Warhammer Age of Sigmar

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Warhammer Age of Sigmar

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.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar Overview

Age of Sigmar Night Goblin Squig Hoppers

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:

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:

Games Workshop have a value boxed set with all the essentials included. If you want to hit the ground running, I  highly recommend the Age of Sigmar starter set.

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.

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 from Games Workshop Bradford  shop ( since moved to the Huddersfield 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?

If you prefer to play point balanced games, have a look at the General’s Handbook further down this page.

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.

If you want more details about your favourite army, or you prefer to read the unit details from paper, then Games Workshop have printed books with the warscrolls for all the current models usually with some of the back story about those units.

Age of Sigmar – Age of Battles

This is a great place to start if you have the Age of Sigmar starter set, or you have models already, download and are looking for some missions and realm rules.

Battletomes

These books contains warscrolls for the different armies, Battalion rules that give your army additional special rules if you field special formations, and more missions based on that army.

Age of Sigmar Generals Handbook

Age of Sigmar Generals Handbook from Games Workshop.

The General’s Handbook is probably the most important Age of Sigmar publication since the original rules were released. At least as war gamers are concerned. It introduces different ways to play the game, it includes rules for multiple ( 3+ players), and Allegiance Abilities that give you extra Battle Traits, Command Traits, and equipment if all your army belongs to the same grand alliance (Order, Chaos, Destruction, or Death).

If you are happier playing a points based game then the General’s Handbook introduces, or reintroduces Pitched battles and points values for many of the exiting units.

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 the same missions over and over again a bit lack lustre. 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 missions are well written and play tested. Each plan comes with a brief background story, a layout map, and usually some mission command abilities that add a new dimension to the game.

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