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Hi all,

I've decided to take the plunge and make the transition from solely painting models to full immersion in the hobby. I've decided to go with Fantasy over 40K because it's more my style. I also prefer the models and the lore behind it. That was the first major decision out the way.

I'm very fortunate (or unfortunate depending on your opinion I'm sure) to have a GW as my local store. The guys there have been amazing but also very honest with me. Simply put if I want to learn the game in that store then I'll find it far easier getting small points 40K games and nigh on impossible to get a Fantasy game before I have a huge army. Can't fault them for honesty. They could've taken the sale and let me worry about the lack of games later.

I did consider a jump to 40K but Fantasy has me excited at the thought of playing so I'm still staying on that route. My plan now is to introduce my girlfriend to the hobby and get her involved too. She loves anything arty (and I'm sure will completely dwarf me in painting minis) and seems excited to play.

So to kill 2 birds with one stone we're going to learn to play at home. Maybe make our own game table and generally take it slow and enjoy the learning experience. Which brings me to the questions that I can't answer. I will say that I have tried extensively to search for the answers before posting. There's nothing worse than the newbie that strolls in and posts a hundred threads that could each be answered with a simple google search. I'm not trying to be that guy so I apologise if the answer seems obvious to you. My problem is that a lot of the information is a few years old and/or conflicting so I'm not sure what is and what isn't still relevant.

1. Relating to the title: Is The Island of Blood an actual good starting point.
Things to note: I would not currently see myself playing either included army long term as it stands. I also already have a rule book just in case that sways your opinion either way.

2. Might I be better (although I understand not cheaper) to buy 2 army books and a bare bones army for myself and the girlfriend instead of The Island of Blood?

3. If number 2 is a better option then what sort of setup should I be looking at to start out? And if possible how much do you think (roughly of course) that it would take to purchase enough minis to make 2 sides that are usable for us to start learning the game.

Thank you to anyone that takes the time to help. It really is a daunting hobby to get into and I appreciate anyone that's willing to pass on their knowledge and experience. If you have any other useful comments that you think would benefit me in this decision and my intro to the game then please feel free to mention them.

And seeing as it's also my first post I'd like to say that I look forward to joining in the conversations that you have here in this online community.

Cheers

Welcome to Dakka.

If you are going to play at home, like I often do, it is handy to have loner armies, that your victims, er..umm.. friends can use when you try to recruit them.

Also, templates and the extra mini rulebook will come in handy around the gaming table.

Due to the large numbers of miniatures needed to play even a small game of WHFB the most important rule for me is you need to love the miniatures you are modelling and painting!

So if neither Skaven nor High Elves interest you, then don't bother.

As you are playing with your girlfriend, you can play extremely low points to begin with. I would suggest the following.

- choose an army each.
- buy an army book, battalion, general and wizard for each.

That should be enough to get you both started.

You do have the option of going even lower, you could search for the 'regiments of renown' rules which pits groups of 10 or so warriors against each other (it's essentially Kill Team for fantasy). To play that you would only need the army books and 2 or so boxes for each army.

That might be a better option when you factor in the time/cost for also building your own battlefield and scenery.

UnumPhenomenous wrote:


1. Relating to the title: Is The Island of Blood an actual good starting point.
Things to note: I would not currently see myself playing either included army long term as it stands. I also already have a rule book just in case that sways your opinion either way.

Yes, though do be aware it's a starter set, so it will teach you the rules, give you a feel for the game, but it's not necessarily how people play the game in their meta (i.e. - nobody takes core or special choices in blocks of ten unless its chaff). That said, Island of Blood is a fantastic way to learn to play the game !

Regarding not playing either army, two things on this:

Rumor has it that in a few months a new starter set is going to hit for 9th edition. Nothing confirmed. Most people think spring to summer ish. If you're like me, that's entirely too long to wait.

If so, most of the high elves are easily ebay'd / bartertown'd. Heck they might be even moreso after island of blood is out of production as getting sea guard or sword master models is expensive by proxy (actually... can you even get sword master plastic models by themselves ? i know you can for sea guard...). The mages and griffon might not move quickly (the mage is not the prettiest elven mage out there, and with the rules as they are right now, if you have 1 griffon, you have a beautiful model that is collecting dust on your shelf. If you have 2, you have one to replace the first in case your cat knocks that one off. That said, expectation is that ridden monstrous mounts are going to get WAY better in 9th. People love elyrian reavers.

The rats you'll have almost no issue moving. "Moar Rats!" is like the marching tune of every skaven player. The ogres a week ago i'd have said will sit and do nothing, but Storm Fiends are coming out late january, and if their rules are good (which we'll know in about 2.5 weeks), then people might look for cheap proxies. Kinda 50/50 right now.

So long and short of it is you can ebay most of it. The templates and such will be fine in the new ed more than likely. Mini rulebook will largely be scrap paper.

2. Might I be better (although I understand not cheaper) to buy 2 army books and a bare bones army for myself and the girlfriend instead of The Island of Blood?

It will be significantly more expensive. Sig. Nif.I.Cant.Ly. IoB = for 100 bucks you're playing the game in a couple hours.

Otherwise, the mini rule book will run you 20 on ebay, army books will be 45 each, then models. Something playable will require a character, and then probably at least a 1-2 hundred per side for core etc. Long term view, this is the better way to go if you know you like the game.
If you are at all unsure, do IoB first.

3. If number 2 is a better option then what sort of setup should I be looking at to start out? And if possible how much do you think (roughly of course) that it would take to purchase enough minis to make 2 sides that are usable for us to start learning the game.

Minimum game is 1 leader and 2 units, 25% of your points must be on core. It is entirely possible to get a 20 dollar character, and then buy 1 box of $50-60, ten infantry and make 2 units of 5 models. Clearly not ideal, but this is as cheap a buy in as you'll likely get. Factor in another 20 dollar blister or so per side for a magic user, So you're probably looking at 100 bucks per side (absolute minimum), 45 for the army book per side, then rule book (20 on ebay for mini book, big red book is 85,.... but with a new ed inbound, don't get the big red book unless youw ant it for its art quality, etc).

So the absolute MINIMUM is like 220.00, but you're not going to get a good cross reference of the game. If you want a little more differentiated force, you can take on another 50-100 per army. Again, this is achieving just a minimally playable force.


It's a really expensive game, it's the games major achilles heel.

If you give us armeis you guys like, we can maybe make better suggestons, i'm kinda shooting from the hip here a bit with costs.

Thank you to anyone that takes the time to help. It really is a daunting hobby to get into and I appreciate anyone that's willing to pass on their knowledge and experience. If you have any other useful comments that you think would benefit me in this decision and my intro to the game then please feel free to mention them.

We've all been there dude, happy to help. I'm a veteran gamer myself but i just took to the X-wing forums screaming "IMMA NOOB, HALP MUH!", Post your painted stuff when you get it up and running.

And seeing as it's also my first post I'd like to say that I look forward to joining in the conversations that you have here in this online community.

Cheers

Dakka's a fun place, welcome! Just don't take anyone else (or yourself, for that matter!) too seriously, and you should love it here. Lookin' forward to see what armies you and your lady friend are leaning towards!



EDIT: general sense making.

EDIT 2: The battalions are a MOSTLY good idea, although there are some armies that are better than others. This is why I'd like to know what armies you guys are eyeing up. Battalion might be a great idea or a "meh" one. The older battalions though do end up being a bit of a discount.

-- Haight

Concerning Island of Blood, note that although it is a starter set, it is not the best one to lead a new player into the hobby. IoB lacks the small campaign missions that eases the begineer into the basic rules of the game.

it also doesn't include the handy reference sheet that 40K starter sets has, althought I recall GW once provide it through its website.

Regardless, I still think IoB is a great starting point to PLAY fantasy, and if you are drawn in by the fluff I suggest you get a copy of the IoB novel avaliable at black library.

If you can get your hands on a Battle for Skull Pass set (the previous starter) that would be good. That's how I got into the hobby,
and while I still haven't painted most of the night goblins, I now have a large Dwarf army, using all most all of the minis from the original box.
But since that sounds impossible, I would recommend choosing an two armies like Dwarves (high points cost), so you aren't stuck painting hundreds of clanrats, for example.
Of course if you do really enjoy painting (I don't) then I would recommend any horde army, because you'll have loads to paint. That said, you will have loads to buy as well.