Why I am liking AoS

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I posted this on another forum (albeit with some minor edits) a little while ago but thought maybe my perspective might be interesting to some of you. I don't know, you can ignore it if it isn't.

Firstly I am primarily a hobbyist : I enjoy painting, converting, assembling and I heavily enjoy sculpting. So for me the hobby is more about that stuff. That is why I enjoy. Also, I'm not really a gamer at all, I can play a videogame for about 20-30 mins before I get tired and want to do something else and- I don't want to spend hours reading a rulebook, trying to memorise rules and statistics which it's why I've never really bothered with 40k or most other wargames as I personally found it boring and uninteresting.

However I do like the idea of spending half an hour playing a game once in a while as time-filler, like how you take out a quick cardgame or boardgame when you have some friends over, and without the dedication of learning rules and statistics, It's something I can actually take out and play with a mate with very little explanation so I actually find it *fun* because of that.

Also, I have learning disabilities so even if I wanted to learn all the rules and statistics of a game like 40k - I couldn't if I wanted to, and because of that I have always felt excluded from the gaming part of the community. AoS is simple enough that I can actually get into it and play it with friends that are of a similar mindset to me and have fun.

That said, I can empathise with the people that wanted a more "gamer friendly" game and were into the older editions, it most definitely isn't aimed at those people so I am guessing many of those must feel excluded from it too, especially with the old games backround being nuked.

Perhaps GW should perhaps release an "Advanced Age of Sigmar" rule book at some point to cater for those more dedicated gamers as I think this current game is more aimed at non-gamers, children and casuals that want to spend a little time pushing models about. Dedicated gamers seem to get enjoyment from the learning side, deep strategy, list-building ect and that's cool but personally I'm glad I actually have something I can finally play and enjoy with my friends. Previously, the only games I really enjoyed were space crusade and heroquest, which yes I played a lot as a kid too (And I still enjoy them)



EDIT : Just want to clarify incase anyone gets the wrong idea - I have zero interest in changing anyones minds or trying to get them to like it. I just thought that maybe a non-gamers perspective might be interesting to some of you given the forum is predominantly gamer minded folk.

[Vlad78]

I posted this on another forum (albeit with some minor edits) a little while ago but thought maybe my perspective might be interesting to some of you. I don't know, you can ignore it if it isn't.

Firstly I am primarily a hobbyist : I enjoy painting, converting, assembling and I heavily enjoy sculpting. So for me the hobby is more about that stuff. That is why I enjoy. Also, I'm not really a gamer at all, I can play a videogame for about 20-30 mins before I get tired and want to do something else and- I don't want to spend hours reading a rulebook, trying to memorise rules and statistics which it's why I've never really bothered with 40k or most other wargames as I personally found it boring and uninteresting.

However I do like the idea of spending half an hour playing a game once in a while as time-filler, like how you take out a quick cardgame or boardgame when you have some friends over, and without the dedication of learning rules and statistics, It's something I can actually take out and play with a mate with very little explanation so I actually find it *fun* because of that.

Also, I have learning disabilities so even if I wanted to learn all the rules and statistics of a game like 40k - I couldn't if I wanted to, and because of that I have always felt excluded from the gaming part of the community. AoS is simple enough that I can actually get into it and play it with friends that are of a similar mindset to me and have fun.

That said, I can empathise with the people that wanted a more "gamer friendly" game and were into the older editions, it most definitely isn't aimed at those people so I am guessing many of those must feel excluded from it too, especially with the old games backround being nuked.

Perhaps GW should perhaps release an "Advanced Age of Sigmar" rule book at some point to cater for those more dedicated gamers as I think this current game is more aimed at non-gamers, children and casuals that want to spend a little time pushing models about. Dedicated gamers seem to get enjoyment from the learning side, deep strategy, list-building ect and that's cool but personally I'm glad I actually have something I can finally play and enjoy with my friends. Previously, the only games I really enjoyed were space crusade and heroquest, which yes I played a lot as a kid too (And I still enjoy them)

Thank you for giving your take on this game. I hope you'll have a lot of fun with it.

But for me there's not only a problem with the rules, I just can't bear the new setting and the new aesthetic created for IP sake is just appalling in my opinion.

I wish you the best though.

[Theik]

I like it because it completely killed all interest in warhammer for me, therefore saving me like 200-300 bucks a month.

[grimmas]

I'm with you Xeno I'm loving the accessibility of the game. It's been a breath of fresh air. Not only in comparison with GWs offerings but with most of the stuff out there. With the exception of Saga pretty much everything has become so rules heavy it's become about manipulating those rules or in many cases an Army building exercise.

I would agree there is very much a market for AoS advanced. There's be quite a lot of discussion on the subject in AoS groups with lots of home brew stuff coming out (I think our own Mystery is putting something together based on the Space Marine order system). This leads to me the other thing I really like about AoS, people have really gone with the invention aspect and really got into producing scenarios, rules and units in a way I've not seen since Rogue Trader and seeing as though that's what got me into Wargaming it makes me glad. It really nice to see people putting stuff togeather and going with it.

[Path Walker]

I like it because I don't know whats next.

The old Warhammer World was set, it was one world and most of the major players were in their place, there was no where else to go and not much room for a major shakeup, we knew everything about that world and there were only two ways it could go, Chaos wins (like they did) or Chaos are beaten back again and then you're just resetting it.

Now, with all the scope and grandeur of the Realms, we have mystery again, we don't know whats around the corner. The fluff is developing.

The way they've set things up this time, this is a story, not just a "setting", we have already seen this in the army design and well as the books that have been released. With Stormcast, through the story, getting more units as the months go by, the story unfolding as Sigmar's War spreads through the Realms.

Gameplay wise, its a lot more adaptable. Every game of WHFB I played in the last 5 years was pretty much the same, no one wanted to do the missions in the back of the book, everyone used huge blocks of infantry that would drive a newbie made (or they didn't and watched as their smaller units were steamrolled by the huge ones). I started WHFB when a unit of 30 Orcs was a huge mob (one of my first WD issues, 190, has an amazing looking Orc army that sold me on them). This wasn't very fun for me, nor apparently most of the wargaming world and was one of the main reasons people were leaving WHFB.

In AoS, battles scale very well, without regiment bases, there is less of an incentive to keep using the same huge units. In WHFB people made a 2400 point list (in my local area anyway) and mostly stuck to that. Changing the size of a unit meant a ton of work, so once you had your 50 strong block of Halberdiers ranked and on a movement tray, you stuck with them! Now you can play around, play smaller games, try bigger ones and everything in between, without that annoyance of having to fit them on a new base to move them around.

I loved the old world, I have had 20 years of reading about that place, but it was stale and no longer unique, its shine was dulling.

Age of Sigmar is about hope and the human spirit, its about trying to bring order and life to utter mayhem and chaos. Its a game of our times as much as the Old World was a setting born of the 70s-80s (and most of the fluff people love was originally from WHFRP, not WHFB) where the world was heading to become more and more grim and dark. We've now been living in that darkness for 30 years, I think we need a glimpse of light and hope!

[flipchuck]

For me, it's a 2 edge sword. The fluff of the game, I'm not really liking too much. Too much is spent on the Stromcasts and Chaos and not enough other the older races. The main fluff book read like a bible which got stale and turned me off. And I'm getting worried about what's going to be left in my Empire army...

On the other hand, I love the rules. I love how easy they are. How easy they are to teach someone new. I like the fact that all the info I need for a unit is in the warscroll. I like the new way of rolling to attack. No more looking up a chart and comparing different stats. Quick and easy. I really enjoy the movement phase for fantasy. Very much like 40k which speeds up the game. Makes it run smoother. And opens up some fantasy style "cities of death" battles which you really couldn't do before with fantasy. I'm happy with the rules of the game.

[Mr Mystery]

Background is always developing.

Godbeasts promises to be a turning point, as it's looking to involve more than just Stormcast Eternals.

I think we're about 9 months in, give or take. In terms of game background that's no time at all. I'm actually kind of reminded of Warmachine when it first came out. I was dabbling in it at that point, but found the background really dull. Now I've not gone back to that game, but it seems their background has continued to develop.

And look at the early days of 40k - the background was really, really patchy there as well. Marines weren't genetically enhanced they way they are now. The Heresy started out literally as filler - they needed some text to fill out a page.

If you're enjoying the game, keep on keeping on. The background is always developing

As for the rules....I've been finding that their simplicity leaves far more of the game's outcome to relative player skill. Whomever is most familiar not with just their own synergies, but their opponent's has a real edge. And deconstructing your opponent's synergy options whilst maintaining your own is no small feat.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again and again - Battleshock can be a right sod! Unlike Warhammer, both parties are at risk in every combat. In times past, I'd happily commit to a combat knowing that whilst I might take a bit of a pasting in return, I was likely to win the round overall, possibly seeing off my opponent's unit entirely. Battleshock is a different beast. I can't go into a combat happy to take say, 8 casualties because I'm confident I can cause 9 or 10 in return - at least not if my plans for turns to come involve that unit still being in some kind of fighting shape!

Add in that you need to pick your combats very carefully, and the game poses an entirely new set of challenges.

Neither is objectively better than the other system wise (I still have a soft spot for entirely collapsing my opponent's flank in Warhammer), but I'm still finding AoS to have a novelty I've not had from Warhammer in a long old time.

[Erik Setzer]

Whomever is most familiar not with just their own synergies, but their opponent's has a real edge. And deconstructing your opponent's synergy options whilst maintaining your own is no small feat.

This series of sentences is a "paradigm shift" away from hitting Marketing Lingo Bingo...

[Mr Mystery]

Well, they're all words I can't use in my professional capacity, so I thought I'd get them out the way here

[Erik Setzer]

Well, they're all words I can't use in my professional capacity, so I thought I'd get them out the way here

They're all words I hear way too often in my professional capacity. I've gotten used to being one of The Enemy... er, part of Marketing, but all the talk of "synergizing" and "utilizing a paradigm shift" and all that can still be a bit tiring. It's worse when you realize you're adopting some of that yourself in inter-office communications.