# Collective WIP introduction to Fantasy



## squeek

Hi all,

One of things that pops up in this forum a lot is questions about getting in to Fantasy. As anyone that plays it will know it can be quite daunting when you first make the decision to start a Fantasy army, particularly if you are new to the hobby in general. So I would like to put together a guide that acts as an introduction Fantasy for new players.

Having said that, I don't pretend to know everything about the various armies in Fantasy so I thought I would start a collective WIP (work in progress) guide that is written by people that are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their favourite army.

To make it easier to browse it would help if we can agree on a common format so that armies can be easily compared with one another. Hopefully if we can get some good intros written up we can add them to the stickied thread and encourage some new blood in to Fantasy.


So far this is the suggested format:

*Fluff - A short intro about the army, some background history and any other non-play related interesting points.
* 
This doesn't need to be too long, just a little bit about your chosen race/army like who it hates/is friends with, what drives it, how it began, etc.


*Models - A breakdown of the range of models available, and how easy they are to paint and to model.*

Important things might be how old the range is, whether they are all metal or mostly plastic, how easy they are to paint, possibility of conversions. Also try to give a guideline estimate of cost. So lots of metal only models would be an expensive army with limited conversion potential, for example.


*Game Play - A guide to how the army plays and how flexible the army list is as a whole.*

This could include what the general style of the army is (gun lines, cavalry, magic heavy, etc), how competitive it is considered to be at tournaments, is the army book flexible or is there only one viable style. Some writers have chosen to give an indepth breakdown of the unit choices from each section (Core, Special, etc). This is greatly appreciated but is not mandatory.


*Money Saving - How to get more from your chosen army, for less money*

This might include ways to maximise what can be produced from the model sprues, or alternative models for the expensive ones in the range. If possible links for more complex conversions will allow better understanding.


*Summary - General conclusions about the army and any extra points that are useful.*

This should cover any extra points like future release dates, general pros and cons that aren't covered elsewhere, popularity of the army, variations to the standard approach (i.e. themed armies) and any extras that crop up.


*Where To Go Next* - Any army specific resources

Links to army specific forums and web resources are particularly useful here.

If we submit the guides to this thread then we can debate points as necessary and once it all seems ok we can ask the Mods to move them to the stickied thread If you have any suggestions to make the format better then they are more than welcome.

Here's hoping we write some useful guides! 

Edit:

Covered so far...

The Empire - Othiem
Dwarves - Othiem
Orcs and Goblins - squeek
Lizardmen - rVctn_Khaiyn (6th Edition now )
Dark Elves - Druchii in Space
Daemons of Chaos - MaidenManiac
Ogre Kingdoms - MaidenManiac
Tomb Kings - MaidenManiac
Warriors of Chaos - Vaz
Vampire Counts - MaidenManiac
Chaos Dwarfs - neilbatte
Dogs of War - neilbatte 
High Elves - Ascendant Valor
Skaven - MaidenManiac
Wood Elves - Squeek
Beasts of Chaos - Ancient Tiel' a fier

In Progress

Brettonians - ?
New Lizardmen - ?

If anyone would prefer just to write a partial guide, maybe a single section this would still be a welcome addition, and would also be appreciated.


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## Othiem

*The Empire*


*Fluff*
The Empire began when Sigmar united the divided tribes of humans together under his common rule. During his reign, humans often fought along side the dwarves against the orcs and goblins trying to cross the mountains into their lands. This forged strong bonds between Empire and Dwarves, which the long memoried Dwarves still hold to, and have repaid by teaching the men of the Empire about cannons and black-powder weaponry. Sigmar was deified upon his death, and is now the center of the Empire's most prolific religion. Strictly though, the Empire is a polytheistic society, with several organizations such as the Knights of the Blazing Sun devoted to foreign gods.

In its current incarnation, the Empire consists of several loosely connected provinces, each run by an Elector Count. The emperor was chosen from among these counts. However in recent times, the emperor has always been chosen from the Reikland, the most prosperous of provinces. 

The Empire is threatened by enemies on all sides, with warriors of chaos invading from the north, orcs and goblins attempting to cross the mountains from the east, vampire counts causing ruckus from the fallen province of Sylvania, Skaven mobs pushing up from beneath their cities, beastmen who permiate the dark forests of the land, and dark elf raiders on their western coasts. The Empire maintains strong ties with the Dwarves who guard the mountains to their east, and the Bretonians, who they consider slightly barbaric, who guard them from the south. 


*Models*
GW has stated the Empire is the first army they want to move to an all plastic line, and it shows. The plastic lord/bsb kit has tons of variation, as does the plastic wizard kit which allows you to make two wizards reflecting any of the eight lores.. They only have a single rank and file unit that is still in metals. The kits are great, with tons of extra bits for use in other conversions and spicing up your models, and no major difficulties in assembling. The most persistent complaint about Empire plastics is that they are in fact TOO detailed and can be quite involved to paint properly. 

The general look of the Empire is a break from more traditional fantasy humans. In dress they look more like Renaissance Germans, with puffy shirts and feathers in their hats. The variety of provinces gives a good basis for lots of different paint schemes. The addition of knightly orders which may each have their own color scheme as well can make Empire armies look very colorful and visually distinct on the field. 


*Gameplay*
At the end of the day, despite any gear and special rules a unit might have, your average Empire unit has a lackluster human stat line. Where the Empire shines is the diversity of the list. While it is possible to create an Empire list focusing on hordes of troops, heavy cav, gunline, or even a maxed out magic list, the Empire does best when using it's variety of units in support of each other.

To reflect this, the Empire has a unique system called "detachments." Blocks of rank and file troops my take up to two smaller support units. These units can allow a non-ranged block of troops to stand and shoot, countercharge oncoming units guaranteeing a flank charge, and provide cover from charges, since the detachments may flee through normal blocks without causing panic. 

Warrior Priests add an interesting angle into the Empire magic phase. They are melee heros with access to some very powerful bound spells. Where neither a warrior priest or an Empire wizard could get spells through a reasonable enemy magic defense, in combination the two can effectively draw out enemy dispell dice and scrolls to get spells through.

Second only to the dwarves, the Empire warmachine list is diverse as well, with cannon, stone throwers, and three of their own unique warmachines. 


*Money Saving*
The Empire steam tank is possibly the single most expensive GW model, coming in at $65 for single one. http://www.warhammer-empire.com/workshop/build_stank.php goes through some advice to build your own.


*Summary*
The Empire is a great for a player who enjoys using all of their forces together in support of one another, and is not focuses on a few powerful units that can dominate a game. Price wise the Empire is reasonable. They are a horde army and state troops can get expensive, but the advantages of the wide variety of plastics keep the price in check. Power wise the Empire is also reasonable. They are strong enough to give competitive games against the newer armies, but not so over the top that playing against OK and the like provides no challenge. With their insane level of diversity, the Empire offer something to every player.


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## squeek

That looks great Othiem, do you think the format suggested is appropriate? Any ideas to make it better?


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## Othiem

*Dwarves*


*Fluff*
The Dwarves are an ancient race with long memories. They fought against the coming of chaos before men were even organized into tribes. Although allied with the High Elves for a time, the Dark Elves engineered a war between Dwarves and Elves which resulted in a pyrrhic victory for the Dwarves. This was followed by a giant earthquake which devestated the Dwarven mountain holds, unleashing hordes of goblins and skaven into Dwarf lands. The dwarves make a point of holding grudges against all who have wronged them, writing these down in books to be repaid at a later date. 

They maintain strong ties to the men of the Empire who helped them in the past, even though men barely remember this. They stand in conflict with Orcs, Goblins, and Skaven who have taken over much of their historical lands. And they maintain an uneasy truce with the elves, who they will not forgive for the war between the two races. 


*Models*
How much you enjoy painting a dwarf army depends on one thing: how do you feel about beards? The defining characteristic of all dwarf models, some love them, some hate them. A dwarf army has the potential to look fairly boring, being just variation on several short guys in shiny armor with beards. However, since dwarves are known not for fighting in a standing army with identical uniforms and equipment, but instead going to war with their own armor and family heirlooms, there is a great deal of potential for adding diversity to blocks of troops though conversions and a variety of color schemes.

While dwarven core troops are all in plastic, their elite infantry units are still metals. Also several of their war machines are still in metal as well. This can potentially drive up the cost of a heavy infantry dwarf army. But since dwarves share visual similarities between each other, conversions from standard plastic core dwarf warriors into elite hammerer and ironbreaker units are not too difficult. 

A nice plastic lord/bsb kit exists, however all other characters are still in metal. 

The ragtag nature of dwarven troops and technolgy, and usefulness of the core dwarf warrior body in modeling almost any dwarf makes them a very customizable army for somebody who is good with a razor blade.


*Gameplay*
Dwarves are some of the toughest troops in the whole of warhammer. The bog standard dwarf warrior is beat out only by a chaos warrior, and comes in at a much lower point cost. With leadership 9 across the board as well, dwarf warriors form a highly reliable wall of steel, even when far from the support of their general and bsb. Their warmachine crews, who benefit from stubborness, are capable of fighting off light cavalry assaults. 

Where the dwarves differ from every other army is their lack of movement. With no cavalry and only a single rare flyer unit, your entire army is stuck at movement 3". This is somewhat offset since dwarves are allowed to march a full 6" even when in proximity of the enemy, making them immune to marchblocking. That said, the dwarven movement phase is still quite involved, focusing less on trying to get the charge, and more on controlling which one of your units the enemy will charge. This can cause difficulties for elite blocks of troops and expensive dwarven lords, as most enemies will try to avoid these blocks. 

The other area in which Dwarves are unique is their use of runes. Instead of a list of magical items, dwarves have access to a massive variety of runes. Each piece of a character's equipment may be inscribed with up to 3 of these runes, resulting in an amazing amount of customizability. Dwarven warmachines and magical banners may also be runed. 

Dwarves are the only race in warhammer to wholesale reject the notion of magic. They make up for this by getting extra dispell dice for free, and a variety of powerful anti-magic runes. 

Dwarves are the strongest shooting army in the game, with rune enhanced warmachines and the most accurate handguns. Players looking to play a gunline list traditionally look to the dwarves. Often such pure shooting armies are frowned upon as being less fun to play for both parties, and on the dwarf end a gunline will quickly fold if your opponent does make it across the field. That being said, a strong shooting phase is vital to any Dwarf list. A dwarf army needs to drive the enemy into CC with their slower moving troops, or they run the risk of being run in circles all game. 

Dwarfs offer a variety of elite CC troops to support their core warriors. Ironbreakers, slayers, hammerers, and miners all play very differently roles, and allow you to customize a CC based force.


*Money Saving*
Cheap flying machine:
Get your hands on one of the new plastic Defkoptas from the AoBR set. Whittle out the built in orc body, glue in a dwarf warrior. I tried to use some green stuff to give him goggles. Cut out the rockets and replace with something cylindrical for use as a steam gun, for example one of the big straws you get with boba tea. 

Cheap longbeards:
Never ever buy the metal longbeards. Make a point of not paining any of your dwarf warriors beards white, then paint your whole longbeard unit with white beards. You can also make them look wealthier by comparison, giving the standard warriors more bronze trimming, and saving gold for the longbeards. 

*Summary*
The dwarves are a fairly limited army, who basically do not participate in either the movement or magic phases of the game. In the shooting and CC phase though, they are one of the most varied and customizable armies, with both diverse troop types and runes to personalize units.

A Dwarf army runs the range from dirt cheap to one of the most expensive in the game. High point cost plastic core troops and warmachines maxed out with expensive runes can quickly take a low model count of plastics to the 1500 point and beyond. However as one looks to expand, the large variety of metals which should be fielded in large blocks get expensive fast. 

For an in-depth discussion of Dwarves, see http://www.bugmansbrewer.com.

Their toughness and reliability make dwarves a very forgiving army that's good for a beginner, yet they can expand into a strong and diverse CC force for a more experienced player. For those who enjoy showing up to the LGS with their beard and a case of beer, the dwarves are the only logical choice.


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## Othiem

squeek said:


> That looks great Othiem, do you think the format suggested is appropriate? Any ideas to make it better?


Thanks sqeek, and I think it's a pretty good format, covering all the reasons people normally pick an army. If there was one thing I would add, it would be a section on money saving ideas for that army. Things like replacing dark riders with glade guards, or making jezzails out of state troop rifles and clan rats for example. That way the modeling section is more devoted to the standard details of painting and building the army, but the saving section is for those who are willing to go an extra step to cut costs, which may at times be prohibitive.


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## countchocula86

As someone who knows nothing about the FB system or much about the races, I think the format is a good one. It helps to keep the summary easy to navigate. Kudos to squeek for starting the thread, and Othiem for contributing!


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## squeek

*Orcs and Goblins*


*Fluff*

Orcs are a brutal warlike race that are driven by their need for war, so much so that they are just as likely to fight each other as they are to fight other races. Orcs and Goblins are known collectively as Greenskins and are a collection of subspecies that range from the fearsomely brutal Black Orc to the diminutive Snotling that is often kept as a pet by larger Greenskins.

Orcs and Goblins gather together in warbands that are lead by the most powerful Greenskin amongst them, until their leadership is successfully challenged by an even larger Greenskin. Most warbands are nomadic and wander to and fro destroying whatever they come across. However, when a warlord is sufficiently powerful and is able to gather enough Greenskins to their call, a Waaagh! is called. A Waaagh! is an enormous tide of Greenskins that surges across the land rampaging through any settlements it finds until it is eventually defeated. Other races rightly fear the Waaagh! and there are numerous occaisions throughout the history of the Old World when the might of the Greenskins has made itself felt on the other races.


*Models*

A large part of the core Orc and Goblin range is made up of multipart plastic models and there is a good deal of customisation possible because of this, however there is still a significant number of models only available in metal which can make certain army builds expensive Particularly since any Orc and Goblin army is likely to contain a lot more models than other armies, due to the relative cheapness of Orc and Goblin models in terms of points.

There is a lot of modelling potential with an Orc and Goblin army, the rag tag look of Orcs and Goblins greatly encourages conversions, anything from minor weapon swaps to large scale Greenstuff work is possible and is easy to blend in with the rest of the Orc and Goblin rabble. Orcs and Goblins can be tedious to paint and convert as most units are at least 20 models strong, however the paint schemes on most of the range can be kept relatively simple and it is not too difficult to produce a good looking unit.

The average Orc and Goblin army is likely to relatively cheap model for model due to the large number of plastic box sets available, but the low point cost of Orc and Goblin models will mean that more models are required for the same number of points as an equivalent army.


*Gameplay*

The base stats of the majority of the Orc and Goblin range are usually relatively poor, however this is compensated for by the cheap points cost. The overriding concern for an Orc and Goblin general is psychology. The leadership of the majority of the range is between 5 and 7 so tests are more likely to be failed than passed. This is further exacerbated by the race specific rule, Animosity. All Greenskins apart from Black Orcs are required to test for Animosity at the beginning of each turn; this often results in units doing things they aren't supposed to be doing.

An Orc and Goblin general needs a good sense of humour as even the best tactics and army list can be thwarted by the erratic nature of Orcs and Goblins. However it is still quite possible to dominate a game and utterly destroy your opponent, just don't expect your army to go along with your plans!

A common theme amongst Orc and Goblin armies is large blocks of cheap infantry led by more reliable characters. The army can be supported by surprisingly reliable Spear Chukkas and Doom Divers, and flanked by a range of cavalry from fast moving Goblin Wolf Riders to powerful Orc Boar Boys.

Orc and Goblin magic is powerful but dangerous. Split in to two halves, the Orc Big Waaagh! and Goblin Little Waaagh!, there are a range of support spells and offensive spells, most of which are reasonably useful spells. The problem with Orc and Goblin magic is that the Waaagh! miscast table is potentially very dangerous to your own army with the possibility of exploding shamans a real threat. However this doesn't prevent magic heavy Orc and Goblin armies from being effective. Due to the nature of Orc and Goblin armies the decision to take Shamans over Bosses is not simple as the leadership of Shamans is not as good and they are fragile characters.


*Money Saving*

Orcs and Goblins are generally cheap compared to other army ranges however some models (particularly metals) can be expensive; even some of the plastic models can benefit from a few alterations to minimise the cost. Orc Arrer Boys are currently only available direct in metal, however the 6th Edition box set contained plastic Orc Arrer Boys that are often for sale cheaply on internet auction sites, and it is fairly simple to add a bow to the plastic Orc Warrior models.

Savage Orcs, particularly when mounted on boars can be prohibitively expensive, however with a bit of creativity it is possible to model and paint regular Orcs as Savage Orcs allowing a much cheaper plastic Savage Orc. With Greenstuff it is quite possible to cover up armour and model extremely good Savage Orcs, but the addition of feathers, making the weapons more rugged, and more wild poses all help to give the Savage look.

The Orc Warboss box comes with enough parts to create one mounted and one unmounted Orc warboss however with an extra plastic Boar and the plastic mounted legs from the Orc Warrior Command sprue it is possible to have both Orcs mounted.

*Summary*

An Orc and Goblin army allows for a lot of diversity, indeed it is quite possible to take all Goblin or all Night Goblin themed lists, however these lists tend to magnify the problems of the Orc and Goblin army as they are particularly prone to mass routs due to their low leadership.

The Orc and Goblin range is let down somewhat by Savage Orcs and all Boar Boys only being available in metal, making hard hitting units an expensive choice. However plastic Savage Orcs are rumoured to be on the list of new models coming in the future. This is also offset by the Night Goblins available in the starter set. These are extremely cheap and allow a good (if relatively cowardly) core to start an Orc and Goblin Warband.

There are a number of Orc and Goblin sites that are useful to a budding warlord, two particularly useful sites are Avian's We Iz Orcs, an indepth rundown of all the sections of the Orc and Goblin armybook by an avid Orc and Goblin player; and Da Warpath, an Orc and Goblin fansite that is home to some particularly inventive modellers and painters, though rather small the site has some eye opening posts.

If you don't mind losing as often as you win, but having fun along the way then Orcs and Goblins are an enjoyable army that allows for a lot of flexibility with approach to gaming, painting and modelling.


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## squeek

Othiem said:


> Thanks sqeek, and I think it's a pretty good format, covering all the reasons people normally pick an army. If there was one thing I would add, it would be a section on money saving ideas for that army. Things like replacing dark riders with glade guards, or making jezzails out of state troop rifles and clan rats for example. That way the modeling section is more devoted to the standard details of painting and building the army, but the saving section is for those who are willing to go an extra step to cut costs, which may at times be prohibitive.


Good idea, I will add it to the list and we can edit it in to our posts.


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## Othiem

squeek said:


> Good idea, I will add it to the list and we can edit it in to our posts.


Oh another thought, links to popular web sites devoted solely to that race, ie druchii.net for the DEs and bugmansbrewery.com for the Dwarves. Liked your O&G writeup as well.


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## squeek

Another good idea, I will add it to the summary section as some armies are more widely covered than others.


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## torealis

what should the sticky eventually be called?

As soon as we've got a name i'll put these in a locked sticky that the mods can add your material to.

awesome material by the way.


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## squeek

Well I was thinking something like "An introduction to Warhammer Fantasy Battles" or something along those lines. Hopefully we can keep it as an introduction post, with a list by army name that links to each guide, then a collection of the individual posts copied from here so that the contributors are recognised as the authors, all in a stickied intro thread would be great.

Would each post be editable by the author that way, in case we add any other info in to the format at a later date?


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## countchocula86

> what should the sticky eventually be called?


How about 'Warhammer Fantasy Battle: An Overview'

Also, this is a question Ive always been curious. Maybe a small blurp about immigrants from 40k on how the two system are different? All I know is that the FB system uses formations of troops. Is that the only major difference?


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## torealis

To keep it decluttered we'll keep it locked, if you want to make additions/changes either a) become a mod or b) ask a mod.

I'll make the thread tomorrow. time for bed now.


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## Othiem

I'd recommend something along the lines of "Introduction to the armies of Warhammer Fantasy," or anything that specifies that we're talking about differences between armies. "Overview of Warhammer Fantasy" sounds to me as if we're talking about the core rules.


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## squeek

Whatever name is the most clear is fine by me. Count, there are lots of differences between 40k and Fantasy, there may well be a thread on it, but if not it is a good question, but perhaps not one for this thread as it will result in lots of long answers


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## torealis

that thread is now up. i added 2 things, a) a picture of the army book and b) a "where to go from here" section for any other pages or forums mentioned.

any edits you want, let me or ancient know


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## squeek

Does anyone fancy taking on one of the other armies not covered so far? I would dearly love to rep someone for a great intro on an army!


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## Syph

Top work squeek. You're one of my favourite posters at the minute - sooo many good posts; +Rep. 

I'd love for someone to post a Dark Elf one. I've got an older Dark Elf army book (last edition I think), a box of spearman, a unit of shades and a bolt thrower - I'd love to know a bit more about them from a more experienced Dark Elf player.


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## Drax

i'll do one for the vampire counts


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## squeek

That'll be fantastic Drax, looking forward to it


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## Druchii in Space

Its my day off tomorrow, so I'll do Dark Elves during the day.


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## squeek

That's great Druchii, Syph will be especially pleased! 

I have updated the first post to add armies in progress, so that we have an idea of what is under way. Also, if anyone doesn't want to do a complete guide, the individual sections are still really useful.


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## Green Knight

I will have a go at my high elves, but it might take me sometime


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## Vaz

I'll have an attempt this weekend at Warriors of Chaos, Wood Elves and Beasts of Chaos, as I have a bit of knowhow in those.


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## rVctn_Khaiyn

I collected Lizardmen a few years ago, and would be able to put something together if no one else steps up.

Otherwise, great thread so far. :biggrin:


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## squeek

Fantastic! I will amend the first post again to show WIPs. *rVctn_Khaiyn* anything that you could add on LM would be very useful, so don't worry if you aren't happy writing the whole thing. I will add you all on the list for clarity, just let me know if any problems crop up


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## torealis

dont get too excited squeek, promises are one thing...


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## Druchii in Space

Just a heads up it's been started but I'll need to finish it over the weekend, my Roleplay games thread took a little longer to iron out that I was planning, also had to go to the Doc's for some meds on emergancy (don't ask : ) which screwed my day up a little. It is incoming though.


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## rVctn_Khaiyn

squeek said:


> Fantastic! I will amend the first post again to show WIPs. *rVctn_Khaiyn* anything that you could add on LM would be very useful, so don't worry if you aren't happy writing the whole thing. I will add you all on the list for clarity, just let me know if any problems crop up


It's certainly not that I wouldn't like to do it, I just haven't played for a few years, so some of my information might be a little out of date (or completely irrelevant), but I'll do my best to throw something together in the next day or two.


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## rVctn_Khaiyn

*Warhammer Armies: Lizardmen*


*Fluff *

The Lizardmen are an ancient race, created by the god-like beings known as the Old Ones to be the guardians of the Warhammer world. Once relaying the orders and desires of the Old Ones, the Slann act as the primary leaders and masters of magic within the Lizardmen society. Now with the Old Ones having departed, the Slann continue to guide not only their servants, but also members of the younger races towards the Great Plan; essentially restoring the order that was present before the coming of Chaos. Any who stand between the Slann and the fulfillment of this duty are mercilessly punished with cold indifference, either by the might of the Lizardmen armies, comprised mainly of the Saurus Warriors - hulking reptilian beings spawned solely for the purpose of war, or by deadly magicks controlled by the Slann themselves, who make even the most powerful of Wizards from other races seem amateurish.

*Models*

The Lizardmen range, although having been around for over half a decade, is still in good condition. With the core of the army comprised of Saurus and Skinks, it is certainly plausible for the majority of your army to be plastic. Characters and elite units are mostly metal, however there seems to be a few changes in the works (see the rumours section of Heresy Online for some expected Lizardmen releases), and with the release of plastic Temple Guard coming soon, as well as the newest Cold One Riders, a decent portion of the range is in plastic.

Conversion potential is really up to the player in question. While I didn't see too many opportunities for easy modification, as the units are quite diverse and unique, some of the more experiences modelers might notice subtle potential. Painting is fairly forgiving - with most of the Lizardmen consisting of skin and scales, you only need a few colours to reach a 'complete' looking figure. Metal is almost completely restricted to gold, and there's very little cloth. However, you can easily find diversity by adding a few of the beastly units in, as well as picking a different scheme between Saurus and Skink (a good choice to make regardless, as they are very different creatures).

*Game Play*

Lizardmen are a very flexible and strong list. The Slann Mage Priest is easily the most powerful caster in the game (bar a few special characters), and Saurus are extremely effective in close combat, with even the most basic of choice being a deadly foe. Skinks provide almost unmatched maneuverability, being both fast and deployed in skirmisher fashion. Saurus cavalry probably won't satisfy those looking for a mounted theme to their force, but they are capable of being one of the most independent cavalry units, being both tough and strong, even without the charge (not that I'd suggest risking such a pricey unit, just saying they don't fall apart as quickly as other medium cavalry options). Flyers, Monsters, a big dinosaur with a bolt thrower strapped to it, the Lizardmen army offers a range of options. 

However, if you enjoy a gun-line type army, employing lots of long range shooting, look elsewhere. While being effective at long ranges in the magic phase, Lizardmen are unable to compete during shooting. Skinks provide multiple close-range shots that are fairly expendable, but don't expect bows or war machines (beside the aforementioned Dino, called a Stegadon).

*Money Saving *

As mentioned earlier, the Lizardmen range is quite unique, both in regarding other armies, as well as in it's own army book - there are only a few units that are the same 'breed' of Lizard. I'll repeat what I said beforehand, in that if you are an experienced modeler, you might be able to pull a few units out more cheaply than otherwise possible, but the options are few from what I've seen.

*Summary*

The Lizardmen are able to field an army that is extremely competitive in both the combat and magic aspects of Warhammer - without compromising one or the other. With their _Cold Blooded_ special rule across the board, bar a few monsters, even the skittish Skinks at Leadership 5 are able to stand their ground, while the more bold Saurus are hardly ever seen fleeing. As such, the Lizardmen are a very effective army for beginners thanks to their warriors being easy to use and reliable. As you become more experienced, you can try different combinations of _Sacred Spawnings_, a system that lets you make the Saurus quite customizable, and even more dangerous. 

While I could talk about a Southlands army (one that is focused on Skinks as the prime core unit), I haven't had much experience with such a force, and it is certainly no where near as effective as a generic Lizardmen army. Popularity, as always, will depend on where you are and who you play, but when it comes to Tournaments, I would still see the army as quite competitive.


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## squeek

Great introduction to Lizardmen *rVctn_Khaiyn* +rep 

I will edit the front post and ask for this to be added to the stickied Introduction.


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## Druchii in Space

Mine will be posted tonight sometime after I finish work at 10pm, I need to spell check the sod first, and this work comp isn't up to the task. I apologize for the slight delay, I'm hoping it will be worth it.


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## torealis

loves it. +rep.

if this pace keeps up, we'll be a fantasy forum in no time.


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## Druchii in Space

Okay here’s the post, sort of tried to write it from my perspective as a Druchii general, while throwing in some tips and ideas that are neutral-ish. The fluff I just wrote it up as I see it, haven't tried to pull any punches there and kept it in character. Hopefully it’s what you where looking for Squeek and I hope it's not too long. 

*THE DARK ELVES* 

*Fluff: 'The Druchii'*
The Dark Elves are located in the north-western corner of the Warhammer world as far as the realms of men are concerned. Across the Great Ocean lies the Land of Chill Naggaroth; homeland of the Dark Elves or Druchii as they call themselves. For centuries the Druchii have endured within the Land of Chill and much like their new homeland over these centuries their hearts have turned to ice. 
The Dark Elves are bitter, spiteful and find few joys outside the dominance of others. Murder, torture are mere playthings for the Druchii mind and they are firmly of the belief that they are above all other races. Betrayal can be common place, and no Druchii would give a second thought to killing a rival or removing someone in their way on the rise to power. As to Malekith, the ruler of the Dark Elves the Immortal Witch King sealed within his suit of armour, his eyes watch Ulthuan with a hatred above all of his kin. He has no doubt that he shall retake the lands that should be his, and with his ever present mother, the Hag Sorceress Queen Morathi, they plan their vengeance against the weakling Asur or the High Elves as they are known to man.

The Dark Elves have a society where all menial tasks are completed by slaves, be it those Druchii who have failed in their duty or the legions of mortals from lesser realms. A high percentage of the feared Druchii raids on city sized Black Arks that strike across the known world is to collect slaves, riches and food to maintain the lives of the Druchii nobility. People brought to the Land of Chill are broken beyond recognition, and serve their new masters as little more than mortal shells who daren't even dream of escape for what little time is left of their lives. With the lower tasks taken care of, the Druchii spend their long lives sharpening their skill with the blade, and using their wits to further their careers under the banner of the Witch King. While they take without thought or concern for the world, in Naggaroth the cities are ruled by Iron fists, with great Noble families demanding the respect of the other Druchii. In Naggarond no one dares whisper against the Witch King as he knows all that occurs within his realm. While in the infamous Har Ganeth Hellebron rules the cult of Khaine, her Witch Elves stalking the streets to sacrifice any they can find to the god of Murder on the yearly celebration of Death Night. They are a cruel people, forever it seems trapped within a cruel land they cannot escape. Their hatred burning bright, they travel the world bringing countless misery and grief to all they encounter.


*Models*
Many voice that the Dark Elves have one of the most consistently great looking figure lines in Warhammer and have done for a long time. Many of the current metal elites where sculpted by the excellent Chris Fitzpatrick before he left the company a few years ago and still look really good today. However as one of the more recent armies to get an update, and due to the split release schedule now employed by GW, they are currently weak in the Plastics department when compared to some of the other Fantasy armies.
They do have a few plastic boxes though; I just feel they are lacking one or two more especially for conversion opportunities. The current Plastics are the Dark Elf Warriors box (16 models,) The Corsairs Box (10 models,) and the Cold One Knights box (5models.) The rest of the range is metal and even though their are generally more expensive pts wise than say a Empire army so you would need less overall troops, they are quite a bit dearer at the moment than their cousins to collect.
So overall a Dark Elf army can be quite reasonable price wise depending on what you start with, however with the hydra and two large monster mounts easy to field even at 2000pts, it isn’t in the cheapest to collect category, and we are let down slightly by the amount of our elites that are metal.

The models themselves in general are quite easy to put together, although I should note both the Black Guard and Executioners can be a little fiddly due to the weapons you need to attach to the figures. The Executioners especially as the metal blade has a tiny hole to be glued into and there is little if any room in the blade for pinning. It makes them slightly more delicate than your average figure and they do very poorly in any kind of fall.

As regards to painting, I find them elegant figures and take to the general Druchii theme of dark colours very well. Due to the amount of metal figures however there is a lot of detail to contend with, but to be honest no more than many other armies, just take your time and pick out all the details you can.
Common colours for Druchii include black, purple, dark red, and dark to midnight blue, dark metal colours and Gold. Good highlight colours are silver, red, light purple and shadow grey. I would say that if you pick this army and obviously get yourself the army book, the pages devoted to the painted figures section is very good, and show a great number of contrasting colours you could use for your force, much more so than previous Druchii army books.


*Game play*
Dark Elves like all Elf armies have a weakness in the fact they are fragile, with most of standard troops and characters of the army at Toughness 3. However they more than make up for this via their Magic, Monsters and Elite units. On top of this they have the Elven counter balance to the low toughness, the precious movement of 5. This fragile factor and the elite nature of the force and tactics employed have made many mark them as an army unfriendly to beginners. There might be some truth in that, but I would say to a beginner any Warhammer army is going to be difficult to use. One of the main things I will advise any Druchii budding general is to keep your mind on the prize. Try to avoid silly mistakes like not declaring a charge, moving in way to close when you have the distance advantage or really crazy things like forgetting the magic phase. Yep, sadly in my early years of gaming I've done that one, its fatal, but it does teach you to not do it again. 
Also remember to use your movement to your advantage, you can get that just a little closer to most other races without fear of a charge, you can dictate when and where the key fights will happen, this a key thing to utilize as a Druchii General. Other things would be that the shooting phase and magic phases are important to us, and do not let your opponent dictate the pace of the game. Slow his units down, out shoot them and then combine on charges to bring your foe to his/her knees, it is after all the Druchii way. 
I believe I also need to mention Hatred. It is a nice advantage but be aware of its down side, you must always pursue a enemy that flees and if you wipe out an enemy unit on the charge you must overrun so be aware of where you unit might go if its likely you will wipe them out in that first round. Basically if it’s going leave your prize unit in front of three enemy units it might be a short term gain for a long time loss. Try to be careful when and where you charge, a cunning opponent may place a unit knowing you will beat it easy just to force your unit to chase it out of position.

Now I'm going to take a little look at the units, just to give some general game play tips for each.

I think the first advice I would give regarding units is our firepower, both Repeater crossbows and Reaper Bolt Throwers lay down impressive rates of fire. The former is especially useful against other Elves, Humans and standard undead units as it has at least an evens chance of wounding most of the time. Although I would still probably take one squad of them for tougher armies, just to oppose any opponent flanking units which tend to be weaker. I should also note that I've happily out shot Wood Elves in battles, especially with Glade Guard needing to get within fifteen inches to be at their best, never underestimate our ability to let down a rain of death. 
With Reapers I believe these are almost an automatic choice in our army, in games of 1000pts I'd advise one Reaper, at 1500 two and 2000pts or higher at least two with the Hydra. They can decimate foes units so easily it will make them a hated unit for most of your regular opponents. Combine those two with our Dark Magic and Dark Elves can out shoot or at least equal a lot of their opponents, allowing you to whittle down units until the right moment for your elites comes to strike. This combined with our movement should mean few units reach our lines intact.

Warriors are now silly cheap, dropping 2pts from the previous book for no change in gear or stat line and anyone building an army for tactical ability over fluff, cannot afford not to take one or two units of these guys and gals. For the pts you pay, you will have Empire Generals glancing over looking at the stat line and equipment and spitting teeth at you. 

Corsairs are a cheap but useful offensive close combat unit; I'd tend to suggest using them to support a forward movement with elites or a large Warrior unit. Due to their added bonus against shooting attacks I would also recommend hiding any Sorceress on foot within a Corsair unit. 

Harpies overlooked by many are tactically lethal with that cheap pts cost. Their ability to fly does several great things for you, great march blockers, wizard hunting, War machine hunting, screening troops and a general distraction for your opponent. Their cost though means unlike Dark Riders who many use in this role, they are pretty much throw away troops, and while your opponent is worried about them or being hampered by them, you main elites and monsters are closing in.

Dark Riders are still a tactically sound unit in any army however, arming them with repeater Crossbows allows you to harass your enemy and potentially kill an enemy wizard on their own without even needing to charge. You can also use them to protect a mounted Sorceress, or add a noble to make a surprisingly (for your opponents) tough flanking unit on the charge. They are still or course good march blockers, and thanks to their ranged abilities can deal with most enemy flankers on their own which is a huge advantage.

Cold One Knights are now really impressive. They gained a strength so their lances hit on a strength 6 making them much more deadly. They still have a 2+ save and one of the best supporting mounts for damage in the game, but have the added bonus of a banner that effectively lets you make a turn where you are not going to fail an important Stupidity check when you need a charge. Add to this the Dread Knight being able take a magic item which includes either a lance with killing blow, or a item to make the unit Immune to Psychology, they are just nasty.

Black Guard are pretty evil too with their improvements with the new book. Eternal Hatred every round thanks to Warrior Elite is really good, but they also gained an attack, became immune to psychology to go alongside their Stubborn ability, plus the unit leader can now take a 25pt magic item which is a additional useful bonus. Overall an excellent unit and with a noble on foot or the battle standard bearer can make a solid rock in your lines.

Witch Elves unleash a horrifying amount of attacks but are really weak against missile fire, basically leave these girls at home if you are facing a Dwarf gun line, but against the close combat themed armies such as Warriors of Chaos, Daemons and so on they are excellent, especially with some of their Khaine items and a Banner of murder. I would probably still take them against most foes if I'm honest as even if they are targeted by ranged attacks, that means other things are marching unhindered and due to the frenzy they will need to be fully wiped out, no need to worry about panic. Just be careful that their frenzy isn't used against them by your opponent’s cheap flanking scouting units to pull them out of position. Oh and due to the glorious return (I'd been moaning long enough) of Witch Elf Heroes, consider in larger pts games chucking one of these divas in the unit to cause even more carnage.

Executioners are now stronger thus hit at strength six, and they have killing blow which makes them an excellent unit to charge highly armoured foes with, however I still feel they are still our weakest option in Special, and would only consider them in large pts games. 

The Cold one Chariot is a useful unit and like with the Cold One Knights now has a Ld of 9 to try and avoid failing to many stupidity checks. They hit hard and are quite quick, put a noble on there and they can really cause some damage, a joint Hydra, Noble mounted Chariot charge is a sight to behold.

Shades are still useful as a march blocker, being able to take Great weapons was an interesting advantage and in a wood they can be down right annoying. However at the moment I feel both the Harpies and Dark Riders perform the job better than they do for the pts. So I wouldn't take them myself unless the game was 2000pts or greater and only then against certain opponents such as those with a lot of War Machines or stand back units, where being a lot closer at the beginning would be a great advantage.

The Hydra was hard in the previous book, but a few more updates to this unit has made it very tough indeed. To be honest the only thing stopping it being an automatic choice is its location in rare, as Reaper Bolt Throwers are so damned useful. I think this will have to come down to personal choice, if you love the Hydra in games under 2000pts, take one, if you want the ranged ability take the Reapers. Although I would advise anyone once you get the second rare pick at 2000pts, to take them both.

Of our Heroes I think this comes down to personal choice, all have their uses depending on pts limit opponent etc, but I would advise anyone to take at least one Sorceress. With the new ability to earn more power dice via that spell and nifty items like the sacrificial dagger. One Sorceress can be quite a handful, two or more and your foes will be pulling their hair out trying to figure out how to stop the raw power they possess. We can dictate the game to most of our opponents via the Magic phase, I advise all Druchii generals to learn to love magic, its one of our favoured weapons.

I should make a special note for the Assassins. Now no longer a hero choice, they are expensive but deadly. Once you hit certain threshold in pts I'd almost say these fellows are an automatic choice, the higher your pts the more I would have. They can hide in units till the perfect opportunity arises to unleash them against you foe, most likely when an enemy character has charged the squad. Although if the squad should get caught by enemy troops before you are ready, they can make an awful mess of most units, elite or otherwise and may swing they fight for you. Just be careful your opponent isn't sending in flankers or a cheap unit to flush the assassin out before deciding to charge the unit with his General or another hero, In such a case waiting and not revealing the assassin especially if you think you can win the combat comfortably without his aid, might just give your opponent the shock of his/her life. 


*Money Saving*
Well at the moment the only really good way to save money is by employing bulk units of Warriors, repeater Crossbowmen and Corsairs, due to their availability in plastic. On a side note Warriors are particularly useful at the moment due to their new pts cost making them a very attractive unit on the field as well as being cheaper to purchase overall. 
Possibly another option would be to combine Corsair and Cold One Knight plastics to make cheaper Heroes on foot, or a Cold One mounted Master.


*Summary*
The Dark Elf army is a fairly strong list, it allows for a fairly fluffy options while still being competitive. You can happily theme a force around one of the city states, such as Har Ganeth by taking warrior units, repeating crossbows, Dark Riders with Executioners, Witch Elves, Shades, Cold One Knights and Reaper Bolt Throwers and still be a very nice themed force. You could also opt for a Black Ark raiding force by taking lots of corsairs and Naggarond by having plenty of Black Guard. We have some really great magic items and the Khaine item list as well, all making putting a Dark Elf force together a lot of fun.

It can be a hard army to learn, but once mastered it’s always been one of the toughest armies for an opponent to face. We have some of the best magic in the game, combined with good ranged ability and close combat units that can match up with most other elites in the game. The key thing to remember is we do most of our best stuff on the charge, it is the reason that many Druchii generals agree one of our toughest foes ironically is the slowest as Dwarves are the total anti to our force, working completely from a defensive position. 

So what are you waiting for, raise the banner of the Witch King and conquer the known world.


*Where to go next*
Well there is only one site I would link to, and to any Druchii fan it is worthy of a mention as it has a very large Druchii player base. Some might remember they helped GW implement a White Dwarf update for the previous book after proving it was seriously under powered.
I speak of course of druchii.net
They have some great tactics pages over there and more detailed guides than this one, a great site for any Druchii fan.


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## squeek

Druchii in Space said:


> Hopefully it’s what you where looking for Squeek and I hope it's not too long.


You're kidding right? It's fantastic mate, really good guide! +rep


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## Druchii in Space

Thanks, I just adjusted a couple of spelling mistakes the PC missed, ie hot insted of hit etc, and I think its good to go. glad you liked it.


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## Syph

Awesome stuff Druchii. Nice to find out a bit more about individual units. Hopefully this won't derail the thread beyond these Qs, but what's a decent sized Warrior regiment? My current unit is 2x8. I was going to add another couple of 2x8 units and then some Crossbows (1x10?) units. Similarly, what about Corsairs? I'd like to keep it quite simple as I'm not sure if I'll ever play, but should I decide to I don't want to have inadvertently crippled my army! Ideally I'd stick to what comes in one box, aside from the Crossbows which'd be done using a couple of boxes for the desired number of units.

Cheers!


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## Druchii in Space

Myself I've always tried to get all the rank bonuses when fielding Warriors, there where cheap with the update of the previous army book, now they are silly cheap as I said in the notes above. For about 140 pts you can have 20 of them with full command set in 4 ranks. Thats 11 attacks on the charge, with +4 to combat res before you even roll the dice, a couple of those supporting your elites and your opponent is going to know about it. 

Crossbows depends on the pts of the game, I'd have at least 10 every time, at 2000pts I'd say at least 2-3 of them.

Corsairs are just nifty as a offensive unit, I'd probably not bother with the hand crossbows as by the time you are close enough to use them you should really be looking for a charge. Although I have seen the idea thrown around to shoot with the hand crossbows and then stand and shoot when charged, might work out well, gonna have to try it but still not sure, escpecially against harder units or those not bothered by panic.

I think a full Corsairs unit backed with a Warrior unit could cause some problems for quite a equivilent cheap pts cost.

I know my new Druchii army from the battalion box is going to built around 20 Corsairs and two units of 14 Crossbows though, until I can get some Warriors. I'm a massive fan of rxb's.


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## squeek

The introductions so far are fantastic, many thanks to the posters who wrote them!  Though some armies are WIP, there are still quite a few armies that are in need of some love.

Covered so far...

The Empire - Othiem
Dwarves - Othiem
Orcs and Goblins - squeek
Lizardmen - rVctn_Khaiyn
Dark Elves - Druchii in Space
Daemons of Chaos - MaidenManiac
Ogre Kingdoms - MaidenManiac

In Progress

Vampire Counts - Drax
High Elves - Green Knight
Warriors of Chaos - Vaz
Wood Elves - Vaz
Beasts of Chaos - Vaz

So if there are any posters who fancy adopting one of the following armies it would be greatly appreciated :wink:

Brettonians
Chaos Dwarves
Dogs of War 
Skaven 
Tomb Kings

If anyone would prefer just to write a partial guide, maybe a single section this would still be a welcome addition, and would also be appreciated.


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## MaidenManiac

I could do Daemons of Chaos and Ogre Kingdoms, and could consider writing the Tomb King one too if its not taken when im done with those 2 k:


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## MaidenManiac

*Daemons of Chaos*

*Fluff*
The hordes of Daemons first started pouring into the Old World when the Old Ones polar gates collapsed for unknown reasons. This marked the disappearance of the Old Ones and the coming of the Daemons, the Daemons pouring into the world to wage a terribly costly war on(mostly) the Lizardmen whom at the time ruled the world, and had been the Old Ones subordinates. This war was at first not very effective but as time passed on the Daemons gained more and more ground. It was at this time that the wind of magic got corrupted by the forces of chaos, and the war turned more and more to the Daemons favour. Countless of Slanns became victims of the new wild magic that from that time on have been the winds of magic. After a cunning magical teleport of scores of Flesh hounds by Kairos Fateweaver at the siege of Xahutec the first of the temple cities fell to the Daemons, and many more came to share that fate in a war that lasted centuries. In the end the Daemons had broken the once proud Lizardmen empire into fragments of its former glory. 
The Dwarves got assailed in their mountain homes by untold numbers of Daemonic forces. Dwarves however were not, as they've never been, depending on the now wild magic of the old world to wage war, as they bind their magic in powerful runes of protection and destruction. This meant that dwarves fought Daemons more on equal terms, but the relentlessness of the Daemonic forces took its toll on the stubborn Dwarves. Slowly, one by one, their fortress homes fell to the Daemonic onslaught, lost to history. As the Daemons marched upon Karaz-a-Karak, the everpeak, they however met no resistance. The outer gates were undefended, taking this as a sign that the enemy had broken the Daemons swept into the caverns surrounding Everpeak. This was when the Dwarves played out their final card. They collapsed the mountains on the Daemonic horde, destroying it utterly, and then stayed safe behind the walls of Karaz-a-Karak for many years until the world outside were safe again.
The High Elves on Ulthuan suffered the same fate and fought a desperate battle to survive against the Daemonic hordes. The Elves came, after decades of long and bloody fights up with a plan to stop the Daemons. Their greatest mage Caledor ventured to the Isle of the Dead to cast a ritual to revert the flow of magic from the polar gates. During the desperate fight to keep the ritual safe the greatest High Elf hero ever, the first Phoenix king Aenarion was slain, and Caledor and the mages assisting him in his great ritual was forever trapped inside it. Their sacrifice halted the Daemonic tide thou, and saved the Old World from disaster.
Ever since has Daemons invaded the world when the power of Chaos waxed in the Old World, and at some point to come it will mark the final doom of the Old World.

*Models*
Daemons of Chaos are more or less a metal model army. With the release of the Doc list there came out the first two plastic sets of daemons GW's ever produced. Bloodletters and Daemonettes, and rumours are that when the second line of Daemons gets their release there will be Plaguebearers and Horrors too. A plastic Daemon Prince is also on the way and most likely new Seekers of Slaanesh, but that's most likely where the plastic part of the army stops. All units in the army are from either 6th ed or 7th, some units got redone for the new release of the Doc list but far from all. The models are however all of them up to standard and will fit nicely into armies.
However, Daemons are missing quite a few models for units at the moment. Daemonic chariots has never been produced by GW, seekers are withdrawn(most likely to be re-released to fit with 7th ed Daemonettes) and with the exception of Special Characters there are no Herald models at all. What of this that will be included in the forthcoming 2nd wave of DoC releases remains to be seen.

*Gameplay*
Daemons offer a lot more options to the game then one might think. The four Gods and their units available are very different from each other. While on the subject: 40k players should beware, the stat differences for Daemons in 40k and WHFB are huge, after seeing the differences you will most likely want to swap stats on everything from that time on...
Daemons of Chaos are a very customizable list that can change looks vastly from game to game. The army is very reliable, all units have magical attacks, have invulnerable saves, are Immune to Psychology, cause fear and Daemons don't run from combats like normal mortal units do – instead they suffer more wounds the more they failed their instability test. This gives you a tactically better overview on the game then you have with an army that can set of packing from a few bad dice rolls. The only real side of the game that Daemons of Chaos cant play is the shooty one. Barring Flamers and a Daemonic Gift the list lack shooting capabilities. Magic can make up for some of it, but not all.
Unlike mortals(WoC), beasts(BoC) or certain 40 Daemon/CSMlists playing mono god lists with Daemons will not work very well. It will work ofcrourse, but you will seriously gimp yourself by sticking to one God only. Daemons are meant to support each other. Whilst Furies are available to all Gods you will find yourself lacking in some area if you do this. All gods and their units have their own strengths and weaknesses. Be it combat, magic, resilience or speed you can always count on that another Gods minions have the solution for you.


*Lords and Heroes*
Bloodthirsters are the lest subtle of the four Greater Daemons there are to pick from, their only purpose is close combat at which they really excel. 
Keepers of Secrets are lightning quick monsters whom can goad enemies to attack them, be feared magicians, or even regain wounds by swallowing enemy spirits as they kill models in combat.
Great Unclean Ones are tough as nails, and can as their Slaaneshi counterpart become feared magicians. Wile not as ”killy” on first glance as the other 3 they can become an everlasting monster with regeneration and their starting 10 wounds.
Lords of Change are a bit more subtle, excellent magicians that weave multicoloured blasts of daemonfire upon enemies, many times behind them thanks to their feathery wings.
Daemon Princes are the 5th lords available to the army. Albeit not as powerful as a Greater Daemon they are non the less fierce fighters capable of causing havoc in the opponents lines. Daemon Princes greatest strength are however their much cheaper price then their bigger counterparts.

Heralds also differ depending on which god one bought them for. Daemonic Heralds are the only models that can ride in Daemonic chariots, that will however remove one of their biggest uses. A Herald that joins certain units of its own gods units will bestow some improvement on the unit like regeneration, hatred or so on. 
Tzeentchian heralds are always lvl 2 wizards while Slaaneshi ones and Nurgle ones can be upgraded to lvl 1s.
If you consider including a Battle Standard bearer this will be a Herald of one chosen god, which gives you access to more expensive banners and also make your daemonic instability tests more reliable.

*Core units*
In WHFB you have 5 different core units to build the base of your army around.
Bloodletters are as fast as elves, have high S and WS and the killing blow special rule making them very handy for killing hard armoured troops like cavalry and such.
Daemonettes are competing about being the fastest man-sized infantry in the game, sport high WS but rely on their many armour piercing attacks instead when fighting armoured targets.
Plaguebearers are slower then the two mentioned above but have a huge staying power thanks to higher T, they also have poisoned attacks which gives them the possibility of wounding nearly anything in the game.
Horrors are magic using units. The bigger the unit is the higher magic level it has and it casts spells like a normal Tzeentchian wizard. Combat wise they equal normal empire troopers.
Furies are the 5th available core unit, however they do not count towards the minimum required to take to fill your core slots. Furies are cheap flyers that are excellent warmachine hunters, however if they lose out they diminish extremely fast due to their abysmally low LD.

*Special units*
Flesh Hounds are(compared to 40k) really dangerous. Fast with high WS, S, and extreme magical resistance they are rightfully feared.
Seekers of Slaanesh are the fastest Fast Cavalry in the game. They rely, just like their footslogging kin on their many high WS armour piercing attacks to kill the opponents.
Nurglings(Yes! Bet you didn't see that one coming ) are the special unit of Grandfather Nurgle. They, like their troop kindreds, sport poisoned attacks, are skirmishers and also scouts which lets them deploy further onto the field of battle.
Screamers are they sky sharks of Tzeentch fly over enemies, flailing with their tails and thereby causing hits on units they fly over if they don't charge things.

*Rare units*
Bloodcrushers are Khornes shock cavalry Fast like normal heavy cavalry these units are much harder then their foot walking kindreds of the Khornate ranks. Many high WS, S killing blow attacks each makes them deadly to all opponents.
Fiends of Slaanesh are, just like seekers, insanely fast units that excels on hunting down enemy units from combats thanks to their abilities of rolling 1 more die and discarding the lowest one.
Beasts of Nurgle are hard as (s)nails with high T and regeneration. Their random attacks can be a big blessing thanks to their poisoned attacks rule, and they ignore the negative effects of being charged in their flanks or rear.
Flamers of Tzeentch are pyrocasters. Fast like Daemonettes these Tzeentchian Daemons hurls multiple blasts of multicoloured daemonfire on their targets, and should the enemy make it into combat with them they will not prove as weak as they might seem.

*Money saving*
Eerm, no not really. There are 2 plastic regiments to pick from, they will be a few more when the 2nd wave of Daemons gets released but up till then the only real way of saving money is 2nd hand buying. Except for those 2(atm) plastic units you are looking at an army in metal. Almost no unit really look like another either so its hard to convert your own models to make up for the current lack of plastics. The army is also missing quite a few options available to the list as models which will force conversions if you want to be able to field everything. The good side of that is that all models are metal so stripping them of paint is really easy.

*Summary*
Daemons are a psychologically stable army of elitesque units that can be made to fit more game styles then it appears like at first glance. Magic(mainly Tzeentch) and combat(Khorne and Slaanesh) are areas that the army easily can be made to excel at, and give the hardest opponents on those fields a tough match. Its also an army that will require assembling of lots and lots of metal models and crave conversions to fill up ”blank spots” in the model range meaning that it will be a big challenge for inexperienced modellers and a big strain for the wallets.
In terms of competition Daemons are currently whined upon by many a players as being ”too good” . The army is versatile and can be made to stand chances versus any lists and thanks to its stable nature its a really competitive army.


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## squeek

Cheers Maiden, that looks fantastic, I'll update the progress lists and ask torealis to add it to the stickied thread. +rep


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## torealis

+ rep and added. nice one. This is going really well...


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## torealis

If my new copy of the original red alert and my new hard drive dont work tonight, i'll write the bret entry.


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## MaidenManiac

*Ogre Kingdoms*

*Fluff*
The Ogre Kingdoms at first resided on the steppes far east of the Mountains of Mourn, on the borders of far Cathay. Their homeland were rich and the Ogres grew into vast numbers. The Ogres and Cathay started trading with each other, Cathay taught the Ogres how to make fires and started recruiting the smarter Ogres into the armies of Cathay. When the more barbaric of the Ogre nomads however started raiding Cathay for peasants for food His Most Excellent Majesty Xen Huong, Celestial Dragon Emperor of the Imperial Palace of Grand Cathay(now thats a title if any) took action. If His scores of astromancers were responsible for calling down the meteor that struck the Ogre homelands soon after is unsure but seem very likely. The majority of the Ogres were killed, either on impact or in the following war for food when the stronger Ogres killed the weaker ones for food. The surviving tribes moved to the mountains to the west, making this their new homelands. One Ogre, Groth Onefinger, however led his tribe to the meteors place of impact and found a gigantic gulping crater, larger then an inland sea. Groth made sacrifice to the Great Maw as the Ogres started referring to the deity as the Great Maw, and ever since that day has Ogres worshipped the Great Maw that resides deep in their original homelands. A Deity that constantly hungers, a hunger that never can be sated and this fire burns in all Ogres from that day on.

*Models*
Ogre Kingdom models are all fairly new since the Codex itself is fairly new. 
Bulls, Ironguts and Leadbelchers are all plastics, as are of course Gnoblars. All characters are metal models, as are the Ogre specific rare units available to the army. However making Ogre characters and/or Maneaters from plastics is nothing undoable. This will naturally also go for making Gnoblar Trappers out of the normal runts. The Scraplauncher is a very charmy model, an Ogre version of a chariot with its own extra pros and cons. Yethies are however(in my personal opinion at least) horribly ugly models. Making these out of Ogres are probably possible too, but due to game technical details I'd not bother. Gorgers are a bit strange looking, but the model fits its role very good and at least I accept it for its looks. If you consider including a Giant its the standard Giant used for the Ogres too.

*Gameplay*
Ogres are a quite straight forward army. You want to get stuck in with the opponent to smash his units to bits with your crude clubs or great weapons and secure the evening meal for the army.
This is however far less easy then one might think on the first pondering thoughts. All Ogres cause fear, are multiwound models with many attacks, but Ogres are also expensive to say the least, and while hitty for sure, they really need to support each other in order to make the army work at all. In a 2k pts army its rare that the amounts of Ogres exceed 30, Gnoblars not counted of course. A true Ogre would never think about them anyway!
Ogre magic is called Gut Magic and all Butchers, and the greater version Slaughtermasters, know all spells from the list automatically. All spells have the same casting value which starts very low, but if you successfully cast (undispelled)one spell the casting value of that certain spell is raised for other Butchers that turn. There are three spells that augment the Ogres themselves, giving either increased S, T or Regeneration together with more effects and some ill effects for the Butcher. One spell that causes panic tests on the target unit, one magic missile and the last spell heals the Butcher one wound if nothing goes wrong.
Ogres, despite being powerful models in their own, suffer from “first time list” syndromes. The synergy that Orcs have from their choppas are missing for Ogre clubs and Ironfists, Bullcharge really don't work, and they are psychologically very fragile thanks to extremely low numbers and shoddy leadership values. The Ogre Big Names, Ogre equivalent of sacred spawnings and bloodline powers and such, count towards magical item points unlike other armies equivalents. The Leadbelchers are also very expensive for a unit that's more likely to blow themselves up when missfireing then killing the opponents when shooting.
That Ogre Kingdoms are referred to as a bottom line list ain't no surprise, there are far to many armies that are auto loss to play against as Ogres.

_Lords and Heroes_
Tyrants are the generals of Ogre armies, the lord level Ogre and he does his name justice. Ogre Tyrants are hard as rocks and can kill just about anything if geared correctly.
Slaughtermasters are the lord version of Butchers. Sadly you will scarcely field those as they require a Tyrant to be in the army too to be a viable pick.

Bruisers are the enforcers of Tyrants, brutal beasts that themselves can turn tides of battle and prove a hard fight for the most lords of other armies.
Butchers are the Ogre equivalent of a wizard. These guys channel the powers of the Great Maw onto your units on the field of battle, and most times you will find these guys stealing your hero slots.
Hunters are loners, Ogres that live for the hunt and only accept company from a few Sabretusks. These huge felines can be sent to hunt down prey by the Hunter leaving him to other concerns.

_Core units_
Bulls make up the standard fighting ranks of Ogre armies and at least one unit is mandatory in all armies. Having a few weapon options leaves possibilities and choices, but most likely you will end up with armour and Ironfists.
Ironguts are the Tyrants guards sporting heavy armour and great weapons which makes them formidable opponents against all units.
Gnoblars are small goblinoids that really excel on lousiness. They are however dirt cheap and are the only models that can get ranks in the army which might come in handy.
Trappers are Gnoblar scouts that's sent out before the army to start the battle ahead of the rest and hopefully do some good from their forward position

_Special units_
Leadbelchers are Ogres carrying cannons, mortars or similar big guns which they fill with weapons taken from dead opponents and shoot them back on their enemies with mixed results. These guys are the only pure shooting unit in the army making a few more or less mandatory.
Yethies are not Ogres but distant relatives. They are fast, harder to hit thanks to them emitting a cold aura, ignore terrain when moving and have magical attacks. However Gut Magic doesn't work on them thanks to not being Ogres.
Scraplaunchers are a mix of chariot and catapult. Crewed by Gnoblars these machines can either shoot or charge away, if enemies are too close the Rhinox tend to decide on the latter leaving the Gnoblars to hang on whether they like it or not.

_Rare units_
Maneaters are Ogres that have travelled abroad to distant lands and fought most things worth fighting, and thereby also eaten most things worth eating. They are better fighters, stronger and by far more overconfident then normal Ogres and can mix weapons in the unit freely.
Gorgers are deformed Ogres that are thrown into caves under the Tribes homes and fight constantly for survival. They are used in battles to harass enemy rearguards and warmachines thanks to their ability of coming in from other table edges during the game.
Slavegiants that gets enslaved by Tyrants are by far inferior to their other kin. Tyrants takes great pleasures in beating the living hell out of them till they are utterly broken leaving a Giant missing its stubborn rule, which also leaves them utterly useless.

*Money Saving*
Most things needed are plastic models, and all of them are based on the Bulls with adding extra sprues to access great weapons or the like. With some nifty work with the scalpel and green stuff and spare bits one can easily make a playable army out of 7 regimental boxes for 2k pts. Thanks to the expensive Ogres you actually gain a full scale army for a cheap price which will be as playable as Ogres gets. Ogres only real competition of being the cheapest army around is all chaos warrior WoC armies. Ogre sprues are also very fun, packed with all kinds of nice details like barrels, pieces of meat, Gnoblars in sacks and lots of more fun.

*Summary*
Ogres are a cheap army to build with lots of fun and well designed plastics available that can be converted into a whole army with a bit of time. The list itself is probably fluffwise the best list GW has ever written, the insights into Ogre culture are extremely entertaining and well written. In short terms if you're strong enough to be the new boss go for it, if you win you become the new leader and get the privilege of eating the old one, else you'll be his next meal. Reading about their food philosophy is grand fun as are the Ogre tactic parts. During the whole book there is never an occasion where the word right is used. In the world of Ogres its left and the other left!
Gamingwise the army however ends up on the loosing end very often thanks to lack of synergy coming from the time when the list was made, at the heights of the “nerf lists” era. Taking Ogres to a tournament and believing you'll win is like betting on the worst horse in a race and expect that you'll win jackpot...
“An Ogre trusts his club, and will eat it only in the direst of circumstances”:spiteful:


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## MaidenManiac

*Tomb Kings*

*Fluff*
Tomb Kings reign in the Nehekharan lands, south of The Great Ocean, to the far south of the Empire. This was, long before the dawn of the Empire, the peak of civilisation. Under the rules of their different dynasties of Kings the armies of Nehekhara conquered the other desert-kingdoms around them, and at a point the might of Nehekhara was so vast that it even controlled what was to be Tilea and part of the Empire. The base of the Nehekharan power were the kingdoms first city Khemri. It was there the King of the Nehekharan lands sat, and to him did all conquered lands pay tribute in forms of gifts and slaves. This was also the birthplace of the search for immortality in the form of undeath. Already the first, and greatest, king Settra ordered his priesthood to start searching for a way to prolong his life beyond the life of mortal men. Though they searched far and wide they could not prevent the unavoidable and Settra was buried in a huge Pyramid, raised under 25 years to his tribute, promising him eternal life when he would awake after a million years of sleep. The priesthood did however find ways of prolonging their own lives, and the 5th generation of priests achieved immortality. It was here that the Great Necromancer Nagash started his cursed deeds as the High Priest of the Nehekharan priesthood. Burying his brother, the King Thutep, alive in his father King Kheteps Great Pyramid he seized the throne for himself, and no one dared oppose him, making him both High Priest and King over Nehekhara. Under the tyranny of Nagash the kingdom of Nehekhara was forced to pay huge tributes to him, to finance the building of the huge Black Pyramid of Nagash which led to starvation in the lands. This did in the end lead to a huge civil war where Nagash, as the first person in history raised the dead to fight for him, was defeated and forced to flee. However his corruption had started to spread in the Kingdom. In the city of Lahmia the queen dabbled in the dark powers and was the first to drink the Elixir of Nagash, making her the first vampire ever, and soon her court had become infected with the curse of the Vampires. Nagash would not take defeat that easily though. Vowing that he'd rather see the whole kingdom dead then let another man rule over Nehekhara he poisoned the rivers and let loose plague on the population, and when he marched back to Khemri there was nothing that could stop him, taking the last King Alcadizaar as his prisoner and brought him back to his keep. Then came the weaving of the greatest spell ever cast in the old world, when Nagash uttered his ritual of awakening, raising the whole population of the dead land Nehekhara back to unlife, only to be struck down(for the first time) by its last King Alcadizaar, whom then disappeared out of history after witnessing the death of his beloved realm.

*Models*
All the Tomb King models are from the time of the book, 6th edition and are almost all good looking. Skeleton warriors/archers, Skeleton Horsemen, Skeleton Charioteers are all plastic sets which covers all available core units in the army except Tomb Swarms.
All other models for the army are metal models. Of all the models in the army its (in my opinion) only the Bone Giant that is horribly ugly, all the others are good looking, and the Ushabtis are really cool. Tomb Kings are a “complete” army as referring to if all models are out, so there are no blanks needing to be filled by other models.

*Game play*
Well Tomb Kings are an army that has its unique way of working. There really ain't no easy way of describing it. Being undead the army is similar to the Vampire Counts army, all models are immune to psychology, cant march, are unbreakable and lose wounds instead when losing combats and of course they cause fear.
Tomb Kings, unlike Vampire Counts, have the options of playing either defensively or offensively thanks to their broader variety of units available.
Their magic part however works very different from other armies. The characters of the Tomb King army that can cast spells(most of them) know all incantations they can cast, and they work a bit like bound spells. You roll a few dice to determine the casting values for each incantation, but this is only done to get a number for the opponent to equal to dispel the incantation. Incantations don't have casting numbers, so they cant fail to be cast(unless dispelled) and will not be miscast or cast with Irresistible Force. The Tomb King magic phase is very strictly organized, and all spells follow a certain casting order as presented in the book.
Tomb Kings are also unique due to the fact that the army must include 2 heroes, one Tomb King/Prince as the general and one Lich Priest who acts as the Hierophant, the will that keeps the army fighting. If he dies the army starts to crumble.

_Lords and Heroes_
Tomb Kings are an old King from some time of history, a formidable fighter in all aspects. If he is mounted in a Chariot then those counts as core units in the army, else they are special. When a Tomb King or Prince are slain, as final revenge, they curse their killer which might prove fatal.
Lich High Priest are the lord level Lich Priests and if included he will always be the army's Hierophant. They can cast 2 incantations per magicphase and roll more dice to determine the casting numbers on them.

Tomb Princes are less powerful then Tomb Kings, but still fearsome warriors in their own right. A Prince can also ride a chariot, but its only the King that makes them core units for the army.
Icon Bearers are Tomb Kings Battle Standard Bearers, and are most likely the worst heroes in the game statwise. When you add the fact that he cant cast incantations it quickly adds up to the fact that you will rarely see this walking corpse.
Lich Priests are the hero level wizards that generally keep the shambling hordes of the Tomb Kings working with their incantations.

_Core units_
Skeleton Warriors are either equipped with armour and shields, or bows. All bows in the Tomb King army have enchanted arrows that always hit on a fixed number. If the army general is a King then one unit can buy a cheap magical flag.
Skeleton Light Horsemen are fast(well as fast as undeads get) cavalry and are armed with bows.
Skeleton Heavy Horsemen are medium cavalry armed with spears that trade the bow the Light Horsemen have for more save and a spear.
Tomb Swarms are swarms of poisonous scarabs that can burrow themselves under the field of battle to emerge on a designated point of the table to cause mischief.
Chariot Units are units of light Chariots. These move like fast cavalry, do less impact hits then normal chariots, and have less unit strength then a normal chariot.

_Special units_
Tomb Guards were in life the Kings personal Guard and most formidable warriors, and they still are in the afterlife. They are armed with magical weapons that also gives them killing blow.
Carrions are the animated remains of huge birds that once roamed the land of Nehekhara. These units are flyers and fill the same function as similar units in other armies.
Ushabtis are one of three units of undead constructions that are available in the Tomb King army. Undead constructions do not crumble as fast as normal undead units and are generally much harder in their stature. Ushabtis are huge Anubis-warrior looking animated statues armed with big ritual blades capable of felling any opponent.
Tomb Scorpions are the second available construct unit in the army, a statue in which a killed Lich Priest is placed to rest and are thereby more resistant to magic then normal units. Tomb Scorpions are, just like Tomb Swarms, capable of burrowing themselves under the battlefield to emerge at a given point of the table. Tomb Scorpions are however strong fighters and have both poisoned attacks and killing blow thanks to their huge claws.

_Rare units_
Screaming Skull Catapults hurls skulls on the enemies, just like a stone thrower. The skulls are magically enhanced and therefore counts as magical flaming attacks which cause panic to any unit that suffers a casualty from them. These can be upgraded to throw the specific skulls of the opponents for increased effect.
Bone Giants are the third available type of construction. An undead version of a giant that cause mayhem on any unit it charges thanks to its relentless assault rule.
Casket of Souls are bought to a Lich Priest or Lich High Priest, which costs a rare slot, and work like an immobile warmachine. The power of the Casket makes enemy spells less powerful, and its own powers can be emitted at the end of the Tomb King magic phase, causing all units that can see the Casket to be affected by the searing light of death.

*Money saving*
Almost all core units are plastic sets, and tomb swarms can be home made with some creativity. Tomb Guards can be converted out of normal Skeleton Warriors with some work. The rest of the army is a bit harder. All constructions have very unique looks but could probably be made out of models from other companies ranges of models somehow. The other way to save money is of course the 2nd hand market. Tomb Kings are not a very common army, and most likely there are folks that can consider getting rid of their old models.

*Summary*
Tomb Kings are quite uncommon as an army. Most players are unused to playing against them, and their specific sort of magic can present a huge problem for many players. In the aspect that it is an undead army it is similar to Vampire Counts, but there are lots of differences. Beside the magic system the army differ from Vampire Counts army due to the fact that Tomb Kings include ranged units, warmachines, large units and even large targets. This leaves the option of playing them any way the player feels like, and all ways can be made viable on their own. 
The Tomb King codex is beautifully designed, the army is supposed to represent an ancient force that was there already at the birth of the Empire, and the codex clearly manages to represent that feeling. Each side looks like an old weathered Egyptian stone table describing some event which makes the list very characterful.
All in all Tomb Kings are an army that is flexible, and also quite rare in numbers meaning that you will most likely not see many similar armies around, even on bigger tournaments. Add the nice way the Tomb Kings codex is presented and you end up with a characterful army of skeletons.


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## squeek

Maiden you are a star!  There will be rep coming your way when I have given it to a few more people!

So time for an update I think!

Covered so far...

The Empire - Othiem
Dwarves - Othiem
Orcs and Goblins - squeek
Lizardmen - rVctn_Khaiyn
Dark Elves - Druchii in Space
Daemons of Chaos - MaidenManiac
Ogre Kingdoms - MaidenManiac
Tomb Kings - MaidenManiac

In Progress

Vampire Counts - Drax
High Elves - Green Knight
Warriors of Chaos - Vaz
Wood Elves - Vaz
Beasts of Chaos - Vaz


So if there are any posters who fancy adopting one of the following armies it would be greatly appreciated

Brettonians
Chaos Dwarves
Dogs of War
Skaven

If anyone would prefer just to write a partial guide, maybe a single section this would still be a welcome addition, and would also be appreciated. Many thanks to everyone that has contributed so far, we are really getting somewhere with this project now!


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## Vaz

I'm writing Warriors of Chaos now, Squeek. Just played a few games against all opponents (but not builds, although there have been balanced builds and gunline mainly - eh I'm losing thread here, but basically, I've tested against Gunlines and Balanced set ups for most armies, and as such, I have a pretty good knowledge against such opponents, and know the main strengths and weaknesses of the units.

Should be up by tonight .


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## torealis

tor saw it, and said it was good.

PLUS REP


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## Ancient Tiel' a fier

How are you doing for the last of these? I can write the Skaven and Bretonian ones if you like. I can write up on Chaos Dwarfs and Dogs of War too but obviously without a proper book there may be less to say. 
Drax is on with counts i see, he may not be able to finish it as his old man has fallen ill i will ask him if he would like me to do that too if thats ok with you guys.


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## squeek

Anything you can do would be appreciated Ancient, the CD and DoW are likely to be shorter as you say but that is because of the lack of info about so I can't see a problem with it.

If anyone is struggling to do them for whatever reason, don't worry about it at all, just pm me or post it and we will hopefully find someone else to take it up. Ancient if you do start them can you edit it in to the list on the front page please mate?


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## Ancient Tiel' a fier

Ok will do.


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## Vaz

*Warriors of Chaos*

*Fluff*
At the polar regions of the Warhammer World lie the Polar Gates, a Vortex contained thanks to the powerful magic of the Old Ones. These Gates lead to the fabled realm of Chaos, where the laws of physics are rewritten and logic is an alien concept. It is here that the 4 major gods of Chaos reside, beings formed from the pure emotion coalescing into a physical force, trapped inside the dimensions that only passing through the gates can lead to. These gods, Khorne, the god of bloodlust and war, Slaanesh, the god of weakness and desire, Tzeentch, the great manipulator and spinner of fate, and Nurgle, the god of death, fear and decay are too powerful to be contained completely, and their power gradually overflows from their sealed prison. It is this influence which the men of the North will succumb to, and will dedicate their lives to. Every tribe from north of Kislev all the way to the gates of Chaos themselves will feel the call of the Gods. Instead of the blind faith of the other religions, these Gods will provide boons and mutations, which despite these aberations, are seen as a great blessing, for the gods have taken notice of the individual. Such warriors will leave the tribes, already hardy fighters, used to taking what they cannot make or grow by force, and will journey through the lands, gaining reknown. Gradually, as the gods see that these are worthy to be elevated at a chance of the path of daemonhood, the ultimate goal of a Chaos Warrior, they will heap rewards upon the soldier. However, this is but another test. Each mutation causes the tribesman to lose his identity, his humanity. If they lack the will to continue despite these burdens, and blessings, they will dissolve into a mewling Spawn. If the few who do have the will, the rewards are great. Unlimited power, and even the uttering of your name causes the Old World to shudder in fear. Thankfully, it is such a rare occasion that a being has the power to tread the path of daemonhood, that for every one who makes it, thousands litter the battlefields, of those who survived the battles, hundreds fell prey to the Mutations. It is thankfully an even rarer occasion that the Warlords and Daemon Princes will band together long enough to form an alliance, so busy are they fighting amongst themselves. When such a being arrives, there is one thing certain - The Old World will Burn.

*Models*
The new Army Book release has seen a few new plastic sets released, in addition to several new metal miniatures for the Special Characters.

Although it's only on first wave releases, all the Core choices can be purchased, although Hounds are due for a plastic set. Special Choices are mainly metal - only Knights are plastic. Forsaken are not released yet, although the rest (Chosen, Trolls, Dragon Ogres, Ogres, and Chariots are currently all metal.

Rare choices are nearly all metal - the Giant is plastic however. The War Shrine is not released yet. 

The models are generally high quality (Archaon recently being voted as one of the most Beautiful Models released by Games Workshop, and I fully Agree), but the old Marauder warriors are rather ugly looking, and outsize bulky (bulkier than Chaos Warriors, and look like an Army of Arnies). In addition, not all of the Weapons options are available - halberds and Great Weapons mainly - although Games Workshop have released the weapons as a Bitz pack available from the Online Store.

The worst models by far in the Chaos range has got to be Dragon Ogres - perhaps the worst in the Games Workshop range. However, with the Ogre Bulls/Ironguts set, and a few Cold One bodies, you can create a nice looking unit, with a bit of conversion.

*Game play*
With their huge abilities in Close Combat (even cheap Marauders can be upgraded, and can deal with many elite troops, man to man, while a unit of the same cost as the elite troops can outnumber by a 3 to 1 ratio), you would think that Chaos are much of a one trick pony - one trick that they are EXTREMELY good at. However, while putting all your eggs in one basked will mean that you will outclass pretty much anything that an opponent can throw at you, if your opponent can counter, you will need some support. Magic for Chaos, coming straight from the Realm of Chaos is rather more deadly than the magicians tricks and fireworks that the Empire can produce, the raw power rushing through the bodies of the Sorcerors either buffing units (such as Regeneration, making a Rank and File Trooper a Hero, to making a unit cause Fear. That's not the only use, as numerous spells, regardless of the Lore can obliterate opponents. With the addition of the Hellcannon, Chaos now can have a Shooting Phase! And this is a rather useful piece of kit. Crew Dead? Then it will decided to break its bonds and savage the enemy. Killing those Chaos Dwarves will see a daemon cannon charging towards your opponents battle lines. The number of units available for Chaos mean that you can have a large variety as well, or you can overload on a certain troop - their weapon options as well allow you to counter pretty much any opponent.

_Lords_
First off - Special Characters. Archaon. _Lord of the End Times_. Sums him up rather well. In addition to putting him in a rock hard unit of Chaos Knights has some handy buffs for them, not to mention the Magic Banner, and the Marks that the unit can carry can make him nigh on unkillable. And he's cheaper than ever. One of the new additions is Eye of the Gods. When a Character has fought and won in a challenge, you may roll on a table which enhances your stats to superhuman levels, increasing your Armour, Leadership, Attacks, Strength etc. Very tasty, especially when they HAVE to fight challenges, and can munch through sacrificial champions with no problem.

Galrauch. 2 Headed Dragon, Level 4 Mage, and 2 breath attacks, with the ability to cause enemies to take a Toughness test or dissolve into primordial goop.

Sigvald - A Chaos Lord, but he looks a bit of a pansy next to Archaon. But he's still a Chaos Lord. Put him in a unit of those hitty Chosen that just _has_ to hit the enemy line, and they will float over that difficult terrain like it's not their.

Kholek. A Shaggoth. Don't know what one of them is? Dragon Ogre. Very Old. Very Big. With a big hammer. Ultimate Monster/Character/Character on Monster killing machine. Oh, and can choose to target enemies with an Electric Blast, or make himself frenzied.

Valkia - Flying daemon princess with a big Spear. Nothing to remarkable, but she's a Khorne Daemon with the Benefits of Frenzy, without the Drawbacks. Good enough. 

Vilitch - Chaos Sorceror, that nicks your dice if you fail to cast a spell, making it easier to dispel the rest of your spells. Oh, and 4 attacks, at WS 5, Str 4. Very nice.

Chaos Lord - killy. Definition. With access to a remarkably cheap Magic Weapon armoury, enhancing his stats that a Vampire gets wet dreams over, with the ability to ride two Flying Monsters, or ride a choice of Chariot, Barded Chaos Steed (stronger than your pansy Empire Warhorses) or 5 Monstrous Creatures, that count as Cavalry. 

Sorceror Lord - Level 3, Can be Level 4, range of 4 Magic Lores, on top of the 3 Chaos Lores, and can ride the same mounts as a Killy Lord. On top of that, he has stats that are the equal of Heroes of other races.

Daemon Prince - Flying, Terror Causing, Optional Magic Using Combat Beast. Unfortunately, while it's good at everything, to get the best out of the points cost, in smaller games, it must do everything, unfortunately, it can't do everything, as it must charge, or cast spells. Good in larger games, but personally, under 3000, or as a Second Lord, I wouldn't consider.

_Heroes_
Festus - Literally, the worst Combat Model (unless you count horses) in the army. Still not too weak however, but his power lies in buffing his unit he joins. He is a Level 2 Wizard, and grants a Lesser Regeneration on his unit, as well as giving them poisoned attacks. Unfortunately, despite making them far more effective, they are unable to pursue opponents very far - Cavalry are uncatchable, and only against dwarves are you able to have a decent opportunity to catch them. 

Throgg - Rather a good unit, but generally only if you include 2-3 units of Ogres, Trolls or Dragon Ogres (which is a rather good idea), as they can then benefit from his higher Leadership and ability to act as a Banner for such units. Tasty in Hand-to-Hand - can give even Lords a run for their money, and those Spirit Hosts no longer provide as much trouble now, with his D6 hits vomit.

Wulfrik - I like. Quite expensive, and no magic weapons. But he does have Sea fang. Your opponent may be used to seeing Quite small chaos armies from the old Army Book, with lots of Warriors and Marauders being ignored. In turn 2, hows about marching on to battle behind his Gun line with 20 Marauders and this guy leading them? If supported by a Sorceror, (Fear Causing, or Regeneration, or a Free Exalted Champion?), they can be very nasty.

Chaos Sorceror - Can be used as a Caddy, and used in a battle line, hoping for some useful little spell (even the basic damaging spell for each Chaos Lore is an annoyance that can either reap a hefty toll, or drain dispel dice) to buff your units. However, their main strength comes from supporting your other units, and hitting the opponents lines with some nasty spells - Nurgle can call down a spell which hits targets with 4D6 shots ignoring armour saves - Elves, Empire and Bretonnians watch out. 

Exalted Champion - the equal of many lords, and can carry a banner - either causing terror and making nearby units stubborn, or lowering opponents leadership being the Battle Standard options. 

_Core_
Warriors - a unit that is the equal of all but Elite Cavalry in opponents armies - and only then because they can't move as fast. They can go toe-to-toe with Black Orcs, Phoenix Guard, Black Guard, Greatswords, Bestigors, even Chosen and have a chance at coming out on top. With a mark they are even Nastier - with two WS5 Strength 4 attacks basic, each one is more than a match. In addition, each one can be tailor made to the task at hand - going against a Goblin Horde? Then whip out the Twin Hand Weapons. Going against Heavily armoured Infantry? Give 'em Great Weapons. Taking Charges from Heavy Cavalry? Sword and Board - 2+ Armour Saves on Basic Troops in combat, when you retaliate, hitting on a 3, wounding on a 3, with 2 attacks, even a 12 strong unit can dish out enough damage to cause a couple of casualties among those Knights.

Marauders - Spam units. Spam units that outclass many special troops for a third of the cost. And can get Marks. Suddenly, charging an outnumbering Horde of Skeletons doesn't sound so Scary when you're immune to Fear. Doubly less when you have no choice, but you double your attacks.

Warhounds - Fast units, which equal nearly all Fast Cavalry (although the lack of a Ranged attack means the Fast Cavalry are better). The perfect unit to send down a flank and charge those Pesky warmachines or archers. With the option to take an armour save and poison your attacks, you can easily create a unit which will provide a thorn in your opponents battle line, that can lead to a ranged unit twice the cost targetting them, instead of your valuable Warriors and Marauders. Unfortuantely, don't count towards the minimum requirements for Core, and Static Combat resolution beats the Warhounds.

Marauder Horsemen - Can either be left light and used as Fast Cavalry, or can be given Shields and Light Armour, and Flails, and have a unit which is capable of giving a Charge as dangerous as Knightly Orders from the Empire, at a fraction of the Cost. AND they can have a Mark.

_Special_
Chosen - The final word in death dealing infantry. At 18 points, are highly expensive, and require another option of equipment, but are capable of taking on even Heavy Cavalry. With a Mark, Elite Cavalry, such as Dragon Princes, Inner Circle Knights, Chaos Knights, and Blood Knights (or Rhinox Riders if your opponent is being a bugger) can be held, and then beaten down by the outnumber, and static resolution. Finally, they may roll on Eye of the Gods, to give them oomph. Not that they need it.

Forsaken - A smallish unit for the same cost as Chosen, but with a random number of attacks, faster, and a lower weaponskill. A Charge of even a unit of 5 can cause 20 attacks hitting a unit. Easily capable of taking apart a basic unit, but because of lack of equipment options, aren't as good against elite units.

Chaos Chariot - Sexy. Impact hits, Warriors aboard now have more attacks than the previous list, so are now capable of beign taken without relying on a baby sitting hero. Still, why not babysit with a Hero? Double up their attacks, and increase his survivability? Good choice, and can have a Mark as well.

Ogres - Beefy units. Expensive, but do have 3 wounds. Don't actually have the damage output of units such as Knights or Warriors, but can take a Charge a bit better, although they 'only' have Heavy Armour, but can be upgraded to Chaos. Giving them a great weapon means you have an even better unit to take a Cavalry Charge than Chosen. However, you are looking at a 45-50 point model, when compared to a Chosen/Knight. A plus over the other 2 other monstrous units is that they can have a Full Command.

Dragon Ogres - Extremely expensive, but extremely worth it. 4 wound monsters, higher strength, and move as fast as knights. God I have a fetish for these, but for a damn good reason. Although the equipment options are expensive, I would always consider giving them great weapons. If I am considering a Warshrine as a rare choice, then I would also go full on with the Champion, but it is not a requirement, as it is damn expensive. A unit or two of 3 is more than enough, and are harder than Chaos Knights, although the lack of save is a problem, it's unlikely that more than 2-3 wounds will be caused - consequently, you still have the same attacks striking back next turn. I'm sorry, I'm ranting, but I love these. Shame about the models.

Trolls - Rather good when Throgg is present in the Army, but Stupidity is a bastard on their Low Leadership. When they hit the lines though, they are tough and strong, and with vomit, nasty ethereal holding up units, like Wraiths and Spirit Hosts can be beaten, by outnumbering and wounds caused. And they have Regenerate.

Chaos Knights - like Chosen are the last word in infantry, Knights are the last word in Heavy Cavalry. With their Basic Weapons, they gain a +1 strength, and can attack back against those nasty ethereal units, or can 'downgrade' to Lances if you are fighting Heavily armoured opponents (Dwarves, Empire Knights, Bretonnians, Chaos). They have a 1+ Save, and can take a Mark of Chaos, reducing the chances to hit, or causing cannonballs to rebound, or you can make them sociopathic (well, more sociopathic) killing machines, and make them frenzied. Special note here goes to Archaon - if he joins his 'Swords of Chaos', they can take a Mark, and they become Immune to Psychology. So a Frenzied/Impossible to hit/Impossible to wound Archaon leading a dead hard Knight unit is now possible. Oh, and they can take a Magic Banner. Last but certainly not least, Knights as a whole have Eye of the Gods.

_Rare_
Chaos Spawn - May take a Mark of Chaos. Well, they really should. Unbreakable, souped up Forsaken, causing Fear. Random movement is a pain, but otherwise, they are cheap enough to tie up those nasty hordes of troops (Empire Flagellants, Elvish Spearmen, Goblins in general).

Scyla - Khorne Chaos Spawn on Speed. Enough said.

Chaos Warshrine - a nice buff unit, with lots of wounds, toughness, and a tasty Armour and Ward Save. Can be counted on to defend itself as well - 5 Chaos Warrior attacks. However, it's not a damage dealer - it's a buff. While it's present, all unit Champions (including our favourite Dragon Ogres and Ogres) gain Eye of the Gods (normally reserved for Characters). In addition, if you wish, you can give a nearby unit the Eye of the Gods roll as a whole.

Hellcannon - Can't decide if it's an artillery piece, or a Monster. It's a bit of a bugger, in that if you misfire, you can decimate half your magic users, or destroy your own units, then destroy itself. Alternatively - hope your opponent kills your Chaos Dwarf crew and watch as his face falls to see the daemon inhabiting the Cannon rip them to shreds, the hurtle towards their line like a steam train. Just keep your own units away from it.

Shaggoth - You know how I can wax lyrical over Dragon Ogres? And over Kholek? The same thing applies here. A great big Dragon Ogre. With a big axe. Or two big axes. Terror Causing, Long striding half dragon, with the ability to rip apart anything that comes near - although Cannons can be a bit of bugger still. And giants can still be a pain with their attacks, but you do strike first with a higher Strength.

Giant - too random for my liking, although it's a rather good option if you're facing lots of biggies (Dragon Ogres, Ushabti, Minotaurs, Treekin and Ogres tend to be spammed a lot for the relevant armies), but unless you roll Jump up and Down, then you can see that Giant Held up by those Knights Errant and other Bretonnian core cavalry.

*Money Saving* -
A lot of the plastic sets (with a bit of surgery) can be interchanged, and they all come with a wide variety of options, leaving plenty of surplus shields, and weapons, some heads. Great Weapons and Halberds for Warriors are rather expensive from the Website - if you have a box of knights, and a couple of Boxes of Warriors/Marauders, you can quickly and easily make some weapons from the banner poles/lances. Alternatively, if you are handy with a pin vice and brass rod for basic converting, then you can make your own, but taking the heads off the axes and attaching those to the self made banner poles.

Chaos is chaotic by nature, so uniformity can go out of the window - any bitz you have left over from your previous armies can be Brainstormed together into a new weapon - even Sprue with a few choice cuts can be turned into a brutal weapon.

In previous Army Books (6th Edition), Beasts of Chaos/Hordes of Chaos (which included Daemons) could be interchanged. While that is no longer an option, there is no saying that your Gors can't count as Marauders, or your Bloodletters as a Chosen Warrior unit.

*Summary*
Chaos are a highly popular army, thanks to the new release, and their over powering combat and magic capability. The Marks (and their new interchangeability) allow you to create a highly unique army that is your own.

Being chaos, it can be designed as you like, and with whatever build you have, you have a good chance of coming out on top, not to mention it is still new enough that opponents haven't yet discovered the complete tricks of the trade.

"Fear me, Mortals, for I am the Anointed, the Favoured Son of Chaos, The Scourge of the World, the armies of the Gods behind me, and it is by my will, and by my sword that your weakling nations shall fall."Archaon the Everchosen, Lord of the End Times​


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## Druchii in Space

Nice guide, like the Dragon Ogres tip especially. +rep


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## squeek

Nice intro Vaz +rep. I'll ask torealis to add it to the list, we are getting there!


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## torealis

plus rep. ace.


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## Drax

for what it is worth, here is what i got done already. i had planned to finish it over the weekend, but events got in the way (see Ancient's post above) and i now won't have time to finish or refine it as i'll be away a lot - could someone do the honours for me please? i don't mind if it is started afresh. to disinguish it, i'll put the work in a quote:



> Fluff
> The Vampire Counts are an ancient evil originating from ancient Lahmia. Following the fall of their home city, the Vampires flocked to the side of Nagash, the Great Necromancer responsible for their creation, but ultimately they betrayed him and fled throughout the Old World. Now the Vampires hide in all corners of the world, from backwater castles to deserted crypts, tall towers to luxurious mansions. They have an innate control over the dead and as such are able to manipulate them to do their bidding; raising up the long deceased to fuel their wars against the Mortals.
> 
> Models
> 
> GW are aiming for a more Archaic look with their Vampire Counts range than just a ‘dead contemporary’ look (pun intended). Most of the range has been overhauled to try and give it a more distinctive and uniquely Warhammer style, and the new Vampire models have been ‘generalised’ in order to avoid their traditional bloodline stereotypes, though many of the older models remain available. All the core choices are in multi part plastic kits, however all other choices in the book except the Grave Guard are metal. Luckily though it is the core choices that are the most important in the army and require the highest numbers.
> 
> Game play
> Vampire Counts rely
> Vampire Counts _can_ be played as an elite army, though they are best played as an Horde army with a few hard hitting elements to back them up. A nice sizable block of Zombies to tar pit the enemy whilst your more hard hitting units attack the flank will mean that you can pick of the enemy at your leisure. Just make sure that you make your starting units big enough to cope in case your castings of Invocation of Nehek aren’t as good as hoped.
> 
> Vampire Lords and Vampires are some of the best characters in their respective class and can be tooled in many different ways depending upon preference. Just remember though that your army relies on Vampires, particularly the general, so keep them alive at all costs.
> 
> Using fear is a powerful tool at the Vampire Counts’ disposal, but do not rely upon it entirely as there are more and more units immune to fear.
> 
> Money Saving
> 
> The Vampire Counts are, in the main one of the most customisable and money saving armies out there! All creatures can die, so with a few part swaps, you can turn most races into a dead version: Zombie Empire, Skeleton High Elf Spearmen, Grave Guard Dwarfs, Chaos Black Knights and so on. A bit of kit bashing with your left over regiment boxes from other armies, and you can easily reduce the cost. Furthermore, you can also maximise your existing units by going for either the raised effects such as body, head or even just hands raising from the ground, and even with a bit of greenstuff work, go for the odd pair of walking legs with no upper torso. Another money saving tip is don’t get Blood Knights – you don’t need them!
> 
> Summary
> 
> Where to go from here
> http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Blood_Keep/index.php?act=idx
> http://www.vampirecounts.net/index.php


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## squeek

No problem Drax, thanks for what you have done it looks like a really good intro in the making. Best wishes with your family mate.


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## The Wraithlord

Just as an update to Vaz' awesome Chaos post, GW now does offer Warhounds in plastic.

http://ca.games-workshop.com/storefront/store.ca?do=Individual&code=99120201009&orignav=13


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## MaidenManiac

I could do the VC one to get it done. Im making up lots of reasons not to paint atm :scare:


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## N0rdicNinja

Why the hell is this not stickyed yet!!!!!

As someone who has just recently decided to pick up FB let me just say THANK YOU for making this thread. =) I've much reading to do.


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## squeek

That would be great Maiden  This is the WIP thread Nordic we do have a final stickied thread as well, though feel free to rep the authors here if you like what they have written.


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## MaidenManiac

Ill have it done in the weekend then


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## Vaz

Right, I'm taking a break from artyfarty stuff, and going onto a bit writy... er... lighty (?) stuff now. I'm writing up on Beasts, currently, (more Dragon Ogres weeeee), but I've also found my Storm of Chaos book, which I lost like 2 months after buying it (happy days). 

Now while it's not a legal tournament army, would it be worth writing up either a) a short synopsis of the book and the armies it contains, b) A slightly larger synopsis (similar to what we are doing, but not on the same scale), or c) not bother with it at all?


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## squeek

I think it would make quite an interesting write-up, go for it if you want to Vaz, I think a short synopsis would be fine, if readers are interested it isn't too hard to find a copy for sale somewhere or other.

We could also look at some of the other publications like the ship battles in the General's Compendium and Warhammer Skirmish, perhaps make a sticky of brief synopses of alternative rule formats. I would certainly find the information useful, anyone else have thoughts on it?


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## MaidenManiac

*Vampire Counts*

*Fluff*
The curse of Vampirism heads back thousands of years to ancient Nehekhara where the Dread Necromancer Nagash created the Elixir of Life. This, the original Elixir created by the Great Necromancer himself, was lost when the Pries Kings of the other cities of ancient Nehekhara united against him and after a century of war finally sacked Khemri. All monuments of Nagash was razed, tombs were defiled and his followers were beheaded and put to the flame. But the victors could never find the Great Necromancer Himself. And to make matters worse some of his writings survived. Neferata, Queen of the city of Lahmia, claimed all writings she found her own, despite the pact the Priest Kings had agreed on. Back in Lahmia she did then, after much study, try to duplicate the Elixir of Life and met some success. She stopped ageing, but developed a crave for blood instead. Over the years many members of her court drank from the Elixir and joined her as Vampiric Lords and Ladies. Having learnt from Nagash's failure they however kept their secret from the other Priest Kings. Over the decades they did however grow more and more confident, and when the word of Nagash's survival spread they sent envoys to his citadel in Cripple Peak, now known as Nagashizzar. These agents didn't go unnoticed by the other Priest Kings and soon a few was caught and interrogated. The Vampires existence was uncovered and the Priest Kings massed their huge armies again and waged war once again, this time on Lahmia. The war on Lahmia was one the Vampires could not hope to win. Despite being vastly superior to normal men the armies of the Priest Kings numbered tens of thousands and eventually the city of Lahmia was sacked, the people enslaved and the Vampires fled. Most of them arrived in Nagashizzar and was welcomed by the Great Necromancer, seeing them as fitting champions in his armies. When so Nagash finally waged war on his former home country Vampires were his generals and champions in his army, the first undead army ever to walk the Old World. At first the army won big successes on the field of battle, but the Priest King Alcadizaar whom now ruled over the whole Nehekhara was the greatest general of his time. The war lasted a decade, starting good but as time passed on Alcadizaar got the upper hand and in the end the last of Nagash's legions was destroyed. The surviving Vampire Captains fled back to Nagashizzar to tell of the defeat, which Nagash was furious to hear about. The responsible Vampires were cursed into eternal pain by the Great Necromancer, the remaining Vampires quickly catching the drift and fled Nagashizzar during the night. They dispersed in all directions to prevent effective pursuit, and so the Vampires were spread out into the world. Some conquered whole realms for themselves, some became dangerous warriors and some Necromancers of great skill. They had all one thing in common though, they would each spawn a bloodthirsty dynasty that still grows and terrorises the living to present date.

*Models*
Vampire Counts have a vast line of models to pick from. All units in the army is available as plastic or metal models. The much needed base of the army: Skeletons, Ghouls and Zombies are all coming in plastic regimental boxes which makes creating the core very simple. Most models are from 6th or 7th ed, the only exception is the Black Knights which dates back to middle 5th. Most special and rare units are metal models in the Vampire Count range, as are the characters. That everything is available for the army is good in itself but that's not all. Everyone was born for something and everybody dies for something. Some even to join the ranks of the undead! The Vampire Counts army is by far the one army that gives the best options for conversions. Want to make an undead High Elf host? Mix skeleton parts with High Elf plastics and you will end up with a very personal looking army that will draw looks from other gamers for sure. Creativity (and money) is the only limit here. With time and patience you can convert most other armies into an undead host, leaving you with almost unlimited options!

*Gameplay*
Magic anyone? If you answer no thanks this is not the army for you, period. The whole army of the Vampire Counts rely on magical support. The common units in the army are weak fighters on their own. Their main two strengths being that they cause fear and are unbreakable. When an undead unit lose combat they lose more wounds instead of running away which makes for a very solid army, but also an army which crumbles to dust if not properly attended too. A special word should also be said about the general in the Vampire Count army, if he dies then the army will start to crumble to dust. If he dies early in the game its most certainly a loss for the undead player.
Movement in a Vampire count army is much based on having Vampires spread out along the lines. The presence of a Vampire(at various distances) will allow units to march like normal living units, the Vampires unholy powers fill the dead minions with magical vigour once again. Magic is a very central role in Vampire Count armies. All characters available,bare one, are wizards which will leave you with a quite strong magic phase no matter how you pick the army. That you can replenish your units during the battle with Necromancy, and in some cases make new ones too, is something you shouldn't overlook but take careful note of. Understanding how to make the best of the Vampire Counts magic is a key to success with the army. Shooting is totally out of the question as undead. The sole ranged attack(excluding spells) is limited to the champion in Cairn Wraith units. Close Combat is a mixed card. Some units excel at it whilst the majority are abysmally poor at it. Undead units most often need to support each other for maximal effect in the game.

_Lords and Heroes_
Vampire Lords are the dark lord that binds the energies of the undead host together. Mixing strong close combat abilities and a solid magic knowledge this guy can be made to fit either the combat monster picture, or the dark acolyte blasting away with arcane energies from afar. This is also the dude you must keep alive trough the battle, else the army will start falling apart.

Necromancers are the first available heroes in the army. Whilst limited to level 1 wizards now days they buy extra spells for points, giving you guaranteed access to certain needed spells, and are dead cheap too.
Vampires are the second hero choice. Just like the Lord they mix some magical abilities with great close combat abilities which gives many options to test out for them. Either Vampires or Wight Lords can be Battle Standard Bearers for the army.
Wight Lords are the only non wizard heroes in the army, and while not as killy as Vampires they most certainly are a lot more durable. They also come with Killing Blow by default which makes them dangerous for the most enemy characters.

Hellsteads are the first of 3 notable mounts available to the undead army. These are flying horses which will make the riding character a flyer whilst adding the protection of being mounted on a steed.
Abyssal Terror are creations of dark magic that can take any shape or form. They have all in common that they are huge targets that cause terror and adds even more killing power to a Vampires already formidable powers.
Zombie Dragons are a mockery of Dragons. Huge animated carcasses that breath pestilent breaths, protected by swarms of flies, acting like steeds for powerful Vampire Lords.

_Core units_
Ghouls are the first of 3 units counting as real core units. Ghouls are tougher then skeletons and Zombies and also have an additional attack and the poisoned attacks rule. They can however not have standards or musicians.
Skeletons are the first thing most players think about when hearing undeads and the second real core unit in the army. Skeletons are equipped with light armour and shields from start, can have full command and even a cheap magical standard making them the most regimental like core unit.
Zombies are shambling hordes of the newly raised dead and the third real core unit in the army. By themselves they struggle to win combat against goblins and characters refuse to join them at all. Zombies main use is tar pitting enemies, thereby preventing them from using their heavy hitters to maximum effect.
Bat Swarms are the first core unit that doesn't count against minimum required in the army, the other two following here after. Bat Swarms are swarm units of small bats that fly a lot slower then real flyers, they are however multiple wound flying units which can cause huge problems for the opponent.
Corpse Carts are weird contraptions that can cast a bound spell on undeads nearby which will make them strike first in the next combat round. They can also either be upgraded to disturb enemy casters on the table or enhance the effects of raising dead nearby. Necromancers use Corpse Carts as mounts on occasions.
Dire Wolves are the wolves that once stalked the province of Sylvania. They are now animated and used as fast riderless cavalry in the Vampire Count army.

_Special units_
Black Knights are undead heavy cavalry riding insubstantial steeds which allows them to ignore terrain. This bonus is lost of joined by characters however. Just like the Wight Lord these Wight's carry weapons giving them Killing Blow making them rightfully feared as unit.
Fell Bats are flying units that, like most other flying units, excel at warmachine hunting and hunting down fleeing enemy units.
Grave Guards are the undead elite foot soldiers. Armed with heavy armour, shields they are tough to face, and since they are Wight's they also sport killing blow weapons making them dangerous against any foe.
Spirit Hosts are ethereal swarms which are immune to non magical attacks and can ignore terrain, making them very good at taking care of small elite units in the opponents army.

_Rare units_
Black Coach is a resting place for a mortally wounded Vampire. As a terror causing chariot that has the possibilities of absorbing magical dice to increase its combat prowess to even higher standards.
Blood Knights are the undead shock cavalry. Heavily armoured Vampires that sadly also are frenzied. In pure killing power they are amongst the best units in the game, but their huge point cost and the frenzy rule more then often leaves them at the shelf when the rest of the army marches to war.
Cairn Wraiths are ethereal skirmishers sporting many attacks and great weapons, and like all true evil spirits should, also terror.
Varghulfs are Vampires driven mad on their hunt for blood and that now only lives to feed. Varghulfs are fast regenerating terrors that are a match for any foe.

*Money Saving*
With some creativity and cut-and-paste work a Vampire Count army can be created more or less solely out of plastic models so there are many ways of saving money here. All “normal” undead units can be made from living equivalents. Fell Bats is the only unit that I come to think about at the moment that can be a bit tricky to find some replacement for in plastic kits, all other units should be easily manageable. Not only will this save some cash, it will also make for a personal army which will look great on the field of battle!

*Summary*
Vampire Counts are a very stable army, talking troop wise. Nothing will suddenly start running at the completely wrong moment. It is however an army that needs magical babysitting to replenish its losses to work properly, making both need for and the positioning of characters very important. Most important of all is of course the General. If he dies the army will shatter to dust and you have most likely lost the game. The Vampire Count army is an army that rewards planning ahead thanks to its extremely stable nature and also an army where the many different elements in it can be used together to very rewarding and devastating effects!
The army can be either foot slogging built, cavalry heavy or mixed in between, but shooting will not be a part of the battle plan, and magic is a mandatory pick since the army wont work without a bit of it. Modelling wise the army has the vastest options of all armies in Warhammer thanks to the fact that everyone dies. Making an undead version of a Bretonnian army will look good, present good possibilities of increasing your modelling skills and in the end provide you with a very personal army, even for a decent price!
If these conditions sound like good stuff in your ears then Vampire Counts just might be the pick for you


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## squeek

That looks fantastic Maiden, I will add it to the stickied thread in a moment. We are starting to break the back of this project, not many to go now:

Covered so far...

The Empire - Othiem
Dwarves - Othiem
Orcs and Goblins - squeek
Lizardmen - rVctn_Khaiyn
Dark Elves - Druchii in Space
Daemons of Chaos - MaidenManiac
Ogre Kingdoms - MaidenManiac
Tomb Kings - MaidenManiac
Warriors of Chaos - Vaz
Vampire Counts - MaidenManiac

In Progress

High Elves - Green Knight
Wood Elves - Vaz
Beasts of Chaos - Vaz
Brettonians - Ancient
Skaven - Ancient


So if there are any posters who fancy adopting one of the following armies it would be greatly appreciated :wink:

Chaos Dwarves
Dogs of War 

Any problems with the WIPs just let me know. As always if you have any comments or would like to add something to the thread, feel free.


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## Vaz

*Beasts of Chaos Introduction*

*Beasts of Chaos*

*Fluff*
The insidious tendrils of Chaos sweep invisibly all over the Old World, and even among the New World, there are tales of grosely mutated creatures, which rumour has it were once men, elves or dwarves, or even the animals themselves. The power of chaos is such that they are powerless to stop the mutation. The Creatures themselves aren't privy to exclusion of the depredations of Chaos - Chimaeras, manticores, and Dragon Ogres are all examples of such parodies of the noble beasts that roam the old world, broken in mind and body. In the Old World, the elders of the Villagers and towns force the mother to abandon their newborn babies when the slightest hint of mutation is found - ranging from the smallest horn, to the full body of a Beastman - half man, half creature. However such creatures are gifted with the hardiness of a cruel animal, and will not quietly into the darkness. It is not often that such children last long, but occasionally, one will grow up to become a fearsome creature, a tool of the Gods of Chaos. In its heart of hearts, it will know it was a human - and it will remember being left to die. It hates the humans, for this, and takes great pleasure in killing and mutilating any it finds. Sometimes, the children are found by wandering tribes, such as those famed for wandering the wilds of the Drakwald Forest, deep in the heartland of the Empire. Under the eyes of a Wargor, the beastman learns the way of a pack of wild animals, much like a wolf. Favouring ambush tactics, the trains of supplies and caravans of settlers fear these as much as they fear the Orcs in the mountains, and the living dead in the dread province of Sylvania. When the power of the gods waxes, so does the temerity of these beastmen - joining the armies of the gods, together they help their 'allies', the daemons and warriors, although chaos being chaos, they spend much time fighting amongst themselves, and thankfully, such dread pacts between daemon, fallen man, and mutated beast, are few and far between, and do not last for too long - should they last any longer, the entire old world will be in their clawed paws.

*Models*
The Beasts of Chaos is a metal range, with the exception of Beast Herds, Chaos Warhounds, Giants, Chaos Spawn, and if you choose the Ogre Bulls boxset (for Ogre Kingdoms). Rumours are abound of New Dragon Ogres in 2009 (with the rumoured release of the New Army book, but there's nothing definate). For quality, they are all quite dated, but are still rather nice models - the Shaggoth, Chaos Trolls, and the 6th Edition Metal Spawn, are some of my favourites. Some are rather bland, or purely crap - Bestigor are the former, Khorngor, the latter. Dragon Ogres rank first among Crapness though. The Minotaurs are love 'em or hate 'em. I love them, other than them poking their tongues out (although the Doombull is rather nice). Not up to the quality of the current detailed troops, but definately nice sculpts that don't look out of place.

Not to mention, it's chaos, so a mix of old and new is one of the bywords for chaos .

*Gameplay*
The Beasts of Chaos are a very fast army, and can react to a lot of actions an opponent makes far quicker than the static blocks of many armies. This is a result of the chaotic nature of... well... Chaos, but those blessed by a tactical acumen are capable of fighting in well ordered ranks, in parody of their enemies - which are everyone, including their own kind. They hit hard, like all warriors blessed by the essence of chaos, but unlike warriors, are quite fragile in protracted combats if they can't heavily damage enemy units. Their main units, Beast Herds fight in skirmish order, but there is a hint of their former life, no matter how small, and in mockery of the solid blocks of troops, as they close, the beast herds form up into closed ranks. However, there is a downside, as the sheer brutality, and eagerness to rend and claw their opponents gets the better of them, and they lack the ability to form fully cohesive ranks.

In addition, the Beasts have a nasty surprise for those who are used to playing against Warriors of Chaos. The Marks have a different effect to those of the Warriors - however, they are exactly the same as the old Marks of Chaos on the Hordes of Chaos. These, in comparison, are deemed overpowered - not to mention the ability to have a Level 4 Wizard and a hugely powerful combat lord, all rolled into one. There used to be the option where you could include the daemons and beasts all in one army, but since then, the three army books have gone seperate, and are now self contained.

Beastmen magic is a mix of the 3 'Old' style lores of Chaos - Tzeentch was the most powerful damager, the Nurgle lore was a mid way stage, with some buffs, and damaging, while Slaanesh was a tricky spell-list to get full use off, not to mention complete redundancy against some foes (except for damage dealers).

Lords
Beast Lord - Basic Lord. If you're taking a Lord, this is your basic port of call. If you feel like a magic heavy army, this should also be your first port of call. The 'old' style Marks of Tzeentch makes him a Level 4 sorceror, which combined with his above average stats can make him a combat monster, even with basic equipment, and none magic. The other marks help him out amazingly, boosting his skills. Special Mention goes to Khorne as well - take advantage of the free dispel dice to your pool while it lasts - it is likely to be nerfed to the current state of 'just' frenzy when redone.

Doomlord - Minotaur Monstrous Lord. Can be given a Mark of Tzeentch to make it a slightly less powerful spellcaster, or can be turned into a combat monster. Has access to weapons such as the Axes of Khorgor, which increase your attack power, and increase your chance to hit, or the Slaughterers Blade, allowing you to heal yourself in combat (combined with the increased resilience from Nurgle, can make you almost unkillable).

Great Bray Shaman - if given one of the two Marks, has access to their Lores. Khorne and Tzeentch aren't available - Tzeentch rewards the strong and the clever - Great Bray Shamans aren't the former. But they are powerful magic wielders. Can be given an extra magic level, has a Bray Staff. Also can take the 'Braystaff of Darkoth', giving a handy additional spell (not bound) to the Caster.

Shaggoth Champion - A Dragon Ogre Shaggoth - weaker than the Warriors of Chaos incarnation, and can be a liability - however they are still just as nasty. It costs nothing extra to field one single Shaggoth as a Champion, but it has access to taking a Mark of Chaos - Taking Tzeentch makes it a Sorceror. One benefit is has is it's save. It has an innate scaly skin save of 4+. Combined with the option to take Heavy Armour, it can get a 2+ save, whereas the Warriors of Chaos one has a 4+ save (5+ Scaly Skin). Only Kholek has that save. 

Heroes
Wargor - standard Hero Warrior. A bit cut and paste from the lazy Games Workshop Development Team. Nothing too special about him - he can be a Battle Standard Bearer though - and the Beast Banner is alright - although the rest of the Banners (and the Magic Items themselves) are rather weak.

- - - - - - - - - -

Unfinished. I'd appreciate any help with what I've written - the rest will be done tomorrow night.

*Heckle* How may times have we heard that one? *Heckle ends*

Heh. Yeh, I'll sort it for you tomorrow - but yeah, feel free to correct me with anything, and whatnot.


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## Ancient Tiel' a fier

Sorry to have disappeared lately guys my lap top is broken and in for repair, good to see things coming on and i will endeavour to sort some write ups soon.


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## neilbatte

Chaos Dwarves
Fluff. 
While Dwarves as a race are resistant to the mutating powers of Chaos no race is completly immune. Far to the east in the wasteland between the Worlds edge mountains and the domains of the Ogre kingdoms lies the Plain of Zharr a desolate lava strewn region that is the home of the Chaos Dwarf ziggurat cities.
The Chaos Dwarves are slavers and artificers to the warriors of chaos ruled by the ancient and evil Sorcerers that live at the pinnacle of Zharr Naggrund. Many believe them to be the creators of the Black orcs and they use an array of greenskins as fodder for their slave raids and armies of vengeance as the Dwarves themselves are few in number, being the survivors of only a handful of once loyal Dwarven holds that were corrupted sometime after the sundering.
All Chaos Dwarves worship the bull headed god Hashut and serve the will of the Sorceror lords that are slowly turning to stone to line the road of sorcerors in Naggrund. It is the worship of Hashut that makes the Bull centaurs and the mounts of the lords (The great taurus and Lammassu) so special as they are revered as facets of the bull god.

MODELS
Unfortunately for budding Chaos Dwarf generals the army has been unsupported for a very long time and all of the origional models are rare and expensive added to that they look their age. The first Chaos Dwarf army book was unfortunately a White Dwarf list so wasn't that good compared to its counterparts. The range of models was also limited and as an effect it never really took off as a viable race so was phased out with only occasional references in other peoples fluff to tantalise the diehard CD fans.
On the plus side with the release of BSFP many more people have managed to convert all the models in the box into one viable chaos dwarf army which is helped further by the improved plastics in the Chaos, Dwarf and Orc and Goblin plastic ranges. Even though the Big hat/Assyrian look Vs the more modern Steampunk look debate still rages The army as a whole can be fairly easily converted ( With the exeption of the bull centaurs and the 2 fliers)

GAME PLAY
Chaos Dwarves despite their lack of an update and meaningful magic items are still a competative armyand work best when you use their area denial based weaponry to its best effect such as Blunderbusses and the Earth shaker cannon. 
The main combat units are just basic Dwarves with a few upgrade options, The only unique option is the Blunderbuss which is excellant against horde armies, The other option is Hobgoblins which are a bare step up from normal goblins but have a few disadvantages over goblins such as paying twice their basic cost for a shortbow and 30 pt command groups but can be mounted on wolves and are still light cavalry even when fully equipped.
For specials they can choose to take Orc boys and Gobbos from the current army book including Big uns and may also take 1 unit of Black orcs they also can take multiple bolt throwers and the less than reliable Death rocket (a modified stone thrower) as well as Sneaky gits think gobbos with poisoned attacks and 2 hand weapons.

RARE
Only 2 rare choices the first and most dangerous is Bull centaurs imagine Dwarven cavalry with 30 pt command groups. The second option is the Earthshaker which is basicaly a stonethrower that after it hits causes penalties to movement and shooting over a large area. 
Characters
I left these till last as they mainly fall into the Generic Lord/ Sorcerer categories Plus a bull centaur lord/ hero and a Hobgoblin hero none of which are game winners on their own but the majority have Ld 10 which is great when mixed with Orcs and gobbo's.
What stands out is the Bull Taurus which causes terror flies and is immune to firebased attacks and has good stats not so good is the Lammasu but it does give magic resistance 2.
OVERVIEW
While the list on paper seems one of the weaker armies out there Strangely the combination of Dwarf stubbornness and Ld and the power of the O&G units available with the added unfamiliarity of most opponents with the list this list does remarkably well against the top tier lists. Its main Weakness is against Dwarf and human gunlines and strangely Ogres as the blunderbusses are really bad against multiple wound models.
The best/ worst thing about this army is the fact that for the best part most of the models need to be convertedso the army becomes very personal and the generals of Chaos Dwarves tend to be fanatical. Find more info on Hand of Hashut or Chaos Dwarf online.
Just a basic start as there isnt much to go on at the moment feel free to change it as much as you feel it needs.


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## squeek

neilbatte said:


> Just a basic start as there isnt much to go on at the moment feel free to change it as much as you feel it needs.


That looks fantastic Neil, better than expected to be honest with the limited information available. +rep thanks for joining in!


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## neilbatte

If I get the time I can probably do the Dogs of war tomorrow one of the benifits of collecting more unusual armies I suppose. I just need to find the old army book to help with the fluff its in my garage/ gaming room somewhere.
I'm glad you liked the CD intro and am happy to help out on what is proving to be a great thread.


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## Vaz

Here's a Link to Dogs of War mainpage on the OZ games workshop.

For the Regiments of Reknown, should we a) Ignore, b) add into Dogs of War, or c) Make into a seperate 'Introduction', as a few people have recently asked about them, to cover up glaring weaknesses in their lists (Dwarf Maneuverability, for one).


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## neilbatte

I'll do the same sort of intr as for the others and you can decide if it needs to be expanded on after if you want to.


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## squeek

Hmm, it is a good point Vaz. Probably best to see what Neil comes up with and go from there I think.

Edit:

Just these to go now! 

In Progress

High Elves - Green Knight
Wood Elves - Vaz
Beasts of Chaos - Vaz
Brettonians - Ancient
Skaven - Ancient
Dogs of War - neilbatte


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## neilbatte

DOGS OF WAR
FLUFF
To the south of the lands of the Empire below the wild lands of the Border princes lies a land divided into warring city states a hot bed of political intrigue, assassinations and open warfare. Tilea the spiritual home of mercenaries assassins and pirates where for the right price any sword is for hire.
When ever a war is brewing nobles from all sides can be found touring the different city states to find soldiers, cutthroats and killers to bolster their armies and its not just humans that feel the pull of the sell sword Ogres, Norse, Dwarf and even Halflings can be bought and sold if the price is right.
MODELS
There are plenty of plastic kits from a wide range of armies that can be used to make the basic troops from Marauders of chaos,Dwarven warriors and any human infantry or cavalry box, even the Ogre range.
The real expense comes when you try to build the regiments of renown that provide cover for important gaps in the basic list but as only a few regiments of renown are needed at one time this is not as bad as it first seems.
UNITS
This depends on how you choose to use the list. Any Dogs of war unit can be taken to plug gaps in an armies list taking up a rare slot but providing things normally unavailable such as cavalry and skirmishers for Dwarves or decent missile troops for Chaos dwarves and chaos armies although there are a few restrictions on what will fight for you its only really the Brettonians and Skaven that lose out.
That aside as a pure Dogs of war army list you will struggle to get a good offense going as the Dogs are really geared towards defense with their main weapons being pikes and xbows.
The character section is fairly bare only really containing basic lord/wizard hero/wizard in human form with the added exception of the Paymaster a modified battle std bearer that causes army wide panic and hatred toards his killers upon his death but he does make his body guard unit stubborn. You can also mount them on pegasus but for true flying killyness there is Arasnil the dragonlord a high elf hero character on dragon that also takes up a rare slot but doesn't benefit from ASF and has a gem that hinders shooting at him and his dragon
I'll break down the rest of the army slightly differently than usual as the Regiments of Renown confuse things slightly
MAINSTAY UNITS
The crowning glory of DOW armies is its pikemen ASF fight in 4 ranks strength bonus against cavalry is good but a flank charge spells their doom and basic human stats let them down(imagine a hedgehog its spikes are a good defense against a fox but a car makes short work of it) There are 4 regiments of Renown that bring something different to the basic pikemen the main thing being an extra hero level character. The most diverse of the RoR pikes is Pirazzo's lost legion which includes Xbows. The best unit is Ricco's republican guard with hvy armour and high ws although a close second is leopolds leopard company which is only lower ws but immune to psycology. Bringing up the rear is the Alcatanni fellowship as their low ws really lets them down but they are cheap.

Crossbows
The main missile troop of choice boosted by the Marksmen of Miragliano with a basic high bs but they are quite costly for what they do. There is also Braganza's Besiegers with their mantlets almost impervious to shooting with a 3+ save.There is even an orc xbow regiment. While not Xbows the other missile troops choice is Halflings with shortbows good at shooting but can also be armed with spear and sheild although I can't see any benefit to this as they are not CC orientated. Lumpin croops fighting cocks are an excellent choice and for some reason always seem to outperform despite their average stats last but not least on the shooting front are Mengils manflayers a good solid D elf that works similar to shades but with a few added bonuses such as minus to shoot at, at range but again they are fairly expensive. There are a few other units that have some missile capability such as Dwarf warriors can upgrade to Xbows and the Duellists and marauders that can have thrown weapons but these are more use as combat units.
COMBAT UNITS
Duellists are in essence Empire swordsmen with a few upgrades such as pistols throwing knives and the ability to use their cloak as a sheild while still using 2 handweapons. This sort of unit can work as either flanking forces or main units. There is also a RoR Vespero's vendetta not initially different than normal duelists but can skirmish and thanks to a magic item cause fear. Dwarf warriors can have the basic weapon and armour upgrades expected and are an important part of the army best used to defend the vunerable flanks. The only unit that I consider an automatic pick is Long Drongs slayer pirates as this unit is the most reliable when facing the dreaded flank charge and will buy you time to reform (just picture every pirate steriotype on a slayer unit with loads of pistolsand you can't go far wrong. The next main combat unit is Norse Marauders much the same as normal marauders but with frenzy and a higher points cost since WoC was upgrades, RoR there is a marauder unit with a werebear leader with a ward save and another character with magic std that gives +1 to hit.
Ogres in the basic list are not really worth taking as most of the OK book ogres are better and cheaper and replace them.
CAVALRY
ReaLly the cavalry options are the best in the game as far as basic humans on horse go and can be tailored from either light missile cavalry to medium and heavy cavalry with a few RoR to mix it up a bit further you can choose from either Hobgoblin wolf riders that have special rules when pursueing broken enemies, Cold one riding Skinks that cannot be followed if they flee, A light cavalry unit with 3 named characters a magic banner and a magic sword or a Heavy cavalry unit.
RANDOM STUFF
There is plenty to choose from here from a Druid leading 2 giants to Flying Xbowmen added to this is the artillery, light cannon or mobile light cannon or a catapult of soup in the form of the Halfling hotpot. There is one unit that stands out though and this is the self replenishing undead unit that hates undead and an excellent hero with useful magic items.
OVERVIEW
With a wide variety of units and Regiments of Renown the army is competative but only really suits a defensive style of play and will struggle against the more conventional gun line its main weakness is the average human stat line and its rapid demise when a flank is turned. Overall the army is fairly easy to build with a mass of plastic components and a few simple conversions but pikes are a complete nightmare to transport safely. An easy army to use as long as your flanks are secure but has more options than any other army so you really have to take care with the planning.


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## Vaz

Squeek - one question - Why is there information in the Dogs of War about the Chaos Dwarfs? ;D


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## squeek

Vaz said:


> Squeek - one question - Why is there information in the Dogs of War about the Chaos Dwarfs? ;D


Hmm, where?

I have put the DoW one in the Intro, did a bit of editing here and there for clarity and to make it fit in to the style of the other ones.

I think we should not do a separate RoR one, if we want to do a rundown for all of the various RoR units it is more of a tactica thing, than an intro. I think Neil has covered them reasonably in his intro.

Just these left now:

High Elves - Green Knight
Wood Elves - Vaz
Beasts of Chaos - Vaz
Bretonnians - Ancient
Skaven - Ancient

If anyone is unable to carry on with theirs for whatever reason please let me know so we can find another volunteer. Just five to go! Fantastic work guys.


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## Vaz

Money Saving?


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## squeek

Well spotted I will sort it now. Cut and paste then miss a bit, always a good approach!


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## Green Knight

sorry about the not geting round to posting up, but I have bin ill recently, that + work, I have not had the time but I can start it now, If that is OK squeek


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## squeek

No problem GK, good to hear you are well again.


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## squeek

Small update:

Unfortunately Green Knight is unable to do the High Elves Introduction now, so if anyone is able to take it on that would be fantastic! 

These are in progress:

Wood Elves - Vaz
Beasts of Chaos - Vaz
Bretonnians - Ancient
Skaven - Ancient

In need of a friend:

High Elves -


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## Inquisitor Aurelius

Hang on, Chaos Knights haven't got EotG. I've double and triple-checked. But... _Vaz_ wrote that entry. Nothing makes sense any more...


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## Vaz

Bloody hell, well spotted. 2 things really. when i bought the book, there was a misprint in one box that was sent, and it said that Chaos Knights had Eye of the Gods, instead of Fear. So I took the book back, after hearing about it, and got the new one.
Then when I was writing that, it was late at night, had a mind fuck, and put that.

Squeek, would you be able to change that for me. ust remove the sentence for Chaos Knights 'Last but not least blad blah eye of the gods'?

Cheers mate. And thanks Aurelius for spotting that, thank you  +Rep.


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## squeek

Will do, only just got the book myself so didn't spot it.


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## squeek

Since it is well and truly the New Year now it seems a good time to drag this one back up to the top! 

We have 5 introductions left to do:

These are in progress:

Wood Elves - Vaz
Beasts of Chaos - Vaz
Bretonnians - Ancient
Skaven - Ancient

In need of a friend:

High Elves -

If anyone fancies taking on the High Elf introduction that would be most appreciated, and feel free to offer to take on one of the other ones if you feel like you could do it quickly, I am sure Vaz and Ancient wont mind having less to write up!


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## Ascendant Valor

I heard someone mention High Elves??

I'd love to help out and write the intro to High Elves! The intro follows the same form you put up in the Army Intro page, correct, Squeek?


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## squeek

Fantastic, thank you Ascendant Valor! The layout is described in the first post of this thread, you can add the extra info that most of the later writers included, breaking down each choice bracket, etc; it is obviously useful but it isn't essential.


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## Vaz

Talking with Djinn, squeek, if we can get this done soonish (will get to work on those I've got left to do, once I finish the datasheets and a few homebrew armies - think Dragon Ogres... Lots of Dragon Ogres... - so definately before the End of January on my part), then it can be put into the Heretic.

I don't want to speak for Ancient, but if anyone does want to have a go at what Ancient is working on, I'd suggest having a PM with him, see if he has any of it done, as he is working on Eternity of War 2, and that's likely to take up a fair amount of time.

If anyone wants to have a go at Wood Elves, they're more than welcome - I have about 75% of the core of the Beasts done, and then it's a case of going over it all with a fine tooth comb before submitting it.

Finally, the Lizardmen will need a bit of an update, I reckon, seeing as the new Army Book is out, soonish anyway, especially due to a large change of the game mechanics.


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## squeek

That sounds good to me Vaz, in that case maybe we should go back and add to the ones that only have the basic information, although that can be done as and when they are planned for publication I suppose. I would think the Lizardmen re-do should be left until the book is out to be honest, it seems a bit of a hazy way to do it not having the book infront of us.


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## Ascendant Valor

Hey all. Sorry it took me so long, but I'm sure anyone can attest to knowing what it's like to be swamped with work. Anyway, here is what I have thus far. Feel free to pick it to pieces as necessary. Point any questions or comments at me, and I'll do my utmost to address them as soon as possible!




High Elves​

Fluff

The High Elves are one of the oldest races and are the forbearers of all elves in the Warhammer World. Once the mightiest of all the races, they are now removed from the Old World and focus their efforts on the Winds of Magic from within their own boarders.

The High Elven continent of Ulthuan exists in its lonesome, far removed from the rest of the warring world. Here, the High Elves are able to practice their expertise in manipulating the winds of magic. Though a race in their twilight, they are masters at arms and present a formidable obstacle to any who seek to invade the shores of Ulthuan. Constantly being harassed by the nefarious Dark Elves to their North, as well as Orc and Goblin or Norse raids, the High Elves are not as isolated as they would hope.

It is the High Elves that allow all other races to thrive without an incessant incursion of Chaos. Through great sacrifice, they have secured the winds of magic, keeping the forces of Chaos under some level of control. The first great war against Chaos was undertaken by the High Elves, and Aenarion, their first great Phoenix King. Through his tragic sacrifice, he helped the High Elves repel a massive Chaos horde intent on destroying any and all civilization in the Warhammer World while a group of the greatest mages to have set foot in Ulthuan sacrificed themselves for the good of all.

Since the sundering of the High Elves, their numbers have been far fewer than in centuries past. Despite their lessened population, they constantly strive for perfection of arms, magic, and culture. The High Elves are marvelous craftsmen, musicians, artisans, and so forth. Each elf dedicates his life to the mastery of his profession, and each elf is also part of the Citizen Levy where it is their duty to aid in the defense of Ulthuan should the need arise.

Ulthuan is comprised of a number of different regions within the Isle of Ulthuan. From the heavily wooded lands of Chrase, the great forests of Avelorn, to the Channel at Lothern, these regions each possess their own High Elven culture, though all will rise to the call of battle in defense of their homeland.



Models

The High Elf army is composed of expert fighters, each with the duty to protect Ulthuan at home or abroad. Each unit has a purpose within the grand scheme of the High Elf’s Levy, and when working together they make a nigh impenetrable force. 

The look of the High Elves is quite definitive. They emphasize clean-cut uniforms, polished metal armor, and delicate finery for their forces. They are called “pointy hats” for a reason: they typically go to war with beautifully crafted high-crowned helmets. The High Elves present a very clean and pure looking army, with a select number of bright colors for their finery. 

High Elven infantry look fantastic on the battlefield. If given a common paint scheme, they create a very uniform, clean and pure force. Conversely, if each unit is under a different scheme, they can reflect their differing status amongst the High Elf army or their differing heraldry from the various provinces of Ulthuan. 

Because of a focus on simplicity and cleanliness and its models are fairly simple, painting a High Elf army can be a simple affair. All it takes is a few colors to color an army: a flesh color, a couple metals, a primary color, a secondary color, and a detail color can form the minimum to paint an army. This will create a great look and feel for your army and won’t take too long. Of course, you can always go above and beyond…

All High Elf core units are sold in plastic, and are cheap and easy to assemble. Even the Elven dragon is plastic and is simple to assemble. However, the bulk of the army lies in its Special Units, which tend to be metal and more expensive. Most of the Characters are metals, as well. These models are often easy to assemble and, in most cases, won’t require pinning joints in place.



Game Play

The High Elves are an elite force, and this is reflected throughout their army. The first major difference between the High Elves and the other races is that the High Elves are granted an army-wide rule granting Always Strikes First. This means that the High Elven spear elves may strike before a unit of charging knights’ lances strike home!

Though always striking first would seem broken, do remember that this rule significantly increases the individual model costs, meaning the High Elves will likely be outnumbered in battle. As such, the High Elves must rely upon their greater skill to lead them to victory.

The High Elven core units are strong, but the true strength of the High Elves comes from their elite units. To this end they can field more Special Units than just about any other army in Warhammer Fantasy. The Special Units of the High Elves are quite diverse and each can be used to respond to certain situations that may arise on the field of battle.
-Does the enemy have a monster that is causing problems? Send some White Lions in to stop it!
-Is that horde of Goblins wreaking havoc on your boarders? Let them feel the might of the Swordmasters of Hoeth.
-Gunlines proving a problem? Let some Ellyrian Reavers tie them up in combat.
-Undead heavy units throwing your units around? Let the Phoenix Guard’s grim fortitude end their spree.

The High Elves can also host a variety of different armies. These can be themed around one of the provinces of Ulthuan, or can focus on cavalry, for instance. Because of each unit’s great skills and prowess, they can often triumph in overwhelming odds.



Here is a list of the available units within the High Elf army. Each unit has a short description included.


Lords

Tyrion
Tyrion is a fighter with few of comparable skill and a general without peer. He can take the most horrendous of blows and still find victory, and can shatter lines in his own right.

Teclis
Teclis is the greatest living mage in the entire world. He casts IF on doubles, negates one miscast per turn… he’s just phenomenal in the magic phase. In CC, however, he is dead meat.

Eltharion the Grim
An interesting combination of Warrior and Mage, Eltharion gives the best of both phases and even has a bow for the shooting phase. He’s best at plowing through weak units, and is decent in a challenge.

Alith Anar
Named “The Shadow King” for a reason, he is a scout of great skill. His bow acts like a Bolt Thrower, and is difficult to defeat in combat.

High Elf Prince
Born leaders and exemplars of the High Elven arrogance, they are powerful in combat. Let them lead your elite units to battle for their added fighting prowess and leadership.

High Elf Archmage
Powerful mages who can be given a plethora of gear to make them nigh unstoppable in the Magic Phase. Try the Book of Hoeth for amazing effect!


Heroes

Caradryn, Captain of the Phoenix Guard
Though he can be used as a “Suicide Bomber” since he can go up against the greatest of Lords and take them down no matter what, he is even more effective leading a unit of White Lions or Swordmasters. Who’d have thought it?

Korhil
Korhil can hack the biggest, scariest monsters the enemy can muster. He strangled a Chaos-infused White Lion with his bare hands… He is capable of leading any unit to victory. KB is an added bonus.

High Elf Noble
Potent in combat and capable of carrying the Army Battle Standard, they are an indispensable model for any army.

High Elf Mage
Basic mage. All HE mages confer a +1 to dispel attempts just for being on the battlefield.

Dragon Mage of Caledor
Because of these guys, you can now field two dragons in a 2000pt game. Yeah, you heard right. And the mage himself is something to be respected… he generates a bonus die for every cast.


Core

Spear Elves
These guys can put some armies’ Special units to shame. The cheapest units the HE have, they are not to be taken lightly.

Archers
WS4 core archers that can rain down the hurt on the enemy from a good distance.

Lothern Sea Guard
They combine the best traits of the Spear Elves with the Archers in one unit: the have both bows and spears. A very versatile, but expensive, unit.


Special

Swordmasters of Hoeth
There is a distinct reason these High Elves are feared by many armies: they can do massive damage to any unit in all of Warhammer. They are incredibly weak to missile fire, however.

Phoenix Guard
Incredibly tough to take down, even by the nastiest unit any army can muster (and they may never die to boot). They rarely manage to run from combat and work wonders against fear-causing enemies since they cause fear themselves.

White Lions of Chrace
Extreme attack power and superior holding ability from being Stubborn. If monsters cause you problems, let the White Lions end it.

Ellyrian Reavers
Fast cavalry that can be armed with both bows and spears. They are versatile and capable of weakening your foes before they even make it to your main force.

Silver Helms
Cheap Heavy Cavalry that can do some decent damage on a charge.

Dragon Princes
Significantly better than the Silver Helms, but more expensive. They can make your opponents shake in their boots.

Tiranoc Chariot
Cheap but effective High Elf chariot from Tiranoc. They have bows and spears, so are effective on a charge and before one, too.

White Lion Chariot
Fear causing, White Lion powered chariot. The fluff may not support its existence, but it’s Awesome Incarnate. The flanks of your opponent will need to be heavy to shed away this chariot’s ferocious charge.

Shadow Warriors
The scouts of the High Elves. Decent in combat and in the Shooting Phase. They make excellent March Blockers and disrupting units.


Rare

Repeater Bolt Thrower
A War Machine that will never misfire and has excellent chances of hitting its mark, this thing is a threat to all comers. It is typically recommended to take at least a pair of these.

Great Eagle
Perhaps the best March Blocking, War Machine and Mage hunting models around, they can even be used to protect your flanks. Don’t expect them to be monsters in combat, but let them guarantee a headache for your opponent.





Money Saving

The best way to save money in Games Workshop is to shop online. eBay is often considered a prime place to visit for the thrifty gamers. However, it is a noble deed to go out and support your local hobby store. Often times, they will have all the right gear at a reasonable price.

One thing to consider is that, since the High Elves’ models cost a fair bit of points a piece; your army will have considerably fewer models in it than other armies may. This means that your army will have fewer models to buy, assemble and paint than other armies. Hence, you’ll spend less time and money preparing an army than you might otherwise have to.



Summary

The High Elves are a host to the Warhammer World’s most elite forces and are rightfully the guardians of all that is good. Through their sacrifice, the forces of Chaos are held at bay, if only for the moment. But with their skill, they keep back the tides of evil from their shores. It is only a short time before they regain their foothold in the world and begin to relinquish their Kingdom from generations past.

The High Elves have been said to be a decent starting army for a variety of reasons. They Always Strike First, they have a variety of units and builds, and they aren’t too expensive to start. They are fairly simple to paint and convert, unless you have loftier goals than just a simple dry brushing and inking.



Where to go from here

For more help and advice specifically related to the High Elves, you can visit www.ulthuan.net.


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## squeek

Excellent write up Ascendant Valor, I have added it to the sticky.

Only the last few to go now:

Wood Elves - Vaz
Beasts of Chaos - Vaz
Bretonnians - Ancient
Skaven - Ancient

As before if you feel able to help out with one of these I am sure Vaz or Ancient would appreciate it.


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## Vaz

"Need to spread Rep again... my arse... Anyways, rest assured you'll be getting a nice boost soon .

That was excellently done, enough to give the reader an idea, and wet the appetite, and is a good judge of the units, without being reams of information.

Again, if anyone wants to make a start on Wood Elves, they're welcome to - until I get to a closer compilation of the Muster Rolls (new Datasheet name, by the way), then I probably won't go over the Beasts either, so if you want, anyone can make a start on them.

I'm not sure what Ancient is up to either, but he's trying to do the Eternity of War once again, so that could take up his time. Message him over any you're interested in anyways.


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## Ascendant Valor

w00t. Glad to help out, folks!


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## squeek

With the new Lizardmen book out now, it seems like a good time to update this with yet another request for assistance!  We have almost all of the armies covered now, we are just missing the following:

Wood Elves - Vaz
Beasts of Chaos - Vaz
Bretonnians - Ancient
Skaven - Ancient
New Lizardmen - ?

As I am sure most of you are aware, Vaz and Ancient are busy chaps so I am sure any offers of help would be appreciated, it would be fantastic to get this project finished for the Heresy Fantasy community.


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## MaidenManiac

Im pondering the tought of writing the ratarsed one Sqeek, when I can find the damn book


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## Vaz

Heh, I'd say I would, but I'm not the most reliable. I've also got two others (I have actually started Wood Elves now =D), so, by about August they should be done ;D


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## MaidenManiac

Vaz said:


> ...(I have actually started Wood Elves now =D)...


That one is dead fast.

Wood Elves
Most booring army in the game, always, no exceptions at all. Pick this army if you only want to ruin the other players day:laugh:

Done 




JK, atleast partially, good luck with the foresthuggers Vaz


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## MaidenManiac

Ok here goes the ratarsed rats....

*Skavens*

*Fluff*
Skavens dwell in their “underempire” below the surface of the Old World, waiting for the right time to swarm out of their tunnels like an unstoppable horde and overwhelm the surface lands. Skavens are split amongst a number of clans, and these found the base of their society. These Clans more or less constantly battle each other for dominance both on battlefields but assassinations and poisoning is also widely common. As a direct result of this all Skavens are deeply paranoid and utterly selfish, caring only for personal gain. When a Clan lose too much of its influence the other Clans will fall upon it like wolves on a wounded prey, and the survivors of the crushed Clan will spend their remaining lives as slaves under one of the attacking Clans. The real members of a Clan are called Clanrats, strong and cunning individuals who follow the Clan's Warlord, the head honcho rat of the Clan. The Warlord is a ruthless individual whom has gained his position trough murders, strategically broken pacts and other kinds of backstabbing, and is almost always looking after his own tail to keep safe from sneaky underlings trying to steal his position.
The philosophy of killing yourself upwards is the Skaven way, and is both deeply rooted and respected amongst the race. More or less all members of a Clan plot for personal gain, whilst they also watch their backs from aspiring members under them in the society.
Clan Skryre, Clan Eshin, Clan Pestilence and Clan Moulder are the 4 greatest Clans in the Skaven underempire with Skryre as the top one, and they have more then once united against an upcoming Clan to make sure things stay that way. The current upcoming Clan is Clan Mors, ruled by Warlord Gnawdwell, and they might very well be the next Clan to feel the wrath of the 4 major Clans.
The Skaven Empire is ruled by “The Council of Thirteen” which consists of 11 Warlords from the most important Clans, the Seerlord whom is the most powerful Grey Seer, and the thirteenth place is filled symbolically by the Horned Rat Himself, the Skaven-god. The purpose of this council is to unite the Skaven race and guide them towards a common goal. This however is most likely never happening. All members of the Council are extremely paranoid and spend more time watching their backs and plotting then guiding their race. It is rumoured that if the Skavens would manage to unite for a common cause they would overwhelm the world with their vast numbers....:scare:

*Models*
Skavens are based around Clanrats as their main army units, and these are plastic models whom come 20 in each box. These models can also be used to make Slaves, another important unit for the Skaven gameplay. Plague monks are also plastic regiments, and so are Rat Ogres the Skaven equivalent of Ogres/Trolls/etc. Their last plastic regiment is the Night Runners box which will produce skirmishing ninja-rats for the army. 
The Elite Stormvermins are metal models however, and so are all the warpstone based weaponry the army has access to: Ratlingguns, Warpfire Throwers, Poison Wind Globadiers, Jezzail Teams, Warp-lightning Cannons, Plague Censer Bearers. Characters are also metal models. It is rumoured that at least Stormvermin will become plastic regiments when the new book hits the shelves, but this is as said a rumour so far.
All entries in the list have models, and all are from 6th edition when the book was written, so they are up to date and functional.

*Gameplay*
Skavens preform different from many other armies on the field of battle. The most profound difference is the “life is cheap” rule which allows the Skaven player to shoot into Close Combat. You basically pick a target unit and shoot away and randomize hits amongst the target and all other things in that Close Combat. 
As all Skavens are cowardly beings they flee better then normal units, Skaven units adds +1 to their Flee rolls. 
Skaven leaders have an even bigger spin of from this called “Lead from the Back”. Skaven Characters will continue to give LD bonuses when standing in the rearmost rank, as will a BSB do, the rearmost rank is considered a place of honour amongst the Skaven! A character in the last rank of an ongoing combat can, at the start of his movement phase chose to either stay there, move to the fighting rank or leave the unit just like it was not engaged in CC. Furthermore does the Skaven player chose which of his models that refuse Challenges, unlike the normal rules.
Strength in numbers is a general Skaven philosophy, and is in game represented by the fact that Skaven units add their ranks to their LD values, up to a maximum of +3.
All Skaven weapons either shooting warpstone shots, or weapons coated with warpstone poisons counts as magical attacks and can thereby damage units immune to non magical attacks. 
Skaven magic doesn't cause Irresistible force like normal magic, but instead on the roll of 13 before modifiers, they do however miscast just like regular wizards. Each Skaven Wizard also carries a number of Warpstone Tokens which are used as free PD but causes an unpreventable wound on the wizard on a roll of 1:shok:

_Lords and Heroes_
Warlords are the leaders of a Clan, a strong and selfish individual whom is the best general a Skaven army can field. Their fighting prowess equal human Lords but with higher Initiative but lower Leadership. These individuals have LD7 which is the single highest number in the army.
Grey Seers are the servants of the Horned Rat, level 4 Wizards who cast spells granted by their patron god. Skaven spells are destructive, but takes little care about the health of the caster. 
Grey Seers can chose to ride a Doombell into battle, pulled by a unit of Clanrats or Stormvermin. The Bell works as a Chariot and bestows a bunch of boons to the unit pulling it and the Grey Seer riding it. It does also come with a “Striker” whom can chose to “ring the bell” in the Skaven shooting phase with a vast amount of beneficial results, at lower results it generally only boosts the unit pushing the Bell, but higher numbers can affect the whole army!

Chieftains are hero level fighters, and if the Skaven player wants to include a BSB it will be a Chieftain carrying it into battle. Chieftains equal human heroes in fighting terms.
Plague Priests are heroes from Clan Pestilence. Tougher then Chieftains but slower these Frenzied heroes have access to Plague Censers and “Clan Pestilence Only” magic items.
Master Moulders are heroes from Clan Moulder. These heroes have the “Beastmaster” special rule which allows all Clan Moulder units within 6 of him to reroll failed psychology tests. He also has access to Clan Moulder restricted items.
Warplock Engineers are Clan Scryre wannabe wizards who can cast the spell “Warplightning” trough warpstone powered equipment. Warplock Engineers are unique in the way that they can only have one spell which you buy for him. Fully upgraded they roughly equival a level 2 wizard with 1 spell.
Assassins are the Clan Eshin heroes and the last available hero option in Skaven armies. They have poisoned weapons, and always start the game hidden within a unit. Assassins have superior Leadership compared to all other Skaven, but just like their Dark Elf equivalents their leadership cant be used by others.

_Core units_
Clanrats are the “Mainstay unit” in the Skaven army. For each unit of Clanrats you include in the army you can include one unit of most other sorts in the army. In order to field 2 units of one kind you must first include 2 units of Clanrats. Clanrats are about even fighters with Empire troops but faster. They can also have a weapon team attached to them which can either be a “Warpfire Thrower” or a “Ratling gun”.
Stormvermin are the Elite units in the Skaven army. Equipped with the best armour and armed with Halberds they are the best fighting units the Skaven army can field.
Rat Swarms are swarms that can be upgraded to have poisoned attacks.
Giant Rats are packs of huge rats goaded into combat by Clan Moulder packmasters. These are bought in clumps of 6 rats and 1 packmaster and are even faster then Elves. Should all the packmasters in the unit die the Rats revert to compulsory movement.
Night runners are skirmishing units of Clan Eshin rats that can be equipped with 3 different weapon options. These guys have better Leadership then most Skavens but lack the Strength in numbers due to their skirmishing.
Slaves are the bottom level in the Skaven society. They are poor fighters and dirt cheap and don't cause panic to non slave units if they flee, in fact other Skavens expect the Slaves to run away!
Poison Wind Globadiers are Clan Scryre units that throw glass orbs with poisonous gas inside them at the enemy, against which normal armours don't help.

_Special units_
Gutter Runners are veteran Night runners Better on everything then their Clansmen they have access to warpstone based poison for their weapons, and can also be upgraded to tunnelling teams which will dig themselves onto the battlefields with mixed results. A character will never join a team entering battle from tunnels, far to many things can go wrong on those suicide missions!
Warplock Jezzails are big rifles shooting Warpstonebased bullets with awesome stopping power, they are also amongst the most reliable weapons that Clan Scryre produce. This however only means that its a smaller chance that they explode, not that they are completely safe!
Plague Monks are the footsoldiers of Clan Pestilence. Frenzied monks with great resilience that give the Skaven army some punch in Close Combat against fear-causing armies like undeads.
Rat Ogres are the crown jewel of Clan Moulders warpstone mutations and equal Trolls statwise. Each Rat Ogre comes with a packmaster behind him, pointing him into battle from behind. Should all packmasters be slain the Rat Ogres will suffer from stupidity just like Trolls.

_Rare units_
Plague Censer Bearers can be bought one unit for each unit of Plague Monks in the army, and must always start the game within 3” of them and remain so until their first charge. Plague Censer Bearers hates all enemies and have huge flails that emit poisonous gas in combat. The Bearers themselves have masks to protect them from the gas, but not even themselves are completely immune to the gas's effects.
Warp-lightning Cannons are the last entry in the Skaven armylist. A weird warpstone based contraption, similar to a cannon in many ways but with a much more random effect. The weapon and crew follows the rules for chariots and will always flee if charged. Each time the Warp-lightning Cannon is fired you randomize its strength and how far it shoots.

*Money Saving*
Stormvermin can be made from Clanrats with some fantasy and green stuff Slave regiments can include non-Skaven models to represent captured members of other races from some raid on a settlement or surrendering survivors from a battle lost against the Skavens. Warp-lightning Cannons can be made from other artillery weapons, all Clan Scryre weapons are at least a bit experimental which opens for conversions.
The brunt of the army however is its regiments. Lots and lots and lots of big blocks of infantry is the true strength of the Skaven army, and this will naturally not be cheap:no:

*Summary*
The Skaven army is a very colourful army of selfish and cowardly individuals with lots of highly dangerous weapons. These weapons are more then seldom also fatal to its users which can generate lots of surprise incidents. The Skaven gameplay contains lots of sacrificing and fun elements like shooting your own Slaves to bits to maybe kill one of the Kroxigors they are fighting. The bane of the Skaven army is massed psychology tests. The units around your general can have up to LD10 with a Warlord, sadly its very hard to fit the whole army within his LDbubble :wink:


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## squeek

Thanks again Maiden, you have certainly helped a lot with this project! +rep!


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## squeek

Wood Elves


*Fluff*

The Wood Elves (or Asrai as they call themselves) are cousins of the High Elves of Ulthuan. As with Dark Elves they were once High Elves and resided in proud Ulthuan for many millennia as kith and kin to one another. As the might of the Elven race grew, they set sail from Ulthuan and began to settle in the Old World where they built homes and befriended the Dwarfs. As time passed the Elves in the Old World grew attached to their new home, some even choosing to move further inland, away from the overbearing influence of Ulthuan.

Some of the most independent Elves eventually travelled far enough in land to discover the ancient magical forest of Athel Loren. At first it was clear that the forest perceived the Elves as a threat, many losing their lives or simply vanishing if they were foolish enough to venture too far in, however over time the forest's guardians began to tolerate the presence of the Elves, as long as they did not venture too deep in to the ancient woodland.

In time Ulthuan suffered the Sundering as the Dark Elves split from their cousins then Ulthuan and the Dwarfs went to war with one another. The Elves of the Old World were dragged in to the conflict by the Phoenix King even though many did not want to war with the Dwarfs. Eventually the High Elves withdrew to Ulthuan due to the threat of the Dark Elves and decreed that those Elves that did not return with them would no longer receive the protection of the Phoenix King.

The Dwarfs thought of all Elves as the same and attacked Athel Loren in winter when the forest spirits were weakest, the Elves slaughtered the Dwarfs and began to earn the trust of the forest. Eventually another Dwarven army attacked the forest and an alliance was formed between the Asrai and the forest spirits that defeated the Dwarfs, however there was a cost. When an Orc army encroached on the forest in deep winter the Elven god, Kurnous burst forth to defeat the Orcs and it was then that the Elves realised their leaders, Orion and Ariel had become one with the forest and were now King and Queen of the Wood.

The Asrai and the forest spirits of Athel Loren are not as black and white as the High Elves and Dark Elves, they do not fight for good or evil, they fight only to protect their home. They can appear capricious and cold-hearted in their unwavering defence of their homeland and are rarely seen by other races except in times of war.


*Models*

The Wood Elves army is a mixture of plastic and metal models, much of the core section (with the notable exception of Eternal Guard, though they are a special case as they are only core if led by a highborn) are plastic, but most of the really groovy models are still metal. This increased cost is offset somewhat by the quality of most of the metal models and the fact that excluding Eternal Guard, most of the metal models are low model count units.

Most of the models are easy to assemble, the plastic kits are incredibly versatile with the sheer volume of bits that come on each sprue. Any aspiring Wood Elf general should seriously consider the Battalion box since it is one of the best available deals in terms of cost and useful units.


*Game Play*

The Wood Elves are largely an elite force like their Elven cousins, however there is one important difference, Wood Elves are primarily a skirmish army. The nature of most of the common army builds dictates that combats must be carefully picked or often avoided to ensure the fragile Elves aren't overpowered. The army lacks Combat Resolution as, other than Eternal Guard, Wood Elves do not rely on large blocks of ranked infantry to win combat.

There are a number of interesting builds available to the Wood Elf general, the balanced approach has its positive points, but it is perfectly possible and often effective to take a very specialised force to the table. A few notable builds are Tree Spirit armies and ranged armies. A Forest Spirit army takes only those units that have the Forest Spirit special rule, meaning that the army is largely made up of Dryads, Treekin and Treemen, though it is important to note that Wild Riders also have the Forest Spirit special rule. This army tends to have a very low model count but almost universally causes fear or terror and is able to dominate the Close Combat phase with most units being ItP and having a handy ward save.

Ranged Wood Elf armies tend to be largely Elf based, centred around units of Glade Guard with their S4 longbows (at short range). The Glade Guard are normally supported by Way Watchers, ranged Highborns and Nobles and lots of march blocking 'hit and run' units. A good ranged army is capable of destroying an opposing army without losing a single model!

The most important point to take away from this is that Wood Elves are a dangerous foe if used well, they take some finesse to get the most out of them since the army is generally quite small and the Elven units are often fragile. To really do well the Wood Elves must dominate the movement phase and choose combats carefully. One small units of Dryads is not much to worry about for your opponent, but 3 assaulting the same unit in unison is enough to scare anyone!

_Lords_

Highborn - Rulers of Wood Elf society, they are potentially very powerful choices in a Wood Elf army as they can be customised with magic items, kindreds and spites. The Alter Kindred is particularly notable since they cannot lead an army or join a unit, instead acting as lone death dealers able to pick and choose where to lend their weight.

Spellweaver - Lord level mage. Spellweavers can choose from a number of mounts and take the glamourweave kindred making them a forest spirit. They may only choose from the Lore of Life, the Lore of Beasts, or the Wood Elf-specific Lore of Athel Loren, but can take magic items and spites like the Highborn.

Treeman Ancient - Oldest and most powerful Treemen. Treeman Ancients cannot use magic items or kindreds, but can take multiple spites (including the Cluster of Radiants) and have treesinging as a bound spell that they can cast twice per magic phase. They also have a rather nifty short range shooting attack that can do hideous damage to low toughness troops.

_Heroes_

Noble - Basic hero choice. A lower rank than the Highborn, Nobles have access to much the same options (bar the dragon) but less points of each. They can be the army BSB or any number of variations of tailor made combat or ranged builds.

Spellsinger - Basic mage choice. A lower rank than the Spellweaver, they are limited to the Lore of Athel Loren but can still take Glamourweave Kindred if wanted.

Branchwraith - A hero level dryad. A Branchwraith is unusual in that it can be a competent fighter and caster in one. Can be upgraded to a level one caster and like the Treeman Ancient they are able to take only Spites, including the Cluster of Radiants. The Forest Spirit Ward Save and fact that they cause Fear make them a useful multi-purpose hero.

_Core_

Glade Guard/Scouts - Standard ranged core choice. Glade Guard have access to S4 bows (at short range) and can move and shoot without penalty due to Asrai Archery making them very mobile and effective ranged units. They are cheap and have good BS and movement; 10 or 12 models is generally accepted to be most effective. Normally only a musician is needed as anything else is extra VPs if your opponent gets in to combat. Scouts are a trade off for more points and the lose of S4 shots, against the flexibility that a scouting, skirmishing unit provides.

Glade Riders - Fast movement march blockers. Glade Riders are Fast Cavalry with M9 and of course no penalty for moving and shooting making them extremely good march blockers. They are fragile being only T3 with a 6+ save, but should be able to stay out of trouble generally. They make very useful support archers and are best kept as MSU at 5 models. Normally only a musician is needed as anything else is extra VPs if your opponent gets in to combat.

Dryads - Standard melee core choice. Dryads are skirmishers, meaning that they get no SCR but for many Wood Elf armies they are the close combat unit of choice. They have a 5+ ward Vs non-magical attacks and cause Fear, they are T4 with good WS and have magical attacks. Whilst a single unit is likely to do badly against a standard ranked opponent due to their lack of SCR, combined assaults with Dryad units and/or other units is an effective way to tackle your opponents combat units.

Dryads work well as a missile screen for the more fragile Elven units, champions are usually a waste of points and generally it is accepted that MSU units of 8 are most useful since as skirmishers on 25mm bases extra models are unlikely to get in to combat that often.

Eternal Guard - A special case! Eternal Guard are a special choice as standard, but can be taken as core if a Highborn leads the army. There is little reason to take them as a special choice when the other options are considered. They are the only practical choice in the Wood Elf army that can win combats based on SCR, all other units rely on doing damage, etc, to win the combat. They are made viable due to the two special rules that affect them. Fighting Style allows them to have a 5+ save and gives the front rank 2 attacks and the second rank 1 attack (unless charging), meaning they are able to put out a lot of attacks as a unit. Bodyguard makes them stubborn when joined by a Noble or Highborn.

Command and character options really depend on the size of the unit and the intended purpose, a small, counter charge unit would normally not be upgraded and take 10-12 models. A medium unit might have 20 models and a full command and be designed for normal combat duties with supporting units. Finally a large unit of 30 models plus will have an FC and supporting characters to give other bonuses such as MR, stubborn, ward saves, etc.

_Special_

Wardancers - Specialist assault unit. They are very powerful on the charge and can be expected to cause more wounds than most opponents, often killing much of the front rank on the charge. They are Skirmishers with ItP, 6+ ward and MR1, but most importantly have the Shadow Dances of Loec. This allows them to choose from KB, +1A, 4+ ward or ASF depending on the situation. They are most useful in units of 6-9 without a champion.

Warhawk Riders - Flying hit and run cavalry. They are the fastest cavalry available to the Wood Elves, but are very fragile for their points. They are able to hit and run, have a 6+ save with two wounds and US2. They are effective, if fragile at MSU of 3 models and can be worthwhile in units of 5, however the high cost and relative ease with which they are killed makes them quite a risky choice at times.

Wild Riders - Powerful cavalry assault unit. Wild Riders are Forest Spirits with the standard 5+ ward and ItP, cause fear on the charge and have +1A otherwise, they are also Fast Cavalry. To top this off they have a base strength of 4 (as opposed to the normal Elven S3) so are very powerful in combat. A standard set-up is 6 Wild Riders including a standard (normally with the war banner) and the free musician. This gives much needed CR to the unit. They are best used in conjunction with other units and are at their most deadly when charging flanks and hunting lone characters/war machines.

Treekin - Heavy duty tree spirits! Treekin are Dryads big siblings, they have Forest Spirit as usual but also have a 4+ Scaly Skin save but the best part is their stats. S5 and T5 with 3 attacks makes them a formidable foe for most troops. They are let down by being flammable, flaming attacks are not good for treekin! They are most useful at MSU 3 or possibly 4 for the extra attacks against a normal ranked unit. They are good flanking heavies but are slow and tend to be ignored in favour of other Special choices.

_Rare_

Waywatchers- Ranged killers extraodinaire! Waywatchers are expensive, but deadly. They have KB at short range, hit on a 3+ even at long range, have a -1 to hit, skirmish and a special deployment rule. They make fantastic march blockers and war machine and character killers. Keep them away from anything that auto-hits! A good sized unit is 6, but can be up to 10 if used well.

Treemen - Rawr! Hard hitting, terror causing monster! Treemen have the standard 2 bound treesinging spells, Strangleroot attacks, are Forest Spirits, cause Terror and have good stats, however they are flammable and even a treeman will not do well against a 0+ AS and good ward save chaos lord. Treemen can be treesurfed in relative safety as with Treemen Ancients and are very good for mangling your opponents troops. A common, if a little cheesy, set up is Cluster of Radiants and An Annoyance of Netlings. This gives them extra DD and allows them to be virtually invulnerable in challenges.

Great Eagles - March blocker without compare! Great Eagles are expensive but they are supremely good at harassing your opponent whether it be march blocking, character hunting, war machine hunting or charge baiting. They even make good sacrificial units against casters hiding in units since if they hit first they are likely to do plenty of damage to most magic users.


*Money Saving*

Your army will have considerably fewer models in it than a number of other armies, but the amount of metal models means it still wont be cheap. A fantastic way to save money on wild riders is to convert glade riders, either making them centaurs or just adding armour and spears. Treekin and treemen can be sculpted or built out of sprue, or even made from garden sticks! It is possible to make plastic Eternal Guard from the Glade Guard and High Elf spearmen.

Most importantly, consider your army before you buy it, all Wood Elf players should consider buying the Battalion box as it is fantastic deal for what you get from it.


*Summary*

Wood Elves are not an easy army to just pick up, they are fragile and rely on multiple charges and hit and run tactics to really get the most out of the army. There are a number of themed and specialist builds that can be created, but as is often the case it is well worth building your army to suit your playstyle, rather than picking one you heard was effective.

Wood Elves are a 6th edition army, but were released just before 7th edition came out and are still an effective army if used well. They may suffer against DoC and VC power builds but they are still capable of beating any army they face.


*Where to go from here*

For more help and advice specifically related to the Wood Elves, you can visit www.asrai.org.


Here is my take on Wood Elves, any thoughts before I post it up?


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## squeek

Well no comments is good right? I am in an optimistic frame of mind tonight! 


Assuming we are happy with this one the state of play so far is:

The Empire - Othiem
Dwarves - Othiem
Orcs and Goblins - squeek
Lizardmen - rVctn_Khaiyn (6th Edition now )
Dark Elves - Druchii in Space
Daemons of Chaos - MaidenManiac
Ogre Kingdoms - MaidenManiac
Tomb Kings - MaidenManiac
Warriors of Chaos - Vaz
Vampire Counts - MaidenManiac
Chaos Dwarfs - neilbatte
Dogs of War - neilbatte
High Elves - Ascendant Valor
Skaven - MaidenManiac
Wood Elves - squeek


In Progress

Beasts of Chaos - Vaz
Brettonians - Ancient
New Lizardmen - ?

As you can see we are NEARLY finished! If anyone is able to do one of the remaining three that is fantastic as I know Vaz and Ancient are busy chaps and of course we now need a new Lizardmen one.


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## torealis

now to make that 'i iz noo 2 fantusy, wut rme shud i pic???!!' thread...


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## MaidenManiac

Good work on the Wood Elf one Squeekk:


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## JokerGod

I think the Daemon one needs an update on the "Saving money" part. With a little bit of greenstuff work you can convert Zombies/Ghouls in to Plague bearers and Ghouls in to Pink Horrors. 

Its useful to people that are starting Nugle/Tzentch armys, cuts the cost off from large units by half is using Ghouls and even more if converting Zombies


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## Apoctis

I can try Kislev


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## squeek

Apoctis said:


> I can try Kislev


If you would like to do one for Kislev it would be greatly appreciated. I have looked at doing the last 3 myself, but they are the armies that I know the least about so unfortunately I would just be stabbing in the dark for the most part.

I would greatly appreciate any effort to help update the Lizardmen intro to 7th Edition and to put together the Beasts of Chaos and Bretonnian introductions. Even if it is just a basic breakdown like the earlier introductions that Othiem and I wrote, it would be a very useful aid to Fantasy players and would earn praise and rep for anyone kind enough to give it a go. I think we can all agree it would be fantastic to get this introduction project up to speed.


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## Ancient Tiel' a fier

Beasts of Chaos

Fluff - A short intro about the army, some background history and any other non-play related interesting points.

Beasts of Chaos or Children on Chaos as they are collectively known include many races, though most common among them are the Beastmen, Centigors and Minotaurs. The Beasts of Chaos were created when the gateways of the old ones collapsed and magic flooded the world man and beast were warped by the touch of chaos. Now the Children of Chaos roam the lands all over the warhammer world in war herds, seeking the spoils of battle and the glory of the gods.


Models - A breakdown of the range of models available, and how easy they are to paint and to model.

Beasts of Chaos can be expensive or cheap depending what units you choose. Centigors are very expensive but those with basic conversion skills can make Chaos Marauder horsemen in to great Centigors. Bestigors can be expensive too as they are one of the common regiments of choice and are still metal, however a condfident converter can remake Gors into Betsigors.
Painting wise Beasts can be both very rewarding and quite easy, being warped by the touch of chaos you can feel free to go nuts with colour schemes and/or conversions.

Lords

Lord choices range from the very point heavy Dragon Ogre Shaggoth Champions and Dombulls to the very cost effective Beastlords and great bray shamen. The lord you take can vary in his abilities depending on the mark you give him and can also alter the composition of your army. A beastlord or great bray shamen led army can use the ambush rule where as a doombull led army can have minotaurs as core unit choices.

Heros

You get quite a lot for your points from your heroes though they magic items list is rather short so be careful with your choices. 

Magic

You get quite a lot of choice for magic from the 3 lores of the gods to the lores of beasts, shadow or death. You can go for a direct magic damage approach to a sneaky support magic army.

Cores

As mentioned above Core selections can be altered by the Lord you choose but even without that you have a great selection of cores. From the Great weapon wielding Bestigors to Chariots to Beats herds that are fast and not too bad in a fight either. Then of course if you take a Doombull you can have big mean ass Minotaurs as core too. One other point to mention is that Beats herd are unruly on a roll of 1 at the start of your turn they must move as fast as possible towards the nearest enemy unit, this can ruin your day with hilarious consequences.

Specials

Lots of big monsters here, Trolls, Ogres and Minotaurs (if you dont have a Doombull) and the fast Centigors. The big monsters perform the vital role of either survivabilty or killing power and the Centigors provide great fast moving flankers. Centigors can move through woods as open ground and pack a suprising punch though be warned they are a touch unreliable.

Rares

Some great choices here, Dragon Ogres, Shaggoths, Giants and Chaos Spawn. The first three are fast and great killers and the spawn are a mixed bag. Spawn provide a great use as being unbreakable in an army with typically low Ld they can also be marked by the gods to be made faster, stronger or even given a breath attack.


Game Play - A guide to how the army plays and how flexible the army list is as a whole.

Beats of Chaos can be used in very different ways. They can be made to go for the traditional chaos combat army, they can be a fast all skirmisher army, they can be an army of ogre size creatures with Minotaurs as core or they can use the Ambush rule and have units come from any table edge! It should also be said that the marks of the gods for Beasts of Chaos are different to the Chaos Warrior ones and can produce very different armies.
Overall Beats are a great fun army to play and they can play exciting varied games however the book is very old and needs an update, they are rarely seen at tournaments as there are a few old rules that handi cap them against certain things, like Dragons..


Money Saving - How to get more from your chosen army, for less money

Easiest way to keep the costs down is go for a Beast herd heavy army they are a great plastic kit, make Centigors from the new Marauder horsemen and use Ogre bulls as Chaos Ogres. Beats of Chaos are also fairly easy to find second hand.


Summary - General conclusions about the army and any extra points that are useful.

Beasts of Chaos can be very versatile from all Khorne armies (which get a dispel dice for each marked unit, ouch) to all Tzeentch armies (Characters are all wizards and marked units give power dice). But that said Beats of Chaos are not an army to plan for your next tournament, they are a lot of fun and a great army for converters with lots of room for creativity, but we Beats of Chaos players are waiting still for our glossy new book.

Where To Go Next - 

A Beast of Chaos forum - http://s2.invisionfree.com/herdstone/index.php?showforum=1

GW Beats of Chaos pages - 
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/landingArmy.jsp?catId=cat1300211&rootCatGameStyle=

And of course they are loads of great images out there if you just have a poke about the net.


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## maddermax

Awesome, we're doing pretty well getting all the intros done, nice work ancient! I was going to mention that now that the GAMSAT (Medical entry test) is over for me, I might have a chance to do some work on the bretonnian Intro, without the constant nagging feeling I should be studying 

Give me a few days, and I'll see what I come up with, or if anyone has anything so far, drop me a PM.


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## Syph

I like the sound of Beasts, especially having read Malus Darkblade recently. Good post Ancient.


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## squeek

Cheers Ancient, I have added it to the stickied thread now, looking forward to that last one now and then we are pretty much up to date!


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