What do you base your army around

How to beat those cowardly High Elves?

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What is most important to you when you make an army

Making a powerful competative army
12
14%
Creating a themed army with a strong back story
30
35%
using awesome models and units
44
51%
 
Total votes: 86

Grok
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What do you base your army around

Post by Grok »

So i am going to do a multiple forum survey on what people base their armies around. I would like to see if there are any specific trends to certain armies. I am going to compile all the data, best responses and write an article about what i have found.

All peoples names will be omitted from the article. I am presuming that the votes are for the forums most common army aka da warpath's votes are for orc players , druchii is for dark elves, if you vote but your main or current army (what ever the vote is for) is not for the typical army of the forum just comment on the post and i will take it into account.

Also feel free to state the reason for your vote or if you have a slightly different strategy, or feel particularly strong one way or the other. i understand most people like a blend of all three of these things but vote for what is MOST important.
Im going to stop keeping track of voting data after the 28 so i can start looking for patterns ect.

Happy voting :o
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Fleshcollector
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Post by Fleshcollector »

I base my army around awesome models and wanting to play games where my opponents enjoyed the experience even after getting massacred and specifically the Executioners. I've played the evasive army with great success but my opponents didn't particularly enjoy my lists. By playing an infantry heavy list without heavy cavalry or dragons, I must admit that it is tougher to win but more rewarding when I do.
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Post by Bounce »

When i say I base my army around awesome models, I mean awesomely cool rather than awesomely powerful.
To me you should take units which you like in terms of look and fluff rather than their inherent strength on the battlefield.
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Post by Masked jackal »

Awesome models and units, basically I buy them for fun. A combination of a model that's fun to paint and that's fun to play is best.
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Tribun
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Post by Tribun »

Creating a themed army with a strong back story...my Corsairs. Powerful armies is something for the younger players and for tournaments...we older fellow like good conversions and nice army-themes :
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Post by Layne »

Empire : was based around a character I invented. The army sort of grew out of him as it were.

DE : same again.

O&G : Mongoblins! For modelling opportunities, lots of greenstuff, and outlandish painting.
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Post by Calisson »

Welcome grok in D.net.
Original way to introduce yourself, by asking averybody else to introduce his own army! :lol:

Hopefully, you will come back (at least with the result of your poll).


Back on topic.
Hard to choose from your poll.

- Power is required, to a certain point: I want my army not to be overpowered nor underpowered, the best is to be as powerful as the opponent.

- Fluff is nice. It is always more intense to have named characters and named champions perform feats, rather than anonymus ones.
I would rather find the fluff to suit my army rather than the opposite.
But I don't take Khainite units because of their fluff!

- I like the beauty of DE units, however, I'm fine with odd models such as present cartoonish DR, former CO, harpies.


Usually, I plan my army with a reasonable magic phase, because it is fun.
I take reasonably competitive units, as varied as possible, without some of the best options because too easy a game ruins the pleasure.
I never field any unit with less than 4 colours painted.

I play in order to have FUN!


Could you add an option in your poll:
What is most important to you when you make an army:
. making an army with variety, some randomness, as pleasant as possible for both opponents, in order to have FUN.
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Post by Grok »

Thank you everyone for your replies and comments you are thrid for most comments out of ten forums so not to bad :twisted: I actually have been a member of druchii in the past but for the life of me i couldn't remember my past names.

Dark Elves are my babies i have roughly 15,000 points of them with out magic equipment, so hearing other peoples reasons for their love of Dark Elves if awesome !

Currently i am playing a orc and goblin army. Ummm and i personally go for cool models over anything else and creating the theme around that so now everyone knows my opion to :D

Thanks for the warm welcome and i will be revisting back fairley often giving updates or answering questions to the poll :)
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Post by Desmodeus »

Themes are always fun, and lead to a very cool looking army; cool models can come into it with conversions, and being competative comes from being a good player anyway. ;)
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Post by Tribun »

here is my themed army, you will see, it sacrifices power for background
-->http://www.druchii.net/viewtopic.php?p=785123#785123
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Post by Jebnus »

I love the DE for there awesome looking models, there power in games, and there fluff. So it was hard to choose but I just like fielding awesome models. Of course my favorite being the Hydra and the Exec.

Lets hope that the new COC looks cool! :D
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Post by Red... »

I'm not suprised but a bit disbelieving about the scores so far (19% power, 25% themed and 54% awesome models).

From the comments I've read on here, it seems like a significantly higher proportion of people base their lists on power-playing than the scores so far make out (a vast number of armies called "2250 points of cheese" or involving double hydras and monster ruck lists etc).

But then the unreliability of self surveys (even anonymous ones) are well documented in social science statistics studies :)

I voted for making a powerful competitive army because, while I always avoid cheese and broken set ups (at 2250 i run max 1 hydra, no dragon, no more than 14 black guard, etc) my armies are first and foremost mean to do well. Yes, I may theme them, but that's generally something I interweave around my army being strong.
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Post by Crawd »

None of these.

My vote goes for: Having fun!
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Post by Senluthan »

i agree with having fun.. and while this is my first army ever. in the beginning it was about what was looking cool, now it is about making a tactic and fun army to play.
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Post by Blaznak »

I go for Awesome, as in Really Cool and Nifty. If I don't like the mold/sculpt, whatever, then either I convert it or don't use it. So... right now I am not using harpies because I don't like the figures (For example).
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Fleshcollector
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Post by Fleshcollector »

Red... wrote:I'm not suprised but a bit disbelieving about the scores so far (19% power, 25% themed and 54% awesome models).

From the comments I've read on here, it seems like a significantly higher proportion of people base their lists on power-playing than the scores so far make out (a vast number of armies called "2250 points of cheese" or involving double hydras and monster ruck lists etc).

But then the unreliability of self surveys (even anonymous ones) are well documented in social science statistics studies :)

I voted for making a powerful competitive army because, while I always avoid cheese and broken set ups (at 2250 i run max 1 hydra, no dragon, no more than 14 black guard, etc) my armies are first and foremost mean to do well. Yes, I may theme them, but that's generally something I interweave around my army being strong.


With only 37 folks weighing in, perhaps all the power gamers just havnt't voted yet :D

Or more likely one does not call ones self a power gamer very easily. I don't know but I too am surprised.

But it might be that there are elements of both, as you pointed out, whereas a body selects certain units because of their fluff or theme and then tries to get as much out of the overall list as inhumanly possible.

I chose to assemble a list based on 3 units: the CoB, Exec, and Witches while determining to field mostly infantry in large blocks. After that, I just had to go with a hydra (because its painted) and some RBTs for the rare slots. Both are painted and seemed like the thing to do to support a foot slogger list. Then I just had to have 2 units of Dark Riders (never have made a list without both units and they happen to be painted) and then the obligatory unit of harpies (painted).

Although there was not many points left to spend after that, I threw in a painted chariot (certainly NOT my favorite choice) a master on steed cause its also painted, and the BSB which is painted.

I could field virtually anything I would like to with about 8000pts of DE but as we can see the first choice is to base the list around cool freakin models. But at this point, I chose to maximize what I can get out of the few remaining points and installed 19 Blackguard (cause they are uber in combat and incidentally carry the RoH for my sole magic defense) and more harpies to assist in the foot sloggers making it into combat when I want them too.

I agree that many of us certainly consider the game potential of units when we make a list but I also think it is a secondary consideration for many and if so would explain the clouding of our preconceived notions about how the poll should result.
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Post by Handsome jack »

My army I play week in and week out is based on spearunits and executioners with a cauldron but I like I suspect most other players do have a different list I play 1 day every other month for the rtt thats much different. I suspect that there are more closet power gamers than myself. My everyday army is made up of my favorite looking painted units but alas these often don't see much tourney play
Last edited by Handsome jack on Mon Feb 22, 2010 7:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Enkiel »

Tribun wrote:Creating a themed army with a strong back story...my Corsairs. Powerful armies is something for the younger players and for tournaments...we older fellow like good conversions and nice army-themes :
i guess i'm still young :lol:

Personally, i try to make a competitive army with what i have painted for now.

90% of the time, i play game with same rules/format as the tournament we play around here, so my list is never "friendlier" than what i bring in tournament. But i ain't bringing two Hydra, so i guess i'm still a bit friendly :P
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Post by Dalamar »

Good theme != weak army
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Post by Grok »

i see some worry about the lack of votes for competative play, hopfully people vote honestly i don't judge; however, it is true the votes will be biased, but it is just for fun and to see any patterns so its not a huge huge deal.

Also with numerous comments taking into account they want to be competative i can use that to at least comment on people want a good theme that can still play well ect.

Happy voting keep it coming, and the comments are especially helpful :)
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Post by Drainial »

Well I don't think that being competitive and having a thematic army are mutually exclusive, particularly when your theme is an unusual one (forcing you to modify the units in order to play any of them).

As you may have guessed I did play a thematic army (I haven't actually been able to have a game for a while now and the army is a little on the dilapidated side).Theme first and foremost for me.
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Post by Grok »

Drainial i have to agree i have made oddly themed armies that still did quite well. Back with the old edition of Vamps i made my army themed around an strigio who raised an old greenskin and dwarf battlefield of its bodies, so all my models were goblin zombies and empty dwarf suits of armor as grave guard did pretty well.
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Post by Grok »

only two more days for votes and comments so if you have anything you want me to take into account for the article now is the time . Also on monday im going to post the raw numbers for every forum and places for most votes!

Currently D.net is aorund 4th ish.
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Post by Uman »

I'm torn, initially it is/was theme, but as my army has grown, I've also added models basically just because they are awesome! I'll go for "theme" though - that's how all my armies start :)


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Post by Zardock »

Theme all the way. Corsairs :) although I'm in the process of converting a CoB and Blackguard etc to corsair theme, so my army can still be competitive.
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