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Hello Dakka,

i am about to get my brother into AoS, and he has to choose an army.

He is thinking of either getting the "Start collectin! Skaven" or Skeleton Horde.

which would be best suited for a complete beginner? Never played any wargame before.

thanks.

Depends on how much you like painted 40+ of the same model.

I would suggest the actual starter set for beginners. Just to get the feel of the mechanics of the game.

But I would imagine skaven/skeles are easy to find.

Skaven/Deathrattle rely more on their heros and horde tactics.

Yea but he likes those 2 armies from the looks of them, so the choice is between them. :-)

So Skaven can break down a few ways as well as Skeletons.

I think the skaven would give you more ways to play.

I'd say possibly skeletons due to death having a bunch of banners that bring back models at the start of the turn, they're also mostly bravery 10 which can be more forgiving for battle shock at times. It'd help to find out which of the two he likes best though, because at the end of the day he's going to probably work on the models and this would last longer if he didn't get burnt out right at the start.

 n0t_u wrote:
I'd say possibly skeletons due to death having a bunch of banners that bring back models at the start of the turn, they're also mostly bravery 10 which can be more forgiving for battle shock at times. It'd help to find out which of the two he likes best though, because at the end of the day he's going to probably work on the models and this would last longer if he didn't get burnt out right at the start.

Yea i can see that. Any advice on how each of them plays? I know skeletons playstyle evolve around the ability to ressurect, but beyond that i have no clue on how each plays? Maybe that could help him decide. I really hope i can get him hooked, because i have gone a whole year with 0 games played because no one around me plays :(

 Uriels_Flame wrote:
Depends on how much you like painted 40+ of the same model.

He'd only need to paint up 40 skellies if he was doing a 2500+ point mixed Deathrattle army (in a pure Deathrattle army the Black Knights are battleline, too). Personally, I'd seldom play AoS with that many figures, and even if I did I would recommend a beginner not play more than 1000 point battles until he's got a few games under his belt (if they play points in their first few games at all). I'm not sure what the points work out to for the whole Deathrattler SC box, but its got enough battleline figures for 1000 point games right away. Besides, skellies are probably the easiest figures to paint in large numbers to an acceptable table top standard.

I would suggest the actual starter set for beginners. Just to get the feel of the mechanics of the game.

I wouldn't suggest the starter set to anyone... unless they are interested in fielding a Stormcast or Bloodbound army. If he wants skellies or skaven then there's no point fooling around with something else.

seerex wrote:

 n0t_u wrote:
I'd say possibly skeletons due to death having a bunch of banners that bring back models at the start of the turn, they're also mostly bravery 10 which can be more forgiving for battle shock at times. It'd help to find out which of the two he likes best though, because at the end of the day he's going to probably work on the models and this would last longer if he didn't get burnt out right at the start.

Yea i can see that. Any advice on how each of them plays? I know skeletons playstyle evolve around the ability to ressurect, but beyond that i have no clue on how each plays? Maybe that could help him decide. I really hope i can get him hooked, because i have gone a whole year with 0 games played because no one around me plays :(

I only really play Sylvaneth, recently picked up some ogres and have been looking at getting around to skelletons at some point though. I like that the starter set comes with Arkhan.

I would suggest the actual starter set for beginners. Just to get the feel of the mechanics of the game.

I wouldn't suggest the starter set to anyone... unless they are interested in fielding a Stormcast or Bloodbound army. If he wants skellies or skaven then there's no point fooling around with something else.

 Uriels_Flame wrote:

I would suggest the actual starter set for beginners. Just to get the feel of the mechanics of the game.

I wouldn't suggest the starter set to anyone... unless they are interested in fielding a Stormcast or Bloodbound army. If he wants skellies or skaven then there's no point fooling around with something else.

I was suggesting the newer, smaller count model one. Sorry.

And yes, I would say Skeles get you on the table faster for sure. And easier to paint overall.

You mean Storm of Sigmar? Yeah, that's a pretty nice idea, whether you plan on collecting those forces or not.

Skeletons are cool and fun to play. But he should pick the one he likes the aesthetics of the most =)