There are 6 entries for the
June 2011 Army List Challenge. The idea was to create an effective / themed army list that doesn't cripple the finances / retirement plan of a newbie. Have a read through the costed (double-entendre) lists and then vote for which you think is the most effective list that also best articulates the theme in the poll on the right.
Here's the lists...
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Cody J (Dark Eldar)
Lelith- $18.25
One Raider- $33.00
2 Ravagers- $99.00
2 Battleforces- $190.00
Total: $340.25
Pretty cheap if you ask me!
Army List:
Lelith- 175pts
x9 Bloodbrides w/ Hekkatrix Agonizer, x2 Shardnets, x 1 Hydra Gauntlet, Haywire Grenades- raider w/ Flickerfields- 265pts
x10 Wyches, Hekkatrix w/ Agonizer, Haywire Grenades, Raider w/ Flickers- 220pts
x10 Wyches, Hekkatrix w/ Agonizer, Haywire Grenades, Raider w/ Flickers- 220pts
x10 Warriors w/ Dark Lance- 115pts
x10 Warriors w/ Dark Lance- 115pts
x6 Reavers w/ x2 Heat Lances- 156pts
Ravager w/ Flicker- 115pts
Ravager w/ Flicker- 115pts
Total: 1496
You may be asking your self, "Where did he get the Bloodbrides from?" Well How I converted mine was with the extra bodies you get from the Raider and Ravager kits. All of my Bloodbrides have giant spears and the dynamic poses that the people come with the Raider and Ravager sprues. The warrior sprues come with two female bodies each so you can swap those 4 bodies out for the male bodies you get that come off of the Sprue. The extra Agonizer needed for the Bloodbrides can be taken from the Warriors box.
Now I don't think this is super competitive, but I think it has a good base of firepower and could bring the hurt a little bit.
This army is fluffy to the point where Lelith has a bodyguard of her best wyches (Bloodbrides), a couple follower clans (the 2 other Wych squads), Reavers are of the Wych Cult also. Ravagers are needed for firepower and no Dark Eldar player can be without two of these bad boys. The warriors coem with the Battleforce but fit the theme as well. What do Wyches and Lelith do when they get bored? They, uhmmm... Well I guess I'll leave that up to your imagination about what they do with the warriors.
I just don't think you can beat under $350 for a SOLID start to an army. There is literally nothing in the above that a Dark Eldar player would not use.
Kraggi (Grey Knights)
This is a slightly modified list of a 1750 tournament list that I took and had great success with.
The Cost of Buying it is here:
Space Marine Librarian in Terminator Armour: £14.50
Grey Knights x 4 = £82.00
Grey Knight Terminators = £28.00
Grey Knight Nemesis Dreadknight x 2 = £66.00
In total: £190.50 Sterling
or $311.75 USD.
The Army List is as follows:
Librarian: 150
Grey Knight Strike Squad x 10 - 240
- Psybolt Ammo, Psycannon x 2
Grey Knight Terminator Squad x 5 - 245
- Psybolt Ammo, Psycannon
Interceptor Squad x 10 - 365
- Psybolt Ammo, Incinerator x 2, Force Halber x 7 & Daemonhammer
Nemesis Dreadknight - 235
Heavy Incinerator, Personal Teleporter
Nemesis Dreadknight - 235
Heavy Incinerator, Personal Teleporter
Total: 1470
This leaves you with 30 points to kit out your Librarian, or with dropping Psybolt ammo and the like you can have more points of kitting out.
With a little conversion work you could get the Librairin to play the dual role of Grandmaster or Librarian so it gives you a few options for making the list.
All in all a strong list, as few people have the firepower to deal with 3 Shunting squads in one turn, which means you can get into combat on turn 2 with minimal effort.
Grey Knights are easy to paint so they look good on the table, and can look phenominal when you know what your doing with a Paint brush.
The army model count is only 27 models so it isnt a daunting amount of models for someone new to the game to paint.
All in all it offers you a lot of options cause with a little bit of ingenuity you can have Interceptors, Purifiers or Strike Squads from your boxes of Grey Knights.
Also with a little tweak to the Army list, including dropping all the extra points spent on Psybolt ammo you could split the strike squad to two 5 mans (a bad idea maybe but its an option) to then upgrade your terminators to Paladins. This then leaves you with 20 points to spend on your Libby.
Anyway thats all my reasons and justificationns for why I think this is one of the cheaper armies to start up.
Tenzing (Chaos Space Marine)
Sorcerer Lord- Lash, Mark of Slaanesh, Meltabombs
10 Possessed- Chaos Glory, Champion
10 Chaos Space Marines- 2 Plasma Gun
20 Chaos Space Marines- 2 Plasma Gun
8 Khorne Berzerkers- 2 Plasma Pistol, Skull Champion, Power Weapon, Plasma Pistol,Meltabombs; Rhino- Extra Armour
8 Khorne Berzerkers- 2 Plasma Pistol, Skull Champion, Power Weapon, Plasma Pistol,Meltabombs; Rhino- Extra Armour
That's 1496 points. Lots of Troops, some anti-medium armour (only meltabombs to deal with AV 14 unfortunately) but crucially big squads which will be hard to completely wipe and ignore. Mobile assult from the Berzerkers might swing games, especially if they are accompanied by the Sorcerer Lord (who can lash their target into range)
Grand total? 2 Battleforce and a Sorcerer model. UK- £128.20 (US $233.25, Aus $382, Eur E191.50)
Real question I guess is how much are you going to loathe someone for fielding 57 infantry and 2 tanks for 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of your army ;)
Suneokun (Tau)
3 x Tau Battleforces supplies, 1 Hammerhead weapon sprue, giving you an Ion Cannon and Hammerhead Cannon @ £188.20 (GW website)
HQ: 2 Shas'O Commanders, 2xMissile Pod, Plasma Rifle, Multitracker, Target Lock, 1 Gundrone @ 216 pts
Elite: Shas'Ui Crisis Monat, TL Fusion Blasters, Iridium Armour, Targetting Array, Stimulant Injector, 2 x gun Drones @ 113 pts
Elite: 1x6 Stealth Squads (with 2 gundrones) @ 200pts
Troops: 4 squads of 9 Fire Warriors, including Shas'Ui @ 400pts
Troops: 2 Squads of 18 Kroot @ 252pts
1 Devilfish @ 80pts
1 Hammerhead Railgun @ 140pts
1 Hammerhead Ion Cannon @ 105pts
Total = 1501pts
The Monat is a suicide unit for killing Landraiders, against two you will struggle.
The Commander's escort the Kroot Squads and disengage before combat. The Fire warriors are maximised for Ld testing (9 is the perfect number).
The Stealth teams infiltrate and harrass the oncoming lines with S5 death.
Best value army - hands down! Buy them now before the new codex releases...
Karitas (Dark Angels)
Ravenwing army.
4x ravenwing army boxes
£240 if purchased direct from GW after the price hike.
I’d personally paint and model them to be White Scars, but that’s me
List:
HQ : Sammael – on Landspeeder. Give him a white scarish name, paint him up proper Mongolian
Troops:
4X Ravenwing attack squadron,
Sergeant, 5 bikes, 2 melta
1 attack bike multimelta
Fast:
2x speeder with MM
1495.
I know a lot of the other posters are coming in cheaper than this, but we wanted a noob to win as part of the remit too yeah? With this, it’s Tough, fast and not too spendy. Noobs should be okay here right?
Kaughnor (Blood Angels)
How about a Death Company Force?
2 Blood Angel Battle Boxes = $200 (USD)
1 Astorath the Grim = $20.75 (USD)
1 Lemartes - $17.00 (USD)
Total cost = $237.75 (USD)
The list would break down as follows:
HQ: Astorath - 220 points
Troops:
10 man assault squad - 2 melta guns, power fist - 235 points
9 Death Company - jump packs, Lemartes, power fist, infernus pistol - 505 points
9 Death Company - bolters, power fist, infernus pistol, rhino - 270 points
9 Death Company - bolters, power fist, infernus pistol, rhino - 270 points
Mix and mash all the bits so that all the death company squads has some death company regalia. Paint it up and call it good. Not a great list but probably a lot of fun to play.
Elbrun (Blood Angels)
Another take on the Blood Angels theme. A bit more expensive than the first list, but not excessive in cost.
1500 Pts - Blood Angels Roster
1 Commander Dante, 225 pts
1x Sanguinary Guard Squad (1x Infernus, 1x Pfist, Chapter Banner, Deathmasks) 275 pts
2x Assault Squad 255 pts (510pts)
8 Assault Squad, 159 pts = 8 * 18 (base cost 18) + Infernus Pistol 15
1 Assault Marine with Meltagun, 28 pts = (base cost 18 + Meltagun 10)
1 Sergeant, 68 pts = (base cost 28) + Infernus Pistol x1 15 + Power Fist x1 25
2x Tactical Squad 245 pts (490 pts)
9 Tactical Squad, 147 pts = 9 * 16 (base cost 16) + Sergeant 41
1 Sergeant, 38 pts = (base cost 23) + Power Weapon x1 15
1 Rhino, 60 pts = (base cost 50 + Hunter Killer Missile 10)
Costs: (USD)
Codex Blood Angels $33
Dante (Finecast) $18.25
Sanguinary Guard box $33
2x Blood Angel Battleforce $200
Total: (USD) $284.25 (no tax/shipping added)
This is a good starter Blood Angels army with plenty of flexibility. Using the Death Company bits in the Battleforce boxes allows you to make the standard tactical and assault marines into what I feel are true Blood Angels. The cost to purchase it all is under USD $300 even, so it's not the most expensive list to do by far. And it is quite easily a list that can be used to win at 1500 pts.
This is a concept piece that underscores that even the most simple of conversions (a head swap) can dramatically alter the entire feel of a piece. All that has been done here is to swap the head of a standard plastic Cadian Guardsman for a plastic warhammer fantasy Dryad. Not only do the heads of the Dryads looks malevolent, but there's a distinct "daemon" feel to the guardsman now. 
The next step in the painting of this daemon prince involved a series of very dark washes on top of the mechrite red basecoat. The washes serve to get in all the recessed cracks of the sculpt and provide a good degree of depth to the miniature's paint scheme. After the washes, I have slowly built the reds back up again on the raised surfaces, one layer at a time. The first layer is barely noticeable in the image below, being only just above the washed areas in tone. However, subsequent layers progress through red gore, blood red to almost pure blazing orange on some of the raised surfaces. 
