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Hey there. A friend of mine has gotten the Warhammer Fantasy bug, but is on a VERY tight budget. He's selling his old gaming stuff (various roleplay books, etc.) to an online marketer (NobleKnights.com), getting about $165 in credit. So far, Wood Elves is a pretty clear cut winner for what army he wants to pick (Being both an elf fan and a LotR fan) but he wants to make this money count so...

What is the best bang for his buck? What units are a good basis for a beginning army? Keeping in mind that more money for the army probably won't be coming until around Christmas and he will most likely want a hard cover of the Wood Elf army book.

As a smaller note, he really likes the Wardancer models and this Spellsinger (http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440114a&prodId=prod800848)

So, thoughts, ideas?

Best bet is not to bother with buying from games workshop if your on a tight budget. Shop about. Theres a few independent online stockists that can save up to a third on prices. Shop about. I'd definitely recommend some normal wood elves with bows, dryads and a treeman. All good performing units in their own right. some of those units plus a few characters and specials/rares and you'll be good to go.

The wood elves battalion is a good deal, with some needed glade guard (24), dryads (12), and some glade riders (8). If you can get it as a discount from somewhere such as The Warstore, you would still have a lot left over.

Wardancers are cool, and he should go with them if he likes that unit. They suffer somewhat in 8th since things will strike them back even after they kill a bunch, but so do all elves in this edition.

He basically just needs to keep his eyes peeled for a deal! But the battalion box, imho, would be a great start.

I found that Wood elves selling on ebay would get lower bids then other popular armies like dark elves :(

So you can pick up some Very good deals. I bought a few wood elf bits! Lots of cheap wardancers and glade guard
Though becareful alot of the models are old metal stuff unless you like them lol.

Also you can build your own Treekin and treemen! if your not playing in GW store then no one will really mind
I started making mine with wire and never got around to finishing them ha!
I have a week to finish them before friends come down to play ^_^

Other then that your best bet is discounted online stores like Wayland games, Darksphere, Maelstromgames.
Have used maelstrom plenty, and Wayland is also Legit. I think darksphere is good but never dealt with them. You can find others which have some seriously cheap prices but you have to be careful and do your research. Alot of them are scams or not very good stores.

Building treekin with wire, perhaps with green stuff / putty on top, is a great idea- especially if you're on a budget! Otherwise, a unit of 6 would take up the vast majority of your alloted $$$... even if they're on sale, it'll be most of it. And they're a good unit to take, now!

There is a wardancers box, but I have never seen it in a store- just the blisters. The box is a little bit better value, I believe (5 models for $22 retail). Ebay is a good idea, just make sure they look decent! Or, invest in a gallon of Simple Green ($10 or so at Home Depot) and dunk all the metal models, leave em in a sealed tupperware soaking for a day or two, then scrub em with a toothbrush. Good as new

My best advice for starting WE on a budget would involve stealing. But that's just my 'best' advice. It is not sensible in the slightest.

Buy from Maelstrom Games, they'll look after ya.

Twigs+Hot Glue=Treekin and Treemen!

It sounds like it could be in jest, but Tzeentchling really is about right. You can make some halfway decent stand-ins for treekin / treemen while you purchase the rest. It's really not a bad idea!

Although perhaps you could step it up a bit from using actual twigs. In my experience, using nature items doesn't mesh will with warhammer... I once made a large number of area terrain forests using pine cones, cut in different shapes to look like trees, and with the "flakes" cut up to provide some ground cover. But it felt like... well, a pine cone, rather than a tree made from foam / plastic, and ended up feeling out of place.

I would go the twisted wire route, and see what you can use to build up the thickness of the branches / trunks on top of it. Then go buy yourself some wardancers

RiTides wrote:It sounds like it could be in jest, but Tzeentchling really is about right. You can make some halfway decent stand-ins for treekin / treemen while you purchase the rest. It's really not a bad idea!

Although perhaps you could step it up a bit from using actual twigs. In my experience, using nature items doesn't mesh will with warhammer... I once made a large number of area terrain forests using pine cones, cut in different shapes to look like trees, and with the "flakes" cut up to provide some ground cover. But it felt like... well, a pine cone, rather than a tree made from foam / plastic, and ended up feeling out of place.

I would go the twisted wire route, and see what you can use to build up the thickness of the branches / trunks on top of it. Then go buy yourself some wardancers

Yeah, the twisted wire route will probably be most effective. I've tried to use twigs and such, but you're right, it just feels...out of place. Hopefully I can get him to start a WIP blog on his Wood Elves...and that might get me to start one myself. XD

Yes, definitely! If he starts a blog and attempts the twisted wire approach, he can get some good feedback on how its going . I'll see if my search-fu is strong eough to find the link where I saw an excellent one done previously in a bit

Custom treekin FTW!

I can try get a picture of mine.
I haven't gotten around to putting any form of body to them yet, but i think they look cool as Metalwire-kin.

Ammended: make that, Metalwire-kin FTW!

I'd love to see some pics

http://superlorro.blogspot.com/2010/08/wire-kin.html

Heres some pictures of my WIP on my treekin.

Haven't gotten around to giving them body yet. Was going to paper mache but then i found some random Plastiroc stuff i was going to test out.

So much time, so little willpower

Seon wrote:http://superlorro.blogspot.com/2010/08/wire-kin.html

Heres some pictures of my WIP on my treekin.

Haven't gotten around to giving them body yet. Was going to paper mache but then i found some random Plastiroc stuff i was going to test out.

So much time, so little willpower

Don't worry it happens. Looking forward to seeing your stickmen getting bulked out.

Build your treekin and treeman;

http://www.dakkadakka.com/core/gallery-viewimage.jsp?i=24580&m=2&w=800

Asrai.org must have a zillion threads on it. Not only is it cheaper but you dont have to use the UG-LEE GW minis for treekin/treeman.

Convert waywatchers from glade guard, convert wild riders if possible.