How Do You Handle Making An Army List?

[Grenadier]

I don't know about you folks but for me the one aspect of the game I dread is getting down to making up an army list. It's tedious and a pain in the butt. Especially since I am terrible at math.

I find that before every single battle I must make up a new list. My previous list being unsuitable based on changes in my army or requiring more or less points than in the previous battle. And when I make up a list I want it to contain every possible bit of information I need during the game to minimize looking stuff up. Sometimes this doesn't work out well. And invariably I find I've calculated points incorrectly or failed to pay for this or that's points. There are aspects in the DKOK and Imperial Guard codex which causes me to make such mistakes. And then I have to start all over again.

But now I'm going to consider a new approach to my army list making:

I will make one list which will include everything in my army. Completely detailed. Including all the appropriate options, wargear, weapons, and pertinent points. Each unit will have it's own page. With a final points total.

Then instead of making a new list for each battle I will simply "pull" unit pages and calculate combined points until I reach the battle's points limit. This way everything is reusable and I no longer have to make new lists. Ideally I'd want these pages to be about the size of an index card but they lack enough room for my needs. And, whenever I have a new addition to my army it's simply a matter of doing up a sheet for it and adding it to the collected sheets.

How do you do your lists? Any advice for me?

[Slug]

Firstly, I made an excel page that will calculate how many points I have left and a few things like that. Then I tend to follow a theme. If I don't already have the models I might do some maths and compare unit statistics otherwise I tend to build an army up in common point increments so I tend to make three or four list at 500, 1000, 1750 for example so I just use the same list.

[Grenadier]

Having good math skills help.

[Slug]

Excel helps as well though, it's not hard to make one box add up all the point totals of your units, then another to subtract that value from however many points you have available resulting in an amount telling you how many points you have left.

[Dalleron]

I make the army in units, generally how i think it should go. I've got unit A for X pts, unit B for Y and so on. Add the hq or two, then add blocks of units of whatever I'm going to add. Half my armies are 1500 pts and nothing else so I have lists down. I have the luxury that my alternate hq's are 5-10 pts different and can slot in without going over 1500pts.

Ive tried the all encompassing army list, but when you have over 2000 pts and generally don't use some units, I found it's a waste of time and effort.

I think building a solid core to your army and using it conistently will help you. Being very familiar with your army comes from continued use, or studying/reading it. Once you have the solid core of your army, then you can swap out units and whatnot.

It's basic math really, and shouldn't be alot of trouble.

[scadugenga]

Way back in 2nd Ed, I made "unit cards" for my Eldar.

For the same reason you mentioned--ease of army building, etc.

I think that would work for you with a slight modification: create a separate cheat sheet for all the specific army rules and you should be good to gomwith one index card per unit.

[Shadoq]

Army Builder for the win. Makes everything much easier.

Only trouble I have with army list creation is that I can't take all the units I want to :(

[scadugenga]

You forgot the "tm" for Army *cough* Builder.

They will now be forced to send BoLS a C&D...

Heh.

[DarkLink]

I start with a list of "good" units. Most units have one or two competitive ways of running them.

Then I select a focus. If I want a Terminator/Paladin deathstar, that will determine most of my list. I pick the core units, so 10 Paladins and Driago or a grand master for the HQ.

Then, I look at gaps in my list. If I need more scoring, more mobility, melta, long range firepower, etc, I take units that etc over those weaknesses.

Once I get the rough list, I start playing with wargear to try and get everything to fit.

If something doesn't fit or mesh, I switch that unit with something else that can perform a similar job.

Rinse and repeat until the list is done. Time for playtesting, which I never actually get to do since I don't get to play often.

[doom-kitten]

I pretty much theme my lists, picking on particular bit of fluff or a character and imagining what their army would be based off, as my army is not very versatile it's relatively easy to pick and choose units from other lists. For the most part keeping a 'core' unit list is handy basically a number of units your army will never be fielded without.

[SotonShades]

I'm pretty old fashioned when it comes to list building. First I start off with the models. In most of my armies there are a handful of models that I want to build the army around. The most recent examples of this are my KoptaForce (http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?t=14533) and Drop-Dreds (http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?t=16940) lists.

Once I've gotten these models sorted, including sorting out what options they are taking, I fill out what else the army needs to work; usually a HQ choice and 2 Troops, unless those are the options I'm trying to build my force around of course. Unilke with the core/theme models, I tend to leave these fairly basic, without options etc (although I will oftenincrease units of Space Marines to 10 man max).

I then pick other options to help mitigate any weaknesses in the list. This covers all sorts, from providing more troops for objective holding, more weapon options to deal with a lack of anti-tank/infantry, extra units with more manouvrability etc. That list is by no means exhaustive, and I don't always get it right, but 14 years of playing with lists in this manner has given me a pretty good feel for what is missing from an army. At this point I'm not too worried about the final points costs, just trying to keep within the ball park of the final total (usually 1500, 1750 or 2k). That said I never select a new unit unless it has a purpose within an overall battle plan that starts to form (often based on the capabilities of the core/themed models I chose.

I then smooth out the list, cutting back on options or model count if I have gone over, slipping in the odd extra option if I'm a couple of points under, tweaking the loadout of unit A due to losing Unit B or some of their options to compensate.

I almost always do this with a pen and paper and a calculator, usually in short hand for options and units, and rarely in the same order the units appear in the codex of FOC. Once I've done all this I will type out the lists in a Word file, including all their wargear, options and points costs (even stating that space marines have power armour and guard have lasguns etc) to be as clear as possible. Here I do group this as per the FOC and try to format it so that the army lists fists on 1 side of A4 per part thousand points, s0 one side for upto 1k, 2 pages up to 2k. Then again, that rule can go out the window in favour of clarity, especially in the case of full IG platoons :P

Often units are repeated from one list to another, or are quite similar, so then I can simply copy/paste from one army list to another to save time and typing. Hell, I even do it with similar units in the same list (who needs to type out exactly what 4 identical tactical squads have 4 times?)

This method doesn't always yield the most powerful lists, but I've yet to come up against an opponant who didn't find them interesting and fun to play against. After a few games I will usually come back to the list and tweak some units if they are consistently underperforming (such as the Conversion Beamer on the Master of the Forge in the Drop-dreds list... didn't hit a single target in 8 games, not going to continue wasting points on it) at least within the confines of the list. Jiggleing the points and options, rather than completely rewriting the list, tends to focus to a more optimised list eventually.

When it comes to bigger/smaller games, I tend to just drop the minimum number of units to get below the points threshold, and then smooth out the list as before, or add in new units as appropriate. Subtle tweaks like this don't change the way the army handles, so most of the tactics and strategies you have developed will still work, meaning you are instantly used to the army, rather than having to relearn them for every game you play.

[Grenadier]

To a degree my lists do begin with my "centerpiece" units. Those units that for various reasons stand out. Maybe they just look too cool to not field in a battle. Or they're just very good units which I must take. If only I had the necessary skills to create my app idea. Then I would finally have a justifiable reason to buy an I-pad or other device.

[MaltonNecromancer]

First I decide which units which aren't, shall we say, optimised for a win I'm going to include anyway, just because I like the models (Ogryns, etc...). I then begin to build the rest of the list around them, bearing in mind their weaknesses so the rest of the army compensates.

Next, I decide on which is highly priority: anti-tank or anti-infantry? I then choose appropriate options, bearing in things like range, delivery system, etc...

I then fill in the gaps left over, so if I've got plenty of anti-tank, I go anti-infantry, etc...

I will also try to design each unit where possible, to have at least some method of dealing with vehicles (e.g.: tactical marines get a power fist sergeant where possible). If that's impossible, I then make them hyperspecialised, and try to "pair" them with a unit that covers their deficiencies.

So, my Ogryns tend to be "paired" with my Basilisks, primarily because I play a lot of Tyranids, and outflanking Genestealers just eat Basilisks for dinner.

[Mr.Pickelz]

I'm more of a Theme/Fluff person, so first thing i look at is a story or backdrop for the army list in question. Take Orks for example, a easy one.Orks are known for their massive wavs of infantry flooding forward to overtake enemy positions, hence forth known as "The Green Tide". This is also represented in Apoc by a datasheet for the aptly named formation. This leads me to look at the codex for ways to bring a look-a-like force to the table in normal games. With no points level in mind i first make the list i want. Then i fine tune it into a respectable points level( 1250, 1500, 1850, 2000, etc...). Building the list from things that one would normally see in that force. So my list turns out to be something like this:
1250 points.
HQ:
Warboss - Big Choppa / Attack Squig
Troops:
(6x) 30x Boyz - Nob - Big Choppa
1500 points.
HQ:
Ghazkull Thraka (Goff leader)
Troops:
(5x) 30x Boyz - Nob - Power Klaw
(1x) 30x Boyz - Nob - Big Choppa / Bosspole

As the Points go up the list expands while incorporating and adhering to the overall theme. "Da Green Tide"

[Grenadier]

I tend to tailor all of my squads and vehicles to serve multiple roles. Of course sometimes this isn't really possible. Such as with my Black Templars. They're whole reason to exist is close combat. Consequently you don't have a whole lot you can do with them for fire power. With them I compensate by including Razorbacks and Dreadnoughts swapping out there close combat weapon for a missile launcher.

If I run them as a vanilla list, though, I'll try to make all my squads flexible. A little bit of both in each. After all, the Marines do have specialists for other roles. My Devastators always get 2 lascannons and two plasma cannons. Making them highly effective against armor and all infantry.

With my Guard I find flexibility is vital. After all they don't really have any infantry units who excel at one particular role.


First I decide which units which aren't, shall we say, optimised for a win I'm going to include anyway, just because I like the models (Ogryns, etc...). I then begin to build the rest of the list around them, bearing in mind their weaknesses so the rest of the army compensates.

Next, I decide on which is highly priority: anti-tank or anti-infantry? I then choose appropriate options, bearing in things like range, delivery system, etc...

I then fill in the gaps left over, so if I've got plenty of anti-tank, I go anti-infantry, etc...

I will also try to design each unit where possible, to have at least some method of dealing with vehicles (e.g.: tactical marines get a power fist sergeant where possible). If that's impossible, I then make them hyperspecialised, and try to "pair" them with a unit that covers their deficiencies.

So, my Ogryns tend to be "paired" with my Basilisks, primarily because I play a lot of Tyranids, and outflanking Genestealers just eat Basilisks for dinner.

[pathwinder14]

Balance! I always want some shooting, some close combat, and some mobility. I love overlapping battlefield roles and try to make my units redundant in purpose/ability. I first choose an HQ and 2 troops choices. I always have that core. Then I build the rest of the list around them. Here's a practical look:

HQ:
Dante

Troops:
10 man assault squad with 2 melta guns and 1 power fist
10 man assault squad with 2 melta guns and 1 power fist

This is the core of my force. Now I'll add utility units like sanguinary priests. After that I'll add heavy support choices like a devaststor squad. Once I have a nice little force built, I add to each slot to fill it out. How about a Dreadnought or some terminators? How about a lascannon predator?

Each addition adds either ranged fire, mobility, or close combat. I try to have equal parts shooting, close combat, and mobility with several units serving dual roles. The assault squads are mobile and close combat oriented. The predator is mobile and has ranged firepower. Almost everything in my lists has dual roles so I do not waste a single point.

[Rissan4ever]

I will make one list which will include everything in my army. Completely detailed. Including all the appropriate options, wargear, weapons, and pertinent points. Each unit will have it's own page. With a final points total.

Then instead of making a new list for each battle I will simply "pull" unit pages and calculate combined points until I reach the battle's points limit. This way everything is reusable and I no longer have to make new lists. Ideally I'd want these pages to be about the size of an index card but they lack enough room for my needs. And, whenever I have a new addition to my army it's simply a matter of doing up a sheet for it and adding it to the collected sheets.

How do you do your lists? Any advice for me?
That's exactly what I do, and it works very well. It allows me to know exactly what wargear and capabilities each unit has, regardless of the mission. I occasionally make small changes (giving a Sgt. meltabombs, for example) to round out the points are fill gaps, but not very often.

As for what units to "pull" from your list, my philosphy is that each army needs three elements:

Holding Element - This element sits on your home objective and holds it. Their job isn't to do a lot of damage, but to be really hard to knock out. Imperial Guard Infantry Platoons, large squads of Fire Warriors, Tactical Marines, etc. are great for this. The Holding Element should always be composed of at least two units, or one large unit.

Assault Element - This is where most of your points go. While they may or may not literally get into assault, this element's job is to get in close and kill the hell out of the enemy. This is the element that takes objectives and wins the game for you on most occasions. Tanks, infantry in transports, assault troops, etc. go into this element, and it's usually the largest element in the army, unless you're playing a purely defensive scenario. I typically structure this element so that it can split into two halves, each with roughly equal firepower, to go after multiple objectives if needed.

Lateral Deployment Element - This element's job is to come in from a weird angle and confuse, harass, and otherwise impede the enemy's movement. They often go after rear positions like Devastator Squads and IG Heavy Weapon Squads. They're best if they're able to either deploy through non-standard means (Deep Strike, Outflank, or Infiltrate) or move very far very fast (fast skimmers, Grey Knight shunting, etc.). I like using Guardsman Marbo and Vets in Valkyries for this. I rarely expect this element to survive the game, since it's like that they'll alarm the enemy and get all his units shooting at them the turn after they arrive and blow something up, but that's ok. The turn he's spending wasting my Lateral Deployment Element is a turn he's not shooting the other elements.

[Grenadier]

I tend to not put points into wargear much. Aside from weapons. But for things like frags, kraks, purity seals, meltabombs, etc, I never really use them. Nor do I use "buffing" items like standards and the like.

I have a week to come up with a list using both my Black Templars and Imperial Guard to go against a massive two player Chaos force. And its going to be an extremely high point total game. As usual it'll be a two on one fight for me. But they'll be teamed together as opposed to being a three way fight. I'm considering fielding my Templars as vanilla's though. Primarily because then I'll have access to some very good units the Templars don't have: honor guard, sternguard, vanguard, and devastators. I know right now my Guard will be the backbone of the force what with all the firepower I have in them. The marines will be taking a kind of "protect the guard" position. In which I'll deploy certain marine squads alongside of my Guard infantry to mutually support each other. On top of this I'll be sending forward assault units. My over all plan is to establish a hard line that will be near impossible to break. Let them come at the line and blast away at them, pin them, and hold them. Then try to get in behind him. Sandwich him in. So I'm actually going to try something I've never put much effort into: outflanking with good reserve units.

So this week's evenings will be spent planning this combined force.

[Defenestratus]

I boot up army builder, thinkg about what toys I want to use that day and make a list with those toys.

It takes about 5 minutes.

[thereverend]

I fail every time because I just pick the most awesome looking minis in my collection, then realise they are overpriced and really bad on teh battlefeild...

[PaperclipBadger]

I'm a Tyranid player, so I just take the lowest point HQ possible and fill up on Genestealers, with some shooters if needs be. If the points limit allows, I sometimes splurge on a bigger HQ or some heavy support.

[Thorn]

How I make my lists?

I usually think of a playstyle that I want to use. I then look at my models, see what I have have and make a list, with the theme I chose, containing many of my models and maybe a few that I don't have.

By the way: I use army builder so I don't have to be amazing at math :P

[Grenadier]

What is this army builder thing I've seen spoken of?

[Yriel_The_Angelic]

I normally theme my lists, i'm a fluff nut, just happens that the fluff i'm into are what people (in my area) normally call OP lists...."sorry bro but i love the idea of nothing but zombified space marines so i'm going all plague marines." :p

[Thorn]

What is this army builder thing I've seen spoken of?


I can't tell if you are being sarcastic but here goes.

Army builder is a program from Lone Wolf Development. It allows you to create army lists without adding up all the points on its own. You plug in your units and options, while it calculates the point cost. You can set point limits so it tells you if you have too many points. When in the 40k section, it also tells you if you have too few or too many HQ, elites, troops, fast attack, and heavy support.

Like I said, I cant tell if you are being sarcastic so I gav you an honest answer.

[Grenadier]

I wasn't being sarcastic. Never heard of it. Sounds great. But does it get updated to keep up with the changes to codexes and stuff?

[Lord Fett]

You have the right idea with the unit sheets, I also made unit cards for my space wolves back in third ed. But in the end I always go with army builder tm. its easy and all the math is handled for you.
I don't agree with making a different list each time though. I use a core list of what I need and add to it to get to the right amount for the game (which is usually 1850). keep whats good and tweek the rest, it has brought me to a good place as the list evolves. Just don't scrap a unit due to poor die rolls, everything is fluid where the dice are concerned.

[khsrio621]

I made an excel spreadsheet that I can just plug numbers into and add columns to if needed. If you want a copy I can post it or send it to you.

[Grenadier]

I'd be happy to try a copy then. I've never worked with Excel but given enough time and coffee I'll figure it out.

[khsrio621]

For some reason it won't let me attach it to a reply. I decided to throw it into mediafire, if you have a method you'd prefer me to use to get it to you that'd be fine by me.
There's a few sample lists, a blank list and a template.

http://www.mediafire.com/?yq439hx5u1t6ra3

[Grenadier]

I downloaded it but it isn't letting me open it for some reason. When I clicked on it the only thing that happened was Spybot wanted to scan it. So I right clicked it to select open and its asking me what program to use to open it? What do I use? I don't have Excel if that is what is required.

[khsrio621]

try downloading openoffice. it's a free Microsoft office equivalent that works well. It'll let you view/edit excel spreadsheets.

[Grenadier]

Jolly good. I'll download it tomorrow...getting a bit sleepy here. The bed...it calls to me.

For some reason my computer lacks all those kinds of programs. It doesn't even have Word. And it doesn't let me cut and paste either.

[hippsman]

I generally will write out my solid units that are key to every game (2-3 good troop choices, HQ, and maybe a HS or two) and then I try to fill in with the fun units depending on what kind of game I'm going to play.

[Inquiring M1nd]

I've whipped up excel sheets, used demos of Army Builder, and pen and paper. In the end, they are just tools, they just make the math and substitutions easier. The big thing is knowing how you want to play.

If I want to have a large outflank/deepstrike wing, or have a big mass march right up the center I plan my HQ, and troops around that, then I look to support those elements with Elites, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support. In the end, I hope to have each threat type covered.

Sometimes, the army style decisions are based on a model I just finished, like seeing on the table, or just haven't seen in awhile. For example, my games have featured my Trygon and Parasite of Mortrex lately.

With Tyranids, I am truly spoiled for choices in the troops section, which means I can truly tailor to the playstyle I feel like that day.

[Grenadier]

I pretty much know how I want to play using my Imperial Guard. Regardless if I'm the attacker or defender I play defensively. Establishing a solid wall of firepower. Defending is easiest of course. And with everything I can throw into a game the firepower alone is enough to break any attacker. It's little more complicate to do when I'm the attacker. Because I still maintain static positions providing a lot of fire support. I have one fully completed infantry platoon. Which is more than enough troop! They always stay where I deploy them minus some adjustments. I then have 4 veteran squads mounted in Chimeras. They'll stay close, but behind, my tanks which spearhead any assault I need to do. All the while my fire support hammers away at the enemy. If it's an Apocalypse battle I can drop 20 large blast markers per turn! Not to mention the smaller one and regular shooting.

My real problem now is figuring out how I want to play with my Black Templars. I do run them sometimes as vanillas. But most of the time my Templars support the Guard. And being an assault army it limits what I would normally do with an army. I've decided now the best use of my Templars when combined with my Guard is this: quickly throw them into the enemy and tie up as many of his units in assault. I use them to screen for my Guard. The Guard is the game winner. The Templars are the fodder.

[Tepogue]

I start with the required 1 hq, and 2 troops. Then ask myself:

Do I know my opponent?
Is a single use list or tournament consisting of multiple rounds?
Am I expecting lots of vehicles or not?

Based on those questions, It's a matter of building either something specific if I know my opponent or more general for a tournament all comers list.

[MrGiggles]

My first lists were probably like everyone else's, scribbled on a piece of paper based on the models I had.

From there, I went to a spreadsheet with options based on what I had WYSIWYG simply because I didn't want to deal with a horde of non-WYSIWYG stuff (Orks) and I figured it would help motivate me to paint. It did.

I tried Army Builder out, but I've never really gotten round to buying it. At this point, I'm using Battlescribe and I find it does what I need it to do.

As to building the actual list, I tend to follow similar trains of thought for both my Orks and my Sisters. I figure out something I want to play with that day, add that to the list and go from there. Next, I put my compulsory stuff in and then I fill out.

My Ork lists tend to be built with a "What do I want to do today?" attitude since I'm familiar with the units and the army and what I like to use, it's a pretty easy build out for the most part.

When I play my Sisters, the attitude is a little different. I played the army a bit under the old Witch Hunters Codex before the new one came out, but I was pretty limited in terms of the models I had painted at the time. To that end, I'm really still learning the army, so my lists tend to be more experimental than my Orks lists. I tend to figure out what I'd like to try to learn and then put a couple of those units in the list and bulk it out from there. It's far more hit and miss though since I'm just not as familiar with the basic units of the army as I am with my Orks or even with Chaos Space Marines.

The one thing I haven't done with either army is build to a list. That's something I am planning to do for my next army, whatever it is. I figure I've two factions that I'm basically collecting, so collecting the full range of another faction is probably excessive, especially if I continue to add to my first two.

[Kaiserdean]

I build all of my armies as sort of "all takers" lists.

I know what models I have and my game plan no matter which army I'm playing against and I really only have slight variations on what I bring.

A few people at my LGS have a stack of army lists tucked in their army book for every conceivable army they could face with lots of things fine tuned for facing a hoard or a mechanized list.

Personally, I hate it when people know I'm bringing my ork army so they load up on things to kill my hoard... but I suppose that thematically, most armies will know their enemy before they fight (except in an ambush scenario) so I shouldn't complain too loudly.

As for the actual making of the list, I love Army Builder.

[andozane]

So much depends on who you are playing against.

Seems now a days my opponents are about playing a game where neither of us care about winning, just about having a good time throwing some dice.

I tend to use a lot more units that never see light of day, and I have a lot of fun with it.

Army Builder is a god send. GW should just cut a deal with them and get it over with, giving them day of book release updates, or perhaps when you buy a codex you get a licensed version of AB that ONLY builds that army list...

That could be cool.

[Forrix]

I actualy really enjoy making lists but i have found a couple short cuts. For starters i keep all my lists in one journal so when i write a new one if there was a unit i liked i can just look back and copy paste it into the new list skiping all the math and looking up all the points cost. Also most armys rely on a couple core units so usualyi take my troops and must have support units lay them all out and see what points i have left. Both of those things can really cut down on the time required to write up these lists

[Colonel Falkenberg]

Army Builder. It's quick, clean, and neat. Everyone can read it with out having to decipher my chicken scatch.

[Criger]

I use Army Builder and just put them into Excel since I'm too cheap to buy the full version of Army Builder (limits you to 3 units). I really enjoy building lists actually, and it's really quick if you use these programs and don't have to do all the math.

[FortheEmperor!]

Pay for a copy of Army Builder (TM) and you can make list after list after list!! It has rules for Apocalypse, Planetstrike, Spearhead, special characters, no special characters, you can upload photos or drawings to include on your army list...the options will make you dizzy!!

[Levitas]

A decades worth of design experince, creative suite CS5, google images, calculator :D Army builder is so ugly.

I don't mind building lists, but saw one gamer using a interesting way. He had all his units on small postcard size cards and would build his lists that way. Kind of odd, but worked for him.

[Loshkins]

I put all of my stuff into excel with the unit stats and everything, leaving a space at the bottom for special rules and what not. Same as army builder, just took an extra 30min to set up.

[Rissan4ever]

I build all of my armies as sort of "all takers" lists.

I know what models I have and my game plan no matter which army I'm playing against and I really only have slight variations on what I bring.

A few people at my LGS have a stack of army lists tucked in their army book for every conceivable army they could face with lots of things fine tuned for facing a hoard or a mechanized list.

Personally, I hate it when people know I'm bringing my ork army so they load up on things to kill my hoard... but I suppose that thematically, most armies will know their enemy before they fight (except in an ambush scenario) so I shouldn't complain too loudly.

As for the actual making of the list, I love Army Builder.

I use the "all takers" mentality, too. I also name my lists and let my opponent choose the list they face based on the name. The name doesn't really reflect what's in the list, but it's fun anyway.

Examples:
His Will, Our Guts!
Face-Breakers
Band of Brothers
Shake n' Bake

[Chaoschrist]

Fire up army builder (demo), do a single squad the way I want to, take those points, put that in excel. Alternatively I might just sit down with the codex and write everything on paper. Depends a bit on where I am.

Once had a license for Army builder when I played a lot more, that worked out fine I thought, but since I'm not playing that much I don't really feel like shelling out that amount for it.

As for "flavor"... I'll see what I have modelswise, and go from there. Might buy a squad here or there to expand on what I had in mind (or what I feel like I'm missing in the current build). Sometimes there's just a single model/squad I feel like it should be in there, but I try not to mess up the general armylist that much. However, in the past it just was a good reason to start an entirely new army. "Oh hey, let's try a mechanized Chaos marines list" and see how that's done cheapest.

[Cavematt]

I use the "all takers" mentality, too. I also name my lists and let my opponent choose the list they face based on the name. The name doesn't really reflect what's in the list, but it's fun anyway.

Examples:
His Will, Our Guts!
Face-Breakers
Band of Brothers
Shake n' Bake

I agree, I usually have one or two builds in mind and they don't change up too much. But I admit, some times I just stick units in just cuz I think they're fun to throw in because they never really get played by other folks.

[Tarasque]

I personally love army-building. I love thinking of all the different strategies as you take different units, loadouts, etc.

I used to use the Forge, but my computer got wiped and I can't be arsed to redo all of the hours of work I put into it, as you basically have to insert the codex in there to use it. It may not be that way now.

Still, every list I make, unless I'm playing on Vassal, is designed around what models I have. Hence why I don't run Wracks or Reavers or Scourges or anything like that.