Starting Warhammer and miniature wargaming in general

[Keraun0s]

Hello There,

I live in Brazil. You must have heard of us by now. We're the so called "kings of soccer" that got blown to oblivion on the last world cup...

Well, to live here one must fight hard to keep some hobbies that many took for granted. Our culture doesn't know harsh climate, so the hobby of boardgames is not as disseminated as in the US or Europe.

So, to stop my random rambling...I played boardgames for the last 7 years. I amassed a moderate collection, sold almost everything because of lack of time to play them, but slowly am rediscovering the hobby and returning to appreciate it( and also videogames).

I always been addicted to miniatures. Boardgames with miniatures were always eye catching for me and also wargames. Warhammer, Malifaux, Infinity...I always found the minis superb, and tried my hand on painting some Warmachine.

Recently, the Warhammer universe caught my eye. I started to read about it and became facinated with the lore of it.

And this journey leads us here: I love to paint miniatures, but would like to hear about some caveats that have since stalked my mind like flocks of birds:

> We have almost no gamestores here. So, the comunity for this games is barely non-existent. I will be the one providing every friend with an army so we can play.I also will be the one doing all the painting of minis, terrain, game tables...Wargaming this way is possible? Or the work is too Herculean for a man alone?

> I got really confused about some things I read about Warhammer Fantasy: "One unit is good this edition, then it can become bad on the next...", Formations can be 6x4, 7x3 and other sizes and shapes... Could someone elaborate on this? The units and heroes remain across editions or some simply disappear and models become useless?

> GW have an horrible reputation and way to treat it's client base, it's partners and indepedent sellers...They make awesome miniatures and an awesome universe, but I simply hate them for their aggressive policies. Also, I hear many players abandoning the games they make if favor of new ones. Should I pay the price to play their games, or there are other better options around?

Phew...that's all for now. Sorry for any grammatical error. English is not my first language.

[Wildeybeast]

1) A lot of people find it tricky to buy and paint one army to satisfaction, I would think very very carefully about buying and maintaining armies for your friends.

2) I'm not sure what you mean by changing unit sizes, but as for units changing from edition to another, not so much. If the meta of the game changes, some may be less useful (cavalry and monsters are far less useful in 8th) but GW don't get rid of units that they have models for.

3) You'll get different opinions on GW policies, mostly pretty polarised. They could do more to communicate with customers and some of their decisions are blatantly money grabbing, but I don't see them doing anything any other business doesn't/wouldn't. It's not like they do anything immoral, they make plastic toy soldiers. The problem is nerds have a sense that GW should bend over backwards to make them happy as it is THEIR hobby, GW has the vision that it makes awesome models and charges tons of cash for them because people keep buying them. There is an obvious disconnect between the two.

[The Girl]

I'm going to move this to the introduction forum.

Welcome to the Lounge :)

[Ben_S]

1) It is perfectly possible - many people have two or more armies - but it is a big undertaking and, if you're the only one engaged in this, you may lose motivation. I'd suggest that you start with a couple of small forces, so you can get friends playing small games. It may also help if you pick armies with small model counts and/or that are easy to paint, but that's largely up to you - you'll have to go for ones that you like.

2) 6x4 means six models wide, four ranks deep (in case that's what you weren't clear one). Units can be deployed in all kinds of formations and change formation during the battle. That's not much of a problem, unless you plan to put multiple models on large bases or you have a unit that's so awkward to rank that you model them so they only fit together in one particular formation. It's true that what units are good (competitive) may change from edition to edition - e.g. all cavalry armies were formerly quite strong, but are much weaker in the current (8th edition) rules. Doesn't make the models obsolete though, just less useful in the game. Many people think GW does this just to encourage people to buy more new models.

3) They do seem to have some unpleasant policies, though pretty much all gamers I know have only nice things to say about things like their store managers and returns/customer service. Personally, I only play GW games, but largely because a) I already have a lot invested in them and b) it's easier to find opponents. If you're free of these constraints then you may want to look at alternatives. Given that you have to collect and paint everything, a game like Warmachine (where you generally use fewer models) may suit you. But if you're particularly interested in Warhammer Fantasy then there aren't so many alternatives - if it's genuine Fantasy you want, and not historicals, then Mantic's Kings of War is the only one that immediately comes to mind.

[Keraun0s]

1) It is perfectly possible - many people have two or more armies - but it is a big undertaking and, if you're the only one engaged in this, you may lose motivation. I'd suggest that you start with a couple of small forces, so you can get friends playing small games. It may also help if you pick armies with small model counts and/or that are easy to paint, but that's largely up to you - you'll have to go for ones that you like.

2) 6x4 means six models wide, four ranks deep (in case that's what you weren't clear one). Units can be deployed in all kinds of formations and change formation during the battle. That's not much of a problem, unless you plan to put multiple models on large bases or you have a unit that's so awkward to rank that you model them so they only fit together in one particular formation. It's true that what units are good (competitive) may change from edition to edition - e.g. all cavalry armies were formerly quite strong, but are much weaker in the current (8th edition) rules. Doesn't make the models obsolete though, just less useful in the game. Many people think GW does this just to encourage people to buy more new models.

3) They do seem to have some unpleasant policies, though pretty much all gamers I know have only nice things to say about things like their store managers and returns/customer service. Personally, I only play GW games, but largely because a) I already have a lot invested in them and b) it's easier to find opponents. If you're free of these constraints then you may want to look at alternatives. Given that you have to collect and paint everything, a game like Warmachine (where you generally use fewer models) may suit you. But if you're particularly interested in Warhammer Fantasy then there aren't so many alternatives - if it's genuine Fantasy you want, and not historicals, then Mantic's Kings of War is the only one that immediately comes to mind.

I have no intention to play tournaments...I'm looking for a game with cool miniatures, Fun gameplay and ease of entry.

GW don't let me buy from MM, or other sites to my country...Also, they want to charge me on the british money( sorry, don't know how to say Libras Esterlinas).

Right now I'm considering:

Malifaux( Seem to have a good gameplay, don't like the setting that much

Infinity( Cool miniatures, Setting is so-so, low model count is a plus)

Kings of War( I like Mantic, but their models don't appeal to me, game seem too simple for what I want)

I already bought Island of Blood and lots of paints. Maybe I can check infinity later out.

The mass battle aspect is what drives me in, really...I can see a game like infinity being played with a low model count, but Warmachine and Hordes just seem lacking. Warhammer seemed to me like an alternative to recreate epic battles like in the LoTR series...

Well...Maybe I should pick a game to play and one to paint

Skirmish game to play. Warhammer or 40k to paint the awesome models and infinity to play for a while...

Warmachine don't appeal me that much... but as right now I just have the paints ( bought one of each set that have), I still need to find the game that I will begin collecting...

[Keraun0s]

have no intention to play tournaments...I'm looking for a game with cool miniatures, Fun gameplay and ease of entry.

GW don't let me buy from MM, or other sites to my country...Also, they want to charge me on the british money( sorry, don't know how to say Libras Esterlinas).

Right now I'm considering:

Malifaux( Seem to have a good gameplay, don't like the setting that much

Infinity( Cool miniatures, Setting is so-so, low model count is a plus)

Kings of War( I like Mantic, but their models don't appeal to me, game seem too simple for what I want)

I already bought Island of Blood and lots of paints. Maybe I can check infinity later out.

The mass battle aspect is what drives me in, really...I can see a game like infinity being played with a low model count, but Warmachine and Hordes just seem lacking. Warhammer seemed to me like an alternative to recreate epic battles like in the LoTR series...

Well...Maybe I should pick a game to play and one to paint

Skirmish game to play. Warhammer or 40k to paint the awesome models.