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Hey guys.

After struggling with gender stereotypes and roles, I've finally caved in and decided that playing with miniatures are perfectly acceptable. That being said, I'd like some tips on starting.

1. I'm a college student. This more or less determines my pocketbook. Is eBay a good source for miniatures? I know quality doesn't usually come cheap, but are there any stores in which you would recommend?

2. My personality more or less determined the army for me - the high elves. I'd like to collect a mixed army of both male and female elves if that's possible. How would I go about carrying out conversions? I'm fairly sure I can perform at an ok level - microbiology has a lot of finesse work going on.

3. How would I go about introducing my friends to the game? and 4. Is it possible to play Warhammer casually? This goes with the same question above. Basically, I see it as a modified version of chess with more intricate rules. I'm fairly sure most of my engineering friends and English major buddies would be happy to roll a night of dice with me. The thing is, a lot of them (including me) tend to shy away from the gaming crowd at my school. They're literally like a cult.

Look. If you want to know how bad it was, I got yelled at for liking the Phoenix Guard and thought that Teclis/Tyrion story was similar to many figures in history. (I was under the "erroneous" impression that you're free to field your forces in whatever way you please, and there are no real "weak," "noob," "useless," and etc units) Needless to say, I didn't go back to their club meetings.

Thank you for reading, and I hope some veterans here can help.

Well, if your stating out I would try too get a battle box from a discount store like the WarStore or something similar. After that try and build your army up in blocks of around 500 or so points. Try and paint everything before you go and buy the next 500.

Are you committed to Warhammer Fantasy or would you consider Warhammer 40K (Eldar, Sisters, Dark Eldar). Depending on who else plays and the size of their armies, I think WH40K is more forgiving with respect to smaller armies and shorter games, which allows for a little more informality.

yes it is possible to play casually, you just have to find the right folks If you can't find them, I would suggest playing with the hardcore nerds for a while till you learn the game and get your army started, and in the meantime teach some of your buddies how to play and start your own laid back group

I found myself a great group of casual gamers to play with and it made the game so much more fun for me. No one in the group is really competitive, we're definitely the "beer & pretzels" types.. usually more beer than pretzels.

I don't know much about high elves but I'm sure there are plenty of female models. If you're looking for a casual army then don't be afraid to look into some other game systems for female models to fill up your ranks. There's plenty out there

1) Ebay can be cheaper, but horror stories about. Peace of mind or 25% off. Pick one.

2) Mix and match. If you're not into tournaments and such, you can try and find other 20-25mm scale minis- or other army types from GW- with the features you like... apparently long hair and a heaving bosom. They may even have female elves. (Sorry couldn't resist a dig at the girly-men)

3) The best way would probably be to buy the Battle for Skull Pass, or whatever the starter set of the month is, paint up both sides, and invite friends over for a game, then just play the scenarios in the starter set out. At 50 bucks for a hardcover rule book, or 60 bucks for the starter set, its hard to pass on 10 bucks for two armies to show your friends how to play.

4) Playing Warhammer casually is up to your gaming group. If you all like to sit around in your boxers and tshirts pounding back Heineken and laughing at each other when you fail a charge, have at it. If you like to paint up 2500 points with every model Golden Demon quality on its own magnetized travel board encased in a reusable hand crafted snow globe to travel to all the stateside GT's and a few of the European ones... have at it. Each style of play will have its own ettiquette and "house" rules.

1. I've had good luck with eBay for 'bulk' stuff. For example, the boxes of plastic troop kits. As with ANYTHING from eBay, do your research and set a maximum price. Troop kits are close enough to a commodity that you can often monitor prices and see what they're going for. You're trading patience for time.

As for other stores, definitely check out The War Store, although (like many online retailers) they can't directly sell GW stuff online.


2. I thought many of the High Elf kits were mixed-gender. I might be wrong. As for conversions it depends heavily on the models themselves.

3. A good way to introduce people might be to (and this is going to cost) build a 2nd (albeit smaller) army to use against your main.

Another idea to look at is to see if you can find the Mordheim rules. If you're not aaware, Mordheim is a skirmish-level variant of WHFB that is built for smaller games... You move individual models instead of blocks of troops. I haven't played Mordheim but I have played it's sci-fi cousin Necromunda but I believe the HE do have some representation in Mordheim. The rulebooks sued to be cheap and you can probably build a quick and dirty Skaven gang with a plastic box set and maybe a blister or two that can play against your HE. Your HE force might even end up being able to migrate easily into WHFB later if you want.

4. It is possible to play miniatures games casually. I think WH40k and WHFB bring out a lot of the over-the-top OCD behavior because there is a lot of emotional (and financial) investment in the games. It's the exact opposite of chess in that way... No one thinks the Black pieces are really broken or that the new version is going to make White rooks really useful because they're getting new models.

This is actually another potential reason to give Mordheim a look. Again, I'm more familiar with necromunda than Mordheim, but both have campaign rules where you get to see your small warband grow (or die, if you roll like I do). This requires a bit more casual style, as an overwhelming warband may need to 'retire with honors and dignity' or it'll find no more players.

All wargames, no matter how balanced, seem to have some balance issues. I'd guess even Chess players can discuss pros/cons of going first, for example.

Hope this helps!

I'm gonna second the Warstore. Reliable place to order from and at good prices.

My advice to the budget-conscience: plan out your army/purchases ahead of time. Avoid impulse shopping! It leads to empty wallets (like mine :-()!

What did they yell at you about for liking Phoenix Guard? That they're survivable? Definitely need to find the right group of friends to play with. My own group tends to be pretty casual and not terribly concerned with power-gaming/winning but more of hanging out and dorking out about who's getting more of their army painted.

The High Elf range isn't particularly filled with female models (actually, I can't think of any current line models that are female). That can usually be remedied by a browse through the Warstore's website, though.

HI.
WH and 40k are best played casually.IMO.
Discount on line traders are one way of keeping costs down,However If you are not going to play in a GW store or a tounament , it might be worth concidering alternative suppliers.(Generic fantasy minatures are not exclusive to GW! )

WH and 40k go great with beer and snack food.However if you want you friends to get into minature gaming why not try Blood Bowl first, and ease them into it gently!(Free rules on the GW web site , and teams wont break the bank....)
The teams dont take long to paint up and it gives players a feel for the races of the WH world in a semi familiar setting.

TTFN
Lanrak.

1. To save money you can try to find a good deal on ebay, though you have the risks associated with ebay. If you see a really good deal it's worth it, but otherwise you can buy brand new GW products from http://www.thewarstore.com/ for 20% off.

2. If you want to be high elves, I think they might already be a mix of male and female (though I might be confusing this with eldar from 40k). If not, high elves are feminine enough that converting shouldn't be too difficult. If you want to convert male -> female models you would need to get greenstuff or some other modelling putty if you are going to sculpt.

3. I don't know how you would introduce friends to the game. Generally warhammer and 40k take quite a bit of effort to get into. If your friends are willing to learn the rules, their army, paint/assemble, etc. then go for it. An easy way to start would be to get the starter set, battle for skull pass, and try out the game.

4. You can play warhammer casually, but warhammer fantasy is generally a lot more based on tactics, maneuvering, etc. and can get a bit complicated, while warhammer 40k is somewhat simpler. Both require you to at least know the rules and make an army, but once you've got that down warhammer can be as relaxed and fun as you and whoever you are playing want it to be.

yeah just bought a load of stuff off ebay. Came in perfectly!!! Eldar too.Yeah i would get bfsp. I started wh by winning a empire battalion. then about a year later got into 40k. Iw ould go fantasy first because 40k is so much easier to win with knowledge of tactics. good luck

kf

If you're getting in, the starter boxed sets are great sources of minis. You can get a box, play a bit, and then trade with another player to double down.

Battalion boxes are also great.

I don't like eBay anymore - discounters like the WarStore are cheaper and more reliable.

Your university almost certainly has a wargames club. If not, start one up and ask the students' union for a grant towards equipment.

All of my stuff was second-hand 2nd ed. minis (BAs and Eldar) until I got the Space Wolves Battleforce back when it came out. So I sort of learned to play 2nd/3rd ed before I ever completely assembled and painted my own minis.

Try some demo games if there is a LGS. My most recent army has been mostly bought online with money I've made on ebay, and it's a nice feeling.

Kilkrazy wrote:Your university almost certainly has a wargames club. If not, start one up and ask the students' union for a grant towards equipment.

I got introduced to Warhammer some times ago. Played once at a Games Workshop before I left for NY - the guys at the store were very friendly and I had fun with the calvary-heavy high elf force.

Anyways. There is a wargames club here at my school, but the issue is that they aren't exactly accepting to newbies...or women, for that matter. Like I said. I mentioned something about liking the Phoenix Guard because they look really cool and their background story was really interesting too. And I received an unwanted lecture on point values and some other stuff. Something about cost efficiency and counter charges and etc. (I do have a passing understanding of the rule, but seriously. All that went over my head as I sorta just nodded blindly as the guy rambled on.) I excused myself and left after that.

Basically, I'd like to eventually build my way up to something you'd see in, oh, I don't know. The Lord of the Rings. Footsoldiers, archers, some knights, some elite forces, maybe a prince and a sorceress by his side. Something like that.

I've also checked out the various bitz around, so I think I've got a fairly decent idea - putting down lists of Wood elf/Dark elf torsos and other parts to use in my own army. I guess I'm more interested in the painting and the assembling than the actual "fighting," though the fighting is definitely fun as well. Most of my buddies are intrigued by the idea but are feeling skittish about the monetary investment. What I might end up doing is buying stuff either off ebay and have two "armies" that I'd like to paint. Maybe spending close to 100$ for starters.

Thanks, guys. It makes me feel a lot better.

EDIT: All I need to do now is to find someone to talk High Elves with.

EDIT 2: To answer the 40k question. The 40k sci-fi look just wasn't my thing. I do like the Tau though.

I'd still strongly recommend looking at the Skirmish games (Mordheim and Necromunda)... If you're worried about cost, the basic cost for these is a bit cheaper and you can have a LOT of fun converting and painting as you're dealing with a pool of individuals instead of looking at big units like you do for the main games.

Obviously Dakka would be a great place to find someone to talk High Elves with. Not me though. I hate elves.

*hides eldar*

If you're looking for a way to make female Elves...
Look into the Wood Elf boxes for conversion, there's quite a few female bodies on the sprues, and if one of your friends decides to play Wood Elves...you can find a way to nab the parts off them.

Balance wrote:I'd still strongly recommend looking at the Skirmish games (Mordheim and Necromunda)... If you're worried about cost, the basic cost for these is a bit cheaper and you can have a LOT of fun converting and painting as you're dealing with a pool of individuals instead of looking at big units like you do for the main games.

Thank you for your recommendation of both of those games, but I got hooked by the beauty of the tabletop battles and not the "heroic action" normally found in other miniature games. What attracted me in the first place was that store's Silver Helms. All the silver and the light blue highlights! They just looked really good and I was afraid to touch them -

Pardon me. Anyways, I think I may just use the Warband rules and gradually build up from there. I'm keeping a fairly strict spending limit, so I think maybe in a few years I may have a large enough army to show up and challenge a few of you to a game or two.

Sounds like you were talking to one of those competitive types. A lot of people will build their army based on what wins, and they pride themselves on their ability to know every little rule .. and just keep in mind that there are a few gamer types out there that are know it alls and showing that they know more than you makes them feel good about themselves

Just build the army you like and start playing. If you end up investing in a unit that might be as good as another, so be it .. who cares as long as you had fun building it

Well, welcome to the wonderful world of miniatures gaming. Warhammer can be played as competitively or casualy as you and your opponent want to play, and while it might take a while, you can usually find people in any community that share your playing style.

I think you have the best possible attitude towards your game and your army for getting in: you're excited! Knowing what you want, having a visual and a theme and a goal in mind is the best way to start wargaming. AFter painting your 30th mini, if you're not excited about what you're doing, it can get really hard to motivate yourself.

I'd like to try to explain what happened when you went to the gaming club, if I might. Wargamers run the gamut of personality types, from incredibly social and extroverted to "don't get a lot of sun" introverted. Wargaming is dorky, but not all gamers are dorks (if that makes sense). That said, on a college campus you're probably going to find gaming clubs looking a lot like the Comic Book Store from the simpsons. I'm explaining this because I'd guess what the guy was trying to do with his rant about Phoenix Guard was to try to help you avoid buying a unit that he considers weak. Now, a normal human being would say "well, Phoenix Guard aren't the strongest unit in the Army Book, but if you like the background there are ways to make them work reasonably well." Instead he got to have a fantastic moment 1) talking to a girl and 2) pretending he's an expert on something.

It's possible that you met the group boor as well. Try to talk to some of them individually, and see if you can explain what you want to do (a thematic High Elf force for casual play) and that you'd like to join in the games, you just in no way want to play hard core competitvely. It's possible that they really are tools, and you end up getting creeped out or curb stomped by one of them in a game, but it's also possible that you can use them as resource to learn how to play. You have to go with your gut, and if they're like some gaming groups you might be better off without them, but I'd make sure you can't get anything out of them before writing them off completely.

As somebody else pointed out, buying Skull Pass would be a good way to get your friends involved. You can use the models as opponents for your warband, they can fight each other, or at worst they can serve as proxies for any number of things. It's also the cheapest way to get the rulebook legally.

As for full games, Just show up to your local venue and watch for a little bit, If you become a regular and show proper respect for people (don't ever randomly pick up someones model without asking) i.e. trash talking, cheating, etc.

I am sure someone with and extra army will let you barrow one. I often let people barrow my extra armies till they get a large enough force of there own.


Also if there is a GW store in your area stop in there on there gaming nights, If theres an uneven number of gamers the red shirts might let you use a store army (again attitude is everything)

You might also want to check out the other game stores in the area. Find the one where the owners/staff and regulars have the right chemistry with you.

Hey, I got a suggestion. Those nerds must be getting their minis from somewhere (hopefully not the internets). If there's a FLGS or a GW shop nearby, chances are you'll find different people to play (and learn) with.

1. I've gotten many things through ebay without a problem thus far. The only difficulty is that you need to know exactly what you are looking for. For example, sometimes people only sell certain parts of a box set. Just be sure to read the listing carefully and ask them specific questions if the pictures/description isn't clear. You can get quite a bit of price savings going through ebay, but it may also take you a lot longer to get what you want.

2. I can totally understand how off-putting running into someone like that can be. It took me years to get my wife into the actual gaming part of the hobby for very similar reasons. If you can get your friends to just start your own group, I would probably go that route first. Then when you are feeling more adventurous you can see about playing with some of the people at the existing club. Having your own group to start has a lot of advantages, namely you are all of like mind, you can make mistakes without fear of ridicule, and you can learn/play at your own pace. Then if there are ever any questions, you can always ask on forums like Dakka.

3. The best way to start...I would recommend seeing whether any of your friends would be interested in either Orcs & Gobbos, or Dwarfs. If yes, then definitely pick up the Battle for Skull Pass box set as mentioned earlier. It's a great deal for anyone starting the game, and you also get the mini rulebook for basically free. If you have two friends that each like the army, just split the cost with them. You pay $10 for the rulebook, the other two split the difference ($25 each). At that price, its just a couple of movie tickets or a couple of pizzas.

For yourself, I'd really recommend going with the Battallion box also, which gives you a unit of silverhelms, a unit of archers, a unit of spearmen, and a repeater bolt thrower (artillery). It's a good mix of units so that you can start playing games, but it is a little pricey to start ($90 retail, $72 from the warstore, $50ish on ebay right now, with an old army book included too, though not the most current, its still good bathroom reading ).
http://cgi.ebay.com/Warhammer-High-Elves-Battalion_W0QQitemZ290269979122QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item290269979122&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

You can then start tacking on units like the phoenix guard to this core army as you get more money (phoenix guard are super expensive...they retail for about 5 models for $22).

Anyway, good luck on your new hobby!

Arondight wrote:Hey guys.

...

Look. If you want to know how bad it was, I got yelled at for liking the Phoenix Guard and thought that Teclis/Tyrion story was similar to many figures in history. (I was under the "erroneous" impression that you're free to field your forces in whatever way you please, and there are no real "weak," "noob," "useless," and etc units) Needless to say, I didn't go back to their club meetings.

Thank you for reading, and I hope some veterans here can help.

Welcome to The Hobby.
I don't know Fantasy much - 40k for me! however, some general advice:

Firstly: Do not let one (or two, or three ...) bad experience put you off. War gaming attracts some serious nerds, but a lot of us are regular(ish) guys (and gals).

Wargamers tend to be of 3 distinct types:
1) Hardcore Nerds. Tournament Winners, WYSIWYG-pedants, rules-lawyers. It seems you have met some of these. Join, punch or ignore.
2) The Majority. Play by the rules, but here to have fun. Yes, we like points-values, force-organisation to be right, but can cope with mistakes, especially by new players. We like themed armies, even if they are made up of "weaker" units, the odd unpainted model, a couple of "proxy" figures ("That horseman with the red jacket is actually a Commander.". Reply: "Sure thing. You should have a look at the real Commander models though - some are cool figures"). The better the "fluff", the more lenient
3) Part-Timers/Very Casual players. Any one have an army I can play? Can we just pop these models on the table and throw some dice?

Getting your friends interested can be a lot easier with a nicely painted army. (Not too nice, don't want to scare them off! )
You can all chip in to buy bigger boxes of models or shared armies.
Hunt out your local games store(s) and model shops.

It sounds like you (and your prospective group) are type 2-3 players. Go for it. Get some people together, and see what type of games you like.
Yes, it is very similar to chess (which is a battle-simulation game, after all). A bit more free-form.

Conversions ... hmmm ... not my area - working on it though ... If you have some spare models/bits, a bit of Green Stuff/milliput and an idea of what you want, give it a go.

And finally; lose the fancy do-gooder, shiny-hats. Trade 'em in for a Proppa army! Greenskins FTW!

Acheron wrote:1. I've gotten many things through ebay without a problem thus far. The only difficulty is that you need to know exactly what you are looking for. For example, sometimes people only sell certain parts of a box set. Just be sure to read the listing carefully and ask them specific questions if the pictures/description isn't clear. You can get quite a bit of price savings going through ebay, but it may also take you a lot longer to get what you want.

2. I can totally understand how off-putting running into someone like that can be. It took me years to get my wife into the actual gaming part of the hobby for very similar reasons. If you can get your friends to just start your own group, I would probably go that route first. Then when you are feeling more adventurous you can see about playing with some of the people at the existing club. Having your own group to start has a lot of advantages, namely you are all of like mind, you can make mistakes without fear of ridicule, and you can learn/play at your own pace. Then if there are ever any questions, you can always ask on forums like Dakka.

3. The best way to start...I would recommend seeing whether any of your friends would be interested in either Orcs & Gobbos, or Dwarfs. If yes, then definitely pick up the Battle for Skull Pass box set as mentioned earlier. It's a great deal for anyone starting the game, and you also get the mini rulebook for basically free. If you have two friends that each like the army, just split the cost with them. You pay $10 for the rulebook, the other two split the difference ($25 each). At that price, its just a couple of movie tickets or a couple of pizzas.

For yourself, I'd really recommend going with the Battallion box also, which gives you a unit of silverhelms, a unit of archers, a unit of spearmen, and a repeater bolt thrower (artillery). It's a good mix of units so that you can start playing games, but it is a little pricey to start ($90 retail, $72 from the warstore, $50ish on ebay right now, with an old army book included too, though not the most current, its still good bathroom reading ).
http://cgi.ebay.com/Warhammer-High-Elves-Battalion_W0QQitemZ290269979122QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item290269979122&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

You can then start tacking on units like the phoenix guard to this core army as you get more money (phoenix guard are super expensive...they retail for about 5 models for $22).

Anyway, good luck on your new hobby!

The auction looks good, but I'm going to pass. The price is great except I wanted to put my guys together and, I got a box of High Elves VS. Goblins from the local gaming store, who apparently has had it on the shelves since forever.

I think I may report back in a few months. The internet has been a lot more forgiving than the guys at my university's gaming club.

On the internet, the general rule is act like an adult, be treated as an adult. Act like a child, be treated like a spoiled child. You didn't mention where you go to school, but it might be worth the time to scout out some of the other local game stores and get a feel for what they're like. If you can find a group you can really click with, it's easy worth a longer commute and more hassle. I'm still good friends with the gaming group I hooked up with in Germany over 15 years ago.

By the way, when you start painting, post pics for C&Cs

Sorry, guys, but Lancelot's Sword is back for more questions.

I found a friendly neighborhood gamestore with casual players. My friends are getting interested and two are splitting the dwarf/goblin box and probably getting enough on the side so we'll have a 750-1000 point game. The ones who aren't buying stuff are willing to play a few rounds to try things out. So everything's going well! Extremely well, in fact.

Right now, my dilemma is that I really can't decide what to get to finish my army. Normally, I'd have decided solely on the Rule of Cool, but all of them look really neat. And as far as tactica go, I have no clue what makes unit x a tactically superior unit over unit y. Right now, I'm going to get two items at the most. It'll be a long while before I get anything else anyways, so...

Tips please!

P.S. I've got 20 Archers and 20 Spearelves from the starter box, a boxful of elven bits (donated graciously by a friend) and Caradryan (because he looks So damn good and I LOVE the background story of the Phoenix Guard. Will have loads of fun painting him.) We have the rulebook and the army books are on their way.

I'd suggest you start with small games, following the BfSP starter box scenarios. Feel free to substitute your Elves for either side just to mix things up.

You can deal with "points" and "balance" later. Right now, the main thing would be just play with the minis and see how different elements of the game work, and how the armies are different from one another.

When you finally get around to points, I'd suggest you look for "Warbands", which is how GW generally starts new players off. These are like 500 - 750 pt games which will be plenty complicated enough to start out.

When you get to 1000+ pts, you'll basically be playing small games of regular WFB.

you can't go wrong with core units but the elven bolt thrower is nasty and for punch the white lion chariot and the models are nice looking and don't let the heads get you down it is your army build what you like.