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HI,

I am repeatedly tempted to jump in to AOS however I know nothing of the armies and know no one that plays it (we are all looking to get in at the same time).

Of the factions which are on the lower model count/elite end vs those high model count horde type armies?

Also are there any that are just not very noob friendly and are harder to play than the others?

Typically I go for the more elite style armies (less to paint) but ultimately comes down to which has the cooler models.

Thanks

Well what appeals to you?

Stormcast Eternals (aka "Sigmarines") are generally low model elite armies. I've heard the same about Ironjawz (basically an army of Ork Nobz), and Beastclaw Raiders are ogres (or "ogors") riding giant like mammoth things, very elite since almost everything is a beast.

Horde-wise you still get your Skavens, Flesh eater Courts (what I play) are generally horde (lots of Ghouls), Goblins are like that too.

I don't really understand the first question, but I find that horde armies can perform just as well (and in some cases better) as the more elite armies.

There isn't really any "not noob friendly" armies, but there are armies that may require a bit of thinking. Nothing too major, just a plan is always good. An example of this is Khorne Bloodbound. Surprisingly, the frothing hordes of barbarians are well thought out, as their power largely comes from synergies with their Heroes.

The more elite armies include:
Stormcast Eternals
Ogors/Beastclaw Raiders
Ironjawz
Certain styles of Skaven armies.
Most cavalry armies

Hope this helps.

Yeah... most armies have multiple viable builds so you can have one faction supporting both Elite AND Horde (or somewhere in between).

As an example, I have two different Skaven lists... one is a vast horde of Plague Monks, sweeping forward and infecting the world! The other is a rather limited number of big, hulking monstrous rat men carrying assorted arcane weapons.

I would ask if you and your crew play other games, and if so, what factions do you play in those.

I would also caution that certain of the newer factions are considered powerful due to their having access to unique "allegiance abilities" (explained in The General's Handbook... buy this book!). These include Beastclaw Raiders, Sylvaneth and Bonesplittaz (to a lesser extent).

Thanks guys, very helpful.

I play 40k marines.

For AOS though I am looking for something different, thinking demons of Khorne (love the blood crusher models) also gives me options with the bloodbound. They seem to be somewhere in the middle in terms of model count from what I can gather which suits me.

Whats great about Sigmar is that even within teach faction there are so many different builds you can play.

For example, you mentioned khorne deamons and that you like the bloodcrusher models. You can take a character which makes bloodcrushers battleline (troops in 40k terms). I play khorne daemons.. but I run a horde of bloodletters. Same faction, different build.

interesting, sounds like an intimidating line up (visually at least)

Bloodcrushers + a Bloodthirster or two would be a very smashy army, and also thematic. Maybe also some Skull Cannons for dat ranged support. However, be aware that small model count armies are very polarizing - once you start losing models, the games start going fast. You're either going to slice through the opponent in a couple turns, or lose half your army in the blink of an eye.

Coming from my experience, my Stormcast army is pretty low count. I've had games where I crash into the opponent and basically win on turn 1, and I've had others where I lose 2~3 important units and can't do anything else for the rest of the game.