AoS moves into new Khorne range and Skaven repacks

This week we see new Khorne models released in a similar fasion to the Sigmarites, expanding the existing range that was introduced with the Age of Sigmar boxed set. We should be expecting further additions to the range over the next few weeks.

In addition we see some more of the existing range, this time Skaven, re-packed into the new white boxes and with round bases only. I hear we are to expect a lot of this repacking to happen in conjunction with other releases as Games Workshop re-brands the WHFB range into AoS. 

It may be a good indication of what models in the current line up will continue and what will be dropped moving forward

 

The next part of the Realm Wars campaign book picks up from the end of the last, where Ghal Maraz is discovered in the realm of metal at the heart of a Tzeentch fortress. A minor Tzeentch character wants to use it to merge the realm of metal with the realm of chaos and curry favour with Tzeentch. Sigmar, of course wants it back!

Latest Rumours and Pictures from Age of Sigmar

This weeks Age of Sigmar leaks look towards revealing some more of the lore...

So it is indeed the Great Horned Rat that has ascended to become a true fallen God

And the Prince of Chaos, He is missing, his throne left vacant...

I never trusted those Dwarfs. Greedy little buggers...

But aparently they finally get some sort of cavalry. They ride Lava Beasts now...

The contents page of this weeks AoS Campaign book.

And finally some pictures of the new scenery frames. Note how they are in frames, and not cut out, indicating they are cast by GW themselves and not the cheap China stuff

 

Proposed basing conversion chart

I thought I would post up the easy part of the WHFB to AoS conversion.
Here is the base sizing chart I have created as something to potentially be used in creating tournaments or even just transferring your old square bases to new rounds

The idea behind this is there is a standard table to convert square bases to the closest equivalent round bases manufactured by GW, and that a Hero model will use the next size up base to represent their influence on the battlefield. Moving forward, I anticipate there will be a standard rule that you will measure from the base, not the model.

I am currently working on the full conversion chart for the existing GW model range that has warscrolls. 

After that I have a draft rules errata to make AoS playable as a competitive game, and a points formula so there is at least a place to start from for purposes of balancing.

Slannesh is DEAD. A moment of Silence please

The latest information to be coming from Age of Sigmar is Tyrion, Warrior-God of the Aelf, has captured/destroyed Slannesh.

Taking the Prince of Pleasures place, a new Chaos God, this time one more soccer mum friendly...

40K your next...

Cause you know, smashing peoples skulls in is more PC than boobs...

This weeks White Dwarf & AoS release pictures

We have picture from the latest White Dwarf. Unfortunately they are in German, of which I read very little of.

This week we see themed dice cups, a hardcover AoS book which I assume to be the scenario/fluff/background plus the 4 pages of rules (BRB replacement) as well as a limited edition version. 

We also get the Lord model pictured above, as well as a box of 5 Stormcast Eternals with options to make the following:

shield and blade two blades hammer and shield two hammers 1 grandblade 1 grandhammer

Oh, and not a 40k model in sight...

Balancing Age of Sigmar for competitive play

Now that the dust has settled somewhat its time to really look at the new game from fresh eyes.

The one thing we can be sure of is Games Workshop is not interested in competitive play, thus the community will need to address the shortcomings of the Age of Sigmar rules to make them work. I also wouldn't hold your breath for a FAQ!

This of course will provoke untold RAW vs RAI conversation, but the reality is, the rule set is not solid and needs a peer review. And the list is long. The time for that argument is over.

However, this process is simpler than it has been in the past, as the player base only needs to review 4 pages, not 150! This enables us to re-write the whole thing a lot clearer and with little ambiguity. 

Now the only issue with doing this as it will not be considered "official", and therefore there will always be detractors, and will be unacceptable by some. That is ok, as I expect any review/re-write to be aimed more as part of a player pack for a tournament. Think ETC or even Swedish comp systems.

So some of the game mechanics and rules that I think need fixing and/or clarifying.

• Bases - Moving forward a chart will need to be created to standardize base size (both square and round) for any competitive play. All measurements will need to be made from the base. The ETC chart is a good place to start.
• Spells and abilities - I think a move to "a model must be present at the beginning of the phase" to be able to use their spells and abilities in the command phase. This is to stop the endless summon cycle or the special command bomb drop.
• Shooting - Models cannot be shot at in combat - period (includes spells) and models may not shoot if engaged in combat.
• Removal of all the silly antics that GW has felt need to be in the rules for people to have fun. We all know how to be clowns on our own merit and it adds nothing to an enjoyable game. The model shall just have those rules on a roll or X+
• The keywords in all warscrolls allow us to easily group units for specific rules and limitations. This needs to be taken advantage of.
• Introduce cover mechanics. In previous editions we used modifiers to hit targets with ranged weapons. We have the opportunity to look at this differently now that the mechanics have been simplified. I think a bonus to save will work better now. So, for example, if a unit was shot in soft cover, they would receive a +1 to their save. A unit in a building would receive a +2 to save. Its nice and simple and will allow terrain and buildings to play a part in the game.
• Actually include some rules for moving and or fighting in buildings!
• Look at a simplified line of sight system to suit the simplified rules. True line of sight leaves to much ambiguity.

Then there is the general clarifications to the rules themselves such as who gets summoning spells or how multiple wounds are handled. There are a few rules that have multiple interpretations, and it wont be difficult to fix.

I personally would like to see an alternating turn introduced so that it engages both players in the same turn and introduces a more tactical approach in the other phases besides the combat phase.

And finally, a army selection system will need to be created. This will most likely be the most difficult. Many people are suggesting a wound based system, but that in itself will not work. Not all wounds are created equal.

I have some ideas around a tournament based on scenarios. Each player in the tournament would select X war scrolls to bring to the tournament. These would be the available units to the player for the entire tournament. They would also decide what summoning spells a player will get. Each round in the tournament is a specific scenario. The scenario would set win conditions (and even secondary conditions) to achieve whilst also setting scroll limitations for that game eg 

• Scenario "Kill stuff" would allow you to select 7 warscrolls to field in this scenario. They may be chosen as follows: 1 Hero, 1-3 monster, 0 war machine, and 2-5 troop scrolls.

The victory conditions might be to kill the opponents general (primary) and kill a monster (secondary). Basic stuff but you get the idea. Scenarios could be made very interesting and killing things could become entirely secondary in some.

Now there would need to be some limitations of warscrolls (which could be wounds based) or the total army to ensure that things like the goblins have a fair chance vs the sigmarites.

So in summary I think the above could be what some of us are looking for and a way to salvage Age of Sigmar/Warhammer for those of us who want a more balanced and/or competitive experience to amuse us. Out of the book AoS is not an option...

A closer look at AoS

Much has been said and leaked of Games Workshops new game: Age of Sigmar over the past few days. And you can be sure, this is a totally new game. 

WHFB is dead. Games Workshop no longer supports it. There is no 9th edition.

I am not going to get into if WHFB was profitable or not and the reason it was dumped in this article. That's all mostly speculation and the surrounding reasons why are a lot more complex than most people will have the attention span for. I will leave that for another post. What I am going to talk about is what has been done, and what we may expect in the future.

So first up lets look at what has been done.

First the barrier to entry has been substantially lowered. Gone are 100 pages of complex rules to read and memorize. In this age of low attention spans and Playstations, the market that Games Workshop needs to attract is substantially different than in the 90's. 
If you take a look at other successful franchises, they all share a similar commonality. Simple, easy to pick up rules. Now I am talking things like board games and card drafting games. Each share a rules set that is often 2-4 pages long, and easy to read. X-Wing is riding a wave of popularity atm. Its easy to pick up, only a few pages of rules. Apparently there are people out there that don't think sifting through a tomb of rules is fun anymore. Yeah I know, weird aye.

Now I havn't mentioned model count or cost as a barrier to entry. These are really misrepresented in causality. They have nothing to do with why 8th edition was not growing. They where also self imposed by the player base, ie it was the customer that wanted to play massed ranked battles. There was nothing stopping people playing 1000 point games.

Cost is also a misnomer. There are many many examples of hobbies outside of tabletop wargaming that make it pale in comparison to costs. Ever tried airsoft? carting? how about football? Look a little more insular into similar fields. A PS4 will set you back a chunk of change, and then you will buy a dozen games a year. Just talk to a MTG player. They will tell you WHFB is cheap by comparison. Yet they are both very popular...

Whilst cost and model counts contribute, they are largely a result of the community. But I digress.

Next up, a total rewrite of the story. Not only just the story but the aesthetics to. Or an evolution if you will. Gone are Orcs, Elves, Dwarfs, and in come Aelf, Sigmarites, Duardin, Oruk etc I think its safe to say this is another flow on effect from the IP court cases of past. Games Workshop has made a move to protect its IP moving forward. The style is taken a step forward. We will no longer see classical or renaissance era models. To generic. Everything will be high fantasy, and at first glance a larger scale.

So this is what we have to date, well at least what we have confirmed to date.

Now the next part is a bit of speculation. Moving forward, what can we expect?

Now lets think of one of the more obscure rumors that came from reputable (in so far as rumour mongers go) sources. One stands out to me. Limited edition models. Not in the traditional sense that you would immediately think of, but more in a cyclic fashion. This was a rumour that was shouted down by many. The thought was cause for much internet rage.

But lets put this in a more rational light. Games Workshop wants to sell models. They don't value you as a customer after you stop buying. There is no money to be made in pandering to people with existing collections. Cry as you might this is the reality. Of life. If people for a moment think Wizards of the Coast or Privateer Press value your collection, you are wrong. They make no money off supporting already purchased product. They hold exactly the same view, despite outward appearances. They all play to our weakness of buying cool wardollies and collectibles. But after the sale has happened, there is no incentive to continue the relationship outside of trying to sell you more stuff. 

So what better way to get people to purchase more models than to make last years stuff not as good, and the latest release the next big thing. Scandalous you cry! They already do you say. Well not to the extent I am thinking they will move too. Think discontinuing models and cycling them out, well at least, the less popular ones.

Welcome to Age of Sigmar: Magic the Gathering edition... (sic)

In MTG, the core rule set is about 4 pages long. It covers the basics, turn order etc. The complexity comes from the cards themselves, and the interactions they have.
There are 5 main "realms" red, white, blue, green, and black, and a huge array of cast which mix the colours.
Now each quarter, WotC will release a new expansion, and every year they release a new core set, cycling out the old. Cards from 2 cycles ago become invalid. If you dont buy the latest block expansion, your deck will become quickly invalid and uncompetitive.
MTG has no points values attributed to its cards, yet is entirely balanced. Everyone has access to every card yet cards will work much better by having synergy with the rest of your deck. There is no upper limit to the number of cards you can have in your deck, but you are limited to a maximum of 4 of each type (land excepted). There is a minimum size deck. MTG has sudden death victory conditions and a sideboard. 
In MTG the lore is always advancing with each new core set and expansion. Nothing stays the same.
Sounding familiar?
MTG is very expensive to keep up to date and competitive, yet is arguably the most popular scifi/fantasy game in the world.

Age of Sigmar looks to be built to a similar model
Simple short core rules
No points, no maximum size. 
Victory conditions balance forces, sudden death etc
Complexity comes from a models "warscrolls/cards" interaction with other models
7/8 realms, 4 factions + opportunity to develop many many more
Releases will be cyclic. New stuff release is latest and greatest must have. It eventually moves to direct only support before getting discontinued to make way for more new stuff.
The lore/background fluff will be ever evolving, not static.

I think the new Warhammer replacement will be an ever evolving game. It might even be thoroughly competitive. The deployment rules are very interactive and add a whole new aspect to the game. Units appear to have natural practical size limits and there appears to be a lot of combo/synergy building set to happen with warscroll interactions. If there is indeed no points structure to balance the game, we could be looking at a full MTG model.

Would you play that game? 
A lot already do. 
But can it work with models. There is more investment (time) in models and there would not be the same trade market as MTG.

AoS: There be pictures!

Formations just like 40k!

So the new fluff picks up after the new 8 realms have been created. 7 remain after the coming of Chaos. I can only assume the 8th realm is the celestial which is no longer a mortal realm. 8 realms, 8 winds of magic. That's the connection

Within the 8 new realms are 4 factions. Think the forces of the death (Nagash's forces, undead ), forces of order (Humans, Dwarfs, Elves, Lizardmen? Simgars lot), forces of destruction (Orcs and Goblins etc Gork and Mork unite to become Gorkamorka!) and of course forces of Chaos (Chaos gods, Skaven?)

Bases don't matter bro. You been told.

As far as a potential tournament scene goes, count on there being a basing chart and round base convention for new stuff. 

New paint profiles so we can choose our chapter!

Newly painted undead stuff looks amazing!