It’s been awhile, but I’m back.  I’ve focused on a lot of the differences between WHFB and 40k, and what to look out for.  But now it’s time for what may be the most important article: how to build your first list.

As always, you need to balance your existing inventory and budget on what you’d like to spend.  Luckily, most of the Battalion boxes from Games Workshop are pretty solid buys.  Some are better than others, but for the most part you’ll be getting units you’ll use, along with a “free” unit that would cost you another $25 if you bought everything separately.

Going back to my Warriors of Chaos Battalion, I’ve got the following models: 20 Marauders, 12 Warriors of Chaos, 5 Knights, and 10 Warhounds.  Once you factor in the cost of a General, you’re not too far off from 1000 points!  It won’t bring you to a balanced 1000-point list though, so let’s start a little smaller with 750 points.  Keep in mind that 750 points of WHFB isn’t exactly proportional to 750 points of 40k, where the armies tend to be smaller.

20 Marauders – 160 points

This is a solid block of relatively weak infantry.  They’re actually not very weak, but relative to the almighty Chaos Warrior they appear so.  Having 20 models will allow me to bring 4 ranks, which is a solid infantry block in a game this size.  They’ll make a good anvil, or a tie-up unit, while I wait for the reinforcements to arrive.

I’ll equip them with humble hand weapons, Shields, and Light Armour.  Their Hand Weapon/Shield combo grants them a 5+/6++ save in combat.  I’ll give them a Mark of Tzeentch so they can enjoy a 5+ Ward Save in close combat.  Since they’ll be a mainstay in most skirmishes, they should enjoy full command (Musician/Standard/Champion).

12 Warriors of Chaos – 279 points

Now for the scary guys!  The Marauders above will give most enemy troops a tough fight; these guys just make it unfair.  We’ll again give them full command, but also Halberds.  Having your front line strike with 11 Strength 5 attacks is nasty…and that’s not even considering the supporting rank!  Giving these guys shields is always a good option — although they can’t use them in close combat, it makes them less susceptible to shooting attacks.

Combine that with a Mark of Khorne.  These guys become bloodthirsty, and gain extra attacks.  Assuming you’re running two 6-wide ranks, you’re looking at 25 attacks at S5, I5!  These guys become a blender.  To round them out and help them get to combat a bit faster, let’s give them a Banner of Swiftness.  Those extra inches can really add up!

10 Warhounds – 60 points

Warhounds are a fun little unit.  They provide speed, two ranks, and never really look like a threat to your opponent.  But they’ll always be there to harass flanks, deny charges, and generally disrupt.  They’re not going to take out many bodies, and can crumple under any focused fire.  But their main job is to buy the rest of your army time, and for 60 points it can’t be beat.  I’d avoid the extra options, because they just make a throwaway unit needlessly expensive.

5 Knights (Marauder Horsemen) – 75 points

Knights took a bit of a blow in 8th Edition.  Chaos Knights are still terrifying units, but they’re super expensive.  Rather than build an 800-point list with a 200-point unit, and then try and add junk to reach 1000, consider playing a 750 point game and using those Knights as really scary-looking Marauder Horsemen.

Being Fast Cavalry gets them a free Vanguard move, and the ability to march and fire.  To take advantage of this, I’d give them Throwing Spears (Javelins) so that they can race up to an enemy, throw some spears, and then fall back and regroup when charged.  Giving them a shield will maintain their Fast Cavalry status as well as giving them a bit of armor, plus if they ever wind up in close combat it will grant them a parry save!

Chaos Sorcerer – 175 points

Ok, so you have to buy one model outside the Battalion.  You can choose to go magic-heavy with a Sorcerer or combat-heavy with a Hero.  In low-points games, magic’s erratic nature shows its true colors.  Luckily, Chaos has some great ways to mitigate its unpredictability.

Mark of Tzeentch gives you +1 to your casting rolls, which is nice.  The Lore of Tzeentch contains a number of good spells, which scale really well to small games.  Upgrading to Level 2 means you get +3 to casting rolls, as well as a second spell.  Add a Spell Familiar, and now you get to know 3 spells!

Of course, this magic death machine’s going to be a big target, so a few defensive items are in order.  Enchanted Shield and Talisman of Protection should help with that.  Now your Sorcerer has a 2+ armor save with a 5++ Ward Save.  Thanks again, Tzeentch!

The Final List – 749 points

Heroes (175pts)

• Chaos Sorcerer (175pts)

  Gifts of Chaos (25 p), Level 2, Lore of Tzeentch, Mark of Tzeentch, On foot

  • Magic Items (50 p)

    Enchanted Shield, Spell Familiar, Talisman of Protection

Core (574pts)

• Chaos Marauders (160pts)

  Marauder Chieftain, Musician, Standard Bearer, Mark of Tzeentch

  • 20x Chaos Marauder

    The Will of Chaos

    20x Light Armour, 20x Shields

• Chaos Warhounds (60pts)

  10x Chaos Warhound

• Chaos Warriors (279pts)

  Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer, Mark of Khorne

  • 12x Chaos Warrior

    The Will of Chaos

    12x Halberds, 12x Shields

  • Magic Standard (50 p)

    Banner of Swiftness

• Marauder Horsemen (75pts)
  • 5x Marauder

    Fast Cavalry, Horselords, The Will of Chaos

    5x Shields, 5x Throwing spears

You may remember my 40k article on choosing an army.  It focused on how you, as a new or returning 40k player, can decide on an army that will suit your style both on and off the table.  The thought process is basically the same for WHFB: you need to consider things such as model count, fluff and aesthetics, and overall playstyle.  This basic rubric may not cut it though when you start looking at the WHFB options, so I wanted to break down my thought process for picking a WHFB army.

One of the big distinctions between WHFB and 40k is the fact that you have big blocks of infantry, rather than small squads.  This means that the notion of model count is different between the two systems, resulting in drastically different experiences with playing and building a “large” army in either system.  The other ramification of the large infantry blocks is that it affects playstyle in a different way.  Close combat is the focus of WHFB, as evidenced by the complexity of the rules and the wide array of close combat goodies available to you.  This, combined with the lack of proper “vehicles,” means that you’ll need to reconsider what your playstyle in WHFB really is.

I opted to look at the problem as one of phases.  As it was explained to me, most armies are pretty good in 2 of the 4 phases of WHFB (Movement, Magic, Shooting, and Assault).  You can pick an army that really shines in one of those phases, but it will be pretty weak in another.  Here’s an overview of what it means to be “good” in each of these phases:

1. Movement.  Armies good in the movement phase are characterized as “fast.”  This could be a high base movement value on infantry (hint: Dwarfs are not fast).  It could be a proliferation of mounted units, such as the Bretonnians.  It could be due to magical items or spells that grant movement bonuses or ignore movement penalties.  Some armies, like Tomb Kings, can be played fast or slow depending on whether you bring a lot of mounted units.  Other armies, such as Wood Elves, need to keep on the move in order to maintain a positional advantage.
2. Magic. Some armies can bring a huge number of wizards or really powerful spells.  They tend to rely on the magic phase to compensate for their weaknesses in the other phases.  When they can pull it off, it makes them a much stronger army all around.  Playing with magic is (sometimes literally) playing with fire though, so it’s possible that these armies will fall flat on their faces.  These armies may raise more troops, like the Vampire Counts or Tomb Kings.  They may buff friendly troops, or de-buff enemies, depending on the Lore available.  Don’t discount straight damage spells, which can be dangerous in the hands of Chaos or Lizardmen.
3. Shooting. This one is pretty self-explanatory.  Some armies have lots of guns, bows, or war machines.  These inflict pain from afar.  This can stack with the two earlier phases pretty well: Tomb Kings can move and shoot without penalty, for example.  Magic can also improve shooting in a number of the available Lores.  The thing to look for if you want to focus on the shooting phase is high BS and war machines.  In the land of no cover saves, negative modifiers reign supreme.  This means that you’ll rarely be rolling straight against your BS.  Some armies, like Dwarfs, have both…and their shooting is reviled for it.
4. Combat. Armies can excel in close combat by a variety of means.  Some, such as Orcs and Goblins, will use sheer weight of numbers.  Other armies such as Warriors of Chaos rely on relatively few troops with elite statlines to get the job done.  Furthermore, some armies such as Ogres will use even fewer and scarier monsters to leverage Fear and Terror.  Armies such as the Dark Elves can use surprise Assassins where you least expect them.  Many armies have a variety of magical weapons, armor, and talismans to make close combat a nightmare for the opponent.  In general, you’ll want to keep an eye out for the special/rare choices in your army.  Some offer increased damage output, others increased survivability…the scariest have both.

I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking that picking a WHFB army is drastically different than picking a 40k army.  The rule of thumb still is, and always will be, go with what grabs you.  There are no more “terrible” armies out there, and at worst you’ll get an older one that may not have the latest cool rules and models.  This article has hopefully explained what’s entailed in determining an army’s playstyle though, so you’ll have a better idea of what you’re getting into!

Note: This article is not meant to be a competitive comparison between the two systems.  If you’re a 40k player that is curious or just starting fantasy, this article is meant to highlight some of the distinctions to look out for.

So far, we’ve covered 2 phases in Fantasy, and only one in 40k.  Now I’d like to compare the 3rd WHFB phase, which I believe to have the most in common with 40k — the shooting phase.  Naturally, since the games borrow from the same basic set of mechanics, there’s quite a bit of overlap.  Models have ballistic skills, there’s hit/wound/save rolls, and you can expect to see the same quality vs. quantity in unit profiles.

There are, however, some important distinctions.  A lot of these keep in step with other trends I’ve pointed out so far in WHFB:

1. More modifiers, no cover saves. For the most part, there’s no such thing as a cover save in WHFB.  If you have no armor, and you get wounded, it’s tough luck.  Whereas the ubiquitous cover save gives obscured models in 40k a chance to simply ignore a wound, WHFB uses such considerations as to-hit penalties.  Shooting a model in cover might give you a -1 to all to-hit rolls, for example.  You can similarly expect penalties for things like moving and shooting, or shooting at longer ranges.  Of course, magic or equipment may give you a bonus instead, making special equipment very flavorful in WHFB.
2. Randomized targeting. Without vehicles, WHFB resorts to “war machines” with crew.  The crew are usually distinct models, and there are rules that dictate whether a shot hits a war machine or its crew.  This can also apply to some special units and their mounts — i.e. a scary Lord on an even scarier Dragon.  This has a few implications that 40k doesn’t cover.  Destroying a dragon’s handler, for example, can make it an unpredictable monster that will ravage both friend and foe alike.  In 40k, you bring a meltagun to bear on a tank and expect to shoot at, and kill, a tank.  In WHFB, it’s possible that your high-damage single-shot weapon will just obliterate a single Dwarf!
3. Daunting numbers. As a 40k-player, you may look at some underwhelming Fantasy weapon profiles and wonder how anyone manages to die in the shooting phase.  It’s important to remember the context of WHFB; S4 is way less common than it is in 40k.  Same with models that are T4.  A S4 weapon also carries with it the -1 penalty to armor saves, which naturally, are a lot less impressive than in 40k.  Of course, this increased lethality brings with it a series of to-hit modifiers as mentioned above.  Above all else, you can’t forget that you’re not dealing with 5-10 man squads, you’re dealing with 20-40 man regiments.
4. Ranks and blocks. With a few exceptions, you’re not dealing with unit coherency.  You’re dealing with blocks of infantry.  This means that your unit has a front field of view in which it can fire, unlike 40k where units can shoot 360 degrees around them.  Be prepared to move, exposing a flank or incurring a penalty, if you want to bring your shots to bear on a target that’s outside of your field of view.  Also consider that only a certain number of ranks can fire, depending on your missile weapons.  You can organize your unit to contain more file/less rank (widening your frontage), but that makes you a juicier target for assault units.

Altogether, WHFB and 40k share many of the same mechanics.  Any 40k player will be familiar with the basics when switching to 40k, or vice versa.  There are certainly nuances, the biggest ones outlined above, that must be taken into consideration.  Of course, remember that there is a certain climate of each game to take into consideration.  You can face a 40k army bristling with S9 weaponry, but such a feat is far less common in WHFB!