I've never played WFB before, but I have a list!

[superhappyrobot]

I've been playing 40k for a while, and back when 8th edition came out I thought it might be a good time to try Fantasy. Last summer I picked up a Dark Elf battalion box and army book as well as one of those pocket-sized rulebooks from Island of Blood, but I never did anything with them. That is about to change!

Although I have no familiarity with the core ruleset nor have I ever played a game of Fantasy, I threw the following list together based around the contents of the battalion box and adding the units I think would be fun to use and/or look cool.


Lords:
Supreme Sorceress -- 290
-Ring of Hotek, Sacrificial Dagger, Talisman of Protection

Heroes:
Master (will be the general) -- 120
-Armour of Darkness, Soulrender

Death Hag -- 200
-Cauldron of Blood

Core:
12 Warriors -- 124
-12 Shields, Lordling, Musician, Standard Bearer, Banner of Murder

16 Repeater Crossbowmen -- 180
-Guardmaster, Musician, Standard Bearer

20 Corsairs -- 250
-Reaver, Musician, Standard Bearer, Sea Serpent Standard

Special:
5 Cold One Knights -- 210
-Dreadknight, Musician, Standard Bearer, Standard of Hag Graef

20 Witch Elves -- 250
-Hag, Musician, Standard Bearer, Manbane

Rare:
War Hyrda -- 175

2 Reaper Bolt Throwers -- 200

Total: 1999

I wish I had some points to add some assassins (they look fun), but otherwise I don't know what to think about the list. Any suggestions?

I mostly play by the "rule of cool," and I therefore chose Dark Elves because I thought they looked cool. Unfortunately, since I think pretty much all of the armies look cool I don't know if I want to stick with Dark Elves or switch over to something else before it's too late. I like the aesthetics of most of the forces, so I'm wondering if there's a better force to go with rules-wise.

Thus, If it's not too much to ask, could someone out there give me a rundown of what strengths/weaknesses/play style/thematic elements each army has? I like magic, and fighting, and monsters, and crazy/fun/random/characterful rules.

Thanks!

[BrokenWing]

Here's a general rule of thumb that helps people converting from 40k to Fantasy. Unlike in 40k, squad sizes of less than 20 for your core units are generally a bad idea. With archers it's not necessarily the same, but anyone you expect in combat had better be a unit of 20 or more. You need the rank bonuses if nothing else.

Also, generally speaking, your archer units don't need command (flags and so on) because if they're seeing close combat, their game is over anyway.

I see you have discovered the amazing cheapness that is the War Hydra. Good job. :D

If you want odd fluffy rules, Fantasy is the game for you, there isn't an army out there that doesn't have something that will make you smile. From Dwarves moving 1 inch less than everyone else in fleeing because they're stubborn and short to Orcs fighting amongst themselves because someone made a face.

Lets see...I'll cover strengths and weaknesses of armies I play or have played:

Chaos Warriors. Strengths- Close Combat, amazing Lords, fantastic Wizards (that don't suck in close combat as much as everyone elses), Hordes of Marauders, arguably the best infantry units in the game (Chosen, Chaos Warriors). Weaknesses: If you go the elite route, numbers and shooting. If you go the horde route, shooting.

Dark Elves- Great magic, great shooting. Really not that great in close combat with the exception of a few units.

Dwarfs- Shooting, close combat, leadership, dispelling magic. No magic, smallish numbers, not exactly what you would call maneuverable short of an Anvil of Doom.

High Elves- Close combat, magic, going first all the time (and usually re-rolling missed hits in close combat as a result). Ok leadership, people will yell at you, needs alot of archers to actually kill things in shooting because of strength 3 (same with Dark Elves) but high bs.

Ogres- Uh...not alot of strengths these days, but they look nice?

Lizardmen- Fantastic magic, among the best core infantry in the game (Saurus being toughness, strength and WS 4). Not a ton of weaknesses really, not a bunch of ranged firepower, but there is some and it's generally fairly good.

Vampire Counts- Good characters, good magic, good monsters, guys come back to life. Bad stats, bad stats, no shooting.

Orcs- Hilarious. Great in combat, reasonable shooting, Hordes. Crossing the table and being shot at.

[superhappyrobot]

Thanks for responding.

Thanks for the insights on the recommended minimum unit size for combat-oriented units and the need, or lack thereof, of a command for shooty units.

Back when I was considering getting into Fantasy, the top three armies I was interested in (which were chosen solely for their aesthetics) were Dark Elves, Daemons, and Vampire Counts. Needless to say, when the guy at the store told me that those were the three most broken armies in the game I felt like a bit of a douche bag.

Lately, though, I've been interested in pursuing a more characterful force than Dark Elves. I looked over all the armies a few days ago and flipped through the army books, and I find myself drawn to Orks/Goblins and Skaven. I like the fluff and models of both of these armies (animosity tests = awesome) and from what I can tell, in my limited ability, the rules look alright.

Is there anything anyone can tell me about these two forces, as in how they perform on the tabletop/what kind of tactics they lend themselves to? From what I can tell with these two armies, horde is definitely king. How is the magic for Orks/Goblins and Skaven? Is it good/effective/strong/hilarious? Are the battalion/regiment boxes good starter forces, or should I just pick up as many Island of Blood Skaven minis off of eBay as I can? ...Maybe I can get my roommate to go in 50:50 on IoB with me (he currently plays 40k Eldar)...

Thanks!

[BrokenWing]

Orcs & Goblins do pretty well, especially with hordes and big spooky spiders.

Skaven also like hordes and even more numbers than Orcs.

I can't speak to Skaven magic, but Orc magic is pretty strong. I wouldn't classify it as quite as devastating as say...Dark Elf magic (especially using the non-dark elf only spell list) but certainly strong. Plus one of the spells uses a "foot shaped" template as the left (or right) foot of Gork (or possibly Mork) and that's just hilarious.

[L192837465]

Bump your army up to 3,000. No one plays 2000 anymore.

Tournament standards vary from 2500-2999.

[BrokenWing]

Really? It's not just my group? Cool. Sadly our store tournaments are all at 2,000.

[Chronowraith]

Bump your army up to 3,000. No one plays 2000 anymore.

Tournament standards vary from 2500-2999.

Last I checked the standard was still 2250-2500. Adepticon is 2200 even and that's one of the larger US tournaments.

Despite what people think, 8th edition plays absolutely fine at 1500-2000 points. It's simply less forgiving when players make stupid mistakes.

To the OP-

The lists needs some tweaking. The warrior unit is worthless. 12 spearmen won't even act as a speedbump for charging units.

Crossbowmen shouldn't have a champion or a standard. Musician is optional but suggested for those times when a quick reform would prove handy.

Overall, drop some of the magic banners. I don't recall the specifics of the banners but the one of the warriors is pointless until the unit itself is useful. Given the small size of your cold one knights you might consider dropping that banner too (I Don't have my DE book in front of me so I don't recall what the banner does, use your best discretion).

For 2000 points you have too many points in characters. Pick two of the three you have and go from there. Either that or bump the master up to a lord and take a level 2 sorceress.