| Your questions were answered quite well. I would agree that miniatures are not necessary. I sometimes use a few, but usually Rackham pieces anyway because I like them better.
I would also add that a character pack/folio for each player is more appropriate than several core books. What is handy to start/covers the basics, eases play:
Core book, Sigmar's Heirs, GM Screen and Character Folios. The Bestiary and Realms of Sorcery would be next, especially considering the amount of spells available for free on the official Black Library forum (look in the GM section at the top for the Sticky threads, they are all of help). Also grab a .pdf called Denizens of the Empire (free) for a huge load of NPCs.
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