Help on army choices

How to beat those cowardly High Elves?

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Oscar1492
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Help on army choices

Post by Oscar1492 »

Hey

Im just starting to collect DE and his is my first warhammer fantasy army.

what would you recomend as a good starting force?

cheers
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Enfant terrible
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Post by Enfant terrible »

You'll probably hear from a lot of people that they would prefer if your wrote a bit about what style of play you favour, what army size you are aiming for etc.

But I would recommend you, for a start, to get your hands on:
1. The Army book ( :D )

2. Core Choices - I'd say: 1-2 Packs of warriors/xbow men. If I remember correctly each pack will be enough for 16 warriors?! Harpies might be an issue later, but you might just wait and see what fits your style of play + they cost a gazzillion!

3. A Lord model of some kind - either on foot or mounted (I'd say mounted. but preferably on a Dark steed!! So either wait for the new lord model in january or start chopping on models). You might also want a sorcerer model on foot!

4. Special Choices: Black Guards!!! Awesome unit!

5. Rare: Hydra + RBT's

That should keep you busy for some time AND give you models for at least 1000-1500pts.

For more opinions on sample armies, please browse through the army lists discussion thread!
Last edited by Enfant terrible on Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Druchii77
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Post by Druchii77 »

I agree with Enfant that your core choices are key. Two boxes of warriors will yield 32 warriors to mix and match. I would recommend at least 20 spears and perhaps 10-12 crossbows. Then, a good character model. I would go for a fighty character as most games at low points costs have little to no magic. Next, I would recommend dark riders. These are a superb core choice. You could get the old looking models we have currently or convert them from a box of wood elf glade rider (which is cheaper). Finally, I would consider 1 special choice for the time being. The two best at the moment are black guard and cold on knights. The cold one knights are the cheapest money investment and do well on the field. Black guard are super solid, but are much more expensive to buy. Finally, I would start out getting one rare as well. You could get a hydra as they are good all around or you could get 1-2 bolt throwers. Either is a good choice. If you get all of the above, you are looking at around 1,00 pts. give or take.
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Irtehdar
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Post by Irtehdar »

I would say te first things you should buy was:
1 Army Book
1 Box of Warriors
1 Box of Wood Elf Glade Riders
1 Box of Corsairs
1 Character(your choice)

From this you build:
10 warriors with repeater crossbows(RxB's) give them shields but not command(this will make sense as soon as youve gone on the field with them afew times)
10 Corsairs with extra hand weapons and full command. (this is a unit you will want to add extra numbers to later on)
Finally you take the horses of glade riders and mix in some dark elf bits to build a unit of 5 Dark Riders with repeating crossbows.

With this you have built your first few units at a low cost and no matter how you evolve your playstyle over time these units will never grow obsolete. Dont go out and buy RBT's/Hydras/Dragons/etc just yet. What you want to have early on is a small working army you can take to the table and get some experience.

The army setup of those 3 units have become my standard advice to novice players simply for the 5 reasons:
1. Its legal
2. Its cheap
3. None of it will go obsolete any time soon
4. Its a solid small scale army
5. It includes all the elements you want to learn as soon as possible (shooting/manouvering/combat/converting/etc)

Once you have played afew battles you will get a feel for what you will need to move on to doing well in larger battles(this is always better if you discover it on your own as you also in that process discover your personal playstyle (The new Druchii is very versatile and there are not really any ''wrong'' playstyles))

Finally Id say go look through the Tactics forum and the Army Lists forum. Theres alot of wisdom to be found just by reading around on those.
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Post by Dark Alliance »

Welcome to druchii.net!
Oscar1492
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Post by Oscar1492 »

hey thanks for the comments

this'll be a great help i'm still undecided about what type of character ill get or what ill suit him out with but i'll decide later

and thanks for the welcome to druchii.net :D
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Post by Brokenstone »

For a first hero probably ignore the Death Hags, so really you are just looking at a Master or a lvl 2 Sorceress, I would suggest starting with a few squads if you have someone to play with for a quick 500 to 750 pts. Using a random model to represent either hero and try and play a game suited to each.

See if you enjoy playing out with some dark magic, or if you enjoy having your hero get in amongst it with a couple of big hits, then you have your early interest in style of play. Because that hero can shape whether you hit with your next purchase being to support one or the other. Or to strengthen a weakness on the way.

As a novice I have found having small armies, but playing games with whatever you have lying around to represent pieces meant you get a feel for the gaming experience and work out what you like playing. Cause otherwise i being with a lack of serious income can't afford to buy units that will not be worth keeping later. This can be a very expensive hobby, depending on your budget.
Oscar1492
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Post by Oscar1492 »

yer it is a bloody expensive hobby thats why i asked for peoples opions before i rushed out with my chrissie money

i might have a couple of games with my mate
he has HE and empire

id still like all the rest of your opinions. my playing style is sorta like nelsons ship tactics "never mind the tactics, just go straight at 'em"
and sometimes just a little bit of pincer/rolling up the flanks. it sorta depends on who im versing and how ive deployed
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Calisson
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Post by Calisson »

oscar1492 wrote:it is a bloody expensive hobby
=> sure it is!

my mate has HE and empire
=> same for me. HE have good magic and dragons. Empire have a tough gunline and steam tank.

Nelson's ship tactics "never mind the tactics, just go straight at 'em"
=> You will have trouble playing Dark Elves that way (I know, I have the same tendency).
HE and Empire are more eligible to play that way

I'll advertise about the D.R.A.I.C.H., this is my way of welcoming people.
See top of Tactics Forum.
There is a section dedicated to beginners, another one telling how to deal with HE and Empire, and plenty of other stuff.

I created that thread because I wanted to collect information about units before I invested money, painting and time in them, so I did not want to find out later that they were underdogs.
Of course, this information is of collective interest.
So it is for you.

Don't thank now, rather participate to it later.
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Enfant terrible
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Post by Enfant terrible »

Even if Calisson is right about it being hard to play a "Geronimo style" army with DE, it's not impossible though! And you'll actually find that fast hitting DE armies are probably the best out there - even better than HE, IMO.

Browse through the army lists available on d-net and see the great variety of combat armies out there!
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Jilliah
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Post by Jilliah »

Hi. I am starting with DE too. I have one question: How I can built 500 points DE army? I don't find it in forums.
Thanks for tips.
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Megazephyr
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Post by Megazephyr »

building a 500 point army can happen real fast, before you know it you have a whole lot more than that. Warriors will be pivotal at the start, 2 boxes i can definately agree with, that would give you 32 warriors, 12 rxb, 15 warriors, and you still have 5 left over if you want to do what irtehdar suggested with the glade riders.

I started by getting that battalion box cause it has warriors and some corsairs for all of like 70 bucks online. then you can get a hydra seperate.
good luck!
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