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I've been playing 40k for a while now (orks) and I wanted to do something else. And I guessed with the new edition coming out right now, WHFB would be an excellent choice (:

I have been looking at the armies for a while, and I really like the looks from the lizardman and the skaven.
And I wanted to know which are the pros and cons of lizardman and skaven. Also, will they be competitive?

My friend (who will be starting WHFB at the same time as I will) wanted to elves, but he's not really sure whenever to pick the dark elves, high elves or the wood elves. Could you guys please help him out too?

Thanks in advance!

(I'm the other guy!)
We don't know much except that there will be Skaven and High elves.
How are these armies to play with?
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=9800041a&_requestid=124784

Wouldn't start Wood elves now, skirmishers took a beating with 8th edition. Will probably need experts to win.
High Elves and Dark Elves are both fine and competitive, same with Skaven and Lizardmen. But you need lots of Skaven.

Getting the starter with High Elves and (lots of) Skaven will certainly be a very good start with a good choice of units you will need anyway. Includes all rules and a booklet leading you through the first steps. (I also recommend the big book for creating enthusiasm, its new updated background, its modelling pages and galleries, the 30 pages extra scenarios and the 60 pages of how to create your own scenarios/legendary battles and campaigns, maybe not needed at the start but a great outlook). So choosing these two armies will give you an easy start.

Personally I don't like the current DE warrior sculpts. And personally, I would prefer a more "European" force than Lizardmen at the start (Amazonian Lizards look a bit odd in the medieval setting). And personally a fight between good elite (HE) and evil horde (Skaven) is epic. Just my thoughts, before we know the exact rules updates for each army.

To my understanding, they are:

Lizardmen:

+ Pro's: Better leadership (Higher stubborn with 3D6 pick lowest two to boot), tougher combat core (Saurus v Storm Vermin being more favorable to Saurus, for example), nice short-range shooting (Skinks, Salamanders, etcetera), powerful Magic Lord (Slaan are one of the best magic casters in WHFB)


- Con's: Slow (M4 v Skaven M5, I1 on Saurus as well), can get expensive point-wise, minimal long-range shooting, can have trouble beating some specialized lists.



Skaven:

+ Pro's: Numerous (2-5pt Core Troops), easily specialized, decent magic / shooting over short and long range, plentiful unit buffers / supports (Via characters, upgrades, etcetera), cheap character choices, lots of conversion opportunities.

- Con's: Harmed by stubborn (Can only be Stubborn 8 at best), so-so stats ("Elite" Infantry matched by a few armies' core), easy specialization also means sharper drawbacks.



This sound right to some people?

Seems like skaven are a lot harder to play with. And a lot more expensive.


Any other advice an what to pick (also for my friend?)

Buy two starters and get 130 Skaven miniatures

Kroothawk wrote:Buy two starters and get 130 Skaven miniatures

?
130? ;o

How do you already know there are 65 in the starters set? And do you also know which units?

Source?

Current rumours list the following content:

High Elves:

Prince on Griffon
Mage on foot
20 Sea Guard
10 Swordmasters of Hoeth
5 Ellyrian Reavers

About 1100 points in total, assuming full command on all units, a smattering of extra equipment, Lvl 2 Mage but no magic items.

Skaven

Warlord
Warlock
40 Clanrats
20 Slaves
Poisoned Wind Mortar
Warpfire Thrower
2 Rat Ogres with Packmaster
5 Poisoned Wind Globadiers

About 800 points in total, assuming full command on all units, a smattering of extra equipment, Lvl 2 Warlock but no magic items.

Various small pieces of terrain.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/150/300189.page

There is no final confirmation (GW just acknowledged there will be a starter ), but consensus is that this list is at least very close.

(BTW gratz for the soccer game against Brazil )

Kroothawk wrote:Current rumours list the following content:

High Elves:

Prince on Griffon
Mage on foot
20 Sea Guard
10 Swordmasters of Hoeth
5 Ellyrian Reavers

About 1100 points in total, assuming full command on all units, a smattering of extra equipment, Lvl 2 Mage but no magic items.

Skaven

Warlord
Warlock
40 Clanrats
20 Slaves
Poisoned Wind Mortar
Warpfire Thrower
2 Rat Ogres with Packmaster
5 Poisoned Wind Globadiers

About 800 points in total, assuming full command on all units, a smattering of extra equipment, Lvl 2 Warlock but no magic items.

Various small pieces of terrain.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/150/300189.page

There is no final confirmation (GW just acknowledged there will be a starter ), but consensus is that this list is at least very close.

(BTW gratz for the soccer game against Brazil )

Wow. If that's what is in the starter set, I might be getting more than 1! Especially for those Poisoned Wind Globadiers!

Anyways, this starter ALONE is good enough reason to go with Skaven and High Elves, IMO. Yes, Skaven can definitely have some finesse to get into, but it can also be a simple mass of slaves backed up by hordes of weapon teams and cannons firing at the poor enemies trapped with the slaves.

As for High Elves, I really do put them on similar terms to Eldar, maybe a bit less so. Several units are glass cannons, but they do what they were designed for VERY well. You're have some nasty phases, and a well rounded list can be a fantastic contender for any of the phases! Just, don't throw away ANY unit unless it gets you big, because they are rather elite.

even if the starter is $100 (bite my lip), I usually sell the army I don't want on ebay (for $50ish to $60ish) or trade the whole unwanted army with another who bought a starter and he doesn't want the one I want & I want the one he doesn't! Cheaper in the long run then buying boxes to make an army....

Isn't it usually 500 points?
(Assault on Black Reach/ Battle for Skull pass)
And how come the HE get 300! points more?
And as last, if I bought that set, added an High Elf batallion, would that make a decent army list?
HE batallion contains:
16 HE spearmen,
16 HE archers,
8 Silverhelms,
1 bolt thrower

(And yes, the football was nice )