[Daggermouth]

Hello everyone, I'm currently a warriors of chaos player who is growing weary of not having any shooting/skirmishers/flyers (characters don't count) and having an overall lack of tactical flexibility. I'm planning on starting a new army and trying to decide whether I should go with Skaven or Dark Elves. I like the fluff of both armies, both have nice models (although painting 120 clanrats/slaves doesn't sound all that enjoyable), and I think both have very good army books. Anyone have any opinions?

 

[Auere]

Dark elves is possibly the most rewarding army to play. The vast amount of effective unit choices gives you a varied army that is fun to assemble and paint, and is equally fun and effective in battle.

It is quite possible to play almost every kind of tactic with Dark Elves. I have played block infantry lists, blitz warfare and shooting/magic list, all with great success.

In my opinion, however strong their shooting and magic can be, dark elves seem to win the game in close combat - usually first round, where they have hatred. Cold one knights are just plain evil. When did a unit of five not earn back their 135 points? Mine did even in a game where they failed two stupidity tests.

 

[GMJoeSolarte]

Hate the DE's, and I was a Skaven player in 5th and 6th editions but while Skaven do well vs some armies, they in my experience, faired terribly vs the DE, which is why i come here to try to find that magical list and tactics that will work vs them.

The Skaven will require LOTS of painting, as you are talking about very big units. Dark Elf armies are not as big and would require less painting.

 

[palasarop]

well dark elves i notice are a lot more competetive than skaven,there troops are elites with high point cost but are very fragile,you have to use them well,they take a while to learn how to use but once you learn they can be very powerful.if your facing gunline armies then i personally think(this is only my opinion)you might be better off with skaven since a clanrat with shield upgrade is equally as easy to shoot as a normal dark elf(both have M5 T3 and LA/shield) warrior but you can get 2 clanrats for every warrior,but skaven are lacking in cheap shooters since the cheapest thing in a skaven army that can shoot is a 20point jezzail while DE can have repeater crossbowmen for 10points(i think im not sure)im not very experienced with either(since i play daemons and TK and have never played them my only expierience is reading the skaven book and glancing through the DE book)but hating the enemy can be very useful with DE and they have some cool monsterous creatures(manticore,hydra,dragon etc)there both quite diffrent but if you want a lot of flexibility maybe DE(or tomb kings=P...just saying)

 

[Daggermouth]

Skaven seem like they would he a ton of fun to play, sometimes. Other times all of your tactical choices and maneuvers are screwed up when everything misfires or your cannon only shoots a strength 2 shot. Im starting to feel that as WoC are limited in their unit choices, skaven are limited by their randomness. Dark elves don't suffer either of these set backs. My only problem is that there are two other DE players at my club. I'm leaning towards Dark Elves.

 

[8people]

Why do so many people see other players with the same army as a deterrent for collecting?

Generals play their armies differently, you can focus on a different area of the fluff to make a more unique army or do a different scheme to either other player.

DE have a lot of units with fun strengths, you can start with a pretty solid core and play around with different units to see what you like, even if you don't use a unit in the end having a few models to paint and keep on a shelf or cabinet are nice to have around.

 

[Daggermouth]

That's a very good point. I would probably build my army around cavalry and mobile magic, centered by some black guard and maybe some warriors. Thanks for the input!

 

[rookai]

i havn't tried the new skaven but i moved from warriors of chaos to dark elves for the exact same reason although the only thing i regret is giving up such powerful magic! Otherwise no regrets

 

[Intrepid]

Why do so many people see other players with the same army as a deterrent for collecting?

I think it's mostly a 40k thing; they're always overrun with Space Marine armies. Also, it's no bad thing to want to be unique. I took up Dark Elves because there were already two Lizardmen players and I'm as happy with evil as I would have been with reptile.

I can't say much about Skaven, but one of the really fun things about Dark Elves is that we don't have an upper limit on our magical power curve. Once you have a level 1 Sorceress channel 5 power dice out of sheer frustration at the Dwarves shooting down everything you do, you'll know what I mean. DE also tend to be glass daggers. We're amazing at the beginning of combats but we generally lose if the combat goes more than 1 phase. Skaven are probably much better at SCR.

 

[8people]

Most 40K players round here are Nid players, it's quite funny seeing about five different coloured armies with different units... in the same poses. Apart from the guy who has rippers bursting out of guard... but I digress.

A lot of DE players will make Dark Riders out of Wood ELf Glade Riders and spare warrior bodies.

Be careful about how many units of cold ones you intend to take - the more you have the mure DUR HUR moments you will get

Miscasts can be a masive pain, there is nothing like the elation of rolling two sixes then realising the other two dice are ones.:love-over:

Power of Darkness can be awesome, but dangerous if you miscast, if you have more than one Sorceress it's best to cast PoD with one, use her spells, then move on to the second Sorceress. If you get all your PoD out the way first you're leaving yourself with a sorceress surrounded by goblin boxers. We're squishy.

Also don't forget the other lores! We get PoD whatever lore we take (I believe, don't have book in front of me) and the other three lores in the main rulebook can be a blessing against some opponents.