# "Best" army for a semi beginner



## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

I've not played Warhammer since the storm of chaos campaign, I have bits of armies, I don't have a fully painted one. I don't want to put an army together and paint it, only to find I suck at using it and have wasted my time, so I'm dwelling on what army is best for beginners to use. I've have experience with several armies but this was well back in the day and I remember characteristics that I failed to adapt to, such as Empire's mass infantry working together, Ogres being used like a hammer but being out manoeuvred and swallowed up or just being shot to death.

What would you suggest is the "best" army for someone getting back into the game to use?


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## Archaon18 (Feb 17, 2012)

From personal experience an army which has very simple shooting and combat as in lack of special rules or funny combat resolution is the way to go. WoC and Empire can't go far wrong, due to lack of odd stuff AND being quite forgiving in terms of tactics.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

I remember Empire being quite fragile if anything got near it, but this was in the old rules. What are dwarfs, Beastmen etc like?


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

I haven't played in the last edition of fantasy, but I suspect that the tactics haven't changed all that much (other than magic coming back to the fore front).

The other thing to keep in mind is of course cost and army management. Empire is going to require many more models than Warriors of chaos.


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## JAMOB (Dec 30, 2010)

Wood elves. Cuz they are just so OP...

On a more serious note I've heard Skaven are good, and Empire is too (and theyre the cover people) so I would go with one of them.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

What Empire I have are mostly mounted, I do have some halbardiers, crossbowmen and the old metal greatswords, but I think I want a fresh start, something that is reliable and doesn't require much work to get a full army up and running, my empire models are old and have been repainted a number of times, and I think my painting has gotten better which is why I want a fresh start.


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## JAMOB (Dec 30, 2010)

Well, again I've heard good things about Skaven, but I cant tell you why exactly.


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## Masked Jackal (Dec 16, 2009)

Skaven are a good army if you can get enough models. Most of their stuff is cheap and plentiful enough that you can basically do whatever you want with it, and still do pretty well. Dwarves, Warriors of Chaos, Lizardmen, all of these can be good because they're generally forgiving of mistakes, your troops can take hits and keep on going. I'd stay away from the elves, they're quite fragile, and take awhile to learn to use effectively. If you're going to use Empire, don't go for mostly mounted. Cavalry armies are quite hard to pull off effectively.


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## Archaon18 (Feb 17, 2012)

The issue with Skaven is e massive body count needed to run an efficient Rmy, unless you want to flee when someone shouts 'Boo' at them, but they are quite straightforward tacticswise.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

Yeah, I don't think I'd be able to do Skaven, I have trouble painting large numbers of models. So I'm better with going with one of these, WoC, Lizardmen, Dwarfs?


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

Vampire Counts are probably the best if you're happy to dump the shooting phase. 

Both the Elves are good at every phase in their own way.

WoC if you want a metal hammer.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

Metal Hammer?

Edit: You mean just hammering things in close quarters?


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

I'm thinking of either Lizardmen or WoC, I like painting blue and green, I find them easiest to do and I've just been taught a good way to do gold to which has me thinking about Lizardmen. I also remember fighting them and finding out they rarely break due to being cold blooded?


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## DivineEdge (May 31, 2012)

He does. WoC are about as subtle as a sledgehammer - 

Get into Combat. Hope you are not fighting elven elites. Win. Rinse/repeat. Their magic is good though - and they have one shooting option (not counting horsemen).

Lizards are quite good - and forgiving. Elves, while not as tough, have a lot of power behind them and are extremely strong.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Empire Cavalry are quite good; Cheap ranks of 1+ Saves as core, S5 charge, not subject to stomp, outrange ogres, s4 core cavalry, demigryphs, and s4 stubborn itp with a reroll reiksguard, combined with wizards (the lore of heavens is fairly evil with empire for example).

If you are "new" to warhammer, Vampires is widely regarded as being the finest army book of any army of any edition to date. Every unit is capable, useful and almost equally balanced. Ogres was close until the "wardism" that afflicted 8th edition magic somehow found its way into the Mournfangs and Ironblaster - taking 2 of the strongest core rulesets, and then multiplying by 7.


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## Stephen_Newman (Jul 14, 2009)

Out of the 2 you seem to be looking at I would suggest Lizardmen. They get access to a capable spell caster (Slann), decent core troops (Saurus) and even get options for decent shooting (Camo Skinks and Sallies) whilst still being decent competitively and cheap in £££ terms.


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

HE, LM and WoC allow you to park a rather beginner friendly Battle Bus in your deployment zone and blast out spells.

Although this can get boring (I personally love it), it's an option to fall back on if you begin to struggle with a battle. Even Demi-DeathStars of each of those races can be effective, give you a late game trump card if the going gets tough.

If you do decide to go with LM, the only thing I advise is you make sure you're happy with painting Scales instead of Armour. You get very little in the way of Cloth, Armour plate and smooth surfaces in comparison to other armies. The other end of this can be applied to WoC... There's a lot of Plate Armour to paint!


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

I think I'd be more comfortable painting scales than armour now I think about it. I like using washes and inks to which might be easier on scales?

If I were to start them, what would be the best unit to start with, saurus?


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

From what I can tell, the army box seems to be a good buy. But don't take my word for truth (see what I did there?).

Another avenue is to browse all the Lizard Lists on the forum to see what's powerful and what is not. I'd personally start there.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

Orochi said:


> From what I can tell, the army box seems to be a good buy. But don't take my word for truth (see what I did there?).
> 
> Another avenue is to browse all the Lizard Lists on the forum to see what's powerful and what is not. I'd personally start there.


I found a list in this thread. Not the first post but the second one, I might go for that, It's fairly infantry minded with magic to back them up, so I may work towards that.


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## DivineEdge (May 31, 2012)

Alright. When I painted my lizards I did them all in accordance with real life reptiles and amphibians. 

Some things to know for a lizarmany people will tell you it is the best. Shadows is good as always too. d list. 

Slaan in a bunker of temple guard is a must. For lores, I usually run light, but life is also very good any 

Skorx (skinks and kroxigor) are good, cheap units that have hitting power with the kroxigor. 

Skink skirmishers are nails. 

A unit or two of saurus warriors to hold the line is a good investment. 

Chameleon skinks are good, and temple guard only with a slaan. But then they just rock. 

Salamanders are amazing. Most people say razordons are poo, but I find them good. Salamanders outclass them though. 

The special characters are all overpriced. Gor-rok is the exception. While a little expensive he is quite good. 

Stegadons are good for impact hits. watch out for cannons.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

Cool, just waiting for my army book to turn up so I can learn more about them.

I don't particularly want to do a blue lizardmen army since it's been done loads before, so I was thinking about green but I'm trying to think of some contrasting colours to go with it. Equally I was thinking if I spray them white I could try a vibrant orange with some red and a lot of washes?


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## DivineEdge (May 31, 2012)

That would be cool and colorful. Green is ok, but te red/orange seems nice. 

I used to do some work as a herpatologist, and painted my saurus as african agama lizards - some of my faves. 

I'd say something like - these are real lizards. 
Opponent - No Way!! Googles agama lizards on iphone - darn. 

Did 5 lined for skinks, horned toads and red efts for salamanders and razordons, tokay geckos for my slaan, gila monsters/bearded dragons for my saurus leaders, and broad heads/blue tongues for my skink leaders. 

Alligators and komodo dragons for cold ones and kroxigor.


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