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My brother and a friend of mine (as well as me) are going to buy some wfb battalions. Can they be played straight from the box?

All of them can yes, however they might not all be competitive and some will vary in points. You need 3 legal units, at least 25% must be core, some other caps apply on lords, heroes, rares, and specials. In some cases you can convert up a hero/lord.

You will have to purchase/convert a character model. None of the Battalions come with one IIRC.

Aside from that, I think all of them can make a Legal army. However they won't all make an equal army.

Basically, they all need and HQ before they can be played "legally". They also are not balanced against each other. However, if you are just starting fantasy with some friends, you can say "hang the rules" and learn the game with just the battalions.

Battalions are fine for playing with friends. We do it all the time, legal only counts at like gaming clubs and stuff

The Bretonnian battlebox actually makes a pretty good 750ish point army.