Switch Theme:

PinPointing an Army for my Friend.  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in us
Stealthy Space Wolves Scout






Hey guys.

My friend is trying to get into warhammer and cant decide on which one he'd like to start with. I've said to start with which models he likes the best but he's completely undecided as he likes just about all of them! I'm not exactly clued up on each army so im hoping the brilliant people on this forum can help us.

So i've asked what he wants out of an army and he's told me this.:

Flexibility. in a sense where he can build an army where it can participate in most phases of the game. Not excel in every phase, but maybe do well in all phases. or concentrate in each phases if he wanted to say make an army focused on shooting, melee, or magic.

Magic Heavy. He's a risk taker and a big magic fan. So preferably and army that has a higher emphasis around its mages?

Elite(ish) army, Not a huge fan of horde units, and Isnt a painter. So the less models to paint and base the better.

Access to Larger Models. Not so much a "insta win" massive model. but more a centre piece nice looking model.

We're beginner players, in sense we have a little experience, But not as tactical as veterans, so we dont mind learning curves, as we're hopefully going to be playing maybe 2 games a week. Thanks to any help!
   
Made in us
Evasive Eshin Assassin





Empire is pretty all-around good. It just has some crap stuff and some amazing stuff. Big models? The shrine-things, the War Altar, the Griffon, and the biggest of the bad: the Steam Tank.

Anything Elven, though Wood Elves are the least flexible; they can fight, but they have to fight in a certain way.
High Elves are the most durable. Dark Elves are...the best, sadly.
Big models include the Phoenii and Dragons for High Elves, the Hydra and Kharidbyss (or however you spell it) for Dark, and the Treemen for Wood.

Lizardmen have big monsters. Lots of big monsters. (4 of them, one of which comes in 3 types). And giant levitating Toad-wizards that are thousands of years old and can see the future.
They also have lots of mobile shooting, great fliers and scouts, and their main infantry are 6ft. tall flesh-eating Iguana soldiers.

 
   
Made in se
Servoarm Flailing Magos






Metalica

Vampire Counts.

All the armies that can compete in any phase are at least somewhat horde-esque. From what you listed, I was thinking Vampire Counts, which have a book with awesome internal balance that can really build to any phase, or Empire, which are the jacks of any trade. A competitor in all things and a master of none.

But they are both to some extent Horde-like. What pushes Vampire Counts to the front is:
A) Nice big centerpieces, and
B) The horde is skeletons, which basically means spraypaint and highlight for painting. You don't need to be a Golden Demon winner to work your way around the horde there. The Empire however are a different story. They all wear this colourful clothing that, while it can be fun for a guy that loves the painting to paint each model in a different pattern, it's gonna be a lot of work for someone that doesn't like the painting aspect as much.

 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Space Wolves Scout






Thanks for the fast replies!

Empire is an interesting army, but i cant imagine them being very good? Only from what we hear, they are all average. Average stat lines, average magic, but they have artillery?

I think High Elves are springing out, with the superior magic to Dark Elves. So I suppose High elves are coming out on top. But empire sound quite nice
   
Made in us
Nimble Pistolier





Easley, SC

Don't be fooled. Empire appear average but their gunpowder can be downright brutal. They can be an elitist army with heavy cavalry, or go big blocks of infantry with warrior priests for buffed stats. They can also go very heavy magic with the ability to bring not only a large amount of cheap wizards, or expensive wizard lords but Arch Lectors and Warrior Priests who contribute in the magic phase as well.

Empire are indeed the jack of all trades army, where they are balanced everywhere but can certainly be built to excel in any phase you choose.
   
Made in us
Superior Stormvermin





Andy140491 wrote:
Hey guys.

My friend is trying to get into warhammer and cant decide on which one he'd like to start with. I've said to start with which models he likes the best but he's completely undecided as he likes just about all of them! I'm not exactly clued up on each army so im hoping the brilliant people on this forum can help us.

So i've asked what he wants out of an army and he's told me this.:

Flexibility. in a sense where he can build an army where it can participate in most phases of the game. Not excel in every phase, but maybe do well in all phases. or concentrate in each phases if he wanted to say make an army focused on shooting, melee, or magic.


Empire does well here. You can make your army centrally focused on whichever phase you want. They have plenty of shooting options from bows to guns to cannons. They have decent melee units with heavy cavalry as well. Cheap wizards.


Magic Heavy. He's a risk taker and a big magic fan. So preferably and army that has a higher emphasis around its mages?


I think elves hold the strong point here with powerful wizards. Don't discount empire again though because they have access to all the lores from the rulebook and Balthazar Gelt who is a monster of Lore of Metal.

Elite(ish) army, Not a huge fan of horde units, and Isnt a painter. So the less models to paint and base the better.


Ogre Kingdoms will give the lowest model count on average, but other armies can make some very low model count armies. I'm looking at you Warriors of Chaos. Sometimes the low model count will play against you for army performance.


Access to Larger Models. Not so much a "insta win" massive model. but more a centre piece nice looking model.


Large models....almost every army has at least one.
Trying to push towards a winner, Empire (as someone said) has several great models. But there are so many that come to mind. Chaos lord on Manticore. Zombie Dragon. Hydra. Treeman. Screaming Bell, abomination. Thundertusk ALL the new undead hero kits. and more.

We're beginner players, in sense we have a little experience, But not as tactical as veterans, so we dont mind learning curves, as we're hopefully going to be playing maybe 2 games a week. Thanks to any help!


I always give the same advice...pick the army that you/he likes the look of or story of best and go from there.
If model count is a huge issue it would be best to stay away from Skaven, orks and goblins, and Undead.
   
Made in us
Stealthy Space Wolves Scout






Thanks again for the fantastic replies

Really then i think we've worked down to Just High Elves and Empire.

Tier wise are they more or less the same? I know empire have the MC in Demigryphs, and artillery With great cannons, hellblasters and the Steam tank.

And High Elves have the superior magic, more elite units, and monstrous Creatures in the Phoenix and Dragons.

Can Anyone highlight the pro's and Con's to each? Again thankyou all for your help
   
Made in se
Servoarm Flailing Magos






Metalica

tier-wise, practically every army in WHFB is the same.

Some are harder to play, but no less powerful. Some have strategies that others have a hard time countering, but it's never impossible.

That said, High Elves and Empire sounds like a really fun, very even match up. They're both pretty straight forward armies that will pitch in to some pretty great battles.

Me and my friend were starting much like you two (although with prior experience many years back) and play Skaven and Wood Elves respectively. While it can still be fun, I wouldn't recommend the match up.
My friend gets annoyed at my slave units so large he can never get through them since his army is fairly low model count, and I get annoyed at his almost fun-destroying mobility as he runs a full mobility wood elf army, so I can never charge him, as he just moves out of my cone. Every game just ends up with me forming a huge star around my bunker and him running around it trying to harry it. While it's funny because it actually to some extent reflects real world tactics, it gets old.

You guys will not have this problem.

 
   
 
Forum Index » The Old World & Legacy Warhammer Fantasy Discussion
Go to: