Fan Mail

Got this letter from Matt. I put my own answers and comments in bold.


Hey Shawn! Nice to hear from you again.

I''m not the best painter in the world by far, but I've decided to paint the models i have myself (at least the Skaven ones). I dunno, I just sort of caught the painting bug. I do have some questions. I have never used foundation paints in my painting. Are they overly important? Should I start using them? GW foundation paints? We don't use them, but they do have good opacity. I think they're a good product.

Also, when I check online in the Skaven Tactics Section (Underempire.com), people say it's best to arm your clanrats with handweapons and shields. But when I call into mail order, they're always like : "Spears. Go spears". Don't listen to Mail Order. Go hand weapon and shield. Spears shouldn't cost any extra points because while you gain a benefit you also lose one.

Massive blocks of troops where reccomended, namely about 50 rats a unit, 10 wide thus gaining the Horde bonus. So I was thinking two units of handweapons and one with spears? How large should the plague monk units be? The stormvermin? As you said "30 is the new 20" when it comes to infantry Stormvermin: not so good. Stick with giant hordes. Too bad, Stormvermin are cool models. Mix some spears in, about a third so that you can change your mind later. If you read the rules only the majority (ie 16 out of 30 models) has to have the correct weapon.

Also, what is the average Fantasy points battle you guys play at Bluetable? I heard Gamesworkshop was trying to push games to 3000 points.
Of course they are! 2500 pts is what we play, but I think 3000 is not a bad idea.

Watched your video by the way about how the new rules are affecting the game. Since the emphasis now is on large units of infantry, does that mean small forces of elite troops suffer?
If the elite troops have killy power to make up for it then they are just fine. Like Swordmasters and Chaos Warriors.

Saw some polls on the internet and I know the Internet is not the BEST source of reliable information, but I checked out a few sites and they all had generally the same 'top tier, middle tier, and lower tier' armies. This was the general rankings of the armies under the new rules, from 'best' to 'worst'

1. Dwarfs

2. Skaven

3. Empire

4. Dark Elves

5. Lizardmen

6. High Elves

7. Daemons of Chaos

8. Warriors of Chaos

9. Ogre Kingdoms

10. Vampire Counts

11. Orcs and Golbins

12. Tomb Kings

13. Beastmen

14. Bretonnia

15. Wood Elves


What do you think of this? I know it's not official by any means, but have you noticed any trends at your studio that seem to suggest a 'top tier, middle tier, lower tier' system for the armies? And frankly, i don't care if the Orcs and Goblins are down the list, I'll probably end up getting them anyway.
The jury is still out. People haven't made the extreme versions of those bottom-ranking armies yet (eg my 132 Glade Guard Wood Elves army).

I would move the following up a notch or two: Warriors of Chaos and Orcs and Goblins.

Hope you guys are having fun over there. Looking for a job currently, and once the cash starts coming in, there are a number of armies that I am interested in! lol. For now though, I'm forced to go it alone.

DO MORE FANTASY VIDEOS!!! ;) --------Matt