I'm mostly playing with a small group of friends right now, so I'm not taking the game too seriously. I'm mostly just building things that look neat to me, and having fun with it, which is working out so far. I'm just hoping that whatever I'm buying now doesn't become obsolete too quickly.
That does make sense, and that's quite helpful, actually! That'll make mental math much easier.So, more or less, Astartes are the meta. Now, by 'learn about', all's you really have to know is that Marines are T4 with 2 Wounds, or T5 with 3 Wounds, usually with a 3+ save. There are exceptions of T4 with 3 Wounds (Terminators). But whatever kills T5, 3 Wounds; Kills T4, 3 Wounds, too. If you can get your head around what that means, you know all you need to know.
In the three games I've played so far, I've faced Necrons, Chaos Space Marines, and regular Space Marines. Somehow managed to win all three, so I'm quite happy with that record. I would much rather look at anything besides Astartes models on the board, but killing them does bring a certain satisfaction in its own way!Mostly though. What's 'popular' online, doesn't mean anything. 'Cause what really matters is what you play against in the real world. Sometimes, rarely, but sometimes, your meta - as opposed to the meta - wont be clogged with Astartes (or Custodes, or Sororitas).