Age of Sigmar: Points and Handbooks

[9mm]

I am fond of the wandering tree myself.

And it will be an improvement over looking at pad photos of the rules.

On a different note: GHB FAQs are around
https://www.warhammer-community.com/...mepage-post-3/

Also updates for Skaven, FEC, Khorne and Gits.

also included, the final murder of Legions of Grief's chances of ever seeing actual play.

[Requizen]

I'm a fan of the changes. The super cutthroat FEC and Skaven lists were extremely tight, so small point changes like this will shake those lists up at least a bit.

The changes to WLV makes it so you can't bomb it across the table without interaction, which was my main complaint. Now you can set up so they can't just hit your whole army from wherever on the table, you can see where their Wizards are and set up unbinds in range. It's still well worth 100 points, that thing is bananas.

Being able to charge and kill the Gristlegore General without dying first is a big change that makes it a lot less scary. Shooting armies could take care of Gristlegore with some clever positioning and turns, but melee armies were basically an auto loss because you could never fight it unless you did something silly.

Slaanesh is going to continue to be nutty. They didn't get a chance to dominate before the GHB dropped, but that book has some crazy builds. They'll be the "DoK boogeyman" until GHB2020, unless GW decides to do point evaluations more than once per year.

[PraetorDragoon]

I'm a fan of the changes. The super cutthroat FEC and Skaven lists were extremely tight, so small point changes like this will shake those lists up at least a bit.

The changes to WLV makes it so you can't bomb it across the table without interaction, which was my main complaint. Now you can set up so they can't just hit your whole army from wherever on the table, you can see where their Wizards are and set up unbinds in range. It's still well worth 100 points, that thing is bananas.

Being able to charge and kill the Gristlegore General without dying first is a big change that makes it a lot less scary. Shooting armies could take care of Gristlegore with some clever positioning and turns, but melee armies were basically an auto loss because you could never fight it unless you did something silly.

Slaanesh is going to continue to be nutty. They didn't get a chance to dominate before the GHB dropped, but that book has some crazy builds. They'll be the "DoK boogeyman" until GHB2020, unless GW decides to do point evaluations more than once per year.

GW said in the article that there will be point changes each rules review, which are the half-year FAQ/Errata.

[Requizen]

GW said in the article that there will be point changes each rules review, which are the half-year FAQ/Errata.

That's only good news. I'm pretty happy with the state of AoS, despite everyone whinging over Skaven and FEC, the game is doing quite well on the balance front and is fun to play.

[LansXero]

That's only good news. I'm pretty happy with the state of AoS, despite everyone whinging over Skaven and FEC, the game is doing quite well on the balance front and is fun to play.

Id get a frigate thrown at me if I said that to our resident Kharadron player. Seraphon could've used a new book too.

[Requizen]

Id get a frigate thrown at me if I said that to our resident Kharadron player. Seraphon could've used a new book too.

KO got out pretty well with the point drops across the board. There were already viable Kharadron lists, they were just pretty specific (60+ Arkanauts with Endrinriggers), but they could compete on most missions.

I agree Seraphon need a book, but that's probably sooner than later.

[Destro_Yersul]

My wife is still waiting for all the elves to get amalgamated into one book. Because until then, she's stuck playing GA:Order

[LeSwordfish]

I played against Seraphon the other day and while their new allegiance abilities are nasty ("You're khorne so I won't get any spells off, so next turn I'm summoning twenty saurus") the actual units feel pretty bad - in particular those Saurus didn't achieve much aside from taking a long time for ten blood warriors to chew through them.

I did make use of a fun combination though: Skarbrand's attack that does 8 mortal wounds happens once per attack, rather than per fight, so he can be buffed to do it twice by a Bloodsecrator, and an additional time by Wrathmongers. Given that he does it automatically if he isn't selected to fight in the previous battle round, I lopped a Magmadroth in half turn two. I'm seriously considering taking that combination to our thousand-point league game next time - especially since it's been confirmed that the semifinals will be set in Hysh, where I can spend Command Points to fight first, thus breaking Skarbrand's main weakness.

My wife is still waiting for all the elves to get amalgamated into one book. Because until then, she's stuck playing GA:Order

There are pretty solid rumors that an Aelf release is due "soon" - probably the next Big New thing after darkoath. The suggestion is that they'll be Hysh aelves aligned to Tyrion and Teclis, and my guess is that they'll consolidate all the High Elf stuff along with new kits, like Gloomspite Gitz did. No promises as to the Dark and Wood Elves - Wanderers seem like a pretty clear-cut faction ready for their own book, and possibly the assorted Dark Elf factions will slot into the Hysh Elf rumor.

(Also, hey, "wife" now? Congrats to both of you!)

[PraetorDragoon]

TBH, I'm note sure if all old elves ever get amalgated in a single book. There might be a bit too much clashing styles in there.

There are pretty solid rumors that an Aelf release is due "soon" - probably the next Big New thing after darkoath. The suggestion is that they'll be Hysh aelves aligned to Tyrion and Teclis, and my guess is that they'll consolidate all the High Elf stuff along with new kits, like Gloomspite Gitz did. No promises as to the Dark and Wood Elves - Wanderers seem like a pretty clear-cut faction ready for their own book, and possibly the assorted Dark Elf factions will slot into the Hysh Elf rumor.

I personally would expect that any new Hysh or Ulgu Aelves would include as much existing Elf units as the Deepkin did. I.e. none at all. Of course, i could be wrong. But the whole background for those is that they are new aelves created from the souls taken from Slaanesh, so I can see them not having many ties to the old elves.

[Requizen]

Internet: GW is getting too PC friendly! They keep taking out things that are edgy and making them "cleaner"!
GW: Lol here's a warband of mutilated psychopaths who wear their own flayed-off faces on their belts.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/...mepage-post-1/

Warcry is honestly looking better and better by the day. It should be out this month, hopefully they don't tease us too much longer, I'm about ready to snap!

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I mean, I'll admit the models are pretty jaw-dropping. The Unmade and the Corbus Cabal definitely stand out. But we don't know abything about the rules yet, do we?

[Requizen]

I mean, I'll admit the models are pretty jaw-dropping. The Unmade and the Corbus Cabal definitely stand out. But we don't know abything about the rules yet, do we?

We should get rules pretty soon once Apocalypse passes a bit, all we know so far is that it's a Skirmish game, and given that there was a lot of terrain in the videos and not just a board like Underworlds, it's likely closer to something like (non-Arena) Kill Team or Skirmish with a tighter ruleset.

I am curious how team building is done. Every model shown off so far seems pretty specific, they don't really seem to be super multi-part like Necromunda, so low amounts of customization or none at all?

I'll be at ATC this weekend and Ben Johnson will be around, so I'm going to try to pester him about Warcry details

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Looking at the models, I'm almost wondering whether they'll be larger set forces, like Underworlds. But that only then raises the question of how the "normal" AoS factions that we've been told are playable in Warcry work.

[PraetorDragoon]

Warcry is looking better with each preview shown. These fellows are my jam.

Now, if they would only tease us some rules....

[Requizen]

Warcry is looking better with each preview shown. These fellows are my jam.

Now, if they would only tease us some rules....

Weekend after this is Open Day, where (apparently) the game will be playable. I'm thinking that weekend will also be preorder weekend, the game is still planned to come out this month so we are going to be hearing news soon either way.

Maybe another how to play video with Becca, her Blackstone Fortress one was pretty good imo.

[PraetorDragoon]

Played two games of Meeting Engagements today. I do like it more than regular 1000pts games, and they might be the most interesting games of Age of Sigmar I have played. I like the three contignent parts and how different battleplans have different effects on them. One game I played everything came in regular order, while another game had the main body first and the spearheard near the end. Gave a different vibe as result. Definitly going to try more of it.

Also, Warcry!

https://www.warhammer-community.com/...g-soon-warcry/

Two week preorder, in case people were worried the starter set would run out. The new furies look wicked.

[Requizen]

Played two games of Meeting Engagements today. I do like it more than regular 1000pts games, and they might be the most interesting games of Age of Sigmar I have played. I like the three contignent parts and how different battleplans have different effects on them. One game I played everything came in regular order, while another game had the main body first and the spearheard near the end. Gave a different vibe as result. Definitly going to try more of it.

Also, Warcry!

https://www.warhammer-community.com/...g-soon-warcry/

Two week preorder, in case people were worried the starter set would run out. The new furies look wicked.

Soooo excited for this. Much like Kill Team, highly considering grabbing some boxes of the other "Warbands" that will be available from launch:



Of course, already have Stormcast and a handful of Splitterz, but there's plenty more to try too!

I saw the models at ATC. They're absolutely breathtaking in person, and the terrain is no joke, I'd honestly consider getting extra sets just to make a gaming table. The next three weeks will not go fast enough!

[PraetorDragoon]

The terrain is super nice indeed, and I like we are getting Killzone like boxes for terrain. Its neat.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/...mepage-post-1/

Some first showing of rules, seems like the equipment are fixed per model, instead of being able to swap bits around.

[Requizen]

The terrain is super nice indeed, and I like we are getting Killzone like boxes for terrain. Its neat.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/...mepage-post-1/

Some first showing of rules, seems like the equipment are fixed per model, instead of being able to swap bits around.

Some are, others are variable. On the fighter cards you can see a couple same models, different options:

Spoiler: Iron Legionaries

Show

Looks like the Captain/Lieutenant/Specialist or whatever models are more or less set, while the chumps get some options. They stress that the AoS warscrolls won't have any distinctions, just in Warcry, for whatever that's worth.

[Avaris]

More details on the Warcry rules appearing in the Iron Golems preview: https://www.warhammer-community.com/...epage-post-4/?

Sounds like the game has a fairly standard spread of stats: Strength, Toughness and Damage all feature, though no 'to hit' characteristics. Models have ranging from 10-30 wounds or so, and even the heavy hitters only do 4 damage per hit with a couple of attacks each, so unless there is a bonus from a high strength vs toughness it will take a fair few blows to take a model down.

The really interesting thing is the initiative roll, which I'll just quote in full:

Every battle round in Warcry begins with both players rolling for initiative. To do so, each player first rolls 6 dice and then counts up the number of ‘singles’ they have – a single is a dice that does not have the same result as any other dice in that roll. For example, if you rolled three 1s, a 3, a 4, and a 5, you would have three singles (the 3, 4 and 5). The player who rolls the most singles has the initiative for that battle round.

The rest of the dice become ability dice which can be spent on powerful abilities and killer moves during that battle round. These are sorted into doubles, triples or quads.

So if you roll well for initiative you're less likely to have the dice you need for special abilities. It's a neat bit of randomness where any result seems good in its own way. I like it.

Another thing I've noticed is that there are very few models in any warband with ranged weapons, so I suspect a lot of the game will be in outmaneuvering and getting to choose who fights who.

[PraetorDragoon]

Well, chaos tribes aren't know for their ranged weaponry after all.

The initative roll also jumped out to me. It is an interesting idea.

[Requizen]

More details on the Warcry rules appearing in the Iron Golems preview: https://www.warhammer-community.com/...epage-post-4/?

Sounds like the game has a fairly standard spread of stats: Strength, Toughness and Damage all feature, though no 'to hit' characteristics. Models have ranging from 10-30 wounds or so, and even the heavy hitters only do 4 damage per hit with a couple of attacks each, so unless there is a bonus from a high strength vs toughness it will take a fair few blows to take a model down.

The really interesting thing is the initiative roll, which I'll just quote in full:

So if you roll well for initiative you're less likely to have the dice you need for special abilities. It's a neat bit of randomness where any result seems good in its own way. I like it.

Another thing I've noticed is that there are very few models in any warband with ranged weapons, so I suspect a lot of the game will be in outmaneuvering and getting to choose who fights who.

That's a super interesting mechanic imo. As you said, it balances out initiative vs power spikes, but it also gives both players a clear indicator as of what is available. In the example, seeing your opponent get triple sixes for Living Battering Ram means you know they will probably play towards using it, while a triple two means you can likely survive it and they might not even go for the ability.

As to shooting... well scuttlebutt is that at least Stormcast Hunters will be available, if not other Vanguard units. But we'll see, no one has pictures of the cards yet.

[Avaris]

That's a super interesting mechanic imo. As you said, it balances out initiative vs power spikes, but it also gives both players a clear indicator as of what is available. In the example, seeing your opponent get triple sixes for Living Battering Ram means you know they will probably play towards using it, while a triple two means you can likely survive it and they might not even go for the ability.

As to shooting... well scuttlebutt is that at least Stormcast Hunters will be available, if not other Vanguard units. But we'll see, no one has pictures of the cards yet.

Also interesting about it is that each ability can only be used by a certain type of character: only Ogor Breachers can use Living Battering Ram, only Drillmasters can use Whirlwind of Death. So building a warband requires consideration of which dice combos you want to get: do you fill out just with ones who need doubles, or do you include a few triple or quad characters as well?

[Requizen]

Also interesting about it is that each ability can only be used by a certain type of character: only Ogor Breachers can use Living Battering Ram, only Drillmasters can use Whirlwind of Death. So building a warband requires consideration of which dice combos you want to get: do you fill out just with ones who need doubles, or do you include a few triple or quad characters as well?

I love list building~

Sounds like my FLGS will have a copy in store tomorrow to demo/etc, so I'm going to be thumbing through it as much as I can.

[Requizen]

Many FLGS's will have a demo copy soon, but here's some pics of the rulebook:

Warcry Rules

Has rules for deployment, setup, movement, and the 3 types of play. Attacking and out of action are missing, but this gives a good feel for how the game plays. My thoughts so far:

-We've already talked about the dice off mechanic, but the Wild Dice inclusion is a great addition that gives flexibility and depth to the initiative step. I'm already thinking of situations and how to approach using WD vs keeping them. There's the obvious uses, but lots of bet-hedging and risk taking as well.

-I loooove alternating activations. Not only does it make the games more interactive, but it also gives incentive for different army builds. Chump-filled Warbands have more activations and screening options, but likely will be easy to deal with in missions where you just need to kill more models/more percentage than your opponents (of which you can see a couple in the Pitched Battle sections).

(Kill Team had pseudo-alternating, and I really like that they went with full alternation on this one. I always felt that there was real disparity with movement in KT, while this is a bit closer to Underworlds, though obviously different due to Activation limits in WHU, and I think it's much better for it.)

-Each Activation being two Actions makes the game seem quite fast, especially with action dice providing potential bonus actions on top.

-The rules for vertical movement seem very straightforward, but also seem to cover exactly as much as you'd want so it doesn't slow down the game. Rules to go upwards and downwards, quick rules for falling damage, I don't think it slows down the game at all.

-Ben Johnson at ATC said that you can expect a game to be a 30-45 minute affair once both players know the rules, which is about what their other Skirmish games are. TBH the only annoying thing about this game is going to be figuring out a way to easily bring the Terrain around.

Overall, the game itself looks very solid. One thing that does give a bit of hesitation, similar to Blood Bowl, is buying the Warband boxes. It would seem that you can build a Warband out of the box and have it be legal and well rounded, but if you want to get more versatility (perhaps you want two Ogors in your Iron Golems, or a couple more Chimera things for Untamed Beasts), then you have to buy multiple boxes (and can't reuse Leaders), or go converting. That's more than a bit annoying, to be honest, but if my only complaint about Warcry is needing to buy more to be competitive... then I suppose that's something that's reasonable to live with. I'll likely buy one of each, and then expand the ones I really enjoy playing.

[Yaktan]

So, my FLGS has an escalation league going. I am running my stormcasts.

We started at 1000 points, and I went vs. trolls on the mission where you have 3 objectives, and a random one is worth more points each round.

Stormcast Eternals

Spoiler

Show

Celestial Warbringers
Lord-Celestant, (W), Portents and Omens, Hammers of Augury

Liberators
Judicators

Fulminators
Decimators
Celestar Ballista

Khineri Heartrenders

Trolls

Spoiler

Show

Troll Boss (W), Mighty Blows, Glowey Whatsit (the one that gives 4+ ignore wounds)
Troll Hag

Rock Trolls
Vomit Trolls

The game went back and forth a bit, though him claiming first turn hurt him. Sure, he was able to claim objectives right away, but he did nothing to my army, and then I got the double turn, and was able to take out all his little trolls right away. After that I just had too much board control, and was able to whittle down his hag while out scoring him.

He kept his boss and hag together, which was overkill, especially since the hag took out my fulminators turn 2 with her -saves spell and body slam. (I rolled 2 3's to save, and he rolled 11 on the 2d6 for damage, so no more fulminators)

The decimators did very little, taking 3 turns to walk across the board from where I dropped them in before finally making a charge roll, doing 2 damage to the boss and getting punked. Also the ballista had terrible luck and kept on wiffing. It seems like half the time my ballista just wiffs, and the other half it wipes out tons of stuff on its own.

The second game, I went vs. Seraphon with Lord Kroak.

I added my knight-incantor and the everblaze comet.

We did duality of death, and he deployed all his stuff in one corner. Bad plan on his part. And he used Kroak to generate summon points, rather than using his vortex, or special spell. He did try assassinating my wizard with a teleporting bastilidon, but it wiffed bad and only did 2 damage with shooting and meele. The comet got good rolls and smashed much of his army. My Khineri and ballista together only got 1 extra wound on Kroak, putting it to 4 after the comet. But then my Judicators went to town and got 6 more wounds on him. He conceded at the end of the charge phase when my fulminators and lord celestant got in to engage the remains of his army on the one objective he even tried going for.

I am thinking of replacing my decimators with either hammer prosecutors or pallidors. I am leaning towards the pallidors right now, since they offer a little more ommph than the prosecutors, and those wings are such a pain for transport and setup. But that 3d6 charge is quite tasty looking....

[Requizen]

So, my FLGS has an escalation league going. I am running my stormcasts.

We started at 1000 points, and I went vs. trolls on the mission where you have 3 objectives, and a random one is worth more points each round.

Stormcast Eternals

Spoiler

Show

Celestial Warbringers
Lord-Celestant, (W), Portents and Omens, Hammers of Augury

Liberators
Judicators

Fulminators
Decimators
Celestar Ballista

Khineri Heartrenders

Trolls

Spoiler

Show

Troll Boss (W), Mighty Blows, Glowey Whatsit (the one that gives 4+ ignore wounds)
Troll Hag

Rock Trolls
Vomit Trolls

The game went back and forth a bit, though him claiming first turn hurt him. Sure, he was able to claim objectives right away, but he did nothing to my army, and then I got the double turn, and was able to take out all his little trolls right away. After that I just had too much board control, and was able to whittle down his hag while out scoring him.

He kept his boss and hag together, which was overkill, especially since the hag took out my fulminators turn 2 with her -saves spell and body slam. (I rolled 2 3's to save, and he rolled 11 on the 2d6 for damage, so no more fulminators)

The decimators did very little, taking 3 turns to walk across the board from where I dropped them in before finally making a charge roll, doing 2 damage to the boss and getting punked. Also the ballista had terrible luck and kept on wiffing. It seems like half the time my ballista just wiffs, and the other half it wipes out tons of stuff on its own.

The second game, I went vs. Seraphon with Lord Kroak.

I added my knight-incantor and the everblaze comet.

We did duality of death, and he deployed all his stuff in one corner. Bad plan on his part. And he used Kroak to generate summon points, rather than using his vortex, or special spell. He did try assassinating my wizard with a teleporting bastilidon, but it wiffed bad and only did 2 damage with shooting and meele. The comet got good rolls and smashed much of his army. My Khineri and ballista together only got 1 extra wound on Kroak, putting it to 4 after the comet. But then my Judicators went to town and got 6 more wounds on him. He conceded at the end of the charge phase when my fulminators and lord celestant got in to engage the remains of his army on the one objective he even tried going for.

I am thinking of replacing my decimators with either hammer prosecutors or pallidors. I am leaning towards the pallidors right now, since they offer a little more ommph than the prosecutors, and those wings are such a pain for transport and setup. But that 3d6 charge is quite tasty looking....

Good show! Decimators without some sort of teleport assistance (usually Skyborne Slayers or Gavriel) are fairly mediocre, they really want to get in fast and on the targets they want (hordes).

Between Palladors and Hammer-cutors... well it depends. Palladors are generally better, but less models for the points. You also really want to run them with a mounted Hero for the support, while Prosecutors can kind of go do their own thing.

[Yaktan]

Thank you!

My first opponent was one I was worried what he might bring, since he is one of the better people at the store for building good lists, etc, and he has all sorts of armies to choose from. It seems he decided to go lol with his trolls (they are very nicely painted) including the hag, who he has named Ariel after painting her hair red.

The more I think about it, the more I lean to pallidors. Their ability to teleport in the middle of a game appeals to the kind of mobility-focus I like, and the fewer models is a consideration for transporting and storing them. The wings on prosecutors are ridiculously huge when you try putting them in a box or anything. Also my fulminators are my favorite models, and having more heavy cavalry friends for them appeals to me.

Here is the 2k list I am building towards. I have everything except one squad of khineri and the pallidors. I need to paint ballista #2 and the comet.

Spoiler

Show

Celestial Warbringers

Celestant-Prime (Not a Celestial Warbringer)
Lord-Celestant (W) Portents and omens, Hammers of Augury
Knight-Incantor, Lightning Blast

Liberators
Liberators
Judicators

Ballista
Ballista
Fulminators
Pallidors
Prosecutors (javalins)

Khineri Heartrenders
Khineri Heartrenders

Everblaze Comet
Command Point

My headcannon is that they read the stars to predict where the Celestant-Prime will be, and show up to set up to give him backup for whatever he is up to. The whole army are his fans. The Khineri are his rabid fans, who are flying high up looking for him, and swoop down the join the party when he shows up; perhaps they get tip offs from Lord-Celestant Miyagi, head of the PrimeTime fan club. Lord-Celestant Miyagi trys to emulate the Prime's ability to manipulate fate, but is still a novice in comparison (re-rolls vs. picking a result that the prime gets). Knight-Incantor Ezra emulates her idol's use of comets. The fulminators work to emulate the massive damage dealt by a blow from the Prime's hammer. The prosecutors follow his flying ways. The pallidors are newer, but working to hone their mounts claws to punch through armor as well as his hammer. The judicators and ballistas are the pyrotechnics crew, and the liberators are the bouncers who keep the riff-raff out of the party.

[Avaris]

More insight on Warcry rules from the how to play video: sounds like attacks use the standard comparison of strength and toughness seen elsewhere, with 6s being a critical hit. Bit of a shame to lose the to hit rolls, though I can see how it speeds things up, and their role in showing skill over strength is kind of covered by different numbers of attacks for different weapons.

I’m particularly keen on the cards beijg used to set up the battlefield and scenario. Feels like there’s a lot of variety in what you’ll need to do, which makes specialising to fulfill a particular role (e.g taking objectives) much more risky.

[Requizen]

More insight on Warcry rules from the how to play video: sounds like attacks use the standard comparison of strength and toughness seen elsewhere, with 6s being a critical hit. Bit of a shame to lose the to hit rolls, though I can see how it speeds things up, and their role in showing skill over strength is kind of covered by different numbers of attacks for different weapons.

I’m particularly keen on the cards beijg used to set up the battlefield and scenario. Feels like there’s a lot of variety in what you’ll need to do, which makes specialising to fulfill a particular role (e.g taking objectives) much more risky.

I do particularly like the single die roll for damage. No hits, no save, just straight up strength vs toughness achieves much of the same but more streamlined. The large health pools + basline recovery ability means that, while the game is fast and bloody, there are chances for reprieve as well. I can't wait to play a game or two at the FLGS coming up.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/...mepage-post-1/

Really wish there was a way to see these units before they come out to plan purchases, but I figure I'll show up to play Warcry with a range of Vanguard stuff and call it even.