New to Fantasy? Read On ...

[Liam]

Welcome to Warhammer
The world of Warhammer is a land sundered by bitter strife and deadly conflict. Every realm and kingdom is riven by war and destruction, a battleground for mighty armies that advance to the beat of sonorous war-drums and the braying call of trumpets.

Warhammer, The game of Fantasy Battles, allows you to wage war with armies of Citadel miniatures across tabletop battlefields in the ultimate contest of strategy and skill. Each player is a general, who must choose his finest warriors, decide upon cunning battle plans and strategies and lead his followers to victory or death. Games can vary in size from small skirmishes of just a few dozen models per side, to massive clashes with literally hundreds of miniatures.

Getting Started
There are two ways that you can get to grips with the Warhammer rulebook. It's available separately as a hardback volume that contains nearly three hundred pages of glorious artwork, background and photography, as well as the rules themselves. This rulebook is the indispensable guide for hobbyists everywhere, it details the rich and colourful world of Warhammer and contains all the rules and instructions that you need to get started with your own games.

The second way to get your paws on the Warhammer rules is with the Battle for Skull Pass boxed game. This awesome game in a box contains two fledgeling armies, the doughty Dwarf warriors and the devious Night Goblins, as well as scenery, dice, measuring sticks, a getting-started guide and a copy of the small rules manual. This rules manual contains exactly the same rules as the larger, hardback rulebook - but misses out on all the extra information contained in it (there's only so much you can cram into a box, after all).

In the end, the only person who can answer that question is you. People who are completely new to wargaming, and Warhammer in particular, often appreciate the getting-started guide contained in the Skull Pass boxed game, as well as the awesome collection of more than 100 detailed miniatures! It's hard to argue with getting the complete package all at once.

Veterans of the wargaming hobby, and players who already have experienced Warhammer before, often choose to go for just the hardback rulebook - they understand the basics of wargaming and sometimes already have their own collections of Citadel miniatures, so they don't need introducing in quite the same way.

In the end, the most important factor is: which one appeals to you. Most new Warhammer players start with the Skull Pass boxed game to get their collection off the ground, and get themselves a copy of the hardback rulebook later - covering both bases.

Choose your allegiance
Every army in Warhammer is unique. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages, presenting diverse tactical opportunities as well as untold potential for painting and modelling. Choosing your first army may seem a daunting prospect - each has its own detailed history and culture, each plays differently on the gaming table and each requires a different approach for painting. That can all feel a little intimidating at first, but don't worry, it needn't be hard at all. There are three simple ways to choose your first army.

1 - I like the look of that one. This really is the easiest way to make your selection, and is the most common way of choosing. Simply pick the army that you think looks the best. After all, you're going to spend a lot of time painting and modelling the force, so it might as well be one you think looks great.

2 - I think this one sounds great! Every army in Warhammer has a detailed history and background. From the High Elves, whose ancient civilisation once spanned the globe, to the Vampire Counts who raise legions of Zombies and Skeletons to do their bidding - each is unique and exciting. A lot of players make their selection based on which army they fancy playing as. This allows some players to feel like they're 'good guys', while others enjoy trying to conquer the Warhammer world in the name of Dark Gods.

3 - I like the tactics that this army favours. This method of choosing an army is normally one that wargaming veterans go for, but that doesn't mean it can't work for the complete beginner too. Basically, every army in Warhammer has a different style of play. The Bretonnians obey a strict code of chivalry, and feature armies of gallant knights upon mighty chargers, who deliver a crushing charge to the enemy. The Wood Elves, by contrast, favour hit-and-run attacks and daring ambushes, slaying the enemy with a lethal hail of arrows. Each Warhammer army is different and has its own strengths and weaknesses

Right, was going to write all of that but I could steal that that the offical site, so I thought why the hell not. However I found their breif intro to the armies lacking so I'm going to be giving it ago myself.

Beasts of Chaos - *Confirmed Next Release, Feb 2010* Generally fround upon as a weaker army, which is mostly true, however the last tournament I attended they were a top 10 finish out of 98 players so it's defintally doable. They are half man half beast (think goatmen) creatures, the army revolves around beastherds which are unruley mixed mobs of Gors (medium sized ones) and UnGors (Smaller ones) who roam the battlefield in Skirmish Formation and can even enter the table in reserve from the opponents table edge. Backed up the the Elite Regiments of Bestigors, Monsterous Dragon Ogres and Minotaurs, hard hitting chariots and the giant Giants and Shaggoths they are a nice looking army, mainly combat orientated but really aren't for a beginner.

Bretonians - Lovely Bretonians, lovley lovely Bretonians. If a field full of Knights backed up by Mythical Flying pegasus and those Scumbag Pesants really gets you going then this really is the army for you. While an out of date army they are still concidered to be mainly competative but due to a few army special rules they might not be the best for new players. However they can be very point and click and excel on the charge, while most people might take 6 Knights with the hope of getting all 6 into combat and win that way. You can take 9, get 7 into combat as well as having two ranks. All the Knights units come with free Ward Saves though thats at the expense of the first turn as they all dismount and say a prayer to the Lady of the Lake, how brilliant is that!

Daemons of Chaos - The first of the Power 3. Psychology is a major part of Warhammer, with flee/baiting, Fear, Terror and Panic you can lose many a game without actually losing a single model but just running off the board. Having an army which can't do any of the above really makes it alot easier to play. Coupled with the fact that you have a unit for every situation and the fact that 1 in 3 wounds anyone does to you will be ignored due to the army wide 5+ Ward Save. A Brilliant army in every phase bar Shooting, and even then your single shooting unit is possibally the best in the game. Enjoy your ezmode to Warhammer!

Dark Elves - The second of the Power 3. A Very powerful armybook but don't allow the mistakes you can get away with while using the Daemons. Very good shooting, brilliant magic and more importantally very quick. M9 Horses, M5 normal troops and a brilliant skirmishing unit in the shades. However due to Toughness elf (only 1 elf in the game isn't T3, and he's your King) it can be very fragile and with the exception of the basic warrior in combat using his Hand Weapons and Shield and your Heavy Cav you won't get many decent saving throws. However, they hit really hard and usually first. I'm slowly painting up a very powerful (on paper) army and it shouldn't work out too expensive either due to the vast amount of plastics.

Dwarfs - Yay Dwarfs. Nah, not really. A nice starting army, though can be very static. Your basic troop has Ld9 so won't run away that often, your all T4, and even your standard dwarf clansman has Heavy Armour and access to a shield for a possible 3+ Armour Save in combat, not to mention Ws4 so most basic troops will only hit you half the time. Cannons, Bolt Throwers, Flame Cannons, Organ Guns and even your own Helicopter. When all else fails they just go to the pub, lack of magic but the Anvil can help give you a fake Magic Phase effect but it's not for everyone.

The Empire - Your normal Humans. Very Basic Troops, however they're cheap. Not to mention a vast amount of "super weapons" with Cannons, Mortars and even TANKS! The Empire may seem very basic but are really powerful when using the right combinations and with the right general. Were in the previous editions starter box and are a good starting army. New plastic sets are out June 09. The first time it's possible to make a more or less 100% Plastic army with only the Warrior Priests and high War Alter (which is really good games with) being Metal Characters or not Avaliable in Plastic (not including Monsterous Mounts).

High Elves - Fantasy Eldar. They're usually dressed in pure white with blue trim, the colours of War and Death for the Elves. The Masters of Magic, basic troops who fight in 3 ranks and the entire army of elves has the Always Strike First Special Rule. Some really powerful options and concidered to be just below the power 3 in terms of tournaments with the best Dragon out there in the Star Dragon who has 7S7 Attacks with usually a 4S7 Attack Elf on the top who's just powerful. All this from an army who can outshoot most others if it so wants to.

Lizardmen - The Newest Army Book and while not a super powerful list, defintally one which can compete at the top level. Can Annilate the opponents in any phase it wants if it stocks up on it but will then usually suffer in the others. In the Slann Mage Priest they have one of the most powerful mages in the game who's got enough options to make the Giant Toad into either an offensive or defensive caster. Basically a Mix of Baby Lizards, Regular Sized Lizards, Large Lizards and Dinosaurs! Dinosaurs!

Orcs and Goblins - Who I didn't forget and have to add in later. They're a characterful army and but can be found lacking in tournament settings though once you hit the single list basis which works then your just copying the one list. They however are just about the most flexible army out there. They can field a magic heavy army, an army with no magic, an army with is combat heavy or one with 10 War Machines. Able to take an army of over 500 models in a normal sized game or focus on ~50 Calvary Models. They are however a little random but able to call on powerful "allies" such as Trolls and Giants.

Ogre Kingdoms - Concidered the weakest of the army books. They look brilliant on the table and are one of the cheapest armies to build. Not really for the beginner however they do have a few tricks up their sleaves, just not very good ones. I wouldn't really recommend these unit you've played another army to get used to the way the game normally works before you see how these might or might not work.

Skaven - Giant Rat Men! Skaven are one of the most numerous races of the Warhammer World and no one dare estimate how many of them there may be. The only thing for certain is that if they were to put aside all their infighting they'd rule the world. Armies usually comprise of mass Clanrats supported by the Monsters Creations of Clan Moulder, the Deadly Assassins of Clan Eshin, the Magically Creations and Warmachines of Clan Skyre and then the powerful magic of the Grey Seers they're fantastic. However a few words of warning. The 1st is that it will be alot of models to paint and 2nd that it will take you a while to get used to the playstyle of self sacrafice.

Tomb Kings - While the old Mummy armies of old are gone, these are your dead Egyptians, Skeletons and more Skeletons, backed up by Monsters made of Skeletons. Very Characterful, different to alot of other armies and usually need their characters to perform well to do well, however they're not bad as they don't panic, and cause fear. Chariots, Archers, Royal Guard and a Catapult which throws Flaming Skulls at the enemy.

Vampire Counts - The last of the Power 3. They have simlar special rules to the Tomb Kings in the fact they're dead but these are more Horror Movie. Skeletons, Ghouls, Armoured Skeletons and Wraiths all led by Vampires, lots and lots of Vampires. Very Good in Magic, not bad in combat and the abality to raise new units and even heal damaged ones they're not as weak as they appear at a first glance, then after a 2nd read you realise they're alot more powerful than you ever thought possible.

Warriors of Chaos - Another newer book, they're basically a very powerful combat army who either go foot based or mounted based with Chaos Knights being totally brilliant. Not a Bad magic phase either, however with the different marks of Chaos and a fair unit selection they can be different to each other however 75% of games will be won with combat, the rest with magic as you only really have one overpriced missile weapon and it's just as likey to eat its own crew as some of the enemy.

Wood Elves - Finally the last one. They're a very skirmishy army, Elves who long ago decided to go and live in the Forest within Bretonians boundaries and now have an afanity to it. They have Forest Spirits who come to help them in battle with the Elven side of the army (bar Wardances, who rock) being shooty and the Forest Spirit side of the army being combaty. Magic is more of an assisting thing more than a game winning thing in terms of raw power but they have some very nice units and were a power army of old until armies had more tools to deal with them. They're a different way to play the game but a very good one imo.


What to Buy?
As I stole from the GW Site, the best thing to do would be to get the Battle for Skull Pass Set, just to get to know the rules, you get a mini rulebook in there (with no fluff) but it's got all the rules and alot of models for next to nothing. Even if you sell the models on ebay you can usually turn a profit on it.
Following on from that all the armies can make nice legal armies from their soon to be £60 Batalion Sets and a metal/plastic character. Points limits tend to be set at 500pts/750pts/1000pts/1500pts/2000pts/2250pts in that order as you build. Enjoy!

Please feel free to reply in this thread and I'll try and comment on what people say

Update 1 - Magic
Magic Magic Magic Magic! What about Magic people ask. The Winds of Magic can be fickel at times but can be game winning. Magic really falls into 3 Sections, Defensive, Supportaive and downright Destructive. Their are 8 Magic Lores, these are Life, Death, Fire, Light, Heavens, Shadow, Metal and Beasts. Each one has 6 spells which you get a random selection of spells from those 6 depending on your Magic Level. If your a Level 1 you get 1 Spell, if your a Level 2 then you get 2 and so on up to Level 4.
You then use Power Dice to Cast spells while your opponent uses Dispel Dice to stop you casting them. Each Army gets 2 Dice per Casting Phase (Bar Tomb Kings who don't cast "spells" but incantations, see the army book for details) with additional dice per magic level of wizard on their side. Most Armies take between those 2 and 8, but some can get up to 13-16 Dice. Your opponent gets Dispel Dice, 2 is normal but dwarfs (who don't cast offensive magic, they're not into that) get 4. You then get more dice depending on the power of Mages in your army, the more mages the more dice. We'll now look into the types of spell going.

Defensive - Certain Armies magic helps their troops in battle. High Elves for example, get the Drain Magic Spell which raises the casting value of your opponents spells making them harder to cast.
Supportive - Using High Elves as an example again you have the Shield of Saphery spell which grants a unit within 18" a 5+Ward Save. Another example might be the Orc spell "Bash 'em Lads" which lets you strike first in combat and re-roll failed "to-hit" rolls.
Destructive - These are your bread and butter spells, ranging from single D6 S4 Magic Missiles to really powerful entire unit destroying spells.

Hopefully that'll help people out with Magic

[LanceWarrior]

Tah for this Vivi, now where to start...?

I'm thinking dwarves from Skull Pass - would they be advisable for a novice?

[Le Shirrif]

Nice summary, Vivi.

[Eldritch]

nice review of the armies, but didn't you miss out the poor orcs

[Andy]

Quite ironic since Vivi actually plays Orcs

[WindlordRyu]

Which army has the best offensive magic, disregarding any disadvantages you get by building an army around it?

[Liam]

Christ I did, fucking Orcs they're the bain of my life

I'll updated in a second. Plan on adding a Magic Bit to it this evening.

[Liam]

Which army has the best offensive magic, disregarding any disadvantages you get by building an army around it?

Depends, due to the abality to pick different lores for alot of armies then it's hard to say who's got the "best". Dark Elves can throw the most Dice at spells due to the Power of Darkness spell and the abality to throw more dice spells than anyone else. Chaos Magic however have the most powerful spell in the game in Infernal Gateway.

[Gendoikari87]

what are the distinct Close combat advantages of the lizardmen I noticed they are particularily slow.... I'd like to start them with a dino theme but the basic lizardman in Inititive 1, why are they the lowest I possible and how good can you get the basic troops armor save in CC?

(as you can tell I'm new to fantasy and a vet of 40k)

[InnocentWeasel]

Thank you, Vivi! I've been waiting for something like this to pop up! I'm eventually going to start fantasy after I get an Apoc army, and I was wondering, are lizardmen sort of a "jack of all trades"? Or do they really specialize in one thing?

[Cames99]

and I was wondering, are lizardmen sort of a "jack of all trades"? Or do they really specialize in one thing?

Lizards are more masters of all trades than jacks. Slann mage priests are equalled only by the High Elf mages of Hoeth, their close combat troops (Temple guard, saurus warriors and kroxigor) are far tougher than everyone else, (so are balanced by striking last) They are almost impossible to rout as they get 3D6 leadership tests, they also have poisoned blowpipes (skinks) and razordons and salamanders for artilery.

To top it off they have Stegadons... The only creaturethat can take on a star dragon and come out with dignity. (Note: Creature, that means non-daemon)

[Liam]

Lizardmight strike last, but only in prolonged combat. Your T4 and have a 4/3+ save in combat on the Saraus, as well as having 2 attacks each at S4. Thats brilliant, my Elves might be faster, but only have a 5/4+ save, S3 and 1 attack.

They are really a jack of all trades army, however they're by no means the masters on none. Saraus are point for point, about the best combat troops in the game, skirmishes are brillinat, and you get Cheap Core ones with posioned ranged weapons. You have the best Mage in the Game, as well as vessels on big monsters to channel his spells though if needed. Whats not to like?

Enjoy the Lizardmen, they're brilliant!

[InnocentWeasel]

Thanks for the info! Oh, I can't wait to start now...

[Matt1785]

I know very little about Fantasy but was considering the idea of playing either Wood Elves or the Vampire Counts. I'm leaning towards Wood Elves because I like the idea of having a bunch of trees come out of the forest to help me but are they an advisable army for beginners? I got burned in 40K by playing Daemonhunters as my first army, don't want to pick the hardest in Fantasy and play now.

[Cames99]

Quick answer: Bar none, Wood elves are the hardest to start with (similar to dark eldar in 40k)

Longer answer: Like the dark eldar, the wood elves re all skirmisher, their armour saves are very poor (in comparison to newbie frienly armies) but if used in the rightway, they can crush an enemy without even breaking into a canter. Honestly, your more likely to be successful with friendlier armies like dwarfs, elves Lizardmen or the human races.

[Liam]

Yeah, I wouldn't reccomend either those or Ogres to start with,too many exceptions to the main rules or difference to the style. For example, your normal 1500pt list, might have a 2xLv2, an Alter Noble, 3x10 Archers, 2x5 Wild Riders, 2x8 Dryads, 8 Wardancers and a Treeman. It's got no ranked units, 2 Fast Cav, 3 Hard Hitting Skirmishers and a Monster

It's a good army, it's just hard to get right.

[Matt1785]

Curses. I just need to buy the rulebook and start going over it I think. I'm going to try to get one off of eBay this weekend. I think I'll just buy a few Codexes as well and run through them to see what the best choice for me is. I like Brets but everyone at the store plays human races. I was going to start Skaven but I don't want to invest money in something that is supposed to change soon.. and I know they're cool, but I just don't think they're right for me anymore. Thanks for the help.. suppose those tree guys might have to wait.

I hate dwarves... the models are lame to me. Lizardmen are cool but a guy already plays them at the shop. I kind of want something that no one else has.. although you have laid out why someone might not be playing the Wood Elves much.

[SonsOfStalingrad]

Here's one for you.
I'm going to re-start my Vampire counts. I'm basing it on Vlad the Impaler and the forces of Wallachia, with artistic interpretation.

1. In a 2k point list, what chunk of it is usually the maximum to spend on your lords and heroes (ie, just because you CAN take 100 points on each hero and 200 on the lord, doesn't mean you SHOULD.)

2. How effective is an army without any mounted units?

[Liam]

1) You can spend as many points as it allows, Vampires tend to be more point heavy on characters as they are really needed to make the army work. You can usually get away with 3 Characters but expect to pay nearly 800 points for them.

2) Again, it can work but you need something quicker moving. With Wraiths, Vargulfs, Blood Knights and Black Knights to pick from your not short of options but I'd really say take 2 of them, if not one. Wraiths are awesome and Black Knights, with their abality to move though terrain to hit flanks with the Danse Spell it's easy enough to break even the most annoying enemy units.

[SonsOfStalingrad]

Ah, that helps. I'm indecisive as to what to use with my mounted lord though.
On the one hand the black knights are cheaper, so slightly more effective - however, a vampire lord will stop them doing their ethereal movement.
On the other hand are blood knights. Whilst a bit more solid, they're a huge points sink. I can only fit four or five into my list. They do have the advantage of being Vampire and so don't degrade if they survive past the lord's death, but I doubt that'd come up too often anyway.