So with the impending arrival of Warhammer Fantasy Battle 8th Edition, I decided to hop on board and give it a whirl. I just purchased a High Elf Battalion and their Army Book. I just built my first model - a Horse - I know, I know, very special :P
I know many people on this board play/played/know-of Warhammer 40k, so I was just curious if anyone also plays/played/knows-of Warhammer Fantasy? Which armies do you own/like/want? Do you like the fluff? Do any models strike your fancy?
I guess I will go first: I chose High Elves because I, as you can guess from my screen name, like Elves & Magic and no other army really packs those two things in quite like High Elves... Plus who doesn't like Eagles and Chariots being pulled by Lions? On a more simplistic level, I also like that he army uses a lot of Metallic paint, because I' terrible at painting everything except Metallics, lol.
I haven't read much of the fluff/lore yet but it looks to be a Tolkien style world, adjusted to accommodate a Wargame. Even still, it looks really cool.
I haven't played Warhammer Fantasy, but I do have a couple of Mordheim gangs ( fairly large Skaven one and a smaller Beastman one, plus the human mercs who came with the boxed set). Crazily fun game. I also have a pretty sizeable (2000 point) Ork army for 40k.
I really like the Warhammer setting, actually - it is Tolkienesque buts its also significantly darker, scarier, with a higher technology level - almost steampunk in places (the Empire, Dwarves, and some Skaven in particular). Pistols are ubiquitous, and the whole thing is a lot more Gothic and gloomy than your usual elves n orcs fantasy, what with the vampire-ruled country of undead, the chaos-warped marauders from the north, the pestilential, mutant rat-men, and the infinitely sadistic dark elves in their black tower-cities.
I did WHFB for a while, but quit when 7th edition came out (is it 8th ALREADY? It's only been 3 years!). I don't like the direction the company is going in, and I've found better rules. For fantasy tabletop I play No Quarter.
I ran Empire and Bretonnia mostly. The fluff is alright, and the 5th/6th edition plastic Empire models were nice, but the new ones are garbage (though the Empire Bowmen are alright). I also liked the Bretonian foot soldiers a bit.
It is a Tolkin inspired world, but keep in mind it was originally designed to be generic fantasy for a reason, and then it kind of grew. I do like some parts of their world story really well. PM me sometime if you want to talk about Wargame stuff. I do it quite a bit.
M.
Quote from: SteerpikeI really like the Warhammer setting, actually - it is Tolienesque buts its also significantly darker, scarier, with a higher technology level - almost steampunk in places (the Empire, Dwarves, and some Skaven in particular). Pistols are ubiquitous, and the whole thing is a lot more Gothic and gloomy than your usual elves n orcs fantasy, what with the vampire-ruled country of undead, the chaos-warped marauders from the north, the pestilential, mutant rat-men, and the infinitely sadistic dark elves in their black tower-cities.
Touche Steerpike! So it's like WoW but darker and cooler? (obviously Blizzard stole 40k and WFB to make Stracraft and Warcraft but it's still a valid comparison).
Quote from: CheI did WHFB for a while, but quit when 7th edition came out (is it 8th ALREADY? It's only been 3 years!). I don't like the direction the company is going in, and I've found better rules. For fantasy tabletop I play No Quarter.
7th Came out in September of 2006, so it's almost been 4 years. From what I understand the game was loosing more fans than it was gaining in 7th, so GW acted quickly and released a new edition. Having said that, 4 years is about the average for the life-span of a game - Long enough to keep people interested but short enough so you can rake in the core book sales on a regular basis.
What don't/didn't you like about the direction GW went in? Was it too Herohammer and not enough Blockhammer? If that's the case, then that is being fixed (as I am told by vets).
Quote from: CheI ran Empire and Bretonnia mostly. The fluff is alright, and the 5th/6th edition plastic Empire models were nice, but the new ones are garbage (though the Empire Bowmen are alright). I also liked the Bretonian foot soldiers a bit.
Empire was on my short list. I liked the idea of being able to field a big Knight army then the next minute go really cannon heavy then go horde heavy. Empire is the Jack of All Trades, Master of None... Of course the new rules limit the number of special and rare units you can take (IIRC no duplicates).
Quote from: CheIt is a Tolkin inspired world, but keep in mind it was originally designed to be generic fantasy for a reason, and then it kind of grew. I do like some parts of their world story really well.
Growth over time - The best world work like that.
I have an Empire army gathering dust with my Tau an Space Marines somewhere.
I have a friend who has Empire. If I ever got into it it'd have to be Skaven or Undead for me... painting zombies would be awesome.
I would say it is a little like WoW, but almost more like the Diablo universe in a strange way - dark and menacing rather than slightly cartoonish and colourful.
Direction wise, I didn't like how the models were going. They're outside of 28mm now, and the new Empire ones were really crap. Also had begun to move out of D6 wargames for a while.
M.
I love this model. (http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat50038&prodId=prod1050097&rootCatGameStyle=)
I've heard GW has done some kind of quasi-unscheduled surprise price hike?!? Is that correct?
This is what GW does :|
M.
I never really got around to playing it, but I tried to collect a Dark Elf army for a while, as they were pretty cool with their slightly gothic look and their strangely twisted creatures and weapons. I grew tired of them though, and bought a box of Skaven (I love their warp items and some of their crazier units) as an attempt to kick-start my interest. Didn't work though, and the box just collected dust. I think WH40k is a more evolved world than WHF, but it is still pretty cool for the afore-mentioned reasons. But personally I never saw the point of High Elves or Empire (too generic, with a few exceptions) and I despised Bretonnia (argh, knights...)
So sadly, my interest died out. Would have liked to play it at some point...
The point of 40k and WHFB is to -be- generic an accessible, though. 40k is just grimdark with no upsides. WHFB is Tolkin fantasy with Chaos replacing Mordor, since they're in the same technical universe (which is why nearly every 40k race has a WHFB parallel).
M.
Pretty sure it's been said by GW and 40k and WHFB aren't in the same universe.
That being said, I like both 40k and WHFB. Both settings are pretty cool, as well as dark which I tend to prefer. It also helps that GW makes a ton of really good looking models. Especfially the newer ones.
Lion-chariot from the Higheklves? New Dark Elf sorceresses? New Vampire Counts? New Blood Angels? All badass.
Quote from: SteerpikeI love this model. (http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat50038&prodId=prod1050097&rootCatGameStyle=)
I like that model two! If I played Vamp Counts, I would totally buy it!
Quote from: SteerpikeI've heard GW has done some kind of quasi-unscheduled surprise price hike?!? Is that correct?
Yes they have.After a year of record profits, Games Workshop once again raised their prices on the vast majority of boxes/models any where from 5-30%. Though it is only a few extra dollars per item, the price of buying into the game continues to go up. Let us not forget that this price hike was on top of a similar price hike the year prior. Though I cannot change Games Workshop's corporate policy, I can change my buying habits - I never buy direct, try to buy used items when I can and always support my FLGS. :)
Quote from: CheThe point of 40k and WHFB is to -be- generic an accessible, though. 40k is just grimdark with no upsides. WHFB is Tolkin fantasy with Chaos replacing Mordor, since they're in the same technical universe (which is why nearly every 40k race has a WHFB parallel).
Though there are many similarities (mainly the basic armies/races (Empire=IG, High Elves=Eldar, Orcs=Orks, Chaos Warriors=Chaos Marines, Dark Elves=Dark Eldar, Tomb Kings=Necrons, etc.)) 40k has since grown to become it's own unique entity, 40k and WFB are two separate properties.
When the Tau were released for 40k, GW said they were intentionally not making a parallel in fantasy.
For my Empire army, however, I did include a Space Marine riding a horse.
Sweet crossover, D!, with the mounted marine.
I kinda of liked Khemri (tomb kings) even though painting them would probably be kind of bland. They had some pretty cool construct units.
Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowI kinda of liked Khemri (tomb kings) even though painting them would probably be kind of bland. They had some pretty cool construct units.
I think it would depend on how much effort you put in to them. You could do as little as Spray them white then do a heavy brown or blue wash and call it a day. But you could also go really fancy, especially with the Shields and ornaments. Personally, I think Tomb Kings have the potential to be one of the most visually stunning armies in the game.
Found myself tempted to get back into 40k the other day as a scout heavy marine army. There are better games I already play, but it's very hard to get people into it. GW stuff holds your hand by issuing you armies, stats and a line of models all in one go - people I know tend to freak out if you give them options.
Doesn't help that where I sit for lunch at work gives me a direct view of the Assault on Blackreach box set. But, the upcoming price hike has nailed the coffin shut for me, and I heard GW abandoned the "build your own chapter" set up they had in 4th edition. This is a shame because there's thousands of chapters out there yet GW only focuses on a handful. I'm guessing they freaked when they saw sales for their chapter specific books drop slightly. This is the same company that was going to prohibit FLGS and online shops from selling their product to protect their own stores and their own online shop, after all.
M.
Quote from: CheBut, the upcoming price hike has nailed the coffin shut for me, and I heard GW abandoned the "build your own chapter" set up they had in 4th edition. This is a shame because there's thousands of chapters out there yet GW only focuses on a handful. I'm guessing they freaked when they saw sales for their chapter specific books drop slightly.
Not sure what you mean... GW has always supported 'make your own fluff' but never Normal People building their own chapters with variant rules... If you mean traits, then yes they did remove those in the latest Space Marine codex but that was more for the reason that traits were a broken system. Now they just integrate traits with named special characters - simpler and more elegant, if a bit less fun.
As for GW's variant Chapters... Well oif you want to get technical it's only been in the last 9 months that GW has actually had purchasable copies of all 4 variants. A year ago, the Blood Angels were downloadable in a PDF and the Space Wolves' codex was 10 years old and out of production (in fact the only way to get it was to email the Canadian GW site and they would send you a poorly photocopied PDF version).
Quote from: CheThis is the same company that was going to prohibit FLGS and online shops from selling their product to protect their own stores and their own online shop, after all.
GW has no problem with FLGSs selling GW product. They do have a problem with internet stores (and eBay) selling GW poducts while using GW copyrighted/tradmarked images and using Shopping carts. I do not condone this attitude nor do I support it. GW should focus on getting people into stores and buying and playing GW's games! You do that by giving legitimate stores free prize support and running special release parties, just like Magic the Gathering does. But no, GW would rather scoff at the modern world and blame their shortsightedness on the fact that their games are meant for 'casual fans who just want to get together and have a beer.' :-/
The real irony here is that GW doesn't realize just how much more money they could earn by being more community oriented.