I had high hopes for the AoS release.

After reading the rules PDF a few days ago, I thought that if they created some artificial limitations to army sizes (some level of resource scarcity), then there would be hope... as long as the warscrolls were something close to what 8th Edition's armybooks looked like. What I ended up finding out was that the revamped warscroll armybooks are very poorly done. They deviate almost completely from 8th Edition's armybook format. Instead of creating order within an otherwise free-form system, they create an environment that emphasizes disorder and extreme exploitation. I would venture to say that AoS isn't really a game any longer.

I remember a similar feeling when GW released 40k Apocalypse back in '07 (IIRC?). They could've created a nifty, streamlined system for using tons of models. Instead they just said "Use everything you have, and take a week to play your 50,000 point game." GW could've created a streamlined version of 8th that removes barriers to entry (cheaper models, streamlined rules, quicker setup time), but instead they shook up the rules like an Etch-a-Sketch, increased setup time, and did nothing to decrease prices.

So, given that we need a more streamlined game that doesn't keep people from playing, is there a way to use AoS's simpler rules?

1) There needs to be some form of resource scarcity. Players must make army building choices on some level other than asking the magic 8 ball.

2) There needs to be a more well defined set of victory conditions. Perhaps the existing AoS victory conditions would work (if slightly modified) if there were a system of scarcity (see #1).

3) Warscroll 'armybooks' need to be re-evaluated. Simply giving each unit a set of unloaded keywords like Aelf, Wanderer, Hero, and Totem so that they can be accessed by other random units that say "For each Totem you have, do X" is overly complex for a system that has no scarcity.

So can we just use the AoS PDF with the existing set of 8th Edition armybooks with points costs? Obviously there would be some pitfalls to this, but at least it's a starting point that addresses the poorly designed warscrolls and issues of scarcity, and subsequently the oddly defined victory conditions.