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Which armies do you think are the best? Worse? Any reason?

I'm a bit of a newbie, hesitating between some armies atm... fluff, modeling and all that, I can rank myself from simply looking at the books and models... but that doesn't tell me who's kicking ass and who's getting stomp.

I don't necessarily intend to take the most powerful army... but still, it's something that's good to know before you put down hundred of dollars on plastic man.

Thanks for your answers.

Well fantasy is different then 40k and we dont really have the grey knight problem or the dark eldar problem.

Most armies can produce competitive lists. The ones that are more difficult to play at the momment are bretonians and WE.

Other than that its up to how you build the army and how you use it.

I would suggest going with the models that you like and the fluff that you like.
If you are not sure look through the gw site and look through army books till you see something that catches your attention and go from there.

As has been said you are best picking the army you like the look of.

8th ed, and the new army books, with fewer army specific magic items, have levelled the playing field to a great extent.

WHFB is not about your list, or the models you bring.

It is about how you use the models you bring.

What armies are you interested in? I can tell you where you might want to look from there.

Like others have said - any army can compete and the power gap isn't as wide as it is (or at least was) in 40k. This article is a bit outdated - it's before the Ogre and VC update - but still pretty accurate: http://darkfuturegaming.blogspot.com/2011/05/warhammer-fantasy-power-rankings.html the guy himself even says it's his own opinion based on big+small tournaments and forums, and and that the balance of power is closer since 8th Ed.

But again, it's closer than you think, don't think 15th has no chance to beat 1st. Wood Elves are the consensus worst army in the game (as far as I can tell, that's how the internet views it). But they placed 2nd at this year's Bay Area Open and were in the Final 6 at Ard Boyz West last year. So they can still get the job done, given the proper list, tactics, and general. ...and little luck.

Thought I'd interject in this thread rather than make a new one. How are Tomb Kings doing these days? Are they still limited to big archer blocks and spamming catapults and magic to stay afloat or has 8th opened up anything new for them ?

My interest was actually for the Vampire Count and Skaven, so I'm pretty happy to see them ranked fairly well.

I do have some interest in Orcs and Goblins, but I was already balking at painting so much green again (I have over 3k 40k orks painted as of this...), so seeing them in the lower half kinda seals the deal.

Vampire Counts have some very interesting looking models... the Mortis Engine, Varghulf, Cairn Wraiths, etc.

How do they 'play'? Are several list possible or is it just about spamming Etherals (whatever that is...)?

You are still in a 40k mindset. Spamming lists is pretty impossible to do given the organization restrictions on the lists, and spam lists do not do well in WHFB. You need to think in terms of overall balance and battle plan.

Correction good sir skaven can spam anything because they are dirt cheap.

I think the link ranked the green skins before their new boom since they are quite good currently.

Ethereal spam isn't neccessary as vc. You can always have a zombie army and have more models on the table by the end of the game then you did when you started.
Vc are pretty flexible in terms of army build, you have more than one or two effective actions.

Actually with VC one thing I find fun is the monster mash. Terrorghiest, Varghulf, Varghiests, crypt horrors, etc. I know other armies can do this but I like VC's version personally.

edit: typo

I personally play VCs and I have to say that spamming is a fast way to lose. My usual list doesn't have a single duplicate (not even for lords and heroes).

In WHFB, you need balance to be a good army. If you "spam" units that are very killy, you will have a very low model count and die fairly fast. On the other hand, if you only take cheap hoards you will find it hard to win combat and begin to lose a lot of models due to Unstable. I would suggest reading a few battle reports and try to learn which units you like and how to properly use them.

I'm not a FB player and am just popping in here as my interest with fantasy has perked with the new Empire release (damn you GW). But I've heard from friends that Wood Elves and Skaven are the best armies by far in the game. Wonder what the more knowledgeable veterans think of this.

It would be refreshing to avoid the 40k problems of Wardism and actually have all factions be balanced though.

Harriticus wrote:I'm not a FB player and am just popping in here as my interest with fantasy has perked with the new Empire release (damn you GW). But I've heard from friends that Wood Elves and Skaven are the best armies by far in the game. Wonder what the more knowledgeable veterans think of this.

It would be refreshing to avoid the 40k problems of Wardism and actually have all factions be balanced though.

Well, Skaven are a very solid competitive army. Wood Elves on the other hand are most in need of an update. They are an army that has really fell behind.

That said, though, it isn't as if Wood Elves are a no-win prospect. If you use them intelligently and really master your game, it is possible to win (and win at tournament levels) with Wood Elves or any army.

While there is some differences in power between army books, they are much MUCH smaller than in 40k.

Harriticus wrote:I'm not a FB player and am just popping in here as my interest with fantasy has perked with the new Empire release (damn you GW). But I've heard from friends that Wood Elves and Skaven are the best armies by far in the game. Wonder what the more knowledgeable veterans think of this.

It would be refreshing to avoid the 40k problems of Wardism and actually have all factions be balanced though.

Skaven are good but they have a tendency to implode in bizarre manner.

Wood Elves are fine, just have limited choices and their magic lore needs serious work.

Dwarfs, Chaos Deamons and High Elves are a pretty safe bet to play with.

Though I reckon my Dark Elves are the best.

Nom

From what Ive read WFB armies are pretty well balanced in comparison to 40k. The lowest on the totem would be Bretonians and Wood elves simply for the fact that they haven't been updated in forever but they can still be competitive. Personally I'm interested in Skaven and Vampire counts simply for the lore/coolness but all the armies look like viable choices and it just depends on your play style and interests.

Thew new Empire stuff looks really cool. In my opinion Warhammer fantasy in general has MUCH nicer models than 40k most of the time. Plus its less competitive which was the main attraction for me,