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I'm a 40k player who is interested in Fantasy. I play CSM and Tyranids for my armies, so it's pretty obvious that I like assaults. I tried Tomb Kings a while back at my friend's house but decided not to do Fantasy because my Heirophant got sniped (damn TLoS) on turn 1, making my entire army crumble. I did not have fun. Where do the armies in this game stand as competitively? I'm not WAAC, but I do like winning more often than I lose. I was going to default with Chaos again, but I've thought of mixing it up a bit.

Where can I get solid assault and decent magic? Should I wait for TK again in May? I thought they were pretty cool. Chaos, specifically Nurgle, is my thing in 40k, how well does that translate to Fantasy? Finally, what are some tips or thoughts about the armies that a newcomer might overlook?

Justus

TK are worth waiting for in my opinion. They haven't been amazing for a while, so they're due a hefty improvement.

Chaos is a solid choice. Reasonably new army book with a good mix of options and an array of competative and fun builds, only drawback is that some special characters aren't worth using (Kholek, in all his awesomeness, just needs 1 initiative-test-or-die effect to hit him and that's 600+ points down the drain - He's also a large "Shoot Me" target for war-machines).

Chaos also has a bit of an issue with some options taking a backseat. Chosen are pricey and really only used for deathstar units, knights are also very expensive. Trolls and Ogres/Dragon Ogres are even more uncommon unless you're using a Throgg Monster list. Chaos Warriors and Marauders are your bread and butter.

Marks wise, Khorne and Tzeentch are the most effective. Khorne gives you a good punch in combat and Tzeentch adds defensiveness. Nurgle and Slaanesh aren't great. Nurgle is very costly for what it does and usually MoT is a better investment; Slaanesh is okay if you're constantly being bombarded by war machines or otherwise taking a lot of panic checks; or you face a lot of fear/terror causing units; but outside of those it's a pretty useless mark.

If you're looking for solid assault and decent magic, WoC is great. Lizardmen are also good, worse at combat than WoC (but not by much) but better at magic when you can get a Slann, and they also have far more shooting than WoC. Daemons can be pretty combat/magicky too.

Hoo boy, compared to 40k stats a lot of these are low! I went down the list and just threw out the armies that I'm not interested in (purely aesthetically). My personal list leaves Beastmen, Daemons of Chaos, Lizardmen, Orcs and Goblins, Skaven, Tomb Kings, Vampire Counts, Warriors of Chaos.


Beastmen: I'm not particularly interested in them because I would probably end up having a sea of brown when I play, but at the same time I don't dislike them. We'll see.

Daemons of Chaos: A classic, not something I'm unfamiliar with. If I played them I'd probably go with Khorne/Nurgle, I'm not sure what the standard configuration is. Part of me wants to try something new rather than stay wit Chaos.

Lizardmen: Very reptilian feel, I just like the scales everywhere. Slann are pretty neat along with the standard lizard dudes. Aztec feel, nice. Temple Guard look real badass.

Orcs and Goblins: In 40k the Ork fluff really just makes me mad. I feel like most of it is just way over the top. How is the fluff in this game? I can't play an army where I don't like the fluff. Apparently they are a good starter army, but I don't really have an attraction to the models at all. That being said, I don't dislike them.

Skaven: These guys are so cool. They have a sneaky, scumbag, manipulative feel to them, in short, they remind me of me! Plague Monks are pretty cool guys, and I love the ratty feel of the army. Clan Rats make me lol as well

Tomb Kings: What can I say? I tried fantasy when 8th just came out, once. I proxied my 40k army as TK. He sniped my heirophant on turn 1 due to TLoS, and he went first as well. That meant before I got to do anything my army began to crumble. It wasn't fun at all. I like the fluff and feel of TK a lot, and I know they are getting a new Army Book. If I can't decide on another army I'll probably end up playing TK.

Vampire Counts: They just seem like better Tomb Kings with not as cool fluff to me. Still, it has skeletons, and I like the Ghoul models a lot.

Warriors of Chaos: I'm least inclined to play these. I'm really only interested in the Hero/Lord slot and the actual Warriors. Everything else is kind of meh for me. If they play most like CSM I'm probably not going with them.


And there are my short synopsizes on the armies that I'm interested in. It's quite obvious which ones will fall from this list soon enough, but before I just slay some viable options I would like to hear some tidbits of information from you guys. Thanks!

Hard to compare the different 40k styles to that of fantasy. If you like magic heavy and good combat, daemons are pretty solid. Herald of Tzeentch is probably the best hero/lord choice at lower levels as they can get master of sorcery for like 25pts giving him access to all the spells in a lore in the rulebook, usually you have to pick a lore and random roll for your spells anywhere from 1-4 spells, with this upgrade you get all of them. Get 2 of those with Light and Life, add some heralds give them that banner or icon to your Bloodletters that adds D6 to their charge range, and you got quite a range to get them in combat since it's your movement+2d6 (3d6 with that banner), buff them that spell in lore of light and their movement is doubled and they get +1 attack and always strikes first and if your initiative is higher then your opponent, which is likely against everything but elves and chaos warriors, you can reroll you misses. Bloodletters are also WS5 Str5 with killing blow. All daemons also get a 5+ ward save.

So if you want solid magic and great assaults (15-16 inches on average charge ranges plus 5 more if buffed with Briones Timewarp) and good solid magic go with daemons. Having said that Skaven which do lack in the close combat department, probably have the most well designed army book in fantasy, they are a blast to play with and against but they will blow themselves up quite a bit if dice rolling is not in your favor.

It's worth point out, if you like assaults and want to try something you couldn't do in 40k, your best bet is Skaven.

Seeing as my field of expertiese ain't boundless i'll just go for the two you seemed least negative about.

Justus wrote:Lizardmen: Very reptilian feel, I just like the scales everywhere. Slann are pretty neat along with the standard lizard dudes. Aztec feel, nice. Temple Guard look real badass.

Thats my army, its awesome saurus are very reliable, skinks are cute and sneaky, slaan are very reliable, temple guard are badass even if a bit overcosted without a slaan to guard. Scales are lovely on models and we have dinosaurs (that's a big plus IMO). Negative sides are that people who like randomnes find them too boring, if you are a cold blooded and/or calculating player this is the force for you. Did i mention dinosaurs..

Justus wrote:Skaven: These guys are so cool. They have a sneaky, scumbag, manipulative feel to them, in short, they remind me of me! Plague Monks are pretty cool guys, and I love the ratty feel of the army. Clan Rats make me lol as well

The compleete opposite of lizards in nearly every respect, high model count, excessive randomness, evil petty and overall ratish
They have awesome gagets neat tricks and many ways of inflicting massive casualties, no guarantee on which side tho. People who like randomness and funny happenings will greatly enjoy skaven, if carefull planning and reliability is your game however this army is certainly the wrong choice. Skaven got some awesome new models recently and are easy to start via the starter set.

With that pros and cons for these armies is done. I will give you one final piece of advice however, when picking an army fluff and gameplay (competitive or friendly) are secondary to weither or not you like the models since you will be forced to assemble and paint quite a lot of them.

Yeah, I'd agree with Hoverboy- the aestethics of the models are REALLY important. I love Lizardmen on every level except the models, so I had to sell my army. I wish they looked more stereotypically lizard-y!

WoC, Skaven and Daemons all favour assault and magic.
Vampire Counts do too, but to a different extent.

If you like assaults, try Ogres, good models, pretty damn like 'Nids, all they want to do is eat things.

And their magic isn't all that bad.

Eh, if my friend played I know that he would play ogres. Additionally, I'm not fond of the models or the fluff. TK/Skaven it is for me.