Choosing a First 40k Army: Votann, AdMech, T’au and Other Rabbit Holes
Army-building chats, dwarf hopes, and the usual faction spiral
Sometimes a simple question like “what army should we start?” turns into a full evening of comparing playstyles, lore, model counts, rumours, and whether a faction looks suspiciously like someone from Piotrków Trybunalski.
That was very much the vibe of our latest chat.
Ender leaning toward Votann
The main conclusion from this round of discussion was that Ender is probably going with the Leagues of Votann.
The logic was actually pretty solid. T’au and Adeptus Mechanicus both seem fragile, and both reward careful positioning in a way that reminded us of Kharadron Overlords. That can be really fun, but it also means there is more to think through on the table and less room for sloppy movement.
Votann, on the other hand, came across as:
- slower,
- tougher,
- and relatively straightforward compared to T’au and AdMech.
That combination sounds pretty appealing if we want something durable and less punishing to learn. On top of that, their lore feels close to KO in spirit, which definitely helps when a faction already clicks aesthetically and narratively.
A small dose of dwarf copium
Of course, no dwarf-adjacent conversation ends without some release speculation.
Wilini mentioned spotting rumours on Reddit suggesting that one of the last releases this year might involve dwarfs, based on a roadmap tease showing a bit of armour that looked like it could belong to the Leagues of Votann.
Is that confirmation? Absolutely not.
Is it enough to keep the hope alive? Also absolutely yes.
And honestly, that is a very normal part of army-building in Warhammer: you are never just choosing what exists now, you are also choosing your preferred flavour of future disappointment and hype cycle.
Combat Patrol talk and box value
Wilini also mentioned already having a Combat Patrol, bought with regular 40k in mind because the box looked useful and people were saying it was a good buy for the system.
That is always a big part of starting an army: not just what looks cool, but what gives us a practical entry point. If a box has a solid spread of units and works well as a starting collection, it becomes much easier to commit.
We did not go deep into a full shopping plan this time, but the usual pattern was there:
- look at faction identity,
- compare how demanding they are on the table,
- check whether starter boxes make sense,
- then get distracted by three other factions.
The inevitable side quest: Grey Knights, Custodes, Deathwatch
No faction discussion stays focused for long.
At some point the chat drifted, as it always should, into “okay but what about these other cool weirdos?”
Wilini brought up Grey Knights as being very cool in lore, even if he was not sure how they currently play. The elevator pitch was excellent: they are basically the Emperor’s anti-daemon, anti-psyker, anti-Chaos specialists, which is a very strong niche if you like your Imperium extra intense.
Then came Adeptus Custodes, described in the most practical way possible:
- expensive in points,
- few models,
- but very strong.
So naturally the visual comparisons started immediately. Stas said they looked like Stormcast from Piotrków Trybunalski, which is now unfortunately impossible to unsee, and Michał added that they give off a strong Roman praetorian vibe. Which, to be fair, is also true.
Somewhere in the same orbit, Deathwatch also got a mention as another potentially cool option.
This was one of those classic 40k moments where a person starts by comparing three armies and ends up with eight browser tabs open and a completely different shortlist.
Where we actually read rules
A very practical question also came up: where do we even read the rules for different factions without getting lost?
Stas asked exactly that, after getting the feeling that AI summaries were either making things up or mixing in rules from other modes.
The answer from Wilini was simple: Wahapedia.
He linked the 10th edition quick start section and pointed out that once you click the flag, you can browse factions from there. Not exactly glamorous hobby content, but honestly this kind of info is gold when we are in the early army-building phase and just trying to compare how things work.
Because before buying models, there is always that stage where we:
- read faction rules,
- try to understand detachment identity,
- compare complexity,
- and wonder whether we actually want “elite and durable” or just think we do.
Where we landed
So after all the back-and-forth, the strongest takeaway was this:
Votann currently look like the best fit for Ender.
They seem to offer:
- a sturdier playstyle,
- less punishing gameplay than T’au or AdMech,
- a dwarf-flavoured lore hook,
- and maybe, just maybe, some future release potential to keep the excitement going.
Will that be the final decision forever? In Warhammer, obviously not. Nothing is final until the army is built, painted, played, replaced by another obsession, and then rediscovered six months later.
But as a point in the army-building journey, this felt like a very relatable one: trying to balance rules, durability, complexity, lore, and model appeal without losing our minds.
Which, to be fair, is half the fun.
Have you had a similar faction crisis recently? Are you on team durable and straightforward, or team fragile but clever?
Let us know — preferably before we all start another army by accident.