Comparison Shopping
I've been comparing each of my potential new armies in a variety of ways to find which one would be the best fit for me. In my last article I looked at how well each one might fit the water army style that I am very interested in playing. This week, I'm trying to sum up the intangibles.

I can't quite put my finger on it...
The other comparisons I've made are easy to put numbers to. For example, when comparing how much each army might cost, I have black and white numbers to look at and compare one army list to another. Very simple and easy. However, not everything that will influence the decision is so easily quantifiable. For example, I've been interested in playing a Chaos army for a while, and this would be an opportunity to do so. How much is that interest worth compared to wanting to save money? (Chaos would be the most expensive of the three armies for me to use.) I can't really put a number to these feelings, but I want to put them all out on paper. Partly this is to help me decide, and partly it may help you decide on something (whether it's an army or some other decision.)

DeathWing

I've played DeathWing before, so it's a little less exciting for me. On the other hand, the Water Army is a significantly different style of play, so this may not be that much of a problem. I'm usually concerned about using small model-count armies, because they are so fragile to a few lucky shots. While these Terminators are still vulnerable to lucky shots, they are remarkably resilient between their 2+ armor save and their 5+ invulnerable save. In addition, those LandRaiders can take a huge beating and act to further shield the Terminators. In addition, their weaponry is just as effective out to 24" so they can do damage and keep out of reach of most effective weaponry. In addition, their powerfists are extremely effective at short range and can effectively damage any unit or model in the game that gets close or that they choose to close with.

Space Marine Bike Force

I started out playing non-Spacemarine armies, and I quickly realized that almost everybody out there (it seemed) played Space Marines. Most of my opponents have always been Space Marines, and so I've developed a bit of a chip on my shoulder about Space Marines. I have mostly gotten over it, but I still have a knee-jerk reaction to the idea of playing "The Enemy." As I mentioned above with the DeathWing army, I'm also concerned about this army being fragile due to it's low model count. A biker army _is_ more fragile than a Terminator army, so this army definitely worries me in terms of being vulnerable to a few lucky shots. Too, the speed of this army is something that I'm very excited by, but I do have a little concern that I'll use the speed as a crutch and operate more like an Air army than a water army. I've played air armies before. While I enjoy them, what I want to try is a Water army.

Chaos Space Marines

Well, I've been interested in playing a Chaos Marine army for quite a while now. I've had a lot of different ideas about which kind I might want to play or how they might all work. While this army list doesn't exactly fit any of my previous plans, it would get me a Chaos army and some of the models I'd need for my other army options, and these models mostly fit into the Water Army concept. On the other hand, that too is a problem. They _mostly_ fit the Water army concept. Although I tried my hardest to make it fit into the concept, I had a much harder time with this army list than the others, because nothing in the Troops section was really a complete fit.

So what does all this mean? Ultimately, I don't know, but it feels good to get all this out in the open. Some of these issues, I feel better about after looking at them in print. Others, I think I have realized, are perhaps more difficult to work around than I'd originally thought. Soon, I'll be taking a look at all my comparisons and making my final decision on this army.

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