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'nother 40k player here, in the process of being seduced by Fantasy.

I absolutely love the Beastmen minotaur models and I want to treat myself to them, but... are they any good? I am genuinely interested in playing Fantasy. As I found out when I started 40k, I actually enjoy the gaming part a lot more than I thought I would (thought I'd only like the painting part). This miniature wargame brought out a (slightly) competitive side of me I hadn't seen before.

Cut a long story short: I'll probably get the minotaurs in any case, due to aesthetic reasons. But, if I ever start a Fantasy army I wonder: are Beastmen a viable army? Are minotaurs a viable unit? And, is there a way to play an all-minotaur army (or almost all-minotaur)?

Beastmen are currently considered one of the bottom tier armies. They're not unwinnable by any means, but they do require a bit more practice, finesse and luck than armies like Skaven, Warriors of Chaos or Lizardmen.

Minotaurs, like many things in the Beastmen book, are a little overcosted (in points) for what they do. That said, they're definitely a solid choice if supported correctly.

Currently there is no way to field an all-minotaur force for Beastmen. Your "Core" (basically 40k Troops) points have to be spent on Gors, Ungors or Chariots. Still, up to 50% of your army points could be minotaurs, although you'll obviously want a few Characters to support them.

That said, there are people who have been using the Minotaur models to represent other armies via "Counts As". I believe there is one poster here using Minotaurs to count as Chaos Trolls, lead by Throgg, who allows Chaos Trolls to count as Core.

I suppose you could also use them to represent an Ogre Kingdoms army, whose models are almost all Minotaur sized (monstrous infantry).

Edit:

Herdstone is a good place to get info, tips and tactics for using Beastmen also!

Well I happen to be the guy who is using minos as trolls much to my delight! But Beastmen can be a very strong army in the right hands but keep in mind you will loose your first 10 or so games just getting a feel for the beasts.

Well, I started out as an Eldar player with 40k. So, I am somewhat familiar with a steep(er) learning curve.

I do like the idea of proxying Minotaurs for Ogres. Army wise (what I know of the armies in Fantasy, that is) I was drawn to OK at first. - Bashing the living gak out of stuff - But I do not like the models.

What would be the main difference in playstyle between the two, beasts and ogres?

Beasts and Ogres are very similar IMO. The only thing we differ on is Beasts are better in CC and Ogres are better at shooting

Minotaurs have 2 major weaknesses compared to, say, Bestigor- the first is that they lose attacks at a much faster rate, 3 wounds is a dead mino which is 3 less attacks, whereas 3 wounds will likely not affect the damage output of a gor unit.

Secondly, the biggest strength of the Beastman army is Primal Fury, and Minos don't get it.

If you want high combat strenght in the the army, you're better off going with a couple of big gor units with extra hand weapons and a level 4 on lore of Shadow.

Minotaur's downfall as mentioned is the lack of primal fury and the T4. Why are Gor T4 and Minotaur also T4 is the great unknown. A viable way of running minotaur is the minobus. A minobus is 2 or better yet 3 characters a mix of Lords: Dombulls and Heroes: Gorebulls as Ws6 or 5 and T5 at the front rank, doing a "make way" move if command units are involved. Therefore units are allocating attacks against the higher WS and T on top of any magic armor/items. While minotaur lack primal fury when they win combat they gain attacks, with 3 of them at the front a few rounds of combats won can really increase the attacks fast at 2 rounds of combat per turn if you're in combat by turn 2 by turn 6 you can have a crapload of attacks from the 3 up front and with S5 or S6 base they hit like a truck. Then you have D3 impact hits, and 3 supporting attacks from the minotaur behind them for 9 supporting attacks at S7 with great weapons. It is an all eggs in one basket move though as it is an incredibly expensive unit, especially in a 8th environment with a lot of spells that are pass characteristic test or die. But it is incredibly fun, breaking a 40 man saurus block in one round of combat the first time I took them out.

Also as much as your minotaur can only make up 50% as special you can have 25% Doombull and 25% in gorebulls as well, as for the 25% core requirement, if you dislike the gor you can take tuskor chariots and ungor raiders make great chaff units (screeners and redirectors) to help pick your battles with the bus.