This week Khorne's Bloodbound make a huge stride to catch up the Eternals in terms of release. Besides a few bits of new fiction, it's all Khorne, all the time! Let's take a look.
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 86: Unsurprisingly WD86 seems to focus on Khorne and the new models. The sales pitch doesn't give us much to work on, it mainly mentions looking at the brand new models, but it's definitely Khorne focused.
Chaos Battletome: Khorne Bloodbound: Like the Eternals, we're getting a variant of the Army Book for Khorne. It's 136 pages and sports a look at all the Warscrolls for the current Khorne line. On top of that we're to get new Battalions, Battleplans, painted figures and details on what it means to be a worshipper of Khorne. Again, as a fluff guy, this is intriguing to me. It comes in a regular version for $58 or a limited edition for $140.
Fiction
The Realmgate Wars: The Prisoner of the Black Sun Audio Drama: That's a long title... This begins a 4-Part Audio Drama series by Josh Reynolds (who's been doing a lot of AoS fiction writing) that shows a Hallowed Knights Stormhost as they attempt to bring Nagash back into the fold of the side of Order. Part 1 runs 68 minutes and serves as an introduction, promising not only moments with Nagash, but the return of one of the Von Carstein vampires! We're making nods to the Old World all over. The .mp3 is $15.99 or you can get the whole 4-Pack (and download them as they're released) for $62.99, savings of about a dollar... still, if you're planning on getting them all anyway, why not. It's also nice to see another Grand Alliance given some story outside of Order and Chaos.
The Black Rift of Klaxud Part 3 - The Gnawing Gate: We're up to part 3 of the eShort series by Josh Reynolds (see, there he is again), this time featuring Skaven. Again, it's nice to see more factions and armies get some fiction time, as we start to expand the line. Part 1 of this series was pretty good when it got past all the fighting, I'm curious to what Reynolds will do with the Skaven and giving them character as he did a good job with the Bloodbound.
Khorne Bloodbound
Aspiring Deathbringer: Not quite Exalted yet, the Aspiring Deathbringer has been risen above standard Blood Warriors but still must prove himself. This is a single model, well armored and standing atop a pile of skulls. He'll run you $20 and is only available through the webstore.
Exalted Deathbringer: The other weapon loadout of the Exalted Deathbringer from several weeks ago, this guy looks more like a traditional Blood Warrior and less daemonfied that his other option. For only $15, he's also a lot cheaper than the other version as well.
Lord of Khorne on Juggernaut: Now the Eternals aren't the only one to get a mounted leader. This is an imposing figure atop the awesome looking Juggernaut mount. this Lord of Khorne might not have all the expression of the standard Lord in the Starter Set, but his armor and bulk make up for it. $50 is the price to pay and isn't that bad given the model and what $50 can get you elsewhere from GW.
Mighty Skullcrushers: The first mounted cavalry (besides the single mounted figure for Nurgle) under the new AoS trappings, the Mighty Skullcrushers are pretty fantastic looking models. Like the mounted Lord above, they all ride Juggernauts, mechanical looking beasts, and are all covered in heavy plate. These are mounted Blood Warriors through and through, with the ability to make a full command. 6 mounted troops cost $100.
Scyla Anfingrimm: A repackaged named figure, Scyla is a large ape-like creature dedicated to Khorne. Not a full daemon (according to his Warscroll) he's posed ready to strike and looks quite menacing for $50.
Skarr Bloodwrath: Looking like a champion Skullreaper/Wrathmonger combination, Skarr has two doublebladed axes with chain whips attached to them (not overkill, I swear). His mutated body also makes him look as if he's on his way to becoming the more monstrous Exalted Deathbringer. He's a single hero model for $30.
Skullgrinder: Skullgrinders are the weaponsmiths for Khorne, but like all Khorne followers is also a fierce warrior. He also happens to use his actual anvil as his weapon, attached to a chain and covered in flame. It's Khorne, what more do you want? He's even got Skull in his name, and will cost you $30.
Skullreapers/Wrathmongers: Two specialized troop types can be made from the same kit here. Either the Skullreapers, who appear to fit somewhere between the barbarous Bloodreavers and fully armored Blood Warriors. These are warriors almost fully armored but still retaining the barbarian looks, with exposed torsos and heads and what looks like scavenged/pieced together weapons. Or, you can make the Wrathmongers, who are more armored and carry wrathflails, hammers at the end of long chain whips. You get 10 torsos here, but only 5 sets of legs, so you can only make 5 of one or the other for $57, thanks GW.
Slaughterpriest: The Slaughterpriest is a spellcaster for Khorne, though he does it through prayer as actual magic wouldn't fly with the bloodgod. He's a tall, lanky, man with a huge axe and spine pushed out of his back, mutations into horns coming down his shoulders. He's pieced with chains and comes with several skulls, all fitting for a priest of Khorne. Again, this hero model is $30.
Valkia the Bloody: Another named hero, Valkia is warrior blessed with many mutations from Khorne. Wings, horns, hooves, she's a wicked looking figure. Her spear is named and her shield is the face of a daemon prince that loss a fight to her, that's pretty impressive and she'd make a commanding unit on the field of battle and only costs $22.
And that's Week 12, a heavy week of releases indeed.
Looking at Age of Sigmar with a fresh set of eyes.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Monday, September 14, 2015
Review: Liberators
The standard grunts of the Stormcast Eternals, the Liberators make an obvious choice as the first box set of units after the Starter Set. So what's inside a box of Liberators? Let's find out.
The Models
The box comes with several sprues with a variety of heads, weapons, should pads, shields so you can customize the weapon loadout of each of your troops. Of course, it only comes with enough legs and torsos to make 5 models, even though there are enough weapons/heads/arms to make 10. But GW still has to be GW.
The legs and torsos are pretty static in terms of positions, they're all standing heroically, knee bent, ready for war. There are no troops "in motion" and it's mostly a single leg glued to a waist with one leg already modeled on, so you would have to do some clipping to customize your leg poses.
Outside of that is where you can customize. Your Liberators can have two hammers or two sword or either one hammer and shield or one sword and shield as their options for weapons. On top of that, one unit may also have a Grandblade or Grandhammer, which are two-handed versions of the weapons prior. And of course one model can also be a Liberator-Prime (I'd suggest the guy with the Grandweapon since owner of the models pick deaths in a unit and you always want your Prime removed last).
As for their look? They look a lot like what you got in the Starter Set. As the "main line" troops for the Eternals, they have the most basic design. These are your "Sigmarines" covered in the heavy armor, full face plates and not too much flourishes. You do get a small dagger at their hip, various scrolls that can hang from some models and a variety of spikey tops to the helmets, but that's about it.
They do have a ton of great detail like all these late/AoS GW models have had, but they're not all that striking. With the movement that the Prosecutors give and the grand look of the Lord-Celestant, they really don't have much that calls attention to them. I know the other models are built upon them as bases, but since the other models are almost exactly like them with improvements, it's hard to call these guys special.
The War Scroll
The War Scroll is an update to the original one from the Starter Set, with some extra bits added for the weapon options. Since these are your baseline Eternals, this is you best look at how the Eternals average out as a whole.
A unit of Liberators needs to have 5 units or more and 1 in 5 can have a grandweapon. Your Liberator-Prime gets one extra attack compared to his brothers, pushing his attacks to 3.. They move 5", Save on a 4+, have Bravery 6, and 2 Wounds. As a baseline, this seems pretty standard. They're not as disposable as other Factions main lines with their extra Wounds, but their all their other stats seem average.
As for the weapon options, they're not that different. All weapons (Grandweapons included) have a 1" reach and 2 attacks. The Grandweapons have -1 Rend and do 2 damage instead of 1, but that's the only difference. With blade or hammer, you swap a 4+ and 3+ for To Hit and To Wound. The hammers Wound on 3+ and Hit on 4+ but the blades Wound on 4+ and Hit on 3+. Hammers hurt more but are harder to hit it appears.
As for the option of paired weapons or a shield. The Paired Weapons allow you to re-roll hits of 1 and the Sigmarite Shields allow you to re-roll save of 1. So it comes down to offense vs. defense.
Finally, they retain the Lay Low the Tyrants abilitly, giving them +1 to their hit rolls if going up against enemies with 5+ Wounds giving them an edge against heroes and monsters.
The Price
$50 gets you 5 completed models. GW will tell you about all the pieces you get and how awesome that is, but you still can only make 5 complete models out of the box. That's $10 a model, which is cheaper than buying a Lord-Celestant or Lord-Castellant solo, but they have a little less detail. They are bigger than your standard "normal dude" model and $10 a model is the going price that GW seems to have on the big bulky guys. While way more pricer than other companies, this is still within GWs normal price point. Much better deal than the Lord-Celestant.
Overall
These are your standard troops for the Eternals and they suffer because all the other Eternals are basically these units + bits. While they don't stand out among the Eternals, they still are quite striking to look at and have great detail. They are also pretty much a must if you're building a standard Eternals army. The price is what you expect from GW and if you're already buying their stuff, it shouldn't be a hard pill to swallow. Great detail, but sadly lost among all the other Eternals when put in the mix.
The Models
The box comes with several sprues with a variety of heads, weapons, should pads, shields so you can customize the weapon loadout of each of your troops. Of course, it only comes with enough legs and torsos to make 5 models, even though there are enough weapons/heads/arms to make 10. But GW still has to be GW.
The legs and torsos are pretty static in terms of positions, they're all standing heroically, knee bent, ready for war. There are no troops "in motion" and it's mostly a single leg glued to a waist with one leg already modeled on, so you would have to do some clipping to customize your leg poses.
Outside of that is where you can customize. Your Liberators can have two hammers or two sword or either one hammer and shield or one sword and shield as their options for weapons. On top of that, one unit may also have a Grandblade or Grandhammer, which are two-handed versions of the weapons prior. And of course one model can also be a Liberator-Prime (I'd suggest the guy with the Grandweapon since owner of the models pick deaths in a unit and you always want your Prime removed last).
As for their look? They look a lot like what you got in the Starter Set. As the "main line" troops for the Eternals, they have the most basic design. These are your "Sigmarines" covered in the heavy armor, full face plates and not too much flourishes. You do get a small dagger at their hip, various scrolls that can hang from some models and a variety of spikey tops to the helmets, but that's about it.
They do have a ton of great detail like all these late/AoS GW models have had, but they're not all that striking. With the movement that the Prosecutors give and the grand look of the Lord-Celestant, they really don't have much that calls attention to them. I know the other models are built upon them as bases, but since the other models are almost exactly like them with improvements, it's hard to call these guys special.
The War Scroll
The War Scroll is an update to the original one from the Starter Set, with some extra bits added for the weapon options. Since these are your baseline Eternals, this is you best look at how the Eternals average out as a whole.
A unit of Liberators needs to have 5 units or more and 1 in 5 can have a grandweapon. Your Liberator-Prime gets one extra attack compared to his brothers, pushing his attacks to 3.. They move 5", Save on a 4+, have Bravery 6, and 2 Wounds. As a baseline, this seems pretty standard. They're not as disposable as other Factions main lines with their extra Wounds, but their all their other stats seem average.
As for the weapon options, they're not that different. All weapons (Grandweapons included) have a 1" reach and 2 attacks. The Grandweapons have -1 Rend and do 2 damage instead of 1, but that's the only difference. With blade or hammer, you swap a 4+ and 3+ for To Hit and To Wound. The hammers Wound on 3+ and Hit on 4+ but the blades Wound on 4+ and Hit on 3+. Hammers hurt more but are harder to hit it appears.
As for the option of paired weapons or a shield. The Paired Weapons allow you to re-roll hits of 1 and the Sigmarite Shields allow you to re-roll save of 1. So it comes down to offense vs. defense.
Finally, they retain the Lay Low the Tyrants abilitly, giving them +1 to their hit rolls if going up against enemies with 5+ Wounds giving them an edge against heroes and monsters.
The Price
$50 gets you 5 completed models. GW will tell you about all the pieces you get and how awesome that is, but you still can only make 5 complete models out of the box. That's $10 a model, which is cheaper than buying a Lord-Celestant or Lord-Castellant solo, but they have a little less detail. They are bigger than your standard "normal dude" model and $10 a model is the going price that GW seems to have on the big bulky guys. While way more pricer than other companies, this is still within GWs normal price point. Much better deal than the Lord-Celestant.
Overall
These are your standard troops for the Eternals and they suffer because all the other Eternals are basically these units + bits. While they don't stand out among the Eternals, they still are quite striking to look at and have great detail. They are also pretty much a must if you're building a standard Eternals army. The price is what you expect from GW and if you're already buying their stuff, it shouldn't be a hard pill to swallow. Great detail, but sadly lost among all the other Eternals when put in the mix.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Weekly Shopping List: Week 10 & Week 11
Sorry, got a little busy last week and that stopped me from doing any posting like I would have liked. So, I have some serious making up time to do and I'll start by doing both last week's and this week's weekly shopping list.
It's all Stormcast Eternals for both Weeks 10 & 11, so atleast everything will flow nicely. Let's take a look.
Week 10
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 84: WD 84 seems to be all about the new models. As even the website's description only mentions that they will take a look at the Prosecuters and what they're all about. What else is in there? Something about a Battle Plan featuring the Celestant-Prime, but then more about Prosectuers! At least I'm certain this will be an AoS focused mission.
Order Battletome: Stormcast Eternals: This 152-Page book features all the warscrolls, backstory, battalions, heraldry, color schemes, etc about the Stormcast Eternals. It combines the various background and fluff that's been scattered over other Big Books and White Dwarfs as well as combining all the Warscrolls. Yes, this is our first Army Book, as close as we're going to get anyway. It's either $58 for the regular edition or a whopping $140 for the limited edition version.
Stormcast Eternals
Prosecutors with Celestial Hammers or Stormcall Javelins: The last troop type for the Eternals finally get their own release. The Prosecutors, certainly the most striking looking Eternal units can finally be picked up as separate models. $60 will net your three models, a high price point, but one that may be ignored since they are the most stand-out model designs the Eternals have. They can be constructed either as the box set did, with dual hammers, or with javelins and shields. The Prime also has several weapon options from great weapons similar to the Liberator options to a trident which looks very cool.
Knight-Azyros: One of the "lieutenant" class units for the Eternals, this guy isn't as powerful as a Lord type, but also is a single unit that operates on his own like the other hero types. The Knight-Azyros is a winged unit like the Prosecutors but is armed with a lantern like the Lord-Castallent. A slick looking model, though pricey at $40, much like the Prosecutors, I think the price point is based on the sales for the cool wings.
Knight-Venator: The second "lieutenant" type that can be built with the same sprues as the Knight-Azyros, the Knight-Venator is the lone sniper unit for the Eternals. Again, winged like a Prosecutor, this guy has the bow like a Judicator does and a very cool looking Star-Eagle flying beneath him. I certainly like the look of him over the Knight-Azyros, but I think both of them are very cool looking.
Celestial Warbringer and Knight-Excelsior Upgrades: An interesting release, something much more akin to Forge World releases, these are optional shield, shoulder pad, and tilting plates that add more detail and different styles than the standard releases you get with your regular units. These are totally optional and are used to make units "canon" for other Warrior Chamber types. They're $12 each and give you enough to change 8 units. An odd price point, and odd release, and something that should have came out earlier for people buying Liberators and Paladins earlier.
Fiction
The Solace of Rage: Coming out Tuesday of Week 10, the Solace of Rage is the third part of the Call of Archon series. Once again, we get a look at the Chaos side of things, this time following Ushkar Mir of the Khorne Bloodbound. However, this is a Khorne follower in Ghur, not on Azyr, so that's a change. I also like what they did with the Khorne followers in the Black Rift of Klaxus, so I'm interested where this goes.
Week 11
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 85: Once again, the blurb is really pushing the new models, not the other articles. It mentions that they are in the Codex Apocrypha (which is mostly fluff based), as well as their warscrolls and such. They also talk about Army of the Month and Armies on Parade, which are recurring articles as well, so I don't know how much real fluff we'll get out of this one.
Stormcast Eternals
Knight-Heraldor: We are finishing out the lieutenant releases here, starting with a command level music player in the Knight-Heraldor. Since the main bulk troop types don't get a full command (musician and standard bearer are missing) outside of a commander, it's cool to see the Eternals get something like it. Their musician is at command level, a single hero type with a trumpet and sword, proudly announcing the Eternals presence. This guy has shown up in some of the fiction and he's a warrior true and only $25 the cheapest hero type for the Eternals yet.
Knight-Vexillor: The hero type standard bearer, he has two banner options, both which look quite cool. In fact, his look makes me wish that standard troop types did have a full command, so we could see variants of this look with Liberators, Paladins, and Prosecutors (I wish!) . But as a hero, he does have a striking pose and costs a smidge more than his partner this week at $30.
With that, every Eternal that's been mentioned or shown in various fiction, photos, lore, and war scrolls has been released. This may be the end of the Stormcast Eternals model push but I'm sure they can always think of more for the future, especially with the Warscroll format of making units. So do we get Khorne next week or a whole new faction? Or will we take a rest from AoS and do some pure 40K releases for a while? We'll see next Saturday!
It's all Stormcast Eternals for both Weeks 10 & 11, so atleast everything will flow nicely. Let's take a look.
Week 10
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 84: WD 84 seems to be all about the new models. As even the website's description only mentions that they will take a look at the Prosecuters and what they're all about. What else is in there? Something about a Battle Plan featuring the Celestant-Prime, but then more about Prosectuers! At least I'm certain this will be an AoS focused mission.
Order Battletome: Stormcast Eternals: This 152-Page book features all the warscrolls, backstory, battalions, heraldry, color schemes, etc about the Stormcast Eternals. It combines the various background and fluff that's been scattered over other Big Books and White Dwarfs as well as combining all the Warscrolls. Yes, this is our first Army Book, as close as we're going to get anyway. It's either $58 for the regular edition or a whopping $140 for the limited edition version.
Stormcast Eternals
Prosecutors with Celestial Hammers or Stormcall Javelins: The last troop type for the Eternals finally get their own release. The Prosecutors, certainly the most striking looking Eternal units can finally be picked up as separate models. $60 will net your three models, a high price point, but one that may be ignored since they are the most stand-out model designs the Eternals have. They can be constructed either as the box set did, with dual hammers, or with javelins and shields. The Prime also has several weapon options from great weapons similar to the Liberator options to a trident which looks very cool.
Knight-Azyros: One of the "lieutenant" class units for the Eternals, this guy isn't as powerful as a Lord type, but also is a single unit that operates on his own like the other hero types. The Knight-Azyros is a winged unit like the Prosecutors but is armed with a lantern like the Lord-Castallent. A slick looking model, though pricey at $40, much like the Prosecutors, I think the price point is based on the sales for the cool wings.
Knight-Venator: The second "lieutenant" type that can be built with the same sprues as the Knight-Azyros, the Knight-Venator is the lone sniper unit for the Eternals. Again, winged like a Prosecutor, this guy has the bow like a Judicator does and a very cool looking Star-Eagle flying beneath him. I certainly like the look of him over the Knight-Azyros, but I think both of them are very cool looking.
Celestial Warbringer and Knight-Excelsior Upgrades: An interesting release, something much more akin to Forge World releases, these are optional shield, shoulder pad, and tilting plates that add more detail and different styles than the standard releases you get with your regular units. These are totally optional and are used to make units "canon" for other Warrior Chamber types. They're $12 each and give you enough to change 8 units. An odd price point, and odd release, and something that should have came out earlier for people buying Liberators and Paladins earlier.
Fiction
The Solace of Rage: Coming out Tuesday of Week 10, the Solace of Rage is the third part of the Call of Archon series. Once again, we get a look at the Chaos side of things, this time following Ushkar Mir of the Khorne Bloodbound. However, this is a Khorne follower in Ghur, not on Azyr, so that's a change. I also like what they did with the Khorne followers in the Black Rift of Klaxus, so I'm interested where this goes.
Week 11
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 85: Once again, the blurb is really pushing the new models, not the other articles. It mentions that they are in the Codex Apocrypha (which is mostly fluff based), as well as their warscrolls and such. They also talk about Army of the Month and Armies on Parade, which are recurring articles as well, so I don't know how much real fluff we'll get out of this one.
Stormcast Eternals
Knight-Heraldor: We are finishing out the lieutenant releases here, starting with a command level music player in the Knight-Heraldor. Since the main bulk troop types don't get a full command (musician and standard bearer are missing) outside of a commander, it's cool to see the Eternals get something like it. Their musician is at command level, a single hero type with a trumpet and sword, proudly announcing the Eternals presence. This guy has shown up in some of the fiction and he's a warrior true and only $25 the cheapest hero type for the Eternals yet.
Knight-Vexillor: The hero type standard bearer, he has two banner options, both which look quite cool. In fact, his look makes me wish that standard troop types did have a full command, so we could see variants of this look with Liberators, Paladins, and Prosecutors (I wish!) . But as a hero, he does have a striking pose and costs a smidge more than his partner this week at $30.
With that, every Eternal that's been mentioned or shown in various fiction, photos, lore, and war scrolls has been released. This may be the end of the Stormcast Eternals model push but I'm sure they can always think of more for the future, especially with the Warscroll format of making units. So do we get Khorne next week or a whole new faction? Or will we take a rest from AoS and do some pure 40K releases for a while? We'll see next Saturday!
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Review: Lord-Celestant
The Lord-Celestant was one of the first models released for AoS after the Starter Set (along with the Liberators) and offered the first look at the style and pricing of future unit purchases. So, let's take a look.
The Model
The Lord-Celestant retains the look of all the other Eternals. He's a big guy in a big armor, he's not going to shake off the "Sigmarine" moniker anytime soon. However, being a general/hero type he gets to be much more dressed and dynamic than regular troops. Unlike his Starter Set brethren, he is an unmounted figure, so he does not retain the size of the mounted version. However, he still holds a good heroic dynamic pose, foot aloft on stone, sword held in the air while his cape moves behind him.
The front of his armor has an impressive lion face motif and his high pointed halo stands different than the roman line of horsehair that the mounted Lord-Celestant has. His cape is a little odd, I'm not against the individual strips, but the small hammers at the bottom I'm not too keen on. Especially because they're actual small hammers, handles and all, as opposed to worked into the design.
Still, he retains the look as a hero, a leader, and will stand out among the regular troops, despite having a similar helmet and build.
The War Scroll
The War Scroll names him as the leader he is, a single model with no real choices in terms of weapons or options. At Move 5, Bravery 9, 5 Wounds, and a 3+ Save, he's not too strong in any one trait.
He has a runeblade sword that gives him 4 attacks and a hammer that gives him 2 more. Each attack only does 1 damage however and only the sword has a rend of 1. At 3+/4+ to hit and 3+ to wound on each, he's a middle line troop in terms of basic melee attacks.
His abilities add a few wrinkles to him, however. He has Inescapable Vengeance, letting him make one extra attack per weapon if he successfully charged, meaning you have an advantage of moving him into melee first.
The Sigmarite Warcloak explains the hammers at the end of his cape strips...and doesn't make it any better. The hammers apparently are a missile weapon, with D6 of them flying off towards a target and suffering one mortal wound on a 4+. You can also pick multiple targets. It would have some use as an attempt to finish off a model that can't save against mortal wounds or to punch a few holes in one wound units before charging in. It's still silly sounding in terms of it "actually" happening on the battle field as little mini-hammers go flying off a cloak and smack into people.
Finally, his Command Ability, Furious Retribution, allows any units within 9" to add +1 to their Hit rolls for a turn.
Overall, these stats and abilities make for a very middle of the road single character unit. Nothing gives him an overwhelming advantage, but there is enough useful abilities to not make him worthless.
The Price
He will run you $33 to purchase, a single model with no options. You'll use everything on the sprue and can only form him in one way. Yes, he's a great looking mini, the amount of detail is very impressive compared to other minis at this scale from other companies. Still, GW can't even claim that you have all these options or leftover bitz for conversions when you're done to make up the value.
Overall
It's a pricey model and one that doesn't give you a huge amount of abilities and uniqueness to make him a definite purchase. He is an alright option to add to your army, but one that will look like all the others due to lack of options and him having to keep the Eternals aesthetic.
The Model
The Lord-Celestant retains the look of all the other Eternals. He's a big guy in a big armor, he's not going to shake off the "Sigmarine" moniker anytime soon. However, being a general/hero type he gets to be much more dressed and dynamic than regular troops. Unlike his Starter Set brethren, he is an unmounted figure, so he does not retain the size of the mounted version. However, he still holds a good heroic dynamic pose, foot aloft on stone, sword held in the air while his cape moves behind him.
The front of his armor has an impressive lion face motif and his high pointed halo stands different than the roman line of horsehair that the mounted Lord-Celestant has. His cape is a little odd, I'm not against the individual strips, but the small hammers at the bottom I'm not too keen on. Especially because they're actual small hammers, handles and all, as opposed to worked into the design.
Still, he retains the look as a hero, a leader, and will stand out among the regular troops, despite having a similar helmet and build.
The War Scroll
The War Scroll names him as the leader he is, a single model with no real choices in terms of weapons or options. At Move 5, Bravery 9, 5 Wounds, and a 3+ Save, he's not too strong in any one trait.
He has a runeblade sword that gives him 4 attacks and a hammer that gives him 2 more. Each attack only does 1 damage however and only the sword has a rend of 1. At 3+/4+ to hit and 3+ to wound on each, he's a middle line troop in terms of basic melee attacks.
His abilities add a few wrinkles to him, however. He has Inescapable Vengeance, letting him make one extra attack per weapon if he successfully charged, meaning you have an advantage of moving him into melee first.
The Sigmarite Warcloak explains the hammers at the end of his cape strips...and doesn't make it any better. The hammers apparently are a missile weapon, with D6 of them flying off towards a target and suffering one mortal wound on a 4+. You can also pick multiple targets. It would have some use as an attempt to finish off a model that can't save against mortal wounds or to punch a few holes in one wound units before charging in. It's still silly sounding in terms of it "actually" happening on the battle field as little mini-hammers go flying off a cloak and smack into people.
Finally, his Command Ability, Furious Retribution, allows any units within 9" to add +1 to their Hit rolls for a turn.
Overall, these stats and abilities make for a very middle of the road single character unit. Nothing gives him an overwhelming advantage, but there is enough useful abilities to not make him worthless.
The Price
He will run you $33 to purchase, a single model with no options. You'll use everything on the sprue and can only form him in one way. Yes, he's a great looking mini, the amount of detail is very impressive compared to other minis at this scale from other companies. Still, GW can't even claim that you have all these options or leftover bitz for conversions when you're done to make up the value.
Overall
It's a pricey model and one that doesn't give you a huge amount of abilities and uniqueness to make him a definite purchase. He is an alright option to add to your army, but one that will look like all the others due to lack of options and him having to keep the Eternals aesthetic.
Review: Age of Sigmar App
The Age of Sigmar App is a free app by GW for use in the construction and reference of your armies for playing Age of Sigmar. It's absolutely worth it's value and more and I see it as an essential component for anyone playing AoS.
So what does it do? It offers War Scrolls for every single unit that has been released (as well as all the old ones they retrofitted with War Scrolls), broken into the four Grand Alliances (and Scenery) as well as being further broken down by Faction. You simply choose the Faction you want, click on the cloud to download the War Scrolls and they are there for you to review.
Each War Scroll is broken into 4 or more pages. The first offers the description and composition, the second a picture, the third has the stat wheel and weapon options, and the final page (or two or more if a lot of rules apply) offer the special abilities and Keywords for that unit. They are the same as the .pdf or hard copy War Scrolls just broken into easily digestable pages for your tablet or phone.
What's more, you can click the gold crossed weapons on any War Scroll to place it into a My Battle page, that will only display those War Scrolls on your menu. This means you can build an army and have each War Scroll on the same page, especially useful if you're mixing factions or don't have all unit types for a large army.
The app also features the free ruleset so you can reference it quickly and, if you prefer your book e-style, you can purcase them through the app to link them all together. This includes all the Battletomes, Realmgate Wars Big Books, and Painting Guides (as well as a link to Black Library for fiction).
Purchasing the books through the app also unlock their relevant Battalion War Scrolls to allow you to add them to your My Battle or read through them. If you don't want to purchase them (I prefer hard copies for instance), you can unlock the Battalion Scrolls for .99 cents a piece, no worse than any other in-app purchases.
My only complaint is that you can't uninstall any War Scrolls you've downloaded easily. If you have downloaded the Khorne Bloodreavers when they were part of the Starter Set, for instance, and then wanted to look at them after they have had updates with their individual release (for their new weapons and such), you can't delete the original War Scroll to get the new one through the app. You can go into your phone's app setting and delete all downloaded data or clear data or what have you to redownload the new Scrolls, but that's needlessly complicated. I wish there was a long press option or something to redownload new Scrolls quickly.
But other than that, this app is essential at the table to make planning quick and easy, you don't have to shuffle through papers or books to find the War Scrolls you need. And it's free, there's no reason not to get this app.
So what does it do? It offers War Scrolls for every single unit that has been released (as well as all the old ones they retrofitted with War Scrolls), broken into the four Grand Alliances (and Scenery) as well as being further broken down by Faction. You simply choose the Faction you want, click on the cloud to download the War Scrolls and they are there for you to review.
Each War Scroll is broken into 4 or more pages. The first offers the description and composition, the second a picture, the third has the stat wheel and weapon options, and the final page (or two or more if a lot of rules apply) offer the special abilities and Keywords for that unit. They are the same as the .pdf or hard copy War Scrolls just broken into easily digestable pages for your tablet or phone.
What's more, you can click the gold crossed weapons on any War Scroll to place it into a My Battle page, that will only display those War Scrolls on your menu. This means you can build an army and have each War Scroll on the same page, especially useful if you're mixing factions or don't have all unit types for a large army.
The app also features the free ruleset so you can reference it quickly and, if you prefer your book e-style, you can purcase them through the app to link them all together. This includes all the Battletomes, Realmgate Wars Big Books, and Painting Guides (as well as a link to Black Library for fiction).
Purchasing the books through the app also unlock their relevant Battalion War Scrolls to allow you to add them to your My Battle or read through them. If you don't want to purchase them (I prefer hard copies for instance), you can unlock the Battalion Scrolls for .99 cents a piece, no worse than any other in-app purchases.
My only complaint is that you can't uninstall any War Scrolls you've downloaded easily. If you have downloaded the Khorne Bloodreavers when they were part of the Starter Set, for instance, and then wanted to look at them after they have had updates with their individual release (for their new weapons and such), you can't delete the original War Scroll to get the new one through the app. You can go into your phone's app setting and delete all downloaded data or clear data or what have you to redownload the new Scrolls, but that's needlessly complicated. I wish there was a long press option or something to redownload new Scrolls quickly.
But other than that, this app is essential at the table to make planning quick and easy, you don't have to shuffle through papers or books to find the War Scrolls you need. And it's free, there's no reason not to get this app.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Weekly Shopping List: Week 9
We have moved beyond 2 months of AoS releases and there is still no end in sight. It actually would be nice if there was one so I could do some catch-up without falling horribly behind and draining my bank account.
Atleast this week is small, with only 2 releases! Of course, one is a big release.
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 83: Our latest issue of White Dwarf focuses on on the big release for this week, the Celestant-Prime, featured prominently on the cover. Besides that, there is mention of a write-up on the Hallowed Knights, the Stormhost leading the charge in Ghyran. It's nice to see an article dedicated to a Stormhost that isn't the Hammers of Sigmar. Maybe this means the Vindicators will get some more love.
Stormcast Eternals
Celestant-Prime: Here is the big bad super hero model for the Eternals (unless they have something even bigger hiding up their sleeves), the Celestant-Prime. Supposedly the first Eternal ever forged and now wielding Ghal Maraz after the Eternals got it back, this is the big centerpiece model like many other armies got during the End Times. He's $80 for a fairly large model, with impressive looking wings, however I'm not to sure if I like the swirling magics/orrey under him and for the most part, he still just looks like an Eternal. Atleast he keeps a conformity to the rest of the army.
And that's it, it's a nice break from the repacks or massive fortresses that would cost a pretty penny if you're trying to catch 'em all. Will next week see more AoS releases? Or will there be a small break in the action to give 40K some love, I suppose we'll see soon enough.
Atleast this week is small, with only 2 releases! Of course, one is a big release.
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 83: Our latest issue of White Dwarf focuses on on the big release for this week, the Celestant-Prime, featured prominently on the cover. Besides that, there is mention of a write-up on the Hallowed Knights, the Stormhost leading the charge in Ghyran. It's nice to see an article dedicated to a Stormhost that isn't the Hammers of Sigmar. Maybe this means the Vindicators will get some more love.
Stormcast Eternals
Celestant-Prime: Here is the big bad super hero model for the Eternals (unless they have something even bigger hiding up their sleeves), the Celestant-Prime. Supposedly the first Eternal ever forged and now wielding Ghal Maraz after the Eternals got it back, this is the big centerpiece model like many other armies got during the End Times. He's $80 for a fairly large model, with impressive looking wings, however I'm not to sure if I like the swirling magics/orrey under him and for the most part, he still just looks like an Eternal. Atleast he keeps a conformity to the rest of the army.
And that's it, it's a nice break from the repacks or massive fortresses that would cost a pretty penny if you're trying to catch 'em all. Will next week see more AoS releases? Or will there be a small break in the action to give 40K some love, I suppose we'll see soon enough.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Review: Age of Sigmar Big Book
The Age of Sigmar Big Book (I'm calling it the Big Book so as not to confuse it with the line's overall title) is the first release of the "campaign structure" that AoS is toting to use. Here we continue the story presented in the Starter State and The Gates of Azyr, presented in a collection of fluff, scenarios, and artwork. How does it hold together? Let's check it out!
I went for the Collector's Edition because I have a hard time turning that down, I'm a sucker I know. The Collector's Edition comes in a white slip case featuring the Age of Sigmar logo in gold on the front and an image of Ghal Maraz and small blurb on the back. The book itself is a thick hardcover tome, with the same front cover as the regular edition but with gold print on the spine, gold page edges, a bookmark, and the same back cover as the slip case with the limited edition number on it (I have 1027 of 2000).
The book starts with a small introduction and then goes into the meat of the book. Nearly half the book is full of fluff, while the second half is a mix of fluff and scenarios/rules/warscrolls.
The fluff sections consist of a few standard layouts:
The standard sections of writings interspaced with artwork, be it models or original art.
1 to 2 page sidebars that contain charts, layouts, color schemes, etc.
2 page spreads with a little text down the left side (seen in many WD issues)
The 2 page spreads feature some absolute gorgeous artwork. The art overall is very good, but these pieces really show off how amazing and evocative the art can be.
Section 1: The Storm Breaks
We start by getting a look at our two main factions we've been seeing since the beginning; the Stormcast Eternals and the Khorne Bloodbound. This section basically gathers a lot of the information that's come out in bits and pieces in the previous fiction and WD articles. But there is some new information in there as well. We get a look at some of the force compositions for both sides and a lot of questions added as well.
For instance, we've only seen Warrior Chambers for the Eternals, but a chart shows there are Exemplar, Harbinger, Sacrosanct, Ruination, Extremis, and Auxiliary Chambers. Also, command comes out of the Heraldor, Judicator, Relictor, and Valedictor Temples, only a few of those names we've seen before. Similar to the Space Marines compositions I've seen, we get a cool two page spread of what a full Warrior Chamber would be (and like a full Space Marine layout would be) madly expensive. Things like a total of 9 Liberator Retinues that each contain 20 units (at $50 for 5, that would run you $1,800. Of course, nothing has said you need to field that many units, but I bet someone does and we'll see it online. We also see some command units that do not have models yet, but were mentioned in the Assault on the Mandrake Bastion, such as the Knight-Heraldor.
There is also another look at the various Stormhosts of the Eternals (I still like the green of the Celestial Vindicators) and the Warbands of Khorne in Azyr.
Besides some great art and a nice compilation of info that has been scattered, there isn't a whole lot of new information here. If anything, these would do well to make up the first respective chapters of Army Books if there were to be ones. As a side note, if there were pure/majority fluff Army Books released that just filled in some gaps about the composition, mindsets, armory, etc. of various factions, I'd buy them. Then again, I'm a fluff junkie.
Section 2: The Age of Sigmar
The Age of Sigmar section presents where the Realms are at the current moment of the storyline, what is going on right before and right as the Eternals make their first landings. While Chaos has been considered triumphant in their takeover of the Realms, the people still left aren't just waiting around for the Eternals to show up. In fact, not all the Realms could even be considered fully taken over. We learn of the mortal champion leading Chaos, Archaon, (yep, the same big bad guy from the Old World) and him helping to unit the four Chaos armies (he doesn't consider the Skaven as true Chaos and pays no heed to The Great Horned Rat) in their initial assault on the other Realms.
While most of the Realms are fully subjugated, with the few mortals surviving by hiding/running from various Chaos tribes, there are two in which the battles aren't quite over yet. In Shyish, the Undead are not going quietly against the forces of Chaos. Nagash was killed in the first assault, but then gets better after several years and comes back. Chaos just can't get a handle on killing things that keep coming back, much like they do. The battle of the Realm is never quite decided, but the story catches up with the Undead Forces nearly being taken out outside a Realm Gate to Azyr when the Eternals arrive to turn the tide.
Meanwhile, in Ghyran, while the forces of Nurgle are enjoying corrupting the abundance of life that the Realm has to offer. They are suddenly attacked by seemingly the forest itself, as the Sylvaneth faction comes to life and fights back.
It's nice to see the book acknowledges that the Realms shouldn't just sit around and wait for the Eternals to come around. There are things happening, and it opens up battles that aren't just your Eternals vs. Chaos.
Section 3: The Lost Ages
Oddly, after we see where the Realms are right before the timeline catches up with the present, we go back in time to a very quick overview of what has gone on before. In fact, I feel like these two sections should have been swapped, especially with the current battles coming as the next section after it.
The Lost Age expands upon the bit of information that was in the very first White Dwarf. We go over Sigmar drifting through space, him being discovered by Dracothion and shown the 8 Realms, and his visit upon all the Realms to unite them. There is a lot of bits to pull out of this section, we name drop all the major characters from the Old Realms as current gods and how Sigmar got them to to form a council. There are mentions to the fire haired Duradin mercenaries, Savage Orruks, how the Skaven can burrow into any Realm (Blight City, their home, was only pulled slightly in the Realm of Chaos and still touches all the other Realms), and more.
Read straight on, there isn't a lot that actually is told. Sigmar goes around the Realms, finds the named characters in trouble, helps them so they join his council and build the great Azyrheim. Eventually Chaos hears about this and decides to strike at the Realms. Chaos overwhelms the Realms, Sigmar retreats for centuries and then comes back with the Eternals. But it's digging up all the details that add a lot to what's going on. Not just the name drops, but the little things that go on.
We learn of the Allpoints, a sub-realm that has gates connecting all the Realms. We learn of Gorkamorka splitting and reforging into one/two beings and each time it signals a great Waaaagh. We learn about Nagash slipping away from the battle of Allpoints and Sigmar's barbarian pride actually costs the Alliance of Order the battle of Allpoints as he goes to pursue Nagash, leaving the battle and sealing the fates of the Realms. There are a lot of seeds for story here, I'd love to see more of it explored through fiction and more in depth articles.
Section 4: Battle Unbound
This is a small section that is once again a pimping of products section of the book. On one level, it's weird to see it here when White Dwarf is a much better vehicle for that sort of thing. However, it is also the first "major" book for AoS and it really does well to show off what could be coming. This section is 2-page spread after 2-page spread of model shots showing off nearly every Faction and Grand Alliance they will offer.
Section 5: Fire & Thunder
Another short section, this just explains the upcoming format of Battleplanes and then reprints the rules for you, just in case you don't have them.
Section 6: The Realmgate Wars Begin
Finally, the meat of the more game side of the Big Book, as well as starting the fiction beyond the Start Set's initial invasion by Hammerhand.
We see the initial battle launched by the Eternals on three fronts; within the Brimstone Peninsula on Aqshy (which continues on from the Starter Set), taking back the Kingdom of Greenglades in Ghyran, and the assault at the ruins of Elixia in Chamon.
For each one, we get the story of the assaults, both as narrative text and actual fiction. Each of these come form various points of view of the participating Factions. Spaced between these are Battleplans, scenarios that can emulate the various battles the stories touch upon. While each one is based on the narrative, they are set-up to be generic so you can use them as just scenarios to run with your favorite armies.
On top of that, there are two sets of general rules for fighting in Brimstone Peninsula and Greenglades. These range from new spells available, to specific terrain rules, to just overall rule changes to reflect the Realm. These add another layer of depth to your fight without disrupting the 4-page general rules.
Storywise, a few interesting things end up happening, that moves us into the next major release.
On the Brimstone Peninsula, Hammerhand defies his orders when he sees a vision of Khul placing Vandus' head atop a pyramid of skulls. Instead of holding the Realmgates, he moves to assault the 8 towers outside Khul's Red Pyramid. There, they learn, is a Realm Gate connected directly to the Chaos Realm where Khorne's daemons can endlessly appear. After many battles and loses on both sides, Vandus sacrifices himself, calling Sigmar to strike him down as he holds onto the portal, destroying it and ending reinforcements for Khorne.
In the Greenglades, the Hallowed Knights seek to secure a Realm Gate to Azyr, while also entreating with Alarielle to support the assault. Alarielle, going mad from Nurgle's corruption of her Realm, has been lost in memory far more than leading her armies against the Rotbringers. When the Hallowed Knights arrive, she fears Sigmar is also trying to take her Realm and dismisses them. Meanwhile, the Great Unclean One that has held sway in the Greenglades pulls himself from Nurgle's gardens to fight the Hallowed Knights, summoning massive amounts of daemons. The battle seems lost of the Hallowed Knights, until reinforcements from the Astral Lions appear. These are countered by Skaven from Clan Pestilens however, who are then countered by the Sylvaneth, finally joining the fray. The Great Unclean One is destroyed when he attempts to pull himself free of the portal to chase the Hallowed Knights Lord-Celestant, ripping the portals frame and causing a massive explosion that kills them both.
Lastly, in Chamon, the Celestial Vindicators manage to take a Realm Gate without battle, but soon a sorcerer of Tzeentch and his armies are upon them. The Vindicators push back, forcing the sorcerer back to his fortress, where the Eternals lay siege to it. The battle is going in the Vindicators favor until the fortress itself, a giant battery of magical energies built around an artefact too strong for any of Chaos to look upon, charges up and explodes in a flash of heavenly light.
Once reforged and before Sigmar, Lord-Cellestant Thostos Bladestorm tells him of the brillant light and explosion. Then, Sigmar knows, Ghal Maraz has finally been found.
This is by far the best part of the book, it moves the story forward, but also gives you a ton of scenarios to use in the game. This further cements the ability to play AoS as more than two armies smacking into each other. You can now run specific scenarios and link them together however you wish for your own narrative. You can pick a friend, pick 5 scenarios and see who is the first to win 3 (using the Major/Minor Victory rules as they are different each scenario as well). You can decide to play Battleplans from the Brimstone Peninsula section, mixed with the Elixia fights, but have it occur on the Greenglades and use their rules. As more books are released that add more specific Battleplans and location rules, you can easily ignore the over all story and create your own campaign to play out.
Section 7: Legends of War
The final section collects Warscrolls, mostly the units from the starter set, but also some Sylvaneth units as well. We also get a few Warscroll Battalions, which give you special bonuses for composing an army exactly as listed.
In Conclusion
So, is this book worth it? Well that depends on your stance of fluff over gameplay. While the Battleplans are awesome and add a ton of new ways to play on your table, they are a small part of the book. For the most part, this is a fluff piece and an art book, something it does very well. If you want to follow the story of Age of Sigmar, this book moves the game forward, if you want more gameplay options, they're in here too. However, the amount of pure gaming material is small compared to the rest of the book and while a lot of theses scenarios are interesting, if you're just into gaming, find someone who has the book or make up your own scenarios.
For me, though, it was quite a good read that shed some interesting facts on the past and present of the Realms.
I went for the Collector's Edition because I have a hard time turning that down, I'm a sucker I know. The Collector's Edition comes in a white slip case featuring the Age of Sigmar logo in gold on the front and an image of Ghal Maraz and small blurb on the back. The book itself is a thick hardcover tome, with the same front cover as the regular edition but with gold print on the spine, gold page edges, a bookmark, and the same back cover as the slip case with the limited edition number on it (I have 1027 of 2000).
The book starts with a small introduction and then goes into the meat of the book. Nearly half the book is full of fluff, while the second half is a mix of fluff and scenarios/rules/warscrolls.
The fluff sections consist of a few standard layouts:
The standard sections of writings interspaced with artwork, be it models or original art.
1 to 2 page sidebars that contain charts, layouts, color schemes, etc.
2 page spreads with a little text down the left side (seen in many WD issues)
The 2 page spreads feature some absolute gorgeous artwork. The art overall is very good, but these pieces really show off how amazing and evocative the art can be.
Section 1: The Storm Breaks
We start by getting a look at our two main factions we've been seeing since the beginning; the Stormcast Eternals and the Khorne Bloodbound. This section basically gathers a lot of the information that's come out in bits and pieces in the previous fiction and WD articles. But there is some new information in there as well. We get a look at some of the force compositions for both sides and a lot of questions added as well.
For instance, we've only seen Warrior Chambers for the Eternals, but a chart shows there are Exemplar, Harbinger, Sacrosanct, Ruination, Extremis, and Auxiliary Chambers. Also, command comes out of the Heraldor, Judicator, Relictor, and Valedictor Temples, only a few of those names we've seen before. Similar to the Space Marines compositions I've seen, we get a cool two page spread of what a full Warrior Chamber would be (and like a full Space Marine layout would be) madly expensive. Things like a total of 9 Liberator Retinues that each contain 20 units (at $50 for 5, that would run you $1,800. Of course, nothing has said you need to field that many units, but I bet someone does and we'll see it online. We also see some command units that do not have models yet, but were mentioned in the Assault on the Mandrake Bastion, such as the Knight-Heraldor.
There is also another look at the various Stormhosts of the Eternals (I still like the green of the Celestial Vindicators) and the Warbands of Khorne in Azyr.
Besides some great art and a nice compilation of info that has been scattered, there isn't a whole lot of new information here. If anything, these would do well to make up the first respective chapters of Army Books if there were to be ones. As a side note, if there were pure/majority fluff Army Books released that just filled in some gaps about the composition, mindsets, armory, etc. of various factions, I'd buy them. Then again, I'm a fluff junkie.
Section 2: The Age of Sigmar
The Age of Sigmar section presents where the Realms are at the current moment of the storyline, what is going on right before and right as the Eternals make their first landings. While Chaos has been considered triumphant in their takeover of the Realms, the people still left aren't just waiting around for the Eternals to show up. In fact, not all the Realms could even be considered fully taken over. We learn of the mortal champion leading Chaos, Archaon, (yep, the same big bad guy from the Old World) and him helping to unit the four Chaos armies (he doesn't consider the Skaven as true Chaos and pays no heed to The Great Horned Rat) in their initial assault on the other Realms.
While most of the Realms are fully subjugated, with the few mortals surviving by hiding/running from various Chaos tribes, there are two in which the battles aren't quite over yet. In Shyish, the Undead are not going quietly against the forces of Chaos. Nagash was killed in the first assault, but then gets better after several years and comes back. Chaos just can't get a handle on killing things that keep coming back, much like they do. The battle of the Realm is never quite decided, but the story catches up with the Undead Forces nearly being taken out outside a Realm Gate to Azyr when the Eternals arrive to turn the tide.
Meanwhile, in Ghyran, while the forces of Nurgle are enjoying corrupting the abundance of life that the Realm has to offer. They are suddenly attacked by seemingly the forest itself, as the Sylvaneth faction comes to life and fights back.
It's nice to see the book acknowledges that the Realms shouldn't just sit around and wait for the Eternals to come around. There are things happening, and it opens up battles that aren't just your Eternals vs. Chaos.
Section 3: The Lost Ages
Oddly, after we see where the Realms are right before the timeline catches up with the present, we go back in time to a very quick overview of what has gone on before. In fact, I feel like these two sections should have been swapped, especially with the current battles coming as the next section after it.
The Lost Age expands upon the bit of information that was in the very first White Dwarf. We go over Sigmar drifting through space, him being discovered by Dracothion and shown the 8 Realms, and his visit upon all the Realms to unite them. There is a lot of bits to pull out of this section, we name drop all the major characters from the Old Realms as current gods and how Sigmar got them to to form a council. There are mentions to the fire haired Duradin mercenaries, Savage Orruks, how the Skaven can burrow into any Realm (Blight City, their home, was only pulled slightly in the Realm of Chaos and still touches all the other Realms), and more.
Read straight on, there isn't a lot that actually is told. Sigmar goes around the Realms, finds the named characters in trouble, helps them so they join his council and build the great Azyrheim. Eventually Chaos hears about this and decides to strike at the Realms. Chaos overwhelms the Realms, Sigmar retreats for centuries and then comes back with the Eternals. But it's digging up all the details that add a lot to what's going on. Not just the name drops, but the little things that go on.
We learn of the Allpoints, a sub-realm that has gates connecting all the Realms. We learn of Gorkamorka splitting and reforging into one/two beings and each time it signals a great Waaaagh. We learn about Nagash slipping away from the battle of Allpoints and Sigmar's barbarian pride actually costs the Alliance of Order the battle of Allpoints as he goes to pursue Nagash, leaving the battle and sealing the fates of the Realms. There are a lot of seeds for story here, I'd love to see more of it explored through fiction and more in depth articles.
Section 4: Battle Unbound
This is a small section that is once again a pimping of products section of the book. On one level, it's weird to see it here when White Dwarf is a much better vehicle for that sort of thing. However, it is also the first "major" book for AoS and it really does well to show off what could be coming. This section is 2-page spread after 2-page spread of model shots showing off nearly every Faction and Grand Alliance they will offer.
Section 5: Fire & Thunder
Another short section, this just explains the upcoming format of Battleplanes and then reprints the rules for you, just in case you don't have them.
Section 6: The Realmgate Wars Begin
Finally, the meat of the more game side of the Big Book, as well as starting the fiction beyond the Start Set's initial invasion by Hammerhand.
We see the initial battle launched by the Eternals on three fronts; within the Brimstone Peninsula on Aqshy (which continues on from the Starter Set), taking back the Kingdom of Greenglades in Ghyran, and the assault at the ruins of Elixia in Chamon.
For each one, we get the story of the assaults, both as narrative text and actual fiction. Each of these come form various points of view of the participating Factions. Spaced between these are Battleplans, scenarios that can emulate the various battles the stories touch upon. While each one is based on the narrative, they are set-up to be generic so you can use them as just scenarios to run with your favorite armies.
On top of that, there are two sets of general rules for fighting in Brimstone Peninsula and Greenglades. These range from new spells available, to specific terrain rules, to just overall rule changes to reflect the Realm. These add another layer of depth to your fight without disrupting the 4-page general rules.
Storywise, a few interesting things end up happening, that moves us into the next major release.
On the Brimstone Peninsula, Hammerhand defies his orders when he sees a vision of Khul placing Vandus' head atop a pyramid of skulls. Instead of holding the Realmgates, he moves to assault the 8 towers outside Khul's Red Pyramid. There, they learn, is a Realm Gate connected directly to the Chaos Realm where Khorne's daemons can endlessly appear. After many battles and loses on both sides, Vandus sacrifices himself, calling Sigmar to strike him down as he holds onto the portal, destroying it and ending reinforcements for Khorne.
In the Greenglades, the Hallowed Knights seek to secure a Realm Gate to Azyr, while also entreating with Alarielle to support the assault. Alarielle, going mad from Nurgle's corruption of her Realm, has been lost in memory far more than leading her armies against the Rotbringers. When the Hallowed Knights arrive, she fears Sigmar is also trying to take her Realm and dismisses them. Meanwhile, the Great Unclean One that has held sway in the Greenglades pulls himself from Nurgle's gardens to fight the Hallowed Knights, summoning massive amounts of daemons. The battle seems lost of the Hallowed Knights, until reinforcements from the Astral Lions appear. These are countered by Skaven from Clan Pestilens however, who are then countered by the Sylvaneth, finally joining the fray. The Great Unclean One is destroyed when he attempts to pull himself free of the portal to chase the Hallowed Knights Lord-Celestant, ripping the portals frame and causing a massive explosion that kills them both.
Lastly, in Chamon, the Celestial Vindicators manage to take a Realm Gate without battle, but soon a sorcerer of Tzeentch and his armies are upon them. The Vindicators push back, forcing the sorcerer back to his fortress, where the Eternals lay siege to it. The battle is going in the Vindicators favor until the fortress itself, a giant battery of magical energies built around an artefact too strong for any of Chaos to look upon, charges up and explodes in a flash of heavenly light.
Once reforged and before Sigmar, Lord-Cellestant Thostos Bladestorm tells him of the brillant light and explosion. Then, Sigmar knows, Ghal Maraz has finally been found.
This is by far the best part of the book, it moves the story forward, but also gives you a ton of scenarios to use in the game. This further cements the ability to play AoS as more than two armies smacking into each other. You can now run specific scenarios and link them together however you wish for your own narrative. You can pick a friend, pick 5 scenarios and see who is the first to win 3 (using the Major/Minor Victory rules as they are different each scenario as well). You can decide to play Battleplans from the Brimstone Peninsula section, mixed with the Elixia fights, but have it occur on the Greenglades and use their rules. As more books are released that add more specific Battleplans and location rules, you can easily ignore the over all story and create your own campaign to play out.
Section 7: Legends of War
The final section collects Warscrolls, mostly the units from the starter set, but also some Sylvaneth units as well. We also get a few Warscroll Battalions, which give you special bonuses for composing an army exactly as listed.
In Conclusion
So, is this book worth it? Well that depends on your stance of fluff over gameplay. While the Battleplans are awesome and add a ton of new ways to play on your table, they are a small part of the book. For the most part, this is a fluff piece and an art book, something it does very well. If you want to follow the story of Age of Sigmar, this book moves the game forward, if you want more gameplay options, they're in here too. However, the amount of pure gaming material is small compared to the rest of the book and while a lot of theses scenarios are interesting, if you're just into gaming, find someone who has the book or make up your own scenarios.
For me, though, it was quite a good read that shed some interesting facts on the past and present of the Realms.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Weekly Shopping List: Week 8
While the initial list of pre-orders seems quite big for the next week, when you break it down, it's actually just a lot of bundles of a few sets of terrain. But man, some of those bundles are expensive; do you have $1,120 to spend on AoS terrain? Have we go the bundle for you!
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 82: Unsurprisingly, this is yet another AoS focused White Dwarf. The blurb mostly focuses on the Chaos Dreadhold range of terrain pieces being released, as they are also the obvious focus of this week. There is some mention on discussing the Grand Alliances as well.
Battletome: Chaos Dreadhold: This is new, and quite odd. Until I get my hands on this, I'm not sure really what this is. From what I can tell, this is a smaller version of the Big Books they've released so far. Like the large books, this will have warscrolls, ficiton, and scenarios, but won't be moving the storyline forward. This mostly focuses on using the Dreadhold terrain kits, obviously, and will put them in the Realms in the fiction. 80-pages at $33 isn't horrible and it seems to feature the same stunning artwork we've seen so far.
Fiction
The Realmgate Wars: Ghal Maraz: The pattern GW seems to be going for is to release a Big Book/Scenario Book that gives you the background and scenarios for the ongoing fiction and then release actual fiction that features those scenarios. The Gates of Azyr detailed the scenarios in the Starter Set, War Storm covers the battles in the first Big Book and now we have Ghal Maraz. I'm going to assume that this fiction covers the scenarios and battles from The Search for Ghal Maraz Big Book.
Khorne Bloodbound
Blood Warriors: The only units up for pre-order this week, the Blood Warriors are the heavy infantry for Khorne. For $62 dollars you get enough parts to make 10 Blood Warriors with a variety of options, including a Champion and Icon Bearer. Not a bad deal compared to the price of some of the heavy Eternal infantry.
Terrain
The Terrain is a tricky thing, looking at GW's page, there are no less than 13 different variations of the Chaos Deadhold terrain kits, with prices ranging from $25 to $1,120! Once you sift through it all, you find that most of these are bundles, various parts the can be combined into the look shown. There are only 4 actual pieces that are different.
Chaos Dreadhold: Fortress Wall: The smallest piece available at $25, this is just a basic wall section. It's not much on it's own, and you'd need several pieces to make a wall that's actually big enough to go around something or block of a chunk of battlefield. Still, this means you can buy exactly the number of walls you want to make your piece or atleast have several in small sections to rearrange depending on how you wish to set up your playing field for that scenario.
Chaos Dreadhold: Skull Keep: This is a basic tower, full of skulls and spikes like the rest of the Dreadhold pieces. The tower seems to be about 3-4 standard models tall with a small balcony on the second floor and room up top to put a few units. $75 seems a bit pricey for it's size, the Ophidian Gateway was a little more than half and was a very large piece, granted it was a mostly flat wall compared to whole tower.
Chaos Dreadhold: Malefic Gate: This $100 terrain piece might actually be the best value of the 4 different kits. You are essentially getting two Fortress Walls (already $50) attached to a gate piece (that opens and closes on two swinging hinges). It has places to join it to other Dreadhold kits and would look fairly impressive with two Skull Keeps on the ends.
Chaos Dreadhold: Overlord Bastion: Finally, the Overlord Bastion is a jacked up Skull Keep. $130 gets you a Skull Keep with an additional floor, a wall piece, and a set of stairs leading up the wall. It looks rather nice and you're basically paying $30 for an additional level of keep and stairs, which is about right in GW pricing.
The Terrain is an interesting feature and I would be much more excited for it if I hadn't already gotten earlier terrain pieces. The ones I've had so far are not that good, made of inferior plastic and suffering from poor joining edges (gaps and the like), which I'll discuss when I go to review it. For now, I'll be seeing what other reivews pop up about this terrain and if it's of similar quality before I invest too hard into, despite the over-the-top skull-and-spike-laden silliness that is Khorne architecture.
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 82: Unsurprisingly, this is yet another AoS focused White Dwarf. The blurb mostly focuses on the Chaos Dreadhold range of terrain pieces being released, as they are also the obvious focus of this week. There is some mention on discussing the Grand Alliances as well.
Battletome: Chaos Dreadhold: This is new, and quite odd. Until I get my hands on this, I'm not sure really what this is. From what I can tell, this is a smaller version of the Big Books they've released so far. Like the large books, this will have warscrolls, ficiton, and scenarios, but won't be moving the storyline forward. This mostly focuses on using the Dreadhold terrain kits, obviously, and will put them in the Realms in the fiction. 80-pages at $33 isn't horrible and it seems to feature the same stunning artwork we've seen so far.
Fiction
The Realmgate Wars: Ghal Maraz: The pattern GW seems to be going for is to release a Big Book/Scenario Book that gives you the background and scenarios for the ongoing fiction and then release actual fiction that features those scenarios. The Gates of Azyr detailed the scenarios in the Starter Set, War Storm covers the battles in the first Big Book and now we have Ghal Maraz. I'm going to assume that this fiction covers the scenarios and battles from The Search for Ghal Maraz Big Book.
Khorne Bloodbound
Blood Warriors: The only units up for pre-order this week, the Blood Warriors are the heavy infantry for Khorne. For $62 dollars you get enough parts to make 10 Blood Warriors with a variety of options, including a Champion and Icon Bearer. Not a bad deal compared to the price of some of the heavy Eternal infantry.
Terrain
The Terrain is a tricky thing, looking at GW's page, there are no less than 13 different variations of the Chaos Deadhold terrain kits, with prices ranging from $25 to $1,120! Once you sift through it all, you find that most of these are bundles, various parts the can be combined into the look shown. There are only 4 actual pieces that are different.
Chaos Dreadhold: Fortress Wall: The smallest piece available at $25, this is just a basic wall section. It's not much on it's own, and you'd need several pieces to make a wall that's actually big enough to go around something or block of a chunk of battlefield. Still, this means you can buy exactly the number of walls you want to make your piece or atleast have several in small sections to rearrange depending on how you wish to set up your playing field for that scenario.
Chaos Dreadhold: Skull Keep: This is a basic tower, full of skulls and spikes like the rest of the Dreadhold pieces. The tower seems to be about 3-4 standard models tall with a small balcony on the second floor and room up top to put a few units. $75 seems a bit pricey for it's size, the Ophidian Gateway was a little more than half and was a very large piece, granted it was a mostly flat wall compared to whole tower.
Chaos Dreadhold: Malefic Gate: This $100 terrain piece might actually be the best value of the 4 different kits. You are essentially getting two Fortress Walls (already $50) attached to a gate piece (that opens and closes on two swinging hinges). It has places to join it to other Dreadhold kits and would look fairly impressive with two Skull Keeps on the ends.
Chaos Dreadhold: Overlord Bastion: Finally, the Overlord Bastion is a jacked up Skull Keep. $130 gets you a Skull Keep with an additional floor, a wall piece, and a set of stairs leading up the wall. It looks rather nice and you're basically paying $30 for an additional level of keep and stairs, which is about right in GW pricing.
The Terrain is an interesting feature and I would be much more excited for it if I hadn't already gotten earlier terrain pieces. The ones I've had so far are not that good, made of inferior plastic and suffering from poor joining edges (gaps and the like), which I'll discuss when I go to review it. For now, I'll be seeing what other reivews pop up about this terrain and if it's of similar quality before I invest too hard into, despite the over-the-top skull-and-spike-laden silliness that is Khorne architecture.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Review: White Dwarf 77
Issue 77 of White Dwarf continues to stay firmly focused in the Age of Sigmar, this is the final issue that is dishing out previews of the whole Age of Sigmar universe as this was released the same time as the Age of Sigmar Big Book. So what's inside? Let's see.
The cover depicts the Lord-Castellant, the sole pre-order figure for the week as the two terrain pieces were the stars of the pre-order show. While the actual Lord is supposed to be the star of the show, the Gryph-Hound is the most striking figure to me. The back cover has the same Lord-Castellant surrounded by some Retributors with some fun lighting tricks that highlights his lantern while keeping everyone else in the dark.
This inside cover continues pushing the Eternals vs. Bloodbound struggle as so far that's all we've been exposed to. A pitch about what's inside and the table of contents standard continues here.
First up we have our sales pitches! Two pages are given to the Lord-Castellant and his Gryph-Hound. This follows the standard we've seen in all the other issues for the sales. We get a bit of text selling the model both as what the unit is within the universe and what the model looks like. As well as many close-up shots with side text that either gives a sentence of lore or the model itself.
Next, each piece of new scenery for pre-order gets a page to sell them as well. The shots of them assembled and painted with the models around them looks great. The models themselves... well they'll get their review in time.
Next is a two-page Forge World article showing off some of their (highly pricey, even for GW) models. They're both 40K, so we'll move along.
Our big article for this issue is a 10 page spread on the Forces of Chaos. With Order getting their article last week, Chaos gets their day. The first page is a huge spread of Bloodbound, including many models we haven't seen yet and then it follows with pages on each of the five factions for Chaos. Khorne, as the lead Chaos army for AoS, get two pages, while the other Big 3 else gets a single one. There's not much new here if you have any knowledge of Warhammer beforehand, but it serves as a good primer for the uninitiated. Also, you get a great look at some of the models for each faction, they may be repainted/rebased older models, but if you're new to Warhammer in general, they're all new and exciting. There are some new bits in there, firstly, it mentions that Slaanesh is missing, that he was stolen away some point early in AoS's story. Also, the Skaven are firmly attached as members of the Chaos Grand Alliance. Two pages get dedicated to them and they mention how they can burrow into each Realm from their Blight City that hangs on the edge of the Realms of Chaos. Again, there is some great shots of models in their article, but not a huge amount content if you know anything about Warhammer in the past.
After this we have a 'Eavy Metal article, showing off some awesome paint jobs on both a Chimera and Tyranid Warrior. These don't really apply to AoS either, so moving along.
Next we have a two page spread entitled Warriors of the Broken World. This is two page spread of mostly model shots that has a small bit of text of the standard mortals that have been compelled to fight in the Realmgate Wars. Featured are the warrior-zealots that live in Azyrheim, willing to follow the Eternals into the other Realms to take them back. There is an awesome model of a War Altar with a huge hammer wielding griffon as well as many religious looking zealots ready to fight. It's nice to see some standard mortals around the Eternals, it makes the Eternals look bigger and more majestic and shows that not only they are fighting for Sigmar.
The Sprues and Glue article is three pages and shows not only how to assemble the Ophidian Archway but how to combine multiple ones in a few ways to make modular terrain. It's nothing groundbreaking, but continues the tradition of showing some basic wargaming/painting/assembling tips for new players.
After that we get three pages of Warscrolls, the standard intro page and a Scroll for both the Lord-Castellant and Gryph-Hounds. Once again, they'll get looked at during the review of the model itself.
The Week in White Dwarf is our round-up of random things again, a collection of both wargaming things and lore bits. As related to AoS, there is a small piece on how to paint the Ophidian Archways, a small article on the fun the rules for Baleful Realmgates brings to the table, and a small side bar of lore about the ruins that exist throughout the mortal Realms. Munitorum Report, the up/down arrow sidebar, focuses on the Lord-Castellant of course, and gives 4 quick facts about him related to the lore and a small article shows an awesome paint job on the Gryph-Hound that makes it look even cooler than I already thought. This is mixed with a few 40K and old warhammer paint/lore pieces, but all very small.
Finally, the Regiments of Renown shows off a few Leman Russ tanks for 40K with a Next Issue stinger about The Forces of Destruction.
A few more 40K articles crept in this week, but very very small amount of content. This is once again an AoS issue and still a lot of introductive text. The basic look at the Forces of Chaos and the promise of the Forces of Descruction to come, we continue to tour the basic structure of the forces of AoS. Still another good issue if you're AoS centric like myself.
This inside cover continues pushing the Eternals vs. Bloodbound struggle as so far that's all we've been exposed to. A pitch about what's inside and the table of contents standard continues here.
First up we have our sales pitches! Two pages are given to the Lord-Castellant and his Gryph-Hound. This follows the standard we've seen in all the other issues for the sales. We get a bit of text selling the model both as what the unit is within the universe and what the model looks like. As well as many close-up shots with side text that either gives a sentence of lore or the model itself.
Next, each piece of new scenery for pre-order gets a page to sell them as well. The shots of them assembled and painted with the models around them looks great. The models themselves... well they'll get their review in time.
Next is a two-page Forge World article showing off some of their (highly pricey, even for GW) models. They're both 40K, so we'll move along.
Our big article for this issue is a 10 page spread on the Forces of Chaos. With Order getting their article last week, Chaos gets their day. The first page is a huge spread of Bloodbound, including many models we haven't seen yet and then it follows with pages on each of the five factions for Chaos. Khorne, as the lead Chaos army for AoS, get two pages, while the other Big 3 else gets a single one. There's not much new here if you have any knowledge of Warhammer beforehand, but it serves as a good primer for the uninitiated. Also, you get a great look at some of the models for each faction, they may be repainted/rebased older models, but if you're new to Warhammer in general, they're all new and exciting. There are some new bits in there, firstly, it mentions that Slaanesh is missing, that he was stolen away some point early in AoS's story. Also, the Skaven are firmly attached as members of the Chaos Grand Alliance. Two pages get dedicated to them and they mention how they can burrow into each Realm from their Blight City that hangs on the edge of the Realms of Chaos. Again, there is some great shots of models in their article, but not a huge amount content if you know anything about Warhammer in the past.
After this we have a 'Eavy Metal article, showing off some awesome paint jobs on both a Chimera and Tyranid Warrior. These don't really apply to AoS either, so moving along.
Next we have a two page spread entitled Warriors of the Broken World. This is two page spread of mostly model shots that has a small bit of text of the standard mortals that have been compelled to fight in the Realmgate Wars. Featured are the warrior-zealots that live in Azyrheim, willing to follow the Eternals into the other Realms to take them back. There is an awesome model of a War Altar with a huge hammer wielding griffon as well as many religious looking zealots ready to fight. It's nice to see some standard mortals around the Eternals, it makes the Eternals look bigger and more majestic and shows that not only they are fighting for Sigmar.
The Sprues and Glue article is three pages and shows not only how to assemble the Ophidian Archway but how to combine multiple ones in a few ways to make modular terrain. It's nothing groundbreaking, but continues the tradition of showing some basic wargaming/painting/assembling tips for new players.
After that we get three pages of Warscrolls, the standard intro page and a Scroll for both the Lord-Castellant and Gryph-Hounds. Once again, they'll get looked at during the review of the model itself.
The Week in White Dwarf is our round-up of random things again, a collection of both wargaming things and lore bits. As related to AoS, there is a small piece on how to paint the Ophidian Archways, a small article on the fun the rules for Baleful Realmgates brings to the table, and a small side bar of lore about the ruins that exist throughout the mortal Realms. Munitorum Report, the up/down arrow sidebar, focuses on the Lord-Castellant of course, and gives 4 quick facts about him related to the lore and a small article shows an awesome paint job on the Gryph-Hound that makes it look even cooler than I already thought. This is mixed with a few 40K and old warhammer paint/lore pieces, but all very small.
Finally, the Regiments of Renown shows off a few Leman Russ tanks for 40K with a Next Issue stinger about The Forces of Destruction.
A few more 40K articles crept in this week, but very very small amount of content. This is once again an AoS issue and still a lot of introductive text. The basic look at the Forces of Chaos and the promise of the Forces of Descruction to come, we continue to tour the basic structure of the forces of AoS. Still another good issue if you're AoS centric like myself.
Monday, August 17, 2015
Weekly Shopping List: Week 7, Part 2
Just as I finish my review for Part 1 of The Black Rift of Klaxus, Black Library drops Part 2.
In the Walls of Uryx continues our tale and seems to focus more on the Bloodbound side of things as the sales pitch says:
"Get your first look at the rituals of the Khorne Bloodbound. Find out why Slaughterpriests are so exalted (and badass) and why there have to be eight champions in a warband - and what someone has to go through to become one of those eight. Watch out – it's gonna get messy."
If this focuses more on the main characters of the Bloodbound and less on the big scale fights of the Eternals, I'm excited. That was my favorite portion of the first story and I eagerly look forward to more.
Also, as a quick aside, I'm finally done with all of Week 2 releases (we're currently at Week 7, with Week 8 on pre-release) and moving into Week 3. Yes, I'm more than a month behind, but I'm one guy doing this for fun, so patience is appreciated. A lot fo fun stuff to tackle in Week 3 as well, especially looking at the Age of Sigmar Big Book! Stay tuned.
In the Walls of Uryx continues our tale and seems to focus more on the Bloodbound side of things as the sales pitch says:
"Get your first look at the rituals of the Khorne Bloodbound. Find out why Slaughterpriests are so exalted (and badass) and why there have to be eight champions in a warband - and what someone has to go through to become one of those eight. Watch out – it's gonna get messy."
If this focuses more on the main characters of the Bloodbound and less on the big scale fights of the Eternals, I'm excited. That was my favorite portion of the first story and I eagerly look forward to more.
Also, as a quick aside, I'm finally done with all of Week 2 releases (we're currently at Week 7, with Week 8 on pre-release) and moving into Week 3. Yes, I'm more than a month behind, but I'm one guy doing this for fun, so patience is appreciated. A lot fo fun stuff to tackle in Week 3 as well, especially looking at the Age of Sigmar Big Book! Stay tuned.
Review: The Black Rift of Klaxus Part 1: Assault on the Mandrake Bastion
Assault on the Mandrake Bastion is the first part of The Black Rift of Klaxus saga and is written by Josh Reynolds. It is what Black Library is calling a "Quick Read," there version of a short story. It's about 30 digital pages (depending on the orientation and set-up of your e-reader of choice).
So, how is it? Let's find out. Spoilers below the jump!
So, how is it? Let's find out. Spoilers below the jump!
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Weekly Shopping List: Week 7
Another new week, another batch of pre-orders! I'm going to have to get through my materials fast to catch-up here.
This week, Nurgle Re-Packs seem to dominate the stage, with only one real new piece coming out. It's nice to see another new AoS army starting to get their pieces together, but man, after a slow few weeks of all Eternals, this is moving fast!
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 81: This issue looks to be all Chaos, if the blurb is to be believed. Though 40K actually gets a shout-out, so the domination of AoS in WD may be coming to an end. Still, with new releases every week focusing on Age of Sigmar, I doubt AoS articles aren't the majority of the coverage.
Khorne Bloodbound
Exalted Deathbringer: The sole Khorne model is the Exatled Deathbringer, certainly has a proper Khorne name. This beefy Hero unit has a huge axe, a huge set of claws, huge horns, everything Khorne would like (could use more skulls though). It's an impressive looking model (a bit goofy, but in proper Khorne fashion) for $28, seems like a better deal than our Week 2 Lord-Celestant atleast.
Nurgle Rotbringers
Bloab Rotspawned/Morbidex Twiceborn/Orghott Daemonspew: Another model kit that can be assembled into a variety of models, this $76 dollar piece represents one of three general types riding atop a foul beast. Each one slightly different than the other, however they're all named units, meaning you don't need to get a group of these guys to represent cavalry. Still, if you wanted a full collection of all three, it would cost your a pretty penny.
Festus The Leechlord: A named character that has some great character. From the nurgling stuffing body parts in his backpack to the poor soul being rotted away with acid, this is a cool character model. $19.25 will net you this guy and that's not bad at all.
The Glottkin: Nurgle's big boy model, the Glottkin is a $109 large model and the most expensive for AoS so far. Apparently a group of triplets, it consists of one massive model that two brothers ride on top of. It's certainly impressive looking and would obviously stand out on the table.
Gutrot Spume: A named general type, this $26 dollar model is of a unit going mid-mutation. Half of his body is tentacles and mawed beaks, while the rest is a bloated mortal. It's another dynamic piece that just looks awesome.
Harbinger of Decay: This is a great looking piece, though seemingly pricey at $40. This mounted unit looks great, especially the desiccated horse he rides upon. The rider himself looks fantastic, the price makes it tough to love, especially for a single mounted unit of standard size, but the sculpt is great.
Lord of Plagues: A generic general if you don't want to use any of the named characters, this is your classic Nurgle follower. The bloated body pitted with disease and exposed guys, the helm covering the face, it's all there. For $14.75 you can make your own general for the Rotbringers.
Putrid Blightkings: These are the heavy infantry for the Rotbrings, all fantastically mutated and bloated with disease. Like the Blood Warriors for Khorne, these guys represent the top tier grunts of Nurgle. $55 will let you assemble 5, but they have a lot more variation than the Blood Warriors, allowing for more distinctive looking units.
Rotbringers Sorcerer: The wizard unit for the Rotbringers, a standard cloaked and bloated character. He's $15 for a single model, around the price for most of the Caster/Hero models of a standard mortal scale.
Of note is the two Rotbringer bundles up for pre-order. Usually I don't mention them because they contain nothing new, but there are different. One offers Nurglings and the other Chaos Spawn, neither of which are offered separately under the new Faction. While you can get them under the Old World Daemons of Chaos faction, they're not yet ready for the Rotbringers. Waiting for new packaging perhaps?
That's Week 7, an expensive Week if you're going full collection, The Glottkin alone is pricey. However, you can get a good handle on your Rotbringer army in one go if that's what you want to play, though you are missing some basic infantry unit types still.
This week, Nurgle Re-Packs seem to dominate the stage, with only one real new piece coming out. It's nice to see another new AoS army starting to get their pieces together, but man, after a slow few weeks of all Eternals, this is moving fast!
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 81: This issue looks to be all Chaos, if the blurb is to be believed. Though 40K actually gets a shout-out, so the domination of AoS in WD may be coming to an end. Still, with new releases every week focusing on Age of Sigmar, I doubt AoS articles aren't the majority of the coverage.
Khorne Bloodbound
Exalted Deathbringer: The sole Khorne model is the Exatled Deathbringer, certainly has a proper Khorne name. This beefy Hero unit has a huge axe, a huge set of claws, huge horns, everything Khorne would like (could use more skulls though). It's an impressive looking model (a bit goofy, but in proper Khorne fashion) for $28, seems like a better deal than our Week 2 Lord-Celestant atleast.
Nurgle Rotbringers
Bloab Rotspawned/Morbidex Twiceborn/Orghott Daemonspew: Another model kit that can be assembled into a variety of models, this $76 dollar piece represents one of three general types riding atop a foul beast. Each one slightly different than the other, however they're all named units, meaning you don't need to get a group of these guys to represent cavalry. Still, if you wanted a full collection of all three, it would cost your a pretty penny.
Festus The Leechlord: A named character that has some great character. From the nurgling stuffing body parts in his backpack to the poor soul being rotted away with acid, this is a cool character model. $19.25 will net you this guy and that's not bad at all.
The Glottkin: Nurgle's big boy model, the Glottkin is a $109 large model and the most expensive for AoS so far. Apparently a group of triplets, it consists of one massive model that two brothers ride on top of. It's certainly impressive looking and would obviously stand out on the table.
Gutrot Spume: A named general type, this $26 dollar model is of a unit going mid-mutation. Half of his body is tentacles and mawed beaks, while the rest is a bloated mortal. It's another dynamic piece that just looks awesome.
Harbinger of Decay: This is a great looking piece, though seemingly pricey at $40. This mounted unit looks great, especially the desiccated horse he rides upon. The rider himself looks fantastic, the price makes it tough to love, especially for a single mounted unit of standard size, but the sculpt is great.
Lord of Plagues: A generic general if you don't want to use any of the named characters, this is your classic Nurgle follower. The bloated body pitted with disease and exposed guys, the helm covering the face, it's all there. For $14.75 you can make your own general for the Rotbringers.
Putrid Blightkings: These are the heavy infantry for the Rotbrings, all fantastically mutated and bloated with disease. Like the Blood Warriors for Khorne, these guys represent the top tier grunts of Nurgle. $55 will let you assemble 5, but they have a lot more variation than the Blood Warriors, allowing for more distinctive looking units.
Rotbringers Sorcerer: The wizard unit for the Rotbringers, a standard cloaked and bloated character. He's $15 for a single model, around the price for most of the Caster/Hero models of a standard mortal scale.
Of note is the two Rotbringer bundles up for pre-order. Usually I don't mention them because they contain nothing new, but there are different. One offers Nurglings and the other Chaos Spawn, neither of which are offered separately under the new Faction. While you can get them under the Old World Daemons of Chaos faction, they're not yet ready for the Rotbringers. Waiting for new packaging perhaps?
That's Week 7, an expensive Week if you're going full collection, The Glottkin alone is pricey. However, you can get a good handle on your Rotbringer army in one go if that's what you want to play, though you are missing some basic infantry unit types still.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Review: White Dwarf 76
White Dwarf 76 is the first White Dwarf to be released with actual Age of Sigmar product coming out. As White Dwarf 75 was more of a preview for an upcoming game, White Dwarf 76 is coming out with the Box Set. So let's take a look at issue 76.
The cover of 76 shows off the first set of Stormcast Eternal sets available to purchase. Front and center is the Lord-Celestant (unmounted) and behind him a unit of Liberators. Note the blurry terrain piece in the background? And upcoming release perhaps... The back cover has the same Eternals from the front, plus the three Retributors from the box set in a tight circle while surrounded by hordes of Bloodreavers.
The inside cover has a large shot of the two armies we know and love well already facing off. There are a lot more of them than what you'd get in a box set, but it's the same models. A small bit of text once again sets up the basics of Age of Sigmar from a story level.
The first articles are a look at the New Releases, the Liberators and Lord-Celestant. The Liberators get 4 pages and the Lord-Celestant gets 2. For the most part, they're sales pitches, with lots of shots of the models and lots of talk about what you get if you buy them. Again, there is a little lore tucked in the text call-outs, but these are much more bent on selling the models. On a plus side, you get a few nice shots of the various Stormhosts as paint on a model as opposed to just the drawings we've seen so far.
Next we get 4 pages on the Age of Sigmar big book, including a small description of what's inside and a few shots of two page spreads, but small enough you can't really read about them. After that, another 2 pages of sales pitches. The dice shakers, combat gauge and limited edition Big Book get a few paragraphs and a picture each to try to sell them.
Finally, on page 14, we have our first actual article! Codex: Apocrypha is an article that aims to explore various background elements of the game (and 40K when applicable) and our first one is about Azyrheim, The Eternal City. This is the capital of Azyr, originally a shining beacon of Sigmar's rule, but now a bastion for the refugees of all the Realms. This is a short 4-page article, explaining how Azyrheim came to be and what it is now. There are only 3 images for it, but each are painted and gorgeous, the art of AoS has yet to disappoint. There is some fun lore drops here, as a side bar talks about some of the stories the refugees have as they come into the city. There names are dropped of various Realms, races, and battles, each one begging to have more information revealed.
Next we get The Forces of Order, a look at some of the Factions that are part of the Grand Alliance of Order. This is a 7 page article, peppered with more gorgeous art and many "models in battle" shots we've seen across the board. The Stormcast Eternals get a full page about them again, as they are the premier army up to this point, but there is also a talk about The Great Alliance. This details how Sigmar originally had formed a pact with all the various important players in AoS and how both Nagash and Gorkamoka broke off, forming the Death and Destruction Alliances respectively. There is also a small mention of the Seraphon, the Lizardmen of AoS, and their role as independents through they share the same enemies as the Alliance of Order. Finally Sylvaneth gets a page, as they are the next upcoming Order army and a few models are shown off, facing units of Nurgle.
The Warscrolls section offers up two warscrolls for the Liberators and Lord-Celestant. These I'll talk about with the models themselves, but once again, a printed version of the Scrolls are made available.
After that, The Week in White Dwarf is 4 pages of random information. There's a bit on how to use the Battleplans that are in the Big Book and another sell of Lord-Celestants. There's a small paragraph about how the weapons and armor of the Eternals are made, with lore bits about the Six Smiths in the Sigmarabulum and how they combine the divine storm with ore made of Sigmarite (mined from the remnants of the World that Was). A painting article goes through the colors used to make the Hallowed Knights Stormhost (the Silver and Blue host) and a few shots of other color schemes for your Eternals. A small sidebar gives a few more bites of lore about three Realms and there's a small shot of the Khorgorath.
Finally, the last page shows off the Reader's Model of the Week, an Imperial Knight for 40K. While Impressively done, it's not related to AoS, the only page to do so.
This issue was much more a hard sell than the first. While the first one was full of lore and setting-up the initial push for AoS, this issue wants to talk about what you can buy all the more. The bits of lore are very interesting, but also very few in comparison to the first issue. Still, there is a good amount of meat there and was a good, if quick, read.
The inside cover has a large shot of the two armies we know and love well already facing off. There are a lot more of them than what you'd get in a box set, but it's the same models. A small bit of text once again sets up the basics of Age of Sigmar from a story level.
The first articles are a look at the New Releases, the Liberators and Lord-Celestant. The Liberators get 4 pages and the Lord-Celestant gets 2. For the most part, they're sales pitches, with lots of shots of the models and lots of talk about what you get if you buy them. Again, there is a little lore tucked in the text call-outs, but these are much more bent on selling the models. On a plus side, you get a few nice shots of the various Stormhosts as paint on a model as opposed to just the drawings we've seen so far.
Next we get 4 pages on the Age of Sigmar big book, including a small description of what's inside and a few shots of two page spreads, but small enough you can't really read about them. After that, another 2 pages of sales pitches. The dice shakers, combat gauge and limited edition Big Book get a few paragraphs and a picture each to try to sell them.
Finally, on page 14, we have our first actual article! Codex: Apocrypha is an article that aims to explore various background elements of the game (and 40K when applicable) and our first one is about Azyrheim, The Eternal City. This is the capital of Azyr, originally a shining beacon of Sigmar's rule, but now a bastion for the refugees of all the Realms. This is a short 4-page article, explaining how Azyrheim came to be and what it is now. There are only 3 images for it, but each are painted and gorgeous, the art of AoS has yet to disappoint. There is some fun lore drops here, as a side bar talks about some of the stories the refugees have as they come into the city. There names are dropped of various Realms, races, and battles, each one begging to have more information revealed.
Next we get The Forces of Order, a look at some of the Factions that are part of the Grand Alliance of Order. This is a 7 page article, peppered with more gorgeous art and many "models in battle" shots we've seen across the board. The Stormcast Eternals get a full page about them again, as they are the premier army up to this point, but there is also a talk about The Great Alliance. This details how Sigmar originally had formed a pact with all the various important players in AoS and how both Nagash and Gorkamoka broke off, forming the Death and Destruction Alliances respectively. There is also a small mention of the Seraphon, the Lizardmen of AoS, and their role as independents through they share the same enemies as the Alliance of Order. Finally Sylvaneth gets a page, as they are the next upcoming Order army and a few models are shown off, facing units of Nurgle.
The Warscrolls section offers up two warscrolls for the Liberators and Lord-Celestant. These I'll talk about with the models themselves, but once again, a printed version of the Scrolls are made available.
After that, The Week in White Dwarf is 4 pages of random information. There's a bit on how to use the Battleplans that are in the Big Book and another sell of Lord-Celestants. There's a small paragraph about how the weapons and armor of the Eternals are made, with lore bits about the Six Smiths in the Sigmarabulum and how they combine the divine storm with ore made of Sigmarite (mined from the remnants of the World that Was). A painting article goes through the colors used to make the Hallowed Knights Stormhost (the Silver and Blue host) and a few shots of other color schemes for your Eternals. A small sidebar gives a few more bites of lore about three Realms and there's a small shot of the Khorgorath.
Finally, the last page shows off the Reader's Model of the Week, an Imperial Knight for 40K. While Impressively done, it's not related to AoS, the only page to do so.
This issue was much more a hard sell than the first. While the first one was full of lore and setting-up the initial push for AoS, this issue wants to talk about what you can buy all the more. The bits of lore are very interesting, but also very few in comparison to the first issue. Still, there is a good amount of meat there and was a good, if quick, read.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Weekly Shopping List: Week 6, Part 2
Just a quick update, as another piece of fiction has been released.
This is the second part of the 8-Part Quick Read series called The Realmgate Wars - Call of Archaon.
Part 2 is entitled Eye of the Storm and this time we follow a servant of Tzeentch named Zuvius.
It seems each chapter follows a different Chaos God follower, I'm curious if the Great Horned Rat will be featured and where they go once we get a story on each one? Will there be a story that ties them all together? I suppose we'll find out over time.
This is the second part of the 8-Part Quick Read series called The Realmgate Wars - Call of Archaon.
Part 2 is entitled Eye of the Storm and this time we follow a servant of Tzeentch named Zuvius.
It seems each chapter follows a different Chaos God follower, I'm curious if the Great Horned Rat will be featured and where they go once we get a story on each one? Will there be a story that ties them all together? I suppose we'll find out over time.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Weekly Shopping List: Week 6
Another week, another batch of preorders and another new faction shows up! To top that off, there is no Stormcast Eternals releases this week.
Also, this week, I'm going to stop listing my Haves/Wants/Getting as the lists are getting huge and I added them to the side of the blog for ease of looking.
Anyway, enough chatter, let's see what's for sale:
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 80: WD80 marks the first issue for their new digital launch. Instead of just being an ebook, this issue begins the actual integration as a separate app. But, I prefer my stuff physical when I can, so I'll be getting it that way. According to the blurb, this issue mainly seems to just be pimping the items that are on pre-order, as every pitch seems to be about what's coming below.
The Realmgate Wars: The Quest for Ghal Maraz: Our second big hardback after only a month. This one seems to have a a full subtitle and... sub-subtitle as opposed to the generic Age of Sigmar title on the first book. Like the previous book, this one moves the story forward and allows players to play out scenarios from the book's story. Focusing one both the Realm of Life and Realm of Metal, we seem to be moving away from the Eternals vs. Bloodbound feud, though plenty of mention of Eternals are here as well. Once again, this is available as both a limited edition and regular one.
Khorne Bloodbound
Bloodreavers: Like the Eternals, the first release for the Bloodbound is the grunts. The Bloodreavers box comes with enough pieces to build 20 Reavers, with full command and option of two weapon types. For $58 this is a great number of models, especially compared to the Eternal releases.
Skaven Pestilens
Plague Monks: The base line troops for the Pestilens, we get 20 plague monks and a variety of weapons and banner types. As smaller units, these only take $35, so once again the value here looks great.
Plague Priest: A caster, similar to the branchwraith, this is a single model for $15. A particularly gruesome (in a good way) looking model, this is another "Finecast" model be re-released under new branding.
Plague Censer Bearers: A two model pack, the Censer Bearers continue the plague look running through the Pestilens series.
Plague Furnace: One of the huge Pestilen vehicles, the Plague Furnace is a haphazardly slapped together rolling vehicle of disease. The model looks fantastic with a lot of character and motion. This can also technically be built as a Screaming Bell as well, though the vehicle isn't for the faction (and isn't reflected in the new warscrolls)
Plagueclaw: Another vehicle, while not as big and menacing as the Furnace, is still impressive looking. Especially with the large warpstone bottom and skaven in gas masks. Much cheaper than the Furnace (and the same price as the Celestant), this seems like another model that is of key value.
That wraps up Week 6, a lot more diversifying these past two weeks, we'll see where it goes next week.
Also, this week, I'm going to stop listing my Haves/Wants/Getting as the lists are getting huge and I added them to the side of the blog for ease of looking.
Anyway, enough chatter, let's see what's for sale:
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 80: WD80 marks the first issue for their new digital launch. Instead of just being an ebook, this issue begins the actual integration as a separate app. But, I prefer my stuff physical when I can, so I'll be getting it that way. According to the blurb, this issue mainly seems to just be pimping the items that are on pre-order, as every pitch seems to be about what's coming below.
The Realmgate Wars: The Quest for Ghal Maraz: Our second big hardback after only a month. This one seems to have a a full subtitle and... sub-subtitle as opposed to the generic Age of Sigmar title on the first book. Like the previous book, this one moves the story forward and allows players to play out scenarios from the book's story. Focusing one both the Realm of Life and Realm of Metal, we seem to be moving away from the Eternals vs. Bloodbound feud, though plenty of mention of Eternals are here as well. Once again, this is available as both a limited edition and regular one.
Khorne Bloodbound
Bloodreavers: Like the Eternals, the first release for the Bloodbound is the grunts. The Bloodreavers box comes with enough pieces to build 20 Reavers, with full command and option of two weapon types. For $58 this is a great number of models, especially compared to the Eternal releases.
Skaven Pestilens
Plague Monks: The base line troops for the Pestilens, we get 20 plague monks and a variety of weapons and banner types. As smaller units, these only take $35, so once again the value here looks great.
Plague Priest: A caster, similar to the branchwraith, this is a single model for $15. A particularly gruesome (in a good way) looking model, this is another "Finecast" model be re-released under new branding.
Plague Censer Bearers: A two model pack, the Censer Bearers continue the plague look running through the Pestilens series.
Plague Furnace: One of the huge Pestilen vehicles, the Plague Furnace is a haphazardly slapped together rolling vehicle of disease. The model looks fantastic with a lot of character and motion. This can also technically be built as a Screaming Bell as well, though the vehicle isn't for the faction (and isn't reflected in the new warscrolls)
Plagueclaw: Another vehicle, while not as big and menacing as the Furnace, is still impressive looking. Especially with the large warpstone bottom and skaven in gas masks. Much cheaper than the Furnace (and the same price as the Celestant), this seems like another model that is of key value.
That wraps up Week 6, a lot more diversifying these past two weeks, we'll see where it goes next week.
Review: Age of Sigmar Painting Guide
The Painting Guide for Age of Sigmar is mostly what it sounds like exactly in the title. However, there is a few bits of lore takes up the front quarter of the book.
As a Painting Guide, it's no surprise that most of the pictures in the book are of the painted models. There is a little bit of actual art (mostly recycled from other sources), but for the most part we see the models of the Starter Set posed and painted by the gurus of the 'eavy Metal team.
The first 30 pages are mostly a model showcase, but does offer an interesting bit of lore. They officially name the various retinues and tribes and give a bit of information about them. For the Eternals, we can gleam the name of each Prime, as each retinue is named after him. For the Goretide we learn the name of two tribes of Bloodreavers and the name of the character units. This isn't a huge lore dump, isn't necessary to enrich the game as a whole, but I think it's a nice touch. Lore hounds like myself learn something new about the starter set models, even if it's not much.
The rest of the book is the actual painting guide. You get several close up photos of various parts of every model unit as well as which paint to use, layer by layer. You can paint every model in your starter set using this guide as all the parts of each model are detailed and every paint you need to use is there.
The one complain I have is that it doesn't provide any basic techniques for painting. If Age of Sigmar is your first foray into model building and painting, this won't guide you through basics. While the first White Dwarf covered some very basic model building, the opportunity is missing here. It tells you to wash and drybrush and highlight without explaining how to do that, it doesn't talk about thinning paints or using a palette or any thing basic like that. These are covered very well in the GW YouTube videos on how to paint models, but really should be included here as well.
Otherwise, this is a decent book that will give you a good reference to how to paint the Age of Sigmar Starter Set models the "official" colors. While it lacks some basic details, it provides plenty of close up shots to help you get your coloring right. There's a smidge of lore in there as well, so if you're a hardcore lore fan, it has something, but nothing substantial. It's by no means a required book, barely even an optional book, but it delivers mostly on what it says it will do.
As a Painting Guide, it's no surprise that most of the pictures in the book are of the painted models. There is a little bit of actual art (mostly recycled from other sources), but for the most part we see the models of the Starter Set posed and painted by the gurus of the 'eavy Metal team.
The first 30 pages are mostly a model showcase, but does offer an interesting bit of lore. They officially name the various retinues and tribes and give a bit of information about them. For the Eternals, we can gleam the name of each Prime, as each retinue is named after him. For the Goretide we learn the name of two tribes of Bloodreavers and the name of the character units. This isn't a huge lore dump, isn't necessary to enrich the game as a whole, but I think it's a nice touch. Lore hounds like myself learn something new about the starter set models, even if it's not much.
The rest of the book is the actual painting guide. You get several close up photos of various parts of every model unit as well as which paint to use, layer by layer. You can paint every model in your starter set using this guide as all the parts of each model are detailed and every paint you need to use is there.
The one complain I have is that it doesn't provide any basic techniques for painting. If Age of Sigmar is your first foray into model building and painting, this won't guide you through basics. While the first White Dwarf covered some very basic model building, the opportunity is missing here. It tells you to wash and drybrush and highlight without explaining how to do that, it doesn't talk about thinning paints or using a palette or any thing basic like that. These are covered very well in the GW YouTube videos on how to paint models, but really should be included here as well.
Otherwise, this is a decent book that will give you a good reference to how to paint the Age of Sigmar Starter Set models the "official" colors. While it lacks some basic details, it provides plenty of close up shots to help you get your coloring right. There's a smidge of lore in there as well, so if you're a hardcore lore fan, it has something, but nothing substantial. It's by no means a required book, barely even an optional book, but it delivers mostly on what it says it will do.
Lore Library: Starter Set Warscrolls Part 2
Next, we look at the Khorne Bloodbound starter warscrolls.
Mighty Lord of Khorne
As the leader of the Khorne starter set types, this unit obviously has command of his units much like the Lord-Celestant. Unlike the Eternals leader who's ability takes away their fear, the Lord of Khorne inspires his troops to be more bloodthirsty. His Gorelord ability allows them to pick the highest 2 of 3 dice when units within 24" charge, meaning they're more likely to succeed charging against the enemy. Besides that, he is gifted by Khorne with a collar in which he controls his Flesh Hound, a collar that allows him to unbind spells, as Khorne is no fan of magic. His most impressive feature is the Reality-Splitting Axe, an axe that has a chance to send any unit it attacks into the Realm of Khorne where he is set upon by its denizens and ripped apart. That's pretty impressive.
Bloodsecrators
The Bloodsecrator is somewhat a herald of Khorne. But he doesn't simply speak the name of his Dark God, he carries around a banner that, when planted, pulls the realm of Khorne onto the battlefield. This causes all wizard spells to be harder to accomplish and whips Khorne units into a frenzy (granting them an extra attack). He's not a melee powerhouse, his ability with an axe is pretty average, and he's vulnerable when attempting to first plant his banner to open the Portal of Skulls, but if he can, it can change the battlefield for Khorne's favor.
Khorgoraths
The Khorgorath are the first monstrous unit we've seen, a twisted creature wishing to devour the heads of it's enemies. It has tentacles made of bone that can reach out far in front of them (6" beyond the unit) and it's fearsome when it attacks (as seen with the Horrific Predator ability which subtracts Bravery from an enemy when the Khorgorath inflicts damage). It also helps sell it's head devouring desires as it heals when it kills a unit via the ability, Taker of Heads.
Bloodstoker
The Bloodstoker is tasked with both keeping the Khorgorath in line as well as whipping the other Khorne units into a frenzy. While it can use it's whip as a weapon with a bit of range, it's main use is to force the other Khorne units to push harder. By using Whipped into Frenzy, Khorne units around them can run an additional 3" as the lash of the Bloodstoker's whip pushes them forward.
Blood Warriors
Blood Warriors are those mortals that have served Khorne long enough and faithfully enough to be possessed by rage and gifted with ability. These units are bloodthirsty and fight to the very end, as shown from their abilities. No Respite allows them to make an attack as they die, trying to bring down their killers and Gorefists puts the weapon in their left hand to use as when they use it to block, it actually has a chance to inflict damage back on the attacker.
Bloodreavers
Bloodreavers are the savage masses of Khorne worshipers, the barbarous tribes that cry for blood. They are not well armored or armed, having to scrap together what they find, which are shown in their lower stats and complete lack of save if wounded. They can have an icon bearer to increase their bravery and hornblower that allows an extra inch to running and charging (pretty standard abilities for rank-and-file troops). While their weapons may be of poor quality, they are skilled with them, Reaver Blades allow for re-rolls on 1 to attack to make sure they hit. Also, they are particularly able to be frenzied, as just being around someone with a totem (even with none of it's abilities active) causes them to double their attacks.
Mighty Lord of Khorne
As the leader of the Khorne starter set types, this unit obviously has command of his units much like the Lord-Celestant. Unlike the Eternals leader who's ability takes away their fear, the Lord of Khorne inspires his troops to be more bloodthirsty. His Gorelord ability allows them to pick the highest 2 of 3 dice when units within 24" charge, meaning they're more likely to succeed charging against the enemy. Besides that, he is gifted by Khorne with a collar in which he controls his Flesh Hound, a collar that allows him to unbind spells, as Khorne is no fan of magic. His most impressive feature is the Reality-Splitting Axe, an axe that has a chance to send any unit it attacks into the Realm of Khorne where he is set upon by its denizens and ripped apart. That's pretty impressive.
Bloodsecrators
The Bloodsecrator is somewhat a herald of Khorne. But he doesn't simply speak the name of his Dark God, he carries around a banner that, when planted, pulls the realm of Khorne onto the battlefield. This causes all wizard spells to be harder to accomplish and whips Khorne units into a frenzy (granting them an extra attack). He's not a melee powerhouse, his ability with an axe is pretty average, and he's vulnerable when attempting to first plant his banner to open the Portal of Skulls, but if he can, it can change the battlefield for Khorne's favor.
Khorgoraths
The Khorgorath are the first monstrous unit we've seen, a twisted creature wishing to devour the heads of it's enemies. It has tentacles made of bone that can reach out far in front of them (6" beyond the unit) and it's fearsome when it attacks (as seen with the Horrific Predator ability which subtracts Bravery from an enemy when the Khorgorath inflicts damage). It also helps sell it's head devouring desires as it heals when it kills a unit via the ability, Taker of Heads.
Bloodstoker
The Bloodstoker is tasked with both keeping the Khorgorath in line as well as whipping the other Khorne units into a frenzy. While it can use it's whip as a weapon with a bit of range, it's main use is to force the other Khorne units to push harder. By using Whipped into Frenzy, Khorne units around them can run an additional 3" as the lash of the Bloodstoker's whip pushes them forward.
Blood Warriors
Blood Warriors are those mortals that have served Khorne long enough and faithfully enough to be possessed by rage and gifted with ability. These units are bloodthirsty and fight to the very end, as shown from their abilities. No Respite allows them to make an attack as they die, trying to bring down their killers and Gorefists puts the weapon in their left hand to use as when they use it to block, it actually has a chance to inflict damage back on the attacker.
Bloodreavers
Bloodreavers are the savage masses of Khorne worshipers, the barbarous tribes that cry for blood. They are not well armored or armed, having to scrap together what they find, which are shown in their lower stats and complete lack of save if wounded. They can have an icon bearer to increase their bravery and hornblower that allows an extra inch to running and charging (pretty standard abilities for rank-and-file troops). While their weapons may be of poor quality, they are skilled with them, Reaver Blades allow for re-rolls on 1 to attack to make sure they hit. Also, they are particularly able to be frenzied, as just being around someone with a totem (even with none of it's abilities active) causes them to double their attacks.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Lore Library: Starter Set Warscrolls Part 1
I believe I've stated enough that I tend towards lore before anything else. I'm interested even more so interested into how the lore is represented in the game. This does not just apply to making sure characters that appear in the lore are models you can play as, but what lore you can gain through the model's rules.
That said, the warscrolls are obviously the place where you can find that mixture of lore with rules. So each time I look at a model, I'll be looking at it's warscroll to see what lore we can pull off the abilities, as well as looking at the abilities themselves.
So let's see what the Starter Set has to offer:
Lord-Celestant on Dracoth
What can we learns about the Lord-Celestant from his warscroll? Firstly, he is the consummate battle leader, and most likely the pick of General when used in battle. The warscroll itself states they lead Stormhosts into battle and that combine with his Command Ability to make units around him ignore Battleshock tests helps solidify that.
He's not afraid to get in and do damage himself though, he's skilled, shown from the low target numbers for hitting and wounding. If he charges, he gets extra attacks, showing that he doesn't sit back and watch others fight for him.
His mount, the Dracoth, is a fierce fighter too. Not only does it have the ability to breath lightning upon the battlefield, but it's attacks are vicious, with the ability to do a staggering amount of damage on a high attack roll, as if it knows how to dig those teeth and claws into the weak points of an enemy.
Lord-Relictor
The Lord-Relictor are an interesting part of the Eternal armies. Their armor and reliquary are decked out in icons of death and their abilities seem to stem the Realm of Shyish itself. While an average hand-to-hand fighter, the Relictor's abilities with his Reliquary are his main draw.
He can both heal or harm those around him, either calling down a lightning storm or using the powers of the Realm of Death to get the Eternals back on their feet. It's called out quite explicitly in the fiction that a deal with Shyish and the purple magical energies from that realm are behind this magic which leads one to wonder what deals were struck to make that happen.
Prosecuters
Prosecutors are most certainly the fastest units in the Starter set, not just because of their increased movement, but because of their increase charge. They both get another D6 roll and can have a max of 18" on a charge. On top of that, they spawned magical hammers that they can either throw or use hand-to-hand. They are very much the Eternal's strikers. They can move in, striking as they go, charge in to strike, then move back out to another target.
Retributors
The heavy troops of the Eternals, their two-handed hammers are designed just to hit hard. Not only does each attack do 2 damage, but on a 6 to-hit, they do 2 Mortal Wounds, called Blast to Ashes. It's mentioned that their hammers are imbued with ensorcelled sigmarite that allows them to chanel the energy of storms then release them. This is certainly reflected in their attacks.
Liberators
Finally, we have the Liberators, the rank and file troops of the Eternals. While they are mostly regular troops, they have a few pieces of lore we can get from it. One, the Sigmarite Shields allowed re-rolls on 1 to Save, showing their superior construction to take hits. Also, there is the Lay Low the Tyrants ability, allowing them to better at hitting units with 5 or more Wounds. This shows that their training is meant to take down heavy hitters and important players of their enemies. While they can take out rank and file troops, their expertise is against specific important enemies, not masses of troops.
Next, we look at the forces of Khorne.
That said, the warscrolls are obviously the place where you can find that mixture of lore with rules. So each time I look at a model, I'll be looking at it's warscroll to see what lore we can pull off the abilities, as well as looking at the abilities themselves.
So let's see what the Starter Set has to offer:
Lord-Celestant on Dracoth
What can we learns about the Lord-Celestant from his warscroll? Firstly, he is the consummate battle leader, and most likely the pick of General when used in battle. The warscroll itself states they lead Stormhosts into battle and that combine with his Command Ability to make units around him ignore Battleshock tests helps solidify that.
He's not afraid to get in and do damage himself though, he's skilled, shown from the low target numbers for hitting and wounding. If he charges, he gets extra attacks, showing that he doesn't sit back and watch others fight for him.
His mount, the Dracoth, is a fierce fighter too. Not only does it have the ability to breath lightning upon the battlefield, but it's attacks are vicious, with the ability to do a staggering amount of damage on a high attack roll, as if it knows how to dig those teeth and claws into the weak points of an enemy.
Lord-Relictor
The Lord-Relictor are an interesting part of the Eternal armies. Their armor and reliquary are decked out in icons of death and their abilities seem to stem the Realm of Shyish itself. While an average hand-to-hand fighter, the Relictor's abilities with his Reliquary are his main draw.
He can both heal or harm those around him, either calling down a lightning storm or using the powers of the Realm of Death to get the Eternals back on their feet. It's called out quite explicitly in the fiction that a deal with Shyish and the purple magical energies from that realm are behind this magic which leads one to wonder what deals were struck to make that happen.
Prosecuters
Prosecutors are most certainly the fastest units in the Starter set, not just because of their increased movement, but because of their increase charge. They both get another D6 roll and can have a max of 18" on a charge. On top of that, they spawned magical hammers that they can either throw or use hand-to-hand. They are very much the Eternal's strikers. They can move in, striking as they go, charge in to strike, then move back out to another target.
Retributors
The heavy troops of the Eternals, their two-handed hammers are designed just to hit hard. Not only does each attack do 2 damage, but on a 6 to-hit, they do 2 Mortal Wounds, called Blast to Ashes. It's mentioned that their hammers are imbued with ensorcelled sigmarite that allows them to chanel the energy of storms then release them. This is certainly reflected in their attacks.
Liberators
Finally, we have the Liberators, the rank and file troops of the Eternals. While they are mostly regular troops, they have a few pieces of lore we can get from it. One, the Sigmarite Shields allowed re-rolls on 1 to Save, showing their superior construction to take hits. Also, there is the Lay Low the Tyrants ability, allowing them to better at hitting units with 5 or more Wounds. This shows that their training is meant to take down heavy hitters and important players of their enemies. While they can take out rank and file troops, their expertise is against specific important enemies, not masses of troops.
Next, we look at the forces of Khorne.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Weekly Shopping List: Week 5
I'm back from Gen Con and it looks like I missed a bunch of releases, let's check them out:
Week 5
White Dwarf 79: Besides pimping the new products that will be out next week, this issues blurb seems to mention a look at the Realm of Death and that's about it. With so many new releases, it looks like they'll get the lion's share of the content.
Paladins: Though listed as a separate entry three times, this is actually one model kit. Whether you're making Retributors, Protectors, or Decimators is based on which weapons you choose to use. I suppose the separate entries are because there are separate warscrolls of each, but it's slightly confusing. They're $8 more than the standard 5 unit set (at $58 total), to account for... the bigger weapons? I don't understand the price hike.
Numinous Occulum: Another awesome looking terrain piece, this piece of ruin with an iron work ball on top seems to give some good boosts to Wizards.
Dragonfire Dais: They continue to impress with terrain pieces, I like the look of this terrain a lot. Looking at the warscroll, this seems to cater to Priests as opposed to Wizards like the piece above.
The Realmgate Wars: War Storm: Another new piece of fiction, this one seems to continue where the previous left off, as well as look at some of the other assaults taking place. This appears to be the fiction behind the big book, as was the Gates of Azyr was the fiction behind the Starter Set.
Next we get our first Sylvaneth pieces! Yes, these are all repackages, but it's the first time they are introduce in Age of Sigmar, so let's take a look.
Sylvaneth Treelords: Once again, this is listed three times (to accommodate Warscrolls), but it is one model. Whether it's a standard Treelord, Treelord Ancient, or named character Durthu all depends on head and weapon assembly. It's $61 for a decent sized model.
Branchwraith: The casters for the Sylvaneth, this is a single model for $15, though it is apparently a hold over Fine Cast model from the description.
Dryads: Finally we get Dryads, 16 of them for $41 bucks which isn't a bad deal at all in GW terms. Neat looking models to add as your base troops for tree people units.
These are mixed in with a bunch of compilation sets that mix and match the above in ways that aren't really a value, the standard GW fare. As well as a pain compilation that covers most of the basic colors used to pain Sylvaneth model.
While there are a lot of cool pieces, this week is a back order week for me, I want to catch up on a few minis that have gone before.
Week 5
White Dwarf 79: Besides pimping the new products that will be out next week, this issues blurb seems to mention a look at the Realm of Death and that's about it. With so many new releases, it looks like they'll get the lion's share of the content.
Paladins: Though listed as a separate entry three times, this is actually one model kit. Whether you're making Retributors, Protectors, or Decimators is based on which weapons you choose to use. I suppose the separate entries are because there are separate warscrolls of each, but it's slightly confusing. They're $8 more than the standard 5 unit set (at $58 total), to account for... the bigger weapons? I don't understand the price hike.
Numinous Occulum: Another awesome looking terrain piece, this piece of ruin with an iron work ball on top seems to give some good boosts to Wizards.
Dragonfire Dais: They continue to impress with terrain pieces, I like the look of this terrain a lot. Looking at the warscroll, this seems to cater to Priests as opposed to Wizards like the piece above.
The Realmgate Wars: War Storm: Another new piece of fiction, this one seems to continue where the previous left off, as well as look at some of the other assaults taking place. This appears to be the fiction behind the big book, as was the Gates of Azyr was the fiction behind the Starter Set.
Next we get our first Sylvaneth pieces! Yes, these are all repackages, but it's the first time they are introduce in Age of Sigmar, so let's take a look.
Sylvaneth Treelords: Once again, this is listed three times (to accommodate Warscrolls), but it is one model. Whether it's a standard Treelord, Treelord Ancient, or named character Durthu all depends on head and weapon assembly. It's $61 for a decent sized model.
Branchwraith: The casters for the Sylvaneth, this is a single model for $15, though it is apparently a hold over Fine Cast model from the description.
Dryads: Finally we get Dryads, 16 of them for $41 bucks which isn't a bad deal at all in GW terms. Neat looking models to add as your base troops for tree people units.
These are mixed in with a bunch of compilation sets that mix and match the above in ways that aren't really a value, the standard GW fare. As well as a pain compilation that covers most of the basic colors used to pain Sylvaneth model.
While there are a lot of cool pieces, this week is a back order week for me, I want to catch up on a few minis that have gone before.
Inventory
Box Sets
Age of Sigmar Starter Set
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 75
White Dwarf 76
White Dwarf 77
Age of Sigmar Painting Guide
Age of Sigmar Book
Fiction
The Gates of Azyr
Assault on Mandrake Bastion Quick Read
Beneath the Black Thumb Quick Read
Terrain
Ophidian Archway
Others
Age of Sigmar App
Pre-Ordered and/or In Transit
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 78
Fiction
The Realmgate Wars: War Storm
Stormcast Eternals
Judicators
Age of Sigmar Starter Set
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 75
White Dwarf 76
White Dwarf 77
Age of Sigmar Painting Guide
Age of Sigmar Book
Fiction
The Gates of Azyr
Assault on Mandrake Bastion Quick Read
Beneath the Black Thumb Quick Read
Terrain
Ophidian Archway
Others
Age of Sigmar App
Pre-Ordered and/or In Transit
White Dwarf/Hobby Books
White Dwarf 78
Fiction
The Realmgate Wars: War Storm
Stormcast Eternals
Judicators
Wish List
White Dwarf 79
Terrain
Baleful Realmgates
Dragonfire Dais
Numinous Occulum
Stormcast Eternals
Lord Celestant
Liberators
Lord Castellant
Paladin Decimators/Protectors/Retributors
Sylvaneth
Branchwraith
Dryads
Treelord/Ancient Treelord/Durthu
White Dwarf 79
Terrain
Baleful Realmgates
Dragonfire Dais
Numinous Occulum
Stormcast Eternals
Lord Celestant
Liberators
Lord Castellant
Paladin Decimators/Protectors/Retributors
Sylvaneth
Branchwraith
Dryads
Treelord/Ancient Treelord/Durthu
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Gen Con Break
Tomorrow morning I'll be on a plane heading to Indianapolis for Gen Con and not be back again until Monday. That means a pause in the posting and I'll miss the Weekly Shopping List, but I'll try to get that up when I return.
On a plus side, with Gen Con out of the way, I'll have more funding I can focus on new AoS releases!
I'll see you Monday.
On a plus side, with Gen Con out of the way, I'll have more funding I can focus on new AoS releases!
I'll see you Monday.
First Look: White Dwarf 76 & Age of Sigmar Big Book
These two actually came in a few days ago, but with my preparations for Gen Con and delving deeper into my previous releases, I didn't have a chance to really sit down and take a look at these. So here's my First Look.
White Dwarf 76
Now that the hype of a brand new game is out of the way, what was White Dwarf going to have this run? Well we get some more lore, again, all very basic starter information. We're still early in the line, so we can't go deep yet. I do hope that eventually they'll use WD to cover very specific topics, now that the Starter Set and Big Book has laid out the first part of the storyline.
We get a few glory shots at the first new models that came out that week as well as our first painting guide for a Stormhost other than the Hammers of Sigmar. The Hallowed Knights get a basic color layout this time, it's nice to see them and a few other stormhost colors scattered throughout the issue.
Age of Sigmar Big Book
I think this is officially just called Age of Sigmar Book, but I like adding the term Big because it's big. Also, helps separate it from the other books about Age of Sigmar out there.
I went with the Limited Edition because I'm crazy, it does look nice though.
Big Book is quite accurate because this guy has some weight to him. It's a heavy hardcover book much like the standard hardcover rule books GW has put out before. But this is not a rulebook, this is a fluff book that has scenarios and a few warscrolls in it.
Right off the bat, the art in it is absolutely gorgeous, there are some fantastic pieces in here, especially the maps of Realms under siege, I love maps and these are presented in a wonderful way. But all of the art is fantastic, including the shots with models once again.
This book is mostly backstory in broad strokes to get us to the current events. It picks up where the Starter Set left off, with the Eternals beginning their attack to take back the Realms. The book provides a look at several of the major battles happening, each is then given Scenarios so you can play out these events. It's a fun way to present that game, breaks up the "two sides fight!" standard battles and moves the story forward while still letting you play in it.
The Big Book is the one I'm most looking forward to diving into, as it's just like that first Campaign Setting book to a good RPG.
White Dwarf 76
Now that the hype of a brand new game is out of the way, what was White Dwarf going to have this run? Well we get some more lore, again, all very basic starter information. We're still early in the line, so we can't go deep yet. I do hope that eventually they'll use WD to cover very specific topics, now that the Starter Set and Big Book has laid out the first part of the storyline.
We get a few glory shots at the first new models that came out that week as well as our first painting guide for a Stormhost other than the Hammers of Sigmar. The Hallowed Knights get a basic color layout this time, it's nice to see them and a few other stormhost colors scattered throughout the issue.
Age of Sigmar Big Book
I think this is officially just called Age of Sigmar Book, but I like adding the term Big because it's big. Also, helps separate it from the other books about Age of Sigmar out there.
I went with the Limited Edition because I'm crazy, it does look nice though.
Right off the bat, the art in it is absolutely gorgeous, there are some fantastic pieces in here, especially the maps of Realms under siege, I love maps and these are presented in a wonderful way. But all of the art is fantastic, including the shots with models once again.
This book is mostly backstory in broad strokes to get us to the current events. It picks up where the Starter Set left off, with the Eternals beginning their attack to take back the Realms. The book provides a look at several of the major battles happening, each is then given Scenarios so you can play out these events. It's a fun way to present that game, breaks up the "two sides fight!" standard battles and moves the story forward while still letting you play in it.
The Big Book is the one I'm most looking forward to diving into, as it's just like that first Campaign Setting book to a good RPG.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Age of Sigmar Actual Play: Starter Set Initial Thoughts
I've had the chance to play a few games using the Starter Set and get a real feel for it. One of the things I've noticed online is that a lot of people are tearing apart the rules for their simplicity. I've seen many people say all strategy and tactics are gone, that every game will result in two armies moving at each other and rolling some dice.
My guess is that a lot of these "reports" came from people who didn't actually play the game, but made assumptions after playing more complicated wargames and then looking at these rules. I can say, after a few games, even simple match-ups can have layers of tactics and strategy.
As I've mentioned before, I've had some wargame experience. I played several 40K games (on a friendly level) for a few years and tried out a bunch more. I've played skirmish level games, vehicle games, mech games, and am willing to at least play a demo game of anything you put in front of me. My opponents, my sister and a friend of her, have never touched a wargame before we began playing.
The end result? I got a text while my sister was at work the day after we played saying, "Damn, I really like that game."
So is it just piling in and rolling some dice? Is there no thinking to be had, no tactics to deploy? I can say confidently that it's not the case. As even someone who has never played before started seeing how they can use the rules to get various advantages and tactics to win a battle.
We played a few of the starter scenarios from the set as well as a basic battle of line up two sides and have them go at it. The scenarios in the book worked as tutorials, adding more rules and advanced mechanics as you moved forward, they were helpful for the new comers. But we quickly realized the rules are easy to grasp and were ready to move onto a straight fight.
They played together as the Eternals and I played the Goretide. After we got through a few rounds to get a sense of the rules, the pace began to flow quickly and within the first game we had a handle on the rules enough that we weren't constantly double checking things.
First off, if you're going to play, get the Age of Sigmar app, it makes things much easier. Not only do you have a copy of the rules on your phone/tablet, but you have every Warscroll they release and you can tag the ones in your army to show up on a separate page for ease of reference. You don't have to print out a bunch of scrolls and have them scattered about a table or pass a book back and forth, they're all right there. That made play go much quicker.
I can say there are deeper tactics than just run right at each other. For instance, in the second book scenario, the Eternals play as their Prosecutors attempting to get to a Realmgate while avoiding two 10 model units of Bloodreavers. It's basically getting the Prosecutors to the other side of the table and holding their for one turn and they only have 5 turns to do it in. Right away my sister realized her faster Prosecutors could dance around the reavers, tossing their hammers during the shoot phase and only moving into melee when she thought she had a serious chance to wipe them out in one turn. She could have moved directly into me, but instead she skirted the edges of the gamefield, making the reavers chase.
I've read about the horrors of rolling for initiative each turn as well, stating how one side can go twice over and over again and ruin the other player's fun. While this can happen, people forget that the rules say the dice winner chooses who goes first. There were times when we played that letting the opponent go first was advantageous. For instance, when the armies are far away, it may be better to let your opponent move first so that you have control during charges on your turn after they move in.
Picking who attacks first (and who to attack when multiple enemies were within range) was also critical. Since during close combat, both sides get to attack each turn, the player who's turn it is starts a delicate balance game of choosing where to begin the fights. Deciding if you want to risk lucky rolls to take down a big model before he can counterattack or just whittle down a mob so they have less attacks leaving the big guy alive can turn the tide of an entire battle. Most of the pauses in the action were during this phase as both sides weighed in their options and had to adjust those options on the fly as the results of each attack played out. And those pauses were tense ones, not boring ones that disrupted the flow of game play.
The use of that game specific strategies happened every time. Since the core rules themselves are quite easy to grasp and not too complicated, you instead focus more on what your models abilities are on your warscrolls. You're playing to the strengths of your units, not the strengths of the generic rules. Whether it's the smart use of movement to duck out of line of sight, or a timely use of a Command Ability that saves an army from a bad Battleshock roll. You are looking at the battle unfolding and checking it against what each unit can do. Even early games and the one with the most models in it never devolved to just mobs of units crashing into each other. Instead each side picked their targets carefully or maneuvered units in ways that gave them an advantage.
The tension of every wargame, the side where all players lean over the table as a critical die roll is cast, is fully present. Knowing that the right combination of successes can end the game and either cursing when you come up short or letting out a loud cheer when those 5s and 6s come up will never get old no matter how often you play.
Like I stated early, my sister and her friend had never touched a wargame, but they immediately understood the importance of uses the right unit in the right situation. It plays out a lot like chess closer than you may imagine. In fact, chess itself doesn't have a lot of rules and the strength of your game comes from knowing each piece's movement and how to use them best against what your opponent decides to do. And no one has criticized chess for being too simple.
I did find a few oddities in the rules. Being able to use missile weapons and also charge into melee comes across as odd compared to most games. It makes those with good charges and missile attacks (like the Prosecutors) particularly deadly. I still think it needs to work out cover and climbing rules a little better than their current incarnations as well. Cover is just cover if everyone in the unit is touching terrain and climbing is fine no matter what the object, those are weird to me.
I'm sure I can come up with some good house rules for them as I've already done so with two other aspects of the rules I wanted to change some:
1. If you attempt a Charge and fail, you move half the distance of the charge and stop. If within 3" of an opponent, you cannot declare an attack on them, however, your opponent can decide to pile in and attack, allowing you to attack back as per normal rules.
This made the charge a little more risky, as a failed charge that gets too close means the opponent can get the first attack in automatically or, if he chooses to wait, basically guarantee a successful charge against you the next round. This made us hesitate charging at the far edges of the charge range and added a risk/reward if we felt like we wanted to try it.
2. Battleshock failures doesn't instantly eliminate models, instead, the left over result of the failure is the number of units that turns and runs (like a proper route). Immediately after failing the test, the number of units that would be eliminated by the core rules instead turn and flee towards their starting table edge. You immediately make a run check and move them in that direction. Fleeing units will try to leave the battlefield on their side in as much of a straight line as possible. They avoid any enemy units (though enemy units can choose to charge or attack them) and continue to make a run action towards the edge on that unit's Movement Phase. The units are considered lost (they ran away) if they move past the edge of the battlefield. During each Battleshock Phase, roll a D6 and add the number of units fleeing (larger panicked crowds are harder to get back under control after all), if the result is under their Bravery, they stop fleeing, if it is over they continue to move away during each Movement Phase. If a unit stops fleeing from a successful check, they must attempt to regroup with their unit, running towards them until they are back into unit coherency. If their unit has been destroyed or all remaining models are fleeing, they may act as the original unit and play on as normal.
This just adds a fun little layer to models running away (and dare I say, realism). You have a chance for them to pull themselves together and rejoin the fray or be picked off by passing enemies for sport (helpful if a model gets a bonus for slaying units as fleeing units are usually small in number).
Both of these didn't really change the fundamentals of the core rules, just added a few small layers. I wouldn't say the changes were made to fix "broken rules," just to enhance the play experience.
At the end of the day, everyone had fun. There was cheering and victory dances, the classic lean into the table for dice results, and much tactical and strategic play. Don't just read about people's first impressions or panic cries, play the game. Try a few battles with an open mind and delve deep into each units abilities, not just the simple 4-pages of rules. There is layer and depth here that isn't visible during a read through, it's much more organic and needs to be played to be seen. Try it out and then develop an opinion, maybe it'll surprise you.
"Damn, I really like that game."
My guess is that a lot of these "reports" came from people who didn't actually play the game, but made assumptions after playing more complicated wargames and then looking at these rules. I can say, after a few games, even simple match-ups can have layers of tactics and strategy.
As I've mentioned before, I've had some wargame experience. I played several 40K games (on a friendly level) for a few years and tried out a bunch more. I've played skirmish level games, vehicle games, mech games, and am willing to at least play a demo game of anything you put in front of me. My opponents, my sister and a friend of her, have never touched a wargame before we began playing.
The end result? I got a text while my sister was at work the day after we played saying, "Damn, I really like that game."
So is it just piling in and rolling some dice? Is there no thinking to be had, no tactics to deploy? I can say confidently that it's not the case. As even someone who has never played before started seeing how they can use the rules to get various advantages and tactics to win a battle.
We played a few of the starter scenarios from the set as well as a basic battle of line up two sides and have them go at it. The scenarios in the book worked as tutorials, adding more rules and advanced mechanics as you moved forward, they were helpful for the new comers. But we quickly realized the rules are easy to grasp and were ready to move onto a straight fight.
They played together as the Eternals and I played the Goretide. After we got through a few rounds to get a sense of the rules, the pace began to flow quickly and within the first game we had a handle on the rules enough that we weren't constantly double checking things.
First off, if you're going to play, get the Age of Sigmar app, it makes things much easier. Not only do you have a copy of the rules on your phone/tablet, but you have every Warscroll they release and you can tag the ones in your army to show up on a separate page for ease of reference. You don't have to print out a bunch of scrolls and have them scattered about a table or pass a book back and forth, they're all right there. That made play go much quicker.
I can say there are deeper tactics than just run right at each other. For instance, in the second book scenario, the Eternals play as their Prosecutors attempting to get to a Realmgate while avoiding two 10 model units of Bloodreavers. It's basically getting the Prosecutors to the other side of the table and holding their for one turn and they only have 5 turns to do it in. Right away my sister realized her faster Prosecutors could dance around the reavers, tossing their hammers during the shoot phase and only moving into melee when she thought she had a serious chance to wipe them out in one turn. She could have moved directly into me, but instead she skirted the edges of the gamefield, making the reavers chase.
I've read about the horrors of rolling for initiative each turn as well, stating how one side can go twice over and over again and ruin the other player's fun. While this can happen, people forget that the rules say the dice winner chooses who goes first. There were times when we played that letting the opponent go first was advantageous. For instance, when the armies are far away, it may be better to let your opponent move first so that you have control during charges on your turn after they move in.
Picking who attacks first (and who to attack when multiple enemies were within range) was also critical. Since during close combat, both sides get to attack each turn, the player who's turn it is starts a delicate balance game of choosing where to begin the fights. Deciding if you want to risk lucky rolls to take down a big model before he can counterattack or just whittle down a mob so they have less attacks leaving the big guy alive can turn the tide of an entire battle. Most of the pauses in the action were during this phase as both sides weighed in their options and had to adjust those options on the fly as the results of each attack played out. And those pauses were tense ones, not boring ones that disrupted the flow of game play.
The use of that game specific strategies happened every time. Since the core rules themselves are quite easy to grasp and not too complicated, you instead focus more on what your models abilities are on your warscrolls. You're playing to the strengths of your units, not the strengths of the generic rules. Whether it's the smart use of movement to duck out of line of sight, or a timely use of a Command Ability that saves an army from a bad Battleshock roll. You are looking at the battle unfolding and checking it against what each unit can do. Even early games and the one with the most models in it never devolved to just mobs of units crashing into each other. Instead each side picked their targets carefully or maneuvered units in ways that gave them an advantage.
The tension of every wargame, the side where all players lean over the table as a critical die roll is cast, is fully present. Knowing that the right combination of successes can end the game and either cursing when you come up short or letting out a loud cheer when those 5s and 6s come up will never get old no matter how often you play.
Like I stated early, my sister and her friend had never touched a wargame, but they immediately understood the importance of uses the right unit in the right situation. It plays out a lot like chess closer than you may imagine. In fact, chess itself doesn't have a lot of rules and the strength of your game comes from knowing each piece's movement and how to use them best against what your opponent decides to do. And no one has criticized chess for being too simple.
I did find a few oddities in the rules. Being able to use missile weapons and also charge into melee comes across as odd compared to most games. It makes those with good charges and missile attacks (like the Prosecutors) particularly deadly. I still think it needs to work out cover and climbing rules a little better than their current incarnations as well. Cover is just cover if everyone in the unit is touching terrain and climbing is fine no matter what the object, those are weird to me.
I'm sure I can come up with some good house rules for them as I've already done so with two other aspects of the rules I wanted to change some:
1. If you attempt a Charge and fail, you move half the distance of the charge and stop. If within 3" of an opponent, you cannot declare an attack on them, however, your opponent can decide to pile in and attack, allowing you to attack back as per normal rules.
This made the charge a little more risky, as a failed charge that gets too close means the opponent can get the first attack in automatically or, if he chooses to wait, basically guarantee a successful charge against you the next round. This made us hesitate charging at the far edges of the charge range and added a risk/reward if we felt like we wanted to try it.
2. Battleshock failures doesn't instantly eliminate models, instead, the left over result of the failure is the number of units that turns and runs (like a proper route). Immediately after failing the test, the number of units that would be eliminated by the core rules instead turn and flee towards their starting table edge. You immediately make a run check and move them in that direction. Fleeing units will try to leave the battlefield on their side in as much of a straight line as possible. They avoid any enemy units (though enemy units can choose to charge or attack them) and continue to make a run action towards the edge on that unit's Movement Phase. The units are considered lost (they ran away) if they move past the edge of the battlefield. During each Battleshock Phase, roll a D6 and add the number of units fleeing (larger panicked crowds are harder to get back under control after all), if the result is under their Bravery, they stop fleeing, if it is over they continue to move away during each Movement Phase. If a unit stops fleeing from a successful check, they must attempt to regroup with their unit, running towards them until they are back into unit coherency. If their unit has been destroyed or all remaining models are fleeing, they may act as the original unit and play on as normal.
This just adds a fun little layer to models running away (and dare I say, realism). You have a chance for them to pull themselves together and rejoin the fray or be picked off by passing enemies for sport (helpful if a model gets a bonus for slaying units as fleeing units are usually small in number).
Both of these didn't really change the fundamentals of the core rules, just added a few small layers. I wouldn't say the changes were made to fix "broken rules," just to enhance the play experience.
At the end of the day, everyone had fun. There was cheering and victory dances, the classic lean into the table for dice results, and much tactical and strategic play. Don't just read about people's first impressions or panic cries, play the game. Try a few battles with an open mind and delve deep into each units abilities, not just the simple 4-pages of rules. There is layer and depth here that isn't visible during a read through, it's much more organic and needs to be played to be seen. Try it out and then develop an opinion, maybe it'll surprise you.
"Damn, I really like that game."
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Weekly Shopping List: Week 4
A short and simple week this week. Only two Age of Sigmar pre-orders are up for this week.
Week 4
White Dwarf 78: Yet another AoS-centric issue as GW continues to push it's new product.
Stormcast Eternals Judicators: The ranged bowman of the Eternals, though they look a little odd covered in heavy plate while being ranged warriors, they fit the look of the rest of the army. These guys have either bows or crossbows (called Skybolts, again, keeping the Space Marine connection alive) and you get five in a pack for $50.
Both of these items are going to have to come a little later for me since this Wednesday I'm on my way to GenCon. Because of that, funds are being saved on travel, hotel, and plenty of gaming goodies. They're both on my wish list though, they'll just have to wait a little bit before they arrive.
Inventory
White Dwarf 75
White Dwarf 76
The Gates of Azyr
Age of Sigmar Starter Set
Age of Sigmar Painting Guide
Assault on Mandrake Bastion Quick Read
Age of Sigmar Book
Beneath the Black Thumb Quick Read
Age of Sigmar App
Pre-Ordered and In Transit
White Dwarf 77 - Pre-Ordered
Ophidian Archway - Pre-Ordered
White Dwarf 76
The Gates of Azyr
Age of Sigmar Starter Set
Age of Sigmar Painting Guide
Assault on Mandrake Bastion Quick Read
Age of Sigmar Book
Beneath the Black Thumb Quick Read
Age of Sigmar App
Pre-Ordered and In Transit
White Dwarf 77 - Pre-Ordered
Ophidian Archway - Pre-Ordered
Wish List
White Dwarf 78
Judicators
Lord Celestant
Liberators
Baleful Realmgates
Lord Castellant
White Dwarf 78
Judicators
Lord Celestant
Liberators
Baleful Realmgates
Lord Castellant
Friday, July 24, 2015
Review: Age of Sigmar Starter Set - Part 2 - The Book
Along with the awesome models that the Starter Set comes with, you also have a 96 page book that contains some background, basics of painting, scenarios, and warscrolls.
I'll give the warscrolls a more proper delve with a Lore Library post, but let's talk about the book in general.
The first 20 pages are an introduction to the setting. Much of what's written here is also found in the White Dwarf 75 articles, but we get a little more detail. While the list of Realms and Grand Alliances are exactly the same, a little more attention is given to the set-up of what is now being called the Realmsgate Wars. This is the first arc of the Age of Sigmar storyline, the first offensive by the Eternals that is chronicled in the early fiction, hardcover release, and this Starter Set. As has been the standard so far, the art is excellent and is a mix of original art and photos of the models.
The next 22 pages are split between The Storm Made Flesh and Blades of the Blood God. Here, each army gets profiles done on them, which each unit given a half-page photo of a beautifully painted model and a half-page of text about them. The named characters get background related specifically to them, while the more standard units get a description of the units themselves, even if certain characters have been named in those units in the novella or elsewhere. There is a little more information than can be taken from The Gates of Azyr, but this is more an encyclopedic overview than look into the character's mind (as is to be expected). Of note, the Eternals get a "Force Organization Chart" that doesn't help with the comparisons to Space Marines.
After that is The Pageantry of War, an 8-page that has very basic painting guides for both armies. These are simply 6 progressive shots of a Liberator, Bloodwarrior, and Bloodreaver and may be helpful with the information found in White Dwarf 75, but certainly isn't going to teach complete new comers how to paint. For that, both the Painting Guide and the excellent YouTube videos GW has been releasing for each figure is way more informative. More importantly, however, is that we get to seem the color schemes of other factions of the two starter armies. The Eternals have 6 "Stormhosts" and we get 6 "Warbands" for Khorne. Each gets a few sentences about what makes them different from one another along with some colored line art to show how their paint schemes differ. I'm a big fan of the Aqua and Maroon with Gold/Silver Highlights that the Celestial Vindicator Stormhost uses, also, pretty sweet name.
Next is Fire & Thunder, 16 pages that comprise of 6 scenarios that act as tutorial and a linked mini-campaign. These are, as I guessed, the events that take place in The Gates of Azyr. Here players have a chance to recreate the first offensive against Chaos as a Chamber from the Hammers of Sigmar attempt to open a Realmgate in Aqshy to allow the rest of Sigmar's armies in. In a way, this goes back to the roots of many wargames, as they generally started out as a chance to recreate historic battles and maybe have different results. The same things is, in essence, happening here. Players are allowed to "recreate" the opening salvo of the Realmsgate Wars and potentially have a different outcome than what "actually happened" (or canonically happens according to the fiction). The first scenario comprises of just the Lord-Celestant taking on the Khorgorath and Bloodstoker and ramps up adding more models with new rules until the final two use the whole armies from each starter set.
This allows players to learn a few special rules outside the core ones each time and, if played in order, a chance to use the Major Victory rule as well. The first scenario can even be played solo and the last gives you the option to use more models than what is just in the Starter Set, so by the end, you're playing with full armies and full rules. It's all set-up with one page of fluff text along with a second page listing the armies each side can take, the set-up if it differs from standard rules, win conditions, and even a few hints & tricks. I think this is an awesome way to play the game. It not only teaches the rules, but extends the game into something beyond each player setting-up some troops and going after one another (which can still be done using just the rules themselves). It helps forge a story and it is how GW plans on moving the story forward as the game progresses. The big 256-page book contains several more scenarios allowing you to play out more key moments in the Realmsgate Wars.
There is a 10 page section called Battle Unleashed next that is mostly there to sell more models. There is a spread of each army from the Starter Set with more units added to look more grandiose along with text about how to increase your army by buying a second Starter Set (and trading units to a friend, so you only have to pay for half, see!) as well as a few photos of models from other armies to wet your appetite for future releases.
The next 15 pages after that contain the Warscrolls of all the Units in the Starter Set. These all follow the standard format that's seen on-line and in the new Age of Sigmar app. I'll take a closer look at these in a Lore Library to really pull apart what you can learn fluff-wise about each unit from the scrolls.
The final 4 pages contain Warscroll Battalions which add an interesting new layer to the game. Warscroll Battalions allow you to gain a few more special rules for an army if they are composed of the units listed on the Warscroll. Again, recreating some of the special tactics specific Chambers or Warbands or other collections of units would have if they are made up of "canon" deployments. Each army gets one and they are made up of the exact units that are found in the Starter Set. The Eternals get the Thunderstrike Brotherhood, that gain both a Bravery buff and the ability to "Deep Strike" (Again, not helping the Space Marines similarities) by coming down from the sky in shells of ball lightning, as they do in the novel. And the Khorne Bloodbound get the Goreblade which allows them to reroll Charge attempts and let's them buff Attacks if they see a unit wiped out that turn.
All in all, there is plenty here to not only get you started, but offer you quite a bit of game time without having to add any other purchases. It's an excellent starter set, especially for it's price, and a good start to a new era of Warhammer.
Next, a look at the game in play to give the rules a proper review, a lore library on what's inside the Starter Set book, and then onto the Painting Guide.
I'll give the warscrolls a more proper delve with a Lore Library post, but let's talk about the book in general.
The first 20 pages are an introduction to the setting. Much of what's written here is also found in the White Dwarf 75 articles, but we get a little more detail. While the list of Realms and Grand Alliances are exactly the same, a little more attention is given to the set-up of what is now being called the Realmsgate Wars. This is the first arc of the Age of Sigmar storyline, the first offensive by the Eternals that is chronicled in the early fiction, hardcover release, and this Starter Set. As has been the standard so far, the art is excellent and is a mix of original art and photos of the models.
The next 22 pages are split between The Storm Made Flesh and Blades of the Blood God. Here, each army gets profiles done on them, which each unit given a half-page photo of a beautifully painted model and a half-page of text about them. The named characters get background related specifically to them, while the more standard units get a description of the units themselves, even if certain characters have been named in those units in the novella or elsewhere. There is a little more information than can be taken from The Gates of Azyr, but this is more an encyclopedic overview than look into the character's mind (as is to be expected). Of note, the Eternals get a "Force Organization Chart" that doesn't help with the comparisons to Space Marines.
After that is The Pageantry of War, an 8-page that has very basic painting guides for both armies. These are simply 6 progressive shots of a Liberator, Bloodwarrior, and Bloodreaver and may be helpful with the information found in White Dwarf 75, but certainly isn't going to teach complete new comers how to paint. For that, both the Painting Guide and the excellent YouTube videos GW has been releasing for each figure is way more informative. More importantly, however, is that we get to seem the color schemes of other factions of the two starter armies. The Eternals have 6 "Stormhosts" and we get 6 "Warbands" for Khorne. Each gets a few sentences about what makes them different from one another along with some colored line art to show how their paint schemes differ. I'm a big fan of the Aqua and Maroon with Gold/Silver Highlights that the Celestial Vindicator Stormhost uses, also, pretty sweet name.
Next is Fire & Thunder, 16 pages that comprise of 6 scenarios that act as tutorial and a linked mini-campaign. These are, as I guessed, the events that take place in The Gates of Azyr. Here players have a chance to recreate the first offensive against Chaos as a Chamber from the Hammers of Sigmar attempt to open a Realmgate in Aqshy to allow the rest of Sigmar's armies in. In a way, this goes back to the roots of many wargames, as they generally started out as a chance to recreate historic battles and maybe have different results. The same things is, in essence, happening here. Players are allowed to "recreate" the opening salvo of the Realmsgate Wars and potentially have a different outcome than what "actually happened" (or canonically happens according to the fiction). The first scenario comprises of just the Lord-Celestant taking on the Khorgorath and Bloodstoker and ramps up adding more models with new rules until the final two use the whole armies from each starter set.
This allows players to learn a few special rules outside the core ones each time and, if played in order, a chance to use the Major Victory rule as well. The first scenario can even be played solo and the last gives you the option to use more models than what is just in the Starter Set, so by the end, you're playing with full armies and full rules. It's all set-up with one page of fluff text along with a second page listing the armies each side can take, the set-up if it differs from standard rules, win conditions, and even a few hints & tricks. I think this is an awesome way to play the game. It not only teaches the rules, but extends the game into something beyond each player setting-up some troops and going after one another (which can still be done using just the rules themselves). It helps forge a story and it is how GW plans on moving the story forward as the game progresses. The big 256-page book contains several more scenarios allowing you to play out more key moments in the Realmsgate Wars.
There is a 10 page section called Battle Unleashed next that is mostly there to sell more models. There is a spread of each army from the Starter Set with more units added to look more grandiose along with text about how to increase your army by buying a second Starter Set (and trading units to a friend, so you only have to pay for half, see!) as well as a few photos of models from other armies to wet your appetite for future releases.
The next 15 pages after that contain the Warscrolls of all the Units in the Starter Set. These all follow the standard format that's seen on-line and in the new Age of Sigmar app. I'll take a closer look at these in a Lore Library to really pull apart what you can learn fluff-wise about each unit from the scrolls.
The final 4 pages contain Warscroll Battalions which add an interesting new layer to the game. Warscroll Battalions allow you to gain a few more special rules for an army if they are composed of the units listed on the Warscroll. Again, recreating some of the special tactics specific Chambers or Warbands or other collections of units would have if they are made up of "canon" deployments. Each army gets one and they are made up of the exact units that are found in the Starter Set. The Eternals get the Thunderstrike Brotherhood, that gain both a Bravery buff and the ability to "Deep Strike" (Again, not helping the Space Marines similarities) by coming down from the sky in shells of ball lightning, as they do in the novel. And the Khorne Bloodbound get the Goreblade which allows them to reroll Charge attempts and let's them buff Attacks if they see a unit wiped out that turn.
All in all, there is plenty here to not only get you started, but offer you quite a bit of game time without having to add any other purchases. It's an excellent starter set, especially for it's price, and a good start to a new era of Warhammer.
Next, a look at the game in play to give the rules a proper review, a lore library on what's inside the Starter Set book, and then onto the Painting Guide.
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