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So, I played Fantasy, mostly 7th-8th, though most of my time was in 8th, when AoS came out, I was just disheartened by the game, and so I shelved my army, and now moving on from that game, I have been hearing some great things about KoW, and the game does hold some interest to me, and if I had an army that I could just stick into it, I wouldn't have any questions or issues with jumping in, but this is not one of those times.

The army I played back in Fantasy was the Lizardmen, because they are just an awesome looking army, and I had no issues with playing them back in Fantasy, but, KoW doesn't have an equivalent for them, so, I'm gong to keep them around to play Fantasy with some friends, I'm sure we'll have a blast with it, so, I have a couple of questions about the other armies in KoW for you.

So, the Ogres, are they kind of like the WHF Ogre Kingdom army? Big, tough, strong, but less bases? I've never done a 'big guy' army before, as it were, but I think it might be an interesting way to play, even if I am not personally a fan of the Mantic Ogres.

So, the two dwarf armies, I like the Mantic models a lot more for the Abyssal and normal Dwarfs then the Ogres, and I have always liked dwarves in general, but I am wondering how they play as an army, I'm sure they're still slow, but pretty strong like they were in fantasy, but what is the big difference between the two on the table?

Finally, Goblins, I like em, are they a decent army? Or at least fun? I've always felt that goblin minis tend to have a good amount of character to them, I think I might just use the Night Goblins from Fantasy for them due to a long standing love of the minis, but how do they play on the tabletop? Are they particularly fast and frail? Slow? I assume numerous at the very least.

These might seem like some weird and random questions, but if I dive into this game, I want to try and do it with an idea of what I'm getting myself into

You can use Lizardmen in KoW. Lizardmen models are used in Forces of Nature (core book) and in Salamander Armies (Uncharted Empires). Its not a 1:1, they dont have the giant toad priests, but they do have a few of the giant creatures.

From what i've heard, Ogres run quite a bit lit like WHF ones. They are tough and hit like a truck.

I cant say much about the Abyssal Dwarves, but from someone who's fought the normal variety, they are quite tough and they have solid ranged units. Oh and their cannons can be a pain.

I've never fought goblins so i cant say anything other than, "characterful"

Yes, my brother uses gw saurus warriors as salamders for his Forces of Nature list. But as Grimmor said, the Uncharted Empires book (http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/kings-of-war/books/product/kings-of-war-uncharted-empires.html) has a whole Salamanders list which I think would be compatible with gw lizardmen.

I have no idea about ogres, sorry, never really looked into them.

I don't know very much about Abyssal dwarves either (I hear they use lots of flame throwers?), however, my brother plays dwarves, and they can be nasty! They are generally slow and tough, with very good cannons. However, you're not forced to play slow, moderately tough dwarves. On the one hand, you have the option of going for a fast, hard-hitting army with berserkers, brock riders, and rangers. On the other hand, you can go for a slow, extremely tough army with iron guard and rock elementals - or go for a balance between the two. Dwarves have a few different play styles.

I don't play with a full goblin army, I just use a few regiments of rabble and catapult with my orcs. However, I love them! Goblins are cheap as chips, and have a nerve that is just high enough to be a problem. My two regiments of goblins usually block two or three far more important units for at least half the game, and they might even do a few points of damage in the process! They're great!
From what I hear, the goblin army relies on hard-hitting units like trolls and war machines to actually do damage, while the hordes of goblins just hold the enemy at bay.

Yeah, you want to look at the Salamanders.

http://kow2.easyarmy.com/

Thanks guys, I wasn't aware of the Salamanders as a seperate faction, I'll look into working my Lizardmen into a Salamander's army, or possibly starting fresh with some Dwarves

Welcome to the new world! I think the best thing about KoW is that even if there isn't a direct analogue for a specific model there 8s usually something which that model can play the role of in your army or one of an allied force.

What's more, surprisingly I found that it was a very enjoyable and creative part of the hobby for me to just search around for models for new units that are in Mantic "for GW orphans" lists but not in the GW lists they draw from (such as the Fire Sprite swarms in the "Lizardmen" list).

In this particular case, in case you're wondering: Brimstone Horrors from Warhammer Quest Silver Tower.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
What's more, surprisingly I found that it was a very enjoyable and creative part of the hobby for me to just search around for models for new units that are in Mantic "for GW orphans" lists but not in the GW lists they draw from (such as the Fire Sprite swarms in the "Lizardmen" list).

In this particular case, in case you're wondering: Brimstone Horrors from Warhammer Quest Silver Tower.

Agreed. I didn't have a mammoth so my KoW Ogre army has a giant war hippo in it. And one of their giants looks suspiciously like an ettin. And I'm not sure what Rhinosaur cavalry are meant to be so my Salamanders are getting a stampede of plastic dinosaurs prodded on by skink handlers instead.

Ogres can hit very hard, though our regiments can be surprisingly breakable.

The openess of what you can use is wonderful, and leads to a lot of fun. I've got a giant rhino for one of my mammoths right now. Working on making a little red goblin house to put on it.

One nice little trick for army building, though it doesn't work for Good armies, is Night-Stalkers allies. Their Mindthirst ability means they don't suffer the same issues with Inspiring that most allies have, so they're easy to add onto a list if you need say a Large Infantry profile for a miniature but your primary list doesn't have them.

 TheWaspinator wrote:
One nice little trick for army building, though it doesn't work for Good armies, is Night-Stalkers allies. Their Mindthirst ability means they don't suffer the same issues with Inspiring that most allies have, so they're easy to add onto a list if you need say a Large Infantry profile for a miniature but your primary list doesn't have them.

I am going to suggest this to a Twilight Kin player in our group.

Thanks for the idea!

Jon... is a fun person to play against, but his sense of tactics leaves something to be desired. (When he plays on the same side as his wife, she uses his Twilight Kin as a screen for her orcs... which seems exactly backwards. )

Dennis

A friend of mine has been trying out the different dwarf lists.
In general terms: bot have good shooting and are hard to kill.
The difference is that abyssal dwarfs are more cc orientated and their shooting is devastating, but short range.
Normal dwarfs are high defense and artillery, but with some faster options available.