Choosing an Army

[Revanchist13]

I've been playing 40k for a while new, and have both a Tyranid and Dark Eldar army, but I also want to get into Fantasy. My biggest problem is that I can't seem to pick an army: none of them really seem to stand out, so I was hoping I could get opinions from other players.

I have (one way or another) copies of every army book, as well as the rulebook, and have read the rulebook and army books associated with the armies I'm most interested in.

My current thoughts were:

Tomb Kings--What I'm most heavily leaning towards. I love the newer models, and I think the army book is great, compared to other armies'. I do, however, have issues with several things: the Hierophant bit, the inability to march, and the looks of some of the models, such as Skeleton Warriors and Chariots. I get that they're old, but I just dislike the models.

Dark Elves--I love the book (and the new Dragon kit!!), as well as many of the models, but I already play Dark Eldar in 40k.

High Elves--Phoenix Guard, Dragon Princes, and even Spearmen are awesome, as well as Mages and Dragons, but I'm not sure it's worth making army for only 4 or 5 units. On top of that, my best friend (who's starting Fantasy with me) is most likely going to play HE himself.

Vampire Counts--All in all, some of the best units, as well as characters. But I have huge problems with the fact that a Skeleton is 8 points (9 with a spear). Another thing is the $100 price tag on the Blood Knight kits, and I would definitely want a unit or two.

Warriors of Chaos--They're Spess Mehreens! But they all do look like clones. Daemon Princes are epic, though.

EDIT: I was also thinking about building, for example, Dark Elves, with a large amount of Tomb Kings as Allies via the new Storm of Magic expansion (details would be based on how the rules worked), but I don't want my army to be usable only in an expansion that might or might not end up seeing much play.

[m1acca1551]

Well if you dislike the models... you won't really enjoy using them.

DE are a good choice, plenty of hitty stuff backed up by some great magic and the ability to cheese if you like that type of game. For me if your mate is playing HE i'd go DE purely for the fun of it.

VC i agree have some of the coolest looking figures in the game, however they suffer from a cookie cutter list, an army book that removed the ability for uniqueness and 8th nerfed them heavily. Great fun to play/theme but don't expect to win many games IMO. As for the blood knights, invest in some empire knights/brettonian knights/dragon princes and convert away

WoC are good fun, the also tie in with HE history so you can play fluff games, Good magic, over the top CC abilities and armour that makes HE shooting pretty in-effective.

[Shoota Midget]

i'm in a similar situation, as i like the HE and WoC. i like the WoC because of the new sorcerers models and the forge worlds chaos dwarves, but i like the He elves as i could also get a freind started with scaven and i like being the good guy on top of the huge dragon.

[Revanchist13]

i like being the good guy on top of the huge dragon.

I love the Dragon models for H/DE, and that's easily the primary motivation for both armies, but after looking at the rules and forum posts, I'm not entirely convinced that a Lord on a Dragon is the way to go :/

[Jind_Singh]

If your mate is leaning towards High Elves and you like the look of Dark Elves...

Go for it!

They are miles apart from Dark Eldar in terms of their back story and the way they play - looks wise also, sure there are some cross overs but that's even better as you can use the totally amazing Archean model as a Dark Elf lord!

Game wise they also play great!

The Battle box is a great buy with tons of useful units included in there, and you can always paint them in alternate colors so you don't have to mirror the Dark Eldar.

Another nice thing is you'll have greater freedom in kit bashing between the 2 systems to build some really amazing models for both systems!

Also, considering they still run off an old book, they still kick butt and are one of the top armies in Warhammer in terms of game play!

And what's not to like about owning that sexy new plastic dragon hey!

Do double check to see if the Hydra has gone fine cast - and don't buy it until it does as it's one of the HARDEST and most ANNOYING kits to build!

Plus as your mate plays High Elves it's epic as that's a GREAT match up! The 2 races that have a wonderful shared history - as in 40k the Eldar/Dark Eldar do have common ancestry but in terms of animosity that the High and Dark Elves show each other...it's nothing!

Another great reason is you can also buy the 'Time of Legends' novels that goes behind the scenes and details the split of the Elven race into Dark and High - kind of Warhammer's version of the Horus Heresy books.

And you mentioned you like VC but not the points they pay for their troops - well the nice thing about Dark Elves is that they are well costed for what they do (a bit too well pointed!).

See how you feel - go down to a GW store and hold some Dark Elf boxes and see how they tickle your fancy!

[Shoota Midget]

I love the Dragon models for H/DE, and that's easily the primary motivation for both armies, but after looking at the rules and forum posts, I'm not entirely convinced that a Lord on a Dragon is the way to go :/

well i actually plan on doing a mage riding the dragon

[Revanchist13]

well i actually plan on doing a mage riding the dragon

By Lord I had meant either a Dreadlord or a Supreme Sorceress (Both are Lords in army selection)

[Trains_Get_Robbed]

Run V.C man, no one seems to run them in my local, or just in general for that matter. Blood Knights aren't a problem, with some bitz you can easily change Dragon Princes or Chaos knights into Blood Knights, they are plastic and you can easliy get 10 and still stay under the price of 'actual' blood knights.