Post by GreatBigTree on Jun 18, 2017 2:41:46 GMT
I also started with Ret. Post 3rd edition, at the beginning of March. Like, 3 weeks before the 2017 AIO box came out, and about a month or so before PP's forums shut down.
So I can tell you, as a person that's played for about 3.5 months and had about 10 or so games, that building a mixed force was also my plan. I wanted to play solidly into shooting [say, 66%] with a list that was flexible [utility Jacks like Manticore] with some neat tricks [in this case, positioning effects]. People immediately recommended Sentinels, the Battle Box, and some Arcanists. I wanted some Riflemen, was told they were second rate compared to Invictors [Shooty Dawnguard] but I liked the models and have been absolutely pleased with how they play. Never tried Invictors... but I love my Riflemen. So I now have a 75 point army of generally good stuff, and some stuff I want to play because I like the look or idea of the models. I knew NOTHING of the game, just bought what I thought looked cool, was reasonably easy to paint, and bought 1/2 of the models people thought were on the high end of the power scale. To answer my own questions...
1: Battle Box, Riflemen, Sentinels are ok, but mostly because people say they're powerhouses. [They are damned solid troops!
]
2: Mostly Shooty, but I never like putting all my eggs in one basket so some models that can do both well. [Manticore, Pheonix, Gorgon, for the win!]
3: Tricksy. I prefer take-all-comers lists, that take advantage of my opponent's weaknesses rather than force a game to my strengths.
So these are conflicting, between Non-Theme and Forges. "Are you hard-set on the Riflemen, or would any unit that has a ranged weapon do? If you want to play tricksy and like the Jacks, then Battle Mages are shooty AND tricksy with position altering effects."
To be honest, I probably would have stuck with Riflemen. Because I really like the models, for whatever reason. I can't put my finger on it. So I would have made an active decision to play Non-Theme off the bat, but I probably would have held off on buying the Sentinels knowing that if I wanted to follow the Forges route they were one-and-a-half times as expensive as another battle box, and I could have bought that box and a couple of Arcanists instead. Within 3 games, I knew how powerful positioning was, and probably would have started the Forges route, mostly retiring the Riflemen and adding some Battle Mages. I decided to follow through on my first Non-Theme idea, and enjoy it plenty. But I am now actively building my current "dream list" with lots of Jacks, Shooty Infantry, Nearly everything has a shooting option but can also hold it's own in close combat with help, and is full of tricksy dickishness like position altering, and lots of shooting defence should my opponent also prefer the ranged game. I will be able to play keep away with Punchy stuff, and draw in to melee shooty stuff.
I just wish that people had asked me questions when I was starting, rather than give generic advice. Which is the main reason I don't think there's a list of "generally good stuff that will always be useful to you" unless you're a dedicated non-themer, which doesn't seem to be the way of the game.
So I can tell you, as a person that's played for about 3.5 months and had about 10 or so games, that building a mixed force was also my plan. I wanted to play solidly into shooting [say, 66%] with a list that was flexible [utility Jacks like Manticore] with some neat tricks [in this case, positioning effects]. People immediately recommended Sentinels, the Battle Box, and some Arcanists. I wanted some Riflemen, was told they were second rate compared to Invictors [Shooty Dawnguard] but I liked the models and have been absolutely pleased with how they play. Never tried Invictors... but I love my Riflemen. So I now have a 75 point army of generally good stuff, and some stuff I want to play because I like the look or idea of the models. I knew NOTHING of the game, just bought what I thought looked cool, was reasonably easy to paint, and bought 1/2 of the models people thought were on the high end of the power scale. To answer my own questions...
1: Battle Box, Riflemen, Sentinels are ok, but mostly because people say they're powerhouses. [They are damned solid troops!
]2: Mostly Shooty, but I never like putting all my eggs in one basket so some models that can do both well. [Manticore, Pheonix, Gorgon, for the win!]
3: Tricksy. I prefer take-all-comers lists, that take advantage of my opponent's weaknesses rather than force a game to my strengths.
So these are conflicting, between Non-Theme and Forges. "Are you hard-set on the Riflemen, or would any unit that has a ranged weapon do? If you want to play tricksy and like the Jacks, then Battle Mages are shooty AND tricksy with position altering effects."
To be honest, I probably would have stuck with Riflemen. Because I really like the models, for whatever reason. I can't put my finger on it. So I would have made an active decision to play Non-Theme off the bat, but I probably would have held off on buying the Sentinels knowing that if I wanted to follow the Forges route they were one-and-a-half times as expensive as another battle box, and I could have bought that box and a couple of Arcanists instead. Within 3 games, I knew how powerful positioning was, and probably would have started the Forges route, mostly retiring the Riflemen and adding some Battle Mages. I decided to follow through on my first Non-Theme idea, and enjoy it plenty. But I am now actively building my current "dream list" with lots of Jacks, Shooty Infantry, Nearly everything has a shooting option but can also hold it's own in close combat with help, and is full of tricksy dickishness like position altering, and lots of shooting defence should my opponent also prefer the ranged game. I will be able to play keep away with Punchy stuff, and draw in to melee shooty stuff.
I just wish that people had asked me questions when I was starting, rather than give generic advice. Which is the main reason I don't think there's a list of "generally good stuff that will always be useful to you" unless you're a dedicated non-themer, which doesn't seem to be the way of the game.
