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OK here's the scoop, been playing 40K for a bit, mostly with my wife, problem is she doesn't care for ground space genres, she does however like high fantasy ALOT, I played WHF many many moons ago and the role playing game for a while as well so I'm pretty cool on the world and fluff.

I've been reading the boards a lot and now my head is spinning so here are my questions/thoughts

1) Is this a good time to buy into WHF, or is a new edition right around the corner.
2) Island of Blood, good starting point or red herring
3) Is it possible to build 3- 750-1000 pt armys that are fairly even and competitive, to each other at least, for $1250(not counting codex's and rules)
4) Ogre, Brett, Skaven is where I'm kinda of leaning but also like Lizardmen and Empire, although if Island of Blood is the best way to go then I'd be looking at Skaven, High Elf, and Either Ogre, Britt, or Maybe Lizard.
Mostly I'd like each of the armys to have a different focus, (Horde, Hero, Monster Ect.) so I'm open to any thoughts on the 3 you'd choose.
One of the army's will be mine and will also have to at least hold it's own in casual game store play,
OR
Do I just go with The Hobbit game? Smaller army's plus it's the LOTR


Thanks in advance for your thoughts

I faced a similar question with my family and went LOTR. A lot more familiar for everyone rather than taking on a whole new milieu.

You are, however, limited to "goodies" and "baddies", so your 3-way scenario might be more difficult. We have a Moria army and a Gondor army with a touch of Rohan, that seems to keep everyone happy.

1)Rumours say that 9th is coming out this summer, with an Empire/Orcs&Goblins starter box. This does not mean it will be a good rulesystem, neither that if you buy some miniautres now they will be useless. Warhammer has its painting part, too, afterall. So don't be afraid to start right away.

2)IoB is great. Good value for money, you get everything you need to play, plus some exclusive awesome miniatures.

3)IoB armies are 1340-1980 points, depending on upgrades. With some search, you can get used models or even armies for a good price. I recently bought a WoC army(3200-4600 points) from a guy at my local club for 260$.
I find similar opportunities quite often.

4)Heroes are not that important to an army. The game consinst of 4 phases: movement, magic, shooting, and close combat. And these are the criteria to divide the armies, ie magic orientated(lizardmen), shooting orientated(dwarves) etc
I personally like Empire cause of their huge flexibility, Skaven cause they are funny and very random/unpredictable, and WoC cause they are puire evil and elite army.
Generally, every army has its own beauty and playstyle.

Finally, if you can afford it, once you and your family learn the basics, raise the point limit to 200, it's a completely different game than 750-1000.

I'm going to be sexist, but I can't ever see women NOT liking HE or DE.

 DukeRustfield wrote:
I'm going to be sexist, but I can't ever see women NOT liking HE or DE.

While there are some armies that women in general like better in the Warhammer and 40k mythos, it's better not to say them aloud at gaming places to not sound like a complete douche.
I have more than once had an enthusiastic husband point at my army and turn to his wife going "look, honey. His army is the Sisters of Battle. They're an army of all women. Isn't that something?"

No, buddy. You didn't just make her excited about the game I'm afraid.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 ruprecht wrote:
I faced a similar question with my family and went LOTR. A lot more familiar for everyone rather than taking on a whole new milieu.

You are, however, limited to "goodies" and "baddies", so your 3-way scenario might be more difficult. We have a Moria army and a Gondor army with a touch of Rohan, that seems to keep everyone happy.

Ugh, right in the aesthetics!
You have fully painted armies, and good looking judging by the picture! Don't ruin it with paper scenery D:

 Purifier wrote:

While there are some armies that women in general like better in the Warhammer and 40k mythos, it's better not to say them aloud at gaming places to not sound like a complete douche.

The truth is never douchey. You don't have to like it.

My friend's wife was trying to get his other friend's wife to learn how to play Starcraft, I think. And she attempted it in terms of building "little houses, and little farms, and little factories," all said in a cutesy voice. It was effective. I've been gaming for a lot of decades. There are certainly standard deviations and outliers, but the world isn't populated by sexless automatons with no distinct gender characteristics. No matter how much people think it is or should be.

 Purifier wrote:

Don't ruin it with paper scenery D:

Some people get all nostalgic about the Warhammer Townscape They're great for the kids to assemble too.

jaekat wrote:

1) Is this a good time to buy into WHF, or is a new edition right around the corner.

There is rumour but nothing more. It's fuelled partly by what GW had done in the past plus some people who are known to get rumours nearly right are hinting at things; however GW cracked down on rumour leaks and there are no certain facts. Best thing would be if you pick up one of the Island of Blood mini-rule books. You get all the rules same as in the big book, just without the fluff and other sections; so its purely game rules.

jaekat wrote:

2) Island of Blood, good starting point or red herring.

Great starting point - you get all you need plus two armies. The Skaven and HE options are actually very good to the point where many use them to bulk up their armies as well as pick up unique things. Note that if you don't want one army you can easily pick up split kits on ebay.
HE side the Swordmaters of Hoeth are VASTLY cheaper than buying them from GW direct; the Reaver mounted cavalry and griffon rider are not even sold outside of IoB.
Skaven are likely similar with a few things but I don't know them well enough to say.

jaekat wrote:

3) Is it possible to build 3- 750-1000 pt armys that are fairly even and competitive, to each other at least, for $1250(not counting codex's and rules).

Within reason yes you can. Certainly you can build armies that are fun and will function as good starting core force; from there you can expand. Fantasy likes bigger armies is general so chances are if they find it fun you'll soon be pushing toward 2K armies and bigger.

jaekat wrote:

4) Ogre, Brett, Skaven is where I'm kinda of leaning but also like Lizardmen and Empire, although if Island of Blood is the best way to go then I'd be looking at Skaven, High Elf, and Either Ogre, Britt, or Maybe Lizard.
Mostly I'd like each of the armys to have a different focus, (Horde, Hero, Monster Ect.) so I'm open to any thoughts on the 3 you'd choose.
One of the army's will be mine and will also have to at least hold it's own in casual game store play,
OR.

Go with what you and the others like to play or just what is visually appealing. Whilst you can go for a purely balanced setup to show everything if one really likes Skaven go for Skaven - they are far more likely to engage with and enjoy the game. Picking armies for tactical reasons tends to be a thing people do for a second or third army; once they are really into the game and the gameplay is what is driving the purchase - at the start most are at a visual army choosing level.

 DukeRustfield wrote:
I'm going to be sexist, but I can't ever see women NOT liking HE or DE.

My wife hates elves and eldar. She plays dwarves and tyranids.... though i did try to steer her towards the dark versions as they fit her...personality?...better.

Yup, trying to guess what a woman will like is always a crapshoot ,
For example my wife will only play Necrons, cus and i quote they look like space bikers, and after looking at the GW page for a long time she's decided she wants a Lizardman Army, cus they are bright and colorful. Which works cus I have always loved Scaven, and my son is all about elves so guess I figured it out, at least the army part,

Now I'm going to try to find either a preprinted Lizard force or start looking for a painter, cus I know my limits and a Pretty lizard army is a lot more than a dip and dry painting.

Just make sure she doesn't check the ForgeWorld updates - they just released a nice big beasty for the Lizards

In answer to your questions:

1) This summer is the time one would normally expect 9th Edition Fantasy, but 40k is actually being redone this summer instead, and the new Fantasy edition is, for now, being shelved. If you're concerned, put it off until, say, July or the new 40k release (whichever comes first) at which point it'd be safe to say a new edition is a while away. Even so, though, if you're just playing at home, there's no reason to say you can't continue to use an outdated edition.

2) It's not great, to be honest, especially not for HE. If you like the Skaven and/or HE armies, then it may be worth it, but don't pick it up and play the armies for the sake of it being a starter box, because it isn't a great one from that point of view. The models are lovely, they're just mostly the wrong ones to get you started.

3) It should be, yes, but note that WHFB doesn't play very well at such small points levels. 2000-3000 is the normal points value, but anywhere from 1500+ is a decent game. Don't let this put you off though, as some armies are pretty cheap. You can quite easily build a 2000pt Ogre army with two Battalions and a bit of conversion.

4) Of those three armies, only Ogres I would recommend for a beginner. Bretonnia are a hard army to use and Skaven are complicated with a huge FAQ that is now no longer accessible on the GW website required to play them, as well as the fact you need lots of models and money. Both are also due for an update soon-ish. Lizardmen and Empire are, however, both good starter armies. However, it does leave you, from the 3-player point of view, the logistical problem that you have no baddie. I'd consider sticking with Ogres and Empire, but perhaps look into Dark Elves or WoC as your third, "baddie" army. Dark Elves would probably be better, as they play differently to the other two, WoC and Ogres are somewhat similar.

----------------------

As some further advice, I would genuinely take a look at LotR/Hobbit. The main problem with this game is its lack of playerbase, but, playing as a family, you really don't care about that. It's not a flawless game, but it plays well and is incredibly easy to learn, with a lot of extra tactics to think about when you get more advanced. The armies are a lot smaller and cheaper, and are easily found on eBay for great prices, and you don't need anywhere near as many models to get a decent sized game. My 500pt Rohan army of about two dozen models plays very nicely indeed (though it tends to fall apart as soon as it sees a Monster), yet that number of models is a mere unit in WHFB. LotR also plays pretty well as a straight up three-way brawl. Triumph and Treachery does this very nicely for WHFB, but that's another £50.

If you're going to be playing mostly as a family and are looking for a cheap, easy game with varied, even armies, then I seriously think LotR is a better bet, providing you do all enjoy the LotR world (seriously, that's a good point, LotR is far less interesting as a wargame if you're not into the books/films). If you yourself are looking to game elsewhere, then it's probably cheaper to get three 500pt LotR armies (for family play) and a 2000-2500 point WHFB (for external gaming nights for yourself) than it is to get three full sized WHFB armies. That also allows you to be completely free in your choice of WHFB army.

Anyway, I hope this all helps! If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

Don't think short term, though. Going off to conventions and tournaments is fun too and that option isn't nearly available with other family-type games. Yes, they have monopoly tournaments, but not that many.