Eldar or Orks?

[aurak_merc]

Hello all,

I have a 40k question for those who care to chime in. I am considering collecting a new army and the choice is between Orks and Eldar. Fluff-wise I think they are about equal for me. I would be collecting primarily for Apocalypse games. So far, I see pro's and con's to both ranges.

Eldar:
Good = excellent looking vehicles, Warwalkers and Wraithlords. Old Armorcast titans are sometimes cheap and I think they look quite cool.
Bad = I do not like the looks of any the Eldar infantry. I have heard that they are something of an "elite" army that is kind of hard to get the hang of.

Orks:
Good = Great looking infanty, especially the Meganobz. Cheap to bulk out an army via the Black Reach Orks. Decently priced Stompa kit. The killer kans and Deff Dreads are ok looking.
Bad = Their other vehicles. My goodness, I think they look terrible. I am not a converter, so the ramshackle design would end up being static amongst a group of a given vehicle type. Every Ork player I have personally encountered tries to pull off a really awful fake accent for the entire game. It makes me irrationally angry at the person doing so.

However, what is really going to help decide between the two is: Which army is easiest to get the general hang of?

Thanks.

[Gaijin18]

That is a slightly tricky question, as army choice and make up tends to follow both the feel and look of the overall range but also the personality of the general.

So what is your play style. I would start there.

I used to play eldar and rather enjoyed them,they are a rather fast army,but do take some getting used to.

Orks are well orks,,run up shoot and smash.

[aurak_merc]

Hi there,

I actually have not played a game of 5th edition 40k as of yet, and only 2 or 3 games of 4th. I used to be really heavy into Warmachine, and played Cryx (unusual attacks, fast units) and Khador (huge point sink models that can take a ton of damage and deal out an equal amount).

I consider accurate attacks more important than sheer volume. I also like larger, point heavy models (as long as they are worth it) due to less stuff to keep track of and keeping my collection managable.

[HarlequinZero]

I consider accurate attacks more important than sheer volume. I also like larger, point heavy models (as long as they are worth it) due to less stuff to keep track of and keeping my collection managable.

Then I would say you definitely want to pick Eldar. Orks can't hit anything in the shooting phase and transporting an army usually consists of huge boxes of infantry that you dump on the table. In Apocalypse having around 200-300 boyz alone would not be a stretch and that wouldn't even make a dent in your army points total.

[MagickalMemories]

I think it depends on what kind of Apoc games you play.
For some people, an Apoc game is, really, just a HUGE game of 40K. They bring out all their infantry, scores of Hvy Wpn infantry, etc.
For others, it's nothing but the big boys.

If you are more the first type, then you will probably like Eldar more (I say this due to the "accurate shooting" comment). if you just want to play the big toys (like me), then you'll probably be better off with Orks. Orks have a lot more big toys you can drop on the table... many of which use varying templates as much as or more than BS shots.


Eric

[porkuslime]

Also something to consider.. Eldar point values are wierd.. some units are fairly cheap (Wraithlords for example), and at the same time, their transports (Wave Serpents) are the most expensive in the game.

However, having said that, for what you describe wanting, go Eldar and focus on Aspects and Big Things.. you will probably spend less cash and get higher point value items.

In terms of play style, Orks are much easier to start up.. they really are "smash face" style of play.. get close, and whale on the opposition. For Apoc, you ARE going to be toting huge buckets of infantry.

Although it IS possible to make a legal Ork Walker army with just 4 models.. lol.. (not Apoc)

[Norseman]

Eldar are a specialist army where a unit is ONLY good at ONE or TWO things. No options to make every squad capable of dealing with tanks. It is harder to get the hang of and harder to use overall.

Orks are easy. They are simple and have the capabilities of making almost every unit capable of killing armor. They cant shoot very well so that means you will have to ram or HtH almost EVERYTHING. Which is very easy because they ROCK at HtH.

I would recommend Orks for ease to learn and play well.

I do think Eldar will be getting a new book within a year which may spice things up a bit, but they will still be a specialist army they always have been.

[aurak_merc]

Thanks for all the advice folks, I appreciate the insight. At this moment, I am thinking Eldar might be what I want to do so as to avoid the humongous amounts of infantry I would need to lug around for a game. Several hundred infantry models would be a nightmare for me as I am the sort who has to have every model in his army painted before he will play it. I don't care if my opponent does, but it is sort of an OCD thing for me and wargames.

I might just need to buckle down, head to the LGS and watch a couple of games and ask the players questions afterwards. Those Eldar players are pretty rare locally, but if I have patience I can probably find one

Thanks again.

[joko12]

And if you don't like the old eldar models you could always use the new dark eldar models for conversions.

Just paint them in whatever color scheme you want and say they are eldar getting ready to turn bad or something.

I don't know what fluff you want to use but the new dark eldar models are really cool.

And so are the new prism tanks. They look really cool.

Good luck with it though.

Also Harliquins are a very good choice for starting up a cool themed eldar army, they are my favorite models in the 40k game. Their fluff is so awesome and they are pretty good in combat as well.