How to Be Good at Warhammer

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Before making any major purchases

   Unless you are fairly experienced with wargames already you probably won't be sure how you will want to play, but consider the options available and what is most beneficial to you not only in terms of how you play, but also in time and money spent collecting, assembling and painting the models.
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   Step 2: read the rules and develop a basic understanding of how the different armies work!

   However, if you are impatient and not willing to paint rank upon rank of Goblins to a gaming standard, you should probably collect a more elite army, like Ogres, or if you really really want Goblins you could always go for an average-sized army of mixed Orcs and Goblins.
   
   The same applies to 40k-it may not be the best idea to go for an infantry-heavy Imperial Guard or a horde of Tyranid gaunts if you can't stand painting, but that is not to say you can't have those units-just have a mix of "horde" and "elite" units. , Find out who you will be battling and plan your army.
   
   Think about what army you are about to fight, about terrain if it is already decided, and anything else which your army will face in the coming battle. , Is there any point in arming your special weapons squad with plasma guns over grenade launchers when fighting Orcs? What is more likely to win a fight against standard infantry, a 40-man regiment of Skaven Clanrats or a couple of Rat Ogres? , Make sure you have a few games using different units and different strategies.
   
   Think about what works best for you.
   
   If you collect Imperial Guard and find the big stuff (Stormtroopers, ogryns, tanks, etc) work best for you, seriously consider a more elite army.
   
   This doesn't necessarily mean abandoning your Imperial Guard army! Many players will be happy for you to use Space Marines with your Imperial Guard, and it is perfectly acceptable to add Grey Knights-arguably the ultimate choice to be found in the Troops section of any codex in 40k-to your army.
   
   Alternatively, you may find your Genestealer-heavy Tyranid army has too few men in it-add Gaunts, lots and lots of Gaunts!!! , You can also specialize your army to your style of play without changing the actual army-for example, Chaos are commonly seen as being a close combat army.
   
   This needn't be the case, just dedicate it to Tzeentch and you're one giant step on the way to dominating the shooting phase against any foe! , This is, oddly enough, very important to mastering the art of warhammer.
   
   In the last step I focused mainly of 40k, so this time I shall focus mainly on warhammer-commoly known as warhammer fantasy battles, or warhammer fantasy.
   
   If you have been collecting Bretonnians for the past year or so and now have well over 2000 points, starting afresh with a completely different army can work wonders.
   
   During the time you have collected a balanced army of Brettonians, chances are you are used to a fast, heavy and very hard hitting army, backed by a fairly large number of peasants.
   
   You rarely outnumber your foe, but if you have a good balance of Knights and peasants you should find you are rarely outnumbered by more than 2-to-1, even by goblin or skaven hordes! Now let's say you have changed to collecting Dwarfs.
   
   Not any old dwarves though, these are shooty dwarves, with as many guns as you can fit into the army with an almost total disregard for dedicated combat troops.
   
   You are now faced with a completely different situation.
   
   You are likely to be even more outnumber than before with no extra-cheap peasants to back you up, you have no dedicated combat troops (though that's not to say your average Thunderer is useless in combat), and worst of all you are SLOW!!! On a more positive note, however, you find that the more guns you put into your army, the less enemies seem to reach you, as they are all gunned down before they can reach your lines. , Not only that, but when using your shooty Dwarves against a balanced army of Brettonians, there's every chance you know what your opponent is thinking, and what tricks they have up their sleeves (which should be none, being the most honourable people in the warhammer world). also remember to think before you move.
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   Step 3: You may want to own a giant Goblin horde because it would not only be an interesting force on the battlefield

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   Step 4: but would also look great!

5. 5

   Step 5: Once you have about 500 points you should be ready for your first decent game (40k combat patrol requires 400 points

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   Step 6: but it is still an excellent way to play a good game of Warhammer in a short space of time).

7. 7

   Step 7: If you are mathematically minded

8. 8

   Step 8: think about the probability of how many wounds you are likely to inflict with a certain weapon compared to another.

9. 9

   Step 9: Don't expand your army too quickly.

10. 10

    Step 10: Specializing your army isn't as simple as big and weak or small and strong-there are countless other things to consider

11. 11

    Step 11: such as whether you want a shooty army-such as Tau-or a close combat army-such as Orks.

12. 12

    Step 12: Eventually you may find that your army is big enough and that you want to go on to something else.

13. 13

    Step 13: This will help you to think like your enemy next time you play someone with an army like the above.

Detailed Guide

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