Help with choosing my Kickstarter miniatures

[Crucium Giger]

Howdy all,

I've asked this over on the comments section on the Kickstarter but wanted a more permanent place of discussion for this.
I'm at the Emperor level (couldn't resist) but I'm not overly bothered with the Grishak and Noble forces so the question is what do I replace them with?  With very little experience of the game I'm not sure what would be the best things to add, my current chain of thought would be four expansion forces to boost the main factions but I'm unsure of which to go for.  Purely on looks my initial choices would be Central Empire (but I'm beginning to think the Militia would be a better option), Nurasen Gohral, The Matriarch and Roban (as he looks a great miniature to paint).
In the end I'd like to end up with relatively even forces for the three main factions that can be used for the scenarios from the books.

Thanks in advance

Phil

[Carcharoth]

Good question!
I'll have a think...

[Crucium Giger]

Cheers Mike, much appreciated

[hithero]

Your 6 starters give you:
Empire - Knights of Orelan, Clan Engu, Trade Caravan (does not add any real military pts to an army so we can basically ignore this)
Delgon - Plutom's Mechanicals, Dhogu
Devanu - Jenta Outcasts

So, Devanu need some good buffin.  I'd go for the Matriarch, to give good scenario opportunities and either the Devanu Kopa which is the better value model and £ wise or Arak Katain, for the Kopa muscle.

For the Delgon, I would plump for Nurasen Gohral for the strategic skill she has and the bodyguard, none of which come in the starter so will give you more model choice.  Roban is a great model but will restrict you on your amy choice.

For the Empire it has to be the Light Cavalry or the Hunter and Slingers which will give you some ranged weapons to mess around with.  I wouldn't have Central Empire as that will just give you a load of leaders you don't really need and the Militia are just duplicates of what you are already getting.

[Crucium Giger]

Thanks hithero, the guidance is appreciated.

[Carcharoth]

For the empire, is there a particular style of force you like the look of? If you want a more traditional Central Empire force then a unit of militia and the central empire expansion force means you can swap out the orelan captain models, but you do end up with several 'spare' orelan models (although they could be converted easily enough). If you are going for the desert styled orelan then a grakukan is almost a must! In either case the slingers and hunter make a nice addition. The Clan Engu and Trade caravan stand well on their own as allies to your main empire force.
For delgon again it depends what theme you want. A kalgarkii soldier unit isn't glamorous but it is pretty much the default troop type, although you can stick with the more specialised KalJoran if you prefer. Do you like the striders? You will get one already, but the unit should be a fun add-on. Roban is a centerpiece, even if he isn't quite such a flexible choice!
Adding the kopa expansion force to the devanu makes that force very flexible.

Sorry, that isn't terribly helpful 
I think the big driver for your decisions is whether you want lots of little independent themed forces, or three larger more coherent armies?

[Crucium Giger]

All the comments have been helpful but I think it boils down to this:

I think the big driver for your decisions is whether you want lots of little independent themed forces, or three larger more coherent armies?

Right now I think I'm shifting more towards three larger armies and though I was originally set on going Central Empire reading the background has swung me towards Orelan (and the wonderful Grakukan).
Beyond the main pledge I (or even my wife who has her eye on the Frenu) might add on some extras or simply add more miniatures at a later date to either expand or start new forces.

[Carcharoth]

Three larger forces sounds good. Gives you a better excuse to add Roban 

[Kryptovidicus]

Not only Roban, you could collect almost all the WoT miniatures.
So, good choice !

[Crucium Giger]

Just wanted to say thanks again for the advise on what to select for my pledge manager as it has been completed and sent, now just the wait for everything to arrive

[Carcharoth]

Glad we helped!
What did you go for in the end? I'm having quite a lot of fun working through all the pledge forms and seeing what sort of things people chose

[Kryptovidicus]

I'm curious what is the most populair so far?

[Crucium Giger]

Glad we helped!
What did you go for in the end? I'm having quite a lot of fun working through all the pledge forms and seeing what sort of things people chose

Here's what I've selected:

Empire - Knights of Orelan, Grakukan, Clan Engu, Trade Caravan
Delgon - Plutom's Mechanicals, Nurasen Gohral, Dhogu
Devanu - Jenta Outcasts, Matriarch, Devanu Kopa

As much as I was tempted with adding some more miniatures to my pledge I think I'll have plenty to get on with once these arrive and then when they're finished I'll look at adding to them.

[Carcharoth]

Those look like good choices! You've should have some nicely balanced forces to play with there.
The new engu sempa (tweaked since the first masters, now with shields) are with the casters, so I'm hoping to be able to show those soon!

[Crucium Giger]

Brilliant, really looking forward to seeing the new sculpts.