Empire and Chaos armies for 'taster' gaming day?

[pw]

Hi, I'm heading to Warhamer World for a day of Warmaster gaming with a friend who hasn't played before. As such I'm hoping we'll have time to get three games in across the day using my Empire and Chaos armies. I'm planning to start with a quick game of around 700 to get the basics covered, then a 1500 pt game followed by a 2000 point game. So far I've come up with the following armies and wonder if anyone has any suggestions that'd ensure that the games are fun and roughly balanced:

Empire 1: General, Hero, 2 Halberds, 2 Crossbow, 2 Knights, 1 Cannon. (BP4)
Chaos 1: General, Sorceror, Warriors, 3 Marauders, 2 Hounds, 1 Chariots. (BP4)

Empire 2: General, Hero, Wizard, 6 Halberds, 4 Crossbow, 5 Knights, Flagellants, 1 Cannon, Helblaster. (BP9)
Chaos 2: General, Sorceror, Hero, 2 Warriors, 5 Marauders, 2 Knights, 2 Hounds, 1 Chariots, 1 Harpies. (BP7)

Empire 3: General, Hero of Griffon, Wizard, 6 Halberds, 4 Crossbow, 5 Knights, 2 Pistoliers, Flagellants, 2 Cannons, Steamtank, Helblaster. (BP11)
Chaos 3: General, Sorceror, Hero, 2 Warriors, 6 Marauders, 2 Knights, 4 Hounds, 1 Dragon Ogres, 1 Chariots, 1 Spawn, 1 Harpies. (BP9)

[jchaos79]

The list seems ok by me. Would be great if you take a couple of pics and show around here

[Guthwine]

The lists look good. The only suggestion would be 2 mages for both armies in the 2000p lists. Also chaos is a little on the weak side with their cavalry wise but I guess that is due to lack of painted units!?

[pw]

If only I had painted units for the rest of it all! If more cav would be good for chaos then it's in. It'll be quicker to paint up as I race to get the most units painted before the big day.

[azrael71]

More chaos knights for the win.

[pw]

On wizards, would you suggest replacing the heroes to have 1 general and 2 wizards or adding extra wizards? I'll add in some knights and revise the lists tomorrow ready for a quick GW order to get the toys in! If they displace infantry that'll be cool (the spawn and Dragon Ogres stay as I like the toys - same for the always disastrous Steam Tank!)

[Guthwine]

Ok all clear. With the chaos characters, yes I would just swap the hero for a sorcerer. Here my suggestions for both armies:

Chaos:
General, 2 Sorceror, 2 Warriors, 6 Marauders, 1 Knight, 4 Hounds, 1 Dragon Ogres, 3 Chariots, 1 Spawn, 1 Harpies. (BP10)

Empire:
General, 2 Hero, 2 Wizard, 6 Halberds, 4 Crossbow, 4 Knights,2 Pistolliers, 2 Flaggelant, 2 Cannons, Steamtank, Hellblaster (BP11)

In this version, every army has 2 cmd8 character and when it comes to humans I think they really need the 5 characters. Two units of chaos knights wil have hard time earning their value in points and if you loose them you will very likely draw at best, so I think one unit is better but 2 units of course earn you some style points.

[pw]

Thanks. What I don't have are enough Chaos Chariots so the extra knights may well be there to full the gap and net me the style points. If the Chaos army looks weaker on paper then I'll happily field it as my opponent hasn't played before so it would probably make sense.