Permanent Demo Armies - Recommendations?

[amysrevenge]

At my club, we're looking at putting together 2-4 permanent Demo armies, for introducing players to AoS.

Anyone have any tips for these armies?  What size, what roster, what battleplans, that sort of thing.  If you have a full-on army list that you think works great for demos, please post as I'd love to see it.

My initial thought is to try for 1000 points (but not get too hung up on exact matches), and to try including one Behemoth and one Wizard in each, plus maybe another hero and some units.  No battalions, or anything that isn't free in the app.  Almost certainly we'll play the demo games without GHB command traits or artefacts.

For one of the armies, Flesheater Courts screams out to me as an excellent choice - there's a nice affordable start Collecting box with a Behemoth and a Wizard in it, the wizards have nice buff spells that aren't too complicated, and it's pretty straightforward to use.

I'm thinking maybe Ironjaws for the second, for very similar reasons.

To round it out, should have Order and Chaos.  Less obvious there I think.

I'd say Stormcast, but there's no Wizards, and I'm not sure that the Stormcast dragon is right for what we want to do, and Stormcasts could easily outclass the FEC or IJ if we're not careful.  Sylvaneth maybe?  Seraphon?  Maybe Seraphon is the answer.

Similar with Chaos, Bloodbound seem the obvious choice, but there's no Wizards there either, and no obvious Behemoth.  I'm thinking maybe some Slaves to Darkness, oldschool warriors and knights and that sort of thing.  There's a nice Start Collecting for those guys too.  Chariot in place of a Behemoth.

[rokapoke]

Seraphon seems like an easy target for Order -- you get your Start Collecting box with a behemoth, and add in a Skink Starpriest for an easy-on-the-wallet wizard option. 

For demo purposes, I would even suggest trying a 500(ish) point game with maybe a hero and two units -- no wizards -- to introduce the absolute basics. I know I was brand new to miniatures games when I learned, so my Stormcast starter box was great for those purposes. Then newbies can familiarize themselves with the standard army processes before introducing complications like monsters and wizards. Just a thought.

[chord]

I think the demo armies should be low on synergies. As that can be complicated to keep track of for a beginner.  As a beginner just getting the basic phases down, etc is more important. 

[Dez]

I'm doing the same thing My one big recommendation is to base it upon a Start Collecting box so someone can pick it up and get stuck in. I wouldn't get too hung up on Behemonths/Wizards for each one.

One thing you could do is the Spire of Dawn set. That would solve your Order/Chaos right there! Perhaps even double down on it.

Bloodbound (mix of Start Collecting and Starter)

Allegiance: Chaos

Leaders
Bloodsecrator (120)
Bloodstoker (80)
Mighty Lord Of Khorne (140)
Slaughterpriest (100)
- Bloodbathed Axe

Battleline
5 x Blood Warriors (100)
- Goreaxes
10 x Blood Warriors (200)
- Goreaxes
20 x Bloodreavers (120)
- Reaver Blades
10 x Bloodreavers (60)
- Reaver Blades

Units
1 x Khorgoraths (80)

Total: 1000/2000

 

Stormcast (mix of Start Collecting and Starter)

Allegiance: Order

Leaders
Lord Relictor (80)
Lord Celestant (100)
Lord Celestant On Dracoth (220)
- Tempestos Hammer & Thundershield

Battleline
5 x Liberators (100)
- Warhammers
5 x Liberators (100)
- Warhammers

Units
5 x Paladin Retributors (220)
3 x Prosecutors with Celestial Hammers(100)
- Celestial Hammers
3 x Prosecutors with Stormcall Javelins(80)

Total: 1000/1000

 

Flesheater Courts (2 Start Collecting, with a bit of converting you could stretch 1)

Allegiance: Death

Leaders
Abhorrant Ghoul King (100)

Battleline
6 x Crypt Horrors (280)
20 x Crypt Ghouls (200)
10 x Crypt Ghouls (100)

Behemoths
Terrorgheist (320)
 

Skaven (Spire of Dawn and a Screaming Bell)

Allegiance: Chaos

Leaders
Packmaster (60)
- Herding Whip & Blade
Skaven Warlord (100)
- Warpforged Blade
Warlock Engineer (100)
Screaming Bell (260)

Battleline
20 x Clanrats (120)
- Rusty Spear
20 x Clanrats (120)
- Rusty Blade

Units
1 x Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team (60)
1 x Poisoned Wind Mortar Weapon Team(60)
2 x Rat Ogors (120)

Total: 1000/2000

Elves (Spire of Dawn and 5 more Reavers)

Allegiance: Order

Leaders
High Warden (220)
Archmage (120)

Battleline
10 x Spireguard (120)
5 x Reavers (160)
10 x Swordmasters (200)
5 x Reavers (160)

Total: 980/2000

Ironjawz (Start Collecting and Mawkrusha, overpriced...right now :))

Allegiance: Destruction

Leaders
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (520)
- Boss Gore Hacka & Scrap Tooth

Battleline
10 x Orruk Ardboys (180)
5 x Orruk Brutes (180)
- Pair of Brute Choppas
3 x Orruk Gore Gruntas (180)
- Pig Iron Choppas

Total: 1060/2000

[amysrevenge]

Yeah that Bloodbound is exactly what I feared - toooooo big.  The others all look pretty nice.

 

For Chaos, thinking something like this, based around the Start Collecting box, with some additions:

Allegiance: Chaos
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (140)
- Runestaff
Slambo (80)
- General
10 x Chaos Warriors (180)
- Hand Weapon & Shield
5 x Chaos Knights (200)
- Ensorcelled Weapons
5 x Chaos Knights (200)
- Chaos Glaives
1 x Chaos Gorebeast Chariots (100)
- Mark of Chaos: None
1 x Chaos Gorebeast Chariots (100)
- Mark of Chaos: None
Total: 1000

[Mossback]

I would recommend a Sylvaneth force as one of your choices. The models are extremely popular, easy to paint, and have a fantasy lore well established in the books. The Start Collecting box gives you a bunch of Dryads, the Branchwych as a Wizard, and the option of making a Treelord, Treelord Ancient, or Son of Durthu. That's the kit that got me into AoS, and it wasn't long before I was back at the store picking up the Battletome, the Fiction book and more models.

If you are going to do a second Order army, then the Stormcasts would be a good choice. All the latest rules, new models popping up all the time, and a gateway force from someone maybe coming over from 40k. I'm not really into them, but with the new Gryph-hounds, Dracoths and Vanguard models, they are more appealing now.

[Galas]

We have 1k points forces for our Demo armys that can be easy divided in 500 points forces. We then to run the demo games in two phases. One at 500 points to grasp the basics and other (Or more) at 1000 points to learn to use all unit tipes: Artillery, meele, shooting, Monsters for the monster table, a Wizard/Priest/etc...

This for example its our Destruction Demo Army. Maybe its not the cheapest to build, but we build those with the monthly fees and miniatures donated by our members.

Allegiance: Greenskinz

Leaders
Orruk Warboss (140)
- General
Orruk Great Shaman (140)
- General

Battleline
5 x Orruk Boarboys (100)
10 x Orruks (100)
10 x Orruks ardboys (180)
1 x Orruk Boar Chariot (80)

Behemots
1 x Aleguzzler Gargant (180)

War machines
1 x Grot Rock Lobber (100)

[amysrevenge]

15 minutes ago, Galas said:

We have 1k points forces for our Demo armys that can be easy divided in 500 points forces.

OK this is a good idea.  LOVE IT

[Tuluth]

Having been on the side of the new player with AoS, and the instrument or teacher in teaching new players, I'd suggest a two step approach:

Step 1: Approximately 500-700 point force, no traits, no synergies if possible, with 1 wizard, 1 other hero, 1 ranged unit, 1 melee unit. Just so that the new players can get a hang of each phase, charging, and the things that can happen at the basic level. Have the armies just kill each other. Your goal here should be to get them interested, but not overwhelmed. I believe Seraphon are good for Order, as stated by other posters. Bonesplitterz are good for Destruction, with the idea of meeting those unit types and single force armies. 

Step 2: Larger force. Aim for 1000 points, include some synergies, utilize the Start Collecting! boxes and expand to hit that 1000 point mark. Introduce battle plans here, so your new players have to start thinking about strategies, and what else they may need to do. I'd say utilize a mix of Narrative and Matched Play battle plans for this, preferably from the General's Handbook. My suggestion would be to use 'Border War' and 'Three Places of Power' for the matched play plans, and whatever semi-balanced Narrative plan you like (War of Storms looks good), or what your space can supply.

[Lucio]

Personally, for a starter set, the Storm of Sigmar is the way forward as ideally you want to be able to teach a newcomer the game quickly.

In terms of 1000 point forces, my thoughts are to keep the costs to a minimum, so you should build around the Start Collecting sets or similar.

For example, my Chaos starting set would be the following, based around a Starter Set, a box of Acoyltes and a Gaunt Summoner, something a beginner can put together for £95. Yes it's not mega optimised but a starter army shouldn't be.

Allegiance: Tzeentch
Leaders
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (140)
Gaunt Summoner (100)

Units
10 x Chaos Warriors (180) - Hand Weapon & Shield - Mark of Chaos : Tzeentch
5 x Chaos Knights (200) - Chaos Glaives - Mark of Chaos : Tzeentch
1 x Chaos Gorebeast Chariots (100) - Mark of Chaos : Tzeentch
20 x Kairic Acolytes (280)

[Wraith01]

My first set was the Storm of Sigmar box. You start out with only 4 figures a clear objective and it comes with some nice card stock Warscrolls (better than the new ones because they are horizontal and have different art on the back of each one). Then it gives you a few more models and a different mission. It's a perfect introduction to the game and I almost immediately went out and got the Starter Set after playing the 4 scenarios. I've since used Storm of Sigmar's Battleplans to demo the game to others but I'd stick to the Age of Sigmar starter set. If people want to continue afterwards they should feel comfortable playing with just the contents of a Start Collecting box as they continue their dive into the hobby. 

[Uveron]

18 hours ago, chord said:

I think the demo armies should be low on synergies. As that can be complicated to keep track of for a beginner.  As a beginner just getting the basic phases down, etc is more important. 

My Two Cents, is tha if you are building 4 armys, then two should have synergies. So you have a pair of 'New to wargameing' and a pair of 'New to AOS'.  

The way Synergies Build in AOS is a good feature to show off, if you want to try and demonstrate that the game is more tactical than the '4 pages' of rules would let on.  

[chord]

1 hour ago, Uveron said:

My Two Cents, is tha if you are building 4 armys, then two should have synergies. So you have a pair of 'New to wargameing' and a pair of 'New to AOS'.  

The way Synergies Build in AOS is a good feature to show off, if you want to try and demonstrate that the game is more tactical than the '4 pages' of rules would let on.  

Good point, I totally agree

[amysrevenge]

I think the main target for our demos will be people who play other games, not necessarily complete neophytes.  But it's still a factor to consider - thanks!