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Having returned to the hobby almost a year ago, I decided to stick with what I was most familiar with, which is 40K... However I'm now thinking about expanding to WHFB as well. It's what I started with way back when (I still have the 3 book boxed rules somewhere - Battle, Magic & Bestiary, no idea what edition), but I was drawn to the grimdark when that was released...

I've not yet bought the new rules, but I'm thinking about armies already, and I'm considering either Lizardmen or Vampire Counts to start with... Now I know nothing really about the rules or how the game plays (I imagine it's very different to 40K), so I'd appreciate it if the denizens of Dakka might be able to advise if these are good choices for a new FB player, and maybe some pros and cons for each... My choice thus far has been informed pretty much entirely on the looks of the armies (although I've always been a sucker for ghouls and zombies and the like...).

Thanks

I shall root for lizardmen. They get the second best offencive casters (HE being first) and the best magic deffence. In the shooting phase we have tons of poison and firethrowers with a huge threat range. As for combat our basic troops are resilient and strong, not to mention they beneffited from the new rules that allow them to take casualties and still fight, and we get dinosaurs. Say it with me now – DINOSAURS!!!
For more specific advice just look around the tactics and army list sections.

Thanks. Dinosaurs are certainly a big plus point

Only thing to looks out for with LM, is if you line up with a tooled out slann, expect facepalming on the other side of the table.

Kind of like what I get with two hydras....

I'd go for the lizards, as in my opinion Vampire counts are a hard army to start with.

Yea, beisdes twilight pretty much ruined vampires forever.

I would go with lizardmen. IMHO, their fluff is cooler than that of the Vampires and they also have some great units such as Stegadons, which look cool and are also very powerful. Their main core troops, the Saurus, are pretty good and very hard to break with the cold-blooded rule. What HoverBoy said is also true.

I vote for anything Chaos. WoC have some pretty sweet characters as well as modelling opportunites. Daemons are drastically more powerful than their 40k Counterparts, and Beastmen minis are just plain awesome. Plus a WHFB daemon army can work as a 40k Army too (if your opponent is cool with the square bases, which most should be).

Thanks for the tips everyone...

@ MechaEmperor7000, I'll check out the Chaos armies and see what they're like... I already have a CSM army (or the beginnings of one at any rate) so there may be some overlap opportuinties...

greenbay924 wrote:Only thing to looks out for with LM, is if you line up with a tooled out slann, expect facepalming on the other side of the table.

Kind of like what I get with two hydras....

I'm guessing this is a bad thing? Not sure why tho? Too overpowered/obvious/unorginal?

The tooled up Slann is pretty powerful and frequently seen in today's lizard armies. If your gaming group tends towards lower powered builds, you can just not buff him up all the way.

As a base model, he's good. With the right optional disciplines, he's great.

If you can see yourself painting and assembling a lizard army, I think it's a pretty solid choice. Some of the dinos are hurt by the new, more accurate artillery (especially cannons), so I'd be just a bit leery of those.

RZ you being a dwarf player explains why you have nothing to fear from the dinos, but against cannonless armies they can still do a lot of damage.

As far as the being frowned on thing goes there are two step to it.
Step one:
Get a 2500 points list with a uberslaan, 6 sallamanders, skink priest (level 2 optional) with a scroll (or a cube if you feel like ending that one enemy magic phase when the winds seem kind ), 20-26 temple guard a unit or two of 5-6 camo skinks, one or two large blocks of saurus, fill in remaining points with as many small units of skink skirmishers as you can.
Step two:
Get kicked out of the FLGS for being a total

I hear you Hover, but from the perspective of a tournament list, empire and dwarf cannons do detract from the effectiveness of the dinos in this list. Most lizard players I've talked to struggle with whether or not to include them as part of an all-comers list.

Certainly a stronger selection with Life magic on the Slann to keep restoring wounds, though.

Arent VC kinda crippled by the new magic phase?

Red_Zeke wrote:I hear you Hover, but from the perspective of a tournament list, empire and dwarf cannons do detract from the effectiveness of the dinos in this list. Most lizard players I've talked to struggle with whether or not to include them as part of an all-comers list.

Certainly a stronger selection with Life magic on the Slann to keep restoring wounds, though.

Actually for actual monster spam list light is better ever since the FAQ fixed pha's protection, using the boosted version and net of amyok can be pretty cripling to warmachine lists, the heavens signature spell is helpfull here too.

giant stegadon wrote:Arent VC kinda crippled by the new magic phase?

Not at all. It requires a bit more thought and planning what order you cast your spells and how many dice to use. If you tool up your lord to be a caster it is still something to reckon with. There's plenty of options magic wise with them. You can stick to lore of vampires as it keeps your army going, shadow, death and light are all very solid lores as well. VC can be competitive. While they may not rise to the same level as the very top 'ard boys lists they still have some good aspects to the army. Namely they never break so you have to kill every last guy in a unit to get vps. Grave Guard with the banner of the barrows combined with your lord granting his WS to them via the helm means you're hitting and wound just about everything on 2+. Their cavalry is still viable in 8th and didn't take as big a hit as some other armies. Varghulfs in pairs are still pretty nasty especially on the flanks. And of course there's the whole appeal of an army of living dead models shambling towards the enemy.

I play both LM and VC. Honestly I enjoy my VC a lot more. While I do enjoy my deadly dinos (my first WH army back in '97) I find them a little boring to play. I have done equally well with both armies but the most memorable and close fought games have been with my VC. They certainly take a more well tuned list and aren't nearly as easy to play as LM. To me that's part of the fun.

HoverBoy wrote:Yea, beisdes twilight pretty much ruined vampires forever.

i can ruin it even more.

VCs have a character called Isabella von Carstien




I vote for lizardmen, but if you wish to remain friendly with your local gaming group i would avoid going all out on the Slann.

Grey Templar wrote:I vote for lizardmen, but if you wish to remain friendly with your local gaming group i would avoid going all out on the Slann.

Yea keep that for tournaments, for friendly games you can get a carnosaur and 3-4 stegadons

HoverBoy wrote:Yea, beisdes twilight pretty much ruined vampires forever.

lmao

Grey Templar wrote:

HoverBoy wrote:Yea, beisdes twilight pretty much ruined vampires forever.

i can ruin it even more.

VCs have a character called Isabella von Carstien

Except she's been an undead Warhammer character since about 5th ed(if not earlier), before what's-her-face even thought about writing Twilight.

Platuan4th wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:

HoverBoy wrote:Yea, beisdes twilight pretty much ruined vampires forever.

i can ruin it even more.

VCs have a character called Isabella von Carstien

Except she's been an undead Warhammer character since about 5th ed(if not earlier), before what's-her-face even thought about writing Twilight.

yes, indeed.


When is the GW lawsuit happening? you know GW would love to win that case.

Addmitting any connection to that franchise would be very bad rep for all of wargamer kind.

HoverBoy wrote:Addmitting any connection to that franchise would be very bad rep for all of wargamer kind.

i would think that any angle that exposed more women to the game as well as exposed more lonely nerds to women would be actually pretty awesome for wargamerkind.

granted, they'd all be fifteen year olds, but who better to matchmake with ultramarine players?

hemingway wrote:
granted, they'd all be fifteen year olds, but who better to matchmake with ultramarine players?

Considering that teens are GW's target market these days, that would make it perfect, eh?

it would be terrible.


Wargamers have dignity and pride to think about

we shouldn't sully ourselves with such immature and angst riddin rubbish as Twilight

Grey Templar wrote:
we shouldn't sully ourselves with such immature and angst riddin rubbish as Twilight

Yeah, because GW writing is so mature.

And there's absolutely no angst in the Warhammer universe.










I stand corrected...

Platuan4th wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:
we shouldn't sully ourselves with such immature and angst riddin rubbish as Twilight

Yeah, because GW writing is so mature.

And there's absolutely no angst in the Warhammer universe.










I stand corrected...

I belive the key word is rubbish

and Malakith is a pretty BAMF even if he has been throwing a 6 millenium long tantrum

Lizardmen are an easy army to start with, as they have good magic, shooting and combat troops. I started with them myself, and now collect at least 3 other armies with skills I learnt from lizardmen.

i haven't read twilight, so i don't know if it's rubbish or not.

but i can tell you this: when i was fifteen, if i was playing warhammer with a bunch of angsty chicks who have learned from twilight that the most important thing in the world is having a boyfriend, then I think i'd have been in clover.