Age of Sigmar Azyr Composition Rules 1.0b

[Auticus]

cool story.

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taYwujapuXU[/url]

There's video proof for you. That's our gw store. The gw manager is standing next to me in the store while we discuss the campaign. Which openly discusses comp.

When asked directly 10 minutes ago as I went there on lunch, the manager said he has never been given any such directive.

We have three more videos coming out. The last will be at the GW store in a watchtower scenario. Using the comp. With the manager.

All five cities near us that have GW stores also have groups, and those groups use a form of comp written by the people that frequent those stores. With those managers. Who also have not been given your fictional directive #66. Unless they are all just lying, or you have some form of proof that shows this legendary directive given forth by GW HQ to all of its stores, which really still holds no relevance to using comp anyway since people play games pretty much everywhere - so even IF Gw really did outlaw comp in their stores... which at least in the eastern US that is fiction, that has no bearing on people writing comp packs, which at last count there were about 12 popular ones floating around and being used at a host of events.

So again - cool story.

[Path Walker]

As I said, I would guess he'll be told to stop at some point soon then.

[Auticus]

Sure. We'll still be rolling with it next fall too so be sure to watch for our videos. I think GW would be pretty stupid to think it can enforce such nonsense as to who is using comp in the store or not. Considering he and other managers have no idea of this directive, I'm not really worried about such a directive being pushed.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Well, that was certainly a few pages of... something.

Liked the video you linked to, though - pretty cool that your comp's well established at a GW store.

[Alaric]

cool story.

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taYwujapuXU[/url]

There's video proof for you. That's our gw store. The gw manager is standing next to me in the store while we discuss the campaign. Which openly discusses comp.

When asked directly 10 minutes ago as I went there on lunch, the manager said he has never been given any such directive.

We have three more videos coming out. The last will be at the GW store in a watchtower scenario. Using the comp. With the manager.

All five cities near us that have GW stores also have groups, and those groups use a form of comp written by the people that frequent those stores. With those managers. Who also have not been given your fictional directive #66. Unless they are all just lying, or you have some form of proof that shows this legendary directive given forth by GW HQ to all of its stores, which really still holds no relevance to using comp anyway since people play games pretty much everywhere - so even IF Gw really did outlaw comp in their stores... which at least in the eastern US that is fiction, that has no bearing on people writing comp packs, which at last count there were about 12 popular ones floating around and being used at a host of events.

So again - cool story.

They faked the moon landing so you coulda faked this :P LOL

Looks like a lot of fun. Love it when real people prove the interwebz wrong.

Just ignore him. Lookit me Im a moderator too!

[Auticus]

Thanks lol

Here is the second battle: [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9UTCYbgXsc[/url]
Third battle being filmed this weekend, Im pretty excited.

I'm pretty sure he's the same individual that was ranting on one of the AoS facebook groups about my comp as he was using the same words and phrases. Fortunately, I can block him on FB and he won't see my posts so I don't have to worry about my threads being hijacked there, but on here can't do that so... it is what it is.

People get mad when others are playing a game in a way that they do not like and have to let you know how bad you really are when you do it. Thats the hallmark of intrawebz game forums.

[Kaptain Badrukk]

Hey Auticus.
First off, kudos for all the effort. It is genuinely commendable that you've tried so hard to make the game your own.
TBH at my local store we've come up with an infinitely simpler balancing system that has led to ZERO incidents of system abuse.
1: No duplicate named characters unless they're in the substitution list.
So no double nagash etc.
2: Set a time/turn limit.
So those rules about percentage model loss actually work. We found 8 turns was the sweet spot for us.
3: If you want to summon it you must have 1 minimum sized unit in reserve.
So a summoning army must either debate choices vs numbers like everyone else.
So far we've enjoyed using these three simple rules to have great games.
Thoughts?

[Auticus]

Hey Auticus.
First off, kudos for all the effort. It is genuinely commendable that you've tried so hard to make the game your own.
TBH at my local store we've come up with an infinitely simpler balancing system that has led to ZERO incidents of system abuse.
1: No duplicate named characters unless they're in the substitution list.
So no double nagash etc.
2: Set a time/turn limit.
So those rules about percentage model loss actually work. We found 8 turns was the sweet spot for us.
3: If you want to summon it you must have 1 minimum sized unit in reserve.
So a summoning army must either debate choices vs numbers like everyone else.
So far we've enjoyed using these three simple rules to have great games.
Thoughts?

I think with the right group those are fine, though they leave balance out of the equation. For example, I've watched people put together forces on the table that they felt were balanced and then play the game, and most of the games ended up as very one-sided, so then after the game we plugged them into various comps and noticed that universally they were always pretty significantly out of balance if they were going by points.

Stormcast were particularly the issue. With comp they may have 20 models vs 40 models or so so they feel they are outgunned. The games are always close but the players often felt they were outgunned because they were down in models. When left to their own devices they would compensate by having 35 or 40 stormcast models trying to base it off wounds, but by the point systems that turned into largely 50 pts vs 35 pts or so and the final outcome usually reflected that.

We do 6 turn limits typically but yes a turn limit is definitely key as are scenarios that are things other than "kill everything". In fact, "kill everything" may not even win you the game if you ignored the scenario rules and that has made a big difference.

Your summoning is interesting and workable but does not deal with the guys we have here that own 3 or 4 greater demons, who would just summon and then chain summon since they already had that in reserve. (unless I'm not understanding fully)

It also does not solve the problem with heroes hiding in the back because they can just be targeted by the entire enemy army and killed in one turn.

Those are my own nitpicks that make AoS out of the box not very fun for me, so I understand YMMV.

[Caitsidhe]

I think it is somewhat telling that the ONLY truly active thread about AOS here is the one where dedicated hobbyists work hard to try and make up alternate rules or composition to make the thing remotely playable.

P.S. *We found the changes Auticus made functional, and we keep up with them. They make the game at least playable. That is a far cry, however, from making AOS fun. These days, when we break out the AOS, we use what he has posted. Beyond that, the models have just been absorbed into other projects and used for other games. There is this episode of Futurama where they discover the truth about SLURM cola:

Slurm Queen: "You'll be submerged in Royal Slurm, which in a matter of minutes will transform you into a Slurm Queen like myself!"
Glurmo Half: "But your Highness, she's a commoner. Her Slurm will taste foul."
Slurm Queen: "Yes. Which is why we'll market it as New Slurm. Then, when everyone hates it, we'll bring back Slurm Classic and make billions!"

We can only hope that GW actually has a plan like this, but in reality we all know that they think AOS is great and this is truly the best the can do.

[Kaptain Badrukk]

Caitsidhe
To each their own I guess. We've found it very enjoyable, and laden with tactical depths.
Once you know where to look. In fact the only complaint I have, which i've recently mentioned in another thread on here, has been that without army lists i find pre-planning my purchases harder than before!

Auticus
I think the fundemental difference here is that we've abandoned "balanced" and embraced the idea the unbalanced games can be awesome.
Also this isn't a specific gaming group, this is pick-up games at my GW local store. They're the manager's rules for keeping the tables turning over, plus his enterpretation of the warscrolls/rules.
Sudden death is the key factor, as it immediately provides an underdog with a clear target, thus keeping the game good and tense. In fact we've found that the harder we tried to make the games seem "fair" before we started the less enjoyable they became.
By far the greatest game we've had so far was dwarves vs undead.
Dwarf player put out 40 or so models, undead guy had nagash and a buttload of models in reserve to facilitate summoning.
Dwarf player, hugely outnumbered, chose to Endure.
By turn 6 the entire store was gathered around the table cheering (for or against) as, outnumbered 4 to one by this point, the last Ironbreakers held the line for the win!
The game was dynamic, exciting, and hugely fun. And sudden death turned an unbalanced slug-fest into an exciting scenario.
I clearly suck at stormcast, the common consensus is that they're a powerhouse and i've yet to win once with them. And I routinely run multiple large units with supporting warrior priests and celestial wizrds. My skaven on the otherhand reign undefeated, ah stormvermin.
Yeah, heroes, that took some getting used to.
Then we realised that we were using them wrong;
Age of Sigmar Heroes aren't Wfb heroes, for a start you need a whole lot more of them!
The Bloodbound army I'm currently working on has 16 lesser heroes, valkia, and archaeon.
Not to mention 4 warshrines!
Heroes are cheap force multipliers, and with a few notable exceptions, should NOT be the linchpin of an army.
And using TRUE LOS and sufficient terrain they,re easy enough to shield from th brunt of shooting.
WeVe likewise found that missile units having had their ranges severely cut helps balance things some.
The summoning thing, as an interpretation of the written rules, clears it up nicely.
Yes, someone with 4 bloodthirsters CAN summon all 4, but having to have at least 1 in reserve, plus 10 letters, a herald, and a minimum sized unit of anything else s/he may wanna summon at some point in reserve really helps balancing for sudden death.
I'd caution against the 6 turn limit, as it immediately invalidates 1/4 of the games best balancing elements too.
Apologies for typos, new tablet.