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Hey everyone,
Been having a bit of a dilemma. I want to start a new fantasy army but for some reason I can't commit to an army. I have about 6500 points of skaven and its really my favourite army but I am trying to pick a new army to play.

I've played the following armies a few times (borrowed my friends armies): high elves, wood elves, empire, tomb kings, warriors of chaos, lizardmen and obviously skaven.

I own the Empire book and the Vampire counts book and I like aspects of nearly every army but I find myself struggling to commit to an army. Does anyone else have this problem when they start an army? Its just a big commitment $$ wise to start a new army and I want to make sure I like the army like I like my beloved skaven force haha

Maybe its because I have so much skaven stuff to paint (still only have about 1500 points painted) and I want to get my 2.5k list painted before I start a new army I'm not sure.

Does anyone else have this problem? Should I just buy the empire battalion box or a few boxes of knights to start the army? Clearly buying the army book doesn't do it lol

I'm actually the other way around. I love starting new armies and although the monetary commitment is saddening, I love the fresh new experience of building, painting and playing with something new.

In fact, my first two WHFB armies, Dwarves and OnG (Skull Pass ftw!) receive very little love. I've already sold my Dwarves and am very tempted to sell my OnG too (any takers??). Dark Elves, on the other hand, were my third army and now they're by far my favourite army across any game system.

I'd suggest buying some models. Yes, it is a bit of a risk, but once you start collecting and seeing that army in the flesh, it will become a lot more appealing. However, it probably is a good idea to get your Skaven list painted first, since that will allow you to focus on new projects better.

I'm a Skaven player and have been for ... 17 years I believe
That said, I recently (2 years) started playing Fantasy again after a long break and, after some time getting to grips with my rats again, I wanted to branch out somewhat

I went in the complete opposite direction by taking Bretonnians and I'm very happy with it
Especially since I already owned a crapload of historical miniatures (still in their boxes at this time) and that my army is 90% compatible with Empire
If you're looking for a cheap new army, I can definitely recommand a BretEmpire host (plus it might become a real thing via End Times) using a majority of historical miniatures

Why historical you might ask ? They're different models, you have a much wider range, they're waaaay cheaper (22€ for 44 infantry / 12 knights) and their quality is usually very good (Perry btothers are better than GW)

I'm an old VC player (Now mostly Undead Legions) and I have the same issue, kind of.

For me I want to play another army but I just love the undead playstyle too much to switch. Not to mention transitioning out of undead is very difficult as now I need to learn psychology & break tests.

If someone said pick one army from one game for me it is hands down my ogres. Those fat bodies are my one true warhammer love but I need some strange every so often, right? I started empire and currently working on an end times theme WoC army lead by the awesome Harold hammerstorm.

Wat makes me want to build another army is an awesome theme.

I think your new armies should have different playstyles than your current one. I started off with Empire, and went to warriors because I liked the aesthetic. I liked the elite, low-model count aspect of the army but they always seemed a bit limited to just get in and chop people up. High Elves have been my favorite army yet by far and I've only played them a few games.

Point is, I'd recommend picking an army with a totally different playstyle. Something elite or fast seems like it would contrast Skaven well. Or, if you like the mixed arms approach with hordes, big guys, artillery, and characters to hold everything together, Empire would be a really good fit for you. And they are different enough to offer enough of a change for you to warrant picking them up.

That being said, I think if you really want to start an army, the desire to go out and buy a bunch of stuff should really be there. Before I started WoC and HE I was pining over models and making lists. If you're happy with your one big army and have no desire to move to another, I say stick with your one army! You can use your hobby time to make terrain, display boards, or dioramas to go with your army as well.

Because of the size of a Warhammer army starting a new one is of course a bit of a daunting task as you are finding out. My advice would be not to think of the end result, a fully painting 2500 point army, as that would just result in it seeming like a slog to get the army up to speed, which is what you are feeling I'm guessing. Look at the individual models and units and pick ones you like the look of and paint them up and only focus on one unit at a time that way it breaks down the enormity of the task into bite size chunks that are more manageable. I guarantee before you know it you'll closing in on 2000+ points and ready to jump into the fray of battle.


This is why for veterans an ally system helps as you can slowly grow into a new army a unit at a time and hopefully 9th edition has one like what we are seeing with The End Times books. For me being a WOC player its already happened for me because I wanted to start a Beastmen army so I was waiting for the book, now with Glottkin I can grab a unit of Gors and I'm good to go.

Don't buy a new army. What you really want is to replicate the feeling you had when you started your skaven army. And unfortunately you can't. If you really wanted any of these armies then you would not need to ask for advice. Wait until the desire for a specific army is real. Then you'll have fun building it and not second guess it.

Wow lots of stories and experiences with this good to know!
I think that I probably just need to buy some models. Pick up the battalion box for empire.
Empire seems like an army I want to play go with tons of cavalry because that is a big difference than the hordes of rats I have.

I think my problem is I like empire but also like brettonia so might just have to buy both by mixing the knights together.

@crimson devil: I think I sort of agree with you on not being able to replicate it but at the time skaven were just an army I got because my friend didn't have that (he has lots of armies) then I sort of just got super into the army once I started amassing models. I don't expect to feel the same right away but after a while hopefully the army is just as wonderful as skaven!!

I've been this way with starting dark eldar or a stormtrooper force instead of my guard for 40k (i shelved my guard). Also for fantasy which i've played for like 5 years by itself i've done so with skaven. That said the playstyle of skaven is kind of getting boring and i'm not feeling it. A new book needs to hit for me to re-gain any interest and build new tactics and strategies. I know people try to make skaven sound so OP but just looking into the vampire book i can figure several things which would bring other armies down to their knees and it wouldn't take nearly as much effort. Seriously the amount of flaming, ethereal, killing blow, poisoned and regeneration units of the VC book is astounding. They never used to have monstrous infantry for instance. I'm really just looking for skaven to also get an update. I don't need armor or even very hitty combat units but flyers, better monstrous infantry, new toys and for gods sake even light cavalry or at the very least some war beasts that can vanguard.

The Skaven book is still strong. Perhaps not as many viable units as some of the newer books, but there are still powerful builds. The issue comes with how complicated it is, and how long (and desperately needed) the FAQ is. So, yes, Skaven do need an update.

My first army is Empire, and I've played them since 6th, until I switched to Dark Elves after burnout. Empire are still by far my favourite, though Karl Franz Ascendant can eat a whole bag of dicks, and I need to give them some love. BUT, that being said, elven fast cav + Pegspam is so damn good, I don't want to play anything else.

Karl Franz Ascendant, the Eater of Dicks.

Now with 12 attacks!

My first army was High Elves... something like 13 years ago?

Will always love them, sentimentally always my favourite.

Since then I've started Lizardmen, Dark Elves and WoC (in that order). Mainly due to loving various models and using them as modelling/painting opportunities. Certainly haven't had as much gaming experience with them as I have with High Elves but like the various nuances about each.

Warptide wrote:
Karl Franz Ascendant, the Eater of Dicks.

Now with 12 attacks!

Holy crap 12 attacks?!

'Bag of dicks'? Is this like a bag of potato chips except with dicks?

I am heavily considering vampire counts at this point though. The options and strength of each just seems powerful. I mean i fought a guy somewhere with 2 mortis engines and they just ate his chaff at the beginning of my turn basically and didn't really hold me up. I'm feeling bad for older or less powerful books. Skaven just don't feel very interesting anymore. Very specific options with must have (slaves and rares basically) and lots of average or crap choices.

High Elves are my first love in this game, and i've stuck with them even though they were my first army.

My second (and sometimes third??) armies i tend to rotate. I build, paint, play and then sell or trade them. Right now i'm high on Ogres, but it's been DE, Empire, VC, TK in the past. I'm eyeing up legions of undeath, but legions of chaos holds a lot of interest too for me.

 flamingkillamajig wrote:

Warptide wrote:
Karl Franz Ascendant, the Eater of Dicks.

Now with 12 attacks!

Holy crap 12 attacks?!

'Bag of dicks'? Is this like a bag of potato chips except with dicks?

I am heavily considering vampire counts at this point though. The options and strength of each just seems powerful. I mean i fought a guy somewhere with 2 mortis engines and they just ate his chaff at the beginning of my turn basically and didn't really hold me up. I'm feeling bad for older or less powerful books. Skaven just don't feel very interesting anymore. Very specific options with must have (slaves and rares basically) and lots of average or crap choices.

hes got 10 plus a d6 thunderstomp

My first love is and will always be skaven and I greatly look forward to their rumored new releases.
However ?I feel your pain and completely understand.

You can find that second army love. And in my case 3rd, 4th and kinda 5th..You just have to come to terms with the fact that you may always have armies of grey plastic.
Having several armies breaks the monotony of the same old same old.

I started a Warriors of Chaos army after Skaven because they are almost the direct polar opposite of skaven. Highly elite troops low model count...
I rotate around from army to army with whatever inspiration strikes.

I have an Empire army as well and can tell you, Karl Franz ascendant is an ass.
He killed Glotkin first round of combat. Charged in and smacked him around. 10 attacks, auto wound with d3+1 wounds. Squashed the big lug with no effort. Wasn't even fair really.

I'd wait until all of the "End Times" books are out and see if the Skaven get an ally, if so then you don't need a whole new army, just a few select units... that can grow into one later.

Supposedly the 4th end times book is going to be skaven. I'm not sure i want to play them much longer myself. They're just far too stale right now. No real updates for 5 or more years. The abomination and island of blood stuff was the last we got.

Personally i don't need or want an ally for my skaven. I just want more skaven models. That said i wouldn't be surprised to see orcs & goblins fight alongside skaven if only to scavenge and pillage everything in the wake of the first few big fights. Besides i'm pretty sure quite a few places far on the borders of some realms that are hard to reinforce will also get attacked. Skaven also tend to undermine defenses and trust between other factions (like bretonnia and empire).

 flamingkillamajig wrote:
Supposedly the 4th end times book is going to be skaven. I'm not sure i want to play them much longer myself. They're just far too stale right now. No real updates for 5 or more years. The abomination and island of blood stuff was the last we got.

Personally i don't need or want an ally for my skaven. I just want more skaven models. That said i wouldn't be surprised to see orcs & goblins fight alongside skaven if only to scavenge and pillage everything in the wake of the first few big fights. Besides i'm pretty sure quite a few places far on the borders of some realms that are hard to reinforce will also get attacked. Skaven also tend to undermine defenses and trust between other factions (like bretonnia and empire).

I really hope that the fourth book is skaven. Honestly though I don't feel they will ally with anyone they are pretty much on their own.

I feel skaven just have limited play style right now. I'd like more units. I have everything but globadiers so a new unit or even better a new book after end times would be amazing! Jealous of all the other hardcover books haha

I think I'm going to just buy a box of knights and go from there. Still going to finish my skaven (just painting and conversions) then I'll get serious with the empire just gotta jump into it I geuss!

Started with O&G, well restarted with O&G used to play 3rd edition when that didn't have an inch of dust on it.

Always wanted two armies, O&G and Bretonnia, could never afford either so when I restarted it was going to be one or the other - MK Meadowhall had the O&G book but not Bretonnia so that sorted that.

Ended up getting a single box of knights, not so much to start an army but to just enjoy painting a few... you know how that story ended.

Have Skaven as well now, which I love, currently working on High Elves which will be my 4th army, in theory have some VC as well but no real intention to take them beyond enough for 'allies'.

Wify has Daemons...

We are drowning in plastic really.

I personally started fantasy with VC and haven't switched. I enjoy the units, the magic, and its other nuances. On the other hand in my gaming group we have a guy who switches armies every 4 months or so

If you're having hesitations starting the next army, then you might not be ready for it. You don't want to buy stuff and regret it later because you never really bought into the feel/look/fluff/ability of an army.

Personally, my favourite army is my next army. Planning and building are the best part for me. Since starting in 2000 I have 18 different armies (including 2 armies for Empire, Ogres, Orcs, Vampires). The biggest is about 6,000 but most are around 2000pts but with heaps of character options.

I plan, build, play and move one quickly. I'm only really bored of playing a few of them, but am still really tied to their theme.

So if you've got a strong idea in your head of what you want your next army to look/feel or play like then enjoy the ride. Don't expect it to feel the same as your skaven, nothing matches the nostalgia of old armies (especially from older editions)

Well we can always play a bit on universal battle if you want a game man. You can play empire and i can play vampire counts and then we'll see if we like the factions.

I started as a tomb kings player....I hated it

The money involved in building a list that can win above 2.5k was ridiculous.

I sold everything I owned that even reminded me of a damned skeleton... and then she revealed herself to me... more beautiful than words can describe... The lady of the lake! I took a sip from her grail, and now I am an immortal on the path to becoming the king of all Bretonnia!........

Dramatics aside, Picking a new army was hard.... but once you commit to that army, it's easy to get the ball rolling.

Thanks
Austin

 Redbad wrote:
I started as a tomb kings player....I hated it

The money involved in building a list that can win above 2.5k was ridiculous.

I sold everything I owned that even reminded me of a damned skeleton... and then she revealed herself to me... more beautiful than words can describe... The lady of the lake! I took a sip from her grail, and now I am an immortal on the path to becoming the king of all Bretonnia!........

Dramatics aside, Picking a new army was hard.... but once you commit to that army, it's easy to get the ball rolling.

Thanks
Austin

It's not hard to think of Khalida+100 archers or Level 4 light+3 level 1 light+Double catapult+archers+15 Necroknights.