supplement them without needing storage for whole armies and it's the only way I can see of having all 3 play style options without playing wholly Imperial.

Plus this has the added boost of meaning I can potentially buy your Dark Eldar in the next month or so (finances permitting).

[The Man They Call Jayne]

Given the new Codex, I would say keep the Tau, especially if you have a preference for their play style. And Chaos would be a good second choice. Flexible, hard hitting, and not just another Loyalist army.

[Irisado]

If you want to be a bit different to the majority of players, I'd echo the advice about sticking with Chaos as opposed to regular Marines.  Also, in view of the fact that you haven't assembled the majority of the Dark Angel and Ravenguard models, you could actually sell those for a pretty good price.  Fewer people seem to play Chaos these days, and you have the option to use the allies rule to field Black Legion and Chaos Daemon armies together if you wanted to.  This would also make sense from a narrative perspective, given the flexibility that the Black Legion has in terms of its links to all the Chaos Gods.

[Charistoph]

If you want to be a bit different to the majority of players, I'd echo the advice about sticking with Chaos as opposed to regular Marines.  Also, in view of the fact that you haven't assembled the majority of the Dark Angel and Ravenguard models, you could actually sell those for a pretty good price.  Fewer people seem to play Chaos these days, and you have the option to use the allies rule to field Black Legion and Chaos Daemon armies together if you wanted to.  This would also make sense from a narrative perspective, given the flexibility that the Black Legion has in terms of its links to all the Chaos Gods.

Agreed.

If we go by averages, your fondness ratings for the different empires is:
Tau: 8
Imperium: 6.8
Chaos: 5.7
But let's face it, the number of armies you have throws those values off.

That being said, I would divide them in to those 3 groups, and finalize a couple lists each.  Remember, Allying is possible now, so you can have all your AM pieces in one army with Dark Angels dropping Terminators in for support.

Khorne Daemonkin is like have Chaos Marines and Daemon allies all in one book, so if you really like World Eaters and Bloodletters, they are a great option.

However, considering what you have stated for your CSM, I would do the following:
1) Chaos Daemons with Black Legion allies.
2) AM Praetorians with Grey Knight allies.
Keep Tau if you have room and feel like a third opponent.

I would have put Grey Knights ahead of Praetorians, but Grey Knights are points intensive while AM is not.

[Thantos]

Sounds like some cool stuff, *runs hands together, Fagin style* i think once this thread has run its course, your next step will be to open a Trading thread?

[Masked Thespian]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.  I'm going to take some time to have a good look at the actual number of models I have and see where I'm going to go from there.

i think once this thread has run its course, your next step will be to open a Trading thread?

Sure thing.  I'll give you guys first dibs on my stuff   

[Waaaghpower]

Seriously, if you decide to drop your SoB or Inquisiton, gimme a heads up first!