"Attention! Now listen up, you rookies, the Judge here has given us part of his valuable time and taken time from his important duties to come here and give you this briefing. You will give him your undivided attention and you will learn from what he has to say! This is an order!
"Inquisitor General, you have the floor, sir."
The Inquisitor, in his ominous black uniform, walks to the podium and begins to speak. The room is totally silent, except for his words....
Each Army has advantages, and disadvantages. Here is a list of each Army and its strengths and weaknesses.
Space Marines (Codex Chapters). Strengths- The Ultramarines Codex gives a Space Marine Player much room for designing an army his own way. The Codex Marine list is adaptable to a wide variety of situations. A Strength of all Space Marines is their special Rapid Fire and Break Test rules. Weaknesses- The Codex Space Marine Chapter has no special troops, which is seen as a weakness by some. All Marine Chapters Face the Drawback that you get very few Troops for your Points, but those that you get are very hard.
Blood Angels. Strengths- The Blood Angels allow a Player access to a few Special Troops that other Space Marines can not have. Notably the Death Company, and the Veteran Assault Squad. Both of these units are great if you like HTH. Weaknesses- There are no inherent Weaknesses in the Blood Angels that any other Chapter does not face.
Dark Angels. Strengths- Deathwing Terminators and nearly all characters are immune to psychology. The Ravenwing is very good at hit and run fast attacks. Weaknesses- Once again there is the few Marines to points value weakness, but in the Dark Angels it is exacerbated slightly.
Space Wolves. Strengths- If you want your army to be really good at Hand to Hand this is the Army for you. The Grey Hunters are the closest approximation to Tactical Marines From other Chapters, yet they may carry Hand to Hand Weapons. The Wolf Guard is another special Unit that can be outfitted exactly as you like. Weaknesses- Space Wolves are a good buy, but you still have less Troops than almost any opponent.
The Imperial Guard. Strengths- Tanks, Tanks, and more Tanks. Not to mention that you get 30 Guardsmen for the cost af a Space Marine Tactical Squad. Weaknesses- Don't get caught in Hand to Hand, you will die. Try not to get shot at either, you will die. The Infantry of the Guard are the weakest in the game, but you have loads of Tanks to make up for that.
The Squats. Strengths- Tough little buggers. Compared to the IG they are a little tougher. They can also have bolters and other weapons which means they shoot better than the IG as well. Weaknesses. Squats are slow. Try not to move them too much they will get shot to bits.
The Orks. Strengths- The Orks are tough, and well armed. They have specialists for EVERYTHING. This is arguably the most versatile army in the game. An added bonus is that the Orks have lots of neat vehicles. Weaknesses- Orks are a cumbersome army on the Table top. Additionally they are the most expensive army to purchase (that's why I don't have one).
Chaos. Strengths- The Minions of the Dark Lords have all of the advantages of Loyal Marines (almost), and several other things that make them very powerful. Their Psykers get an extra Deck to draw powers from. They have many specialist troops, and the ability to have lots of cool powers. They also get Daemons, which are very powerful extra dimensional creatures. Weaknesses- Like all Marines they are very expensive points wise. They also have so many special rules that they get very hard to remember, or interpret.
The Tyranids. Strengths- The Bugs are some of the best Close Quarters fighters in the Galaxy. They do not excel at ranged warfare, but are at least capable of shooting their foes. They have lots of different Troops available, and many of them are customizable. Weaknesses- Most Bugs have miserable saving throws. Their Armour is just not what it could be, but you can get around this.
The Eldar. Strengths- The Eldar are the Most Flexible Army in The Game (arguably [see Orks]). They have many specialist troops, and a good range of General troops as well. I personally think that the Eldar are at least as Flexible as a Space Marine Army, and a Imperial Guard Army together on one list. All of the Troops the Eldar have are good, many of them are great. Another Good point is the Vehicles that the Eldar have are fantastic. War Walkers and Bikes without rival. Weaknesses. Many Players will tell you that the Eldar are unbeatable, they lie. The Eldar have many Weaknesses. First of which is that the Aspect Warriors are not allowed any additional Equipment. If anything the Aspect Warriors are overspecialized, to the point where you really need to consider your army when you purchase it. If you neglect one component you will be crushed. Another Weakness of the Eldar is their lack of large vehicles. They have no tanks (rumor has it that they will soon).
There you have it. A nutshell look at the Armies of the 41st millennium. Hope it helps in some way.
"Inquisitor General, we thank you for your words of wisdom to this group, and we know that your time is important, so this group of rookies will learn from your words.
"Briefing dismissed."