Help Picking a Faction?

[Kindred Fear]

Hello, all. I've been interested in getting back in Age of Sigmar. I played a few games when it first launched and enjoyed it, but overall didn't have much time for gaming. I have more free time and more income now and would like to hop back into the game. However, I'm a bit overwhelmed with army choices. I'd greatly appreciate it if you all could point me in the direction of a particular playstyle. I'm looking for a faction that:

-Is melee focused
-Has a way to engage the enemy (speed, deep strike, etc.)
-Hits hard
-Doesn't crumble when attacked back

As examples I enjoy playing my Bloody Rose Adepta Sororitas in 40k, a warrior in World of Warcraft (any spec), champions like Vi or Xin in League, etc.

I've been looking through 1d4chan (and still am), but I could really use the assistance outside of that site. I assume multiple armies can pull this playstyle off, but thank you all for reading and helping me narrow down my choices.

-KindredFear

[Dankboss]

13 minutes ago, Kindred Fear said:

Hello, all. I've been interested in getting back in Age of Sigmar. I played a few games when it first launched and enjoyed it, but overall didn't have much time for gaming. I have more free time and more income now and would like to hop back into the game. However, I'm a bit overwhelmed with army choices. I'd greatly appreciate it if you all could point me in the direction of a particular playstyle. I'm looking for a faction that:

-Is melee focused
-Has a way to engage the enemy (speed, deep strike, etc.)
-Hits hard
-Doesn't crumble when attacked back

As examples I enjoy playing my Bloody Rose Adepta Sororitas in 40k, a warrior in World of Warcraft (any spec), champions like Vi or Xin in League, etc.

I've been looking through 1d4chan (and still am), but I could really use the assistance outside of that site. I assume multiple armies can pull this playstyle off, but thank you all for reading and helping me narrow down my choices.

-KindredFear

My brother has been using an all mounted Slaves to Darkness army against me and it's pretty decent, and is reasonably survivable.

Most armies are melee orientated and have at least a few ways of closing the distance. I would avoid Kharadron Overlords, Tzeentch, Slaanesh and maybe Skaven, as they tend to be shooting/ magic orientated, or otherwise lack durability. Seraphon are borderline a shooting/magic army, but are tough enough and fast enough to play melee too.  Other than those (which could still work for you) there's a massive range of armies that can fulfill the requirements you're looking for, in one way or another.

To narrow it down farther, it depends on how you want to engage the enemy; either through movement, teleporting or reserves.
Ironjaws are a good example of an army that reaches their target primarily through movement; the same with Ogre Mawtribes, Blades of Khorne and Daughters of Khaine.

Others like Stormcast, Beasts of Chaos and Sylvaneth use reserves and teleports to engage, while others like Nighthaunt and Cities of Sigmar are hybrids of different movement options. Most armies will have a viable delivery method.

[Kindred Fear]

Thanks, Dankboss. That narrows it down quite a bit.

I'll look at Ironjawz, Ogors, Slaves to Darkness, Daughters of Khaine and Khorne a bit more closely! Cheers!

 

-KindredFear

Edited June 21, 2020 by Kindred Fear

[Oak7603]

1 hour ago, Kindred Fear said:

Thanks, Dankboss. That narrows it down quite a bit.

I'll look at Ironjawz, Ogors, Slaves to Darkness, Daughters of Khaine and Khorne Beasts of Chaos or Nighthaunt a bit more closely! Cheers!

 

-KindredFear

You made a mistake with your post. I've edited it for you 😁

All joking aside, @Dankboss is right. I would add that on top of this, there will be certain models, units, powers or abilities that will allow an army to play in almost anyway you want. So even if you look into a particular one, it may be that the same army made up of two different sets of units, acts and plays completely different.

Whoever you decide on from the two you're looking into... welcome to the forum!

 

[Kindred Fear]

Thanks @Oak7603!

That makes me feel a bit better about just going with a choice and not worrying overly much about whether I'll regret it!

I'm glad to be here and be starting up the hobby again.

-KindredFear

[Gorthor21]

There are a lot of factions that fit those guidelines but Stormcasts really tic all the boxes.

their shooting is really Strong with with judicators and the ballista but the melee output of nearly all their units is as good or better than most other armies.  Plus one of thier battle traits is an inbuilt deep strike that functions better than either beasts or nighthaunts.

[Dankboss]

10 hours ago, Kindred Fear said:

Thanks @Oak7603!

That makes me feel a bit better about just going with a choice and not worrying overly much about whether I'll regret it!

I'm glad to be here and be starting up the hobby again.

-KindredFear

Age of Sigmar has a better internal balance than say 40k imo, and for the most part, armies are in reach of each other unless you're facing a skew list of the top ultra competitive units, such as certain Tzeentch builds atm (although it's battletome is in its raw, un-altered state pre-general's handbook). Unless you're going for a wacky fun army of Snotling Pumpwagons, you ought to do just fine no matter what you choose, in a friendly to semi-competitive environment. And even then, the AoS competitive scene still sees Troggherds finding a little success and other armies most would overlook. AoS has a lot of innovation, so you can certainly develop the next effective build yourself.

I always aim for semi-competitive, an army that won't be a pushover but also fun for both sides.

[Ganigumo]

In my opinion picking an army that you like from a lore/model perspective is pretty important, as well as a playstyle one.

That said I'll throw out a recommendation for Beastclaw raiders specifically (as part of the Ogor Mawtribe battletome). Stonehorns might get hit with a bit of a nerf, but the Frostlord on Stonehorn is an absolute unit, and BCR are quite fast in general, since they benefit from the "hungry" rule giving them a bit more move than is on the warscroll. You also get a bit of deepstriking if you want to run a frostbrow hunter with some cats. BCR are pretty weak as far as magic goes, but you can fit a slaughtermaster into a BCR list pretty easily.

Additionally at the moment you can build a pretty good 2k point army out of 3 Start Collecting: Beastclaw Raiders. This list is pretty easy to build out of as well, opinions on mournfang vary, but since you have an extra battleline, and the battalion only requires 2 units you could cut a unit, drop a unit to 2, etc. A slaughtermaster costs the same as 2 mournfang as well so that becomes an easy upgrade.

Allegiance: Ogor Mawtribes
- Mawtribe: Boulderhead
Mortal Realm: Shyish

Leaders
Frostlord on Stonehorn (400)
- General
- Command Trait: Lord of Beasts
- Artefact: Ethereal Amulet
- Mount Trait: Metalcruncher
Huskard on Stonehorn (320)
- Blood Vulture
- Artefact: Brand of the Svard
- Mount Trait: Black Clatterhorn

Battleline
4 x Mournfang Pack (280)
- Culling Clubs or Prey Hackers with Iron Fists
4 x Mournfang Pack (280)
- Culling Clubs or Prey Hackers with Iron Fists
4 x Mournfang Pack (280)
- Gargant Hackers
Stonehorn Beastriders (300)

Battalions
Eurlbad (140)

Total: 2000 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 1
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 109
 

[Kindred Fear]

Thank you all for the help! I've narrowed it down to either Fyreslayers or Nighthaunt based on Lore/Aesthetic/Playstyle. Just looking into them both a bit more before I make my leap into the game and grab some models! Looking forward to being able to get some hobby time in with one or the other in the near future!

-KindredFear