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So as the title suggests I am a noob to fantasy. I been playing 40k for a while but I need a change of pace don't get me wrong I like my sci fi but just need a change of pace painting wise. Still deciding on an army though. As of right now it is still in the air. For 40k I have mainly play space marines, chaos marines (lots of chaos) and tau. And I was looking for something a bit different to that. And I was just unsure as to what rout to go I would like some input as to what would be good for starting out since I am not a tournament player not too worried about competitiveness. So far the armies that caught my eye are Dwarves, Dark elves, Brets, Beastmen, and Warriors of Chaos. So any suggestions, tips, and thoughts on those armies would be very helpful. And what is an average game size point wise?

AN avarage game is AFAIK 2000-2500 points.
I only play Warrios of Chaos, and I'd say they are awesome. Highly elite, great options and great characters. Basically all of it is great. The marauders are ridicilously cheap and powerfull for their points. But, as you have a lot of chaos marines and you want something different, maybe this is not the armoy for you. They do get new releases in november, and I for one likes it

As for Dwarves, they're a gunline army.

As for competivenesss, fantasy is really balanced. Only Wood Elves are not really good, but they can be good if used corerectly too.

well i really like the fluff of the brets a lot. and im looking for a "good guy" army to start with and then eventually work my way in to the realm of baddies.

Brettonians can still be good, although the learning curve is steeper then others. Plus the book is old so it is due for an update.

They are an army that you can't make mistakes with. Specifically movement phase mistakes.


Fantesy is all about the movement phase. Now Bretts have M8 on their knights so they have good speed, which a good general can use. However a mistake in the movement phase can and will lose you the game.

So if you end up getting charged or you fail a charge and get counter charged you can almost bet you will lose the unit.


Brettonians are pretty good on the charge with their Str5 attacks and 2+ saves. But if they don't get the charge, or get bogged down in multi round melee, they are just Str3 T3 humans with 2+ saves. Not great stats to end up with.


The real key with Bretts is to have 2-3 units of knights charge a single enemy unit and, hopefully, break it and run it down. If the enemy unit holds you are in trouble as now the rest of the enemy can come in and flank charge your knights, possably with stuff that can cut through your 2+ armor.


The biggest thing about fantesy combat is Strength and save modifiers. For every point of strength you have above 3, you attack will reduce armor saves by 1. So a Str5 attack will reduce armor saves by 2 for example. So a 2+ armor save would be reduced to a 4+ armor save.

Armor saves have a maximim of 1+, which still fails on a roll of 1 but it can take one point of modification before the roll is modified. Armor saves are cumulative as well. So for a Brettonian KotR he has 5+ for heavy armor, 6+ for shield, and 5+ for being mounted on a barded steed. It all combines to a 2+ save.

A Chaos Knight on the other hand has a 1+ save. 4+ for Chaos Armor, 6+ for shield, and 5+ for a Barded Steed.

If you are facing an opponent with a high armor save and you only have Str3 attacks not only is it tough to wound them but you also won't reduce their armor save. So make sure you get the charge so you have the +2str from your lances.


Another thing to remember is you can take multiple saves against wounds in Fantesy. Models may take their armor save(if they have one) and then they can take either a Ward or a Regeneration save(if they have one)

Ward saves are the Invulnerable save of Fantesy.

Regeneration saves are another type of save. Its basically a Ward save that is negated by Fire.


So a model with a 5+ armor and a 6+ parry save(a save granted by having a hand weapon and a shield and only in close combat) could take his 5+ armor save and then a 6+ parry save.


Brettonians can gain the blessing of the lady which gives their knights a Ward save(6+ IIRC) so they can take their 2+ armor save and 6+ ward save against wounds caused to them. Plus whatever modifiers apply to their armor save.

Grey templar wow that was really informative, thanks for all that useful information. my next question since I have narrowed it down to two armies is does any one have any exp playing with brets or beast men that could tell me some personal play on how you may have won or lost because of x.
that would be helpful.
cause im leaning towards beastmen or brets and charging on a steed sounds kinda boss to me. and bestmen well they look like goats and have minotaurs and that in itself is cool to me.

I play against both..

Beastmen are the worse army of the 2.


Their core units are overpriced. They are very fragile to taking damage and don't cause enough in return to compensate. Primal Fury helps, but its not reliable enough.

Minotaurs are their one awsome unit. A very powerful Deathstar unit. Give them Great Weapons.


Doombulls and Gorebulls are the minotaur characters. They can be extremely killy and tough to kill, but are expensive. They arn't as great a general as a Beastlord though(one less leadership)

Beastmen need to get into melee quickly and without taking too many casualities. Screen your minobus unit untill it can get into melee.



One strategy to use is to take 2-4 lvl1 Beast casters and the herdstone magic item. It basically plops a piece of terrain in your deployment zone that gives extra power dice for every wizard nearby. The casters all have the Sig spell for Lore of Beasts and they can bugg your army from a distance away.

Its only vulnerable to armies that can easily snipe lone characters. So cannons and any sort of fast cavelry-esk unit that can slip past and assassinate your characters for easy points.

I just started playing Bretonnians recently and I've been really impressed with the army.

While the book itself is older, it has actually aged very well.

First: the change to rank bonus and steadfast which has hurt most armies cavalry severely is somewhat mitigated by the Bretonnian Lance Formation, which lets Bret Knights get more ranks, and get attacks from those back ranks on the turn they charge. Also a practically army wide ward save is very cool.

Second: We have an older army book, so we have a lot of magic items to choose from, this gives us a lot of flexibility in kitting our heroes, and we have some really powerful combos that can let our characters punch above what their stats would leave you to believe.
- You want your lord to have heroic killing blow, always strikes first, and ws10? Done.
- How about a talismen that limits you to 1 damage per phase from non magic attacks, and a weapon that destroys enemy magic weapons when it HITS on a 4+, maybe with a potion of speed? Done.

Third: While the game has indeed moved to bigger infantry blocks, remember that Bretonnians don't do infantry poorly. Both Men at Arms and Peasant Bowmen are almost criminally cheap for what they can bring to the table. Peasant Bowmen especially stand out, 6 points per model for a bs3 long bow and they come with soft cover for free, then you can buy them flaming arrows for 5 points per squad? yes please. Men at Arms are also solid, and at 5 points per model they are pretty easy to get ranks with, and can be made fairly survivable with the addition of a Damsel with the Prayer Icon.

Right now my personal favorite unit is a Paladin on a Royal Pegasus with the Wyrmlance, Virtue of Audacity and sometimes the grail vow. You've got a unit that can fly, has a template attack, and flaming magical attacks with re-rolls to hit and wound against s5 or higher. Makes him an ideal unit to zip around providing support where it is needed, and helping to deal with regenerating monsters. He can easily flight march into people's flanks, get rear and side charges, and generally just tip the balance of an encounter in your favor. Grail Vow isn't needed but Immune to Psycology lets him operate on his own very effectively.

so of the two it sounds like the brets are looking better and better.

so is the fey enchantress any good or is she over priced for what she does?

i think you all have tipped the favor to the brets something fierce. i do like the idea of having a dude fly around to smash things cause he can

The Fey Enchantress is very good. Life is an amazing lore.

so when taking a damsel or the enchantress take life as one of my lores definitely?

also read a little about the green knight I think hes awesomely fluffy but is he any good i mean does he preform well in combat and the like.

The Green Knight is mearely annoying. He's not bad and he's not good.

Here's a kind of compendium that's stickied on these forums that goes over all armies' in some way, shape, or form. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/470806.page

cheesesteak thanks for the link that was really helpful