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Hey guys!

I'm trying to choose an army to collect along side my wolves that's not top tier, but not so limiting that I'm gonna get tired of shovelling my models off the table, if that makes any sense?? I'd like a little versatility over strength; so I'd rather have a few lists to play that aren't as good as one 'cookie cutter' list. Also... Which army has the better history of being more competitive out of the 3??


DARK ELDAR: I love the models!! Seriously awesome schemes and I quite like the 'veteran' label, and some of the unique rules they have! Also quite like the idea of lightning fast assaults'

IMPERIAL GUARD: the order system! I love transforming a you it of feeble imperial guardsman into a formidable foe! Waves of tanks firing pie plates out, and the Lord of war tanks too!!

ORKS: closest to the wolves, but in horde formation, I love the lootas, walkers, and the mindless waves of infantry! Also cramming as many shoota boys into trukks and doing drive bys!

My main army is tau, Eldar and crons! Which I know looks like a rough match up for all the armies, but which one would you say stands the better chance??? Any help is appreciated guys! Thanks!!!!

Would personally say guard just because you could BBBFF them in.

otherwise Dark eldar Because they look super cool.

Orks are destined to be failures as
1) They are still selling so GW thinks they are doing fine
2) they are not doing fine but people still love collecting them.

I voted for orks. Definitely orks.

Dark Eldar have exactly 5 unique special rules in our codex, 3 of which are dodge...

I admit the models are awesome though, but your looking for tactics rather than inherently bad have you considered Harlequins? Perhaps Harlequins with Dark Eldar allies? Very fragile and incredibly syngery based would be a big jump from wolves.

As an ork player I've seen a large amount of ork armies that make me go "eeuuuughhh...." because of the paint job. If you can do the skin well and thin your paints than I say go for it.

D.Eldar kinda play like Eldar so I'd say Guard or Orks. Or both and have orks driving guard tanks

With orks though you have to realize that casualties are inevitable and usually in great numbers. The best strategy is to not sink too many points into one unit and spread rokkit launchers around your entire army. Its kind of a pain to play really competitively but ork wins are the most satisfying.

I'd go guard. they're a solid army just not exceptional. you can also use them as a gate way to other IoM factions later on should you so desire.

Orks are just plain fun and you could technically loot just about anything.

I've been having a bunch of fun with Dark Eldar and Harlequin allies.
They;re really mobile but their armor makes wet cardboard look like terminator armor. If used right, they can do well most of the time. Freakshow tactics are also a ton of fun to use.

May I suggest a wildcard you haven't listed as an option - Militarum Tempestus.

Lower tier, plays like Deldar yet are still Imperial, rarer and lower model count so you don't have to invest as much compared with Orks/ IG.

 Andy140491 wrote:
Hey guys!


IMPERIAL GUARD: the order system! I love transforming a you it of feeble imperial guardsman into a formidable foe! Waves of tanks firing pie plates out, and the Lord of war tanks too!!

The order system is a gimmick. All orders have a 12 inch radius in which they can be given, may only realistically be given to infantry, and the orders themselves do not buff the units to which they are given enough for them to be viable damage dealers.

In all honesty frfsrf, and fire on my target are the only decent orders. Even with those orders chances are your guys are gonna die next turn to a much more powerful foe.

Don't play guard if you want to be depressed about your infantry.

 Andy140491 wrote:
I'm trying to choose an army to collect along side my wolves that's not top tier,

- Dark Eldar are to fight;
- IG are for fluff;
- Orks are for fun.

I always suggest Guard, but Orks would be my alternate.

Guard are more versatile. Dark Eldar aren't actually that lightning fast with their assaults. Daemons and Wolves both assault faster.

I love DE, though.

Orks or imperial guard. IG have the benefit of being imperial which means allies aplenty. Orks have the advantage of being orks which means they are always fun and people will naturally like you.

I'd go with the Guard. Very different painting and gameplay. A fun departure in game for you and you can combine your two armies giving you far more options than either of your other choices.

I voted Orks because not only are they likely to provide the best challenge, but they also offer a radically different playstyle to your three armies.

Curious: Why not just de-optimise you wolves list and go with a theme?

Other than that, Orks. More people should play Orks.

I love that everyone always says it's fun to play against orks, it's really really appealing. Plus they'll be like my wolves.. But a little different! My only concern is.. How do you define a competitive scene? My friends play Necrons, Tau and elder!! I can't see scraping my models off a board fun :(

 Andy140491 wrote:
I love that everyone always says it's fun to play against orks, it's really really appealing. Plus they'll be like my wolves.. But a little different! My only concern is.. How do you define a competitive scene? My friends play Necrons, Tau and elder!! I can't see scraping my models off a board fun :(

I play using a lot of bikers, Zhadsnark, and bully boyz and do very well at my local club, but we are not hyper competitive. How competitive are your friends? Are they bringing decurions, spamming grav and scat bikes? If they are then nothing you can do with any of the factions you suggested will come close to a 50/50 W/L rate and all you will ever do is remove models and wish you could enjoy the game. If they are not playing competitive lists then you most certainly can compete and have fun.

Dark Eldar are now the worst codex in the entire range thanks to the faq's. So you got that in spades. Models are excellent and some of GW's best.

With Covens you have some more options and might be able to make a semi-viable list in a casual environment. Still it's always going to be an uphill battle with them.

Let's just hope those rumors of their update coming out this year pan out.

The only advice I can give you is that you should not play orks if you are not a "fun" person. Back in the days when I started orks I wanted to be this "fun" person. Which means I wanted to add over the top funny ork fluff to my army, I told myself that I wouldn`t care when my boys die in rows, and that I would maybe even comment it in good old ork fashion and so on.. the problem was, that I couldn`t get happy with them. I liked the models, their background and I even got used to the fact that your boys only wear paper armour all the time, have a fething low initiative and moral. But at the same time I wanted to win battles too. I wanted to attend tournaments and so on. I wasn`t TFG, God no, but when you see your Tau friend shoot half your army of the board in one go, that can be a little bit depressing. Then you compare your big cool units like Gorka and Morkanaut to his, which only leads to conclusion that you can clearly see how bad your own units are.

So considering your meta and what your enemies are playing I would ask myself if orks or any other weak army would be the right thing to do. Maybe you will have a better time when you and your opponent agree to play the weaker stuff out of your existing armies.

I am having similar problems, and I'm going guard. Except this time I'm using a theme that I didn't have the guts to use with my first guard army. No description, but when my army is painted and on the table it will be clear enough to anyone with historical perspective.

Id say AM as well - mostly because you can still win with these guys if you are skilled. I've lost many games to 7th ed guard and I have no shame.

Orks. They are, of the three, the army whose success can most hinge on intelligent play and good strategy/tactics. DE are at this point incredibly dependent on how their jink/vehicle save rolls go as well as matchup, and guard are extremely one-note without much room to maneuver.

Build a smart ork list and you'll be able to play most anyone but you'll have an uphill battle against post 7.5 armies, but a battle that can be won.

 carldooley wrote:
I am having similar problems, and I'm going guard. Except this time I'm using a theme that I didn't have the guts to use with my first guard army. No description, but when my army is painted and on the table it will be clear enough to anyone with historical perspective.

So for those of us who will never see your army painted on the table, mind telling us what it is?

I voted Dark Eldar , purely for the versatility factor. A lot of it is balls-out gambles and preying you can make it to your destination ( or jink your way there ) in time which can make things very exciting. The number of combinations you can make up ( Particularly with the newer Haemonculous Covens book ) is quite awesome. You can have a hulking scary abomination army, or a lightning fast gun boat raid, or combination of both !

However, if your main deciding factor is Options available to you, look no further than Orks. They have so very many units and combinations it is amazing. The only reason i didnt vote them is because when I ran Orks, I found that majority of the time I was doing what you wish to avoid - Wiping my models off the table in droves and sighing.

On their own, Dark Eldar are probably the weakest of the three, especially with the new FAQ release. There's just a couple of things Orks can run that are actually respectable at the higher tiers, and that's more than Dark Eldar. But I think the poll as it stands right now (32%-32%-36%) is pretty indicative of which is weakest; all three are about the same. This means that, in casual games, all three are about an even match and you'll have a lot of fun in these games!

Orks are fun. If you want to play an army because it is not competitive, then orks. It's THE army you can love even though it loses.

 KharnsRightHand wrote:
So for those of us who will never see your army painted on the table, mind telling us what it is?

Mordian officers in black and grey, Catachans in white & black striped clothing with yellow bandanas and markings. Think SS and lots of Commissars. If I can freehand it or get someone willing to, put 'Macht Arbeit Frei' on the standards and vehicles.

What do people think to imperial guard as a force?? After reading comments it's probably 70% orks and 30% guard

I play both. Guard and Orks both have limited viable army options. But when it comes to the Orks, the good stuff has balanced assault/shooting focus, a mix of MSU and quasi-deathstar play, and mobility. With guard, they have limited mobility, pretty much only shooting besides some blob tactics. They are a bit one-note in terms of strategy when you do them right (contest objectives with meltavets, use eeeeeeverything else to shoot and try to cause as much damage as possible).

Orks strongly center around objective based strategies, because they can rarely win in a fight. Guard also can rarely win in a fight, but they're AWFUL at objective based strategies.