im pretty new i did some research once apon a time. but thats was over a year ago.
i dont have anything collection wise and right now im wanting to learn and get tips. found this place and thought i'd get on and get intel. im currently at work and dont have access to my PC... i plan on DLing a Torrent file that has the Warhammer 40k books in PDF format. this is a side hobby and not much time to get into but i plan on being ready to play by time a Convention we have yearly comes in. they have many Table tops... and 40k is one of them. i used to be on a Forum where we did side RP in the universe..
Im hoping you guys can help.
Thank you for the Intel.
Ratch Out

I feel like your asking a scientist to help you master the theory of quantum mechanics in a couple of paragraphs.

What is it that you want to know? What "intel" are you looking for? There is so much out there in the warhammer world that you really do have to be more specific.

Since your starting out I'll give you a general direction of where you should be headed:

1) Go to a local hobby shop and ask someone to teach you the rules of the game, or read the rulebook
2) Read over all the armies and pick one you like
3) Build an army list using the codex and post it on our forums to get feedback
4) once you have a list, begin building your army ONE SQUAD AT A TIME. I often find that people tend to buy everything at once, and then get overwelmed with trying to build the 5 pounds of plastic sprue and pewter sitting on their desk. These are the same people you often see selling partially painted models on ebay at huge discounted prices.
5) Once you've got your army ready go out and have fun playing

Hey buddy, welcome to the club.

First things first, don't mention DLing torrents. The Mods around here are very touchy about folks posting that sort of thing. You'll probably still hear about it, but you're new, so maybe they'll cut you some slack and you won't have 15 people posting in this thread about this terrible event (but probably not). :)

I've got a couple of friends who are thinking about getting into 40k, so I'll tell you what I told them as far as what races make good starter armies and which ones don't. Some folks will probably disagree and that's ok. Take it for what it's worth.

Armies that are relatively easy to start: Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, and Necrons.

The reason I say these guys are easy to start is because the troops in these forces have some of the best armor saves in the game. Seems like most of the the time, new players have more of a problem with keeping their troops from getting killed than anything else. These armies' basic troops, all things being the same, are fairly difficult to get off the table. That in turn makes them fairly forgiving for a new player.

SMs and CSMs lists can be built in such a way that they can play the two major play styles (shooty and assault) pretty well. When you decide which major play style appeals to you more, they can do either. Necrons are more shooty than they are assault, but they have some decent assault units too- just not as many and they're more specialized.

Not sure if painting is important to you or not, but if it is, Necrons are by far the easiest army to paint in 40k. With the smallest time investment and a small amount of ability that can easily be picked up with a little practice, you can field a very attractive Necron force.

Lastly, keep in mind that NO 40k army is cheap, but SMs, CSMs, and Necron basic units are all of a fairly high points cost, which means that you'll have to spend less money than other armies will to get to a given point level.

SMs are very readily available on eBay. CSM stuff is pretty easy to come by as well. Necron, not as much, but they're out there.

As far as rules, the SM codex is still relatively new, and I've not heard any rumors about re-doing Necrons, so your rules will be current at least until around Christmas 2008 if not longer. Chaos is getting a new codex very soon, so if you do decide to start them, don't buy their codex just yet.

Now, all that being said, if you're dead set on starting an army that isn't one of the three I've listed, by all means- do what you want. But for a beginner, I think you'll find it's tougher to lose with the armies listed than any of the others out there, and until you learn how to win, learning how not to lose is the next best thing!

My recommendation would be to get down to your local store, and get them to play an introduction game with you, they should give you the models etc, it'll basically show you everything, and you'll get to see all the armies avaiable and be able to ask the GW staff which army would best suit you etc.:yes:

the problem is... my "Local Store" is in a town 30 minutes from my location.
so getting there with abroken car is outta the question
i had planned on getting my army list and then amking trips or ordering from the net...
im doing a Chaos Space Marines Army and the focus is alot of CC units with a couple heavy for ranges support... im just waiting on my Codex so i can view the army stats...

the problem is... my "Local Store" is in a town 30 minutes from my location.
so getting there with abroken car is outta the question
i had planned on getting my army list and then amking trips or ordering from the net...
im doing a Chaos Space Marines Army and the focus is alot of CC units with a couple heavy for ranges support... im just waiting on my Codex so i can view the army stats...

Sorry to be the one to break it to you.... a new chaos codex is going to be coming out very soon which will make the one you bought extinct.