So, we’ve made the commitment to start playing Warhammer Fantasy but I am at a bit of a loss as to where to begin with my Wood Elves and Frankie doesn’t even have an army! Help us figure out a good starting point!
So, I played Fantasy last in 7th ed, and really enjoyed it….until Daemons hit the scene. That army was so incredibly OP I literally quit the game after it came out. I am not that type of person either, but after my Wood Elves got tabled 4/4 times against Daemons and 2 of those games were against brand new players, I had enough. I did fine against everyone else but at tournaments the field would be half Daemons and I chose not to do it. I’d rather have played more 40k.
Against any other army though, I did just fine. Even VC which were at the time considered to be right under Daemons.
At any rate, my army consists of loads of Dryads, Archers and some other fun units like War Dancer, Wild Riders, Treemen (2), etc. I have all of the characters as well, and for the most part, the army is at least base coated.
What my issue is now, since skirmishing is really different, how does the army play? What units are good? I have heard magic is crazy powerful in 8th ed Fantasy, is that true?
Any help would be appreciated as we dive into a new, and big game system.
Also, what army should Frankie play? Remember, he is a cheesy, beardy, “lean on my list because I have no skill at wargames type of player,” hahaha, so we need to find an OP army for him!
Also, if anyone wants to come by the shop and play us a game or three, it would be appreciated as I am pretty much clueless in 8th ed.
Daemons were my only army in fantasy because I had a decent amount of them for 40k. All I did was magnetize anything bigger than a basic troop so I could swap between both systems. Unfortunately it looks like there may still be still open wounds from daemons.
Ogre kingdoms can be pretty easy to get into just for the low investment compared to other armies.
Yeah, and the Ogre models are AWESOME! I really like them a lot.
Daemons turned me off to the game so much, it was the most unenjoyable war gaming experience I have ever had, each time. The people playing the army were cool, too. The army was just absolutely no fun to play against. I have heard that it has gotten much better, though.
Have Frankie do a scaven army. Scaven shooting will put the hurt on your dryads and treemen since it is considered a magical attack and ignores your ward save ;p, then finally Frankie can win a game against you lol. We are trying for a push back into fantasy here also. I have played a few games of 8th and didn’t mind it at all, magic can get a little crazy at times but can be managed. I think the 8th ed army books have more of a balance to them, I haven’t seen high elves yet thou.
One of our painters, Keno, has a large Skaven army already, actually. Haha, and magic shooting ignoring my ward save…boo! That was why Daemon owned my face so hard, almost everything wounded me on 2’s and ignored all of my saves. It was infuriating!
Frankie should do Warriors of Chaos. They are straight up brutes in combat and can have powerful magic also. As far as wood elves, I have nothing for you, they are in need of a new book.
Haha, yeah, pretty much what everyone has been saying. Oh well, I will take my licks until they get updated.
Wood Elves can be a good army as long as you don’t try to play them like most players did in 7th edition. Small units of archers are no longer the order of the day as terrain will no longer slow an enemy down. Dryads are still good, as are treemen as they get thunderstomp (an extra D6 wounds at base strength) against infantry. Archers still have their use, but you’ll need to learn how to keep them mobile. Magic is very powerful, but Wood Elves have some of the best defensive magic items in the game which is very helpful. Eternal guard (I think that’s what they are called) also got much better as they now fight in three ranks, are stubborn, and have good stats.
As for a good army for your friend to play, Skaven are good choice as the boxed game gives you a good starter army and the list is competitive. All of the new books are very balanced…let me rephrase that… they are as balanced as anything GW has ever produced. Most armies are competitive so your friend should look for an army that he likes the look of. Interestingly Wood Elves are considered the weakest army but that is a holdover from the beginning of 8th edition that was evaluating 7th edition type wood elf armies. Wood Elves do require the greatest change in play style from their previous play style.
Chaos Warriors and Ogres are probably the cheapest armies to collect if that is a factor.
Lizardmen and Dark Elves appear to be coming up for release before this time next year FYI.
Thanks for the input. Yeah, the WoC are such awesome models, I really like them. Ogres too, are awesome. Actually, I like every Fantasy army apart from Empire in terms of aesthetics.
I have actually been more successful in 8th edition with Wood Elves then I ever was in 7th edition but then my army had large units of Eternal Guard. I think Treekin would also be good as they get to fight with full attacks from the second rank and get a stomp… I just always hated the models so I’ve never bought any.
Don’t believe the hype, Wood Elves can be very dangerous in 8th edition .
That’s good to know! Thanks for the information. I have heard Treekin are quite good, but I also do not like the models at all. I will probably get some different models to use as stand-ins.
And you didn’t come to me first? Shame on you Reece!
Wood elves are a really hard army, so as long as you know that going in, you’ll be okay. Generally, when you play them, you should be looking to make a list that has one clear goal, they need to play one dimensionally because if you try and make a list that is too diverse, you quickly run out of viable options.
Generally, you’ll want 40-50 glade guard on the board, in small units, with musicians and standards (for Blood and Glory). Make sure you have a level 4 with Lore of Life, and either stick her in some GG, or put her on a horse and keep her out of trouble, Wardancers also make an okay character bunker (people don’t often want to go into melee with killing blow with their characters). Dryads and Treekin are also your friends here, they’re really punchy and hard to kill, just do everything you can to keep your dryads in woods (where they are stubborn), and they’ll be a huge pain in the neck to kill.
My basic strategy works like this:
1. Deploy
2. Redeploy
3. Treekin to the face
Use the speed of Wood Elves to avoid any fight you cant win (which is most of them), and you’ll just about want to flee whenever possible. If you do accept a charge, do it because it’ll force your opponent into a bad spot, or because sacrificing that unit will allow you to save another.
For Frankie, he should go Warriors of Chaos, not many models to paint and plenty of cheesy combos (unkillable stubborn tzeentch lords on a disk, monster spam, etc). If not WoC, then High Elves and Ogres also have some dirty tricks.
I may have to come out there and learn you guys a thing or two. 🙂
Teach us, oh wise one! Haha, we definitely do not have a strong knowledge base form which to build upon, so any tips are appreciated.
I keep hearing Treekin, so I will have to look into them, for sure.
If you do look into them, look into Raging Heroes, they make an awesome set of treekin and you can get 12 for a pretty reasonable price.
Check out the articles I wrote for BOLS, I’ve bolded the most important ones, but they’re all going to be helpful:
http://www.thediceabide.com/2013/02/adams-wfb-tactics-compilation/
Redirecting is one of the most important parts of winning Fantasy, especially with wood elves. Master that, and you’ll be in good shape.
Awesome! Thanks, Adam.
Hey guys, could always go Beastmen for the challenge. I always laugh when using my 1+ re-rollable doombull of death 🙂
The Doombull is a bad ass model, too!
cheese? double screaming terrorgheists from VC, or death nurgle 1+ rerollable daemon prince WoC. Ogres can be pretty strong (especially sense they don’t see the comp stick much), but lists almost always seem to look the same. That said they’re probably the cheapest to get into. Two battle forces (convert bsb and any other character you don’t want to buy separately), two boxes of mournfang (for a unit of four with dragonhide banner), and two boxes of leadbelchers (for mobile chariot artillery cheese). Really, ogres are all about buying twos lol. I find the suistainablecente, mr. malorian, oncebitten360, and a few other channels on youtube to be a good source of info.
Don’t forget the vampire you can mount on one of the terrorgheists that can scream too 😉
Try looking up tom ritchards. He plays in the UK and has a youtube channel,he plays in a lot of tourneys
Will do, thanks!
If he’s going to be beardy, that just screams dwarf!! All artillery!
Seriously though I found VC to be fairly diverse with strong heroes, powerful casters and unending legions of dead (perfect Segway for his nurgle zombies).
OK cool, artillery for the Dwarves. How about the Slayers? They are such a cool unit, are they any good?
Magic is powerful but if you build your list right then you can stop most things, its all about writing a balanced list (to quote someone I know) Diversification is king. I love my WOC (plus I got the Mammoth from FW and its my favorite mini ever. I would say go with who ever your like the look of but prob stay away from tomb kings as they are pants, VC, Ogres, WOC, are all winners, Skaven is fun but VERY random. Dwarfs only ever stand and shoot (really) as are super slow, its a bit of a one trick pony. Lizard men are apparently the next release from GW so maybe hold off till then before buying too many skinks.
You know me, Cuz! I love a balanced army, the most fun way to play, IMO.
Dwarves are a bit static, huh? Well that is good, Francoise wont have to think much! haha
Yeah, I had a tough time choosing an army in Fantasy as they all look so cool (apart from Empire, they look so stupid, IMO). It came down to Woodies, WoC or Ogres and in the end I went with the Elves. Haha, sort of like in 40K!
We have in our starter league so far: Lizardmen, Woodies, Dwarves, Skaven and WoC, probably more will be joining in, too.
Tomb Kings ftw 🙂
On a serious note Frankie could try Ogres or Warriors of chaos. Vampire counts are also an interesting choice. If he fancies good guys for a change then empire with demi grif knights cannons and steam tank are absolutely brutal. As for your wood elves take nice big units of tree kin and life magic mage.
We painted some of those Demi Grif riders and what cool models! I really liked them. The Griffon was awesome, too.
Everyone keeps saying Treekin, I will have to get some of them. I was thinking about using Mantic Werewolves instead as they are really cool looking, affordable and I think fit the theme, kind of like Circle orboros looking units.
I think that mantic werewolves are an excellent idea. Take a look at wood elf bat reps you will see how brutal they are 🙂
Awesome! I can’t wait to beat Frankie’s stunty Dwarves up with them!
Going to have to weigh in with me extensive High Elves, I started playing with the Ld2 guys at end game, and was quickly put off by not even coming close to beating any of them, tried all kinds of shenanigans, dragon lord, level 4 wizards, mass spear or lothern regiments, swordmaster and white lion cheese, bolt throwers, an 11 chariot lists, mass cavalry, lol nothing worked well, mixed lists nothing, so I resigned to the fact that even if I only lost combat by one or two points even with the army BsB in 12” and a ld of 9 or 10 I would be breaking running and losing regardless of what i was playing, because apparently I could never roll less than a 9 for break tests….. weeks went by and my high leadership elves still seemed to run like chickens every time a few die, only to present their backsides to the enemy to get run down, so I’ll just have to come over and play with the newbies like myself….
Hahaha, hey, all are welcome as I am sure we are all going to suck equally!
I can pop in on sunday and dust off my ogres if you’re up for a game.
I still need to get all of my stuff out and make sure it’s all good to go, make repairs, etc. How about next week?
I don’t know what Frankie likes, but I personally loved playing Lizardmen. It’s fantastic how rarely they break. What they lack in range they make up for in full with tenacity and just brute force