Whats a good contrasting Warband to Undead?

I'm almost finished with my Undead warband (just need to finish up conversions of Dregs and Necro) so I need to think of trading all my spare models for other warbands. These are the ones that interest me right now:

Most Interest
Orcs
• I like Trolls, I like the idea of having xbow Orcs.
• I want to have an Orc mounted on War Boar.
• Don't care too much about Goblins but I think it'd be funny to have a few around.

Black Orcs
• I like elite orcs.
• They can still have xbows, but not as much as Orcs.
• Still has access to Trolls.
• Don't care much about Shaman so lack of doesn't bother me.
• Shame there is a lack of War Boars and it'd be a waste to put it on just a regular Orc.

Beastmen
• Love the models.
• Gives me an excuse to get an Avatars of War Minotaur (one of my favorite mythical creatures)
• Downside is, the warband seems to lack overall variety (might be wrong about this).
• No ranged makes it have a lot of similarities as Undead (almost might as well not have range due to Dreg's BS 2)

Interested
Dark Elves
• Would try to come up with a way to mount a character on a new Cold One model (bought a box for my GF to convert one of her Saurus riding on one over the goofy Lizardmen one)
• New Corsair models are badass
• Would love to find a way to fit in a single Executioner and Black Guard model.. I always thought they were amazing models, but found them odd in units (I played them in WHFB)
• I'd use the more balanced rules set established on Druchii.net

Honorary Mentions
High Elves (Shadow Warriors?)
• Pretty much the only reason is I might be getting the WHFB starter set.

Any of the human merc faction
• Like the High/Shadow Elves.. this is more of a far stretch and I'm leaning more to the warbands listed above. I really like the Pistolier models and would love to create a warband around at least one of those models. Not sure how viable this is.


There goes it. If nothing else, I created this thread to generate some discussion. Thanks in advance for any input.

Beastman would be a good switch, as they move like lightening. With Undead, you have Zombies that move 4". Gors run 10", and your centigor goes 16".

Skaven are a pretty big switch too- in addition to the speed, they have low LD (can't get any different than the mindless zombies), and they come with your Starter Set.

Orcs are fun- some of the strongest warriors from their cost, but they are unpredictable. Luckily, your max size of 20 and with very little restriction on what you can buy, you can have a force that's as varied as you want.

Hmm... All the warbands you're most interested in share a common trait: poor shooting, which is also shared with the undead. Amount, range, and accuracy of shooting plays a huge part in the overall "feel" of a warband in my opinion, so I'm not sure how much different you're going to find those first three. Animosity will help with the variety though.

The druchii list is a good one, and far far different than the undead, so I'll cast my vote in that direction.

Ps: if you do get the started set and don't have any plans for the skaven, I'd love to buy the clan rats off of you.

edit: corrected spelling and such. Damn autocorrect

Thanks for the input guys. Are Orcs really considered bad shooters? Black Orcs maybe, but standard Orcs seem to have access to a good number of xbows and they have a BS of 3 (average human). I do understand the Druchii are far better shots than they are, but seems like Orcs are at least close to on par with the average shooters. I do admit much of what appeals to me with the Orcs though.. are the conversion possibilities. I'd love to convert some Orcs with xbows (I know there are Ruglud's Orcs.. but I'd rather do the conversion).

I thought about Skaven, but I think my girlfriend wants to claim that after she's done with Dwarfs. Part of why I'm even considering getting the boxed set (sorry whiskey, but you'll be the first to know if things change).

In the beginning orcs don't shoot so good, but eventually as you gear them up they can. However, they really do shine in melee, with many of them sporting a high toughness and strength.

I always forget that orcs don't have the same low BS in mordheim as they do elsewhere.

I'll stand by my Druchii suggestion though. You can make really, really awesome Shades by mixing Corsair legs, Glade Guard (or Rider) torsos and heads, and Dark Elf RXB arms. Plus, of course the Corsair kit is awesome with no conversions needed.

Also, no worries about the Skaven. I shamelessly ask anyone who I know is buying that box if they want to sell the Clan Rats. You can never have enough clan rats, plus that kit is the only way to get slaves.

Haha, yea.. same. I started off with 40k and I remember in 3rd edition they took the Ork BS down to 2. After that, I got used to every greenskin being poor shots.

Shadow elf conversions based on the kit mixes whiskeytango mentions do look nifty. With two of my heroes, I also used 40K witch elf legs and torsos to make two female warriors.

I really enjoy playing human warbands because of the wide range of weaponry and the themes that are possible.

Reiklanders are the group I have played far more than any other.

Beastmen are a little one-dimensional - charge forward into melee. Of course, that can be quite fun. But I miss not having any ability to shoot.

mweaver wrote:

Reiklanders are the group I have played far more than any other.

Beastmen are a little one-dimensional - charge forward into melee. Of course, that can be quite fun. But I miss not having any ability to shoot.

Thats what I worry about playing Beastmen. I love the models, love Minotaurs.. but seems overall the warband has lack of variety. I'm already kind of playing a warband that lacks it in the troops (no equipment!).

At least with the low model-count close combat warbands you have to think more tactically. Orc hordes and Beastmen can be a bit formulaic.