choosing a new fantasy army part 2

well i came into some money on a raffle and bought an rebought ogre kingdoms and vampire counts.  as both of these are strong contenders for my new army lets go over ogre kingdoms for the second part of choosing an army

once iv decided that i like the model range the next part is army composition rules and how viable they will be on the table top

firstly a standard ogre is ws3 bs2 str4 t4 w3 i2 a3 they have an average stat line but the difference is their fairly tough with lots of wounds which means a unit of 6 will be fairly hard to shift without plenty of shooting

so lets look at the army special rules

the first is ogre charge 1 impact hit per ogre in the unit is devastating as these hits are done before combat and against most T3/4 units theyll do some damage not only that on a roll of 10 or more to charge u get d3 impact hits    so an average unit of 6 is 12hits  not only that they have an extra rank which grants them an extra str so their impact hits would be str5 thats a -2 armour save to the unit being charged so even heavy armoured cavalry with a 1+ save would now be at 3+

they also stomp  so theirs plenty of attacks  in one form or another that theyll throw out

ironfists - another great  rule  they count as sheilds giving a 1+ to armour saves but not only that you can parry even if mounted which makes mournfang very durable!

look of gnoblars - is the same as look out sir for BSB

chain trap  12" str6 killing blow  its ok not great
harpoon launcher 36" str6 move or fire  and multiple wounds d3 this is gd as long as the character is mounted
the best weapons are ogre pistols 24" str4 armour peircing andquick to fire if u take a pair(brace) then u get 2 shots and they count as an extra hand weapon as well so u can stand and shoot then attack with an extra attack :D - so these are deffinately worth taking

magic
lore attribute - gain a wound on a 2-6 with a +1 to cast or dispell on a roll of 1 the caster takes a str6 hit
signature spell - stubborn 12" on a 6+
1 18" magic missile 2d6 str2 hits with no armour saves 8+  36" range 11+
2 +1 str to a unt in 12" 7+ effect all units in 12" 14+
3 +1 toughness same as above bu casts on a 8+ and 16+
4 cause a panic check range 18" 9+  or 36" 12+
5 1 unit regen In  12" on a 12+ or all units in 12" on a 20+
6 small round blast within 18" roll atillery n scatter dice   models under template suffer a str3 hit if they pass an I test  those that fail take a str7 hit with multi wounds d6

onto the lords and hereos now ill ignore special characters since comped dont allow them

  firstly as this army is all about CC and beating face we have the

tyrant boasting  WS6 str5 t5 w5 i4 a5  hes a tough cookie and thier are a few ways to build him up

1st build -standard items then 1 big shouty weapon from the book if u do that take seigebreaker gives +2 str  and u roll against I which means  enemy infantry youl be hitting on 3's u also cant parry the seigebreaker  so hell chomp on infantry quickly

2nd build - brace of pistols giving u 6 attacks at i4 thats gd then make him more durable with armour from the rule book and a ward save

either way ul have lots of attacks or hit like a hammer  i would allways take the big name mountain eater as it means ull be wounded on no better than 3+ gd for other enemies with lots of attacks

slaughter master - this is the lv3 mage for ogres and so far wat i have for builds is this

1st gruts sickle and hell heart  gruts sickle adds +2 to casting rolls and the hell heart forces a mis cast in a d6x5 area and all wizards that suffer a miscast gives u an extra dispell dice

2nd go thru the rulebook n choose some items from that 

3rd hell heart and dispell scroll is my prefered set up and make him a lv4

heroes
like all hereos these are purely support for the lords

bruiser is a BSB  with mundane items and dragonhide banner this banner lets you do a breath attack as well as his normal attacks and that unit is then given allways strikes last this will counter high elves no re-rolls will hurt them :D

butcher is a lv1 wizard you could keep great maw or make him a support mage with heavens or sniper with death
firebellies are fire mages and an option but i like great maw powers

hunters are a gd choice when taken with sabertusks as they can vangaurd and go for war machines he can also take a big name to give him a +2 when shooting at large targets and with the harpoon launcher hell do some damage but he cant move or fire

so thats characters  im taking a both lords and a BSB as well as the support mage with gut magic :D

core units
the core makes up the majority of troops for the army and we have to choices really

ogres - standard guys a unit of 5 with full command is 180points u can then take iron fists for a 5+ and a parry save which is a total of 190 points thats very cheap :D take odd numbers if u will have them as a character bunker even if u wont

iron guts have heavy armour so the same save as ogres with iron fists BUT the difference is iron guts have great weapons so their str6 which means armour is modified by 3 so nasty horses with a 1+ go to 4+ but this comes at a higher price 5 iron guts with full command are 245  7 with full comman 331

gnoblars - they have a rule that means if they run away they dont cause panic tests their also 2.5 pts each!!  for 50 points u can get  10 gnoblars and trappers the basic plan is run them infront of the army if the enemy charge the trappers they take dangerous terrain then the ogres charge them! or they over run into the ogres lol

ill run 1 big unit of iron guts (7) this gives u a 2+ on impact hits :D
2  have man ogre units for the mages
2/3 units of gnoblar trappers to run infront of the army

special units
this is where the ogres really shine their are lots of great units

leadbelchers - this is the main fire base for the ogre army their str4 and fire d6 per ogre so ill run a unit of 4 which means theyll pump out loads of shots! str4 armour peircing thats a -2 to armour saves with weight of fire theyll drop most light armoured units and make a dent in heavy armoured units

man eaters these have the best bs (except characers) their expensive but can fill lots of different roles my idea is take 3 with ogre pistols(front rank) and 3 with great weapons(2nd rank) with  scouts and sniper and ill use them to pick off characters with weight of fire

the other way to use man eaters is as a character bunkers (their str5 a4) and take immune to pyschology and stubborn !! 

the only problem is their 50pts each

sabretusks  w2  21pts each get vanguard with a hunter u can run 2 hunters with a pack each to get 2 units that vangaurd  unit size 1-10

yhetees have a high i4  str5 and swiftstride  44pts each so id take  2 units  136 eachas its cheaper than sabretusks

mournfang  60pts each cavalry i think the bes set up is to run 3 with heavy armour sheilds as they get  d3 impact hits and stomp thats 210pts

last but not least gorger!  90pts for an unbreakable ambusher u can only take 3 but i would every time to attack warmachines or target mage bunkers

rare choices
i dont rate either chariot so ill skip them both

giant t5 w6 stubborn their hard to shift so worth it to soak up un wanted wounds from units u want to keep alive

stone horn will do the same job as the giant but packs a punch 3d3 impact hits at str6  t6 w6 a5 with frenzy then thunderstomp

thundertusk swops  hitting power for more synergy any model within 6" has the allways strikes ast rule

i prefer the stone horn for its pure hitting power and it can support the mournfang cav or other parts of the battle line

next well look at vampire counts i have a freint with ogres allready so ill give them a go

codex machine gun!

the standard trend for codex release in the past has been quite random with but GW have bucked the trend with 2013  so far

choas marine
chaos deamons
dark angels
tau (confirmed in april)

thats nearly 1 a month with new models and the rumour mill now says marines will be out in june.  Now in the olden days they could never do this as each codex was better than the last to force players to buy more armies but their hasnt been a codex creap 6th ed has rebooted everything an codex's are updates to bring the rules in line with the new core rules rather than abuse them to make more money. i think this new  rapid fire release  is very gd for the game its quickly closing the gap.

this year is very exciting for 40k and well hope fantasy does the same  

choosing a new army

well tau are just around the corner and iv allways wanted a nids army BUT i have only 1 fantasy army so iv decided to get a heavy CC fantasy army im gunna go purey on models and rate each section out of 5 for variety n awesomeness after that ill need to go thru the codex's n whittle them down to 2 choices :D
Beastmen!!
lords and heroes - quite nice looking 3/5
core - hmmm their ok they could be worse 3/5
special - i like these 4/5
rare - awesome models to make great centre peices!  5/5

overall i dont like some faces on the models but well see wat lists they make

brettonians
lord n hereos -  their ok  3/5
core - lots of horses means not much variety 3/5
special - i like the pegasus knights -3/5
rare - more horses - 3/5

overall  its lots of static models n knights on horses not even loads of 2+ saves can get around those boring models lol

ogre kingdoms
lord n heroes -  they all look great 4/5
core - like most armies its quite repitive 3/5
special - i love the mournfang cavelry 4/5
rare - gorgers and stonetusks!  4/5

overall  plenty of large models to make centerpieces for  an army

orks n goblins

lords n heroes - some nice centre peices n pretty funky overall  4/5
core - some nice options 4/5
special - boar boys or black orcs 3/5
rare - big spyder squigs and a random wagon full off gobbos 3/5

overall some great stuff  pleny of options for a mounted fast moving army lol

skaven
lord n heroes - they look ok the only real models i like tho are the plague furnace or vermin lord 2/5
core - some interesting choices   rat ogres  wheels and ratling guns 3/5
special - more rats n nothin really stands out model wise maybe the rules will make somethign stand out 2/5
rare - all gd choice 4/5 i think the hell pit stands out above the rest

vampire counts
lord n heroes - lots of nice options after they got re done with big centre peices 4/5
core - 3/5  they look nice enough 
special - their are 4 nice looking choices 4/5
rare - whether their large kits like the terrorgheist or small kits like a cairnwraith  theirs plenty of nice looking models in this range 4/5

overall i still i have a soft spot for the vamps  the horde is putting me off slightly but their are so any nice chocies

warrriors of chaos
lord n heroes -  a very nice range of models 4/5
core - their arent many choices here that i like 3/5
special -  like the hq's they did really well with the models 4/5
rare - their arent many chocies here   3/5

so skaven are out and so are brettonians  

its now between  beastmen  orgres  orks n goblins vamps and warriors of chaos

dark elves

well iv been busy learning fantasy and im now more happy with the list i have for my dark elves  iv started drawing more and having closer games, which is good iv also got a better list that balances  magic with CC  its quite character  heavy  2 lord and 2 heroes then a core mixture of CC and shooting with rare choices that do the same

broken down i have
magic phase a lv4 with depending on the foe  dark ef magic  or shadow for support then a lv2 with dark elf magic

75 shots split between 7units  which are 2x10 crossbowmen 2x5 dark riders 2 bolt throwers and lv2 sorcerers with life taker

CC units i have 2 hydras and 28 corsairs with full command their banner and a dreadlord in that unit with heart seeker ring of darkness to improve their durability and a bsb with ASF banner and a great weapon so theyll kick out lots of attacks i can also run them as a horde  but that means i wont get the re-rolls on other units as a horde is massive 

all i have left to do is try it

40k codex supplements

for aslong as i can remember  their has allways been a power creap  in 40k  the latest books were allways the best and their fore created a gap  between these codex's and the older ones.

but with the arrival of 6th ed  their has been no power creap  the 6th ed codex's  by them selves are  not powerfull at all their very balanced and nothing stands out as an auto choice for a strong build.

and here is why!

allies!!
6th ed  brought allies  and with allies comes  a  bigger  picture the new codex's are no longer stand alone books  their supplements  to other armies so the realistic way to read a 6th ed codex is to see which army you have that you can fill with extras to boost your army.  its not that these codex'scant function  as a stand alone codex they can and will but i believe that 6th ed is now all about allies and bringing new combos  to the table. i also think this will carry on with each new codex  that comes out OR ill be very surprised if they write a power dex that can dominate  everything else


so embrace allies  and see wat it can do for you!!

the bubble of reality bursts and chaos reigns!

so iv got the chaos deamons codex firstly  its crisp and clean like the first 2 codex's so far iv read the fluff and its great (as your reading this im reading the codex and updating each section with thoughts etc etc)

iv jus read the  fluff for  each chaos god and their  is alot of similarities to the previous  codex  this is where phill kelly shines unfortunately robin cruddance  has crapped on the codex a little

RULES-
these  were pretty accurate  deamons are fearless but no eternal warrior! the warlord table is quite nice so is the warp storm table is random

demonic instability is a LD test now most units have a low LD which can be boosted by a herald who is LD 8

the legions them selves

Khorne - 
this makes no  sense  they all have  high  WS/BS   bloodthirsters  are 10/10  for example the only thing with a decent save is bloodthirster skull taker skarbrand  these have  a 3+ armour save the rest INCLUDING  JUGGERNAUGHTS have a 6+ armour and a 5++ which makes no sense  y give them armour if the inv is better

although the fluff has stayed pretty mutch the same its a small concellation prize  khorne was bad before now its even worse


tzeentch-  my fave  but from looking at the lord of change their allready ruined

SO FAR THE ONLY GD THING ABOUT THIS CODEX IS SCREAMERS HAVENT CHANGED!!!  except a reduction in LD  to 7 

karios  fateweaver is psyker lv4  and knows loads of powers :D 

flamers  not sure if they have changed  yet as i reading thru entires first 

nurgle-
very tough  heralds are I4 lol
epideamius only works with in 6"  no feel no pain  but  can get it from the tally  and its a 4+

slaanesh-
i only really took  feinds and they are worse   ws4  instead of 5  wounds 3 tho attacks 3 instead of 5

un-marked units

deamon princes same as  codex -csm 
soul grinder hasnt changed
neither have furies

weapons items n other stuff

all the weapons have lost of added rules i suppose this is where they try n make the codex different but i dont think it worked

theirs lots of kool thigns to go thru  hte best are

grimoire of true names  on a 3+ u get 2+  to the inv of any unit in 24" or make an eny unit have -1 to their inv saves

doom stone  -d6 to the LD of any unit thats in combat

eternal  blade ad D3  ws i and attack  and +1 str but no ap  so its best on a DP lol

their are plenty of combo's u can do i think the portal glyph ill be quite kool to use

the only thing to do is look at a brand new list!!!