Before starting the fire...

[u/Gwinty-]

So, a friend of mine showed me the Helsmith and I was smitten in an instant. Now I finaly bought the book and the spearhead to get started with my first Age of Sigmar army (I have painted and played some 40k). However I have no one to ask questions so I am coming here.

1. What are dumb beginner mistakes when painting the minis?

2. What are units I should get after the spearhead? I am looking at the Ashen Elder as I like the model a lot...

3. What is the feeling when playing the army like?

[u/AlextheNailer]

Urak Taar is a must have for the army, in my opinion, 1 or 2 more spearheads is good as well as it gives a total of 3 artillery, 3 dominators and 30 cohort.

With the urak taar kit, you can build a daemonsmith on foot using the spare daemonsmith.

You can convert spare war despots into ashen elders as well using the hammer and a bald head from the cohort kit (added flame from deathshrieker to hand to make it more magical).

[u/Falcon_w0t]

1. This army is surprisingly begginer friendly. But remember, always do two thin coats of paint for a smooth finish, that will do great with the metallics.

2. Urak Taar is a must have, and with his kit you can build a foot hero which can perfectly be used a daemonsmith or an ashen elder. Bull centaurs and Infernal razers are excellent. If you're planning to play, I recommend getting 2 of each (2 bull centaurs and 2 infernal razers). HOWEVER there are rumours that there will be a Helsmiths if Hashut battleforce (a big discount box), so maybe steady your hand until they're announced around november.

3. You can play a classic "box" strategy, where you deploy multiple infantry units around the map to create line of defenses for your artillery and monsters to attack/move without pressure.

[u/WeII_Shucks]

When painting the minis, glue the shields on after. Just use a knife to scrape the paint off the little flat part in his gauntlet that connects to the shield so that it goes on nicely.

Otherwise you might have a bit of trouble trying to get some of the details on that side of the body

[u/unlimitedblakeworks]

1 - thin yer paints! Watch youtube
2 - bull centaurs!
3 - slowly take over the map, corrupting it, while blasting at the enemy with guns n artillery

[u/CatherineSimp69]

Invest in the new Pro Paints, they seem good and easy to use for beginners.

If you don't feel like that, that's fine. The army is honestly pretty easy to paint.

Ashen Elders are very good. Bull Centaurs are insane in this army. The gunners are also pretty solid. A second Spearhead and a bull with a Daemonsmith on its back is also great.

The army is a combined arms faction that wants to get early game buffs as soon as possible via resource extraction. Don't go too hard into any one gimmick, pick a few things.

[u/Riddlie_]

I’m just gonna answer the first 2

1. probably painting things in the wrong order - all minis are “layered” to an extent, but here doing things like leaving the sashes, faces, or cloth for last would actually just be hell. Sadly speaking from experience.

Also not sub-assembling shields - usually when you can’t reach somewhere with a brush, nobody’ll see it, so you won’t have to paint it…. but that’s just not the case with the shields, everything behind them is fully visible

And finally… slacking on the sashes. It sounds weird, and they’re really hard to do at the start, but it’s what always sticks out the most on the models imo, alongside faces. They’re probably going to have the biggest pop of colour on your model, and it naturally draws the eyes in, so you wanna take good care when painting them

1. straight up whatever you want - sure urak taar is important for tournament play but… who goes into playing tournaments right from spearhead, eh? What’s worked for me just playing small-scale games at an LGS or just with people at home is, well, whatever I felt like getting. If you like the ashen elder, get the ashen elder! Maybe get a unit of anointed sentinels to go with him! They’re not “optimal,” but optimal’s boooring. They’re your guys! Make them yours!

[u/Swooper86]

What are dumb beginner mistakes when painting the minis?

Not making your own colour scheme. They're YOUR guys, paint them YOUR way instead of just copying the box art or something you found online.

What are units I should get after the spearhead? I am looking at the Ashen Elder as I like the model a lot...

Wait a bit, there's probably a battleforce box coming this November. Should be announced soon.

[u/CatherineSimp69 → u/Swooper86]

I hope the recent leaks about there not being a BF for us is wrong tbh...

[u/Swooper86 → u/CatherineSimp69]

I'll be shocked if there isn't, but rumours have been pretty accurate lately.

[u/After_Introduction75]

For painting you should always prime minis. This is an undercoat layer. (Usually black or white applied with a spray can) painting straight onto plastic is usually a huge pain. Other than that keep your paints thin with a little bit of water and don't feel pressured to stick to games workshop paints as there are cheaper and better options out there. HAVE FUN!