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Heya everybody, so at my local GW theyre making a huge push into fantasy and doing a fantasy escalation league for beginners. So far I'm unsure of which army is for me not knowing a whole lot about fantasy. Since I play DE in 40k I'd kind of prefer to stay away from elves for now in fantasy (maybe later down the road.) What I'm looking for so far is just an army that packs brute force, while just getting some benefit from magic/wargear etc. Ogres are out of the question though, there's already 3 ogre players in the league and seems like everybody and their mother are buying them. So far the army line up is:

Beastmen - 0
Bretonnia - 0
Daemons of Chaos - 2
Dark Elves - 1
Dwarfs - 2
High Elves - 2 (3)
Lizardmen - 1 (2)
Ogre Kingdoms - 3
Orcs and Goblins - 1
Skaven - 1
The Empire - 0
Tomb Kings - 1
vampire Counts - 0
Warriors of Chaos - 2
Wood Elves - 0

Army numbers in parentheses are armies that people also have with them to play as a secondary army, since it's beginners escalation league you're allowed to switch around since it's still low points.

Any advice would be awesome guys, thanks!

Edited for spelling

I'd go with Empire or Vampire Counts(which are being revised next month). Especially as no one in your group has either of those armies.

I've never really looked too much into empire really, but I've been under the impression that Vampire Counts are VERY magic and wargear dependent. Have I just been steered wrong in this? Because if they are they're really not what I'm looking for, I don't want magic phase to make or break the game really, just more so some helpful buffs here and there for the most part and considering the lower points parts of the league are going to be lasting about 3 months the wargear part is gonna be pretty hard.

Do you not want to play what other people are playing in your area? Which is why you had the list? It's an expensive hobby. What if more people come or drop out?

-Lizardmen (Saurus + Skink Chief)
-Daemons (Khorne)
-WoC

All those guys hit hard and can have as little or as much magic as you want. Daemons have a bit less magic unless you go full lord and then they have a crapload, but it kind of marries you to them.

Do you like big bipedal lizards that are fearless and hard to hurt, or bloodthirsty daemons who can chop of heads with every swing, or mega gothic black knights who are pretty much awesome at everything?

Well I mean, if there's an over abundance of an army it's kind of a turn off for me since I'd rather play something else than my own army really, and especially Ogres because one of my close friends who I play with alot has them.

Lizardmen do look pretty cool, as well as WoC,

What's the word on Beastmen? I realize they're kind of dated and not that popular but how well would they match up to what I'm looking for do you think?

My advice, pick the army you like the looks of best.

There's some Beastmen players on here. They have some new models and can definately hit hard. Minotaurs are very expensive, but they are kind of beserker Ogres.

The problem is their Core isn't so hot and they have some blah units. And their rares are very over-costed. But they just released models and they look super cool.

All their core units have an ability that basically lets them get Hatred (all) and reroll failed to hit which can add quite a bit.

Doombulls would be fun to play and it would run similar to Ogres army. But with less fancy stuff overall. For me a problem with Beastmen is they are really really mean. Daemons are doing their Great Game. They don't really care about us. Dark Elves are pissed off about everyone, themselves and HE. WoC are either fighting each other, drinking beer, or rarely going on a big rampage. O&G are a joke until they finally get their act together and Waaagh. But Beastmen are sick. They make Ogres look like civilized society and Greenskins look like geniuses and Dark Elves like your Father Christmas in terms of real putting the terror in people.

Hmm yeah that's sort of what I've heard about them just from random conversation. Doombulls and Minotaurs are just so awesome looking though.

So far it's between O&G and and Beastmen so far, with WoC as a close follower. Thanks for all the input!

I can give you a major deal on some orcs if you decide to go with them(50% off retail).

I'd say Bretonnia.

They are not due a book any time soon, so it gives you plenty of chance to get used to the army before the added bonus of a new book.

Heroic killing blow is handy if you are facing lots of fatties.

They compete in all phases of the game, and low leadership of the infantry will teach you about tactics.

'Internet wisdom' has written them off as bad army, so it doesn't matter if you lose and makes wins all the sweeter.

Internet wisdom is overrated.

HoverBoy wrote:Internet wisdom is overrated.

And overly conservative.

Out of all the armies with (0) players, honestly I like the Beastmen the most. They kind of do clash a bit with what you are saying in that you do not want a magic dependant army, and BM can be that. However they are brutal in combat if tooled and supported right.

May I suggest you look up OnceBitten on Youtube for some great Beastmen Battle reports. He really made me take a second look at the army and really come to like them.

They also fall into the internet wisdom of being underpowered just like WE and Bretonnia. But taking someone by surprise when you attack with a horde of S5 T5 Gors (through buffs) and re-roll all your misses you might just see their block fall apart. Which is always nice.

They also have quite a bit of Brute Force with Mino's/Bestigor's and pumped up Gors.

If you decide to not go with Beastmen, the next army I would probably suggest too you would be Orc's, fun rules, great range, different possible builds, not as dependant on magic as Beastmen IMHO but with access to very fun and colorful lores.

Either way good luck.

Grix.

My vote goes to beastmen as well, they hit much harder than the Internet will lead you to believe, and are not overly dependent on magic items or magic - though as Grix implies augments and hexes are a goat's best friend

- Salvage

Go with the models and fluff that you like.

It's not a huge deal if you play the same race as others since the armies can be built differently.

I vote Beastmen! And I am 100% biased. They are underplayed and Primal Fury is the best army rule in the game, save ASF with great weapons. They are very much like ogres, hit like a truck (bestigor wound at S6! for a 12pt model with a good chance of hatred, less then 5% chance to fail with BSB rerolls and LD10). Just don't expect to do much shooting. Magic is also very solid with the herdstone and durable caster in the Greater Bray Shaman.

Boss Salvage wrote:My vote goes to beastmen as well, they hit much harder than the Internet will lead you to believe, and are not overly dependent on magic items or magic - though as Grix implies augments and hexes are a goat's best friend

- Salvage

QFT

I am a longtime Beastmen player and my record with them speaks for itself. Beastmen do have a small learning curve but are a great army with fantastic models

Thanks for all the input guys! Yeah so far beastmen is really pulling in ahead at first, I'm probably gonna swing into my FLGS and check out the army book sometime this week and look it over, and if I like it maybe treat myself to a box of gors or something. I'm just finding it hard to say no to a squad of big ol smashy minotaurs led by an even scarier doombull.

http://z2.invisionfree.com/herdstone/index.php?act=idx

This should help you quite a bit!

Yeah an all minotaur army is no longer possible, but you can fill the 25% core requirement with Ungor Raiders and Chariots. I personally go with 2 big hordes 1 gor with a beast banner BSB and the other bestigor then I just support them with chaff and use magic to buff them and make enemies weak, utilizing the herdstone to generate power dice. it's probably the most competitive build but leaves little room for Minotaur. But a minobus (doombulls and gorebulls with minotaur supporting attacks) does look fun and shoudl destroy most things.