Favourite part of Age of Sigmar?

[Path Walker]

Lots to like about this system, its clean, simple and quick. Most importantly, its a fin game to play with friends and make some really cool scenarios.

My favourite part of the game so far is how Battle Shock works, its a huge part of the game.

If you've not read the rules yet (why not? They're free! http://www.games-workshop.com/en-NZ/age-of-sigmar-compendiums (Clicky click)) Battle Shock is the morale system, its simple but plays out really well, if a unit loses models in a turn, at the end of the turn you roll a Battle Shock Test, a d6 and add the number of models you lost, for every point its over the Bravery score of the Unit, a model runs away from the battle and is removed from the table.

This means that as things start to go wrong for a unit, a few of them can start to decide to leg it, rather than as before where they'd all stand firm until it really got bad when they'd all break at once. You still have full routs possible, but this is when the unit is really taking damage, a bad turn can mean the whole unit bottles it.

I have found it a really cool system that works cinematically and yet is really simple and clean. Adds to the feel of battles with mortal units fighting in an age of Gods.

[Auticus]

The fluid movement (I thought i'd hate this) and how open it is to scenario play.

[acrimonger]

Lots to like about this system, its clean, simple and quick. Most importantly, its a fin game to play with friends and make some really cool scenarios.

My favourite part of the game so far is how Battle Shock works, its a huge part of the game.

If you've not read the rules yet (why not? They're free! http://www.games-workshop.com/en-NZ/age-of-sigmar-compendiums (Clicky click)) Battle Shock is the morale system, its simple but plays out really well, if a unit loses models in a turn, at the end of the turn you roll a Battle Shock Test, a d6 and add the number of models you lost, for every point its over the Bravery score of the Unit, a model runs away from the battle and is removed from the table.

This means that as things start to go wrong for a unit, a few of them can start to decide to leg it, rather than as before where they'd all stand firm until it really got bad when they'd all break at once. You still have full routs possible, but this is when the unit is really taking damage, a bad turn can mean the whole unit bottles it.

I have found it a really cool system that works cinematically and yet is really simple and clean. Adds to the feel of battles with mortal units fighting in an age of Gods.

I really did not like this at first.

Then you realize there is much less to manage, and that focusing on one unit is really important, and that bravery/battleshock is affected by special rules differently by various scrolls, it means not everyone in the unit is a coward, etc...

My favorite part is the accessibility, and the synergies in the warscrolls.

I havent played WHF since 5th, but I have Brett, Dwarf, and Empire armies that may actually see the table now.

[Al Shut]

I like the concept of damage tables, making big monsters less effective as they suffer wounds.

[40kGamer]

I like the concept of damage tables, making big monsters less effective as they suffer wounds.

It's a toss up for me between this and the impact of Battleshock. Both are interesting game mechanics.

[40kGamer]

I don't know if people have really thought about the cross game utility inherent in AoS either. You can buy a set of models, mount them in a way to where you can use regimental bases if you want to and then use the exact same models for WFB 8th, AoS and KOW! Talk about getting the most bang for your buck!

[Mr Mystery]

Big weapons doing big damage.

For instance, Ironguts can wallop three infantry with every wounding roll, or gouge chunks out of Monsters.

Oh, and weapon reach!

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I don't know if people have really thought about the cross game utility inherent in AoS either. You can buy a set of models, mount them in a way to where you can use regimental bases if you want to and then use the exact same models for WFB 8th, AoS and KOW! Talk about getting the most bang for your buck!

This too.

It's an entirely different kind of wargame to what I'm used to. Very open ended, and I approve of such things. Accessible and all.

[40kGamer]

This too.

It's an entirely different kind of wargame to what I'm used to. Very open ended, and I approve of such things. Accessible and all.

As a long time historical player I'm constantly looking for cross rules/game utility as how many times does one want to paint a force of SYW Prussians. :p

This isn't something you see much outside of Historicals so by eliminating the base from the equation in AoS, GW has opened the game up for a person to freely float in and out of it... And Free rules! Seriously, who doesn't love that? I would much rather spend more on models!

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I like not knowing what's coming next; where the storylines will go, what new factions and models will look like, so on and on.

I also think things look really good on round bases, far better than I thought they would.

The rest of you have basically covered the other things. Monsters getting less effective as they're ground down, Big Damage...

[Spider-pope]

Another vote for the wounds affecting how effective monsters are. That should be ported to 40k immediately. Things like carnifexs could have their stats bumped to where they are the terrifying entities they should be, because you'd be able to whittle them down over the course of the game.

[Mr Mystery]

I like not knowing what's coming next; where the storylines will go, what new factions and models will look like, so on and on.



Yes! I'm desperate to find out what's going on!

[Path Walker]

Yeah, that's a neat idea and done really well, really makes it worth hitting monsters with weaker units, try and wiggle down how effective they are.

Heroes and Monsters are powerful but they're vulnerable, you can always deal with them now, I love it, everything is much closer to median

[WistfulDread]

What I'm honestly loving most is how when many of the other competitive armies are taking this time to be goofy (Settra does not kneel!) the skaven sneakily took this opportunity to go super try hard. Skaven got pretty haus.

[Jack Shrapnel]

I'm a fan of a lot of things with this:

- low cost of entry to get new people involved in the game
- free rules of course!
- all the old models got a simultaneous update so no one was left out in the cold for years waiting for new rules!
- magic is much more reasonable now compared to 8th
- love the big monsters losing effectiveness as they are wounded
- regimental bonuses for some units encouraging the "little guys" getting buffs for numbers so they can face the "bigger guys"
- round bases
- your models seem to be a unit participating in the battle rather than just "wound counters"
- hero phase buffs from your general - what a great idea!
- Battleshock - my favourite mechanic - I hate being swept!

[40kGamer]

Actually... after the initial shock of the bandage ripping off and the general nature of this thread title, I have to say my absolute favorite part of AoS is seeing a lot of my old mates who haven't touched WFB in years excited to try the new game. Now if we can get those scenarios and an army balancing mechanism in our hands we'll be off to a great start.

[Moes1980]

I like a lot about this game but my favorite is the lack of army points. I have a zombie dragon with vampire lord that I never bothered to even glue because I needed to field about 1500-3000 points before I could even think about using it. Now, I can actually field it. I also like the sudden death victory conditions.

[Theik]

It killed my interest in warhammer fantasy, which is good for my wallet.

[Cutter]

My favourite part of the game so far is how Battle Shock works, its a huge part of the game.

I think my favourite part is that it's free.

But hey, you know what else is free? This,

http://www.manticgames.com/free-rules.html

It must be, like, a trend, or something.

[Mr Mystery]

And in just under 40 minutes, my Ogres will be off to war in their biggest game of AoS so far.

And you know, rather than thinking 'how much of a dick can I be?' given my collection is 3,500 in the old money, I'm instead thinking 'how much do I actually want to field?'

Kind of tempted with a pair of Thundertusks, as I want to see how monsters now fare with the sliding scale of effectiveness.

Opponent is playing Empire, so provided I pick my fights well, combat should be too much of a worry.

[Kaptain Badrukk]

With a few games now under my belt here's what I like so far.
1) There are no foregone conclusions. If you're sensible about what you deploy the game is always hard fought and never one sided.
2) Losing doesn't suck. If WFB had one flaw (I loved it btw) it was this, games tended to be one sided. You either annihilated your opponent or they did so to you. Not so with AOS, even playing as the very obvious underdog Sudden Death made the games tense and extemely fun.
2) It's NOT less strategic, in fact if anything your choices on the table matter MORE now than they did in 8th. Meta choices like army list composition etc are, in my experience so far, secondary to combat activation order and correct use of the hero phase.
3) There is no duff army, seriously I've checked every list and looked at every unit entry, I cannot find something that doesn't have something to recommend it for use.
4) Plot advancement, character development, no knowing what's happening, brain exploding!!!!!
5) At my GW on Saturday there was not a singe person NOT there for AOS. That's the first time we've ever had a day when the store was 100% 40K free. Which to me means more games with my AOS minis than I ever got of WFB :)

[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.

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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.

[Mr Mystery]

'Ere....where's me rules for the gribblies in Storm of Magic eh?

I've got me a Cockatrice (stop laughing at the back) that wants an outing!

And yeah. Seriously people. If you're on the fence, give it a bash. Disavow yourself that it's anything like WHFB, and just play it for it is. Won't be for everyone, but you may just find its got far more depth than it looks!

[Houghten]

'Ere....where's me rules for the gribblies in Storm of Magic eh?

I've got me a Cockatrice (stop laughing at the back) that wants an outing!

Cockatrice rules are in the Warriors of Chaos PDF.

[Mr Mystery]

Found them! Ta dude :)

[Chronowraith]

Disavow yourself that it's anything like WHFB, and just play it for it is. Won't be for everyone, but you may just find its got far more depth than it looks!

I've said this repeatedly but I feel the need to quote you and repeat it. Don't compare the game to WFB. Play the game for what it is, not what it is replacing.

(That aside, I still don't understand why GW didn't keep Fantasy around as a third product. I'll always be a little upset that they didn't finish putting out all of the army books in hardback)

[Al Shut]

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!

I'm curious, how did you come to the conclusion to field seven of them and not five or ten or any other given number?

[Mr Mystery]

Honestly? Not sure it was an entirely conscious decision.

I've played Ogres since 8th Ed came out, and all GW Staffers were given a free Batallion of our choosing. Started with their original book, and then squealed with joy when their second book came out and we got serious toys to play with.

So to my mind, Ironguts should be a small part of the army, albeit a really hard one.

I fielded two units of 8 Ogre Bulls (one with Ironfists, one with Two Clubs) and 7 Ironguts just felt 'right'. Ideally I'd have fielded an 8th, spesh as I have 18 or 20 of them (honestly cannot remember how many!), and I did forget to give them a banner bearer (banner of the Great Maw is fun!)

But given like everyone else I'm still a relative novice at AoS, I just put out what I thought looked like a fun challenge, rather than an uphill struggle for my opponent. 16 Bulls, 7 Ironguts, 8 Leadbelchers (well good!), Tyrant, Bruiser with Banner* and a Thundertusk certainly proved that!

Bruiser with Banner is a conversion. Pirate Maneater with the top and bottom of the anchor lopped off and replaced with plastic banner parts, topped off with a 'taxidermy' High Elf Griffon from IoB. One day I'll get him painted!

With hindsight, I still feel 7 Ironguts was about right for the smallish (I dunno how I'm quantifying that statement though!) game. 3 attacks each, hitting on 4+, wounding 3+, Rend -1 then Damage 3 goes through most units horrifyingly quickly. In the second round, only 4 failed saves on the Greatswords - my opponent lost 12 models to that....unusually horrible, I trust you'll agree!