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A little background on me as a player I suppose. I've recently caught the 40k bug hard and am currently working on learning the table-top ropes with my 2000pt IG army. I've still got plenty of mileage to go with said army, and my funds are limited so this potential AoS army is a mid-to-long term project.

My friends group has been talking about doing some AoS when we next meet up and I'd quite like to get into it at some point. The hitch is that they live abroad, so I thought I'd set myself the challenge of putting together an army that is compact enough to fly with. I'm still in the initial stages of doing my homework on what army does what, but I'd like to ask you guys what you think might work. Less list-building than a suggestions for a faction.

Conditions:

1) A physically small army; one that can fit into a Citadel skirmish case or similar. So probably not a horde army. Small-ish models with relatively high points per model.
2) Looking for about 1000pt in size. Any larger would be great, but I'm not expecting miracles.
3) Open to pretty much to any aesthetic and playstyle, though perhaps less a fan of 'destruction' factions on looks alone.
4) Doesn't have to be particularly competitive. This army will likely only get used for casual gaming.

Thanks in advance!

Stormcast sacrosanct chamber. Exactly what you are looking for on all points, and they are in the Soul Wars starter so cheap to get.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
Stormcast sacrosanct chamber. Exactly what you are looking for on all points, and they are in the Soul Wars starter so cheap to get.

Ah, nice call! Funnily enough that would work nicely as I like the aesthetics of both Stormcast and Nighthaunt among others.

The other faction that has been mentioned to me is the Seraphon, which also look really cool to me. I just get the feeling it would be a little less straightforward putting together something appropriate with the available units.

Given your description, not Seraphon; mostly because you’re going to want all the cool, big Dinos, and they won’t fit in the requirements you gave.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Given your description, not Seraphon; mostly because you’re going to want all the cool, big Dinos, and they won’t fit in the requirements you gave.

Point taken. No dinos today

If you're not averse to being "that guy", go Everchosen. Only a few models but all very powerful.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Given your description, not Seraphon; mostly because you’re going to want all the cool, big Dinos, and they won’t fit in the requirements you gave.

besides that, you need summoning models

DeathKorp_Rider wrote:
If you're not averse to being "that guy", go Everchosen. Only a few models but all very powerful.

I'll definitely still look into it, but hopefully I wouldn't go full on 'that guy.' Admittedly though the thought had crossed my mind, at least in 40k terms, that logical way to go would be something along the lines of a Custodes army, which this sounds not-dissimilar too.

It's something definitely to consider. Certainly gives variety to the options on the table which it great!

Idoneth Deepkin is another army worth looking into. Removing the stands makes the models quite slim and short. And your total model count for 1000 pts can be as low as 12 taking an Akhelian king as your general, a tidecaster for wizarding, 9 eels, an allopex and an endless spell of your choosing.

Steiner wrote:

DeathKorp_Rider wrote:
If you're not averse to being "that guy", go Everchosen. Only a few models but all very powerful.

I'll definitely still look into it, but hopefully I wouldn't go full on 'that guy.' Admittedly though the thought had crossed my mind, at least in 40k terms, that logical way to go would be something along the lines of a Custodes army, which this sounds not-dissimilar too.

It's something definitely to consider. Certainly gives variety to the options on the table which it great!

Everchosen is just Archaon (HUGE model) and one unit, varanguard, plus a wizard option in the gaunt summoner. It isn't a proper army and running it on its own would only be 'that guy' in the sense of 'that guy who never wins a game.'

Stormcast armies are small and hit like bricks. I bought two of the old Stormcast vs Khorne starter sets from a place going out of business and they're tough customers. You can spray them metallic and use contrast paints to knock them out too.

You could build an elite Lizardmen army (I have one of those too) but they're not as good because Temple Guard aren't as good as they used to be. You also won't be able to easily transport the big dinos.

Chaos chariots and knights is also another small, high points army that runs across the board and hits hard.

bocatt wrote:Idoneth Deepkin is another army worth looking into.

Honestly I completely hadn't thought about them. Will definitely have a look into it though.

NinthMusketeer wrote:Everchosen is just Archaon (HUGE model) and one unit, varanguard, plus a wizard option in the gaunt summoner. It isn't a proper army and running it on its own would only be 'that guy' in the sense of 'that guy who never wins a game.'

Point taken.

Fajita Fan wrote:Stormcast armies are small and hit like bricks. I bought two of the old Stormcast vs Khorne starter sets from a place going out of business and they're tough customers. You can spray them metallic and use contrast paints to knock them out too.

You could build an elite Lizardmen army (I have one of those too) but they're not as good because Temple Guard aren't as good as they used to be. You also won't be able to easily transport the big dinos.

Chaos chariots and knights is also another small, high points army that runs across the board and hits hard.

It's a shame about the dinos, but I guess that doesn't mean I can't work on an army somewhere later down the line when I'm a bit less restricted. I'm definitely going to look into Deepkin, but up until now Stormcast has been the most mentioned, both here and with the people I game with, and also chaos. I'd certainly consider a small Tzeentch army. If I can't have lizards, I'll take birds!

Carnosaurs are big. What's your upper limit on bringing things?

Lizardmen had a few cool army composition rules in Fantasy they lost in AoS:

You could take a big block of skinks and throw 3 Kroxigors in the second rank. When you got into a frontal melee with another unit the Krox would swing over the top of the skinks but you took your combat casualties from the skinks in the rear ranks. The essentially means the Krox were castled within a block of skinks so they're swinging with great weapons while you're just removing skinks for a couple of turns.

The same applied to a Slann within your Temple Guard, You took a block of TG and put the Slann in the middle, all of your casualties are taken from the TG who had heavy armor and shield while the Slann kept slinging magic...

...Speaking of magic the different lores in WHFB were a lot of fun to build into a Lizardmen army. Lore of Beasts buffed your Str and turned your units into reptilian hammers. Lore of Light buffed your naturally slow Initiative so that you're actually swinging first. Lore of Life meant your Slann could buff his spell casting and actually regenerate lost TG to keep that block alive in combat.

The Engine of the Gods actually carried your skink priest and had AoE buffs and debuffs. The whole army felt cool and powerful and in AoS you lose some of that fun.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
BTW this kind of thing is the cheapest way to start a Stormcast army if you do that:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Games-Workshop-Warhammer-Age-of-Sigmar-Stormcast-Eternals-Army-Starter-Set-GW/254372660620?hash=item3b39cac58c:g:3bgAAOSwoGNaxNt~

Look for the easy-to-build starter set models and you can assemble a good chunk of a Stormcast army in a weekend.
Tip: magnetize the wings on the flying guys, they're super fragile.

 Fajita Fan wrote:
Carnosaurs are big. What's your upper limit on bringing things?

I reckon I could get 3 Kroxigors in without issue, which would be cool. The skirmish case essentially has two foam trays in. I imagined that one tray would be dedicated to smaller infantry models, and the second would be the potential overflow from that, characters and larger units, so the Kroxigors would take up just less than half of a tray if my 40k heavy weapons squads are anything to go off (have 60mm bases as opposed to 50.)

If push comes to shove, I could probably get a larger model in, equivalent to one Leman Russ-sized model I reckon, but any larger and then I think the problems would start occurring.

My lizard army is pretty big including 2 carnosaurs, a bastilidon, 2 stegadons, and a troglodon. It’s a labor love.

Kroxigors aren’t big.

What about Ogres?

A few mournfang and you're good. Sprinkle in a few foot sloggers of your choice as the mood strikes you?

Very true, and they have a new Tyrant model.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
What about Ogres?

A few mournfang and you're good. Sprinkle in a few foot sloggers of your choice as the mood strikes you?

Again, something I hadn't actually considered. They remind me of my 40k Bullgryns in a good way, so I'll definitely keep them in mind!