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And, I've been trying to figure out what army to play. I play Space Marines in 40k, and looking through it, Dwarves of Warriors of Chaos seem to be the same; small, elite armies. So, no go for them. (though, I did see a WoC player use those crazy Tzeentch powers...)

The Empire and Bretonnia seems interesting, with their knightly orders and shining armour. I prefer the Aesthetics and Germanic themes of the Empire, but I love the Arthurian vibe from Bretonnia aswell.

The High Elves seem like another good choice with always striking first, even with Great Weapons...

Then I bounce around about Lizardmen.

The ones I've been suggested not to play for a first army are Beastmen. I also don't like the feel of the Skaven, or the Vampire Counts.

Just a note, this is a long term thing, But I'd like to start planning it out. Once I top off my Space Marines and get them competitive up to 3000pts~, is when I'd start this.

So, any suggestions for what to look more into would be great. I've been browsing the forums, but, I haven't found anything that's really helped me make up my mind.

Thanks for any help you guys can give!

-Crazyterran

Empire - Generalists, light infantry blocks supported by piles of artillery. Quite a few tricks in the item section. About to get a new book in a few months. Good start.

High Elves- Combat monsters, always strike first etc. Highly vulnerable to shooting. Wouldn't recommend.

Bretonnia- Knight buses of death. Powerful when used correctly, unforgiving and one dimensional. Beautiful models/Strong thematic elements.

Lizardmen- Some of the best core units in the game. Strong magic via Slaan with excellent medium infantry. Have a reasonable range of strategies available. Good first army.

Dwarves- About medium range infantry (9-13ish points). Heavier and slower than empire, more reliable.


Best advice is still, and always will be, play what looks/feels good to you. Most armies besides Beastman/Wood Elves have at least one highly competitive list. Main difference between "good" and "bad" armies are the range of lists available.

TLDR; Pick the coolest one.

Definately play what seems the coolest to you, but if you like the sound of the Empire list, they're a pretty good army to learn the game with. They can compete in every phase of the game reasonably well, and have a new book on the horizon.

My rules/factors of priority for picking armies:

The first two are pretty closely related, I feel

Rule/factor No. 1 = what do the models look like? Do I like them? Will I enjoy painting them?

Rule/factor No. 2 = what is the background/fluff like? Does it sound cool and does it interest me? Will I have fun roleplaying them on the tabletop?

And then, trailing waaaaay behind and bringing up the rear

Rule/factor No. 3 = what do they look like on paper with all that boring points and numbers stuff . . . I really don't care

Have fun!

You gotta' say what styles you're into to give people a hint to help you out. The GW website has a brief review of each army, though it's not very good.

The playstyles of each army, are very different, though usually each race can use multiple broad strategies.

High Elves are good, but their models look stupid (to me). If you like wacky magic, they have an extremely powerful magic phase and probably the best Special Character in the game (so good, 90% of games won't let you use him).

I don't recommend Brettonians because plain cavalry (as opposed to Monstrous Cavalry) isn't so good in 8th.

Empire can be relatively solid, but all their guys have codpieces. And to me they just have a very odd mix of fluff. A kind of steampunk, king arthur, black powder mess. With codpieces.

If you like good races, Lizardmen are super good. Like the most Space Marine-y of Space Marines. Or maybe Inquisition. They also have a tremendous magic phase and very powerful infantry. They have monsters that are actually useful, which is rare in 8th. Most of their stuff across the board is pretty good except cavalry.

Ok, so tell us what you want from an army. We can tell you what armies seem to fit in, and you can choose from there..

DukeRustfield wrote:
Empire can be relatively solid, but all their guys have codpieces.

You say that like its a bad thing

I was thinking of moving away from a Space-Mariney style of play, and, after deciding Lizard Mayans was out, and that everyone suggested to stay away from Brettonians, narrowed it down to High Elves and Empire.

Between the two, I chose empire, and posted my idea for an army list in the Army list forums.

I just liked the Germanic/Steam Punk feel to them.

And i'm not quite sure how to classify my play style; I haven't played a lot of 40k lately, as i've been trying to repaint my army (slowly) back up to my personal standards. I'm more of a painter than a gamer, though I do like making army lists for fun.

(a lot of my army list on the Army List forum was made by making 500 pt lots at a time in Army Builder and figuring out how it'd fit together, heh.)

EDIT: here's the link to my list, tell me what you think! http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/433887.page

Since you like the Arthurian feel of Brettonia, and you choopse Empire, why dont do an all Knight Army?
Lord: leaderthingy-knioght (forgot name)
Troops: Knightly orders
Special: Knights of Inner Circle.
Tazah.
One Knightly Empire army..

You could also use Brett knights for an Empire army as long as you make sure to make their banners really apparent. Also, tell your opponent before hand.