MexicanNinja

I would stay away from Orcs and Goblins as a first army.  The animosity could go horribly wrong during your first game and leave a bad taste in your mouth.  Warriors of Chaos is an extremely low model count army and is able to punch a lot of things in the face.

I should be there by 6.  I'm hoping to leave my office no later than 3:30.

I pretty much skipped all the above posts.  However, here is what I can tell you, based around your original post:

1) Vampires are not that easy to learn.  They may seem like they are at first, however, they can fail horribly if just thrown together in a list.  As far as them being a low model count army.  Yes, they can; however, the list I would propose to you wouldn't find you many games with most people on Ordo, so I'm not going to mention it here.

2) Current Dwarfs can be a low model count army.  They are fairly simple to use: move a little, shoot a lot, shoot some more, shoot one more time, charge in with the troops.  However, I would suggest waiting until the new book comes out before deciding on whether or not to go Dwarfs.

I would suggest testing a few games out with some people to get the feel for the game.  This is nothing like fantasy and the movement phase is not forgiving.  By testing out the game you will learn the mechanics and you should be able to decide which elements you are attracted to: i.e, shooting, magic, movement, combat.

Here are my suggestions:

1) Dreadlord needs shield, sea dragon cloack, Ogre Blade and the Black Amulet- This gives you a 1+/4+.  The amulet lets you cause free wounds in a challenge for every succesful ward save made which ignores armour).

2) Lore of Dark Magic for your Level 4-  +5 to cast every spell is huge with the spells already having low casting vaules.  If you need a tip on how to use her effectively check out my casting 101.  Also, with her being in the unit of dark riders, you need to play them carefully.  A failed LD test from 25% casaulties will make her useless.  If you want the most from her while using the Cloak of Twilight, stick her on a Dark Pegasus.

3) BSB on foot needs heavy armour, sea dragon cloak, sword of might, enchanted shield, dawnstone- This gives your BSB a 1+ re-rollable armour save and a consistant S5 attack.

4) Master on Manticore needs some more survivability.  Upgrading him with heavy armour, charmed shield, sea dragon cloak will give him a 1+ AS with a chance to ignore the first hit on a 2+. 

5) Black Guard should have standard of discipline.  This will make them Stubborn 10.

6) Your Dark Riders should have repeater xbows.

I see this list struggling against armies with lots of 1+/2+ armour save units.  If you could find some way to get a RBT or 2 in the list, that will serve you well.  I'm not sure how or where to get the points to make the changes or if the changes even fit your play style, without looking at the book, but I suggest at least looking into a few of the above changes.  If you have any questions related to Dark Elves let me know, I've been playing very effectively since the new book has come out.

@NtK, I probablly won't make it down on Sunday.  I most likely won't even be done until around 5ish and then I have a ton of closing reports to work on.  I should be there on the 16th though.

I hardly smacked his Empire around, don't let him fool you!  So far my army has won all 3 games of 8th I've played: 2 vs. Raindog and 1 vs. VonRuger.  And in all 3 games, my good friends Eric and Karl were playing my army as much as their own, helping me at every turn and letting me fix and correct stupid things as we went.  So let's just say Raindog and VonRuger both did a great job of beating themselves with my army, and me rolling the dice ;)

 

Anyway how does this coming game night work for you?  Actually I'll post in the game night thread...

Yeah, ruger told me about how his steam tank killed itself.  We play pretty regularly and that steam tank is the only model I don't have an answer for.

As for gamenight, are you referring to Tuesday or Sunday?  I am in the 40k campaign for Tuesdays and I don't know if I will get off work in time to make it to Sunday's game night.

I still have 35 cavalry models to paint!

I'm not sure when or if I will be able to make it tomorrow night.  I have to deal with weapons transfers tomorrow at some point.

Interesting that the Thunderer/Crossbowmen box set is both Core and Rare. So are crossbows core and Thunderers Rare? It would be pretty lame if the Empire has better shooting now!

If they keep the dwarven handgun rule with +1 to hit Empire still shoots worse.

This book is going to fail or suceed with how they do magic items.  Do they now have access to magic items like everyone else?  Do they still have runes?  How is the rune selection.  Other than the current build:

anvil, 3+ warmachines, miners, and blocks of GW warriors.  The runes are what set different armies apart.  The standard "core" build for the army is pretty common; however, the runes selection is where you notice the differences in builds.

I strongly believe runes are going to be the main impact with this book. 

Again, I have to agree with zero.  If you can get a cheap zombie unit for your caster you can stick it behind your line and keep the necro safe.

So on the other side, what's so bad about having a few models released before the book?

Do you know if the models are going to be worth it?  Without seeing the rules, what choice they are, how many points per model/upgrades w/costs, I wouldn't order models before seeing the rules.

Not sure if I will be able to make it to Sunday game night.  I have drill this weekend.

Raindog, I would suggest test playing brawl missions.  Myself and ruger have played several of them and they change how the game is played.

...MNinja: thanks man!  We'll have to play sometime DE vs DE :)

We shall, soon I hope.  I need to meet the team!  I did here from ruger that you smacked his empire around.  Don't let him beat the dark elves...EVER!

I have to agree with Hero, Witch Kings are some of the best heroes in the game.  They come with killing blow, 3 wounds, high toughness.  I would also consider trying to get master of the dead on your Necro.  Dogs are meant to die, drop the upgrade for the extra attack.

That is very nice.  My only suggestion to you would be to rank them up 10 wide to maximize the shooting.

I could see slayers somewhere along the lines of dark elf witches and orc savages.

Oh, then I'm pretty certain the game engine is going to be very similar to Space Marine.

Keep in mind this game is an MMO with dozens if not hundreds fighing over map objectives.Think Plantside 2 in the 40k Universe:)

Teamwork/group play will be essential for success.

 

 

I never played Space Marine but I think it was just a solo game?

Yeah, I understand what it is, but it doesn't look any different that Space Marine to me.  Even some of the icons are very similar.  Space Marine was a solo campaign with multiplayer options.  You got to set up and unlock options for....tactical marines, devestators, and assaults marines.  However, as this will most likely be a PC game only, I will not be purchasing it.

Space Marine was fun. They made the levels too big, so you spent a lot of time walking and not killing nobs with a chain sword. Good plot and controls though. Id pay to play this, especially if it is planet side + 2 years of extra dev. Id be interested if they do anything squad based too, like an instance I can run with 5-10 friends. 

The maps were excellent.  Devestators were able to set up, tac marines had to use cover while running up the middle/flanks/rear of the enemy, and assault marines did what they did best....take all the focus while closing in on the enemy.

The name is gonzoliny on League of Legends.  I try to pump out a game a night.

The major eye-popping thing for me is that bad mama-jama painted on the shield.  That scorpion is extremely nice.

I would prefer 4, as I could get more gaming done without having to rush through for time constraints that come with showing up at 6.

I say this because the prep time for fantasy is longer than most games.

Right, as of right now, there is no engineer upgrade for the organ.  You would very rarely misfire.  If they add it as option, in the upcomming book, then I would be ok with rolling to hit.

I am digging the new shields. They are fantastic. I am getting very excited about this release.

The models, as a whole, look much better than the current ones.  This should be a great release.  I'm hoping for a good book.  I'm already thinking about the next escalation.  I have two armies in mind, dwarfs being one of them.