Cant believe I missed this so far. If you have about 300-500 USD to drop on FW and some kind relatives who might spend another couple hundered dollars you can pull off a Krieg army. They are totally worth the money b/c even if you suck as a gamer at least you'll have THE coolest army out right now, so you cant lose!
And on a side note FW isnt really that expensive compared to other hobbies. But in respect to GW their prices are pretty expensive, but you get what you pay for and thats also why FW is not for everyone.
Whichever way you go man I'll be happy to help you out with all aspects of either a Steel Legion or Death Korps of Krieg army as I am one of the few(maybe the only one) who has close (short a few Infantry sqauds) to a full army of them around here. If your really enjoy the Guard and are serious about all aspects of the hobby you wont regret going Death Korps.
Good luck mate,
BvL |