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The mindless thing is arguable to an extent. They're not entirely robotic, they still have some semblance of souls. The C'Tan simply devoured all part of said souls except hatred for the living, and then took control of them. The Necrons are not motivated only by the will of their gods, but also the jealousy and hatred they felt from the time when they were still the Necrontyr. Also, to a limited extent, the strongest of the Necrontyr still retained a small amount of cohesive thought as Necrons, and THEY were turned into Necron lords. For the most part, the Necrons know what they wrought, think of them as mechanical balls of hatred, moving through the universe wiping out anything that breathes, because they never had the true chance to.
Enough of my ramblings, sorry for dragging us back to that. Continue.

For gaurd specifics, or specifics on any army you might want to try that race's thread.

Anyways, Im assuming you dont have any codecies, so i wont get too detailed. Regardless of point limit, or race, youll obviously want to buy some troops. So pick the gaurdsmen that look best to you.

Actually, with any race, just go with what you like. What do you want, a close combat army to tear things up? Long range firing death, a good mix, an army based on speed and being a nuisance, some endurant army that wont die?

Give us some details to work with.

Ok, so you think you want the cadian models? Also, you dont need to worry about short range, as your basic infantry already comes with a gun that covers that. Perhaps be thinking about what you want HQ wise. But most importantly a codex is a good idea. Then you can think about whether you want doctrines or not, or whatever.

Well, in the IG you have a command platoon. Thats it, youll want the codex to decide what your commander is equipped with, how powerful they are, what his retinue is made up of, and so on. When you get through the codex itll make much more sense.

But if youre set on IG, Id recomend to start taking your questions to the IG thread. Then youll probably get a lot more attention to your questions.

Let me run a quick background check:

Space marines:
+Pros: Well Balanced army, Tough, strong soilders, you cant go wrong with these guys, and almost Everybody starts with them...
-Cons: Ever read the stories about them? They usually go against uneven odds... They don't really specialize in anything (unless you picked a certian chapter...) They can be out numbered by some of the other armies (tyranid mostly)

Imperial Guard (IG):
+Pros: They have acess to some of the most powerful tech The Imperium has to offer... Large blasting weapons capable of destroying half a nation in one go... And they come in masses...
-cons: Here's a tip... If your enimies come in close range... I hope you have alot of meat shields...

Witch Hunters:
+Pros: They have well rounded specialists and fast moving troops... Plus you can field whole armies of girls...
-cons: Not the most popular army... They can cost alot at times... Plus other people can sometimes accociate the IG with this army...

DaemonHunters:
+Pros: They're tougher, stronger, and better equipped than space marines... Plus they have wrist mounted bolters!
-Cons: Adding more power equals even more disadvantages, they can always be outnumbered, plus the enimy can turn into a daemon... not a good deal... Pros can bring out their full potential...

Eldar
+Pros: Fast, graceful, agile, and excellent fighters, they are an orchestra of power and beauty
-Cons: They are the most fragile army in the game... Bad armor and bad toughness equals that even the most well thought plan is put asunder if not planned right...

Dark Eldar
+Pros: These dark cousins of the Eldar are quick and agile as them... But have one-hit kill weapons which can put even the toughest warrior to fall... They are masters of hit and run tactics...
-Cons: They lack the heavy guns to last long... So they have to make their battles quick as possible... Plus they share parts of the Eldar's faults

Orks:
+Pros: THe Greenskins come in the hundreds!! If you want to field the most of anything in one battle, Then this is the army for you! Orks are also know for their superior close combat... Let out your inner Waaagh!
-Cons: a mass of troops equals weak armor (the orks toughness make up for this) They are also the worst shots in the game... And their tech is sometimes prone to fail or blowup... Hey! nobody's perfect...

Chaos Space Marines
+Pros: The servants of the ruinous powers are the stronger cousins of space marines to par, twisted weapons, dark powers, and immense creatures makes this army a fearful sight
-Cons: Unlike space marines, They run away like wusses... and they are also prone to killing each other or something worse...

Necrons:
+Pros: Robot zombies... need I say more? How about tough armor and killer weapons to boot... And they have acess to killer gods
-Cons: They dissapear when outnumbered (wusses) and they are pretty slow... expect to get to half the side of the table in 3 turns...

Tau
+Pros: Some people consider them the opposite of the Orks... They have Extremely powerful guns capable of decimating armies... Even teh infrantry are best at shooting...
-Cons: Do you really expect them to go into close combat... STAY AT A DISTANCE!!!

Tyranid:
+Pros: They are the most numerous creatures in the game... And swarm people like crazy!!! Plus most people fear the Carnifex and Hive Tyrant like crazy!!!
-Cons: They're bugs... SO GET THE TORCH!!!

I actually dont agree with all of that.

Space Marines:

Your cons list is not very good. xD
In Fluff space marines can tear through a 3 inch reinforced steel door like crumpling up a bad peice of literature. They brush off attacks from pretty much anything and everything except the most deadly of weapons and to top it off. They are ******** HUGE!

Space marines are really quite an adaptable army. They are MARINES. Specialists of the Imperium. They are the elite sodiers.
They cost a fair deal though and yes they can be outnumbered quite well, but get pretty tough units.

Imperial Guard:
Pros - They are for tread heads. Got lots of tanks and Even though their men are not the greatest, a guardsman is 6 points. That is not bad. And you can also adapt the fighting style for you style with the doctrines and combat philosophies.

Cons - WEAK! Their men can be torn through like cheese cloth if the enemy is toting anything that can dish out lots of shots or cover large areas. (flamers or heavy flamers)

Eldar:
Pros - Fast, Agile, Skilled warriors. Eldar can dish out quick and skilled attacks at range and CC. Their units are indeed an orchestra and when keyed together correctly can take down an enemy with hybrid tactica.

Cons - If the eldar do not work in symphony, they fail, and indeed the eldar are very frail, however not the most frail in the entire game. Indeed they rank close in frailty to the imperial guard, but just a bit higher no the toughness scale.

Chaos Space Marines
Pros - Nearly as customizable as tyranids! Access to very powerful and varying units.

Cons - Points heavy. With how powerful they are, the chaos space marines tend to be even more points heavy than SM. Thus easily outnumbered.

Tyranid -
Pros - Horde, yes. And they can get some of the most devastating CC units int he game. Such as Carnifex and Hive Tyrant.

Cons - If lesser creatures are out of range of synapse creatures then the hive mind loses control of them and they revert to instinctual behaviour and are prone to run away.
Shooting.
Building a shooty tyranid army is an oxymoron.
They are CC or hybrid, not shooty.

Who?

-Mykal

Oh? I started with Necrons and I didn't have previous experience. Paint scheme could have turned out better, I actually think I did a lot better constructing them than painting them. Heh. I love my Necron Lord. Four arms, [Two Gauss Flayers, One Heavy Destroyer Gun Barrel, One Staff] Wraith Plates, Covered with Scarabs, A few Gauss Flayer Blades at key points, and an awesome cowl. God, I have too much time on my hands.

Edit: I also love my Monolith. Try and convert that, Ork Sucka's!