One large army or multiple small?

[Aeryenn]

So, how is it with you? Do you plan to stick with one competetive 2000 points army or you'd rather picked AoS because you want to have few small armies?
 With me it's simple as I don't have anybody to play with now, so there is no need for me to buy optimized army that will win every battle for me. I'm here for painting and lore of AoS. It doesn't mean that I will never buy anything except for boxed games and Start Collecting! boxes. I'm looking forward to buy some miniatures that really catch the eye, like Celestant Prime or Durthu and Alarielle for Sylvaneth. However if GW releases something similar to Betreyal at Calth just in AoS i will most likely reach for that. I don't even care about the factions inside as long as those are not copies of those I already own.

[Lissë-Prime]

I only play miniature game for fun. So I compose my army base on what looks great and not pay attention so much about competitiveness.

I like big army so I try to collect a lot of models. For example, I have 4 Knight-Vexillors, which I think I will use only one in combat. The rest are for pure aesthetic because it does looks great when you have 4 standard bearers in your Stormcast army.

[Vasshpit]

I have a group that does game nights. Various games. They like AoS and would play but not all that interested in building an army thing.

So I'm building four 500 point armies to play with.

I'll get em hooked!

[Wraith01]

Right now I only have the starter set and Storm of Sigmar set, so I have 2 small armies.

I'm looking to expand them both; Get a box of Judicators and Retributors for my Stormcast Eternals and the start collecting: Slaves to darkness and Demons of Khorne for my Bloodbound. The Gorechosen board game and WarHammer Quest: Silver Tower games are on my wishlist for Christmas. So I plan on buying more but I don't think I'll make it to 2000 points. 

I'm also liking the look of the Death faction and plan on getting the 3 start collecting boxes for that faction.

[Spiky Norman]

I'm aiming for building a 2000pts Nurgle Daemons army for AoS, that can supplement my Tzeentch Daemons for 40k. After that I'm looking to try my hands on smaller 1000pts armies - Deathrattle and Grots respectively.

I generally prefer to go for smaller army projects, because there are so many ideas and but limited time and money. So a small army is something that I can realistically finish before the next crazy idea takes hold :-)

[wayniac]

Thanks to the General's Handbook and Matched Play now the default standard, my plan moving forward is to build a "solid" 2000 point army, and then start something else that is different.  Just being super indecisive, I have no idea what that second army will be right now; it also depends if I choose to pick up 40k again, since it's undeniably more popular, but AOS seems and feels like it's a more solid ("better" is a little tough to use) game.

[KhaosZand3r]

You could say I have big armies. ~10000 points in Chaos (mostly daemons but some Mortals), my wife's 2500 points in Duardin, and the 2800 points of Seraphon I bought off my friend that switched to Warmachine. I have so much in Chaos because I like having the options available to me, and I like the models (though a number of them are Reaper alternatives to save some money).

[Orruk'sPizza]

We play Path to glory at 500 p. (Start) . I paint 3 of the 4 armies in the Group. Its very funny have several little painting project. 

In this mode you have more chance to find player for your Group . People who love boardgame love this mode even if they dont Like painting

 

[Sleboda]

2 hours ago, Lissë-Prime said:

I only play miniature game for fun.

Don't we all?

[Bjarni St.]

I like to "collect" my armies. I might start out with a 2k-ish plan but after that I'll keep expanding it with everything that I like from the army, to give me more list options and because I love getting new, ever-fancier models.

[Wraith01]

I might make it to 2000 points if I put together an Everchosen army that I can split into 4 smaller armies for Khorne, Tzeench, Nurgle and Slaves to Darkness since there isn't much Slanesh stuff to buy. 

[ElectricPaladin]

My history is that I started with Lizardmen at the close of 8th Edition and had always planned to branch out into Vampire Counts, though I never actually played any games with them. When Age of Sigmar began, my collection of undead was limited to a zombie dragon in a box, a Dark Elf dragon that I'd zombified (and vampire rider I'd gotten off eBay), and a pile of zombies and skeletons.

Fast forward to the present. I've gotten in a couple of games with Seraphon, but they've never really caught fire. Then I find out that the Flesh Eaters have gotten a Battletome all their own, which intrigues me, because I've got this unbuilt zombie dragon kit, and I always thought the terrorgheist looked way cool. So I build up the terrorgheist trade in my random zombies and skeletons for some ghouls, and get in some games... and I love it. Suddenly, the Flesh Eaters are my main faction.

But I've got all these other undead models! And I really like painting ghosts. And the hobby wobble sets in...

So now I'm pretty much a collector and player of the entire Death Grand Alliance. I suspect that my focus will remain on the Flesh Eaters, but my collection is gradually expanding to include Deathrattle, Malignants, and some necromancers. I doubt I'll ever branch out into Deadwalkers, because I'm bored to tears of zombies, and Soulblight... we'll see. I've got some dragon princes I converted into blood knights, but the line is going to get a serious revamp and I don't want to dip any deeper until I know what it's going to look like.

The thing about Grand Alliances that I really like is that the factions are generally viable on their own or as part of an Alliance. So while my Flesh Eaters will remain the core of my collection, I will be playing an army composed of a necromancer, her buddy the wight king, and a bunch of skeletons, or some skeletons backed up by some ghosts, or whatever. I also plan to use the summoning rules to bring all sorts of ghoulish things to the table - remember, a ghoul king isn't just a BAMF, he's a wizard as well!

So I suppose the answer to your question is "both."

 

[Undead4Life]

Like in 40k, I've got the one "main" army that I want to have all the options for, but knowing that for whatever reason I'll want a change, I plan out and build "standard" sized lists of different factions.

In 40k my first and strongest allegiance is with the Imperial Guard, but I used to have Orks and now have an 1850 Tau army plus whatever random creations make it into my Inquisition stable.

For AoS my main squeeze is GA Death, but I'm currently working on a 2000pt Ogor force that's as much about the "hobby" side as it is for a different play style.

I think the next force I work on won't be quite so large, perhaps only 1000 points.

[wayniac]

Honestly, I don't think it's worth it in AOS especially with the Grand Alliances to focus on any one force.  Seems like it's more tempting to build like 2 or even 3 forces that gel well together (e.g. Nurgle Rotbringers + Nurgle Daemons + Clan Pestilens) and build like 1500-2000 of each so when combined you have a very thematic and fitting grand army, but you can split them up as well and each is a self-contained force.

[MOMUS]

Great topic.

I think with AoS GW overhauled the rules development and design side of the game (and more) but I think also they want to overhaul the way the game is consumed by us, the end user.

AoS lends itself well to small niche forces which gain a lot of bonus within the game for staying a small niche army. This encourages you to complete and move on swiftly to the next project as in previous editions you tended to stagnate as a customer waiting for the next army book update to validate your huge collection.

 

[Nixon]

I don't really plan beyond 1000 points. It will take roughly 3 months to finish an army of that size, and a new ideer will probably start to take hold. 

If I decide to participate in tournaments, I will probably bring my army up to the 2000 point limit. 

[ElectricPaladin]

37 minutes ago, MOMUS said:

Great topic.

I think with AoS GW overhauled the rules development and design side of the game (and more) but I think also they want to overhaul the way the game is consumed by us, the end user.

AoS lends itself well to small niche forces which gain a lot of bonus within the game for staying a small niche army. This encourages you to complete and move on swiftly to the next project as in previous editions you tended to stagnate as a customer waiting for the next army book update to validate your huge collection.

 

That's a real good point. I think part of why my hobby started to wobble was the realization that I'd kind of run up against everything I could do with Flesh Eaters, at least in terms of purchases. Of course, I will definitely continue to add more ghouls so I can play bigger games, and maybe a second wingbeast kit so I can have a ghoul king on a zombie dragon, but once you've got your basics, you're set. You can go deeper, or branch out into stuff that's still technically compatible, even though it will likely tempt you into fielding it all on its own, eventually.

[Gorsk]

Initially I was drawn into the game because of the greenskins back in Warhammer online.  This has translated into my goal of having an Ironjaws and Moonclan army.  I am building an Ironjaws army with all those wonderful models while I wait for the grot models to get updated as well.  I am already up to 1000 points of Ironjaws and I don't even have Gordrakk yet.

Now I am contemplating a khorne mortal and demon army.  However this would be a side project and largely dependent on whether or not I can find someone to split the AoS starter box!

[Vasshpit]

1 hour ago, Gorsk said:

Now I am contemplating a khorne mortal and demon army.  However this would be a side project and largely dependent on whether or not I can find someone to split the AoS starter box!

http://www.tga.community/forums/topic/3237-khorne-bloodbound-new-on-sprues-starter-set-complete/

Not a bad deal.

[Lissë-Prime]

On 28/09/2016 at 11:42 PM, Sleboda said:

Don't we all?

Sadly, no. In particular most of my friends who currently moved to WM/H or Malifaux (due to AoS "Imbalance" and else). All they discussed are "competitive this" and "competitive that" and how to beat your opponent effectively in tournament and how to beat certain meta and so on. Almost no fluff, background or story is discussed. The models for them means only statline and how they gain advantage in combat, not how Stardrake have impressive look or how legendary that Grombrindal is. Being in a chat room with them feels like in a physics or math classroom or something with gives me headache.

So if I mean I play for "fun" I actually mean it. I like to imagine epic story happen on the battlefield when playing each match and discuss them among opponents about those epic charges and saves, as if we've just watch a good show, even though I was totally beaten it is fine (or better if I win but I don't care much).

Sorry for the rage but it feel lonely and frustrating sometimes when finding a friend to just play game for fun is more difficult than entering a tournament match.

Back to the topic I feel the same with OP said. If they do look good, collect them. For when you paint, you paint your model, not your model's ability.

[wayniac]

14 minutes ago, Lissë-Prime said:

So if I mean I play for "fun" I actually mean it. I like to imagine epic story happen on the battlefield when playing each match and discuss them among opponents about those epic charges and saves, as if we've just watch a good show, even though I was totally beaten it is fine (or better if I win but I don't care much).

Sorry for the rage but it feel lonely and frustrating sometimes when finding a friend to just play game for fun is more difficult than entering a tournament match

I hear you.  My area is almost entirely people like this (and I do play WM/H for precisely that reason; because that is a more competitive-focused game).  Grombrindal, for example, might as well not exist because he has no points so nobody will let you use him ever; luckily I don't think anyone has bought him, but there's literally no reason to unless you want to have him on a shelf (or I guess you play Silver Tower), which I can just see someone e saying I bought this cool model, what do you mean I can't use him? All those Battleplans in the different books?  They're not balanced and aren't Pitched Battle scenarios, so nobody will use it.  Those battalions that might be neat but don't have points?  Nope, can't use them.  

[Sleboda]

I think my point was that we are all in it for fun as a given.  Nobody is playing games because they hate it, because they are required to do so, or whatever. 

 

I think "for fun" all too often is used in replacement of "without caring if I win or lose." It is fine if that's what people mean by "for fun' but then that's what they should say.  

Words, and what they imply, matter. By using "for fun" as a delineation, the implication is that there are those gaming not for fun - those who really just get their enjoyment from a different (not better or worse) aspect of the over all hobby experience than you do. 

 

Nothing personal.  Just pointing out a thing I think is worth keeping in mind. 

[Aeryenn]

1 hour ago, Sleboda said:

I think "for fun" all too often is used in replacement of "without caring if I win or lose." It is fine if that's what people mean by "for fun' but then that's what they should say. 

Words, and what they imply, matter. By using "for fun" as a delineation, the implication is that there are those gaming not for fun - those who really just get their enjoyment from a different (not better or worse) aspect of the over all hobby experience than you do. 

 

Nothing personal.  Just pointing out a thing I think is worth keeping in mind. 

I've been playing Warhammer 40k: Conquest Living Card Game at tournaments. I remember when first got to my local gaming club just to see how it is. What people go there, how they talk, how they behave, what's the atmosphere. It was pretty weird though, but it had something special that made me feel like I'm with homies. Quick chat with a store owner and he pulled me into my first ever tournament that was about to happen in a week or so. I arrived earlier to have some relaxing games before the big game and to make some friends. Only two people were present at the club aside from shop owner. So ok, there he was, the perfect nerd. Thick, long beard, eye-glasses (I'm wearing those myself) and a checked shirt. Just the stereotype board game player. I introduced myself, asked about the game, if he ever joined tournaments before, that kind of stuff.

-It's 30min till the tourney starts. How about we play for fun just now?

- No. Thx.

We just sit in close proximity. Doing nothing. He was shuffling his deck and staring at the table.

Soon more people came. I started to feel as an outsider. Nobody wanted to join me at the table. People who knew eachother just talked to eachother. I could just smile and hear to their talks.

Soon the game started. First pairs where shown at the display. Guess who was my opponent.

So I met him at his table. We pulled our decks, shuffled them, drew first hands. I had a really bad hand. You start the game with a limited token resources that at the current state all decks were set to 7. I drew two units at a cost of 4 and other cards that are not useful at your first move. Every player is allowed to change his first hand and draw another. So i just did. He asked me to shuffle all the cards again because he was not paying attention when I did this. And then he asked to "slice" my deck to be sure if I randomized it correctly. I drew the only three copies of the only 4 cost card in my deck of total 50 cards. It was just a really rare occurrence to happen and I openly told him about it. I asked if he will let me to shuffle my deck once more as this is some really bad hand to start a game with. (I don't want to get strongly into rules to explain them to you, but trust me the dream opening hand is when you have low cost units like 0-1 cost. Which he had). He said excatly that: the rules allow you to have only one hand exchange.

I don't need to tell you how the game ended. And what great fun I was having. The funny thing was that one player who had no pair joined us at the table just to watch as he had nothing better to do. At a moment he looked at my opponent and said: stop, you are not allowed to play this card this way. Then we all read the text on the card carefully. It came to me that he played the very same card this way the previous turn. "It had no impact on the game." - said the Almighty Rule Guardian aka ******.

You know, my adventure with tourneys didn't end just then. It took me some meetings to realize I don't want to have anything in common with those particular people. I had some wins, had some losses at my games. Yeah, of course I also meet a kid who lost his game to me because he was just plain honest and told me that he is sorry and realized his last act was not allowed by the rules and needs to take the card back. I meet I nice chick with whom I felt as an old-time buddy and each turn with her was a pleasure. We joked a lot, we smiled a lot, we spoke a lot. She was so unfitting with all those other people.

And I also meet some more victory oriented bots that I hope never to meet again.

And thats the story about playing for wins and playing for fun. I wonder if the guy I gave most space in this post had fun beating me knowing that I really had just a bad draw and he had a perfect one. Did this easy win gave him any pleasure? Well he certainly ruined my game.

Even if I lived back in a big town with lots of gaming clubs, now that I'm collecting AoS I think I wouldn't go to any of those. Just in case I meet other "pro" players that miss the whole point of playing games for fun.

[Veterannoob]

many small-not-small armies  

[Lissë-Prime]

12 hours ago, Sleboda said:

I think my point was that we are all in it for fun as a given.  Nobody is playing games because they hate it, because they are required to do so, or whatever. 

I think "for fun" all too often is used in replacement of "without caring if I win or lose." It is fine if that's what people mean by "for fun' but then that's what they should say.  

Words, and what they imply, matter. By using "for fun" as a delineation, the implication is that there are those gaming not for fun - those who really just get their enjoyment from a different (not better or worse) aspect of the over all hobby experience than you do. 

Nothing personal.  Just pointing out a thing I think is worth keeping in mind. 

Well, I do care if I win or lose. Every sport has winner and loser. I think no one ever will want to lose.

Someone may enjoy playing miniature games with only stats and strategies and that's fine. But if you are the only one who enjoying fluffs among those people, that's annoying (and vice versa, of course. If you want to be competitive and all your friends just doesn't care about strategies maybe you feel the same). There must be balance in somewhere where people having fun while play seriously. Unfortunately, you know ... Asian.

10 hours ago, Aryann said:

And thats the story about playing for wins and playing for fun. I wonder if the guy I gave most space in this post had fun beating me knowing that I really had just a bad draw and he had a perfect one. Did this easy win gave him any pleasure? Well he certainly ruined my game.

Even if I lived back in a big town with lots of gaming clubs, now that I'm collecting AoS I think I wouldn't go to any of those. Just in case I meet other "pro" players that miss the whole point of playing games for fun.

That's impressive story. I joined the world of miniature game like this after many years of just observing they played and it's more fun, more exciting, more story to tell, than being outside watching.