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I have recently fell in love with table top war games. I started playing W40K about 6 months ago. I quickly found the force for me (Necrons), due to the relatively low amount of armies to choose from. My friends and I have decided to start a Fantasy army group at our LGS. WFB has over 14+ forces to choose from and I have found nothing on what makes each army unique. Can anyone help me out by listing like a general description for the races and how they are used, as well as their inherent advantages and disadvantages? Thank You!

That's a lot of work and even though I like to be helpfull, I'm as lazy as you are, this might help though:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armies_of_warhammer

Dwarfs - Gunlines, Not very moblie. Make the enemy come to you and then hit them in the knees.

High Elves - Always Strike First on every unit, Good amount of magic and Dragons.

Dark Elves - They hate you, and everyone else, and thus get to do alot of Rerolling. Good balance of Close Combat and Ranged.

Wood Elves - They make the terrain on the table fight for them. Easily a very mobile and shooty army.

The Empire - The most versitile army, alittle bit of everything.

Greenskins - Unpredictable, great Close Combat units, lots of silly things.

Chaos Mortals - Good amounts of magic, Good amounts of Close Combat, alittle lacking in range.

Chaos Daemons - Very easy to make a broken list, lots of options for magic and close combat.

Beastmen - New Armybook coming... who knows

Skaven - In a game where everything is a horde army, this is a serious horde army. Win battles by numbers and fire power.

Brets - Knights on Horseback, super fast close combat army with a bit of magic and ranged to back them up.

Tomb Kings - Very Magic heavy, very slow moving troops, and a few ranged units. Very easy for opponents to cause you to phase out.

Vampire Counts - able to resurrect fallen units and add in new units mid game. mostly slow, but hard hiting magic.

Orges - Heavy Close combat, difficult to get rank bonuses.

Well, i got nothin better to do, so here is my summary of what they are and do :

EMPIRE :

Everyman of Warhammer. Can be infantry, gunline or Cavalry. Can include monster, magic etc...not the best at any, but definately not the worst. Almost 100% plastic, so great for converting and relatively cheap comparatively (excluding the goldswords!). Army works best as a mix IMO.

CHAOS DAEMONS :

The great Bane of gaming. Very Powerful, cheap troops and characters. currently the top dog in almost all respects. Great miniature range, but rather expensive due to lack of plastic options. buy for fun, play to win IMO.

CHAOS MORTALS :

Exclusively CC and Magic (hellcannon excepted). Very elite tough troops. Low model count, powerful special Characters. A fair amount of army variation, as you can bring Horde, Elite, or fully Monster forces. Great for converters and Painters.

CHAOS BEASTS :

Currently being redone, but basic premise is ultimate CC skirmisher army. Very mobile with fast hard hitting troops, yet lightly armored. Another Chaos Army capable of all monster hordes.

HIGH ELVES :

Powerful, Elite army. Very potent Magic and Shooting, with great elite choices. Army is fragile however, and wont withstand prolonged contact with tough, high armor enemies, or massive hordes. Mostly plastic, except special choices.

DARK ELVES :

Another big Guns army. Can be infantry, Cav or Monster horde. Lethal Cav and Monsters make this a fast, heavy hitting CC force, but its shooting can be deadly too. Magic is one of the best lores in the game, and they have some of the most underpriced magic items in the game! *cough*RingofHotek!*cough*

WOOD ELVES :

Another elite skirmish army. This army specializes in maneurverablity and shooting. Wood Elves have the best archers, and core troops IMO in the game. Dryads are tough, fast and lethal. Army has NO armor though, so if caught, gets destroyed fairly easily.

DWARVES :

Tough, slow moving army can be fielded as either infantry horde or gun line...with the gunline being most popular nowadays. A solid contender army, that has a relatively low model count, with very tough characters. It has some difficulty hanging with the newer armies, but is still a good, reliable army for both newcomers and vets.

SKAVEN :

Newest book off the press, redone to have a greater emphasis on horde armies. The clans have lost alot of their "cheese" so to speak, but some of the newer options make up for the balancing. The Skaven recieved some great new models, with more in the pipeline, so they are the shiny new penny right now.

LIZARDMEN :

This army can be Magic/Monster heavy, Cavalry or Infantry heavy. They have great infantry options and very powerful characters. The theme is dinosaurs and ancient legacies, so the 10 yr old boy in all of us will love this force, if only for the models. In terms of models, IMO it is very split in quality...the new plastics are excellent...the new terradons and razordons are some of the crappiest sculpts this company has produced ever.

ORCS AND GOBLINS :

A classic horde army with a dizzying array of unit types and army designs, it falls flat in the hands of ametuers due to the handicap of animosity. However, in the hands of a competent general, redundency can help allieviate this problem. almost entirely plastic in make up, Battle of skull pass will also give a great leg up in building this army.

OGRE KINGDOMS :

The red headed step child of Warhammer. Great book, fantastic models, fun to play....totally not competitive in todays warhammer...buy em for converting, allies, or just to play an army that is funny and unique....dont buy em if you want to win Ardboyz or anything.

CHAOS DWARVES :

The dark eldar of Warhammer. havent been updated in a decade or more, models are not available for purchase, yet book is still valid and relatively competitive...rumors abound of a new book in the next year or two, possibly done by forgeworld.

VAMPIRE COUNTS :

Power house army. Very strong magic and characters, infantry is fear causing and immune to psych, with average stats, and can be repaired in combat...have the most viscious cavalry in the game = Blood Knights. Nice models...great for those who like the 'true' vampire mystique...not that Twilight Emo crap.

TOMB KINGS :

Think "the Mummy". Very Characterful army, with a unique method of magic and warfare. Cannot take the punishment Vampire Counts can, but have some very cool weapons and monsters. Only army that can field entirely Chariots. Makes a very impressive looking force.


I think that is everything....

Well, try and make your army how you like to play. I like an army that is easily changeable from a Friendly army to a tourny army. I chose Orcs because of their funnyness in friendly games, adn their Ardyness in tournies.

Also, remember you're going to have to paint and play with it for years to come, so pick a theme and a miniature range that appeal to you.

DAEMONS = smash face!

Thank you everyone for your help. Ive narrowed it down to High Elves, Tomb Kings, or Wood Elves. But Im surprised that I am unable to find a tactica for HE. Any ideas?

This site is full of advice concerning HE http://www.ulthuan.net/

Other suggestion is, look at the models. It is always good to pick an army based on models you like since you have to collect and paint them.

HiveFleet wrote:Well, i got nothin better to do, so here is my summary of what they are and do :

...

I think that is everything....

GRRRRRRR

BRETS!!!

Poor Knights. Honestly. It seems there are 2 people on all of Dakka that even remember Brets are part of the game. Even though you've already narrowed your choice down, I'm throwing there description in.

Bretonnia:

A heavy cavalry specialist with the most variety of cavalry in the game. They still have a great back up of supporting units, though non of them are close to elites. Can be one of the most maneuverable armies in the game. All cores are plastic while everything else is metal. Usually overlooked as a one trick pony but if used with peasants as a rounded army, one of the most versatile armies out there. Not overly powerful, nothing astonishing, just a solid and relatively well balanced list. (I am amazed at how relevant it still is after like 5 years or whatever ago it was written.) Characters and magic items are very vanilla too.