[Hywel]

Hi All,

I've been painting up some fantasy figures for use in a 40K Apocalypse game (renegade psykers animating plagues of zombies...) and it tweaked my interest enough to pick up the new 8th ed Fantasy rulebook.

So, of course, now I'm thinking about starting a Fantasy Army. Or two. Sigh! :ireful2:

Like most newbies I've got my preconceived list of stuff I fancy. I've been through the very useful threads on here, especially the stickies, and just wanted to reality check my conclusions.

When I got into 40K, I took a great shine to Necrons, and I do still love my little tin Arnold Schwartzeneggers. But it has to be said that the Necron codex isn't really my friend: outdated, and limited choices make it hard to come up with variants that play in different ways.

I'm not at win at all costs, but having victory within grasp of my limited generalship some fraction of the time would be nice! :victory: :victory: :victory: :victory: :grin:

So... I don't want to unnecessarily cripple myself with an army that's hard to play well, has a very outdated codex or is plain uncompetitive. I'd probably have done better with Space Smurfs, but I didn't want to go with the crowd. (Is there the same overwhelming majority of players playing one army type/variants in Fantasy? Is there a Space Marine equivalent in the metagame, or are the armies more evenly spread?)


I'd like a codex that supports a variety of different styles of play- so one can try viable magic-heavy build, shooty build and combat-heavy build with the same army list and not be laughed out of the park. A jack-of-all-trades army which can be built in different ways, even if it is never going to be as good at any one area as a specialist army would be fun, I think.

I've already got enough Vampire Counts core units to make a modest starting army by adding a few characters, so I'll probably do that anyway.

But after that I was thinking of the Empire: it seems to have a reasonable spread of options, seems to be feasible to play reasonably as a newbie, and has lots of plastic, which is a big big plus. It also seems natural to add in counts-as choices in an Empire army (so I can include some female figures and perhaps a unit of wood elves counting as Empire scout archers) without opponents looking at me like I'm slightly crazy. I'd like to have lots of choice to build counts-as for painting fun!

Anyone want to warn me that I'm making a big mistake with that thinking?

The other ones I was thinking about were Vampire Counts, Skaven and Lizardmen. They seem to tick the boxes for game play but Lizardmen fail on the counts-as choices, as do Skaven a bit but their tech looks so fun to build that I don't really care.

Bretonnians and Wood Elves seem like they might be a bit too nerfed for a nwebie to stand much chance with?

Beastmen, Demons. Warriors of Chaos and Orcs just don't appeal as painting/roleplaying projects, which sadly rules out Dwarfs too (I was considering a counts-as bunch of vikings using the dwarf list, though).

Dark Elves are appealing because they actually have some female figures, but possibly a bit specialist rather than generalist? And a bit lacking in plastic? But I see they are listed as being hard to play, which is another strike against.

Tomb Kings appeal oh-so-much but they are sooooooooo obviously Necrons all over again that I'd better not!!! :shok:

Ogres have a perverse appeal too, but probably too hard to play and too one-dimensional as a list for my wish to try a bit of everything?

I hadn't really thought about High Elves, I guess maybe they don't appeal so much as a painting project.


Am I barking up the right tree here with Empire, Skaven and Vampire Counts as a shortlist?

Cheers, Hywel.

 

[needskonstruktion]

Well, for a jack of all trades army, a few spring to mind

Skaven:
Although they seem pretty specialised, I think they'd fit you. You can go with an all out horde, lots of big blocks of infantry and awesome magic/shooting effect. You can also focus on the latter, with not as many troops but a lot of cannons, gun teams, grey seers, slaves with slings, etc. You can do a specialised, assault force with gutter runners being sneaky, or a different one, focusing on clan moulder beasts such as giant rats and rat ogres.

Daemons:
I know you said that you weren't so keen, however I think they'd also suit you.
The 4 gods each have units that do different things, allowing lots of room to mix it up here and there, creating lots of variety. The Khorne units excel at CC against heavy units, with their brutal attacks, decent movement speed, etc. Nurgle units have some good magic, and are slow, yet have a good toughness. Slaanesh units are very quick with multiple attacks, meaning you'd use them for weak, but big units, and the spells available are good for doing things such as luring enemy units into danger and buffing up friendlies. Tzeentch units have some pretty awesome ranged attacks, and the blocks of basic troops count as a wizard each, and the spells available are amazing. This allows for lot's of variety, and they're fun to model and paint!

Empire:
The empire are very varied, this is their strong point. I don't have too much exp with them, however from what I've seen, these are the FB version of space marines, being a GW favorite xD They have a large line of models, and offer lot's of options. However, from personal exp, they contradict your interests in a similar way SM did

Vampire Counts:
They would be pretty good, however the tactics need to be used to effect. You can be flexible with them in a few ways, but it will be very magic orientated, as your vampires are crucial - If your vamp/vamps die anywhere other than around the end of the game, it's pretty likely the army will start to crumble :/

Orcs And Goblins:
These may appeal, as they offer a ton of variety and you can build an army up in many different ways. They offer lots of conversion opportunities, but their weak point is that psychology kicks in and they may fight among themselves. If you manage to overcome this, it's well worth it ^^ Magic and shooting can be pretty nice to - You can field this army in so many different ways

 

[Hywel]

Thanks, needskonstruktion, I was wondering about the SM-effect in the metagame. I think I worry about it a bit less than I did in 40K because I'm planning on any army with a lot of counts-as conversions, which will make it unique... whereas an SM army really just means smurfs of a different colour since the basic shape of a marine is kinda iconic.

The just-for-fun side of me would quite like Orcs (and Skaven, too) for the entertainment value of roleplaying the general shouting at the troops who won't do what they're ordered and whose death machine has just blown up his own elites...

Cheers, Hywel.

 

[needskonstruktion]

Yeh, I mean I find the basic marine a bit boring, as I have seen it so many times, but models like the converted sallys with the corsair cloaks I like a lot

For stand-as models, go with Skaven.
They have a Slaves unit - Their slaves can be a variety of models, so if you have some skinks, add some chains, make them look worn and you have a load of slaves Whoever they capture they would use as frontline troops, that they don't mind losing ^^