Best Armies for Newbies?

[Geet]

I'm having a ton of friends over this weekend, and we're going to be playing games. I'm looking for some tips on the best way to introduce them to Heroscape, specifically which armies to play with.

I was thinking that I should put together several armies and then let them just pick one. Any suggestions on army lists (and total point values for that matter)? I'm thinking bonding might be too complicated (now why is he getting 4 turns, and I only get 3?) I'd also like to include Marvel due to the cool factor, but I am a little concerned that they'll "steal the show" and weaken the effectiveness of some of the weaker squads.

Thoughts?

[Aldin]

When I set about to do something similar a while back I went with a skirmish concept. Smallish maps featuring some type of nifty terrain (trees and road on one, glaciers on the other) with 300 point armies. I designed the armies primarily for balance and theme. So, for example, I had a Knight army, an Orc army, an Elf army, etc. I didn't want too much in the way of D20 powers, but did use plenty of bonding. I also tried to stay away from units that can be frustrating or have tricky tactics like the Shades (which weren't out then) or the Rats. Wish I'd made and kept army lists, but there is at least one thread in competitive armies that has 250 or 300 point armies you might use as a springboard.

~Aldin, wishing you excellent luck in inducting new 'Scapers into the addiction

EDIT Here are a couple of good threads:

http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=13223
http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=12997

/EDIT

[markwars]

Start with the Master Set and work outward from there. Learn the synergies that go with the Master Set first and you'll be fine. Orcs and Romans are great ways to wade into the sea of boosters as well.

[thaddeus p whirl]

A lot of armies are point-costed to align with their synergies. For example, Taelord and 2 squads of Minions of Utgar are 400 points for a reason. Like markwars said, the game flows pretty naturally out from the first master set. A lot of cool armies can be made just from the master set alone. Do some experimentation, think about what might work, and check the site for all sorts of strategies and insights.

[rdhight]

I've done this not long ago, and I did much what Aldin did. Pre-made 300-point armies, leaving out most of the units that can interrupt your turn in a big way. So no rats, ninjas, nakitas, Spider-Man/Venom, etc. I tried to theme the armies heavily so there weren't just 12 mish-mashes to choose from. I went kind of heavy on heroes and light on common squads, so it didn't take forever to chew through the swarms. Maps were very small, with 15-hex starting zones, and tended to focus on one type of terrain apiece.

The armies I remember were:

150 Cyprien
045 Sonya
100 Iskra/Rechets

140 Deathwalker 9000
070 Zettian Guards
090 Warden 816

300 Zombies x5

120 Kaemon Awa
120 Tagawa Samurai
060 Izumi Samurai

120 Venoc Warlord
080 Venoc Vipers x2
100 Syvarris

200 Deathstalkers x2
100 Krav
(okay, not much of a theme there, I admit)

120 Grimnak
100 Tornak
080 Blade Gruts x2

[Kroc]

Originally Posted by Aldin

When I set about to do something similar a while back I went with a skirmish concept. Smallish maps featuring some type of nifty terrain (trees and road on one, glaciers on the other) with 300 point armies. I designed the armies primarily for balance and theme. So, for example, I had a Knight army, an Orc army, an Elf army, etc.

Small, short engagements sell. Long engagements bore. Since I mostly play with newbies I use larger armies, but other than that I follow this advise exactly.