Getting into fantasy...

[iamian]

Always wanted to play dark elves, and I have two 40k armies now, so I figured I should start a fantasy army.

My question is this: Having never played fantasy, should I buy the island of blood, or should I just start collecting dark elves and learn with them?

[ElectricPaladin]

Personally, I think that this hobby is way too expensive to ever bother spending time and money on models you don't actually want. Screw it. Get what you want to play with.

[Wildeybeast]

Yeah, don't buy models you aren't going to use. Go straight for the dark elves. If it's the mini rules book you are after, you can usually pick them up on ebay and GW are releasing a digital edition of it any time now. Island of Blood isn't really the best starting point for a vet to learn anyway. You already know the basic mechanics from 40k, so you just need to pick up on the more advanced stuff like magic, unit types, psychology, movement and so on. I wouldn't worry about it being difficult to pick up, if you can cope with 40k you should be fine with Warhammer.

[Chronowraith]

Agreed. Buy a rulebook (or ebay a cheap IoB rulebook) the DE army book , and get started with miniatures you want from the get-go. You are far more likely to stay interested and engaged if you learn/play/collect what you like from the start.

[ACE01]

What they said ^^

IoB is a great starter for those interested in one of the armies involved, otherwise, buy the DE army book and the digital rulebook or mini book from eBay.

Having models and an army you like will mean you enjoy getting started so much more.

[okeyigiveup]

If you would also need to teach or grab friends and family into fantasy or;
If you do not have any groups or players willing to give you a tutorial at all,
go TIOB.
At the end the set is a good deal that gives you rules and a taste of every type of units, and a small scale battle could give you the concept of unit-wise battle, since this could be a quite different experience for a 40K player.

Or else just get what you really need : rule book (big / mini / e-book), the dark elves armybook, battle magic cards & the models you like.
I would suggest the books go first since dark elves models are relatively costly, and most units don't match all types of list.
Unless you want to collect everything anyway, it's better to find out what you really want before you buy.

[iamian]

well, actually my wife vetoed my picking up of YET ANOTHER system, so its a moot point anyway.

[ElectricPaladin]

well, actually my wife vetoed my picking up of YET ANOTHER system, so its a moot point anyway.

Dude... what business is it of hers? You're asking to diversify your interests, not double your budget (right...?). My wife doesn't care how many games I play, as long as I stay in budget it's my business.

[White Tiger88]

Dude... what business is it of hers? You're asking to diversify your interests, not double your budget (right...?). My wife doesn't care how many games I play, as long as I stay in budget it's my business.

What you don't know is he has 4 rooms of models :P

[iamian]

its not the money or the space. (ive spent 1600 since september, FML). its the time.