New to game and army w/ my daughter

Hello all, currently my 12 yr old daughter and I are about to start cutting our teeth into Warhammer.  We picked up the Island of Blood starter, and she really took an interest in the Skaven.  I'm not really into the High Elves look myself, and after doing a lot of reading and research, I really like what I have seen with the Ogre army.

We want to start small right now, and it will just be the two of us playing against each other adding things as we go.  As I find myself also picking up a few skaven models, would a simple batallion box and something else be bare bones enough to start Ogres with?  I was almost going to go with the new vampire counts army, but the ogres have me caught in their clutches so to say right now....they just look too darn nice to pass up as a fun army. 

We don't need to start with a big 2000+ army, I would think around 1000 would be fine for a father and daughter to start out with.  After all, we are learning the game together as well...not to mention the joy of painting the models as well.  I thank you for any help or comments, as it is very much appreciated.

A battalion box and something a bit more snazzy like an Ironblaster or a Thundertusk would be a great idea, the contents of the battalion are all solid choices and will allow you to get to grips with the basics of the Ogre army, whilst a larger single model will add a slightly more exotic streak to the force, give you a good chance to try out some different painting techniques and get you used to some of the game's more advanced rules. The Ogres should offset the Skaven nicely, who (as you could probably already tell) can fit a lot more models into an army and have a considerably different playstyle.

If your just starting I suggest you pick up either a firebelly or a butcher. This will help you get used to magic, which is intergral in this edition.

Battalion box, army book and a firebelly or butcher will start you off nicely. As for the skaven, island of blood stuff should come to around the same points level. All you will need is to pick up the proper army book and you should be good to go. Best of luck to you both ^_^

I'm with the rest on this one.  Get yourself a battalion and a caster (butcher or firebelly).

That will let you play and learn all the phases and most of the game rules.

It's also good to start with just that and stick with it for a while before buying more stuff.  Warhammer is a VERY expensive hobby (even when buying non-GW products) and you don't want to spend a truckload of money on 4000 points of stuff only to stop playing after 6 months.

I myself played for about 2 years before I got my first stuff (partly because I didn't have money, but mostly because I wasn't sure if I would stick with it as a hobby)

If you do get bored with the starting stuff and it's still soon, then buy extra (new) things 1 at a time at first just to be sure.

I do hope you stick with it and both of you enjoy it a lot.  But just like anything else new you try out, there might be a chance you decide it's not for you.

Although it should be noted that the big kits like the stonehorn or mournfangs or ironblaster have truckloads of extra bits and little details that are really cool and you can mix-and-match a bit with the basic ogres to give a bit of variety. The kits are all largely interchangable and you can make some cool mashups requiring no real modelling skill to make your models stand out. That's an incentive to build everything at once.

In general it's good to start with a 500 points list and start from there. 500 points is really just fine and you can have a lot of fun with them on a 4x4 board. I think it's a good idea to start without magic - really, the game works fine without magic and there's a lot to get a hold of when you're starting out. So I'd start with a combat hero to lead your force.

Well it's all already been said about your army choices, but I hope you both have a lot of fun with your new armies (they are in my rather biased opinion amongst the best and most effective not to say fun).

There's alot of fun to be had in this hobby and don't be afraid to ask. Anyone on here will point you in the right direction with regards to any aspects of the game or collecting no matter which forces you go for.

Oh, and welcome to the Ogre Stronghold!

I thank you so very much for the helpful replies.  More than likely I will go with the battalion, and a butcher for now.  (along with the army book as well).  What a great place this is, I'm happy I happened to find it.  Thanks again.

Let me chime in, just because I have some experience with Skaven.  I love them, they have a great look and can be very wicked in games.

But they are a model-heavy army.  The points for troops are cheap, so often you have a LOT of rats on the table...which means a lot of painting, and I just wanted you to know that unlike Ogres, there will be a lot more models to deal with.  Not good or bad, just preference.

I am here now, because the next army I am going to start is Ogres, mainly because they seem really cool (rules and models wise) but also because I'm so tired of painting tiny little rats in the hundreds, and I know the Ogres are on the opposite end of the spectrum in how they play.

I truly think that the Ogres and Skaven are the coolest armies.  But if starting with your daughter, just make sure the Skaven are the army she really wants, because they are a big time investment.

Also, have her check out the new Vampire Counts armies.  They are new, coming out soon, and have male and female characters, models, which might appeal to her.  And if she's a Twilight fan, all the better.. ;-)

Choose wisely, don't rush the army-picking process!  HAVE FUN!

Don't forget to pick up a handfull of 20mm bases so you can take the gnoblars from the battalion and make them their own unit.  You get 18 in there so you could easily put 10 or 12 on their own bases and the rest can flavor up your ogres.

I thank you so very much for the helpful replies.  More than likely I will go with the battalion, and a butcher for now.  (along with the army book as well).  What a great place this is, I'm happy I happened to find it.  Thanks again.

The advice already provided has been so good that I won't chip in on that count. I just wanted to wish you and your daughter good luck and hope you enjoy your wargaming together. I have similar plans for my little one when she gets to that age - I just hope she has an interest in it by then!

The advice already provided has been so good that I won't chip in on that count. I just wanted to wish you and your daughter good luck and hope you enjoy your wargaming together. I have similar plans for my little one when she gets to that age - I just hope she has an interest in it by then!

Lol, what ever happened to dolls, toy ovens and fake make-up?    Or is that LIKE SO LAST GENERATION!

Just messing with you mate.   Best of luck to you.

This is so cool! The family that hobbies together grows together

I'll just copy what others say. For 1,000 points, a battalion and a firebelly will get you most of the way there, and then either an Ironblaster if you want to rock the Skaven warmachines or some Maneaters for the versatility; if there's a budget involved, the Ironblaster will be more cost effective then attempting a unit of Maneaters (unless you decide to convert them from, say, a pack of Bulls, or "Ogres" as they call them now).

Welcome to the Stronghold!

The advice already provided has been so good that I won't chip in on that count. I just wanted to wish you and your daughter good luck and hope you enjoy your wargaming together. I have similar plans for my little one when she gets to that age - I just hope she has an interest in it by then!

Lol, what ever happened to dolls, toy ovens and fake make-up?    Or is that LIKE SO LAST GENERATION!

Just messing with you mate.   Best of luck to you.

My wife and seven-year-old daughter have recently discovered Settlers of Catan. My daughter loves it so much. She's "meh" about dolls and stuff. Believe me, if she could play Warhammer she'd love it to bits. Still too young, a few years yet. At some point we'll start where I started, with Space Hulk. 12 is a great age to start, anything less is a bit young really, but a good chance to get properly hooked before interest in teenager things (e.g. boys) really kicks in.

Space Hulk is an amazing game to get into the whole fantasy/40k thing.  It's "wierd" rules kinda prepares you for the 'big boy' rule books later on.

Wish I started with space hulk.  My first game ever I only managed to kill 2 HE spearmen .  But that was before the whole stepping up thing.

I could never understand why my troops won't just go forward when the guy in front of him dies, and when they FINALLY decide to go fight, the enemy have already killed them as well.

Welcome fellow father!

My daughter was involved in WHFB for about 2-2 1/2 years until the weekend daytime club in our town closed and she could not get to the evening club in a nearby town. This is why my account has such an odd username- it is actually hers!

I can tell you that she will be in a small minority of WHFB players (if you hadn't guessed already) and you will find it interesting to see how other players react to her. My daughter always loved the fact that everyone expected her to produce an army of woodelves or brets until she started to stick steaming lumps of ogres on the table. She also became quite proficient as you can see from her tally below which stood at 12 wins from 20 from when we started counting. That was no slouch in 7th I can tell you so it was interesting to watch players go from patronising to panicing sometimes! Sadly she never got to play a tourney as she was too young but I would have loved to have taken her to Throne of Skulls Youngbloods. I suspect she would have been the only thing with paired x chromosomes in the whole of warhammerworld.

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy your father daughter WH experience as much as we did.

Battallion + Firebelly + something cool
is your best bet for ogres, mainly because it's your only bet.

And that is something to consider, if you are going to keep the games small your going to lack variety and if your like me that means it will get boring very quickly.  If you want variety you should keep your mind open to another faction such as vamps.  Personally my Empire is what I default too when I want something different.

Get Mournfangs, Ironblasters, Firebellys and lots of heavy stuff.

All know that Skaven players are WAAC to the core and are just gaming with the cheese.

Crush her utterly I say!

 

Hi and welcome to the stronghold. Glad to see more noobies to whfb. I would vindicate what others have already stated BUT if you see something you like rather than how it plays then buy it! Also when you do get round to painting make sure the big kits are painted with the crew/riders separate! Trust me you will never successfully paint a stonehorn with the rider attached! Lol

Gary