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.
Looking at Age of Sigmar with a fresh set of eyes.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
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.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Review: Age of Sigmar Starter Set Part 1 - The Models
I have managed to assemble all the models, read the full book, and play a game of Age of Sigmar. That being done, I can say I'm ready to take a look at it as a review.
First up: The Models!
These models look fantastic, especially as plastic kits. It terms of mass produced, plastic models, it's hard to beat these ones right here. I've seen plenty of models, I've had old pewter ones, prepainted plastic ones, newer plastic kits, etc. and few compare to the models in this set.
There is a deep layer of detail, and because we no longer have units on square bases, a ton of dynamic poses. I think plenty of the models display a nice sense of movement and weight, all due to the sculpts they have.
Also, the way they fit the pieces together allow for it all to look like a single piece. They do a good job of hiding join points, characters no longer are split in half vertically and then you put a head on. Instead, most models hide the join points behind other layers or in areas of the model you're not going to really look at during a standard viewing of the model.
Also, the instructions are very well laid out and you can see they took the 3D CAD model they use to sculpt and dissect these and basically reversed them to show you how they go together. It's helpful, even if most figures you can easily see how they go together.
You also get a huge amount of models, 47 in total, and only two sprues are copies (and these for the basic troop levels for both sides), so it's a lot of unique models as well.
Khorne Goretide
Khorne models look like Khorne models, they have the angles you expect, the spikes you expect, the bloodthirtsy horde design you'd expect. None of this means they're all bland, however.
The look makes them blend well as an army while still maintaning the look of disorganized hordes mixed with a proper army. The warlord looks properly evil and has a fantastic gorehound with him, the bloodreavers and bloodwarriors look menacing, and everyone overall fits the part.
The Bloodsecrator (yep, that's what he is) is a particularly awesome model. The standard he has is absolutely huge and the ponytail pulled through a human spinal column is ridiculous, in all the right ways.
The Korgorath is an interesting monster, not quite "classically" demonic like many of Khorne's demon models, he's more of a hulking brute with some interesting details. I especially like the skulls that are erupting out of his body and the viscous bone and tentacle hands. The bones for head with skull in the middle for a face is a little odd however. His handler, the Bloodstoker, has a great sense of motion, especially with his whip held high. Of particular note is that he's a massive pudgy warrior, a look that's usually reserved for Nurgle. It's nice to see those Chaos Gods being more inclusive.
Stormcast Eternals
While I can easily see the Space Marine comparisons with the Eternals, especially with the Retributors, you can also see the very fantasy vibe of them as well. They look like soldiers in heavy plate armor, but of a fantasy variety, not sci-fi. They have a fantasy look to them, but I can see why the design influences are there, especially to grab the attention of those that only have played 40K.
The Prosecutors are properly gorgeous, especially with how they used their scrollwork as a "flight peg" to hold them aloft.
The Lord-Celestant on his dracoth is a hulking model with a good amount of heft and size. Again, the detail and look of motion of the figure is incredible and he looks properly in charge, he holds himself as a leader.
The Lord-Relictor is probably my favorite model, not just because of the interesting backstory he's getting in the fiction. The skull helm makes him immediately unique as a base figure and his reliquary also draws the eye. It has a ton of great details as you look at it closely and all ones that fit into what it is actually used for.
Though I said I didn't think I'd have the time, patience, and ability to paint these guys, I'm having trouble looking at them as just gray. Seeing how good these guys looked painted, both from other people who purchased and the pages of White Dwarf, I may have to cave in and try to give these guys a go.
Overall, the models are fantastic, even if you're just looking for some nice looking figures to paint. The Starter Set is worth it based on these guys alone.
Next, what's in the book and how does it play?
First up: The Models!
These models look fantastic, especially as plastic kits. It terms of mass produced, plastic models, it's hard to beat these ones right here. I've seen plenty of models, I've had old pewter ones, prepainted plastic ones, newer plastic kits, etc. and few compare to the models in this set.
There is a deep layer of detail, and because we no longer have units on square bases, a ton of dynamic poses. I think plenty of the models display a nice sense of movement and weight, all due to the sculpts they have.
Also, the way they fit the pieces together allow for it all to look like a single piece. They do a good job of hiding join points, characters no longer are split in half vertically and then you put a head on. Instead, most models hide the join points behind other layers or in areas of the model you're not going to really look at during a standard viewing of the model.
Also, the instructions are very well laid out and you can see they took the 3D CAD model they use to sculpt and dissect these and basically reversed them to show you how they go together. It's helpful, even if most figures you can easily see how they go together.
You also get a huge amount of models, 47 in total, and only two sprues are copies (and these for the basic troop levels for both sides), so it's a lot of unique models as well.
Khorne Goretide
Khorne models look like Khorne models, they have the angles you expect, the spikes you expect, the bloodthirtsy horde design you'd expect. None of this means they're all bland, however.
The look makes them blend well as an army while still maintaning the look of disorganized hordes mixed with a proper army. The warlord looks properly evil and has a fantastic gorehound with him, the bloodreavers and bloodwarriors look menacing, and everyone overall fits the part.
The Bloodsecrator (yep, that's what he is) is a particularly awesome model. The standard he has is absolutely huge and the ponytail pulled through a human spinal column is ridiculous, in all the right ways.
The Korgorath is an interesting monster, not quite "classically" demonic like many of Khorne's demon models, he's more of a hulking brute with some interesting details. I especially like the skulls that are erupting out of his body and the viscous bone and tentacle hands. The bones for head with skull in the middle for a face is a little odd however. His handler, the Bloodstoker, has a great sense of motion, especially with his whip held high. Of particular note is that he's a massive pudgy warrior, a look that's usually reserved for Nurgle. It's nice to see those Chaos Gods being more inclusive.
Stormcast Eternals
While I can easily see the Space Marine comparisons with the Eternals, especially with the Retributors, you can also see the very fantasy vibe of them as well. They look like soldiers in heavy plate armor, but of a fantasy variety, not sci-fi. They have a fantasy look to them, but I can see why the design influences are there, especially to grab the attention of those that only have played 40K.
The Prosecutors are properly gorgeous, especially with how they used their scrollwork as a "flight peg" to hold them aloft.
The Lord-Celestant on his dracoth is a hulking model with a good amount of heft and size. Again, the detail and look of motion of the figure is incredible and he looks properly in charge, he holds himself as a leader.
The Lord-Relictor is probably my favorite model, not just because of the interesting backstory he's getting in the fiction. The skull helm makes him immediately unique as a base figure and his reliquary also draws the eye. It has a ton of great details as you look at it closely and all ones that fit into what it is actually used for.
Though I said I didn't think I'd have the time, patience, and ability to paint these guys, I'm having trouble looking at them as just gray. Seeing how good these guys looked painted, both from other people who purchased and the pages of White Dwarf, I may have to cave in and try to give these guys a go.
Overall, the models are fantastic, even if you're just looking for some nice looking figures to paint. The Starter Set is worth it based on these guys alone.
Next, what's in the book and how does it play?
Monday, July 20, 2015
Weekly Shopping List - Week 3 Part 2 & Updates
Seems to be a a new Black Library release today as they are offering both a subscription and buy separate plan for a series of 8 "Quick Reads" that form The Realmgate Wars - Call of Archaon.
This is a series that follows various Chaos characters during these opening strikes in the Age of Sigmar. It's $23.99 for the subscription or $4.99 separate. That may be one of the first times GW has actually offered a substantial deal with a bundle price.
The first story, Beneath the Black Thumb is out today, and it follows an army of Nurgle, the first real story that deals with something other than our Starter Set friends. Hopefully it'll be an interesting read.
Also, the Age of Sigmar app is out for iOS and coming to Android very soon. It looks to be a rules reference and quick build of Warscrolls for your chosen army on the field so you don't have to have printed paper scattered about the place. As I just own Android devices, I haven't been able to check it out yet.
Finally, small bit of an update, I've finished assembling all my Starter Set models and even played a quick game against a first time wargamer. That, along with a look at the book and models in a proper review should be appearing shortly.
This is a series that follows various Chaos characters during these opening strikes in the Age of Sigmar. It's $23.99 for the subscription or $4.99 separate. That may be one of the first times GW has actually offered a substantial deal with a bundle price.
The first story, Beneath the Black Thumb is out today, and it follows an army of Nurgle, the first real story that deals with something other than our Starter Set friends. Hopefully it'll be an interesting read.
Also, the Age of Sigmar app is out for iOS and coming to Android very soon. It looks to be a rules reference and quick build of Warscrolls for your chosen army on the field so you don't have to have printed paper scattered about the place. As I just own Android devices, I haven't been able to check it out yet.
Finally, small bit of an update, I've finished assembling all my Starter Set models and even played a quick game against a first time wargamer. That, along with a look at the book and models in a proper review should be appearing shortly.
Lore Library - The Gates of Azyr
The following are some of my observations on the hints at the overall lore of Age of Sigmar.
This edition is for The Gates of Azyr, as such, there are spoilers for the story itself contained within.
*Spoilers* You've been warned
This edition is for The Gates of Azyr, as such, there are spoilers for the story itself contained within.
*Spoilers* You've been warned
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Review: The Gates of Azyr
The Gates of Azyr is a short novella written by Chris Wraight that kicks off the Age of Sigmar concurrently with the Starter Set. A quick read, clocking in at 125 pages, I ended up with the fancy limited edition because why not?
The novella is 8 chapters long and is a very quick read. Picking up exactly where White Dwarf 75 leaves off, the book covers the first strike force of Stormcast Eternals. These are the warriors that are to open the first realmgate on Aqshy, allowing all of the other members of the Eternals to begin their attack to retake the realms.
The book does a good job of jumping between several characters, watching through their eyes as the action progresses. One section may be following Vandus or Khul, leaders of the Eternals and Goretide respectively, or we may be following one of their lieutenants. At times we even follow the story through the eyes of the few natives left in the realm.
The story does a good job of making sure every character that is a model in the Starter Set is represented. I have a feeling, the story here is, in a way, the canonical sequence of events of the campaign missions found in the Starter Set.
I'm not going to say this novella is the next great American novel. The short page length and story that basically boils down to a single battle gives little time for mass amounts of dialogue or deep character moments. Though the author does a good job giving each character his/her own voice. Ionus Cryptborn, the Lord-Relictor, is particularly well characterized and is fleshed out while keeping plenty of secrets about his past and motivations. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he'll become a fan favorite character.
And what does the collector's edition bring? Not a whole lot besides the fancy dust jacket and ribbon bookmark you see above. The pages have a golden edging and there is a small color section in the middle that is a close up shot of several characters along with a few sentences of biography. The pictures are all crops of a previous image and they don't add too much.
All in all, I enjoyed the story and enjoyed the first taste of fiction for the world. Tomorrow I'll have some thoughts, questions/answers about some of the lore revealed within the story.
The book does a good job of jumping between several characters, watching through their eyes as the action progresses. One section may be following Vandus or Khul, leaders of the Eternals and Goretide respectively, or we may be following one of their lieutenants. At times we even follow the story through the eyes of the few natives left in the realm.
The story does a good job of making sure every character that is a model in the Starter Set is represented. I have a feeling, the story here is, in a way, the canonical sequence of events of the campaign missions found in the Starter Set.
I'm not going to say this novella is the next great American novel. The short page length and story that basically boils down to a single battle gives little time for mass amounts of dialogue or deep character moments. Though the author does a good job giving each character his/her own voice. Ionus Cryptborn, the Lord-Relictor, is particularly well characterized and is fleshed out while keeping plenty of secrets about his past and motivations. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he'll become a fan favorite character.
And what does the collector's edition bring? Not a whole lot besides the fancy dust jacket and ribbon bookmark you see above. The pages have a golden edging and there is a small color section in the middle that is a close up shot of several characters along with a few sentences of biography. The pictures are all crops of a previous image and they don't add too much.
All in all, I enjoyed the story and enjoyed the first taste of fiction for the world. Tomorrow I'll have some thoughts, questions/answers about some of the lore revealed within the story.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Weekly Shopping List: Week 3
Week 3 of Age of Sigmar is upon us and with that come some new items!
Week 3
While we get yet another Stormcast Eternal model, the big news this week is terrain!
White Dwarf 77: As far as I can tell, this is yet again a full Age of Sigmar issue, teasers have pointed out that we'll see the first bits of Chaos specific information this time along with a look at some of the survivors that live in fear of Chaos when Sigmar abandoned the Realms. As I recently read a bit about some of these folks in The Gates of Azyr, this is intriguing. As it always does, this goes directly into my purchase order.
Ophidian Archway: The first of two scenery pieces on this week's preorder list, The Ophidian Archway looks awesome. There is a bunch of great detail on the wall and it comes with it's own Warscroll which you can get on the pre-order page. I could only order one piece of scenery this week, so I went with this one.
Baleful Realmgates: A set of two gates dripping with arcane energy, these are also very nice looking pieces. Again, a great bit of detail is present on their faces as well as a set of rules using them as teleports on the battlefield. Of course, you can also potentially lose models as they cross through the gate on bad rolls.
Lord Castellant: A defensive buff character, this guy looks big and heavy and comes with a pretty sweet looking gryph-hound model. I really hope the gryph-hound gets a separate release so you can add a whole pack to your army, especially since it gets it's own warscroll and talks about fielding them as units of multiple models.
That's it, small amount of pre-orders this week, which is a good thing.
The Realmgates and Lord Castellant will have to wait as I'm a week and a half away from going to Gen Con and I'm keeping a tight leash on my funding until I'm done with that. Still their both definite future purchases and I hope the scenery pieces aren't limited releases and will be available when I get back.
Week 3
While we get yet another Stormcast Eternal model, the big news this week is terrain!
White Dwarf 77: As far as I can tell, this is yet again a full Age of Sigmar issue, teasers have pointed out that we'll see the first bits of Chaos specific information this time along with a look at some of the survivors that live in fear of Chaos when Sigmar abandoned the Realms. As I recently read a bit about some of these folks in The Gates of Azyr, this is intriguing. As it always does, this goes directly into my purchase order.
Ophidian Archway: The first of two scenery pieces on this week's preorder list, The Ophidian Archway looks awesome. There is a bunch of great detail on the wall and it comes with it's own Warscroll which you can get on the pre-order page. I could only order one piece of scenery this week, so I went with this one.
Baleful Realmgates: A set of two gates dripping with arcane energy, these are also very nice looking pieces. Again, a great bit of detail is present on their faces as well as a set of rules using them as teleports on the battlefield. Of course, you can also potentially lose models as they cross through the gate on bad rolls.
Lord Castellant: A defensive buff character, this guy looks big and heavy and comes with a pretty sweet looking gryph-hound model. I really hope the gryph-hound gets a separate release so you can add a whole pack to your army, especially since it gets it's own warscroll and talks about fielding them as units of multiple models.
That's it, small amount of pre-orders this week, which is a good thing.
The Realmgates and Lord Castellant will have to wait as I'm a week and a half away from going to Gen Con and I'm keeping a tight leash on my funding until I'm done with that. Still their both definite future purchases and I hope the scenery pieces aren't limited releases and will be available when I get back.
Inventory
White Dwarf 75
The Gates of Azyr
Age of Sigmar Starter Set
Age of Sigmar Painting Guide
Assault on Mandrake Bastion Quick Read
Pre-Ordered and In Transit
White Dwarf 76 - In Transit
Age of Sigmar Book - In Transit
White Dwarf 77 - Pre-Ordered
Ophidian Archway - Pre-Ordered
The Gates of Azyr
Age of Sigmar Starter Set
Age of Sigmar Painting Guide
Assault on Mandrake Bastion Quick Read
Pre-Ordered and In Transit
White Dwarf 76 - In Transit
Age of Sigmar Book - In Transit
White Dwarf 77 - Pre-Ordered
Ophidian Archway - Pre-Ordered
Wish List
Lord Celestant
Liberators
Baleful Realmgates
Lord Castellant
Lord Celestant
Liberators
Baleful Realmgates
Lord Castellant
Review: White Dwarf 75
White Dwarf 75 is a definite introduction to Age of Sigmar, not only to the game itself but for the ongoing storyline of the setting as well.
This issue is 100% dedicated to Age of Sigmar, not a single 40K article to be found. This makes sense of course, GW is starting an entire new run of Warhammer Fantasy and it's going to push it hard. This is not only the first good look at the launch models and rules of Age of Sigmar, but also the fluff of the game as well.
The front cover shows the Stormcast Eternals from the box set, while the back shows the Khorne Goretide. Obviously both are fully painted, wonderuflly lighted and dramatically shot. GW has some really good photographers on staff, which is evident throughout the issue.
Did I mention this comes with a free Stormcast Liberator? Because it does. The basic "troop" unit for the Stormcast Eternals, this Liberator is the same sculpt as one of the models from the box set. It's a beefy model, with a load of great detail and is not only easily assembled, but done in a way to hide a lot of join points.
The opening two pages give a bit of introduction to the game as a whole, a small three step guide to putting together your Liberator (it really is that easy to do), and a dramatic two page spread of both armies from the cover coming together in battle.
The first four articles are each a lore piece and all follow a similar format. They are a page and a half picture (the first original artwork, the other three photos of armies), and a column of text that is about 6-8 paragraphs.
The articles are: The Age of Myth, The Nine Realms, Chaos Triumphant, and Sigmar Strikes!
Two things are evident in these articles; firstly the game is gearing up to follow an evolving storyline, secondly the world is not a high fantasy game, but a post-apocalyptic one.
In the Age of Mysth article, the basic start of the story is revealed here. After the old version of Warhammer was blown up in the End Times, Sigmar hurtled through the space in between worlds clinging to the last remnant of the planet. The fiery core hurtles through the planar cosmos for a few millenium until a a great interplanar dragon known as the Great Drake Dracothion notices the fiery light and checks it out.
He's surprised to see a man still alive riding it, even if that man is a great God-King, and the two become buddies. That's when Dracothion lets Sigmar in on something, the eight realms of magic that everyone used on the old world are actual planar realms and that some of the survivors (as well as many creatures and races that have always lived there) have been living there. Sigmar decides to unite these realms and goes about exploring all of them, helping them fight back the monsters that live there, uniting warring factions, and building a huge interplanar empire with him as the God-King.
So this article shows that the game doesn't pick up right after the End Times, generations have past. Empires have risen and fallen, huge swaths of history have taken place. GW may be putting out plenty of nods to the old world, but this is a new setting. It has it's own history, it's own heroes, it's own feeling.
The Nine Realms gives a few sentence description of each realm that exists in the setting. Each one is named after one of the eight winds of magic, the ninth being the Chaos realm. They each obviously have traits linked to the winds they stem from: Aqshy, The Realm of Fire has volatile landscapes and breeds aggression, for example. Shyish, The Realm of Death is where the dead go when the die and of course Chaos is the home to daemons and the chaos gods we've seen since the original Warhammer.
This article also has the first shot of models not from the core set, as the End Times Nagash model is leading an undead army against the Stormcast in another beautifully shot photo.
Chaos Triumphant sets up the immediate background of the game. Chaos notices the shining beacon that is Sigmar and his unified Realms and decides they want to get in on all those souls. They launch a massive invasion and, for the first time ever out of every story of Chaos in the Warhammer world, they are successful. They overwhelm the realms and, due to some hints at betrayals and decension among the unified empire, take them all over. People are slaughtered in genocidal ways, every bastion of civilization are sacked and put to ruin. Eventually Sigmar takes what few survivors he can and escapes to the realm of Azyr, The Realm of Heaven and seals the gates behind him to protect them from Chaos.
This drives home the post apocalyptic set-up. It says Sigmar has abandoned the other realms for centuries, leaving them as playthings for Chaos. They now are in complete control out of eight of the nine realms. This is the first time Chaos has seen as scary and powerful as they've always been hinted to be. They are nearly fully triumphant here and it sets up a "grim and dark" look at a setting the GW always likes to go for.
Finally, Sigmar Strikes! set-up the game current and presents the beginning of the storyline that is to run through Age of Sigmar. This article shows the Sigmar was using his centuries in hiding to build an army to strike back at Chaos. With the help of Grungni, Sigmar pulls various heroes from the Realms that were fighting against the tides of Chaos and transported them to his great fortress of Azyrheim. There, they are reforged as immortal warriors cast in shining armor and born of living lightning. There are the Stormcast Eternals, more than man, yet still man and now they are ready to strike back. The last paragraph talks of the first move Sigmar makes, sending a small strike force to Aqshy, Realm of Fire and reopen one of the gates to allow all the armies of Sigmar to pour through.
This is the Starter set's set-up, and leads right into The Gates of Azyr as well. While we can make many of Space Marine and Emperor comparisons here, that is not all this is. While they are bigger than normal men and cast in huge pieces of plate armor, they are immortal beings that are imbued with the power of Lightning from Sigmar himself. This also presents a perfect ongoing campaign for the entire game, that of the mortals trying to fight back against Chaos and retake their homes. The fact that this setting actually has Chaos as the current winning force defending their taken lands and the "good guys" on the attack is a complete flip from just about the entire storyline of all of the old Warhammer.
The next 12 pages takes a closer look at the Starter Set and the models found within. The article notes that the Starter Set "tells the first chapter of this war against Chaos..." reinforcing the idea of a narrative moving forward throughout the life of this game. We then get page after page of glory shots of the various models in the game. There are many close-ups showing various details and they all look glorious (as do they when they're actually in your hands). While some of the photos have text boxes that help sell the Start set, many of them have bits and pieces of lore. For instance, you can learn that the Lord-Relictor's reliquary can resurrect fallen Eternals (hence the immortal part) or that Khul's reality splitting axe was given to him from Khorne for toppling the Scorched Keep fortress. Each of these little details help build the lore of the setting and the units themselves. These are the types of lore details I love so much about GW properties.
Right in the middle of the issue, between pages 11 & 12 of the previous article is the four page rules for the game. The same rules on-line, on tablets, in the starter set, etc. It is nearly impossible to not have an extra set of these rules that you can put into a friend's hands if he's playing for the first time.
Next we have a two-page spread pimping the new products coming out. The Gates of Azyr, Painting Guide, Figure cases, and new Citadel Paints are all talked about so that you can get excited about buying them. I have two of these things and will be reviewing them later.
Then there is a two-page article showing off the basics of warscrolls. I've talked about them before, but I'll repeat that I love the idea of them. They're already showing up on-line for new models that are released and the idea that the fiddly rules that allow for deeper tactics are presented on each individual unit is fantastic. This breaks down how warscrolls work, where to find the characteristics, the abilities, and the keywords are located and what they mean.
They're easy to follow, you get a picture of your unit with the name below it and some flavor about who they are. Then the Move, Save, Wounds, and Bravery stats are presented on a wheel attached to the left of the weapon line, each with all the relevant information for the weapons they can use. Next, you get a Description (which will detail how many models a unit can have and if you have to reach a certain number to use certain weapons or abilities) and then a list of all their special Abilities. At the bottom are a list of Keywords, which are used only to help interact with other Abilities as many will say they only affect things with certain Keywords.
They don't take long to get a handle on and your eyes can easily move to the information you need. These make them infinitely more useful than handwritten army lists and removes the need to flip around in an army book to choose which things you want your units to have. The article also has four warscrolls on one page of units from the Starter Set. I'm not going to look at them in detail as I'll do that when I review the Starter Set.
The next article is entitled Sigmar's Chosen and give a few paragraphs about what the Eternals are, though little of it can't already be taken from reading the earlier articles. However, pages 3 and 4 or this 4 page article features some gorgeous artwork. Intense moving pieces and the first look at a Stormhost that aren't the standard Blue and Gold.
Next we have 6 pages entitled both Sprues and Glue and How to Paint... These are primarily aimed at beginners and makes sense if you're selling Age of Sigmar to new players. The basics of how to get models off a sprue, how to clean them, and how to glue them are all presented. Next we have plenty of close shots of various models and which (GW) paints to use to build up proper layers. Including the ever hard ability to make flesh look good. While this give a few basic definitions of base coats, washes, and layers, it doesn't do a really good job if you're entirely new to mini painting.
Get Playing Right Now! is a last two page push to explain that you can play even with your old armies. It talks about the availability of the warscrolls for the older armies and shows several pictures of the older armies as well. It also specifically calls out that it's okay to have square based and round based models as measuring doesn't come from the base.
Next we get a two-page spread detailing the four Grand Alliances of the game. This is what allows you to mix different armies if you're so inclined and I'm sure we'll have some official scenarios that will do it.
Order is the Grand Alliance fighting to free the Realms from Chaos holds. It has the Stormcast Eternals (which we've seen), the Duardin (new dwarfs), Red Slayers (mercenary dwarf slayers that fight for Order when paid well, but not above fighting for others), Aelf (all 3 old elf armies mixed into one) and the Seraphon (the new Lizardman army).
Chaos is, of course, the alliance that currently holds eight of the Realms and are all followers of the Chaos Gods. They feature the various mortal armies that follow the Chaos gods (the Khorne Goretide being an example) along with their mutations and monsters, the Brayherds (your new Beastmen armies) the Ratmen (the Skaven are Chaos now), and the Daemon hosts (your daemon armies).
Death is ruled over by Nagash, and he is attempting to be the ruler of all the Realms himself. He has usurped all the guardians and deities of the afterlife, and claims all those souls that are dead. All your undead units now one, they don't call out specific armies outside of the Soulblight Vampires (the old Vampire Counts).
Destruction is an alliance in the loosest of terms. While they all fight for the common goal of loving the fight, they aren't opposed to warring with one another. These are your Orruks (the Orcs), Grots (the Goblins), and Ogors (the Ogres). They fight everything (including one another) simply because they can and enjoy it.
The final page has the pre-order list of the new stuff coming out and a hint at what's to come next week: The Realmgate Wars Begin, Who Will Shut the Gate of Wrath, and Plauge in the Heart of Ghyran. These are all titled below a picture of Nurgle armies and the tree folk.
Overall, this is a fantastic issue to sell Age of Sigmar. It sets up the entire story of what is about to happen and is a direct lead-in to the Starter Set, both on a gaming and fluff level. If anyone is one the fence about the game, $4 gives you a preview of the setting and the full rules. Also, you get a new model so you can see for yourself what the look of the models will be going forward. This is a totally worth the price tag and gets me hungry for more lore and where exactly the story is going.
This issue is 100% dedicated to Age of Sigmar, not a single 40K article to be found. This makes sense of course, GW is starting an entire new run of Warhammer Fantasy and it's going to push it hard. This is not only the first good look at the launch models and rules of Age of Sigmar, but also the fluff of the game as well.
The front cover shows the Stormcast Eternals from the box set, while the back shows the Khorne Goretide. Obviously both are fully painted, wonderuflly lighted and dramatically shot. GW has some really good photographers on staff, which is evident throughout the issue.
Did I mention this comes with a free Stormcast Liberator? Because it does. The basic "troop" unit for the Stormcast Eternals, this Liberator is the same sculpt as one of the models from the box set. It's a beefy model, with a load of great detail and is not only easily assembled, but done in a way to hide a lot of join points.
The opening two pages give a bit of introduction to the game as a whole, a small three step guide to putting together your Liberator (it really is that easy to do), and a dramatic two page spread of both armies from the cover coming together in battle.
The first four articles are each a lore piece and all follow a similar format. They are a page and a half picture (the first original artwork, the other three photos of armies), and a column of text that is about 6-8 paragraphs.
The articles are: The Age of Myth, The Nine Realms, Chaos Triumphant, and Sigmar Strikes!
Two things are evident in these articles; firstly the game is gearing up to follow an evolving storyline, secondly the world is not a high fantasy game, but a post-apocalyptic one.
In the Age of Mysth article, the basic start of the story is revealed here. After the old version of Warhammer was blown up in the End Times, Sigmar hurtled through the space in between worlds clinging to the last remnant of the planet. The fiery core hurtles through the planar cosmos for a few millenium until a a great interplanar dragon known as the Great Drake Dracothion notices the fiery light and checks it out.
He's surprised to see a man still alive riding it, even if that man is a great God-King, and the two become buddies. That's when Dracothion lets Sigmar in on something, the eight realms of magic that everyone used on the old world are actual planar realms and that some of the survivors (as well as many creatures and races that have always lived there) have been living there. Sigmar decides to unite these realms and goes about exploring all of them, helping them fight back the monsters that live there, uniting warring factions, and building a huge interplanar empire with him as the God-King.
So this article shows that the game doesn't pick up right after the End Times, generations have past. Empires have risen and fallen, huge swaths of history have taken place. GW may be putting out plenty of nods to the old world, but this is a new setting. It has it's own history, it's own heroes, it's own feeling.
The Nine Realms gives a few sentence description of each realm that exists in the setting. Each one is named after one of the eight winds of magic, the ninth being the Chaos realm. They each obviously have traits linked to the winds they stem from: Aqshy, The Realm of Fire has volatile landscapes and breeds aggression, for example. Shyish, The Realm of Death is where the dead go when the die and of course Chaos is the home to daemons and the chaos gods we've seen since the original Warhammer.
This article also has the first shot of models not from the core set, as the End Times Nagash model is leading an undead army against the Stormcast in another beautifully shot photo.
Chaos Triumphant sets up the immediate background of the game. Chaos notices the shining beacon that is Sigmar and his unified Realms and decides they want to get in on all those souls. They launch a massive invasion and, for the first time ever out of every story of Chaos in the Warhammer world, they are successful. They overwhelm the realms and, due to some hints at betrayals and decension among the unified empire, take them all over. People are slaughtered in genocidal ways, every bastion of civilization are sacked and put to ruin. Eventually Sigmar takes what few survivors he can and escapes to the realm of Azyr, The Realm of Heaven and seals the gates behind him to protect them from Chaos.
This drives home the post apocalyptic set-up. It says Sigmar has abandoned the other realms for centuries, leaving them as playthings for Chaos. They now are in complete control out of eight of the nine realms. This is the first time Chaos has seen as scary and powerful as they've always been hinted to be. They are nearly fully triumphant here and it sets up a "grim and dark" look at a setting the GW always likes to go for.
Finally, Sigmar Strikes! set-up the game current and presents the beginning of the storyline that is to run through Age of Sigmar. This article shows the Sigmar was using his centuries in hiding to build an army to strike back at Chaos. With the help of Grungni, Sigmar pulls various heroes from the Realms that were fighting against the tides of Chaos and transported them to his great fortress of Azyrheim. There, they are reforged as immortal warriors cast in shining armor and born of living lightning. There are the Stormcast Eternals, more than man, yet still man and now they are ready to strike back. The last paragraph talks of the first move Sigmar makes, sending a small strike force to Aqshy, Realm of Fire and reopen one of the gates to allow all the armies of Sigmar to pour through.
This is the Starter set's set-up, and leads right into The Gates of Azyr as well. While we can make many of Space Marine and Emperor comparisons here, that is not all this is. While they are bigger than normal men and cast in huge pieces of plate armor, they are immortal beings that are imbued with the power of Lightning from Sigmar himself. This also presents a perfect ongoing campaign for the entire game, that of the mortals trying to fight back against Chaos and retake their homes. The fact that this setting actually has Chaos as the current winning force defending their taken lands and the "good guys" on the attack is a complete flip from just about the entire storyline of all of the old Warhammer.
The next 12 pages takes a closer look at the Starter Set and the models found within. The article notes that the Starter Set "tells the first chapter of this war against Chaos..." reinforcing the idea of a narrative moving forward throughout the life of this game. We then get page after page of glory shots of the various models in the game. There are many close-ups showing various details and they all look glorious (as do they when they're actually in your hands). While some of the photos have text boxes that help sell the Start set, many of them have bits and pieces of lore. For instance, you can learn that the Lord-Relictor's reliquary can resurrect fallen Eternals (hence the immortal part) or that Khul's reality splitting axe was given to him from Khorne for toppling the Scorched Keep fortress. Each of these little details help build the lore of the setting and the units themselves. These are the types of lore details I love so much about GW properties.
Right in the middle of the issue, between pages 11 & 12 of the previous article is the four page rules for the game. The same rules on-line, on tablets, in the starter set, etc. It is nearly impossible to not have an extra set of these rules that you can put into a friend's hands if he's playing for the first time.
Next we have a two-page spread pimping the new products coming out. The Gates of Azyr, Painting Guide, Figure cases, and new Citadel Paints are all talked about so that you can get excited about buying them. I have two of these things and will be reviewing them later.
Then there is a two-page article showing off the basics of warscrolls. I've talked about them before, but I'll repeat that I love the idea of them. They're already showing up on-line for new models that are released and the idea that the fiddly rules that allow for deeper tactics are presented on each individual unit is fantastic. This breaks down how warscrolls work, where to find the characteristics, the abilities, and the keywords are located and what they mean.
They're easy to follow, you get a picture of your unit with the name below it and some flavor about who they are. Then the Move, Save, Wounds, and Bravery stats are presented on a wheel attached to the left of the weapon line, each with all the relevant information for the weapons they can use. Next, you get a Description (which will detail how many models a unit can have and if you have to reach a certain number to use certain weapons or abilities) and then a list of all their special Abilities. At the bottom are a list of Keywords, which are used only to help interact with other Abilities as many will say they only affect things with certain Keywords.
They don't take long to get a handle on and your eyes can easily move to the information you need. These make them infinitely more useful than handwritten army lists and removes the need to flip around in an army book to choose which things you want your units to have. The article also has four warscrolls on one page of units from the Starter Set. I'm not going to look at them in detail as I'll do that when I review the Starter Set.
The next article is entitled Sigmar's Chosen and give a few paragraphs about what the Eternals are, though little of it can't already be taken from reading the earlier articles. However, pages 3 and 4 or this 4 page article features some gorgeous artwork. Intense moving pieces and the first look at a Stormhost that aren't the standard Blue and Gold.
Next we have 6 pages entitled both Sprues and Glue and How to Paint... These are primarily aimed at beginners and makes sense if you're selling Age of Sigmar to new players. The basics of how to get models off a sprue, how to clean them, and how to glue them are all presented. Next we have plenty of close shots of various models and which (GW) paints to use to build up proper layers. Including the ever hard ability to make flesh look good. While this give a few basic definitions of base coats, washes, and layers, it doesn't do a really good job if you're entirely new to mini painting.
Get Playing Right Now! is a last two page push to explain that you can play even with your old armies. It talks about the availability of the warscrolls for the older armies and shows several pictures of the older armies as well. It also specifically calls out that it's okay to have square based and round based models as measuring doesn't come from the base.
Next we get a two-page spread detailing the four Grand Alliances of the game. This is what allows you to mix different armies if you're so inclined and I'm sure we'll have some official scenarios that will do it.
Order is the Grand Alliance fighting to free the Realms from Chaos holds. It has the Stormcast Eternals (which we've seen), the Duardin (new dwarfs), Red Slayers (mercenary dwarf slayers that fight for Order when paid well, but not above fighting for others), Aelf (all 3 old elf armies mixed into one) and the Seraphon (the new Lizardman army).
Chaos is, of course, the alliance that currently holds eight of the Realms and are all followers of the Chaos Gods. They feature the various mortal armies that follow the Chaos gods (the Khorne Goretide being an example) along with their mutations and monsters, the Brayherds (your new Beastmen armies) the Ratmen (the Skaven are Chaos now), and the Daemon hosts (your daemon armies).
Death is ruled over by Nagash, and he is attempting to be the ruler of all the Realms himself. He has usurped all the guardians and deities of the afterlife, and claims all those souls that are dead. All your undead units now one, they don't call out specific armies outside of the Soulblight Vampires (the old Vampire Counts).
Destruction is an alliance in the loosest of terms. While they all fight for the common goal of loving the fight, they aren't opposed to warring with one another. These are your Orruks (the Orcs), Grots (the Goblins), and Ogors (the Ogres). They fight everything (including one another) simply because they can and enjoy it.
The final page has the pre-order list of the new stuff coming out and a hint at what's to come next week: The Realmgate Wars Begin, Who Will Shut the Gate of Wrath, and Plauge in the Heart of Ghyran. These are all titled below a picture of Nurgle armies and the tree folk.
Overall, this is a fantastic issue to sell Age of Sigmar. It sets up the entire story of what is about to happen and is a direct lead-in to the Starter Set, both on a gaming and fluff level. If anyone is one the fence about the game, $4 gives you a preview of the setting and the full rules. Also, you get a new model so you can see for yourself what the look of the models will be going forward. This is a totally worth the price tag and gets me hungry for more lore and where exactly the story is going.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
First Look: The Age of Sigmar Starter Set, The Age of Sigmar Painting Guide, White Dwarf 75
Well my order came into today, quite excited about that!
While I am now knee-deep in clipping, positioning, and gluing, I wanted to take a quick First Look at everything before the deeper reviews.
White Dwarf 75
This is most certainly your primer/introduction to the Age of Sigmar. There is some introduction about the universe, a few photo galleries with text about who the two armies in the starter set are and then a bunch of begginer information. The rules are in there, how to clip and clean models, how to glue and paint. A lot is very basic, but that's to sell it to potential new players. The art is a mix of photos of the models and actual art, and it's all very striking. There are even a few hints at other armies in there. I'm sure once I dive deep, I'll start pulling out that savory lore and world building I'm into.
Starter Set
This is a beefy box set! You get a bag of dice, some whipping stick measuring sticks, a bag of bases, a laminated card stock rule sheet, and of course the starter book and sprues of models. The models are gorgeous, the few I've put together already are full of detail and very sharp. They have weight and movement to them and are very well done.
The book starts with more lore and information, as well as a few hints at alternate Stormhosts and Warbands for the Storm Host and Khorne armies. After that, there is six scenarios that work as both a linked campaign and tutorial. Each has some fluff that sets up what's going on and it also starts with a few models and rules and gradually adds more until all the models on both sides are used. It looks to be an interesting way to introduce the game and runs parallel to the novella that I'm reading it seems.
There is also a few hints at other armies to come as well as the warscrolls for all the units and also Battalion Warscrolls, which are basically bonuses for taking a specific "canon" formation of troops. If we see that carry forward, that will be very cool. I want to start reading into the warscrolls and not only looking at what tactics the different unit abilities do, but what lore I can pull out from how the abilities manifest.
Painting Guide
This actually surprised me. For a 120 page book, the first 30 is full of deeper lore! Not only do each starter set miniature get more detail about what they are, but they also have named retinues and tribes for each unit! Beyond that there is some good detailed close-ups and step by step paint steps for every unit. Again, I'm not planning on painting right away, but it's nice to have some good shots of what I'm looking for if I do.
The most interesting thing will be combining these three sources with the Gates of Azyr novella to see how much lore can be gathered from all. While there will be repeated info, I'm sure, its seems that each on has a little something different. By putting them all together (and adding the big hardback coming next week), I'm excited to see how deep it goes.
I think I'll actually read White Dwarf 75 cover to cover (and review) before diving back into the Gates of Azyr (of which I'm halfway done), as 75 seems like it gives the broadest strokes to the universe.
While I am now knee-deep in clipping, positioning, and gluing, I wanted to take a quick First Look at everything before the deeper reviews.
White Dwarf 75
This is most certainly your primer/introduction to the Age of Sigmar. There is some introduction about the universe, a few photo galleries with text about who the two armies in the starter set are and then a bunch of begginer information. The rules are in there, how to clip and clean models, how to glue and paint. A lot is very basic, but that's to sell it to potential new players. The art is a mix of photos of the models and actual art, and it's all very striking. There are even a few hints at other armies in there. I'm sure once I dive deep, I'll start pulling out that savory lore and world building I'm into.
Starter Set
This is a beefy box set! You get a bag of dice, some whipping stick measuring sticks, a bag of bases, a laminated card stock rule sheet, and of course the starter book and sprues of models. The models are gorgeous, the few I've put together already are full of detail and very sharp. They have weight and movement to them and are very well done.
The book starts with more lore and information, as well as a few hints at alternate Stormhosts and Warbands for the Storm Host and Khorne armies. After that, there is six scenarios that work as both a linked campaign and tutorial. Each has some fluff that sets up what's going on and it also starts with a few models and rules and gradually adds more until all the models on both sides are used. It looks to be an interesting way to introduce the game and runs parallel to the novella that I'm reading it seems.
There is also a few hints at other armies to come as well as the warscrolls for all the units and also Battalion Warscrolls, which are basically bonuses for taking a specific "canon" formation of troops. If we see that carry forward, that will be very cool. I want to start reading into the warscrolls and not only looking at what tactics the different unit abilities do, but what lore I can pull out from how the abilities manifest.
Painting Guide
This actually surprised me. For a 120 page book, the first 30 is full of deeper lore! Not only do each starter set miniature get more detail about what they are, but they also have named retinues and tribes for each unit! Beyond that there is some good detailed close-ups and step by step paint steps for every unit. Again, I'm not planning on painting right away, but it's nice to have some good shots of what I'm looking for if I do.
The most interesting thing will be combining these three sources with the Gates of Azyr novella to see how much lore can be gathered from all. While there will be repeated info, I'm sure, its seems that each on has a little something different. By putting them all together (and adding the big hardback coming next week), I'm excited to see how deep it goes.
I think I'll actually read White Dwarf 75 cover to cover (and review) before diving back into the Gates of Azyr (of which I'm halfway done), as 75 seems like it gives the broadest strokes to the universe.
Monday, July 13, 2015
First Look: The Gates of Azyr & Assault on the Mandrake Bastion
My copy of The Gates of Azyr arrived. I decided to go for the Limited Edition because, why not?
The Limited Edition adds the dust jacket, gold embossed page edge, it's numbered (I'm 124 out of 2000, damn those Brits getting first crack at it!), and it has a small color section in the middle.
 |
| It's got a dust jacket AND ribbon! |
Which has the cast of major characters and a few sentence bio for each. The characters are, of course, the ones from the box set, which makes sense given the tie-in status of this book. It's a nice sturdy hardcover at 124 pages and I should hopefully read through it swiftly. The novella is by Chris Wraight.
However, today Black Library announced they're released their first Quick Read for AoS. Think of these as serialized novel (or novella) that showed up in old magazines, but now in eBook form.
This first release is Assault on the Mandrake Bastion and is part 1 of The Black Rift of Klaxus. It's a $5 download and seems to be a fairly swift read. The author or this piece is Josh Reynolds.
I'll probably read through Gates first, as it was the initial release of the two. And because both of these are here before my copy of WD #75 and the box set, these will be my first look at the fiction for AoS besides the bits I've read online. This will be an interesting experiment to see if the fiction holds on it's own, without any knowledge of the backstory written in the game books. A good story should be able to pull that off, using descriptions and such to paint the world without thinking you've already read all the exposition in other products.
A review of each will be forthcoming when I'm done reading!
First Look: The Rules
First Looks are an off-the-cuff look at a product. It's the things I notice when I first open the box, flip through the pages, or download the file. This is before reading deep, assembly, play testing, or anything like that. It's a brief first take before a proper review.
As I wait for the physical goods to arrive, I can atleast look at a digital release that is probably the most important release, the rules. They're free, they're available right here!
These 4 pages have stirred a lot of controversy. From what I read, many old time players disliked the brevity and claimed it took the "fun" from the game. Again, I'm not looking at it that way. I'm looking at it as a person who played a few wargames and never too deeply, mostly with some friends who also weren't competition level players.
This first look will be my thoughts as I read through the rules. This is not a look at the rules in play. That's important to remember.
They certainly are short, 4-Pages to cover all the basics. I like the brevity, it makes it a good pick-up and play game. The depth and the tactics are not within these rules, but within the Warscrolls for each unit. I'm sure the lack of depth means there will be questions and that everyone (myself included) will probably house rule all sorts of aspects depending on the depth they're looking for. I can see why this is an ire to competitive players, but I see the appeal as a group of friends wanting to have some fun.
I'm going to look at things header by header:
The Armies
The first thing that pops out is that there is no limit to the size of an army you want. You can bring 500 models and fight against someone playing with 50. There is no inherent point balance for a "fair fight" and that has been one of the biggest things that people are fighting about. I would most certainly figure out some sort of balance system to allow for army building and word on the 'net is that something official is in the works.
Warscrolls & Units
The fact that each unit has their own Warscroll is pretty fantastic in my opinion. I can lay out my army on my side of the table and have instant access to all the abilities without any page flipping. If I can remember the 4-Pages of rules here (and really only about 2 of them are actual rules during play), I can concentrate on the abilities that make my characters unique. The basic rules are just the simple resolution system that the deeper tactics of the Warscroll stand upon. This is where the tactics hide I think.
The first hard rule is also presented here, that a group of models (as a unit) set-up and finish moves as a single group and that they should stay with 1" of each other. And if they seperate, they have to try to get back into formation in every move until they do. So this is more a skirmish game, rather than a formation game. The "unit cohesion" is similar to 40K and I'm okay with that.
Tools of War
This section mentions the use of inches as measurement and that you measure from the closest points of the models to measure to and from. Another big point of contention as this means everyone wants to make models with arms and weapons (spears especially) pointing outward to give them a reach advantage. Of course, this also makes it easier for people to reach you, so it's self-balancing. There is a specific mention that bases don't matter to appease those still using models with square bases or highly decorative bases. This is probably the first thing I'd house rule. I'd probably say that you measure from the center of mass of the model for standard bipedal folks and maybe from the front shoulders (or center of the mass of the head) for quadrupeds and other "long" creatures.
You can also pre-measure anything at any time. This is something that has been seen in more modern wargaming rules, but something that was balked by older editions ("after all, you should know if you can't make it, troops on the battlefield can't premeasure!")
The dice rolls cover your basics, how to figure out D3, only re-rolling a dice once, modifiers after all final re-rolls, etc. All standard stuff.
The Battlefield
Basic info here, using atleast a 3 square foot surface, breaking the battlefield into 2 foot sqaures to determine Terrain. Random Terrain rolls, etc.
The interesting note is the explanation that there are various Mortal Realms to fight upon. Like various Planes or Planets that feature different terrain, once populated by many, but now almost all dominated by Chaos. This is a interesting look at the fiction and something that I know is explained in more detail later. The idea of different planes tickles the Planescape loving part of my heart.
Mysterious Landscapes
Going along with the various Realms and the "oddness" of these Realms, the random Scenery Table is an interesting addition. Each piece of scenery gets rolled for and they get 1 of 6 random effects when units are on or within 3" of them. Each rule is pretty easy to remember, but while you can just put a dice pip face up to remember what the terrain does, I'd love for some counters for that. Something I can put near the grove of trees that says "DEADLY" would be awesome.
I'm curious if these random scenery rolls happen in the official scenarios or if the battlefield will be more properly defined ahead of time.
The Battle Begins
You have two sides with armies, you built your playing field, time to play.
Set-Up
Set-up is pretty standard, splitting the playing field in half, alternating unit placement, designating a general etc. There are three interesting rules at this point:
Glorious Victory: There are rules for Major Victory vs. Minor Victory, whereas Major Victory is a full wipeout of enemy units and a Minor Victory is when both sides declare the fight over without a total wipe. Usually when someone only has a few units left and defeat is obvious. The one with a winning percentage of units claims a Minor Victory. This sounds like a set-up for bonuses in campaign play. As of now, it's only useful for one thing, the next rule.
Triumphs: If an army has won a Major Victory, they can roll on a Triumph Table which gives them a small bonus to the next fight. Again, this won't come up in most friendly fights, but we seem to be setting up for Campaign Play here. I'm excited for this, I like long overarching Campaigns. I thought Mordheim was a fantastic game exactly for this reason.
Sudden Death Victories: This is the rule for when one side has less than 1/3 the total units as another. A sort of "play balance" rule. By picking one type of objective, you can still score a Major Victory, without wiping out all the other player's units. I don't know if this will solve all balance issues of outnumbered armies, in fact I don't think it will at all, but it's something. Also a lot of the Objectives look like something fun to use just to mix up gameplay besides the usual "wipe out everyone" objective.
Again, I've seen that the start book and the big book will have a bunch of scenarios in it, so hopefully we'll see a few variations to objectives soon.
Now we get into the thick of the actual battle and the various phases.
Battle Rounds
One of the most interesting rules is the Initiative roll. Every round, both players roll a die and the high roll decides who takes a turn first. This adds instant strategy, not just the "it's not fair that someone can get two turns in a row a lot in a lucky streak!" Because there are many times that strategically you want to force your opponent to go first, in order to make him play his hand in his movement and match-ups. Knowing the battlefield and when to make your opponent go first (or twice in a row) will be a very important tactic to learn.
Pre-Battle Abilities
First, there's a note to check if there are any abilities that apply "after set-up is complete." Meaning that some units will actually affect the battle before the battle starts. I'm interested in seeing what these could be.
Hero Phase
This is your spell casting and starting buffs phase. Not just wizards have spells, in a way, as Hero Phase Special Abilities (most seemingly buffs and debuffs) are basically "spells" even if not pure magic.
Since this is when you spell cast, might as well look at those rule too. Everyone can cast Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield (damage dealing and bonus saves), as well as dispel if they're within 18" of another caster and can see them. Of course casters will have other spells on their warscrolls.
Success is based on 2D6 vs. Casting Value, with stronger casters having easier to cast spells and able to cast more spells per turn. This is something to see in play before I say anything on it.
Movement Phase
Most of this is standard, you can't move through enemies, you must move all models you wish in a unit before moving to the next, etc.
The oddest part of these rules are that characters can move vertically in order to climb or cross scenery, with no disadvantage I can see. So you can climb up a straight cliff face or wall or anything. That's very odd. That would certainly see a house rule.
There is also disengage rules, during the movement phase you can't get within 3" of an enemy model, but if you're already there (because of charging and fighting), you can move away (a retreat) and must end more than 3" away from an enemy unit. You can't shoot or charge after that, so if you retreat, you retreat.
Running adds d6 movement and flying means you ignore terrain and enemy models when moving, but still must end more than 3" away.
Shooting Phase
Anyone with missile weapons can shoot. Unless a unit ran or retreated, you can shoot. Simple
Charge Phase
You can Charge at any enemy within 12" of that unit. You roll 2D6, that result becomes your charge distance and must end with the closest model ending within 1/2" of the enemy. If it fails, you fail and don't move. Again, I'd house rule that, maybe forcing you to move half of what you roll and not be allowed to attack afterwards, even if that ends you within 3" of the enemy. The enemy, of course, can then choose to attack you.
Combat Phase
Any opposing units within 3" of each other can now engage in combat. This is a back and forth affair. The player who's turn it is, goes first, then the other player picks a unit to fight, then back to the first, until one person has more eligible units and he finishes all of it one at a time.
When you pick a unit to attack, you can pile in up to 3" allowing you to finish moving in units that charged but aren't in range yet. That seems reasonable.
So, Shooting, Charge, and Combat all deal with the Attacking rules:
Attacking
The Attacking rules are pretty standard, using the Warscroll to see how many attacks, the range or a weapon, the To-Hit rolls, etc. Again, everything being on the Warscrolls is awesome. Line of Sight rules still apply as do the Hit, Wound, Save, Damage model from GW. You inflict damage, with the player owning the units choosing who to remove from a unit. You still have to fully apply wounds to multi-wound models until they die, then allocate the next, etc. etc.
It says if a model is dead, you should remove it, but I would house rule to just knock them on their side at first. Only for making Battleshock easier.
Mortal Wounds ignore Save, that's easy to understand.
Cover is a bit weird. If all the models of a unit are within or on terrain, they have cover. Even if they're all on a hill fighting someone else on a hill. The only exception is if they charged into cover that turn. I don't think I like this. This is another house rule for me. I'd make cover based more on if the enemy can't see or get to all of a model, instead only seeing/reaching some of it. If they're behind a wall and partially sticking out, etc.
Battleshock Phase
Battleshock is your morale and I like the basics of it, but would change some things. Because the modifier is based on total number of models killed, that's why I suggest laying a model on it's side when killed. This makes it easy to remember total lost that turn if there are a lot of fights. Large units also get a +1 modifier for every 10 models left in a unit when the test is taken.
I don't like that a failure automatically removes models from the game. I like a proper retreat and chance to rally. I'd probably house rule that the difference that represents the fleeing units would have those units actually free. With them running towards that player's edge of the table (full movement + d6 roll) avoiding enemy units as much as they can. Each Battleshock Phase they can attempt to roll 2D6 under their Bravery to Rally and then attempt to rejoin their Unit (as per cohesion rules). Each time they fail, they continue to run towards the table edge and if they reach it, they are assumed to have fully given up and run away.
There's my first thoughts. A lot of this will change when I get a chance to actually play and see some of this in motion. I'll try to play with and without my off the cuff house rules and see what I like or don't.
I think the brevity is a strong point, it allows for those instant house rule ideas you and your friends can agree on to make the game more to your liking and do so without stripping away the core game presented.
Again, I'll have more thoughts/insights/etc. as I actually play.
As I wait for the physical goods to arrive, I can atleast look at a digital release that is probably the most important release, the rules. They're free, they're available right here!
These 4 pages have stirred a lot of controversy. From what I read, many old time players disliked the brevity and claimed it took the "fun" from the game. Again, I'm not looking at it that way. I'm looking at it as a person who played a few wargames and never too deeply, mostly with some friends who also weren't competition level players.
This first look will be my thoughts as I read through the rules. This is not a look at the rules in play. That's important to remember.
They certainly are short, 4-Pages to cover all the basics. I like the brevity, it makes it a good pick-up and play game. The depth and the tactics are not within these rules, but within the Warscrolls for each unit. I'm sure the lack of depth means there will be questions and that everyone (myself included) will probably house rule all sorts of aspects depending on the depth they're looking for. I can see why this is an ire to competitive players, but I see the appeal as a group of friends wanting to have some fun.
I'm going to look at things header by header:
The Armies
The first thing that pops out is that there is no limit to the size of an army you want. You can bring 500 models and fight against someone playing with 50. There is no inherent point balance for a "fair fight" and that has been one of the biggest things that people are fighting about. I would most certainly figure out some sort of balance system to allow for army building and word on the 'net is that something official is in the works.
Warscrolls & Units
The fact that each unit has their own Warscroll is pretty fantastic in my opinion. I can lay out my army on my side of the table and have instant access to all the abilities without any page flipping. If I can remember the 4-Pages of rules here (and really only about 2 of them are actual rules during play), I can concentrate on the abilities that make my characters unique. The basic rules are just the simple resolution system that the deeper tactics of the Warscroll stand upon. This is where the tactics hide I think.
The first hard rule is also presented here, that a group of models (as a unit) set-up and finish moves as a single group and that they should stay with 1" of each other. And if they seperate, they have to try to get back into formation in every move until they do. So this is more a skirmish game, rather than a formation game. The "unit cohesion" is similar to 40K and I'm okay with that.
Tools of War
This section mentions the use of inches as measurement and that you measure from the closest points of the models to measure to and from. Another big point of contention as this means everyone wants to make models with arms and weapons (spears especially) pointing outward to give them a reach advantage. Of course, this also makes it easier for people to reach you, so it's self-balancing. There is a specific mention that bases don't matter to appease those still using models with square bases or highly decorative bases. This is probably the first thing I'd house rule. I'd probably say that you measure from the center of mass of the model for standard bipedal folks and maybe from the front shoulders (or center of the mass of the head) for quadrupeds and other "long" creatures.
You can also pre-measure anything at any time. This is something that has been seen in more modern wargaming rules, but something that was balked by older editions ("after all, you should know if you can't make it, troops on the battlefield can't premeasure!")
The dice rolls cover your basics, how to figure out D3, only re-rolling a dice once, modifiers after all final re-rolls, etc. All standard stuff.
The Battlefield
Basic info here, using atleast a 3 square foot surface, breaking the battlefield into 2 foot sqaures to determine Terrain. Random Terrain rolls, etc.
The interesting note is the explanation that there are various Mortal Realms to fight upon. Like various Planes or Planets that feature different terrain, once populated by many, but now almost all dominated by Chaos. This is a interesting look at the fiction and something that I know is explained in more detail later. The idea of different planes tickles the Planescape loving part of my heart.
Mysterious Landscapes
Going along with the various Realms and the "oddness" of these Realms, the random Scenery Table is an interesting addition. Each piece of scenery gets rolled for and they get 1 of 6 random effects when units are on or within 3" of them. Each rule is pretty easy to remember, but while you can just put a dice pip face up to remember what the terrain does, I'd love for some counters for that. Something I can put near the grove of trees that says "DEADLY" would be awesome.
I'm curious if these random scenery rolls happen in the official scenarios or if the battlefield will be more properly defined ahead of time.
The Battle Begins
You have two sides with armies, you built your playing field, time to play.
Set-Up
Set-up is pretty standard, splitting the playing field in half, alternating unit placement, designating a general etc. There are three interesting rules at this point:
Glorious Victory: There are rules for Major Victory vs. Minor Victory, whereas Major Victory is a full wipeout of enemy units and a Minor Victory is when both sides declare the fight over without a total wipe. Usually when someone only has a few units left and defeat is obvious. The one with a winning percentage of units claims a Minor Victory. This sounds like a set-up for bonuses in campaign play. As of now, it's only useful for one thing, the next rule.
Triumphs: If an army has won a Major Victory, they can roll on a Triumph Table which gives them a small bonus to the next fight. Again, this won't come up in most friendly fights, but we seem to be setting up for Campaign Play here. I'm excited for this, I like long overarching Campaigns. I thought Mordheim was a fantastic game exactly for this reason.
Sudden Death Victories: This is the rule for when one side has less than 1/3 the total units as another. A sort of "play balance" rule. By picking one type of objective, you can still score a Major Victory, without wiping out all the other player's units. I don't know if this will solve all balance issues of outnumbered armies, in fact I don't think it will at all, but it's something. Also a lot of the Objectives look like something fun to use just to mix up gameplay besides the usual "wipe out everyone" objective.
Again, I've seen that the start book and the big book will have a bunch of scenarios in it, so hopefully we'll see a few variations to objectives soon.
Now we get into the thick of the actual battle and the various phases.
Battle Rounds
One of the most interesting rules is the Initiative roll. Every round, both players roll a die and the high roll decides who takes a turn first. This adds instant strategy, not just the "it's not fair that someone can get two turns in a row a lot in a lucky streak!" Because there are many times that strategically you want to force your opponent to go first, in order to make him play his hand in his movement and match-ups. Knowing the battlefield and when to make your opponent go first (or twice in a row) will be a very important tactic to learn.
Pre-Battle Abilities
First, there's a note to check if there are any abilities that apply "after set-up is complete." Meaning that some units will actually affect the battle before the battle starts. I'm interested in seeing what these could be.
Hero Phase
This is your spell casting and starting buffs phase. Not just wizards have spells, in a way, as Hero Phase Special Abilities (most seemingly buffs and debuffs) are basically "spells" even if not pure magic.
Since this is when you spell cast, might as well look at those rule too. Everyone can cast Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield (damage dealing and bonus saves), as well as dispel if they're within 18" of another caster and can see them. Of course casters will have other spells on their warscrolls.
Success is based on 2D6 vs. Casting Value, with stronger casters having easier to cast spells and able to cast more spells per turn. This is something to see in play before I say anything on it.
Movement Phase
Most of this is standard, you can't move through enemies, you must move all models you wish in a unit before moving to the next, etc.
The oddest part of these rules are that characters can move vertically in order to climb or cross scenery, with no disadvantage I can see. So you can climb up a straight cliff face or wall or anything. That's very odd. That would certainly see a house rule.
There is also disengage rules, during the movement phase you can't get within 3" of an enemy model, but if you're already there (because of charging and fighting), you can move away (a retreat) and must end more than 3" away from an enemy unit. You can't shoot or charge after that, so if you retreat, you retreat.
Running adds d6 movement and flying means you ignore terrain and enemy models when moving, but still must end more than 3" away.
Shooting Phase
Anyone with missile weapons can shoot. Unless a unit ran or retreated, you can shoot. Simple
Charge Phase
You can Charge at any enemy within 12" of that unit. You roll 2D6, that result becomes your charge distance and must end with the closest model ending within 1/2" of the enemy. If it fails, you fail and don't move. Again, I'd house rule that, maybe forcing you to move half of what you roll and not be allowed to attack afterwards, even if that ends you within 3" of the enemy. The enemy, of course, can then choose to attack you.
Combat Phase
Any opposing units within 3" of each other can now engage in combat. This is a back and forth affair. The player who's turn it is, goes first, then the other player picks a unit to fight, then back to the first, until one person has more eligible units and he finishes all of it one at a time.
When you pick a unit to attack, you can pile in up to 3" allowing you to finish moving in units that charged but aren't in range yet. That seems reasonable.
So, Shooting, Charge, and Combat all deal with the Attacking rules:
Attacking
The Attacking rules are pretty standard, using the Warscroll to see how many attacks, the range or a weapon, the To-Hit rolls, etc. Again, everything being on the Warscrolls is awesome. Line of Sight rules still apply as do the Hit, Wound, Save, Damage model from GW. You inflict damage, with the player owning the units choosing who to remove from a unit. You still have to fully apply wounds to multi-wound models until they die, then allocate the next, etc. etc.
It says if a model is dead, you should remove it, but I would house rule to just knock them on their side at first. Only for making Battleshock easier.
Mortal Wounds ignore Save, that's easy to understand.
Cover is a bit weird. If all the models of a unit are within or on terrain, they have cover. Even if they're all on a hill fighting someone else on a hill. The only exception is if they charged into cover that turn. I don't think I like this. This is another house rule for me. I'd make cover based more on if the enemy can't see or get to all of a model, instead only seeing/reaching some of it. If they're behind a wall and partially sticking out, etc.
Battleshock Phase
Battleshock is your morale and I like the basics of it, but would change some things. Because the modifier is based on total number of models killed, that's why I suggest laying a model on it's side when killed. This makes it easy to remember total lost that turn if there are a lot of fights. Large units also get a +1 modifier for every 10 models left in a unit when the test is taken.
I don't like that a failure automatically removes models from the game. I like a proper retreat and chance to rally. I'd probably house rule that the difference that represents the fleeing units would have those units actually free. With them running towards that player's edge of the table (full movement + d6 roll) avoiding enemy units as much as they can. Each Battleshock Phase they can attempt to roll 2D6 under their Bravery to Rally and then attempt to rejoin their Unit (as per cohesion rules). Each time they fail, they continue to run towards the table edge and if they reach it, they are assumed to have fully given up and run away.
There's my first thoughts. A lot of this will change when I get a chance to actually play and see some of this in motion. I'll try to play with and without my off the cuff house rules and see what I like or don't.
I think the brevity is a strong point, it allows for those instant house rule ideas you and your friends can agree on to make the game more to your liking and do so without stripping away the core game presented.
Again, I'll have more thoughts/insights/etc. as I actually play.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Weekly Shopping List: Week 1 & Week 2
Weekly Shopping Lists are probably more for me than anyone else. It's a look at everything Age of Sigmar that GW puts up for Pre-Order/Order that week and what I'm either getting as soon as it's available to put in my cart, what will be a later purchase, and what I'm not getting at all.
This gives me an ever changing Wish List & Inventory and gives a bit of a look at what's coming up on the blog in terms of looks/reviews/thoughts.
Again, because I'm ordering everything online, I won't be receiving everything on day of release.
So here's Week 1 & Week 2 as I didn't know I was going to do this until after I committed to this idea with my wallet.
You'll also notice that I will try for physical copies of any books when possible.
Week 1
The initial release! The first Pre-Orders were put out to the world on July 4th!
Age of Sigmar Starter Set: Obviously this is a purchase as this is what is getting the ball rolling.
White Dwarf 75: Another obvious purchase, this issue seems to have a lot of the background and your basic primer on what this new world is, so it's something I'm going to be digesting early.
Age of Sigmar Painting Guide: I picked this up, even though I said I wasn't planning on worrying about painting right away. It's mostly because of mention that there will be more character details in the book. I'm sure it will be very little information, but it still got my attention.
The Gates of Azyr: I went with the limited edition of this novella because, why not?
Stormcast Eternal & Khorne Bloodbound Figure Cases: These I will be passing on, they're figure cases after all. They don't add anything to the overall world of Age of Sigmar.
New Paints and Primers: As of now, these are not purchases for me, I'm not interested in painting up figures right away. These may be an option later, but for now my money can be better spent elsewhere.
According to Shipment Tracking, all these products are in the mail and will arrive at my house this week!
As a fun aside, I was originally supposed to receive the limited Gates of Azyr book on Friday and I planned to read through it this weekend to have my first review up right away. After shipping the book over from England just fine and getting it all the way to Philadelphia (the closest city to my home), UPS informed me the book would be here on Friday. Then, the sent a correction e-mail saying it would get there Monday and as I tracked the package, I found they sent the book from Philadelphia to Lexington Kentucky just because. Good job guys!
Week 2
Now that the big box set is out of the way, what's on pre-release for Week 2?
Age of Sigmar Book: This big 224 page behemoth was an instant purchase. A background book, a scenario book and what seems like the new "campaign" model GW is going for with AoS. This will be interesting to dive deep into, as I think this will give a glimpse of how GW wants to present AoS going forward. Instant buy.
White Dwarf 76: Another issue well stocked with AoS articles, so this was picked up right away as well.
Lord-Celestant: A $33 dollar single model on foot. This isn't an instant purchase for me, but I will be picking it up later to add options to a Stormcast Eternal army.
Stormcast Eternal Liberators: For $50 you get the ability to build 5 Liberators, with a variety of weapon options. Since the two Liberator squads in the box set only go with the warhammer and shield option, this will be a future pick-up as well to have different attack options for the basic SE troops.
Stormcast Eternal and Khorne Bloodbound Dice Shakers: Again, not a purchase for me. They look great, sure, but they are $40 each for a few dice and a pretty shaker. As these don't build on lore or the game, they are not necessary for me.
Combat Gauge: See the above notes on the Dice Shakers, this is also a pass.
Also, it seems that Black Library as released the Age of Sigmar Prime for tablets and mobile. A free download, taking a look at it, it seems to be cut up articles from WD75 and the book in the box set. So, as I found nothing new there, I'm skipping any sort of review/look at that.
Inventory
Nothing Yet!
Wish List
Lord-Celestant
Stormcast Eternal Liberators
Not Your 0-Day News Source!
I will say that I don't have a good dedicated games store near my place of residence. The ones I did have closed down or moved away. The ones I've seen that aren't more than 30 minutes away don't have a dedicated gaming scene really.
That said, most of the things I pick up will be via ordering on-line, either direct from the source (GW) or various other outlets. Because of that, I won't have my hands on products early or even release day. Even after that, I want to read them, digest them a bit, before offering any thoughts.
So, I'm certainly not your 0-Day source of reviews and news. However, there are more than enough websites out there that are, nothing a quick Google Search won't fix.
That said, most of the things I pick up will be via ordering on-line, either direct from the source (GW) or various other outlets. Because of that, I won't have my hands on products early or even release day. Even after that, I want to read them, digest them a bit, before offering any thoughts.
So, I'm certainly not your 0-Day source of reviews and news. However, there are more than enough websites out there that are, nothing a quick Google Search won't fix.
What I Am and Am Not Going To Be Doing
So now that I have this underway, what am I going to be doing with it?
Well, firstly, I should note that I'm not going to be buying every little Age of Sigmar product that comes out. While I am going to try to get my hands on atleast one box/blister/book of anything Age of Sigmar that adds value to the game, I'm not getting everything. I won't be looking at t-shirts, new paints, those dice rollers that are coming out. I'm more interested in Age of Sigmar as a game/setting and not as interested in it as a full production line.
I also won't be spending most posts giving paint updates or battle reports. I'm not much of a mini-painter and don't have a lot of time to paint, though I certainly will attempt to do it. I will be playing the game, hopefully with both people wanting to try it out and others that invest in it, and I'll give my opinions on how the game actually runs. But I'm not going to have weekly battle reports, tactic breakdowns, hacks and exploits to the rules, etc.
I will always stress lore and story over math and tactics. As I've said, lore is what draws me to anything first and foremost. When I look at a novel, yes I'll talk about the writing style or how well an author uses characterization and arcs. When a new model comes out I'll look at it's value (both on and off the battlefield) and it's ascetic. But I'll also be looking deeper into the lore. What does that White Dwarf article add to the overall story of the game? Does that new model type fit the lore of previous releases? When I look at the Warscroll of a new unit, I won't just be looking at what the abilities or items do in a gaming sense, but I'll be looking at them as how they'd manifest on the battlefield within the "reality" of the game and how it fits into everything else.
So if deeper lore discussions trumping game mechanics and strategies on the competitive scene is not your cup of tea, this might not be the site for you.
Well, firstly, I should note that I'm not going to be buying every little Age of Sigmar product that comes out. While I am going to try to get my hands on atleast one box/blister/book of anything Age of Sigmar that adds value to the game, I'm not getting everything. I won't be looking at t-shirts, new paints, those dice rollers that are coming out. I'm more interested in Age of Sigmar as a game/setting and not as interested in it as a full production line.
I also won't be spending most posts giving paint updates or battle reports. I'm not much of a mini-painter and don't have a lot of time to paint, though I certainly will attempt to do it. I will be playing the game, hopefully with both people wanting to try it out and others that invest in it, and I'll give my opinions on how the game actually runs. But I'm not going to have weekly battle reports, tactic breakdowns, hacks and exploits to the rules, etc.
I will always stress lore and story over math and tactics. As I've said, lore is what draws me to anything first and foremost. When I look at a novel, yes I'll talk about the writing style or how well an author uses characterization and arcs. When a new model comes out I'll look at it's value (both on and off the battlefield) and it's ascetic. But I'll also be looking deeper into the lore. What does that White Dwarf article add to the overall story of the game? Does that new model type fit the lore of previous releases? When I look at the Warscroll of a new unit, I won't just be looking at what the abilities or items do in a gaming sense, but I'll be looking at them as how they'd manifest on the battlefield within the "reality" of the game and how it fits into everything else.
So if deeper lore discussions trumping game mechanics and strategies on the competitive scene is not your cup of tea, this might not be the site for you.
Who I Am and Where Did I Come From?
Hello!
My name is Matt and while my geek cred is mostly wrapped up in RPGs, I have played my fair share of card games, board games, and wargames. With the release of Age of Sigmar, I decided that there is no time like the present to rekindle my look at wargaming and get involved in something at the ground floor.
For the most part, my love of sci-fi and fantasy came out of novels and table top RPGs, I have DMed games for many years and digested all sorts of books. Besides the story crafting RPGs bring, I've always been a lore hound. I've probably spent more time (especially as I get older and players move away, grow up, and start having lives), reading about worlds than playing in them. In fact, the lore of the 40K universe is what grabbed my attention first, long before seeing and hearing about the wargaming aspects of GW in my youth.
First, a small bit of my wargaming background. I'm in no way a competitive player. While I have demoed or played sample games of everything from Warmachine and Mordheim to Battlefleet Gothic and War at Sea (and hours of GenCon Grinder games of Battletech), I have never been fully absorbed by any. I played 40K for a decent amount of time many years ago, but it was mostly on a friendly level with (surprise!) friends, rather than really diving deep and playing competitively.
I played Warhammer one time back in 6E, piecing together a simple Orc & Goblin army and fielding them once on my dining room table. It's not that the game was bad or not to my liking, my gaming group just got absorbed in so many other things we never really came back to it.
But now, GW is doing something huge. They've effectively killed off their Fantasy universe and game and have started new with Age of Sigmar. And I'm interested in getting in!
My love of lore is usually why I tend to want to be there when something first starts. I want to absorb every piece of background and media of something and that's easiest to do when it's fresh and I can get in at the start. As I've said, I've enjoyed wargaming and even the lore Warhammer has and now this is my chance to see it from the start and see it at a time it's really changing.
So why this blog? Well, from what I've seen in my searching about the game, nearly everyone looking at it is a old time veteran of Warhammer Fantasy. There has been very little look from a fresh perspective and I intend to do it. This is both for my own sake and to allow others who may be new to wargaming and Warhammer to see someone talk about it from the same fresh perspective as them.
So, here goes nothing!
My name is Matt and while my geek cred is mostly wrapped up in RPGs, I have played my fair share of card games, board games, and wargames. With the release of Age of Sigmar, I decided that there is no time like the present to rekindle my look at wargaming and get involved in something at the ground floor.
For the most part, my love of sci-fi and fantasy came out of novels and table top RPGs, I have DMed games for many years and digested all sorts of books. Besides the story crafting RPGs bring, I've always been a lore hound. I've probably spent more time (especially as I get older and players move away, grow up, and start having lives), reading about worlds than playing in them. In fact, the lore of the 40K universe is what grabbed my attention first, long before seeing and hearing about the wargaming aspects of GW in my youth.
First, a small bit of my wargaming background. I'm in no way a competitive player. While I have demoed or played sample games of everything from Warmachine and Mordheim to Battlefleet Gothic and War at Sea (and hours of GenCon Grinder games of Battletech), I have never been fully absorbed by any. I played 40K for a decent amount of time many years ago, but it was mostly on a friendly level with (surprise!) friends, rather than really diving deep and playing competitively.
I played Warhammer one time back in 6E, piecing together a simple Orc & Goblin army and fielding them once on my dining room table. It's not that the game was bad or not to my liking, my gaming group just got absorbed in so many other things we never really came back to it.
But now, GW is doing something huge. They've effectively killed off their Fantasy universe and game and have started new with Age of Sigmar. And I'm interested in getting in!
My love of lore is usually why I tend to want to be there when something first starts. I want to absorb every piece of background and media of something and that's easiest to do when it's fresh and I can get in at the start. As I've said, I've enjoyed wargaming and even the lore Warhammer has and now this is my chance to see it from the start and see it at a time it's really changing.
So why this blog? Well, from what I've seen in my searching about the game, nearly everyone looking at it is a old time veteran of Warhammer Fantasy. There has been very little look from a fresh perspective and I intend to do it. This is both for my own sake and to allow others who may be new to wargaming and Warhammer to see someone talk about it from the same fresh perspective as them.
So, here goes nothing!
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