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Hey folks, looking for some advice. I'm embarking on a bit of a spree this year, and am aiming to get a couple of thousand points of four different armies to keep as 'house armies' for friends to use when they come over to my place. I haven't actually played whfb since about second edition, with the old monopose o&g and high elves, so I'm not sure what armies would be good to collect to have a bit of tactics variation. I already have the core of an Orc and goblin army, and to a lesser extent, high elves, so I'll be using those two, but I wondered what other armies you'd add into the mix to give us some real different play styles.

I quite like the idea of ogre kingdoms, but they didn't have this race last time I played, so I'm unsure if they're any good. Also like WoC, skaven and vc's, but the idea of painting a couple of horde armies fills me with dread, as I'm doing a similar thing with 40k, and eight small armies is a mighty undertaking...

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I'd add OK and VC to your mix. That way you end up with 4 very different forces.

OK and Lizzardmen, fewer models to paint and a good spread of play options

Well, you've got a good starting point there, having an elitist force and a horde force there. Both are fairly potent in the combat and magic phases, but not that great in the shooting phase (although O+G are actually fairly good) so why not have something that kicks ass in the shooting phase, such as Dwarves. Then, since you've got two from the forces of order, and just one from destruction, I figure you should add some more bad guys. Beastmen are probably the most different from the three you've got already, so I'd go with them, although WoC are an option.

TL;DR: High Elves, Orcs and Goblins, Dwarves and Beastmen/WOC

Thanks for your thoughts folks. I'm liking the thoughts of dwarves. Also ogre kingdoms due to the small number of models to paint.

Think ill go for elves, o&g, dwarves and ogres. Doing necrons in 40k, so don't want two 'dead things' forces!

Also doing marines, eldar and 'nids. It's going to be a busy year!

I was going to say VC and dwarves, but Ogres would cut down on painting so that's probably a good choice.

Lizardmen are a good army, lower model count than some (unless you have a lot of skinks). and they're fairly easy to use IMO

Just from the top of my mind. Ogre Kingdoms (unique in the way of low numbers) and The Empire (wide playstyle and their uniforms give lots of space for exciting colour schemes).

I was gonna suggest Tomb Kings, till I read that you didn't want to, hehe. Skaven is up there as well (hordes and hordes of rats, plus you could get Island of Blood kits to boost both your Skaven and your High Elves).

If you want a good mix and variety of armies I reccomend the following.

High Elves, Vampire Counts, Empire, and Ogre Kingdoms.

With this, you have 2 horde-ish armies(Empire and VCs) and 2 Elite-ish armies(HE and OK)

You also have one Undead army and one army of Monstrous Infantry.

You have 2 good and 2 evil armies(although technically Ogres are Neutral)

Also, 2 armies have their own unique lores of magic and 2 rely on the 8 generic lores. Ok, technically High Elves do have High magic but it isn't used very often.


In addition, all 4 are quite distinct in their overall look and feel.

GT is on the right track there but you need at least 1 fun army and by that I mean random/quarky army and either Skaven or Goblins fit the bill. Personally I recommend Skaven just because the army book is so well written. Or instead of Empire go with Orcs and Goblins so you have a goblin side, O&G or Empire is a must as these 2 bring lots of available units and a jack of all trades feel, though Empire beats them out IMO due to access to all the lores in the rulebook. I'm doing something similar with multiple lower point armies to introduce people to the game, and from there have made some quick reference sheets and binders for each armies with notes and army lists so far I have Skaven, Beastmen, Daemons and Ogres ready to go and am working on TK and Empire. I also like the idea of an army that is mostly represented on 25mm bases that way you get a good mix such as Beastmen, Daemons or Warriors of Chaos, if you are introducing people into the hobby they may get turned off by just how small some of the 20mm troops can be.