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Hi all

I just finished this earlier today - it took quite a while so I thought I'd share it. I've put it on Beasts of War but thought I'd post it here as well. I would turn it into an article but I think it can bring up some discussion on Battalions in general - their contents and value, as well as the disparity between certain sets. It'll be interesting to see what, if anything, changes in the new Ogre Kingdoms one and how much it'll cost - I'm guessing £70 with the same models, give or take - any bets?

All these points/prices are up-to-date as of August 2011. There's a minimum points to a rough maximum points from each Battalion, as well as the GW RRP and the usual 20% discount from an online-retailer.

Daemons of Chaos: 720-1000+/- @ £65 (£52)
20 Bloodletters, 10 Daemonettes, 10 Horrors, 5 Seekers of Slaanesh
3-4 Core, 1 Special, 0-4 Lords or Heroes
Probably the best value of all the Battalions, you can easily convert some of the minis to make Heralds for a cosy 1,000pts army.

Warriors of Chaos: 632-959 @ £60 (£48)
12 Chaos Warriors, 20 Marauders, 10 Chaos Hounds, 5 Chaos Knights
3 Core, 1 Special
You can always use the Warriors as some Forsaken or other Special Unit if you so wished. Again, great value due to the high point costs.

Beastmen: 380-485 @ £60 (£48)
20 Gors, 10 Bestigors, 10 Ungors
2 Core, 1 Special
It sucks to collect Beastmen…

Dark Elves: 679-807 @ £60 (£48)
12 Dark Elf Warriors/Spears, 16 Dark Elf Warriors/Repeater Crossbows, 20 Corsairs, 5 Cold One Knights
3 Core, 1 Special

The Empire: 574-688 @ £70 (£56)
20 State Troops, 10 Handgunners, 10 Greatswords, 8 Empire Knights
2-3 Core, 1-2 Special
The Knights can be made into Inner Circle Knights, making them a Special Choice.

Lizardmen: 857-1022 @ £60 (£48)
20 Saurus Warriors, 12 Skinks, 10 Temple Guard, 8 Saurus Cavalry
2 Core, 2 Special

Orcs and Goblins: 490-720 @ £60 (£48)
20 Goblins, 15 Orc Boyz, 10 Forest Goblin Spider Riders, 5 Orc Boar Boyz
3 Core, 1 Special

Tomb Kings: 511-672 @ £70 (£56)
40 Skeleton Warriors, 8 Skeleton Horsemen, 3 Skeleton Chariots
2-4 Core

High Elves: 635-710 @ £60 (£48)
20 Spearmen, 20 Archers, 1 Chariot (Tyranoc or Lion), 1 Bolt Thrower
2-4 Core, 1 Special, 1 Rare

IOB Set: 830-1305
1 Prince on Griffon, 5 Ellyrian Reavers, 10 Swordmasters of Hoeth, 10 Sea Guard, 1 Mage
1 Core, 2 Special, 1-2 Lords, 0-1 Hero
You can get the contents from between £25-35 on Ebay.

Wood Elves: 696-753 @ £55 (£44)
8 Glade Riders, 24 Glade Guard, 12 Dryads
3 Core

Vampire Counts: 435-585 @ £60 (£48)
20 Skeletons, 20 Zombies, 10 Ghouls, 1 Corpse Cart
3-5 Core, 0-1 Hero

Dwarfs: 572-762 @ £55 (£44)
32 Dwarf Warriors, 16 Thunderers/Quarrellers/Rangers, 1 Cannon/Organ Gun
1-4 Core, 0-1 Special, 0-1 Rare
You get a lot of options here. You could get a Horde of Dwarf Warriors with Great Weapons or multiple units made out of the above.

Bretonnia: 509-800 @ £55 (£44)
1 Pegasus Knight, 20 Men-at-arms, 16 Bowmen, 8 Knights of the Realm
3 Core, 0-1 Special, 0-1 Lord or Hero

Skaven: 365-609 @ £65 (£52)
40 Clanrats/Slaves, 20 Plague Monks, 2 Rat Ogres w/3 Pack Masters, 6 Giant Rats
2-3 Core, 2 Special

IOB Set: 528 (less if using Slaves) – 889
20 Clanrats – w/Spears/Shields, 20 Clanrats w/Shields/Hand Weapons, 2 Rat Ogres w/Pack Master, Warlord/Chieftan, Warlock Engineer.
2 Core, 1 Special, 1-2 Hero, 0-1 Lord
You can get the contents from between £25-35 on Ebay.

I haven’t done the percentages for each Core/Special element in the Battalions – I did all the points without breaking down how much were in Core etc – but a rough estimate is possible if you look at how they break down.

Hope this helps in deciding which army to get/what the costs will be/if it’s worth it.

I can add in info about the OK battalion if you want. Considering there's a new one due here pretty soon, wasnt sure if that's why you didn't list that army.

Yeah the reason I didn't include it is because, at the moment, it doesn't exist and the new book is due with updated points etc...so if anyone would like to add it, as and when, that's all good

Out of those I think the Dwarf battalion is most worth it, since you can get up to 4 Core units and 1 Special and a Rare

Price per unit, the IoB stuff is the best buy for skaven. Unless you plan to run Clan Pestelins, you get so much more than the battalion box for so much less.

For the price of three skaven "halves" (the equivelant of most battalion boxes) of the IoB set you get the following:

1x Warlord
1x Chieftan (BSB)
1x Other hero
3x Warplock Engineers
3x 40-model busses of clanrats/slaves to tarpit with, including six weapon teams models.
1x Rat Ogres unit with six Rat Ogres and three Packmasters

That's a pretty solid army for about $100. Compare that to any battalion box.