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Hello everyone this is an idea I have been brainstorming with and wanted to run it by you guys in regards if you would be cool with playing against it as it may throw some people off. In reference to the title (no real slight intended for anyone thinking this thread should be closed ) the idea I am basically thinking of is one that would help negate the ridiculous cost of models that GW has been steadily increasing, as many of you I feel it is a load of bull and think this idea will help me get around it. Basically I will be constructing is a shooting elf army that I can run out of any of the elf books so I only have to buy one army so that I can run three. The conversions I am thinking of:

-Glade Guard heads and cloaks on high elf armored torsos and legs with bows.

-Purchase some units for specific army lists such as thunderwolf cav (love the models) to represent monstrous creatures like Hydras, Treemen ect.

This is just a rough start but basically wanted to see if you guys feel that it would be a legitimate enough conversion to run as any of the three elf armies. Any and all comments and thoughts are welcome so thanks for reading guys!

If you really want to annoy GW use the LotR elf miniatures. They're cheaper than the Fantasy models and can more easily be used in multiple books.

Why not just go into the garden and get some twigs.... that's dryads, treekin and treemen sorted.

 marielle wrote:
Why not just go into the garden and get some twigs.... that's dryads, treekin and treemen sorted.

...because those aren't models?

Get Mantic elves. Order from MiniatureMarket and get a decent discount on them too. Unless your local store sells them. They'll be cheap, and GW only gets money for your books.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Get Mantic elves. Order from MiniatureMarket and get a decent discount on them too. Unless your local store sells them. They'll be cheap, and GW only gets money for your books.

That's the way to do it. I'm at the point that if I start a new warhammer army I'm going to try it entirely 3rd party, now if only I could decide which 3rd party to use..

 Sigvatr wrote:

 marielle wrote:
Why not just go into the garden and get some twigs.... that's dryads, treekin and treemen sorted.

...because those aren't models?

They are when you model them.

 jonolikespie wrote:

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Get Mantic elves. Order from MiniatureMarket and get a decent discount on them too. Unless your local store sells them. They'll be cheap, and GW only gets money for your books.

That's the way to do it. I'm at the point that if I start a new warhammer army I'm going to try it entirely 3rd party, now if only I could decide which 3rd party to use..

Who says you have to pick? Why can't you mix and match?

That's pretty much my plan. For my latest army - Dwarves - it's all Mantic. Looking toward picking up AoW berserkers for Slayers. All I needed from GW was the book.

If we all cooperate, we can make GW give up on minis and concentrate on being a RULES company... which can only help the game.

But... their rules suck!?

 Vulcan wrote:
That's pretty much my plan. For my latest army - Dwarves - it's all Mantic. Looking toward picking up AoW berserkers for Slayers. All I needed from GW was the book.

If we all cooperate, we can make GW give up on minis and concentrate on being a RULES company... which can only help the game.

Why not just play Kings of War? Or indeed any of the numerous fantasy rules available?

Wouldn't a middle digit to GW be... not playing GW games?

Yeah, but GW sticks their fingers in their ears with that. They refuse to aknowledge the existance of alternatives.

 Vulcan wrote:
If we all cooperate, we can make GW give up on minis and concentrate on being a RULES company... which can only help the game.

Does not compute.

Stoupe wrote:

 Vulcan wrote:
If we all cooperate, we can make GW give up on minis and concentrate on being a RULES company... which can only help the game.

Does not compute.

GW insist they are a model company, not a rules company. It is there excuse for any and every bad rule they produce. If everyone keeps playing the game but doesn't buy any models, only rulebooks and armybooks it might make GW reconsider that stance. Hopefully that would result in better written rules.

 jonolikespie wrote:

Stoupe wrote:

 Vulcan wrote:
If we all cooperate, we can make GW give up on minis and concentrate on being a RULES company... which can only help the game.

Does not compute.

GW insist they are a model company, not a rules company. It is there excuse for any and every bad rule they produce. If everyone keeps playing the game but doesn't buy any models, only rulebooks and armybooks it might make GW reconsider that stance. Hopefully that would result in better written rules.

Or super expensive rules systems, expansions and books that make their overpriced hard cover books look like a joke in comparison ;P.

 Vulcan wrote:
That's pretty much my plan. For my latest army - Dwarves - it's all Mantic. Looking toward picking up AoW berserkers for Slayers. All I needed from GW was the book.

If we all cooperate, we can make GW give up on minis and concentrate on being a RULES company... which can only help the game.

Bought my entire Goblin army with 250 Goblins, 6 Fanatics, 10 Squigs and loads of war machines from ebay for 100€ total

Not going to pay 40€ for the army book though. I made my own Goblin armybook with Microsoft Publisher - just copied the Goblin parts out of the O&G army book in a new (good looking btw!) .pub document, printed it and had it bound. Looks really good, is sturdy and has everything I want for ~10€. Take that, GW.

 Sigvatr wrote:

 Vulcan wrote:
That's pretty much my plan. For my latest army - Dwarves - it's all Mantic. Looking toward picking up AoW berserkers for Slayers. All I needed from GW was the book.

If we all cooperate, we can make GW give up on minis and concentrate on being a RULES company... which can only help the game.

Bought my entire Goblin army with 250 Goblins, 6 Fanatics, 10 Squigs and loads of war machines from ebay for 100€ total

Not going to pay 40€ for the army book though. I made my own Goblin armybook with Microsoft Publisher - just copied the Goblin parts out of the O&G army book in a new (good looking btw!) .pub document, printed it and had it bound. Looks really good, is sturdy and has everything I want for ~10€. Take that, GW.

I'm more sickened by how pricey everything is getting but esp. hardcover books. When i entered the hobby the books were probably 20 something to 35 dollars. Now they're about 50 USD. I've seen hardcover books with many more pages sell for the same amount.

I'm also pretty unhappy with how GW won't even allow customers to read any of their army books even if it's a store copy. Said store copies are only for rules confirmation for the actual GW staff to read to clarify a rule. If you want to know what an army does, read its fluff or get hyped up for it so that you might see if you want it or like it then you're out of luck. Get lost until you have enough money poor boy! That's what it feels like. I just hope GW doesn't start charging to play games in their place. Everything else is so extremely expensive as is. I dunno that whole bit about being unable to even read their army books to get hyped on their armies just seems stupid to me. Aren't they losing business by doing this? Plus i don't want to guess about an army and what it does. I'd rather read an army book for an army i'm not interested in so i can understand how to fight it rather than going in blind waving a stick at them or buying said army book for an army i'll never play for 50 dollars. It's all so stupid.

It's not just pages though, artwork also comes into the price as artists have to be payed too. With that said GW recycles quite few pics between a codex/armybook and it's update so the cost is hardly justified.

Whats galling is the army book/codex price. For £30 you can get a 1" thick RPG style book...

Meh, sadly they have critical mass - for a game to be good you need other players who already know the rules.
Having said that, yes, there are many other good minis and also modelling your own stuff works fine!
ebay also your friend just be careful to let other people pay full price.

text removed.
Reds8n

 jonolikespie wrote:

Stoupe wrote:

 Vulcan wrote:
If we all cooperate, we can make GW give up on minis and concentrate on being a RULES company... which can only help the game.

Does not compute.

GW insist they are a model company, not a rules company. It is there excuse for any and every bad rule they produce. If everyone keeps playing the game but doesn't buy any models, only rulebooks and armybooks it might make GW reconsider that stance. Hopefully that would result in better written rules.

I understand what you were saying, but the logic itself is flawed.

If rules are all they are able to sell then even they should be able to figure out they should capitalize on that and start working on better rules, rather than continuing to pump out models and slap rules on them.

-To the OP's question:

Yes, you could easily work something out to have at least a High Elf/Wood Elf force. Dark Elves would probably work, the only difference being they use Crossbows rather than Long Bows.

If you focus on a hybrid High Elf/Wood Elf force Eagles are a good choice as well, as are mounted bowmen. You could also figure out a Wild Rider/Dragon Prince varient as well as a spearmen/eternal guard hybrid.

I've found it that when it comes down to weapon options, magnets are your friend.

 jonolikespie wrote:
If rules are all they are able to sell then even they should be able to figure out they should capitalize on that and start working on better rules, rather than continuing to pump out models and slap rules on them.

Really? It sounds like they justify adding a price tag on things by throwing in more pictures and then switching to hardcover to see if they can tack on another 7 dollars. Then they won't allow us soft cover so that we have to buy the more expensive hard cover army books. GW will throw a price hike for anything even if it's almost no change. Sometimes they do so without saying it and only justify themselves when something is new like finecast crap and the hardcover books. Everything else is just sort of not mentioned like we'll not notice or something. I mean when i got into the hobby rulebooks would cost 50 dollars. Now new army books/codexes cost that much and we get overpriced models like with 'warriors of chaos' and their new release. What next 100 dollars for a monster? I wouldn't doubt to see it coming.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Yeah, but GW sticks their fingers in their ears with that. They refuse to aknowledge the existance of alternatives.

Of course, because they keep selling stock.

Some guy starts saying 'your rules suck and your models are pretty, so I'm going to keep using your rules and stop buying your models' and GW is going to look at that guy, ask 'what the hell is wrong that lunatic?' and then go back to selling stock.


I mean, at the end of the day, if a thing isn't giving you good value for money you stop buying it. If the company carries on selling to people who think it is giving them good value for money, well then that thing just wasn't for you. But if lots of people stop buying that product, well then you might see a change in consumer behaviour.

This might be the thread some of you are looking for: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/497907.page

Hopefully this thread can stay on the OP's topic of making a multi-functional elf army.