I wrote a novel about how I got into the Hobby
Poll: Choose your favourite Dwarf army. There can be only one!
I can't give you a ranked list, as my time in 8th was relatively short, then end times, then AOS. But I can tell you what I like about each of the armies. Warning: rambling about nothing in particular ensues.
Orks and Goblins- Aside from the aesthetic, which is amazing, when I first started collecting 40k, there was rumour that Robin Williams also played. I just assumed that he would do O&G, and have fun hyperactive voices for the goblins, slow, dumb and hilarious orks, and celebrity impersonations for any named characters. We later found out that he collected armies, but never played. Ah well, still fun to imagine.
Skaven- Let me tell you about Dean. Dean started playing shortly after I did. Dean was terrible, he read both the 6th and 7th Edition Skaven army books, he read any official novel with Skaven in it. What he did not read was the 8th edition rulebook. He would occasionally get confused, and try to use 6th edition abilities, or just make some up based on the fluff he read in one of the novels. He was sure they could do this. He once accidentally brought an extra 1000 points on to the battlefield. It was a ton of fun to play, as like the skaven of lore, we never knew what to expect. Once AOS rolled around, and only had a 4 page rulebook, he went from the worst skaven player to the best. Literally, he had some of the best army builds and strategies I have ever seen. Probably the best Skaven Player in all of Canada if he is still playing. No matter how unstoppable his team seemed, we always had a good game. Skaven are amazing in both fluff and crunch.
Dwarfs- My friend who got me into warhammer played exclusively dwarfs. He had all of the units, and then some. I bought him some dwarf cheerleaders just to round out his collection. Unfortunately for him, he and Wil Wheaton share the same dice trickster god. Bad rolls, unless it was funnier for him to roll good. He owned multiple sets of artillery dice. Didn't stop him from blowing up at least one organ gun or cannon every game. On more than one occasion, he blew up 2 organ guns in one turn. However, he could have a lone dwarf warrior against a unit of saurus, and somehow come out on top. Amazing lore, even better named characters, and some of the most fun bits, such as pipes, tankard, and kegs, in the game.
Elves- Whether High, Wood, or Dark, I didn't see much of them in play. The models were cool, Phoenix, Dragons, Ents, the Cauldron, all incredible models, made me want to get them just to have.
Humans- Saw these even less than elves, but Bretonia with their green knights and jesters, trebuchet, pegasus and other horses, and the Empire with their Witch Hunters, the Celestial Arcanum, Karl Franz and his Gryphon. These were all very cool with a ton of interesting heroes and models.
Ogres- Giant pirates with an insatiable appetite. I feel like I can somehow relate. Again, amazing models, more goblins (gnoblars) and Stonehorns/Thundertusk. What's not to like?
Undead- Tomb kings, Egyptian themed skeletons and Mummies. Sign me the F up. Necrosphynx, Snake Guards, Arkhan, Nagash, and Settra. How do you put this much awesome into something, and then refuse to do anything more with them. The Vampire Counts have bat creatures, wolf creatures, and bat wolf creatures. The black Coach is an awesome sculpt. I don't know why the trophy for vampire models is to give them a sword and make them point, but I have at least two Strahds that do this. Either way GW subverts this by only having lime 6 out of 8 holding a sword and pointing. Others hold a sword and point with another sword, or hold a sword and point with a staff. So cool.
Chaos Dwarves- Short dudes in giant hats. If you scroll through my link above you will see how wonderful and brilliant that truly is. They have Centaurs, fire cannons, war machines, and hobgoblins, that aren't allowed anywhere near the Orcs and Goblins. It's a shame there was really no support for these guys, and that the models were forgeworld exclusive. So only the very richest could afford this very rich army.
Warriors of Chaos- Big bulky dudes, wearing the grimmest and dankest of armours, riding in on some amazingly designed creatures. Someone once offered to buy my Chaos Warriors from Hero Quest from me to fill out his ranks. So that was neat. Never once saw them on the battlefield, but did contemplate getting a few of the models. Puking Trolls, Big Demon Guy, Archaon, Giants and more ogres. Dang son sign me up.
Daemons of Chaos- Honestly some of the most visually interesting sculpts with a great range and variety. 4 different chariots, the great unclean one, specifically the Forgeworld sculpt, and so much more. A painter and modelers dream come true.
Beastmen- Cool goat and cow people, jabberscythe, the chimera. All so awesome. Super speedy, but seemed like a joke army, until someone unleashed the Minotaur, and rolled super well. Holy Hell what a nightmare, when that goes off right, it is game over.
Lizardmen- The reason we have all come together, dinosaurs, a sweet Alliterative Aztec Aesthetic, joke named heroes, a frog mummy, and a frog not mummy. The skinks and chameleon skinks are a lot of fun to play, really cool looking. The Saurus- from the basic up to the old bloods and Chakax and Gor-Rok, these are some of my favorite things. The Carnosaur is a T-Rex being ridden by a dinosaur man with a Stark Industry Power Glove. Scar Vet Cowboys, a dinosaur man riding a velociraptor as a horse, how do you even scale that kind of awesome? The bastiladon converts into a Bowser so easily, it's absolutely the best model in the line, and possibly any line of miniatures. A small stinky toad that makes my pterodactyls go nuts on my enemy. Brilliant.
TLDR- These are some amazing and super cool armies/models and I like them all. If I had unlimited time and Money, I would have them all.