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Looking at the various models available to the races, I'm particularly attracted to the night goblins, and the warriors of chaos models. From an overall lore perspective, I have always been a fan of vampires.

I have picked up the Battle for Skull pass starter set so far. If I were to aim towards building an army of around 2,000 points which would be cheaper overall ($ wise) to build, considering I already have some goblins from Skull Pass? In addition, which army do you guys generally find more enjoyable to paint, and to plwy with?

From what I have read so far, it seems like Chaos is a very strong army, but I'm not sure how tactically diverse it is - it just seems like a march forward and hulk smash type of army to me (I could be way off, I really don't know). As such, Warriors of Chaos seems pretty simple tactically, but they do seem fairly easy and fun to paint.

Orcs & Goblins are typically a horde type of army, and rely on their ranks and numbers to win combat resolution. Given large unit sizes of goblin armies, does it make it that much harder to move them across the field in a tactical manner, especially considering the randomness of animosity?

Lastly, Vampire counts also seem likely another horde type of army, and most of their magic seems to be single-mindedly focused on raising up more skeletons and ghouls. Lastly, the vampire counts look like their models would be the least fun to paint.

At the Games Workshop store nearby where I would typically play, the top played army is the Dark Elves, and there seems to be a decent balance of the rest of the armies, with nobody playing Orcs & Goblins at the moment.


I guess in the end, what I'm asking is out of these three, which do you think I would have the most fun overall with? Painting and gaming are both part of the hobby, and I guess it'd be helpful to look at the pros and cons of both aspects. Thanks!

The cheapest, dollar wise, will be the night gobbos, since you can use BoSP for the majority, particularly if someone else is starting up dwarves at the same time.

I think you'd have most fun modeling/playing with Warriors of Chaos, they've got a new Codex that's very diverse.

Everybody plays VC, bleep them.

If you are ok with the fact that the orcs have a mind of their own and the animosity will mess your plans, Orcs and gobbos are the most fun army to play in FB. They offer so much different units and possibilities for conversions and painting.

They are not for you if you want to win every game though, because some days you just cannot get the animosity to work for you. I have played OnG force since the 6th ed army books publishing and they have not let me down. I have another armies for more serious playing though.

VC have fairly complicated rules to get to grips with, so probably not great for a beginner.

Orcs are always fun and have a great range of options. They don't have to be a horde army either if you go for lots of "hard troops" like Big 'Uns or Black Orcs.

Warriors of Chaos aren't my cup of tea, but they are very powerful and it wouldn't take you long to build up a sizeable amount of points.

Raspyn wrote:

From what I have read so far, it seems like Chaos is a very strong army, but I'm not sure how tactically diverse it is - it just seems like a march forward and hulk smash type of army to me (I could be way off, I really don't know). As such, Warriors of Chaos seems pretty simple tactically, but they do seem fairly easy and fun to paint.

Orcs & Goblins are typically a horde type of army, and rely on their ranks and numbers to win combat resolution. Given large unit sizes of goblin armies, does it make it that much harder to move them across the field in a tactical manner, especially considering the randomness of animosity?

Lastly, Vampire counts also seem likely another horde type of army, and most of their magic seems to be single-mindedly focused on raising up more skeletons and ghouls. Lastly, the vampire counts look like their models would be the least fun to paint.

It sounds like you'll enjoy Warriors of Chaos more than Vampire Counts as you have both a
lower model count (less to paint) and you'll have more fun doing it (you don't like the
models in Vampire Counts).

Chaos Warriors vs. Orcs and Goblins. I don't know if you enjoy painting the Greenskins,
because you're going to have to if you want to get through the army. I think you'll have
to look at your options and decide between the two, though I'm rooting for Warriors
of Chaos.

Raspyn wrote:
I have picked up the Battle for Skull pass starter set so far. If I were to aim towards building an army of around 2,000 points which would be cheaper overall ($ wise) to build, considering I already have some goblins from Skull Pass? In addition, which army do you guys generally find more enjoyable to paint, and to plwy with?

Cheaper overall would most likely be Chaos. Due to there High Point cost you can very quickly build up a sizable army. As for the most enjoyable to paint I am rather torn. I played Orcs in some fashion in every game system and therefor I like Green...Green is Mean. BUT it gets boring painting that way. And it is a horde army so that means LOTS of repetitive painting, typically.
Vampires can be painted quickly w/ various dry brushing techniques and washes while still spending extra time on Characters to make the army shine.
Out of the 3 you listed I prefer Chaos. Potential for a lot of variety and can have a lot of Grit to your army.

Raspyn wrote:
From what I have read so far, it seems like Chaos is a very strong army, but I'm not sure how tactically diverse it is - it just seems like a march forward and hulk smash type of army to me (I could be way off, I really don't know). As such, Warriors of Chaos seems pretty simple tactically, but they do seem fairly easy and fun to paint.

Orcs & Goblins are typically a horde type of army, and rely on their ranks and numbers to win combat resolution. Given large unit sizes of goblin armies, does it make it that much harder to move them across the field in a tactical manner, especially considering the randomness of animosity?

Lastly, Vampire counts also seem likely another horde type of army, and most of their magic seems to be single-mindedly focused on raising up more skeletons and ghouls. Lastly, the vampire counts look like their models would be the least fun to paint.

Chaos is indeed a very strong army that can either be a fast mounted army, slow moving army of death, or a mix. Can also go magic heavy and have some interesting special Characters.

Orcs & Goblins....sigh, quite possibly one of the worse, IMHO, armies currently in fantasy. Seriously there current book is complete trash right now compared to almost every other army. Animosity can and WILL happen every game, your units will charge and die to most any real Close Combat Unit and sadly Static Combat Resolution is not what it use to be(except in a few instances ie Dwarves, Empire w/ the odd banner and High Elves) combine that w/ poor Leadership test and it just makes itself into a Terrible Army. Just being honest here.....most O&G Players play for "fun" because you can't win consistently w/ them due to many flaws

Vampires are a lot fun and can be very magic heavy(think Night of the living dead) or fast and hard hitting w/ tons of mounted units moving around. I prefer the more Magic Heavy army relying on Combat Resolution(read fear) to win my fights and I do exceedingly well w/ the new book BUT I need tons of troops because I do summon so much so that works against you wanting it be cheap

At the Games Workshop store nearby where I would typically play, the top played army is the Dark Elves, and there seems to be a decent balance of the rest of the armies, with nobody playing Orcs & Goblins at the moment.

Raspyn wrote:
I guess in the end, what I'm asking is out of these three, which do you think I would have the most fun overall with? Painting and gaming are both part of the hobby, and I guess it'd be helpful to look at the pros and cons of both aspects. Thanks!

The Most Fun out of the 3? Depends on your definition of fun....I enjoy a rather nice looking army that can be balanced, fun to paint AND be competitive. Out of the 3 I would narrow it down to VC and Chaos. Wanting it Cheap...Chaos. Just my 2 cents

In my opinion the Vampire Counts are by far the most enjoyable army to play in Warhammer.

They got infantry units that are actually very useful (the only other army that really has gotten away with having a large model count is Skaven) but also feature monsters, some of the best spellcasters in the game, incredible fighters, the most points effective knights in the game, some uber knights for kicks plus a lot of other units with flair like the Black Coach or Wraiths/Banshee.

Although Vampire magic has a lot to do with replenishing units and raising new ones, the wind of death and gaze of nagash add variety to it. The units in a VC army will never fail to do what you ask of them, and you know what kind of enemy charges mathematically they will be able to handle. They won't suddenly panic or break and you won't be prone to bad rolls. It's an army for someone who really wants to play Warhammer.

My other army is Daemons of Chaos, and the only third army I'd consider is Dark Elves because of their high leadership/itp units, or possibly Tomb Kings. I have played friends' High Elf and Lizardmen armies at tournaments although too, but they pretty much fit the same criteria.

Some great replies so far - I appreciate them all!

I am leaning towards Warriors of Chaos at this point, since their core models are the "coolest looking" in my opiniong, and I would probably enjoy painting them the most. I'll probably always have a soft spot for orcs and vampire counts though.

Quick question with respect to Warriors of Chaos: The model of Be'Lakor is one of the coolest looking models I have seen http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat50024&prodId=prod1110281&rootCatGameStyle=. However, it is listed on the Games Workshop list underneath the "Collectors" section of the full army listing. Can this model be used with the current 7th edition codes for the Warriors of Chaos, in a "legal" manner?

Therion wrote:In my opinion the Vampire Counts are by far the most enjoyable army to play in Warhammer.

They got infantry units that are actually very useful (the only other army that really has gotten away with having a large model count is Skaven) but also feature monsters, some of the best spellcasters in the game, incredible fighters, the most points effective knights in the game, some uber knights for kicks plus a lot of other units with flair like the Black Coach or Wraiths/Banshee.

Although Vampire magic has a lot to do with replenishing units and raising new ones, the wind of death and gaze of nagash add variety to it. The units in a VC army will never fail to do what you ask of them, and you know what kind of enemy charges mathematically they will be able to handle. They won't suddenly panic or break and you won't be prone to bad rolls. It's an army for someone who really wants to play Warhammer.

My other army is Daemons of Chaos, and the only third army I'd consider is Dark Elves because of their high leadership/itp units, or possibly Tomb Kings. I have played friends' High Elf and Lizardmen armies at tournaments although too, but they pretty much fit the same criteria.

Thanks for posting this. What I get from the posts against Daemons and Vampire Counts is
that Psychology is removed from the game and it's a bad thing, so it looks like the psychology
vs. no psychology thing comes down to a matter of taste.

malfred wrote:
Thanks for posting this. What I get from the posts against Daemons and Vampire Counts is
that Psychology is removed from the game and it's a bad thing, so it looks like the psychology
vs. no psychology thing comes down to a matter of taste.

I know this reply was for Therion but I thought I'd toss in a quick comment....not having Psychology is in no way a bad thing. It forces you to be more aware of charges and it does limit some of your reactions, fleeing from a charge is one that springs to mind, but at the same token you KNOW what your army can and can not do. And that is really a huge thing. I don't care if you play High Elves or O&G, if you take enough fear test you will fail some. As an army that is immune to that I do not ever have that issue nor will you wonder where my charges will come from, except maybe dances.

Quick little story than i promise I will get back on topic
I was playing my Dwarven army against a very interesting High Elf army. He ran as many Shadow Warriors as he could and it was a really tough fight for my army because I could never get into combat w/ him and his 30" range allowed him to stay out of the range of most of my weapons while also neutralizing my Bolt Throwers. I won by 200 some points only because I managed to get 2 lucky shots w/ my Organ Gun and he failed both leadership test...than fled off the board. Rolled 10 for leadership twice and than rolled 1 over what he needed to stay on the board.

Back on Topic

Quick question with respect to Warriors of Chaos: The model of Be'Lakor is one of the coolest looking models I have seen http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat50024&prodId=prod1110281&rootCatGameStyle=. However, it is listed on the Games Workshop list underneath the "Collectors" section of the full army listing. Can this model be used with the current 7th edition codes for the Warriors of Chaos, in a "legal" manner?

Right now you'd have to use him as a generic daemon prince which isn't terrible. He is a very sweet looking model as are most of the other Chaos models.

If you do go w/ Chaos you have a few options beyond what type of basic army do you want, ie fast/slow/magic but also if you want to focus on 1 god or multiple gods. Different gods typically mean certain types of Paint Schemes while you can go somewhat undivided and do whatever you'd like

livingregret wrote:
If you do go w/ Chaos you have a few options beyond what type of basic army do you want, ie fast/slow/magic but also if you want to focus on 1 god or multiple gods. Different gods typically mean certain types of Paint Schemes while you can go somewhat undivided and do whatever you'd like

Speaking of colour schemes, how confusing, or unacceptable, is it for me to paint my guys all a certain colour (say red), and give them marks that were not typical with the paint scheme (i.e. marking the red painted guys tzeentch)?.

Nothing really wrong w/ it but I'd be tempted to give a heads up or at least make the Banner is clearly not Khorne like to avoid any possible confusion. Even than....Fantasy is not WYSIWYG like 40k so color scheme doesn't really matter one way or another

livingregret wrote: Nothing really wrong w/ it but I'd be tempted to give a heads up or at least make the Banner is clearly not Khorne like to avoid any possible confusion. Even than....Fantasy is not WYSIWYG like 40k so color scheme doesn't really matter one way or another

Color scheme doesn't matter in 40k either.

malfred wrote:
Color scheme doesn't matter in 40k either.

True true WYSIWYG applies to wargear/vehicles/squads