[Chris Perkins]

Regarding armies to bring, I think the best example is where the meta at Gencon last year ended up (with slight tweaks to the format though, which should lead to very different armies this year).

Last year the format was: Bring a 18 hex 480pt army. All of your army must be from 1 of the following alliances: Jandar+Aquilla, Utgar+Valkrill, or Einar+Ullar+Vydar. No more than 300 points from 1 general.

The top 2 armies (based on popularity and results) were:
Q9, 10th Reg x4
Raelin [RotV], Nilfheim, Axegrinders x3

This year the alliances are not pre-set, which should lead to more variety in army builds.

Generally though, general wars armies try to fit one of the following criteria:
1) Synergy units, like Raelin
2) Strong units that don't bond, but make 2 very strong waves
3) Units from different generals that bond (there aren't many, but there are some)