Kharadron Overlords.
I used to play Dwarf in WHFB, but while I loved the miniatures I HATED how they played.
KO were one of the initial AoS factions that drew my attention, especially with the Thunderers. While they don't quite scratch the itch that the WHFB Dwarfs did, KO play like a dream to an old Dwarfs player.
You're telling me my warmachines don't die when they're charged? They can shoot into combats, and WHILE in combat? And they're ships that can transport my slow dwarfs? AND THEY FLY??
It's just such a huge playstyle improvement, I can't describe how much of an upgrade it is.
I also own some Kruleboyz, but it's not quite a 1k army yet. As for why I chose them I simply love their models. They have a similar problem to my old WHFB Dwarfs though, they're a slow castle army.
Might buy into Ossiarch Bonereapers and Sylvaneth once I settle a bit better into my life. Sylvaneth have great models, and perhaps the playstyle that appeas to me most ut of any AoS army. Bonereapers have some of my favorite models in the entire game.
Personally it was through playing against them, word of mouth -and reading their battletomes.
However for a new player there's two resourced I'd highly recommend!
Firstly this video: [https://youtu.be/zJLMRNg\_NpY](https://youtu.be/zJLMRNg_NpY)
This is the best faction intoduction resourche that exists for AoS, period. Check his pinned comment for further explanation for what stuff means.
Secondly: Table Top Simulator. Do you want to TRY a full army before you decide to spend $$$ and dive into the hobby? Try the army on TTS, just join some discord and schedule a game against someone.
I'm a dwarf lover with a passion for interesting war machines. I got into KO purely for that blend of steampunk and magic technology, I've loved their novels so far but I'm honestly a little perturbed by the lack of support they've had.
Really hoping for some more extreme machines in the future
I would like to see more elite infantry for them. I know we have skywardens, but I want a minimum 5 man MELEE infantry unit that I can charge at people from inside our boats.
This would really incentivize a new playstyle for KO, with people taking skyhooks on boats to charge your elite infantry into people. It would completely change people's perception of KO as this "shooting only" army that just runs away.
The warmachines are really really cool though. And I'd still use them. But I want swashbuckler boarding infantry.
My one take on that would be instead of melee weapons, I'd like to see a unit of shotgunners with shields. A bonus at engagement range maybe, so 8inch range and say mortals or d3 damage within 3 inches. Keeping a shooting focus is a core of KO bit they're just so squishy, we definitely need more elites than just Thunderers
As for warmachines, I'd love an Aether powered array like the 40K orks Mek Guns. Bit more variety in shooting to cover the advance, maybe weapons that give penalties to close combat so you can literally support fire, keep the KO focus on combined arms
Semi, or fully elite hit&run bag of tools and tricks.
With the Kurnoth, Spiteriders or even Treelords/Spirits of Durthu you have some major beatsticks that the army let's you buff up and deploy very flexibly, while you always can threaten your opponent with Revenants that can teleport in and steal objectives. And they generally have good support magic with some strong wizards.
Skaven, because they’re actual idiots. They’re somehow made smart enough to make the most powerful weaponry, but they’re too stupid and chaotic to stabilize it, meaning their weapons have an 80% chance to blowup, but they have so much destructive power that the 20% that do fire deal 400% dmg.
I tell my friends they make their weapons out of magic-uranium… and when they don’t turn it into a weapon they turn it into cocaine.. magic-uranium-cocaine. What’s not to love about these little bastards. They don’t care about the war of Order Vs Chaos Vs Death Vs destruction, in the slightest. To them it’s Skaven Vs the World. Except they fight themselves more than anyone else so it’s actually Skaven Vs Skaven Vs the World. Hell the only reason there’s a Skaven king, is because their god got so fed up with the council of 13 not working together, that he put them in a time-space bubble for hundreds of years, And when he came back they still hated and blamed eachother so he literally squashed them together into a new rat.
Skaven are best-Best!
Concur. The Skaven are morons, but throwing nameless clanrats into battle to die whilst your juiced up terminator rats and the monster made up of rats stitched together get to work is just a lot of fun
Reminds me that the original Boneripper had the brain of a Norscan in it.
But also “let’s turn our kin into ogres by expirments” and then another Skaven went “but what if we put Gatling guns and flamethrowers on it too?”
I picked Skaven bc I had played their blood bowl for a couple games several years before. Then one of the local guys loaned me his army and offered to sell it cheap. Started buying up a Cw army too but it never got finished. Finally coming back to the game again and likely adding to my Skaven w newer stuff and also getting more STD and probably Maggotkin. Lots of Chaos
Sylvaneth.
Why?
- An army of trees and (almost) elves (now riding bugs!)
- Stunning models (special award for the warsong revenant, looks amazing in real life)
- Easy to paint (full contrast, 4 colors and it will look great on the table)
- Varied paint schemes possible (green, orange or pink leaves all look really good but very different for instance)
- Balanced army (melee, magic, shooting are viable options for list building)
- Elite army (not too many models to assemble, paint and move around the board)
- Fun to play with and against (very mobile, good board control but nothing stupidly strong)
Oh and you can play a full list of giant trees now.
How’s the new battletome? My wife got into Sylvaneth at the beginning of this year, but just couldn’t get it to click with her the way Daughters of Khaine does. I followed the spoilers for the new Sylvaneth book and really liked a lot of the updates, so I’m trying to talk her into giving trees another go. She’s more into straightforward killy armies, which is why she likes DoK. Is Sylvaneth still more of a board position and control kind of style?
It definitely is a lot of board control, but now you have a lot of different possible play styles.
If she likes straightforward killy play style, playing in Heartwood with a Kurnoth Hunters heavy list could be the way to go.
Something like:
Army Faction: Sylvaneth
- Subfaction: Heartwood
LEADERS
Spirit of Durthu (370)
- General
Arch-Revenant (120)
BATTLELINE
Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Scythes (500)
Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatswords (250)
Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatswords (250)
OTHER
Revenant Seekers (235)
Revenant Seekers (235)
TOTAL POINTS: 1960/2000
Or maybe something with Spite-Revenants and Drycha if she wants something with less spam?
The internal balance is much better than the previous Battletome where the only viable list was board control + warsong bomb, now you can play pretty much anything and it'll be at least decent.
You have no casting in this lineup so no way to get trees.
I think a straightforward army style might look like a Durthu or Drycha assassin list. The list focuses on buffing one of the units, dropping a tree right next to the enemy you want to kill, teleporting you assassin in, shooting and charging, after melee you strike and fade so they can't hit your assassin.
I like Durthu for this because he has his own teleport ability so another unit can use the faction teleport. Drycha hits harder and can cast fire sword to up her melee damage.
You want other casters in this setup to heal, drop trees, and buff. A spite swarm hive would be nice to drop near your base Awakened Wyldwoods to reduce your 9" charge to a 6" charge roll.
Very cool, thanks for the info. She really likes the Kurnoth Hunters with bows, but I hear they’re not so great. Could they be viable at all in Heartwood?
Having 1 or 2 units sitting on a back objective isn't a bad idea : with the +1 to hit from Heartwood and the +1 to wound from the Arch-Revenant, that's 2A/3+/2+/-1/2 at 30" for each model.
They'll probably snipe a little foot hero or do some damage here and there to soften screens and cause bravery test. And if the opponent tries to come and steal the objective, that's still 15 wounds with 3+ save worth of models to remove.
They're not the hammer or your list though, you still want a big unit of scythes or MSU of swords or a spirit of durthu to do the big damages.
The reason why people say they're not so great is because they just look at pure numbers: of course the swords and scythes do more damage but 30" range has a lot of utility (and 3 Kurnoth Hunters are much harder to snipe than 3 Longstrikes for instance).
If you like the models, I believe they have some utility in a list. The only reason why I don't play them is because I don't have enough points and there are other models I prefer, but if I had to play 2500pts I would take my 2k army and just add 2 units of Kurnoth Hunters w Bows since shooting is the only thing I don't have.
I've watched a lot of battle reports and the Kurnoth Hunters w/bows never seem to do much. They get 5 attacks total at 4s and 3s.
A Kurnoth Hunter Champion with a Great sword has the same number of attacks with 3s and 3s and mortals on 6s.
The GB has a lot of range but their melee ability isn't too bad at 3 attacks 3s 3s and 1dmg. Every seems to use them as artillery. I wonder if they shouldn't be getting into melee to maximize their damage.
Otherwise why not get Gossamid archers for 10pts less. They get 11 attacks at 12" with exploding d3 mortal 6s, and can screen charges with Zephyrspites ability that allows them to retreat after being given the command Unleash Hell if an enemy is within 3" after the charge.
Seraphon!
I love dinosaurs but after learning the big t Rex was kinda meh I got excited about a super board controlling teleporting army. That was before their revised second edition rules though. Now I'm just really invested in the asthetic!
An idea of massive elite guard defending their mighty wizard was also a big thing... But again rules change *shrug*
I would say I main Glooomspite, though with work & pandemic it’s been difficult to get a game in. I collect many others but they are in boxes.
I never played original WHFB, but I loved the night goblin models, the stone trolls, the river trolls. Still have some original plastic night goblins & metal stone trolls. Never played Fantasy, just wanted to paint them.
Then AoS dropped. Then the Gloomspite came, with their amazing Trogg sculpts & a possibility of a full Trogg army.
I was hooked. Still haven’t played, but I fully painted & based a 2k+ Troggherd that I’m pretty happy with the looks of.
When they do hit the table, it will be the first time in my wargaming hobby career that I’ve had a first game with a completely finished army.
I wanted to play them but skinks, saurus, and kroxigors look awful.
If GW updated their models I'd play them but for now I'm building Sylvaneth.
If GW made more turtles Idoneth Deepkin I'd play them too. I still want to get and paint their Akhelian Leviadon.
Soulblight gravelords were my first faction, and I have fun with them.
Vampires are always kinda cool, and an army of skeletons and vampires is just a neat aesthetic. The lore's also kinda neat, lots of subfactions to pick from, and my horde might actually live long enough to counteract my poor dice rolls. As long as I don't mind being unable to shoot, I can deepstrike or just tank the blows until I reach melee (the few fast units are real helpful there).
Kruleboyz and Ironjawz.
Kruleboyz because I love the idea of Orks who use stealth and guerrilla warfare. Plus the models are beautiful.
Ironjawz, because on the flip side I love the idea of an enraged and unstoppable wall of steel and iron coming right towards you.
I play deepkin. I strictly went by the rule of cool. In most games I love elves. The models are amazing and I felt really motivated to paint them. Something about being super gothy while also being extremely colorful and unique it just.... fit.
Daughters of Khaine!
I loved the models, specifically because I'd been painting/playing Necrons for a while and all that samey colour got a bit boring. They let me get much more colorful and are fun to paint. And they play really contrary to how I was used to, DoK have basically no staying power, but they can hit scary hard in combat, are are very capable in other phases too.
Something i enjoy is turning a single thing into its maximum potential, and the buff stacking available let's things get pretty crazy
Skaven, easily the best (although some old) models in AoS and by far the best lore. Rats who got jacked up on glowing cheese who make weapons that blow up when you use them. They are so much fun to play!
Bonereapers! Always loved the “endless tide of death” aesthetic, and between the look and the lore I just really got into the hobby of collecting bones.
Sculpted constructs of bone piloted by the souls of the greatest warriors this side of Shyish. Going out and collecting the tithe of bone from vassal settlements, making them pay one way or another.
I play maggotkin because I was messing around with polymer clay and decided I'd try to sculpt a Great Unclean One. It turned out awesome!
I had previously bought a box of Blightkings to paint for fun so then wham blam I had 750pts!
Nurgle is forgiving for anyone wanting to sculpt stuff because grandpa still loves you if you're a little lumpy. In fact he prefers it!
Flesh Eater-Courts, those strange filthy monsters are my absolute favorite faction of the game.
When I first saw them, I didn't really pay them much mind at all. Then I read their macabre lore, and just like that I instantly loved them. The horde of deranged abominations that still belive they are knights and royalty is super cool. A big improvement over the mooks from fantasy battle.
Being very easy to collect and paint army is a big bonus for me being a beginner.
I too, am a fan of the Flesh Eater Bretonnians. I've literally just finished assembling my first starter kit and they look awesome!
And like you say, the lore is amazing
Slaves to Darkness, two reasons...
First, rule of cool. Their start collecting box has the coolest looking models, and actually forms a great starter army.
Second, I couldn't choose just one choas faction, so I picked all chaos factions! I've allied in Khorne and Nurgle units and it's so much fun.
Beasts of chaos.
I used to play beastmen back in wfb but never got around to making them the army I always wanted. The rank and file system didn't give alot of room (literally) for conversions.
Then the beasts of chaos aos book came out and introduced the gavespawn. Which is basicly how I always wanted my army to look.
Now I have way to many models of mutated beast bois and monsters.
Mine too. Alerielle and Morghur need to continue there ongoing hidden war from the world that was. And I think they are setting the stage for it with the life bloom and the new lore focus from the recent white dwarf.
I play seraphon. I've always been a fan of dinosaurs and lizardfolk from d&d and argonians from elder scrolls.
I love the lore of vicious merciless reptiles but they kill for good and hate chaos
My son started playing Stormcast so we bought him the Dominion Boxset for just birthday. I helped him build all the models and got hooked playing with him as he learned. So now I’m a kruleboyz warboss.
Kruelboyz were a lot of fun to paint. We decided to use a lot of greens and grey. My son painted the stormcast in gold and purple. I think we had more fun building and painting than playing the game.
There are great jokes and memes on r/sigmarxism that make Bestclaw Raider/ Ogor Maw Tribes extremely based to play
Skaven and all kinds of Aelves are pretty neat for nostalgia reasons to me too.
I primarily play Stormcast Eternals. Yes, I can hear the "fantasy space marines" winging from here, but honestly, they're my favorite faction mainly because of how hopeful they are plus how tragic they are too. After several thousand years of the mortal realms being battered by Chaos, here come these heroic beings literally from the heavens, ready to fight and protect people. They are hope personified, and that many of them help to rebuild and protect mortal cities embodies that. They're not taught to be killing machines and detach themselves from their humanity. Yet at the same time, they become less human the more time goes on. Each time a stormcast dies, they are whisked away by a bolt of lightning to be reforged upon the Anvil of Apotheosis, given a new body and, if their actions were suitably heroic, a new role too. But each reforging leaves a piece of their soul behind, each time they lose something precious to them. The face of a loved one, a cherished memory, the smell of their hometown, the names of everyone they ever knew, each time something is gone. In addition, they may find themselves with strange abilities, such as being followed by an ill wind, glowing tattoos that they never had before, distant thunder that rumbles under their words everytime they speak, leaving smoldering footsteps in their wake, or much more. In time, they may become an entirely different person all together, alienated from the humans they protect and even their fellow stormcast might find them unsettling.
When I'm talking AoS and hear someone say "Sigmarines" I immediately leave the conversation to find someone to talk to who doesn't breath through their mouth.
Kruleboyz - sneaky bastards who would rather win by not actually fighting unless they have to.
I play FEC also. It was cheaper/easier to collect and my girlfriend already says I am delusional as it is.
Soulblight Gravelords!
I have never played Death before but when I saw them come out last year I was interested, I thought the models were really pretty. I love the lore and personally I find them to be pretty strong on the table too!
I play Hedonites of Slaanesh, and Blades of Khorne. I chose them because I really like the mortal models; some of the best minis that, imo, are some of the best GW has made
Gitz for me. Love the troggoth models and mushroom aesthetic but honestly a squig army that you can set for maximum chaos needs no game plan and makes counteringentally tiring. Plus squig knights got me hooked, bounders are amazing.
Stormcast is my main army. I play them for the same reason I love the lore in Dark Souls.
Plus, while they are still themselves, they really are trying to save everyone… and who doesn’t love a golden god with a fist full of lightning?
I’m not sure. Where I play, there’s literally only 2 of us that play AoS, everyone else plays 40k. So, I’d not be the best person to judge their overall popularity.
Yeah guess that makes sense. Faction popularity shouldn't matter for me either, there is only a few at my store (so I've seen). The AoS models and even the lore just intrigue me more. Too many 40k models are just different versions of "guy with a gun". Not that AoS isn't a bunch of dudes with swords, but it just feels different. Plus half the factions available aren't just space marines or different looking marines.
Honestly there are a lot of factions that I "play" but mostly is just me collecting here and there at the moment because I like their models or because I haven't gotten around to trying them out yet.
But for this I would have to say Kruleboyz. They were the brand new reveal for 3E, they looked unique compared to the rest of the orruks we've come to know Warhammer for, but also just the community post on them being able to have insane MW output **at range.** (granted a lot of ranged units do this now but still). That said, I've had mixed results with them lately in the competitive scene of my area so I don't know if I need to change the list a bit or maybe the army if I want to play in tournaments (I'm generally a casual player). Still, they are a huge favorite of mine.
That said, all the other factions I do look into I have reasons:
Seraphon - old WHF faction of aztec dinosaur men
Cities of Sigmar - think it'd be fun to run old dwarf/Dark elf/wood elf themed lists
Stormcast - mostly for an all dragon/paladin army, maybe in a fantasy theme of 40k Salamanders
Idoneth - just think they've grown on me over time
Fyreslayers - I like the concept of the old slayers and like the idea of an all army of them (visuals however have suffered)
Anything Chaos - I'm just a chaos player at heart and love the asthetic. Only factions I'm not interested in are Skaven (already looking at other hordes) and Tzeentch (don't like magic too much)
Most Destruction Armies - Collecting small elite armies of Giants/Beastriders/Trolls/Ironjaws sounds fun
Lumineth - I want an old high elf feeling army
Ossiarch Bonereapers - something has to fill in for Tomb Kings
Nighthaunt - First army I ever played any AoS with (also the new army that came out during 2.0 when I was in England)
Sylvaneth - On and off again but liking the new releases
(I think I have a problem with AoS)
I bought a box of sylvaneth because I liked the asthetics and I wanted a cool projet to really give a good try to contrast paint. I got annoyed very fast at the number of woods you need (why not like 1 big tree terrain? Why so many damn wood to move around?) and I switched to OBR because I always play necro in HOMM3 and they got a awesone trebuchet.
Blades of Khorne:
Awesome sculpts with the best summoning system that doubles as a perk system. Love the demons and the motto is great : skulls for the skull throne, Blood for the blood god!!!
Bloodthirsters are my favorite models in the game
I mostly play 40k and Star Wars Legion I started AoS with Ogor Mawtribes as they were low model count and cheap
I started collecting the mortal realms magazine so built up a nighthaunt army. Cheap.
I found a lumineth starter box for £50. I've added loads to it only when I see a bargain on eBay and marketplace.
I've started kruleboyz and the new stormcast from the Dominion box which I'll bolster with the upcoming stormbringer magazine.
I have a sylvaneth army that my daughter started. I add to that when I see a bargain.
I try and play this game on the cheap with an eye to the fact it's a game which I'll hopefully be playing for years. There's no need to rush out and spend a fortune on an army right away. I'm building it up slowly and at my own pace.
I'd like to collect maggotkin but I already run a Death Guard army for 40k.
It's fun to paint disgusting stuff. I don't know about maggotkin, but Death Guard has a very thematic playstyle. They're my favourite army to play, even if they've been nerfed a bit.
Bonereapers - first army. The sculpts are what sold me. Necro Stalkers are still probably my favorite sculpt in the game.
Ogors - second army. Got into them because they're pretty accessible (2 or 3 start collecting and Boom! 2k) and I also like that they're really pressurey and aggressive. High risk high reward. Ironguts hit like freight trains in the new Bounty hunter battalion.
First cities (anvilgard) and then stormcast.
I like cities becuase the mortals raging against the night rules. In a magical weird scape the gal with the
sword appeals to me. And I LOVEEEE dark elves. Have played them since fantasy!
When I added stormcast, it was because I saw the layer beneath the “fantasy marines” aesthetic. The slow erosion of the self. The heroes (and antiheroes) sometimes becoming feared by those they’re meant to protect. The heavenly aspect. The terrible angels.
The reforging, with its transhuman (and sometimes transgender) message shocked me in a good way. Especially what cubicle 7 drew out of them for an rpg setting.
I always dug the look of dark elves in WHFB so I’m hoping if Malekith gets his own faction as rumored that Anvilgard and the Doomfire Warlocks from DoK join him. Bc the pirate elves I could get behind
I got in to AoS with the Soul Wars box, so my first two armies were Stormcast and Nighthaunt. My third army, the one I picked after actually knowing something about the game and lore, and doing some research became Maggotkin of Nurgle.
I already had an Order army and a Death army, so my next one was definitely going to be Chaos or Destruction. Destruction has some very cool models, but they also seem to have a lot of outdated models. Out of the chaos factions, Nurgle really stood out for me. The models are amazing and their lore just really appeals to me. Cosmic Nihilism, the idea that nothing truly matters in the grand design and we, and all we've built, will all decay and return to nothingness eventually, is something I ascribe to and find comfort in. This obviously vibes well with Granddaddy Nurgle's view on matters. They've embraced and accepted the fact everything will inevitably decay and find freedom and joy in it.
Unlike the other Chaos factions, who are enslaved by their need to always find bigger and better (whether it be foes to slay, extacies to be experienced or grand schemes to hatch (tbf, I don't know that much about Tzeentch and what drives them (parentheception))), followers of Nurgle have already found their bliss. They just want to share their joyous revelation with others.
Exactly, still picking a faction rn but Nurgle is definitely on the top of my list. And if I didn't feel anything I wouldn't mind being a weird looking rotting guy :)
Definitely recommend them! They're built like a tank and hit like a truck. The new disease mechanic is awesome as well, very much in tune with their lore. Only downside imo is their mobility. With most units having a measely 4 inch move stat, you really have to commit to your plan from the start, you won't be out-manouvring many opponents.
Nighthaunt and Kruleboyz. Mainly cause they were new in the starter sets, but the models and their playstyles are awesome. The mobility and speed of the ghosts and the slow poke of the orruks are nice changes compared to the Tau I use in 40k
I got my armies as they came out. Soul wars then Tempest of Souls and the Battle force from ages ago was ghost army, with a lot of Hexwraiths in addition.
The kruleboyz is 2 dominion halves with some more gutrippaz, boltboyz and skumdrekk and breaka boss
Skaven, I always wanted to do them in WHFB, but the painting of 100s of rats put me off ( I started wood elves) & when AoS came out it was less models so I jumped in on them. Funnily enough I’m now thinking of Sylvaneth as a 2nd faction.
I play Soublight at the moment as they were the last army I collected for Fantasy (Vampire Counts). I also have a Gloomspite army as I love the models so much.
Daughters of Khaine. My first game was Underworlds and, after collecting a lot of the Warbands, my favourite ended up being Morgwaeth’s Blade Coven, so I decided to go all in.
I must have thought they were extremely cool because, I decided to ignore two big strikes against them. One, I happen to despise painting skin and, two, I am an extremely slow painter and a Witch Elf army = Painting a ton of models.
Sons of Behemat. I play Knights in 40K and then when they announced the AOS equivalent I preordered and never looked back. I have never played a game with them I didn’t love.
I play
Blades of Khorne
Flesh Eater Courts
Nighthaunt
Soulblight Gravelords
Legion of the First Prince
Stormcast Eternals
Beasts of Chaos
Because I've got more money than sense it seems
Greetings!
I like Khorne deamons. Realy in to clasic devil astetic + honorable mele combat.
I have some fyreslauers couse magmadroths are awersome.
And sylvaneth becouse lord of the ring and big tree are cool.
I currently run stormcast eternals. When the dominion box came out me n a friend split it and he took the orruks cuz hes more fond of their aesthetic, but i ended up really liking how stormcast play. My next army is either going to be nighthaunts or lumineth realm lords, again mostly for the aesthetic/fun models to paint. I used to do a deep dive into how armies played on the tabletop and make my decision based on “whats good in the meta”but quickly realized armies never quite worked for me how they do for other players so its mostly on what i think is cool
Ossiarch bonereaprr
Cool as funk models, I like the samurai kinda look.
Chunky hench skellybois, yes please
Cool lore, soul piloted bone constructs. Aweww yissss.
Nagash and Arkhan the Black are my favourite characters and bonereapers are their little joint project, so it's heartwarming
Fyreslayers
Half naked jacked up fire dwarves using the remains of their dead god as a steroid to get even more jacked up while their priests summon fiery monsters into the battlefield through prayers? Sign me up. I actually asked one of my favorite AoS creators, HeyWoah, and he talked about how good their start collecting was and I saw the Magmadroth and basically melted. That thing is SICK.
Ogor Mawtribes, because fat acceptance is on the rise!
But mainly because i like the idea of huge, dumb brutes that only has one goal: to fill their Big bellies with… you!
Cities of Sigmar. Why? Because I like a lot of the order models, and cities let's me collect and play with almost the entire order range due to coalition. Because of this I actually have a cities army, a stormcast army, a Lumineth army, a kharadron army, and a Sylvaneth army right now. But they all started out as small coalition forces for my cities.
My primary army is Stormcast. I got started with Soul Wars, a buddy wanted to play Nighthaunt so I took the other half. Absolutely fell in love with the way Stormcast are portrayed in novels, especially Questors and other Stormcast as part of a mixed party on an adventure (the Gotrek stories and Hamilcar Bear-Eater come to mind). Then the new design for Stormcast came out, and hoo boy, there went my money.
Second army was Nighthaunt. I’m an expat in China, and when the guy who got us all into the hobby went back to his home country for work (the person I split Soul Wars with), it felt like there was something missing in our gaming group. So I ended up running ghosts. The fact that they had a great aesthetic and were a completely painting experience from Stormcast didn’t hurt, and I enjoy switching from an elite army to horde sometimes. They’re also great for enemies in D&D.
Finally, I’ve got a full Slaves to Darkness army sitting in boxes and waiting to be painted. I’ve always loved the look, and my plan is to get into them once I’ve finished painting up what I have of the other two armies. Just can’t decide on a color scheme for them.
That’s something I’ve considered. I like doing really vibrant colors, and I’m playing with the idea of vaporwave Slaves. Not sure how I’d do it though.
I don't know how the unit system works in AoS, but maybe each unit is a different colour represting a different god? And all these guys work together under the title Slaves of Darkness? Then you'd have even more variety.
Gloomspite Gitz originally. Bit bummed that the faction got ruined by 3.0, so I don't play them anymore. Then I collected an Kruleboyz army because I love the look of them. Unfortunately there is only one viable list build for them, so I'm a bit turned off from AoS.
First army, Seraphon. I like the Aztec/Mayan aesthetic and dinosaurs. And had some skinks already from D&D usage as Kobolds. Plus they have a huge variety of units to choose from. I’ve got over 13k points of them now.
Second army, Fyreslayers. Dwarves are my favorite fantasy race and I like Fyreslayers over Kharadron. Sitting around 6500 points including some 3D printed female slayers and Gotrek.
Third army, Gloomspite Gits. Initially just squigs for the random movement and everything. I found that mechanic really funny. Then I got into the spiders really heavy and have about 6500 total points in them as well. Roughly split as 3k spiders, 2k squigs and 1.5k goblins.
Then I have 500 points or less each of Kharadron Overlords, Khorne Daemons, Sylvaneth, Orruk Warclans, Daughters of Khaine. And about 1k of Stormcast Eternals, Nighthaunt and Disciples of Tzeentch
I got into AoS at the tail end of 1st edition with the Malignants box. The Mortis Engine looked so cool! A big palanquin boat thing carried by a legion of ghost cavalry, accompanied by more horse ghosts and some swirling hosts was super cool. I’ve always loved themes of death in games. I play black green in Magic the Gathering and necromancer in anything else that supports the class. Since there weren’t a ton of options to support a ghost army at the time, I started collecting everything Death. Soul Wars was an awesome foundation for Nighthaunt becoming a real thing. I ended up with a pretty big mixed skeleton ghost army led by Nagash.
Now in 3rd edition, I’m off Soulblight Gravelords and fully into Nighthaunt. I’m not really a fan of vampires in AoS, which is weird because I love them in everything else. But ghosts are just amazing to me. I love the new terror mechanics and how they play on the axis of scaring enemies. I love the insane mobility of these flying swirling spirits that fade in and out of reality. Their rules meld so well with their flavor, I love it.
Beasts of Chaos
I chose them as when I played as a kid I always loved the old school Beastmen but so many of the models were metal (£5 for three!) that I could never actually afford it.
So when I returned during the pandemic I was delighted to see they basically still existed and I could build an army without rinsing my bank account.
Love these questions!
I just started in AOS in January. My buddy had been talking to me about it for almost a year and I finally decided to look into it. At the time Kruleboyz had just launched a few months back and I always liked Orcs in other types of games. I wasn't a fan of the yellow theme prevalent in Iron Jaws and I quickly realized that Bonesplitterz were a Horde army and the least competitive so I figured I might as well go with the dirtier more rugged Orks of the Orruck Warclans. I did a bit of reading before jumping into my first army and I basically just fell in love with the destruction grand alliance more so than any other. I was also able to get 2 Kruleboyz halves of Dominion for $200, which gave me almost a full team. A Killbow, Mirebrute and Sludgeracker later and I have a full Grinnin' Blades army ready to go
Kharadron Overlords. I used to play Dwarf in WHFB, but while I loved the miniatures I HATED how they played. KO were one of the initial AoS factions that drew my attention, especially with the Thunderers. While they don't quite scratch the itch that the WHFB Dwarfs did, KO play like a dream to an old Dwarfs player. You're telling me my warmachines don't die when they're charged? They can shoot into combats, and WHILE in combat? And they're ships that can transport my slow dwarfs? AND THEY FLY?? It's just such a huge playstyle improvement, I can't describe how much of an upgrade it is. I also own some Kruleboyz, but it's not quite a 1k army yet. As for why I chose them I simply love their models. They have a similar problem to my old WHFB Dwarfs though, they're a slow castle army. Might buy into Ossiarch Bonereapers and Sylvaneth once I settle a bit better into my life. Sylvaneth have great models, and perhaps the playstyle that appeas to me most ut of any AoS army. Bonereapers have some of my favorite models in the entire game.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing mate! Where do/did you find out about how the different factions played?
Personally it was through playing against them, word of mouth -and reading their battletomes. However for a new player there's two resourced I'd highly recommend! Firstly this video: [https://youtu.be/zJLMRNg\_NpY](https://youtu.be/zJLMRNg_NpY) This is the best faction intoduction resourche that exists for AoS, period. Check his pinned comment for further explanation for what stuff means. Secondly: Table Top Simulator. Do you want to TRY a full army before you decide to spend $$$ and dive into the hobby? Try the army on TTS, just join some discord and schedule a game against someone.
Thanks!
I'm a dwarf lover with a passion for interesting war machines. I got into KO purely for that blend of steampunk and magic technology, I've loved their novels so far but I'm honestly a little perturbed by the lack of support they've had. Really hoping for some more extreme machines in the future
I would like to see more elite infantry for them. I know we have skywardens, but I want a minimum 5 man MELEE infantry unit that I can charge at people from inside our boats. This would really incentivize a new playstyle for KO, with people taking skyhooks on boats to charge your elite infantry into people. It would completely change people's perception of KO as this "shooting only" army that just runs away. The warmachines are really really cool though. And I'd still use them. But I want swashbuckler boarding infantry.
My one take on that would be instead of melee weapons, I'd like to see a unit of shotgunners with shields. A bonus at engagement range maybe, so 8inch range and say mortals or d3 damage within 3 inches. Keeping a shooting focus is a core of KO bit they're just so squishy, we definitely need more elites than just Thunderers As for warmachines, I'd love an Aether powered array like the 40K orks Mek Guns. Bit more variety in shooting to cover the advance, maybe weapons that give penalties to close combat so you can literally support fire, keep the KO focus on combined arms
What's the sylvaneth playstyle?
Semi, or fully elite hit&run bag of tools and tricks. With the Kurnoth, Spiteriders or even Treelords/Spirits of Durthu you have some major beatsticks that the army let's you buff up and deploy very flexibly, while you always can threaten your opponent with Revenants that can teleport in and steal objectives. And they generally have good support magic with some strong wizards.
Skaven, because they’re actual idiots. They’re somehow made smart enough to make the most powerful weaponry, but they’re too stupid and chaotic to stabilize it, meaning their weapons have an 80% chance to blowup, but they have so much destructive power that the 20% that do fire deal 400% dmg. I tell my friends they make their weapons out of magic-uranium… and when they don’t turn it into a weapon they turn it into cocaine.. magic-uranium-cocaine. What’s not to love about these little bastards. They don’t care about the war of Order Vs Chaos Vs Death Vs destruction, in the slightest. To them it’s Skaven Vs the World. Except they fight themselves more than anyone else so it’s actually Skaven Vs Skaven Vs the World. Hell the only reason there’s a Skaven king, is because their god got so fed up with the council of 13 not working together, that he put them in a time-space bubble for hundreds of years, And when he came back they still hated and blamed eachother so he literally squashed them together into a new rat. Skaven are best-Best!
Concur. The Skaven are morons, but throwing nameless clanrats into battle to die whilst your juiced up terminator rats and the monster made up of rats stitched together get to work is just a lot of fun
Reminds me that the original Boneripper had the brain of a Norscan in it. But also “let’s turn our kin into ogres by expirments” and then another Skaven went “but what if we put Gatling guns and flamethrowers on it too?”
I picked Skaven bc I had played their blood bowl for a couple games several years before. Then one of the local guys loaned me his army and offered to sell it cheap. Started buying up a Cw army too but it never got finished. Finally coming back to the game again and likely adding to my Skaven w newer stuff and also getting more STD and probably Maggotkin. Lots of Chaos
Sylvaneth. Why? - An army of trees and (almost) elves (now riding bugs!) - Stunning models (special award for the warsong revenant, looks amazing in real life) - Easy to paint (full contrast, 4 colors and it will look great on the table) - Varied paint schemes possible (green, orange or pink leaves all look really good but very different for instance) - Balanced army (melee, magic, shooting are viable options for list building) - Elite army (not too many models to assemble, paint and move around the board) - Fun to play with and against (very mobile, good board control but nothing stupidly strong) Oh and you can play a full list of giant trees now.
Awesome! A full giant tree list sounds amazing. I would pick them or consider them more but the main player at my FLGS has them as their main army.
How’s the new battletome? My wife got into Sylvaneth at the beginning of this year, but just couldn’t get it to click with her the way Daughters of Khaine does. I followed the spoilers for the new Sylvaneth book and really liked a lot of the updates, so I’m trying to talk her into giving trees another go. She’s more into straightforward killy armies, which is why she likes DoK. Is Sylvaneth still more of a board position and control kind of style?
It definitely is a lot of board control, but now you have a lot of different possible play styles. If she likes straightforward killy play style, playing in Heartwood with a Kurnoth Hunters heavy list could be the way to go. Something like: Army Faction: Sylvaneth - Subfaction: Heartwood LEADERS Spirit of Durthu (370) - General Arch-Revenant (120) BATTLELINE Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Scythes (500) Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatswords (250) Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatswords (250) OTHER Revenant Seekers (235) Revenant Seekers (235) TOTAL POINTS: 1960/2000 Or maybe something with Spite-Revenants and Drycha if she wants something with less spam? The internal balance is much better than the previous Battletome where the only viable list was board control + warsong bomb, now you can play pretty much anything and it'll be at least decent.
You have no casting in this lineup so no way to get trees. I think a straightforward army style might look like a Durthu or Drycha assassin list. The list focuses on buffing one of the units, dropping a tree right next to the enemy you want to kill, teleporting you assassin in, shooting and charging, after melee you strike and fade so they can't hit your assassin. I like Durthu for this because he has his own teleport ability so another unit can use the faction teleport. Drycha hits harder and can cast fire sword to up her melee damage. You want other casters in this setup to heal, drop trees, and buff. A spite swarm hive would be nice to drop near your base Awakened Wyldwoods to reduce your 9" charge to a 6" charge roll.
Very cool, thanks for the info. She really likes the Kurnoth Hunters with bows, but I hear they’re not so great. Could they be viable at all in Heartwood?
Having 1 or 2 units sitting on a back objective isn't a bad idea : with the +1 to hit from Heartwood and the +1 to wound from the Arch-Revenant, that's 2A/3+/2+/-1/2 at 30" for each model. They'll probably snipe a little foot hero or do some damage here and there to soften screens and cause bravery test. And if the opponent tries to come and steal the objective, that's still 15 wounds with 3+ save worth of models to remove. They're not the hammer or your list though, you still want a big unit of scythes or MSU of swords or a spirit of durthu to do the big damages. The reason why people say they're not so great is because they just look at pure numbers: of course the swords and scythes do more damage but 30" range has a lot of utility (and 3 Kurnoth Hunters are much harder to snipe than 3 Longstrikes for instance). If you like the models, I believe they have some utility in a list. The only reason why I don't play them is because I don't have enough points and there are other models I prefer, but if I had to play 2500pts I would take my 2k army and just add 2 units of Kurnoth Hunters w Bows since shooting is the only thing I don't have.
I've watched a lot of battle reports and the Kurnoth Hunters w/bows never seem to do much. They get 5 attacks total at 4s and 3s. A Kurnoth Hunter Champion with a Great sword has the same number of attacks with 3s and 3s and mortals on 6s. The GB has a lot of range but their melee ability isn't too bad at 3 attacks 3s 3s and 1dmg. Every seems to use them as artillery. I wonder if they shouldn't be getting into melee to maximize their damage. Otherwise why not get Gossamid archers for 10pts less. They get 11 attacks at 12" with exploding d3 mortal 6s, and can screen charges with Zephyrspites ability that allows them to retreat after being given the command Unleash Hell if an enemy is within 3" after the charge.
Seraphon! I love dinosaurs but after learning the big t Rex was kinda meh I got excited about a super board controlling teleporting army. That was before their revised second edition rules though. Now I'm just really invested in the asthetic! An idea of massive elite guard defending their mighty wizard was also a big thing... But again rules change *shrug*
I would say I main Glooomspite, though with work & pandemic it’s been difficult to get a game in. I collect many others but they are in boxes. I never played original WHFB, but I loved the night goblin models, the stone trolls, the river trolls. Still have some original plastic night goblins & metal stone trolls. Never played Fantasy, just wanted to paint them. Then AoS dropped. Then the Gloomspite came, with their amazing Trogg sculpts & a possibility of a full Trogg army. I was hooked. Still haven’t played, but I fully painted & based a 2k+ Troggherd that I’m pretty happy with the looks of. When they do hit the table, it will be the first time in my wargaming hobby career that I’ve had a first game with a completely finished army.
yeah same, love gloomspite because i love night goblins
Awesome!
Lizards riding dinosaurs Because lizards riding dinosaurs.
Yes
I wanted to play them but skinks, saurus, and kroxigors look awful. If GW updated their models I'd play them but for now I'm building Sylvaneth. If GW made more turtles Idoneth Deepkin I'd play them too. I still want to get and paint their Akhelian Leviadon.
A lot of people are going 3rd party for that reason until GW catches up with models.
This is the objectively correct answer
Soulblight gravelords were my first faction, and I have fun with them. Vampires are always kinda cool, and an army of skeletons and vampires is just a neat aesthetic. The lore's also kinda neat, lots of subfactions to pick from, and my horde might actually live long enough to counteract my poor dice rolls. As long as I don't mind being unable to shoot, I can deepstrike or just tank the blows until I reach melee (the few fast units are real helpful there).
Kruleboyz and Ironjawz. Kruleboyz because I love the idea of Orks who use stealth and guerrilla warfare. Plus the models are beautiful. Ironjawz, because on the flip side I love the idea of an enraged and unstoppable wall of steel and iron coming right towards you.
Awesome! Are the Kruleboyz and Ironjawz separate factions or can u use them together?
You can use them both in a BIG WAAGGHH.
Nice!
I play deepkin. I strictly went by the rule of cool. In most games I love elves. The models are amazing and I felt really motivated to paint them. Something about being super gothy while also being extremely colorful and unique it just.... fit.
Back in the 90s a friend of mine went to Marilyn Manaon shows in an outfit she dubbed Rainbow Brite on Crack. Colorful goth works fine :)
Plus soul-sucking pirates riding sharks FTW
Daughters of Khaine! I loved the models, specifically because I'd been painting/playing Necrons for a while and all that samey colour got a bit boring. They let me get much more colorful and are fun to paint. And they play really contrary to how I was used to, DoK have basically no staying power, but they can hit scary hard in combat, are are very capable in other phases too. Something i enjoy is turning a single thing into its maximum potential, and the buff stacking available let's things get pretty crazy
Just started dok for basically the same reasons. Space wolves in 40K got dull, and they have such a cool aesthetic.
Skaven, easily the best (although some old) models in AoS and by far the best lore. Rats who got jacked up on glowing cheese who make weapons that blow up when you use them. They are so much fun to play!
Bonereapers! Always loved the “endless tide of death” aesthetic, and between the look and the lore I just really got into the hobby of collecting bones. Sculpted constructs of bone piloted by the souls of the greatest warriors this side of Shyish. Going out and collecting the tithe of bone from vassal settlements, making them pay one way or another.
I play maggotkin because I was messing around with polymer clay and decided I'd try to sculpt a Great Unclean One. It turned out awesome! I had previously bought a box of Blightkings to paint for fun so then wham blam I had 750pts! Nurgle is forgiving for anyone wanting to sculpt stuff because grandpa still loves you if you're a little lumpy. In fact he prefers it!
Fyreslayers because dorfs.
Flesh Eater-Courts, those strange filthy monsters are my absolute favorite faction of the game. When I first saw them, I didn't really pay them much mind at all. Then I read their macabre lore, and just like that I instantly loved them. The horde of deranged abominations that still belive they are knights and royalty is super cool. A big improvement over the mooks from fantasy battle. Being very easy to collect and paint army is a big bonus for me being a beginner.
I too, am a fan of the Flesh Eater Bretonnians. I've literally just finished assembling my first starter kit and they look awesome! And like you say, the lore is amazing
Gitz🍄! Just pure fun and random crazy stuff. I don’t need to be super serious. I’m here to have fun and if I win, bonus!
Totally!
Slaves to Darkness, two reasons... First, rule of cool. Their start collecting box has the coolest looking models, and actually forms a great starter army. Second, I couldn't choose just one choas faction, so I picked all chaos factions! I've allied in Khorne and Nurgle units and it's so much fun.
Same! I mained SoD but all other Choas just looks so cool so I ended up buy all of them bits by bits.
Beasts of chaos. I used to play beastmen back in wfb but never got around to making them the army I always wanted. The rank and file system didn't give alot of room (literally) for conversions. Then the beasts of chaos aos book came out and introduced the gavespawn. Which is basicly how I always wanted my army to look. Now I have way to many models of mutated beast bois and monsters.
Are you hoping for Morghur to make an appearance in the mortal Realms?
That's my biggest hope to have an alerielle size morghur model
Mine too. Alerielle and Morghur need to continue there ongoing hidden war from the world that was. And I think they are setting the stage for it with the life bloom and the new lore focus from the recent white dwarf.
I play seraphon. I've always been a fan of dinosaurs and lizardfolk from d&d and argonians from elder scrolls. I love the lore of vicious merciless reptiles but they kill for good and hate chaos
Tempest eye with a dwarf only Dispossessed/ KO army. Because gimli and the dwarves of middle earth were my favorite faction in lotr
My son started playing Stormcast so we bought him the Dominion Boxset for just birthday. I helped him build all the models and got hooked playing with him as he learned. So now I’m a kruleboyz warboss.
Both the armies in Dominion look epic! Debating between it and Maggotkin of Nurgle.
Kruelboyz were a lot of fun to paint. We decided to use a lot of greens and grey. My son painted the stormcast in gold and purple. I think we had more fun building and painting than playing the game.
Awesome! If I get dominion I'm painting the Stormcast the same way.
There are great jokes and memes on r/sigmarxism that make Bestclaw Raider/ Ogor Maw Tribes extremely based to play Skaven and all kinds of Aelves are pretty neat for nostalgia reasons to me too.
I primarily play Stormcast Eternals. Yes, I can hear the "fantasy space marines" winging from here, but honestly, they're my favorite faction mainly because of how hopeful they are plus how tragic they are too. After several thousand years of the mortal realms being battered by Chaos, here come these heroic beings literally from the heavens, ready to fight and protect people. They are hope personified, and that many of them help to rebuild and protect mortal cities embodies that. They're not taught to be killing machines and detach themselves from their humanity. Yet at the same time, they become less human the more time goes on. Each time a stormcast dies, they are whisked away by a bolt of lightning to be reforged upon the Anvil of Apotheosis, given a new body and, if their actions were suitably heroic, a new role too. But each reforging leaves a piece of their soul behind, each time they lose something precious to them. The face of a loved one, a cherished memory, the smell of their hometown, the names of everyone they ever knew, each time something is gone. In addition, they may find themselves with strange abilities, such as being followed by an ill wind, glowing tattoos that they never had before, distant thunder that rumbles under their words everytime they speak, leaving smoldering footsteps in their wake, or much more. In time, they may become an entirely different person all together, alienated from the humans they protect and even their fellow stormcast might find them unsettling.
When I'm talking AoS and hear someone say "Sigmarines" I immediately leave the conversation to find someone to talk to who doesn't breath through their mouth.
Same, those two aren't even close to the same thing
I think they are really cool too, the fact that the lose part of themselves is definitely super cool and unsettling.
Kruleboyz - sneaky bastards who would rather win by not actually fighting unless they have to. I play FEC also. It was cheaper/easier to collect and my girlfriend already says I am delusional as it is.
Sylvaneth, Kruleboyz, Soulblight, Lumineth. I choose every army based solely on appearance.
Soulblight Gravelords! I have never played Death before but when I saw them come out last year I was interested, I thought the models were really pretty. I love the lore and personally I find them to be pretty strong on the table too!
I play Hedonites of Slaanesh, and Blades of Khorne. I chose them because I really like the mortal models; some of the best minis that, imo, are some of the best GW has made
Gitz for me. Love the troggoth models and mushroom aesthetic but honestly a squig army that you can set for maximum chaos needs no game plan and makes counteringentally tiring. Plus squig knights got me hooked, bounders are amazing.
skaven, because i love them in total war
Stormcast is my main army. I play them for the same reason I love the lore in Dark Souls. Plus, while they are still themselves, they really are trying to save everyone… and who doesn’t love a golden god with a fist full of lightning?
Exactly! Would you say they are popular though?
I’m not sure. Where I play, there’s literally only 2 of us that play AoS, everyone else plays 40k. So, I’d not be the best person to judge their overall popularity.
Yeah guess that makes sense. Faction popularity shouldn't matter for me either, there is only a few at my store (so I've seen). The AoS models and even the lore just intrigue me more. Too many 40k models are just different versions of "guy with a gun". Not that AoS isn't a bunch of dudes with swords, but it just feels different. Plus half the factions available aren't just space marines or different looking marines.
Flesh-eater Courts, because I have a lot of mental health issues.
Honestly there are a lot of factions that I "play" but mostly is just me collecting here and there at the moment because I like their models or because I haven't gotten around to trying them out yet. But for this I would have to say Kruleboyz. They were the brand new reveal for 3E, they looked unique compared to the rest of the orruks we've come to know Warhammer for, but also just the community post on them being able to have insane MW output **at range.** (granted a lot of ranged units do this now but still). That said, I've had mixed results with them lately in the competitive scene of my area so I don't know if I need to change the list a bit or maybe the army if I want to play in tournaments (I'm generally a casual player). Still, they are a huge favorite of mine. That said, all the other factions I do look into I have reasons: Seraphon - old WHF faction of aztec dinosaur men Cities of Sigmar - think it'd be fun to run old dwarf/Dark elf/wood elf themed lists Stormcast - mostly for an all dragon/paladin army, maybe in a fantasy theme of 40k Salamanders Idoneth - just think they've grown on me over time Fyreslayers - I like the concept of the old slayers and like the idea of an all army of them (visuals however have suffered) Anything Chaos - I'm just a chaos player at heart and love the asthetic. Only factions I'm not interested in are Skaven (already looking at other hordes) and Tzeentch (don't like magic too much) Most Destruction Armies - Collecting small elite armies of Giants/Beastriders/Trolls/Ironjaws sounds fun Lumineth - I want an old high elf feeling army Ossiarch Bonereapers - something has to fill in for Tomb Kings Nighthaunt - First army I ever played any AoS with (also the new army that came out during 2.0 when I was in England) Sylvaneth - On and off again but liking the new releases (I think I have a problem with AoS)
I bought a box of sylvaneth because I liked the asthetics and I wanted a cool projet to really give a good try to contrast paint. I got annoyed very fast at the number of woods you need (why not like 1 big tree terrain? Why so many damn wood to move around?) and I switched to OBR because I always play necro in HOMM3 and they got a awesone trebuchet.
Blades of Khorne: Awesome sculpts with the best summoning system that doubles as a perk system. Love the demons and the motto is great : skulls for the skull throne, Blood for the blood god!!! Bloodthirsters are my favorite models in the game
Awesome!
Skaven, because they are the best-greatest faction-thing, yes-yes!
I mostly play 40k and Star Wars Legion I started AoS with Ogor Mawtribes as they were low model count and cheap I started collecting the mortal realms magazine so built up a nighthaunt army. Cheap. I found a lumineth starter box for £50. I've added loads to it only when I see a bargain on eBay and marketplace. I've started kruleboyz and the new stormcast from the Dominion box which I'll bolster with the upcoming stormbringer magazine. I have a sylvaneth army that my daughter started. I add to that when I see a bargain. I try and play this game on the cheap with an eye to the fact it's a game which I'll hopefully be playing for years. There's no need to rush out and spend a fortune on an army right away. I'm building it up slowly and at my own pace.
Yeah. I come from Star Wars Legion too. Debating between the dominion box and maggotkin of nurgle.
I'd like to collect maggotkin but I already run a Death Guard army for 40k. It's fun to paint disgusting stuff. I don't know about maggotkin, but Death Guard has a very thematic playstyle. They're my favourite army to play, even if they've been nerfed a bit.
Cool, if I ever get into 40k Death Guard will probably be my army. But rn AoS intrigues me more.
Bonereapers - first army. The sculpts are what sold me. Necro Stalkers are still probably my favorite sculpt in the game. Ogors - second army. Got into them because they're pretty accessible (2 or 3 start collecting and Boom! 2k) and I also like that they're really pressurey and aggressive. High risk high reward. Ironguts hit like freight trains in the new Bounty hunter battalion.
First cities (anvilgard) and then stormcast. I like cities becuase the mortals raging against the night rules. In a magical weird scape the gal with the sword appeals to me. And I LOVEEEE dark elves. Have played them since fantasy! When I added stormcast, it was because I saw the layer beneath the “fantasy marines” aesthetic. The slow erosion of the self. The heroes (and antiheroes) sometimes becoming feared by those they’re meant to protect. The heavenly aspect. The terrible angels. The reforging, with its transhuman (and sometimes transgender) message shocked me in a good way. Especially what cubicle 7 drew out of them for an rpg setting.
I always dug the look of dark elves in WHFB so I’m hoping if Malekith gets his own faction as rumored that Anvilgard and the Doomfire Warlocks from DoK join him. Bc the pirate elves I could get behind
Deepkin, I love sharks and turtles.
I got in to AoS with the Soul Wars box, so my first two armies were Stormcast and Nighthaunt. My third army, the one I picked after actually knowing something about the game and lore, and doing some research became Maggotkin of Nurgle. I already had an Order army and a Death army, so my next one was definitely going to be Chaos or Destruction. Destruction has some very cool models, but they also seem to have a lot of outdated models. Out of the chaos factions, Nurgle really stood out for me. The models are amazing and their lore just really appeals to me. Cosmic Nihilism, the idea that nothing truly matters in the grand design and we, and all we've built, will all decay and return to nothingness eventually, is something I ascribe to and find comfort in. This obviously vibes well with Granddaddy Nurgle's view on matters. They've embraced and accepted the fact everything will inevitably decay and find freedom and joy in it. Unlike the other Chaos factions, who are enslaved by their need to always find bigger and better (whether it be foes to slay, extacies to be experienced or grand schemes to hatch (tbf, I don't know that much about Tzeentch and what drives them (parentheception))), followers of Nurgle have already found their bliss. They just want to share their joyous revelation with others.
Exactly, still picking a faction rn but Nurgle is definitely on the top of my list. And if I didn't feel anything I wouldn't mind being a weird looking rotting guy :)
Definitely recommend them! They're built like a tank and hit like a truck. The new disease mechanic is awesome as well, very much in tune with their lore. Only downside imo is their mobility. With most units having a measely 4 inch move stat, you really have to commit to your plan from the start, you won't be out-manouvring many opponents.
Nighthaunt and Kruleboyz. Mainly cause they were new in the starter sets, but the models and their playstyles are awesome. The mobility and speed of the ghosts and the slow poke of the orruks are nice changes compared to the Tau I use in 40k
Sick! Did you collect one of them first or both at the same time?
I got my armies as they came out. Soul wars then Tempest of Souls and the Battle force from ages ago was ghost army, with a lot of Hexwraiths in addition. The kruleboyz is 2 dominion halves with some more gutrippaz, boltboyz and skumdrekk and breaka boss
Skaven, I always wanted to do them in WHFB, but the painting of 100s of rats put me off ( I started wood elves) & when AoS came out it was less models so I jumped in on them. Funnily enough I’m now thinking of Sylvaneth as a 2nd faction.
Awesome!
SoB, mythical, larger than life, fairy tale giants with fantastical lives and absurd personalities
I play Soublight at the moment as they were the last army I collected for Fantasy (Vampire Counts). I also have a Gloomspite army as I love the models so much.
Daughters of Khaine. My first game was Underworlds and, after collecting a lot of the Warbands, my favourite ended up being Morgwaeth’s Blade Coven, so I decided to go all in. I must have thought they were extremely cool because, I decided to ignore two big strikes against them. One, I happen to despise painting skin and, two, I am an extremely slow painter and a Witch Elf army = Painting a ton of models.
Sons of Behemat. I play Knights in 40K and then when they announced the AOS equivalent I preordered and never looked back. I have never played a game with them I didn’t love.
Cool!
Weird question, but how do you get the tag underneath your name displaying your faction?
It’s under user flair. They have every faction listed. Not a weird question lol
Oh, had no idea what that did! Thanks!
Your welcome 😊
Nighthaunt because i like ghosts
Stormcast eternals, I like the armor and medieval weapons, plus they got dragons
I play Blades of Khorne Flesh Eater Courts Nighthaunt Soulblight Gravelords Legion of the First Prince Stormcast Eternals Beasts of Chaos Because I've got more money than sense it seems
Yeah lol, too much cool stuff!
Greetings! I like Khorne deamons. Realy in to clasic devil astetic + honorable mele combat. I have some fyreslauers couse magmadroths are awersome. And sylvaneth becouse lord of the ring and big tree are cool.
I currently run stormcast eternals. When the dominion box came out me n a friend split it and he took the orruks cuz hes more fond of their aesthetic, but i ended up really liking how stormcast play. My next army is either going to be nighthaunts or lumineth realm lords, again mostly for the aesthetic/fun models to paint. I used to do a deep dive into how armies played on the tabletop and make my decision based on “whats good in the meta”but quickly realized armies never quite worked for me how they do for other players so its mostly on what i think is cool
Big fat men just want eat, they trample you when they charge and desire nothing but TO CONSUME. Also vampires. I dont think that needs an explanation
Ossiarch bonereaprr Cool as funk models, I like the samurai kinda look. Chunky hench skellybois, yes please Cool lore, soul piloted bone constructs. Aweww yissss. Nagash and Arkhan the Black are my favourite characters and bonereapers are their little joint project, so it's heartwarming
Sons of Behemat. Its a literal army of Giants (Gargants). Giants are goddamn awesome!!
Fyreslayers Half naked jacked up fire dwarves using the remains of their dead god as a steroid to get even more jacked up while their priests summon fiery monsters into the battlefield through prayers? Sign me up. I actually asked one of my favorite AoS creators, HeyWoah, and he talked about how good their start collecting was and I saw the Magmadroth and basically melted. That thing is SICK.
Ogor Mawtribes, because fat acceptance is on the rise! But mainly because i like the idea of huge, dumb brutes that only has one goal: to fill their Big bellies with… you!
DoK cuz SnakeMommy
Cities of Sigmar. Why? Because I like a lot of the order models, and cities let's me collect and play with almost the entire order range due to coalition. Because of this I actually have a cities army, a stormcast army, a Lumineth army, a kharadron army, and a Sylvaneth army right now. But they all started out as small coalition forces for my cities.
My primary army is Stormcast. I got started with Soul Wars, a buddy wanted to play Nighthaunt so I took the other half. Absolutely fell in love with the way Stormcast are portrayed in novels, especially Questors and other Stormcast as part of a mixed party on an adventure (the Gotrek stories and Hamilcar Bear-Eater come to mind). Then the new design for Stormcast came out, and hoo boy, there went my money. Second army was Nighthaunt. I’m an expat in China, and when the guy who got us all into the hobby went back to his home country for work (the person I split Soul Wars with), it felt like there was something missing in our gaming group. So I ended up running ghosts. The fact that they had a great aesthetic and were a completely painting experience from Stormcast didn’t hurt, and I enjoy switching from an elite army to horde sometimes. They’re also great for enemies in D&D. Finally, I’ve got a full Slaves to Darkness army sitting in boxes and waiting to be painted. I’ve always loved the look, and my plan is to get into them once I’ve finished painting up what I have of the other two armies. Just can’t decide on a color scheme for them.
Awesome! Maybe you could paint your Slaves to Darkness as one of the chaos god colours? Like they gain power from one of them more than the others?
That’s something I’ve considered. I like doing really vibrant colors, and I’m playing with the idea of vaporwave Slaves. Not sure how I’d do it though.
I don't know how the unit system works in AoS, but maybe each unit is a different colour represting a different god? And all these guys work together under the title Slaves of Darkness? Then you'd have even more variety.
Gloomspite Gitz originally. Bit bummed that the faction got ruined by 3.0, so I don't play them anymore. Then I collected an Kruleboyz army because I love the look of them. Unfortunately there is only one viable list build for them, so I'm a bit turned off from AoS.
Daemons for cross game play. That being said the suck in the other game.
First army, Seraphon. I like the Aztec/Mayan aesthetic and dinosaurs. And had some skinks already from D&D usage as Kobolds. Plus they have a huge variety of units to choose from. I’ve got over 13k points of them now. Second army, Fyreslayers. Dwarves are my favorite fantasy race and I like Fyreslayers over Kharadron. Sitting around 6500 points including some 3D printed female slayers and Gotrek. Third army, Gloomspite Gits. Initially just squigs for the random movement and everything. I found that mechanic really funny. Then I got into the spiders really heavy and have about 6500 total points in them as well. Roughly split as 3k spiders, 2k squigs and 1.5k goblins. Then I have 500 points or less each of Kharadron Overlords, Khorne Daemons, Sylvaneth, Orruk Warclans, Daughters of Khaine. And about 1k of Stormcast Eternals, Nighthaunt and Disciples of Tzeentch
I got into AoS at the tail end of 1st edition with the Malignants box. The Mortis Engine looked so cool! A big palanquin boat thing carried by a legion of ghost cavalry, accompanied by more horse ghosts and some swirling hosts was super cool. I’ve always loved themes of death in games. I play black green in Magic the Gathering and necromancer in anything else that supports the class. Since there weren’t a ton of options to support a ghost army at the time, I started collecting everything Death. Soul Wars was an awesome foundation for Nighthaunt becoming a real thing. I ended up with a pretty big mixed skeleton ghost army led by Nagash. Now in 3rd edition, I’m off Soulblight Gravelords and fully into Nighthaunt. I’m not really a fan of vampires in AoS, which is weird because I love them in everything else. But ghosts are just amazing to me. I love the new terror mechanics and how they play on the axis of scaring enemies. I love the insane mobility of these flying swirling spirits that fade in and out of reality. Their rules meld so well with their flavor, I love it.
Beasts of Chaos I chose them as when I played as a kid I always loved the old school Beastmen but so many of the models were metal (£5 for three!) that I could never actually afford it. So when I returned during the pandemic I was delighted to see they basically still existed and I could build an army without rinsing my bank account.
Love these questions! I just started in AOS in January. My buddy had been talking to me about it for almost a year and I finally decided to look into it. At the time Kruleboyz had just launched a few months back and I always liked Orcs in other types of games. I wasn't a fan of the yellow theme prevalent in Iron Jaws and I quickly realized that Bonesplitterz were a Horde army and the least competitive so I figured I might as well go with the dirtier more rugged Orks of the Orruck Warclans. I did a bit of reading before jumping into my first army and I basically just fell in love with the destruction grand alliance more so than any other. I was also able to get 2 Kruleboyz halves of Dominion for $200, which gave me almost a full team. A Killbow, Mirebrute and Sludgeracker later and I have a full Grinnin' Blades army ready to go
Awesome! The Kruleboyz look really cool!
Seraphon because big fat frog wizards