Most Defensive armies?

[EchoHavoc]

OK guys. Back on track here. My friend doesn't mind if they get a new book in the near future. However, he doesn't want to invest in an army that won't be supported in a year or two. 

[Zanzou]

35 minutes ago, mikethefish said:

Sure.  Free Peoples are not supported.  Supported means model updates, and having a Battle Tome.  GW has always been happy letting Free Peoples remain in GHB limbo.

I see why you would think that but I believe every faction that’s on the age of sigmar official website is “supported”. That being said, GW’s “support” of existing factions leaves much to be desired. I will never forget you randomly getting rid of the warscroll for poisoned wind mortar weapon team for example, GW.  And yet for some reason ancient wood elf warscrolls are still there (which would be great, if they actually kept everything they’ve released after them on the app too)

[XReN]

Despite disagreeing about Freeguild current old models not fitting into AoS I would agree with @mikethefish - we shouldn't really suggest them for a new player until the claimed support is proven by release of battletome, Wanderers and Darkling covens are arguably having the same support as freeguild, but their respective threads are almost dead and there is no signs of anything changing. 

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by XReN

[flemingmma]

Freeguilds definitely are a defensive army, alot of their skills are reliant on countering charges and staying still

[Eevika]

There is 0 doubt in my mind that Freepeople will get a battletome. They in so many books already and so engrained in the lore already. Stuff like Gitmob and Greenskinz had hardly any lore. 

[mikethefish]

24 minutes ago, XReN said:

Despite disagreeing about Freeguild current old models not fitting into AoS I would agree with @mikethefish - we shouldn't really suggest them for a new player until the claimed support is proven by release of battletome, Wanderers and Darkling covens are arguably having the same support as freeguild, but their respective threads are almost dead and there is no signs of anything changing. 

 

Despite my 👂 reservations, of all the weird quasi-fringe GHB factions, I would say Free Peoples is right up there for being reasonably likely to get a Tome.  But...

We don't know if they will

If they do get a Tome, we don't know what that will look like - perhaps their whole army play style changes, or perhaps they get lumped up into some of the other factions.  Anything could happen

I don't know if would recommend Free People (or any other GHB army) for beginning players - even if they are not new to the hobby in general.  Players could be spending lots of money in things that either won't be good in the future, or would end up being phased out of the army somehow. 

Edited May 24, 2019 by mikethefish

[EchoHavoc]

4 minutes ago, mikethefish said:

Despite my 👂 reservations, of all the weird quasi-fringe GHB factions, I would say Free Peoples is right up there for being reasonably likely to get a Tome.  But...

We don't know if they will

If they do get a Tome, we don't know what that will look like - perhaps their whole army play style changes, or perhaps they get lumped up into some of the other factions.  Anything could happen

I don't know if would recommend Free People (or any other GHB army) for beginning players - even if they are not new to the hobby in general.  Players could be spending lots of money in things that either won't be good in the future, or would end up being phased out of the army somehow. 

To be honest I think I completely agree with you. My friend was actually pretty keen on free people's. However, after reading all this. 

I think Stormcast might be the safer option. 

[Eevika]

5 minutes ago, mikethefish said:

I don't know if would recommend Free People (or any other GHB army) for beginning players - even if they are not new to the hobby in general.  Players could be spending lots of money in things that either won't be good in the future, or would end up being phased out of the army somehow. 

Any army could be bad in the future its the nature of the game. You should always choose whats cool not whats good if you are not a meta gamer.

[lare2]

33 minutes ago, EchoHavoc said:

I think Stormcast might be the safer option.  

Without question 👍

Stormcast are pretty awesome mind so he really can't go wrong. 

[Bulldoze]

I’ve played stormcast defensively recently to good results.  The Celestar Ballista screened by well Placed battleline can be effective, especially when combined with Lord Ordinator / Azyros Combo.

Only issue with SC defensive is lack of bodies to hold objectives. Skinks come to mind as a good ally option for holding objectives with their star bucklers 

[mikethefish]

1 hour ago, Eevika said:

Any army could be bad in the future its the nature of the game. You should always choose whats cool not whats good if you are not a meta gamer.

I mean...ish?

Not talking about good or bad, necessarily.  But any of the GHB armies could completely change in appearances, play style, etc...  So whatever it was that attracted you to the army in the first place is not guaranteed to remain in the future.

This is maybe fine for vets who probably have other established armies to fall back on, but I am not sure I would recommend these armies to folks just getting into AoS.

Edited May 24, 2019 by mikethefish

[Eevika]

3 minutes ago, mikethefish said:

I mean...ish?

Not talking about good or bad, necessarily.  But any of the GHB armies could completely change in appearances, play style, etc...  So whatever it was that attracted you to the army in the first place is not guaranteed to remain in the future.

This is maybe fine for vets who probably have other established armies to fall back on, but I am not sure I would recommend these armies to folks just getting into AoS.

People probably recommended everyone to start with Tzeentch in first edition but that army got nerfed so hard its not seen anywhere. Thats what I mean. Also GW does not change the look and feel of old armies.

[schwabbele]

 

As a SCE main player - do not buy them until GHB 19 is out!! 

[mikethefish]

1 hour ago, Eevika said:

People probably recommended everyone to start with Tzeentch in first edition but that army got nerfed so hard its not seen anywhere. Thats what I mean. Also GW does not change the look and feel of old armies.

Greenskins was eliminated, but the Black Orks were removed and absorbed by Ironjaws.

In Warhammer Fest, they literally said that some of the older armies would be changed - moved into other battle Tomes, and so forth. 

So, they do indeed do this.

Edited May 24, 2019 by mikethefish

[Eevika]

1 minute ago, mikethefish said:

Greenskins was eliminated, but the Black Orks were removed and absorbed by Ironjaws.

In Warhammer Fest, they literally said that some of the older armies would be changed - moved into other battle Tomes, and so forth. 

So, they do indeed do this.

Black orks were made into ironjaws at release? Such things havent really happened since 

[lare2]

For defensive, Nurgle? Disgustingly Resilient is... disgusting. As a 40k player as well he could also use them there. 

[mikethefish]

19 minutes ago, Eevika said:

Black orks were made into ironjaws at release? Such things havent really happened since 

Yes but it had happened.  As I stated before - they just warned that while everything would be included in a book, some armies wmare going to be changed - split up or combined into one book.  I don't know how to make that any more clear.

[EchoHavoc]

2 hours ago, schwabbele said:

 

As a SCE main player - do not buy them until GHB 19 is out!! 

Whatever army he starts it'll be after the GHB

[Euphanism]

I've taken a fairly defensive SC list to a few tournaments and everyone saying they are hard to shift off of objectives is right; they can hold a line really well, and they have enough stopping power available through things like Ballistas and spells to make sure they aren't just a wall.

 

Nurgle (my other tournament army) can be the same way, although they have a little less burst damage than he might like. The trade off is they have several ways to heal, and a lot of their damage is 'unavoidable' (as in, no saves, just pick D4 units to take D4 wounds sort of thing). Plus, trying to plow through 30 plague bearers on an objective is difficult for even DoK blenders, especially if you buff them with additional saves on top of their first two. I usually run mostly demons, using a few key casters like Rottigus and Festus to weaken enemy lines, and summoning gives you a little flexibility for moving around the board. They don't have as many deep strike options as SC (I think it's just one, and its Gutrot+Blightkings) but once they get on an objective, they're on it the whole game usually.

[Skreech Verminking]

I’ve played a few games with skaven where I well sat with 320clanrats and a few hero’s on the objective markers.

works fantastically if your interested in moving so many models through the board😅.

So anyways is there any kind of defenders army style your friend might like.

For example does he wants to play a hordestyle army, or is he maybe more interested in a more elite style of play?

 

[Lord Veshnakar]

So in my personal opinion, playing any army defensively in Age of Sigmar is a mistake. This is a game that is all about movement and taking objectives. 

On the other hand if he is more talking about an army that can take a beating and still keep going I am going to say either Maggotkin of Nurgle, Stormcast, or Legions of Nagash. All have the durability or replenishment to accomplish what I think they might be looking for. 

Edited May 24, 2019 by Lord Veshnakar

[Bigscaryflorister]

Phoenix temple forever!

[Ironbreaker]

Dispossessed

[Skreech Verminking]

Clanrats!

[Killamike]

If his getting an army specifically for tournaments then tell him to have a look at what's been doing well. 

If u want the most defensive and one of the most offensive armies go hagg nar daughters of khaine. 

Free people's is a terrible option.  Point something at the general and watch it all come tumbling down.  And there is so many things out there that can do this.