So I was thinking about what to get to expand my army, I'm playing waiquar.

I have two core sets, split with a friend.

I'd like the option of running a full block of reanimates, so that's two expansions. $50

One expansion of archers, giving a range of options between 3 2*1 units or one 6*2 unit. $25

At least two Carrion Lancers. Options to upgrade the reanimate units, or run several small worms as interefence. $50

An infantry upgrade expansion. Probably two, since the banners are very nice. $50

****. This game will get expensive fast... I really hate that the basic infantry is also only two trays per expansion, for $25! Going for a list with 2 units of 9 reanimates is rediculously pricey.

Ech, this got a little sour, didnt intend it that way.

On a cheerier note, what do you think about expanding your army? Which expansions will you buy?

I was pretty happy because it wasn't going to be so expensive only collecting one faction. Then I have a bunch of friends who want to try it, but don't want to buy in right away, so I'm collecting both starter factions. Then they previewed the elves, the one faction I had no interest in at all.... and **** they look cool. I may need another job.

It is cheaper than a few games actually. Compared to bolt action or GW stuff. Though over time I see it getting super expensive with multiple factions. I mean I spent 1,500$ on both factions for Armada. Unlike armada however the core is cost effective for models.

And don't get me started on the "important upgrade cards in other factions expansion" that Armada has. That doesn't seem the case here.

Spearmen / reanimates are 2 trays for 25? Dang was really hoping for 4 from them. Well I just bought a second core so hardly matters I guess. Lays a good foundation to work on. I might swap one side with a friend which will net me 12 trays anyway (so expansion - 14, which should be plenty). Undead seems to benefit more from 3 core than Daqan though (and undead are never really interesting to me).

Now the looking super mobile elf army... That could be a problem.

Well going into a game like this I knew it would be pricey, but they get you since you buy it in pieces. People say X-wing is cheap but dang I got alot of ships and I'm not even buying every ship.

I do agree that the expansions are a bit priecy for the models you get. 2 archer trays per box is fine since you only really need 1-2 of them if you got 2 parts of a core set, same with lancers. Reanimates though, I could see fielding 2 3x3 blocks and that's 4 expansions + probably 2 char uppgrade (that only give one tray worth of guys for the same price).

That is of course only a problem thanks to the fact that som units you can field way more trays than others. I would really prefer the reanimate/spearmen having the same price as lancers/golems but have 4 trays per box.

Then it's the problem with uppgrade cards, you seem to only get 1 copy per card and that's fine for x-wing expansions since they show up in multiple boxes or have multiple copies in the same box and the small ship expansions are cheaper. Now I don't wanna be a naysayer but I think I will be more careful buying in hard to this game. Sticking with a pre planned 200p list and wait and see or use proxies.

I've got two cores of undead, two support packs pre-ordered, plan to get one more archer, reanimate, and hero, maybe two sets of lancers when they show up.

For the moment I have 2 cores (collecting both factions) with one of every expansion pre-ordered.

Then see where it'll go. Probably into more. Hey hum. Having a wife is also pretty expensive.

I bought two core sets and splitted them with friend and planning to buy just infantry upg. and Lord Hawthorne. I dont need to have every possible option of building my army. Expansions are realy expensive

I got 2 cores too and will buy one of everything. Gives for undead most choices I am interested in for now. Worst is reanimates and there you get 10 bases. That's two 3x2 with worm upgrade if you use base set hero or one 4x3 with worm and infantry upgrades or hero. With the two 3x2 setup you still got 2 solo party worms left for the army. Kinda nice set of choices and still pretty cheap.

59 minutes ago, Lorien5678 said:

I got 2 cores too and will buy one of everything. Gives for undead most choices I am interested in for now. Worst is reanimates and there you get 10 bases. That's two 3x2 with worm upgrade if you use base set hero or one 4x3 with worm and infantry upgrades or hero. With the two 3x2 setup you still got 2 solo party worms left for the army. Kinda nice set of choices and still pretty cheap.

This is my road trip too. Double core content and one expansion each of only one faction. That's enough for me. At the end 200 points game you don't need so many options things.

I'm also waiting on buying too many expansions till I see if running two heroes is viable, because if it is then I don't need nearly as many expansions.

For me it's been, "buy 2 of the army box then 1 of each expansion". That works fine except for the announcement of heavy crossbows today. I'm not really sure how many of those to get. I mean, could see wanting 3 sets either for 2 formations of 3x1 or a single 3x2 formation. My problem is that that will cost me $75. Ouch! I assume there will be more units only available in blisters (as opposed to an army box) and those are going to be pricey I'm sure. Not really sure what my stance will be on those going forward.

Honestly, unless something pops up that demands it, 2x1 tray of crossbowmen is enough.

Why? Its a mortal strike source, not raw damage output. For 22pts you got 2 trays with the Piercing Shot upgrade for hero or large model hunting.
Almost every miniature game i play i do the "sacrificial lamb" strat, and except in Xwing it works wonders. Theyre dirt cheap, but deadly enough to justify taking out. Problem is because theyre so cheap you either waste multiple turns taking them down or "waste" a powerhouse unit to just wipe them out in one go instead of my workhorse unit, which is the REAL threat.
Started doing that with 40k Orks...MANz missiles are pathetically cheap but deadly enough to justify anti-tank weaponry to get rid of them..problem is if you do that my battlewagons just drove into your face unscathed. Decisions...you must make them!

That 2x1 will butcher a lot of Large models or Heroes. They will most likely die in the process, but at 22pts? dont care, they did their jobs.

I'll buy for my Waiqar: 2 Archers, 2 Infantry expansion, 2 Reanimates, 1 Carrion lancer box, and 1 Hero for now.

I bought one core and traded the Waiqar for a buddies Daqan, so with upgrades I can put together a sub-optimal 200 point list already. From here I plan on getting one of each expansion to see how they work. Probably multiples of the command expansion and the crossbowmen. I was super excited about the elves, but I may actually hold off on going nuts with them, I love the style of the Daqan, and Lord Hawthorne is getting used instead of Kari asap (especially now that you don't need Kari to bring in Deepwood Archers to get ranged options in Daqan).

Probably the only reason im resisting trading models with my roommate for double the starter box is i want to demo this game to get people interested, so i need multiple armies anyway lol.
Course thanks to work springing a last minute friggen business trip on me i probably wont be able to do that till June.....fml...

I have four core worth of undead, and plan on buying x2 infantry upgrades, and one of everything else. I'll buy upcoming undead units as needed, but at $25 for two trays, I probably won't buy as many.

2 hours ago, Vineheart01 said:

Honestly, unless something pops up that demands it, 2x1 tray of crossbowmen is enough.

Why? Its a mortal strike source, not raw damage output. For 22pts you got 2 trays with the Piercing Shot upgrade for hero or large model hunting.
Almost every miniature game i play i do the "sacrificial lamb" strat, and except in Xwing it works wonders. Theyre dirt cheap, but deadly enough to justify taking out. Problem is because theyre so cheap you either waste multiple turns taking them down or "waste" a powerhouse unit to just wipe them out in one go instead of my workhorse unit, which is the REAL threat.
Started doing that with 40k Orks...MANz missiles are pathetically cheap but deadly enough to justify anti-tank weaponry to get rid of them..problem is if you do that my battlewagons just drove into your face unscathed. Decisions...you must make them!

That 2x1 will butcher a lot of Large models or Heroes. They will most likely die in the process, but at 22pts? dont care, they did their jobs.

That's actually a really good point. Maybe I'll just start off small with them and get more in the situation calls for it. The only trouble with 2x1 is the lack of upgrades, but if all you really care about is mortal strikes then that's probably fine given what upgrades we know about.

57 minutes ago, Willange said:

That's actually a really good point. Maybe I'll just start off small with them and get more in the situation calls for it. The only trouble with 2x1 is the lack of upgrades, but if all you really care about is mortal strikes then that's probably fine given what upgrades we know about.

As long as the front two models in your front rank trays are correct it's clear what the unit is suppossed to be. Fill the rest of the slots with other models to get in a few games with the bigger formations to see if they are what you want.

All you need is Rank Discipline

In the end the cheapest way to get "units" is core sets. I have come to the conclusion that 3 core sets is the way to go. Yes, its crappy that you won't get the cards, once again FFG has made it impossible for players putting us in a position to buy expansions just for the cards which sucks, but that's why proxy is a word in gaming.

My gaming group has agreed that card Proxy will be allowed forever but this is largely do to the set up and cost.

Consider that you have 2 core sets.

That gets you 8 trays of Reanimates for example. In order to get a full Reanimates tray you need to buy 2 expansions of the Infantry, which is basically 50 bucks. That's already half the cost of a core set which not only gives you more units for your army but also for your friends army.

From an economics stand point buy 2 reanimates expansions for 50 bucks just so you can get 4 trays makes absolutly no sense compared to buying another core set, the only reason to do it is the cards which again is completly ludicrious to me I would never in a million years do that.

FFG has already build in mechanic metas that will force stupid purchases for competitive players. For example Archers, it WILL be a meta to always include Combat Ingenuity with archers, likely setup up in a 3 2x1 formation (or something along those lines) but if you bought 2 core sets, your short 2 cards, so now you're forced to buy 3 archers to get all the cards you need even though you won't ever use the units, just the cards. Alternatively if you bought 1 core set you will have to buy 3 Archer expansions anyway, even though you already have a unit because combat ingenuity is not included in the core set.

It would upset me if I cared about "official tournaments", but as a player who will only participate in house games where proxy is allowed, it stands to reason that if I need more units I will be buying core sets. Really the only expansions that interest me are those not included in the core set and in that regard I think FFG screwed up. I think they would stand to make a lot more money if they designed this with fair business practices and the player community in mind. I would happily buy any expansion but I will never do it just for the cards.

If you still need the actual meta ****, you need to buy boxes for cards. But this cards go uselell or less usefull with later releases. I've no problem with proxed cards in private games. For tournament I need to build lists with my own cards or bought cards from my friends. With more diversity (cards and units) it will be easier.

Man, FFG says, "We won't force you to buy out-of-faction for cards," and it's still not good enough for people.

1 minute ago, Budgernaut said:

Man, FFG says, "We won't force you to buy out-of-faction for cards," and it's still not good enough for people.

You can't please everyone, no matter what you do...FFG listened to complaints from X-Wing worked to not repeat the issue and it just isn't ever going to be enough...they could release a deck of upgrades for 10 bucks and people would be mad it wasn't print for free...