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I'm sure the regulars are tired of hearing my say it but: Go to Mantic Games and get your first set of vamps there.
Get a bunch of ghouls, then use them as proxy for Skellies and see which you like better. The reason I suggest ghouls is most people seem to end up taking them. 2nd on your list should be Grave Guard and vampires.
After that start to proxy. Most opponents shouldn't mind. That way you see what you like and what you don't. Then when you find something that works for you see if Mantic has it, if not then check GW.
Get a bunch of ghouls, then use them as proxy for Skellies and see which you like better. The reason I suggest ghouls is most people seem to end up taking them. 2nd on your list should be Grave Guard and vampires.
After that start to proxy. Most opponents shouldn't mind. That way you see what you like and what you don't. Then when you find something that works for you see if Mantic has it, if not then check GW.
Get the battalion, as it has a nice built in saving.
If you assemble the skellies with spears, you will need to field them in at least 3 ranks for spears to work (as spears allow for an additional rank to make supporting attacks)
If you assemble them with hand weapons and shields, you can field em in whatever size units you feel like.
Only go for mantic if 1# you like the mantic models more and 2# you dont want to play in tournaments. In the end, games workshop stuff is not as overly expensive as people whine about it being. I am doing fine collecting with no job to speak of, so someone with an actual income shouldn't really complain.
Ghouls are a strong choice, but zombies are best left out of your army list. Instead use the zombies as raising fodder for when you roll raise dead for your vampires.
After buying the battalion, you will need at least one vampire.
If you assemble the skellies with spears, you will need to field them in at least 3 ranks for spears to work (as spears allow for an additional rank to make supporting attacks)
If you assemble them with hand weapons and shields, you can field em in whatever size units you feel like.
Only go for mantic if 1# you like the mantic models more and 2# you dont want to play in tournaments. In the end, games workshop stuff is not as overly expensive as people whine about it being. I am doing fine collecting with no job to speak of, so someone with an actual income shouldn't really complain.
Ghouls are a strong choice, but zombies are best left out of your army list. Instead use the zombies as raising fodder for when you roll raise dead for your vampires.
After buying the battalion, you will need at least one vampire.
Check what your local tournaments allow before you write off alternative manufacturers. Apart from GW tourneys (which are rare where I am), most will allow you to take alternative minis.
IMO you need to figure out what you want in an army, and then build it from there.
I have never and probably will never buy a battallion. Im not sure they are worth it for what you get/will use.
I have never and probably will never buy a battallion. Im not sure they are worth it for what you get/will use.
I am a big fan of Mantic, they to me represent a flexible option in Warhammer that just wasnt available a couple of years ago, the mass plastic rank and file which are more affordable and decent quality. Dont get me wrong the GW stuff is really nice, however I think their pricing policy has been getting out of hand for some years and is now at a point where it is becoming a barrier for new entrants.
I would suggest Mantic as your core rank and file in most cases unless the following is true:
- You only game in a GW store. They are quite likely to ask you not to use them again, unless the store managers policy is more relaxed than their corporate one.
- You want to exclusively game in GW only Tournaments. Trust me when I say that this is actually difficult to do, unless you only want to attend the GT tournaments I can think of very few which will not allow you to play with Non GW products.
- You hate the models. No one should force you into buying into something which you feel is inferior. If you like GW and can afford it then buy it.
Personally there are only a few units which I will get from GW, Black Coach being one of them as its the only decent coach of its scale on the market. For everything else I will use the freedom of running a gaming club to allow me to buy the models that I want to own, rather than those which will allow me to play in the GW stores and Tournaments (been playing 40K tournaments for about 3 years, I have yet to go to the GT. I dont imagine my fantasy gaming will be any different)
I would suggest Mantic as your core rank and file in most cases unless the following is true:
- You only game in a GW store. They are quite likely to ask you not to use them again, unless the store managers policy is more relaxed than their corporate one.
- You want to exclusively game in GW only Tournaments. Trust me when I say that this is actually difficult to do, unless you only want to attend the GT tournaments I can think of very few which will not allow you to play with Non GW products.
- You hate the models. No one should force you into buying into something which you feel is inferior. If you like GW and can afford it then buy it.
Personally there are only a few units which I will get from GW, Black Coach being one of them as its the only decent coach of its scale on the market. For everything else I will use the freedom of running a gaming club to allow me to buy the models that I want to own, rather than those which will allow me to play in the GW stores and Tournaments (been playing 40K tournaments for about 3 years, I have yet to go to the GT. I dont imagine my fantasy gaming will be any different)
Sanai said:
I just thought I would point out that:
20 Zombies from GW = $42 Canadian
60 Zombies from Matnic = $50 Canadian (rounded up actually a little less).
10 Skeletons from GW = $29.75 Canadian
60 Skeletons from Matnic is $50 Canadian (rounded up again...)
Don't get me wrong, I like the GW models, in fact I head swaped a lot of the mantic heads out for GW heads, ditto spears and weapons (the GW spears look much cooler, and I don't particulary like the angry skull look on Mantic). GW models are very nice and more realistic looking. Saying they are not significantly more expensive however is just wrong. 3 to 6 times more expensive is significant by any measure.
If you go price per mini you are less than a buck a mini for Mantic, and 2-3 bucks per model for GW ...
All that being said, they both have nice minies, the battalion is not a bad start for an army (although the GW Zombies are weak and really should have been redone for the current vampire book).
Krys
They are significanlty more expensive, but they arent wallet breakingly expensive.
C'thulhlu, zombies suck so badly. Dont waste points on them. Nowadays people only use them for the raise dead spell (raising them instead of putting them in the army list)
C'thulhlu, zombies suck so badly. Dont waste points on them. Nowadays people only use them for the raise dead spell (raising them instead of putting them in the army list)
I should have specified. That's what I want zombies for. I've been talking around and people tell me that it allows for flanking and the like. I looked at the Matnic site. Thanks for turning me on to that. I checked at my LGS and teh guy whoy runs the fantasy Fridays said they'd be fine
C said:
Welcome to the world of choice, my advice is to have a look around on the internet for some "different" models.
Check out "Reaper minatures", "Gamezone" and "Avatars of War". Some are more expensive, some are cheaper however without having to stick to GW only product you can get the army you want rather than what is available to you.
Enjoy!
Yanda
Black Knight
Few people dont realize this when the start the hobby but you can get used models for cheap on ebay/kijiji. You can find some stuff up to 50% off and after a few weeks of searching and hunting for deals there is no way that you wont have accumilated a nice sized army for a fraction of the price.
If you plan on being in tournaments down the road dont invest in anything but GW models bc only those will be accepted at offical GW tournaments.
If you plan on being in tournaments down the road dont invest in anything but GW models bc only those will be accepted at offical GW tournaments.
Just going to chime in and say: DON'T BUY THE BATTALION
Go to GC-Minis or some other online retailer, and buy the models you want. The battalion comes with zombies and a corpse cart. Neither of which are particularly great.
Go to GC-Minis or some other online retailer, and buy the models you want. The battalion comes with zombies and a corpse cart. Neither of which are particularly great.
Wargamer
Ghoul
Krysdagger said:
I'd disagree. The difference between Heroic Scale and Realistic Scale (no offense intended) is key, Warhammer uses the former, Mantic the latter. Heroic Scales uses disproportionately bigger hands, feet, and heads to make them stand out as a small miniature to your eyes, but yields a Cartoony non-realistic look. Realistic Scale, as the name implies, uses correctly proportionate hands, feet, and heads for a realistic look. Look at a previously posted picture:
The 3rd is the Mantic mini, compare the models' hands, feet, and heads.
@ Wargamer: It IS possible to combine mantic and GW without many problems, I for one use GW skeletons and mantic ghouls and the force looks completely coherent. Some people do even mix both together like having a combined unit of mantic and GW skeletons and they feel that's fine. Ask DoN, I think he is one of the people who do this.
On the cartoony thing, I'd disagree as mantic is the one that has grinning skeletons. Honestly, a grinning skull... ?!
In the end it all comes down to personal preference. If you like mantic that's fine, if you don't I would not spend money on them, even if they are so much cheaper. You should like the army and the models you play.
On the cartoony thing, I'd disagree as mantic is the one that has grinning skeletons. Honestly, a grinning skull... ?!
In the end it all comes down to personal preference. If you like mantic that's fine, if you don't I would not spend money on them, even if they are so much cheaper. You should like the army and the models you play.
Meh, Mantic skeletons look far more unrealistic IMO...i'd even take the horrible-old metal skeleton over the Mantic one. GW's plastics skeletons and grave guard are by far my favorite undead models around.
GW's new plastics are getting particularly amazing looking...the High Elf models are jaw dropping IMO. Of course they aren't cheap, which is sad to say. But as Yanda said: you can get GW stuff cheaper (20% off anything on their website from a few other places even without ebay).
A new undead army is going to require zombies (to raise) skeletons and/or ghouls are a must and of course a vampire to lead them. I'd tinker with some lists and see what "sounds" good to you and see about proxying/borrowing to test it out.
Welcome to un-life
GW's new plastics are getting particularly amazing looking...the High Elf models are jaw dropping IMO. Of course they aren't cheap, which is sad to say. But as Yanda said: you can get GW stuff cheaper (20% off anything on their website from a few other places even without ebay).
A new undead army is going to require zombies (to raise) skeletons and/or ghouls are a must and of course a vampire to lead them. I'd tinker with some lists and see what "sounds" good to you and see about proxying/borrowing to test it out.
Welcome to un-life