Warhammer Age of Sigmar

Warhammer Age of Sigmar

Warhammer Age of Sigmar logo
Manufacturer(s)	Games Workshop
Publisher(s)	Games Workshop
Years active	2015–present
Genre(s)	Wargaming
Players	2 or more
Setup time	Varies depending on size of game. Usually 15 to 30 minutes.
Playing time	Varies depending on size of game. Usually around one to four hours.
Random chance	Medium (dice rolling)
Skill(s) required	Military tactics, arithmetic, miniature painting
Website	www.games-workshop.com

Warhammer Age of Sigmar (AoS) is a tabletop wargame released by Games Workshop in 2015. It replaced Warhammer Fantasy Battle after the End Times event which saw the destruction of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle world. Unlike its predecessor, AoS is set in the Mortal Realms, eight separate worlds connected to each other via portals called Realmgates.

The game revolves around the assembly and painting of miniature figures depicting heroes, warriors, monsters, and war machines. These are pitted against enemy armies on tabletop battlefields. Play is turn-based, with events such as attacks and spells resolved with dice rolls.

The Age of Sigmar tabletop wargame is currently in its second edition, which was released in 2018.

Editions

The first edition of Age of Sigmar came out in 2015, replacing Warhammer Fantasy Battle. The initial release AoS did not include points values for individual units; these were added later on. Summoning new units used the same mechanics as spellcasting, and required the dedication of "reinforcement points" for each summonable unit.

The second edition of Age of Sigmar, Soul Wars, was released in 2018 following the Malign Portents event. It brought multiple significant rules changes, notably an overhaul of the summoning system, the elimination of reinforcement points, and the introduction of endless spells.

Setting

Age of Sigmar is set in the Mortal Realms, a system of eight interconnected realms spawned from the Winds of Magic. The second edition brought with it rules for each of the realms, adding spells, artifacts, and realm characteristics.

• Azyr, the Realm of the Heavens is the only realm untouched by Chaos. It is ruled over by Sigmar, and is home to the Stormcast Eternals as well as a diverse population of humans, aelves, duardin, and other races.
• Aqshy, the Realm of Fire is dominated by volcanoes, deserts, and lava fields. It is home to the Fyreslayers. It had a significant Khorne presence before the arrival of the Stormcast.
• Ghur, the Realm of Beasts is the de facto kingdom of Gorkamorka. Orruks and ogors rule over a land of titanic beasts.
• Ghyran, the Realm of Life is distinguished by its extreme fecundity. It is claimed by Alarielle, goddess of the Sylvaneth. It was the focus of Nurgle's attentions before the resurgence of Alarielle.
• Chamon, the Realm of Metal is composed of metal-based continents and the floating citadels of the Kharadron. It is particularly coveted by Tzeentch.
• Shyish, the Realm of Death is under the uncontested domain of Nagash. Vampires, ghouls, undead, and nighthaunt all are found here.
• Hysh, the Realm of Light is the domain of Tyrion. It is the "sun" of the Realms.
• Ulgu, the Realm of Shadow was claimed by Malerion and Morathi. It is a land of shifting illusions and impenetrable fog.

In addition to the eight Realms, the Realm of Chaos permeates the void between the Realms and is home to the Gods of Chaos. Of the original four Chaos Gods, Slaanesh is currently missing, imprisoned between the realms of Hysh and Ulgu. The Horned Rat has ascended to the pantheon of Chaos and is now the Great Horned Rat.

Gameplay

Age of Sigmar emphasizes the narrative aspect of the wargaming experience, encouraging the play of story-driven scenarios, recreation of battles from lore, and player-created stories. The ruleset is designed to make the game easy to learn but hard to master. Basic rules of play are simple and quick to understand, but more advanced mechanics can be found in unit-specific "Warscrolls" that detail more rules and stats of the individual unit. The art of the game lies in understanding how your units work together and exploiting synergies to use them as a cohesive army. The rules and Warscrolls are free, and can be downloaded from the Games Workshop website or viewed in the Age of Sigmar app.^[1]

Age of Sigmar has three different modes of play. Of these, Matched Play includes points total for different units and specific points limits for army building (1,000, 2,000, and 2,500 points). In this mode of play, there are Army Composition rules that change depending on the point level being played, and the base rules are modified to allow for balanced play. A Matched Play game also requires a minimum number of Battleline rank-and-file units, and imposes a limit on the number of Heroes and Behemoths that can be fielded.

In addition to Matched Play, Open Play represents an "anything goes" game style, while Narrative Play focuses on recreating historical battles and scenarios. The latter often adds additional rules specific to the setting or event, such as dangerous terrain, a meteor shower, or movement restrictions.

To play any of the game modes, two or more players assemble armies beforehand. The battlefield and its terrain is set up on an appropriate surface, and dice are rolled to determine turn order. The players play in turns, with a round consisting of one turn per player. Combat is resolved through a series of dice rolls: a hit roll and wound roll from the attacker, and a save roll from the defender. If both the hit and wound rolls pass and the save roll fails, then damage is allocated. Mortal Wounds do not require dice rolls and are allocated directly.

The first part of a player's turn, the Hero Phase, is when spells are cast and command abilities are activated. Wizard units can usually cast one of three spells: the offensive Arcane Bolt, the defensive Mystic Shield, and a third spell unique to that unit. Command abilities, on the other hand, require a Hero on the battlefield with that ability, and use Command Points for activation. The second phase is the Movement Phase, in which units are moved across the battlefield; the player may choose to make them run, which makes them incapable of shooting or charging in the following phases. The Shooting Phase resolves all the missile attacks possible for the current player, then the Charge Phase gets melee units within range of attacking. The Combat Phase starts with units piling in, then attacking with all their melee weapons. The player whose turn it is attacks first, then the defending player fights with another unit; the players continue taking turns until all units capable of attacking have done so. The final Battleshock Phase tests the morale of depleted units; failed Battleshock rolls cause further models to flee a unit.

Factions

There are four main super-factions in Age of Sigmar, called Grand Alliances. They are united by common goals, but do not necessarily get along well with each other, with various factions pursuing their own agendas independently of their allies. Armies can be built from individual factions (e.g. a Stormcast Eternals army) or include multiple factions within the Alliance (e.g. Stormcast Eternals, Seraphon, and Sylvaneth), resulting in allegiance to that particular Grand Alliance.

Factions in bold have received dedicated battletomes.

References

External links

• Games Workshops free rules and Warscrolls for legacy armies