What secondary army to collect?

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afterglow82
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What secondary army to collect?

#1 Post by afterglow82 »

I have a large High Elf Army, that i've been in love with since 4th Ed, but i've recently found myself looking to get a few bits of another army. This would be used for a number of things - my kids are getting older, and showing an interest in playing, so i'd like to have a second army to fight against; i sometimes have friends over that wouldnt be in a position to bring models, but would like a game. It could also be an army that i could occasionally take to tournaments or whatever for a bit of variety - but I don't know how often that would happen, because i really do love my elves :D

My problem is twofold -

firstly, having been out of the meta for a while, i dont really KNOW the other armies out there that well, so i dont know which units from which armies are good, and i dont want to have to buy all the army books (most of the torrents ive found are 7th ed).

Secondly, more and more products seem to be web-exclusive. I have a good deal worked out with a local non-GW warhammer stockist because im a regular customer, he does me a good price on what i buy - but if i'm having to buy web exclusive items, im paying full price

My preferences: and army that i could ally with my high elves for big battles would be great - i don't currently play end times, but i COULD, so basically any forces of order, plus dark elves (for ET), ogre kingdoms, tomb kings would be suitable. That said, i'm not ruling out a destruction-aligned army

I also have skaven from island of blood, bretonnians and lizardmen from 5th ed, and goblins from 4th ed, as well as some empire bits n pieces, so if i were to start any of these armies, i'd have a head start.

The armies:
beatsmen/bretonnian/dwarves/ogres/orcs and goblins/tomb kings all seem to have a lot of web-exclusive stuff, making it much more expensive to collect.

Warriors of Chaos, Lizardmen, vampire counts all seem to have a decent selection of units at reasonable prices, and/or good battalion sets. Lizardmen have the advantage that i have a base of skinks and saurus already. WoC i've always respected/feared (although it was just 'Chaos' in my day, daemons combined with warriors, so i'd be interested in playing around with them a bit more

skaven - meh. doomwheels, screaming bell, vermin lords, stormvermin all would be easy to get to add to the island of blood stuff, but i dunno, im just not a big fan

Dark elves - a friend of mine already collects, which is good/bad - he already has most of their stuff, so i dont want to duplicate it, but it would mean a bigger battle if he brought his stuff too. Also have the advantage of End Times lists

Wood Elves - again the end times thing - also glade guard, wildwood rangers, eternal guard, dryads and treemen are all realtively cheap to get hold of

Empire - their basic stuff is all fairly cheap and easy to collect, but very vanilla. I've just never been a big fan, apart from their war machines(!)


So thats what ive seen so far! If anyone has any experience playing with these armies, or knows about the books/army lists etc, or knows how easily/cheaply you'd collect an army-worth of models (maybe 2000pts to start with) I'd appreciate any advice you can give me!

CHEERS!
J4far
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Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 8:37 pm

Re: What secondary army to collect?

#2 Post by J4far »

Just a correlation, but the armies you have selected as potentials are all (including the HE you already played) the top half in terms of general power level. Make the strong armies easier to access (not direct order) and sell more I guess.

To your question: I have a rather large HE collection started in 6th, and after 7 years or so I decided I wanted a second army so panned around for something cool. Settled on Tomb Kings for primarily two reasons. First they are, in my opinion, one of the coolest armies in WHFB aesthetically and quite unique withing the Warhammer universe. Second they played so very differently than my HE it gave me a whole new perspective on playing the game.

I know you aren't keen on TK due to ordering stuff, so my advice would be this: Of those armies that are easier to acquire for you, choose something that is aesthetically pleasing to you (you will have to look at/paint/play with the damn things, might as well like them!) and that plays differently to how you enjoy playing your HE. To that end, perhaps steering clear of the other Elf options might be a good idea (unless you absolutely love elves :D )
afterglow82
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Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 12:28 pm

Re: What secondary army to collect?

#3 Post by afterglow82 »

J4far wrote:Just a correlation, but the armies you have selected as potentials are all (including the HE you already played) the top half in terms of general power level. Make the strong armies easier to access (not direct order) and sell more I guess.

To your question: I have a rather large HE collection started in 6th, and after 7 years or so I decided I wanted a second army so panned around for something cool. Settled on Tomb Kings for primarily two reasons. First they are, in my opinion, one of the coolest armies in WHFB aesthetically and quite unique withing the Warhammer universe. Second they played so very differently than my HE it gave me a whole new perspective on playing the game.

I know you aren't keen on TK due to ordering stuff, so my advice would be this: Of those armies that are easier to acquire for you, choose something that is aesthetically pleasing to you (you will have to look at/paint/play with the damn things, might as well like them!) and that plays differently to how you enjoy playing your HE. To that end, perhaps steering clear of the other Elf options might be a good idea (unless you absolutely love elves :D )
good points, thanks for your input :)

As you've played TK, perhaps you would be able to tell me if the battalion is worth it? in lots of armies the battalion box leaves you with a load of models you probably wont use - the high elf one in contrast is a decent starter set.

Do you find much use in your army for the warriors/archers/chariots/horsemen in the battalion set?

From looking around i'm leaning in the direction of WoC - like you said, they'd offer a whole new perspective on WHFB for me, with a completely different playing style. For my particular circumstances its also useful that as high-point models, you can build a small army for relatively low $$$.
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RE.Lee
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Re: What secondary army to collect?

#4 Post by RE.Lee »

The TK battalion is pretty good value - light chaff in horse archers, heavy chaff in chariots and a solid amount of infantry (archers would be my choice, though big units of basic warriors are also ok).

Anyway, I'd suggest giving Skaven a go - its always an entertaining army and it plays very differently to High Elves.
cheers, Lee

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Loriel
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Re: What secondary army to collect?

#5 Post by Loriel »

I personally suggest Tomb Kings for the extra challenge and very different playing style.
High Elves since Aug 2010: Tot /W / L / D - 100 / 75 / 23 / 2
Tomb Kings since Sep 2013:Tot / W / L / D - 31 / 18 / 12 / 1

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Shannar, Sealord
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Re: What secondary army to collect?

#6 Post by Shannar, Sealord »

RE.Lee wrote:The TK battalion is pretty good value - light chaff in horse archers, heavy chaff in chariots and a solid amount of infantry (archers would be my choice, though big units of basic warriors are also ok).

Anyway, I'd suggest giving Skaven a go - its always an entertaining army and it plays very differently to High Elves.
Skaven or Night Goblin heavy (with a little modeling work exclusively, why couldn't they have cave spiders?) Both have a fun playstyle if you're willing to take them at their lighter side rather then the more current dark dark fluff. With Night Goblins being my favorite of the two choices.
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Lady Phoenix
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Re: What secondary army to collect?

#7 Post by Lady Phoenix »

Skaven I found are a good choice. Such a different painting style from HE`s. Quite handy if you need a break from HE`s, just do a few clan rats.
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J4far
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Re: What secondary army to collect?

#8 Post by J4far »

The TK battalion is great value all the models are staples in TK lists.
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John Rainbow
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Re: What secondary army to collect?

#9 Post by John Rainbow »

My advice would be to wait until 9th drops. Even if all the armies say the same (and they might not) the game might become more big unit oriented or hero-hammer or something different to what it is now. As 9th is meant to drop this summer I would wait and see before starting a new army that could be invalidated by possible new game mechanics, etc.

BTW I'm not trying to be a downer. I'm actually looking forward to 9th but I think this is good advice.
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