Age of Sigmar Rumor Roundup

[Alex Knight]

Looking at the warscrolls, certainly some interesting things. I don't see myself rebasing my existing armies for AoS, since basing doesn't matter. It'll leave them rankable for other systems. But I do see putting together a small warband of Wood Elves and basing them on a round. Almost considering using the 30mm lipped bases you see many skirmish games running.

[Bigred]

Free Rules & Warscrolls
...are out!

Rules
[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Rulesheets/warhammer-aos-rules-en.pdf"]Age of Sigmar Rules[/URL]

Warscrolls
[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-beastmen-en.pdf"]Beastmen[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-bretonnia-en.pdf"]Bretonnia[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-daemons-of-chaos-en.pdf"]Daemons of Chaos[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-dark-elves-en.pdf"]Dark Elves[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-dwarfs-en.pdf"]Dwarfs[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-the-empire-en.pdf"]The Empire[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-high-elves-en.pdf"]High Elves[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-lizardmen-en.pdf"]Lizardmen[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-ogre-kingdoms-en.pdf"]Ogre Kingdoms[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-orcs-and-goblins-en.pdf"]Orcs & Goblins[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-scenery-en.pdf"]Scenery[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-skaven-en.pdf"]Skaven[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-tomb-kings-en.pdf"]Tomb Kings[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-vampire-counts-en.pdf"]Vampire Counts[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-warriors-of-chaos-en.pdf"]Warriors of Chaos[/URL]

[URL="http://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Compendiums/warhammer-aos-wood-elves-en.pdf"]Wood Elves[/URL]

[Houghten]

Looking at the warscrolls, certainly some interesting things.

Indeed.

Orc musicians grant extra charge distance but only if you yell WAAAAGH!

If Settra the Imperishable is your General, and you kneel for any reason, you lose the game. (Also, his Command ability involves saying "War!" in your most imperious voice.)

Greasus bribing enemy units is reflected with you literally bribing your opponent.

Kraggi can re-roll unbinding attempts if you are younger than your opponent.

Bloodwrack Medusas get a bonus if you manage to look your opponent in the eye.

One of the High Elf formations grants you a bonus as long as you never crack a smile.

If the Screaming Bell rolls 13 on 2d6, you win the game.

Waywatchers using Fast Shots get another shot whenever they roll a 6 to hit. Theoretically infinite shots!

Grail Knights get a bonus if you hold a grail or goblet aloft and shout "For the Lady!"

Sigvald re-rolls saves if you hold a mirror while rolling the dice, but if the re-rolls come up "1" he spends the round preening instead of attacking.



It all promises to be gloriously silly.

[Chronowraith]

I'm actually okay with a lot of this. I still want some sort of army building rules beyond, "take stuff" but I'm willing to give these rules a shot at least. The skaven stuff seems pretty cool actually.

[Erik Setzer]

So, I decided to give it a little test game with the models I'd thrown together. I sort of screwed up the balance by having an equal number of Orcs and Dwarfs. So lesson 1: Balancing armies will be a PITA.

Points to consider:

1. There's no rule saying you have to charge what you shoot. You can shoot one unit and charge another.
2. You're not "locked in combat." Coupled with #1, that provides a funny situation where you can shoot out of combat, then fight in combat. But you can also shoot the unit you're right up against.
3. Heroes can wreck units. Certain heroes will wreck other heroes. Bloody Dwarf Lord's D3 wounds with his weapon will maul an enemy hero, even if he only has four attacks (I say "only" because the Orc Warboss has six with his basic weapon, eight if you give him two, but I like the shield for him because the reroll helped him at times).
4. Cannons are evil. If you have full crew, you actually get two shots, with each doing D6 wounds (if they get past the save).
5. The random order for turns can really mess with a game plan and swing a battle. The Orcs were on the ropes (still lost eventually, but see balance note above), but got the initiative a couple turns in a row and were able to try to get back into things.

It's a fast game. Seriously. I had 49 models on each side, was flipping through the warscrolls and rules on my Kindle, and still didn't take that long for six turns. (I decided it was okay to end it there given that all that was left was a wounded Night Goblin Shaman, a Savage Orc Shaman, 10 Thunderers, and a Cannon.) If you have all the rules printed out and have the warscrolls printed and just pull out the ones you're using, it'll go insanely fast, especially once you start remembering a unit's stats, which is pretty easy.

The thing that will add the most complexity and slow a game most is that pretty much every unit has some kind of special rule. Standards and musicians almost all act different, and champions don't always act the same (i.e. sometimes they give +1 attack, and sometimes just +1 to all to hit rolls, even in a melee unit). Even then, it's not that rough.

It's definitely not Warhammer, the balance issue will drive you nuts, but if you want to just throw dice and don't care that much, it's good for a quick, simple match.

[daboarder]

Indeed.

Orc musicians grant extra charge distance but only if you yell WAAAAGH!

If Settra the Imperishable is your General, and you kneel for any reason, you lose the game. (Also, his Command ability involves saying "War!" in your most imperious voice.)

Greasus bribing enemy units is reflected with you literally bribing your opponent.

Kraggi can re-roll unbinding attempts if you are younger than your opponent.

Bloodwrack Medusas get a bonus if you manage to look your opponent in the eye.

One of the High Elf formations grants you a bonus as long as you never crack a smile.

If the Screaming Bell rolls 13 on 2d6, you win the game.

Waywatchers using Fast Shots get another shot whenever they roll a 6 to hit. Theoretically infinite shots!

Grail Knights get a bonus if you hold a grail or goblet aloft and shout "For the Lady!"

Sigvald re-rolls saves if you hold a mirror while rolling the dice, but if the re-rolls come up "1" he spends the round preening instead of attacking.



It all promises to be gloriously silly.

oh god, you're not even joking

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Konrad von Carstein gets a buff if you talk to him, and a different one if he talks back. I assume you have to do the voice.

Nagash's hand of dust has you hiding a dice in one hand, putting both hands out to your opponent and asking them to guess which hand it's in. If they get it wrong, the model dies.

This is beautiful lunacy. I love it.

[daboarder]

Konrad von Carstein gets a buff if you talk to him, and a different one if he talks back. I assume you have to do the voice.

Nagash's hand of dust has you hiding a dice in one hand, putting both hands out to your opponent and asking them to guess which hand it's in. If they get it wrong, the model dies.

This is beautiful lunacy. I love it.

I actually cant stop laughing, this is hillarious but I suspect NOT for the reason GW hopes.....HAHA

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I like it!

Being real for a second, this seems to be aimed squarely at the (large and growing) board gaming (including things like card and roleplaying games) crowd. Age of Sigmar seems to be much more about having fun battles with your mates than anything more serious than that. Which appeals to me immensely - I know others will have the opposite reaction, and you're not wrong to do so. We have different tastes and this definitely isn't aimed at the people who like tournaments, rigorous number-crunching and list-building. Which is a shame even for a player like me - that was a big appeal of Warhammer (even over 40k). I honestly don't think this is a bad orientation for this product at all, though. They want to get new people playing, they want to tap into the board-gaming renaissance we're undergoing. They want to get outside the "core" wargaming market. I think Age of Sigmar stands a good chance of doing so.

As Tom Walton (GW figure designer) said on twitter, it's not just for Warhammer fans, it's for everybody.

Oh and they've just made the entire ruleset, including rules for every model, available entirely for free. For free. GW. F r e e.

[daboarder]

I like it!

Being real for a second, this seems to be aimed squarely at the (large and growing) board gaming (including things like card and roleplaying games) crowd. Age of Sigmar seems to be much more about having fun battles with your mates than anything more serious than that. Which appeals to me immensely - I know others will have the opposite reaction, and you're not wrong to do so. We have different tastes and this definitely isn't aimed at the people who like tournaments, rigorous number-crunching and list-building. Which is a shame even for a player like me - that was a big appeal of Warhammer (even over 40k). I honestly don't think this is a bad orientation for this product at all, though. They want to get new people playing, they want to tap into the board-gaming renaissance we're undergoing. They want to get outside the "core" wargaming market. I think Age of Sigmar stands a good chance of doing so.

As Tom Walton (GW figure designer) said on twitter, it's not just for Warhammer fans, it's for everybody.

Oh and they've just made the entire ruleset, including rules for every model, available entirely for free. For free. GW. F r e e.

Sure seems fun and silly....probably for about a month.

Your welcome to like it but its not the kind of game id put a few hundred bucks and hundreds of hours of prep time into thats for sure.

Its good that the rules are free but free doesnt excuse them being fair ridiculous. Infinity and soon KOW both have free complex and detailed rules systems.

This aint going to scratch my wargaming itch

Deployment: Chaos player sets down a Screaming Bell. Other player sets down whatever. Chaos player sets down Fateweaver. The only chance the other player has to not instantly lose is to end deployment RIGHT NOW, take the first turn, and destroy the Screaming Bell (Oracle of Eternity ignores whether or not Fateweaver is alive). Otherwise, Chaos player ends deployment and seizes the first turn.

Turn 1, Hero Phase: Roll for Screaming Bell's Peal of Doom. Use Oracle of Eternity to declare that the roll is 13. Instant win, before the first movement phase.

The worst part, the worst part, is that the "Player 2 deploys 1 unit and tries to take down the Bell before it goes off" strategy has an obvious hard counter: The Chaos player can deploy a second Screaming Bell after Player 2 has declared they are deploying only 1 unit.