The aftermath:

So that’s it! The six lists are planned (and an extra four to boot), now it’s time to stop procrastinating and actually make a decision on what army to play. First, let’s list them solely in the order they appear on my spreadsheet:

MagmaDwarfs (dwarves led by two Magmadroths)

SnakeElves (serpentine Daughters of Khaine list)

Treesharks (Idoneth Deepkin and Sylvaneth together in a truly rubbish manner)

DinoRawrs (big stompy Seraphon)

The Squiggening (All the squigs. And some more.)

GoatBoys (Elite Lumineth force with Eltharion and two behemoths

On a Pale Horse (Cavalry Ossiarch Bonereaper list)

SkeleBang (foot troop heavy alternate Ossiarch list)

Stonehorn Express (Mounted ogors)

The Funbus (not-mounted ogors)

The Definitely Nots:

Quick and easy, some lists are definitely out. First off, the Ogors. They are just not my bag but were suggested by some friends. Next up, both Bonereaper lists. Despite researching and writing two very different lists for them, I still cannot decide if I like the range or not. That’s enough of an answer to avoid using them as a basis for a project, so they can get in the bin with the Ogors.

Goatboys now. Expensive range that didn’t grab me, and the list feels like it is getting in its own way. Also, this last weekend revealed a significant expansion to their range coming this year, which would likely make me want to change up the list anyway, adding more expense to the army. Off they trot.

Finally, there’s the TreeShark list. As fun and different as the modelling project could be, this army could suck a golf ball through a garden hose (I do wonder if anyone gets these references, then I remember that they amuse me and that’s enough). Buybye, TreeSharks.

 

The Final Four:

So I’m down to four choices: MagmaDwarfs, SnakeElves, DinoRawrs and The Squiggening. Time to look at these more closely and remember my initial criteria for the army I pick: Stompiness, Aesthetic appeal, Popularity, Low model count, Competence and Rule of cool

Stompiness:

The Seraphon list is the clear winner here with six monsters of five different varieties. Dwarfs next with two Magmadroths, yes the Squiggening technically has the same number of monsters too but the Mangler Squigs just aren’t on the same scale for me.

Aesthetic appeal:

I’m going to change this one slightly, as I like the aesthetics of all four choices. Instead, I’m going to look at the variation within the army to keep me interested in painting them. Squigs are dead last here, swiftly followed by the Magmadwarfs. Both have just two types of model variants, but I’ll give bonus points to dwarfs here because those Magmadroths are so damn awesome looking.

Now between the Snakes and the Dinos its tough. The Dinos have a greater range, but personally I feel the sculpts are now showing their age. To me, the SnakeElves slightly edge it into first place.

Popularity:

I’m looking at tabletoptournaments.net for my figures here, filtered to the last six months. It’s hardly accurate given the pandemic, but I gotta work with what I have. From the four armies of choice, the popularity on a descending scale is: Seraphon, Gloomspite Gitz, Fyreslayers and then Daughters of Khaine. Obviously that may change with the new book, but at a local level I can also say that there are nearby Seraphon and Gitz players, so I’ll follow that order.

Low model count:

Uncomplicated option this, DinoRawrs is lowest with 22 (6 Big Guys), then Magmadwarfs with 55 (2 Big Guys), SnakeElves with 59 (1 Big Guy) and bringing up the rear it’s the Squiggening with 71 models (2 big guys). Honestly, I thought there would be a greater difference between the squigs and the dwarfs than 16 models.

Competence:

Tough to judge this time, what with my complete lack of experience for AoS as it currently stands. The Squiggening feels like the least competent and most meme-worthy of the lists (though still functional) and the Magmadwarfs feel like the closest to a tournament list. Between the dinos and the SnakeElves, I just don’t know so I’ll call that a tie.

Rule of cool:

This was a gut-judgement about the army as a whole based. Last place goes to the memes, third to the DinoRawrs (as dinosaurs are cool, skinks are not, nor are the resin models in the list), second to the Magmadwarfs for their fiery monsters of doom but first has to go to the teleporting SnakeElves of doom.

Seriously:

The scores are given and we have a very tight top three. Bottom place is Squigs with 22 (we want low scores). Third place goes to the DinoRawrs with 13. And with 12 points its….

 

SnakeElves AND Magmadwarfs.

Seriously. Over 7500 words written on this project, 11 previous blog posts and a spreadsheet with more tables than I can be bothered to count, this ends with a tie?

Fine. There’s two easy tiebreakers, both of which are won by the SnakeElves. Cash? Its £290 to £325 and desire to paint, well, one has 55 naked dwarf butts compared to a varied army with snake bodies (something I have never painted).

My Age of Sigmar army will be a Melusai heavy Daughters of Khaine army.

 Now I need to figure out a colour scheme...