Hmmm, Warhammer is one of the few remaining formation based fantasy rulesets out there - tactics are similar to that of the Thirty Year's War, but with vastly smaller numbers. It is kind of the game that I default to when I think of fantasy gaming.

Units maneuver as a whole - keeping formation. The unit's frontage determines the number of attacks while the unit's depth determines the unit's resilience. Kings of War handles this in quite a different fashion - treating the unit as though it was a single model.

Charges are devastating - most combats are resolved by whether or not the defending unit breaks when charged. As a result a denied flank initial formation is perhaps disproportionally effective - since a counter charge almost always breaks an engaged unit. A unit that does not break from the initial charge can tie up much more powerful units. (A major advantage for dwarfs - their short an' stumpy legs aren't much good for runnin', so they generally don't bother running away....

I have not yet played the newest edition - it seems okay. For many years I continued to play third edition - the last edition before Citadel Miniatures purchased Games Workshop. Back then they encouraged folks to use multiple companies' miniatures, even in the photos in the book. Until very recently it was possible to find other folks who had also stuck with third ed.. (Sort of like Dungeons & Dragons, what?)

You do not need official GW miniatures, unless a venue or tournament requires it. My suggestion is not to play at that venue or in that tournament if they do require it. Base sizes are really the only key when choosing miniatures - humans, elves, and dwarfs can maintain a tighter formation with a smaller frontage than, say, Chaos or orcs. Warhammer assumes a 3/4 inch base for the former and a 1 inch base for the latter.

Mantic, in particular, also uses the same base size, as does the Ral Partha Fantasy Armies line (now manufactured by Iron Wind Models). Many of the Mega Mini figures will also fit on a 3/4 base, and in fact will fit quite snugly into the socket on the Mantic bases. The Mega Miniatures started as Metal Magic, back in the 'eighties, and were intended for use with Warhammer Fantasy 3rd edition.

I do not much like the Kings of War rules, but can recommend getting the boxed starter set for the game if you are interested in playing either dwarfs or undead in Warhammer. Hell, they put the rules in for free anyway - I think that they are assuming that most folks get the set for use with Warhammer.

The Auld Grump, dwarfs, Vampire Counts, and Empire.

Thanks folks. Not sure if I mentioned this in the first post - but I would be using standees for miniatures if I got it (one monk has elves and unead armies). The edition I found at the used bookstore was a large (very large) softcover - I don't think it's the current edition. So I have to buy army books to make it usable? Any idea how hard army books for older editions are to find, and what the cost is?
Thanks

If you are going to use Standee's for the army's you will need to be sure the base sizes are right or the game won't run right.

No Quarter is pretty well thought out, but just upon reading the rules, I found several holes. Its been a long while now so I'm forgetting them off the top of my head and I never did bother to ask about them in the forum, so consider this just useless whining, but still...