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At some point in the foreseeable future, I'll be (thankfully) in a position to spend a seriously large chunk of change on purchasing armies for WFB. I'm still pretty new to the game and have not totally grasped the rules for building armies and what's allowed and such. I've not read any particular Codex all the way through, either. So in light of that, I was wondering if some kind person with good knowledge of things, could suggest two different purchasing lists for me that take into account the following: Variety, At least one of everything (not including Forge World stuff - though FW suggestions are also welcome), and consider that I don't necessarily have to worry about costs. The other list would take the same things into account BUT would be a bit more spend-thrift (say at about 80% of the "money is no option list.")

These are the armies in question:

Empire
Dwarves
Tomb Kings
Dark Elves

For anyone who will take this challenge on, please be specific, not general (e.g. 2x Cold Ones, 3x of this, etc...). THANK YOU very much for any advice and suggestions.

Well, I'd be willing to help you out as best as I can. The first big advice I should give you is to research the armies some. Get a handle of the fluff and try to get a good idea as to how they play. If you aren't excited about the army you will be playing, every purchase will seem more like a chore. If I can ask, what interests you about the armies you listed and what kind of playstyle do you want to run with?

I like each army pretty much for their strengths. I like the Empire's cool war-machines and knights. I like the Dwarves toughness and stuff like that. Dark Elves because I like the monsters and magic. And Tomb Kings...well everything about them looks cool and interesting.

I'd play these armies in a variety of ways (they'd be mostly used for fun, casual play more than tournament play). Hopefully that helps provide some more info?


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Also, if it helps, I'm considering a budget of around $2000 per army. Possibly.

Looking to be able to field HUGE armies if needed though I'll usually play smaller matches, I'd guess.

Okay. It's helping me somewhat.

As far as playstyle, the lowest amount of variety is likely Dwarves, as they are very much defensive specialists. You'll have plenty of shooting and close combat ability, but you'll generally not see a lot of deviations in battle plans.

Empire offers arguably the most variety as they can be built fo shooting, magic, hordes or elite troopers. You'll never dominate many phases with them, but you can really shine in all of them.

Dark Elves are similar to Empire in that they are pretty flexible, though they lack some of the endurance that the Empire has due to more expensive-pointed units and models. But on the other side, you have monsters.

Tomb Kings finally can do a lot of things well, but generally specialize in magic, some big monsters, and large infantry with chariot support. You have a lot of tricks with Tomb Kings though, like a Skeleton Horde using the Prince or King's WS.

Does any of those spark a huge want for you?

I'd suggest looking at these sites for their respective armies:
Empire - http://warhammer-empire.com/
Dwarfs - http://www.bugmansbrewery.com/
Tomb Kings - http://z4.invisionfree.com/Khemri/index.php?act=idx
Dark Elves - http://www.druchii.net/

I know you're looking for stuff to buy, but you could look at lists posted there (and here at Dakka and at WarSeer), see what units are most commonly listed or used, and go from there. For example, if you look at the Dwarfs site, you won't see a lot of Slayers or any Flame Cannons. Take this as advice to not buy them. Some units on the sites may have a more balanced use, like Harpies on Dark Elf lists. This is something that'd just come down your preference, even if you're inexperienced. Or you could ask for advice on those sites, etc, as asking for detailed money lists of 4 separate armies may not get the results you're exactly looking for on an all-encompassing site like Dakka.


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Wytefang wrote:
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Also, if it helps, I'm considering a budget of around $2000 per army. Possibly.

Looking to be able to field HUGE armies if needed though I'll usually play smaller matches, I'd guess.

to answer these, i'll definitely say, you probably don't need to go any higher than ~3000 pts, but then maybe an additional 1000~2000 pts for flexibility. Considering this, it'll matter how you plan to buy them. Buying them in the box will most likely be the cheapest way. But I'd suggest keep an eye out on eBay listings or even *gasp* professional painting sites who'll buy the minis for you. eBay can have great deals - prob like 2000 pts for $500? Roughly? Pro painting sites it'd be more like $1500 for 2000 pts, I'd guess. From the GW boxes - $800? Again, really rough estimates...

Thank you very much for the advice.

little off topic but is there a site like the ones posted above that is up to date for High Elves?

I'd also suggest buying from an online store at a discounted price. Money may not be an issue for you for each army, but saving 20%-30% on a $2000 army is huge. (savings of between $400-$600)

I couldn't suggest any american sites, but the one's I use are Miniwargaming.com and gc-minis.com. Gc is having a 40% off sale right now too

whitespirit wrote:little off topic but is there a site like the ones posted above that is up to date for High Elves?

http://www.ulthuan.net/

Thank You been looking for something like this for a while

Jamora wrote:I'd also suggest buying from an online store at a discounted price. Money may not be an issue for you for each army, but saving 20%-30% on a $2000 army is huge.

It's not that money isn't an issue, it's just that there may be a small window where I could justify some exorbitant spending to get fully engaged in the hobby.