AoS News Coming Tomorrow (April 25)

[Mr Mystery]

That sort of synergy is tricky.

Consider the Bloodsecrator.

If he's whipping up a frenzy with Blood Warriors, well, that's pretty good. He might give your Khororoororororrogareth an extra attack. Big whoop, huh?

But if it's the Cultist level dudes? He's actually doubling their attack output - and if that unit is surrounded in a protracted melee, that can be horrific for the opponent.

Trick would be to not make him so attractively pointed that he's an auto-include, but not so exorbitantly costed he's only taken with the cultist level dudes and nobody else - you might as well just make him a unit upgrade at that point.

Add in a Bloodstoker, and it gets even more pokey. Those two working in concert turn Bloodreavers into something far more powerful than they currently are.

[Auticus]

They mentioned "2000 points" so it seems they are going back to trying precision balance again.

[odinsgrandson]

Really intrigued to see how this all works out. Will they go for the illusional economy WM did by having things like 'one and two points', or continue in the familiar GW vein?

I do wonder about the scale of their points, and I'm honestly hoping for numbers like those in WM and Malifaux. The reason for GW's normal pricing numbers is all of the wargear and weapon options that even lowly infantry might have. Age of Sigmar doesn't have nearly so many options.

The wonderful thing about games with small numbers is how interchangeable the units are in a force (ie, this unit for 5 points can be swapped for anything else at 5 points, or a 3 and a 2- all of which are easy to come by). And how fast it is to make an army- it is just a few minutes to adjust to your opponent's level.

Adding up a 3000 point Warhammer FB force can take quite a bit of time, and I do think it was nice for AoS to address this issue. Even if it did chuck the baby out the window with it. Hopefully, they can bring back the baby without anything unpleasant.



I also wonder if there will be strict army lists or required units. GW's games have always had some sort of artificial balancing of the army- to make sure that you don't have a small band of elite heroes and monsters on the table.

But if it could be balanced, I'd love to try out a band of rampaging giants, or a warband of greater daemons. The lack of balance in the game made me think that a project like this would be awful to actually play.

[Mr Mystery]

Really need to listen to the Podcast!

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I do wonder. The reason for GW's pricing numbers is all of the wargear and weapon options that even lowly infantry might have. Age of Sigmar doesn't have nearly so many options.

The wonderful thing about games with small numbers is how interchangeable the units are in a force (ie, this unit for 5 points can be swapped for anything else at 5 points, or a 3 and a 2- all of which are easy to come by). And how fast it is to make an army.

Adding up a 3000 point Warhammer FB force can take quite a bit of time, and I do think it was nice for AoS to address this. Even if it did throw out the baby along with the bathwater. Hopefully, they can bring back the baby without anything unpleasant.



I also wonder if there will be strict army lists or required units. If it could be balanced, I'd love to try out a band of rampaging giants, or a warband of greater daemons. The lack of balance in the game made me think that a project like this would be awful to actually play.

I see what you mean - but I've always just written my units as 'chunks' for an army. So in 8th Ed, I knew how I wanted my 18 strong units of Ironguts and Bulls, so just kept those cut and pastable. Smaller units were also worked up (so bare minimum for me was 6 strong, full command, ergo X or Y points).

I hope they keep the army selection itself quite open. Some armies depend on their characters more than others - and dear lord summoning casters need to be expensive, or summoning otherwise addressed, given the FAQ.

[Erik Setzer]

I stand corrected

This is all really quite intriguing - to the best of my knowledge, GW have never interacted with their player base at this level. It's one thing to listen to demand, and another thing to actively consult tournament organisers and bring them in on the project.

Which in turn means, we don't know where this particular seam of oddities is going to stop! Returned to FB, SG coming back, now this? Where will it end? Can there be a naturally limit to such interaction?

Never? Well, okay, maybe you haven't been around all this time, so fair enough if you don't recall.

One of the things I loved about Battlefleet Gothic was Andy Chambers getting on the mailing list for it and not only answering questions, but providing comments on why certain things were done, and giving previews of upcoming rules to get feedback on them.

The only reason the company wasn't on social media at the time was it didn't exist. But heck, they used to have a magazine dedicated to the players, even. They had a monthly email newsletter with news, tips submitted by players, stuff like that. GW employees were scattered around mailing lists (and I think some forums, too, such that they existed at the time).

Then they shuttered themselves in their bunker, decided stuffy old men in suits that don't actually play games or even paint figures knew best, and went so hardcore bunker mentality they stopped talking to their own employees even.

It's nice to see them come back out of their shell, and kudos for that, and I hope they listen more and Rountree understands he made a promise he needs to break for the good of the company, but it's not really something unheard of. Though I guess it's been a while, so it's easy for people to forget or have not experienced it.

Bugger, I feel old now.

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Got to say, I'm baffled at those objecting to any points based system.

The worst example I saw of this was someone gleefully stating that GW got rid of points and wouldn't bring them back in order to "get rid of competitive players" and people who don't like it - "haters" - weren't wanted by GW and GW was happy to see them gone. And that would be a really stupid attitude for the company to have, and I doubt they had that attitude (why would you ever want to see a large number of customers leave for another company?!?), but it shows the attitude some people had.

But it's like any issue really, especially where opinions might get passionate (and we gamer nerds are a passionate bunch about our hobby)... there's bound to be troll-like behavior on both sides.

I see this as a positive step. Even if it was done to respond to something negative (the floated explanation it was to combat lagging sales, which I was told by a GW manager is the reason the Start Collecting! boxes exist, another positive that came from a negative), I think the focus should be more on the positive result, not quibbling over whether the reasoning was negative or not.

[grimmas]

Just listening to the podcast. Crikey and I thought I was a fan boy 🙂. Have listen folks really really interesting. Just a couple off notes, it was good hearing the Jervis love because, having met him, he is a really nice bloke and seriously keen gamer who gets a lot of unfair stick on the internet. Also for information the board room is actually called the High Lords of Terra Suite (I sh*t you not).

As a side note the first ever podcast I've listened too. The presenters were really good.

I'm very excited seems we're all getting something from this.

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Never? Well, okay, maybe you haven't been around all this time, so fair enough if you don't recall.

One of the things I loved about Battlefleet Gothic was Andy Chambers getting on the mailing list for it and not only answering questions, but providing comments on why certain things were done, and giving previews of upcoming rules to get feedback on them.

The only reason the company wasn't on social media at the time was it didn't exist. But heck, they used to have a magazine dedicated to the players, even. They had a monthly email newsletter with news, tips submitted by players, stuff like that. GW employees were scattered around mailing lists (and I think some forums, too, such that they existed at the time).

Then they shuttered themselves in their bunker, decided stuffy old men in suits that don't actually play games or even paint figures knew best, and went so hardcore bunker mentality they stopped talking to their own employees even.

It's nice to see them come back out of their shell, and kudos for that, and I hope they listen more and Rountree understands he made a promise he needs to break for the good of the company, but it's not really something unheard of. Though I guess it's been a while, so it's easy for people to forget or have not experienced it.

Bugger, I feel old now.

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The worst example I saw of this was someone gleefully stating that GW got rid of points and wouldn't bring them back in order to "get rid of competitive players" and people who don't like it - "haters" - weren't wanted by GW and GW was happy to see them gone. And that would be a really stupid attitude for the company to have, and I doubt they had that attitude (why would you ever want to see a large number of customers leave for another company?!?), but it shows the attitude some people had.

But it's like any issue really, especially where opinions might get passionate (and we gamer nerds are a passionate bunch about our hobby)... there's bound to be troll-like behavior on both sides.

I see this as a positive step. Even if it was done to respond to something negative (the floated explanation it was to combat lagging sales, which I was told by a GW manager is the reason the Start Collecting! boxes exist, another positive that came from a negative), I think the focus should be more on the positive result, not quibbling over whether the reasoning was negative or not.

Just to back Erik up GW did trial rules in White Dwarf and asked for feedback before intergtating them into new editions in the past most notably for 2nd and 4th ed 40K

[AdamHarry]

via [URL="http://forum.spikeybits.com/showthread.php?20765-Age-of-Sigmar-Warhammer-Fantasy-9th-Rumors-Explosion&p=240318&viewfull=1#post240318"]Scanner[/URL] 4-27-2016

[Erik Setzer]

RE: Jervis hate - I think part of that started up when people circulated an old article he wrote to try to back up the concept of lack of points. It got all the people upset with the lack of structure in AoS directing their ire at Jervis, even though we have no idea if he was even involved with it.

RE: "High Lords of Terra Suite" - I'd believe it, for two reasons. First, it sounds like something those guys would want to be called, to stroke their egos. (Had to take my shot at the board.) But also, it's a name based on the company's work. In our offices, we have rooms with names like Trayco Room, US Lock Room, SupplyWorks Room (RIP, friend, you were only with us for a short time!), EcoSource Room, Copperfield Room, etc. These are names of either our selling brands or something related to the products we sell. I imagine a lot of companies do that. Wouldn't be surprised if they named the front hall the Cadian Gate and the bathrooms the Eye of Terror (and maybe name the breakroom The Maelstrom).

[Mr Mystery]

High Lords of Terra suite is real. Many days spent there, once upon a time.

And for getting feedback - remember some of those now, including the trial rules for 4th Ed.

[Erik Setzer]

Remembering how far back 4th was makes me feel a bit old, though. Then I remember 3rd... and then all the way back to Rogue Trader. Oof.

Being an "old fart" in the games did net me a free 30th anniversary Marine, though, so there's that.