Age of Sigmar is the new table top fantasy battle game from Games Workshop. ‘AoS’ is designed to be very easy for beginners to get in to and also have the depth to keep long time war game players interested.
‘Warhammer Age of Sigmar’ is a trade mark of Games Workshop, and we respect all their intellectual property right associated with this game system.
> Also Download: Warhammer Age of Sigmar Rules
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Overview
Age of Sigmar. Every unit is a skirmishing unit!
To kick Warhammer Age of Sigmar in to life Games Workshop have released the first version of the rules free on their Black Library site here. Further update are coming mainly through the Android or Apple app. Some updates can be found in printed books that can be found in the hobby shops and the Black Library website.
The Age of Sigmar is a skirmish game where models are grouped in to units ( of 1 or more models ) but each model can shoot at a different target from the other models included in the same unit. Also units can move in any direction. There are no block formation movement restrictions that where the core of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Another observation is that the core rules for Age of Sigma are far more simple. The core rules can fit on 4 pages. This should make if far easier for new gamers to pick up a unit or two and start playing within 10 minutes.
The four main factions, or Grand Alliances are:
Where are the Army Books?
Initially when the dust was settling, Games Workshop organized Age of Sigma on a unit by unit basis backed up with an app that was, and still is available on Android and Apple devices. The rules for each unit can be found individually in one page documents called warscrolls. To build an army you can mix and match any units from any army.
Now that Age of Sigmar has been released for a year (at time of writing), the first army book, now called battle tombs has been released for the Wood Elf, now known as Sylvenesh. I’M sure that other army books will follow! This does not stop you mix and matching Sylvenesh with other forces of Order units. However the army book adds point values to units and adds army specific magic items and magic.
Age of Sigma Warscrolls
In addition to the 4 pages of core rules each army has a set of ‘Warscrolls’ these are 1 page, or half a page of quick reference details for each unit. they include the stats for the models and their weapon all in a one glance format. I taken to print them out on A5 cards so you can have the warscrolls for the models in play to hand, and nothing else. This does speed up play and again it makes it massively easier for new players to get started.
The warscrolls we have seen so far are probably short term cross over rules to allow existing players to try out the new rules with existing models. As the Age of Sigma range expends I expect that the Warhammer Fantasy Armies models will be phased out, mainly because the new models seem to be on a different, larger, scale.
From some of the war-scrolls we can see that Games Workshop want this game to be light hearted and not take it’s self too seriously. An example is that when an Orc unit with a drummer charges you can add 2″ to the charge distance if you shout ‘Waaagh!” as you roll the dice! Silly? Absolutely! And all the better for it!
Where Do I Start?
To start playing Warhammer Age of Sigmar ( AoS ) you will need:
- The free rules
- A few fantasy miniatures
- Some regular 6 sided dice
- A long ruler or tape measure that is marked in inches.
After reading the rules ( there are only 4 pages so it should be a quick read ) make sure that you have read the war scrolls for the units that you are playing. As a starter game I would suggest setting up two units in a fight to the death mission. May be this is an arena like Death Match Arena but using Age of Sigmar rules!
After a handful of games you will get the core rules under your belt and be ready to play more complex games with multiple units and more scenery.
How do I know how big an army to take?
News!
Games Workshop are releasing a “General’s Manual” which will RE introduce points in to the Age of Sigmar games.
One big change between Warhammer Age of Sigma and the previous Warhammer Fantasy Battles is that units are not given a points cost. So how do you know how big an army to take?
When you have a number of simple games under your belt you can add mission rules and try adding rules for different lands in the realm of chaos.
I would like to thank Jim at Games Workshop Bradford shop for this elegant answer.
“The best option is to pick the army that you think your opponent will have the most fun playing against “
What you want to think of is that you are paying for fun and kudos. If you beat a larger army with a smaller force, how good does that make you look?
Are The Age of Sigmar Battle Packs Worth Buying?
There is no way for me to answer this as I do not your situation, however here are a few points that may help.
First of all, if you play AoS on a regular basis then you will find that playing thd same missions over and over again a bit lack luster. There are a few ways to combat this. One is to write your own missions, one is to find missions online to download, and the last, but easiest to do, is to purchase battle pack through the AoS app. Do remember that both players need access to the mission rules during the game.
The next point to raise is that the AoS battle plans and missionx are well writen and play tested. Each plan comes with a brief background story, a layout map, and usually some mission command abilities that add a new dimention to the game.
- Also buy: Age of Sigmar models and supplies from Wayland Games
- Also see: Age of Sigmar Battle Reports on YouTube
- Also see: 10 cool things to do in AoS
- Also see: How Does Magic Work in Age of Sigmar?