Favourite part of Age of Sigmar?

[Mr Mystery]

That was a pretty cool game, despite my (now binned and replaced) dice doing their best to do me over!

Karl Franz is a bit of a beast, but I had enough Ironguts left to beat Deathclaw to bloody ruin. Indeed Ironguts are horribly, horribly hard. Mashed their way through Greatswords, Knights of the Blazing Sun and of course Karl Franz, and still had two out of seven left over!

You really need to pick your fights when it comes to combat. My opponent blobbed it with his Greatswords, allowing my Ironguts to swing first for the second round in a row, and got obliterated.

Monsters are rather good fun. Thundertusk knackered a Great Cannon, Helblaster, some Halberdiers and then flattened some Crossbowmen in a single turn. Being able to shoot in and out of combat, added to being able to freely split shooting attacks is interesting.

As for combats themselves, not much has really changed. They last about the same amount of time as in 8th, and it's kind of nice to not have units legging it after a close round and a bad Ld roll.

Looking forward to my next game!

[Xaric]

My core things I enjoy is quite a long one so bare with me

Hero/ability and magic as the starting phase

Shooting phase now can be used in combat also units locked in combat can shoot out to another unit to free another unit that is being tied down by 1 model.

Charge phase now you roll for distance then declare the target this means if you was going to charge but rolled two 6s you could target a weaker target giving more freedom to pick and choose rather then leaving it to pure luck to get within charge range.

Combat phase the fact that you now can move the models in a more loose style rather then blocks feels like it has a realistic flow to it and from a artistic view they look like how fighting in groups should look more chaos less organized.

Battle shock phase the fact 1 wound models and multi wound models get balanced by this with this example you loose 3 models in a unit of 20 that has a bravery of 7 and 1 wound each you role a 6 + 3 that means you loose 2 1 wound models equal to 2 wounds.
You loose 3 models in a unit of 20 that has a bravery of 7 and 3 wound each you role a 6 + 3 that means you loose 2 3 wound models equal to 9 wounds.

And the fact that units now work better if with units that assists there strengths by lowering there weakness for instance glass cannons surrounded by a wall of high defence units making them insanely powerful

[Chronowraith]

My favorite parts?

1) Battleshock mechanic. Watching individual models run off the board is much more interesting and far less calamitous than an entire unit succumbing to a bad die roll.
2) Command abilities. I think they add something quite unique to the game. Certainly some of them are underwhelming or pretty much one-shot abilities but, they add character.
3) Play what you want. I'll preface this by saying that I think there should be a balancing mechanism, but, overall I really like being able to take whatever I want. I've played with Skaven miniatures that I rarely played with in 8th because of point cost, effectiveness, etc. Hell, I've played with miniatures I've never used before outside of proxies. Sure, most of these are special characters, but previously they were just collecting dust on shelves. Now they actually saw action on the table.
4) Cinematic gameplay. I know the idea of a ranged unit shooting into close combat or shooting while in close combat drives people crazy, but you know what? I like it. How many movies and TV shows do we all watch where someone with a bow or a gun is in melee with someone and jumping all over while firing back at the attacker (If you watch Arrow, this happens all the time)? It makes sense to me that someone trained with a bow would know how to react to melee and still get the stray shot. It's not like most ranged units in this game are actually good at combat.

I certainly lament the loss of WFB. I miss ranked combat and I miss a more involved magic system. That said, AoS has its own merit. Don't think of it as a successor of WFB. Don't compare the mechanics. Give it an objective try and see if you like the game for what is in the game, not what it is lacking. It certainly has issues, but then... so does every game.

I was very skeptical since I loved WFB. I loved that it was essentially historical combat with fantasy races and magic. When I put aside my love for WFB and my sadness at seeing the game I enjoyed disappear overnight and actually gave AoS an objective try. I enjoyed it. The first few games weren't compelling because they were small to learn the rules but after growing to larger battles, it is much more fun. I just wish that my Skaven didn't set off Sudden Death EVERY freaking time.

[Mr Mystery]

Sudden Death is also something I like to tweak.

For instance, today's game was against Empire. Even using 8th edition points, I'd be outnumbered by a third. So we just played without it, otherwise it would have been massively one sided in my favour, and I gave him a damned good run for his money as it is.

But that's another thing I'm really enjoying. As you said, without points, there no duff units, or super hard ones. Just units. So it all comes down to respecting your opponent, and knowing that the game is just that - a game. Games are meant to be fun. Competitions are meant to have a winner come what may.

By the time we'd wrapped up, we declared it a draw. Both players had a good game, and the combats were largely close run things.

And what's really weird? Fundamentally, it plays a lot like 40k. But it doesn't feel like 40k.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Had a lot of family commitments so I haven't been able to get to a game store this weekend; well jealous of all you lot. Can't wait to play my first game. Thanks for the reports!

[Mr Mystery]

Further musing on Battleshock...

At first, I thought it would be quite problematic for my Ogres. They have distinctly middling Bravery (mirroring their middling Ld in 8th Ed), and even losing a single Ogre can be a right bugger. Except....it's really not that bad at all. Given the lads have at least 4 wounds each, it takes a proper, solid kicking to get me in danger of losing lots of them to Battleshock. And frankly, if I'm losing three or four Ogres in a single round of combat, Battleshock is the least of their worries!

Besterest bit? It's a whole new game for me to learn how to be completely badass at!

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Battleshock definitely seems to have a nice multiplication effect. You can have two relatively evenly-matched sides in a combat and not too much can happen, morale-wise, but if the balance is tipped it can really tip. I like that as a morale model.

[Mr Mystery]

Yup. It rewards you when you arrange a multiple ganking of a unit, whilst not punishing you for a single botched roll.

Anyone who has lost their main unit to the dreaded double six followed by accursed double one for flee will see the appeal here!

[Chronowraith]

Had a lot of family commitments so I haven't been able to get to a game store this weekend; well jealous of all you lot. Can't wait to play my first game. Thanks for the reports!

I'm not one that usually toots his own horn, but, I have a battle report up on the blog in my signature (Skaven versus Wood Elves). It was a very fun game for both players.

- - - Updated - - -

Yup. It rewards you when you arrange a multiple ganking of a unit, whilst not punishing you for a single botched roll.

Anyone who has lost their main unit to the dreaded double six followed by accursed double one for flee will see the appeal here!

That's what I love about Battleshock. It generally avoids an entire unit running off the field simply due to a terrible die roll. However, it is still possible to lose a full unit if you get smacked down hard. Of course, there is an easy way around this. If you think a unit is going to take substantial casualties, use your general's inspiring presence. Problem solved.

[Path Walker]

Its almost as if they play tested the game extensivly!

I played with unit of Chaos Warriors, 3 Chaos Trolls and a Chimera against Eltharion, Tyrion and a Mage on a Dragon and 20 Sword Masters and the game was interesting and not at all a wash for me which under 8th it would have been. The game balances A LOT better than people assumed it would from just flicking through the rules.