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What would be the best army for someone new to WHFB, Pretend that Island of Blood doesn't exsist, I know the good deal that it is and it comes with a rule book, dice, etc. Mainly I guess I'm looking for something fun and competitve that will be easy to play. I want an army to learn WHFB with. Then idealy later I should be able to hold my own with whatever army I decide to try next

I was thinking:

Ogres
DE
Dwarfs
Beastmen
TK

These are all the armys that between looks and fluff I liked the best, Let me know what you guys think would be the ideal army to pick up let me know. If you don't think any of these armys are good for what I am trying to do, let me know and point me in the right direction.

Any and all help welcome

Thanks!!!

I'd go Dark Elves.. Decent book, good unit selection and the option to cheese it up for tournaments.

Rules are pretty straight forward too.

Out of those I'd go for Dark Elves too.

Of course as an Empire player I have to plug them too. Ahem: Play Empire Yay!

Dark Elves can operate in all phases of the game, so they're a better beginner's force.
Ogres are pretty unique in that they are mostly monstrous infantry with no cav and unusual magic.
Dwarves have no cheap troops and no magic AND no cav, as well as a warmachine focus.
Beastmen have no real cavarly and a limited ranged option. They can run a pseudo-balanced list with Centigors and Ungor Raiders, but I don't think it really works all that well.
Tomb Kings have a very old book, and they don't operate like other armies in the magic phase. They may be updated soon and I'd wait and see what that brings instead- until then, they have an older, metal heavy model range.
DE have lots of plastics, are relatively new, do well in combat, shooting, magic and movement. I don't like elves myself, but if you like them they're a good beginner's army. What they don't have is very durable units and cheap hordes of troops.

Thanks for the advice. Also know that I have no real stock vested in any army, if there is another army ya'll think I sould look into let me know. Just try to let me know why.

Looks like DE on top untill someone tells me other wise

Thanks again!

I would agree if you want a relatively up to date army book and mini range. With an effective choice of units and character options that let you use all aspects of the game. Dark Elves probably are the way to go. Beastmen can be fun. having played them myself. But can suffer greatly due to no armour on most units and little shooting. That being said they are pretty much a tide of close combat troops. All the others have their perks/quirks as well. Dwarfs are tough/strong fighters. Great artillery, Able to close down most magic phases easily but lack a magic phase themselves apart from the anvil of doom. I would also agree to maybe leave tomb kings to the side until its confirmed they get their re-release next year. As they sorely need it. Army book and model-wise. Ogres whilst they have a slightly older book have benefited well from 8th edition. much like dwarfs have but for different reasons. This editions monstrous infantry rules have been a great boon for them. Really upping their killing power. Though don't shoot much well and have their own weird version of magic.

Plenty of choices I guess. Hope this post helps in your decision.

From your list of armies, I would choose the DE too for the aforementioned reasons. I think it is important to have an army that will teach you all phases of the game and they can accomplish that. My other honorable mentions would be empire, lizardmen, and HE imho.

I know you mentioned to pretend the Isle of Blood set doesn't exist, but as a Dark Elf player I frequently look to the skaven book in envy out of having so many blasted choices to pick from. Much like the Dark Elf book, very few can be considered bad. Unless you just truly dislike the ratpeople I wouldn't really remove them as an option as they are a fun, flavorful army to play and can also cheese it up for tourneys.

As i am a dwarf player i cannot help but try to make you pick dwarves.
They are very much the space marines of 40k, high ld,T, and armour save while being decent in all phases except magic. Only being I2 they usually strike last but with ws4 they are usually hitting on 4`s or even 3`s! In short its hard to go wrong with dwarfs because unless you play really bad they are naturally very fun and competitive to play!

I Picked up Codexs for Ogres, Skaven, and Dark Elves. I will probably pick up Dwarfs and something else next time. I havn't decided. I'm going to do a lot more reading before I jump in.

Thanks again for all the advice

Reading before choosing is realt the best idea. Fluff and Idea are realy important factors in how well you will like your army, as well as the look of the models, and how they handle on the table thier rules, and what they are good at. Which of these things will most influence your satisfaction depends on you. My first army was dwarfs because I love thier Fluff, and realy wanted to paint a shiny metalic army with beards. Thier troop types and artilery in the fantasy setting also got me exited. For me thier rules and ability were not realy a determining factor, but i was pleased to learn how versitile they were over time. Consider each of those factors and which is most important to you...

Theoretical playstyle is also a factor, If you want to rampage around steamroller like and weild evil magic, that's warriors of chaos. Each army has a theme with strengths and weaknesses, the character of those traits will be important to your enjoyment. Once again i do love my dwarfs, but moving 3 and 6 inches at a time can be frustrating to many, and quite a few prospective fantasy players have dropped $300 dollars on dwarfs only to play them for a while and then wind up wanting to trade them for another army; which brings me to my next point.

Play with Proxies, learn the core rules and the army rules that you ar interested in. You can play hundreds of games before buying a single model, so you'll know what you like before making a comitment. Obviously you wouldn't want to go with Dwarfs, only to find out that Magic is what you want your army to be good at. hope this helps

RuneOfGromril wrote:Reading before choosing is realt the best idea. Fluff and Idea are realy important factors in how well you will like your army, as well as the look of the models, and how they handle on the table thier rules, and what they are good at. Which of these things will most influence your satisfaction depends on you. My first army was dwarfs because I love thier Fluff, and realy wanted to paint a shiny metalic army with beards. Thier troop types and artilery in the fantasy setting also got me exited. For me thier rules and ability were not realy a determining factor, but i was pleased to learn how versitile they were over time. Consider each of those factors and which is most important to you...

Theoretical playstyle is also a factor, If you want to rampage around steamroller like and weild evil magic, that's warriors of chaos. Each army has a theme with strengths and weaknesses, the character of those traits will be important to your enjoyment. Once again i do love my dwarfs, but moving 3 and 6 inches at a time can be frustrating to many, and quite a few prospective fantasy players have dropped $300 dollars on dwarfs only to play them for a while and then wind up wanting to trade them for another army; which brings me to my next point.

Play with Proxies, learn the core rules and the army rules that you ar interested in. You can play hundreds of games before buying a single model, so you'll know what you like before making a comitment. Obviously you wouldn't want to go with Dwarfs, only to find out that Magic is what you want your army to be good at. hope this helps

Listen to this. Some very good tips. Since 8th came out Ive been borrowing friends armies and proxying ones I couldn't get a lend of to see what I've enjoyed most and its really helped me plan out what I want to collect/buy.