Much of the gaming world been rocked this week with the announcement from Games Workshop that the Old World would be making a return... ...and with square bases? https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/11/15/old-world-new-warhammer/ Be still my desiccated (Tomb Kings) heart. That would mean that I could dust off those square-based armies I have like High Elves and Skaven, and use them in all their ranked-up glory. That isn't to say that I wasn't prepared to use what I could from their ranks in Age of Sigmar (a game that I didn't get into because I really DIDN'T want to rebase all the hundreds of models I have) because I have just started renovating Tomb Kings with AOS in mind. However, IF GW really does bring the Old World back AND with square bases, then life would be a LOT easier for me. That is especially the case if old armies like Tomb Kings and High Elves are viable again. Despite my excitement (and that of others out there) there could be a fair bit to worry about (or reasons not to get too excited.)
This is a couple of years off at least - so maybe 2021-22?
Who is to say that GW will keep the rules in a way that makes simply using your old models...easy? (After all, simply using all those old armies you have with a new rules set wouldn't bring any major profits. Would it?)
Still, this is interesting news that has already prompted miles of ink and countless YouTube videos.
In other big news, a Sisters of Battle limited edition box set sold out within minutes. I definitely want some of the Sisters to join my Black Templars crusade, but now it looks as though that will have to wait for another day (or year) or at least until some of new individual packs come out.
As for my current gaming, today I finished off a test model for Tomb Kings that could count as Grave Guard/ Tomb guard in games of Warhammer or Age of Sigmar. Here he is - a musician.
This old fellow was painted mainly using GW contrast paints to save a bit of time. Tomb Kings are pretty good for this as they are a lot of bone, cloth and textured surfaces (wood, leather, etc.) Although this is a very "classic" Egyptian-style scheme I think it works well for a this kind of army.
One secret to working with this amount of gold is to keep things simple. In this case I drybrushed gold over brown (Gore Grunta Fur) to give a feeling of gold leaf or gold that was fading away. The shield works well because of this (IMHO).
I'm going to sit on this test for a couple of days and see how I feel about it. As weird as this may be, I really like to take a quick look at models I paint the morning after they are done. That gives me a chance to see them under natural light (I usually paint at night after work) and to see how the colours that looked SO WONDERFUL the night before actually look.
If on reflection I still like the look I'll then move on to the other 9 in the unit.
After finishing up the Warcry Starter set (two warbands and terrain) I decided to delve into my Warhammer box and see what I could pull out as a next project. This box consists of armies that I purchased over the years from ebay, and bits and pieces that ebay sellers had thrown in with other purchases as I got into painting High Elves and Skaven some years ago. Lo and behold, from the dusty sands of the back of my closet (actually just...dust) emerged an army that I always thought was really aesthetically pleasing, but which I never got around to painting...
Tomb Kings!
Now that Warhammer Fantasy 8th edition is no longer (officially) with us, what would I have that could be used for Age of Sigmar? (I know that there are warscrolls for TK units, but they aren't going to be updated). Would I have anything that could be used for Legions of Nagash?
With the very kindly help of multiple people on the Warhammer group in Reddit, it appears that yes, I have enough to make a small army that could be fun to play. As I only play friendly games, I could probably also stay on square bases (ducks for cover...)
Here is what it looks like (sorry for the bad pictures). Note that there is plenty of conversion work to be done (and no shields are attached as I will paint these separately for convenience.)
Skeleton Charioteers - use as The Sepulchral Guard
x10 TK Tomb Guard - use as Grave Guard.
(Back) x3 blocks of 10 skeletons - combine into a blob.
x2 blocks of 5 skeleton cavalry - use as Black Knights.
x10 Ghouls and x1 Tomb Banshee.
(L-R) Necromancer, Tomb King (use as Wight King?), Necrotect (use as ???)
Summary:
X3 blocks of 10 skeletons. (Two of which have musicians and standards).
X1 unit of 10 Tomb Guard - counts as Grave Guard.
X2 units of (5) Skeleton cavalry - counts as 10 Black knights.
X1 unit of Sepulchral Guard - 7 assorted skeletons made from Skeleton charioteers models.
X1 Tomb King. Could put on a spare skeletal horse and use as a Wight King on Steed OR I have a High Elf Star Dragon I could put him on? (Counts as Lord on Zombie dragon?)
X1 Necromancer
X1 Tomb Banshee
X1 unit of 10 Ghouls.
x3 TK chariots that could act as grave site markers.
I also have (but can't use for AOS): X1 metal screaming skull catapult (metal, unassembled) Finally I have an additional X4 skeleton horses x4 skeleton archers and X1 metal skeleton barricade model from an old limited edition release (Harry the Hammer) that I came by. If I can get the bits for another skeleton horse I could probably kitbash the archers into riders and replace their bow arms with spears/ lances.
I'm looking forward to taking these on in a time-saving fashion, so will probably go with spray undercoat and Contrast paints. Already my mind is turning towards seeing how I could get up to 1,500 points relatively easily and add some Oooomph: -Arkhan the Black? -Another necromancer and a block of skeletons? Thanks for looking! *Squeek*
Over the last few days, massive change has come upon the world of Warhammer Fantasy. The rules of the much anticipated "Age of Sigmar" game have been released, for FREE online, by GW, along with a Starter Box Set of (to put it mildly) impressive miniatures, featuring one completely new army, the Stormcast Eternals.
"Warscroll" compendiums for every existing army (e.g. Skaven)
VERY different rule sets. Just a quick glance shows (let me know if I am wrong!)
Just 4 pages of core rules.
Statlines are now reduced to just MOVE, SAVE, BRAVERY and WOUNDS
Wounds now changed in scope: e.g. Thanquol and Boneripper have 13...
A model/ weapon's effectiveness is often affected by wounds remaining. They become less effective the more wounds they have taken.
Everything can now shoot into combat.
Magic system is changed, with no Wizard levels.
All Wizards seem to know two stock spells: Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield, plus one of their own (e.g. A Skaven Grey Seer knows 3 in total. His Skaven magic is now just one spell, which is Vermintide.)
Wounds are now divided into "Wounds" and "Mortal wounds".
Movement is now free - so models can move in any direction.
Flank and rear attacks have no influence on close combat.
No templates for warmachines (that I can see) e.g. Skaven Warplightning cannon just causes a random number of mortal wounds to a target unit.
Armies are no longer based on points at all. You can take as many as you want. Players with smaller armies gain access to the "Sudden Death" rule, where they can choose from a small set of special objectives that will instantly give them the game.
Now, to give you a sense of this, these are just a few of the major changes from 8th edition! There are a LOT more, related to almost every core element of the game that a player would know. These include measurement (bases are meaningless, you measure from the model) and combat (there is no initiative anymore).
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
(T_T)
With all of that, no surprises for guessing that even though the rules have only been out less than 48 hours at time of writing, the internet is running red with rage (not to mention questions). After all, 8th edition was (generally) well received, and had the core approaches that wargamers have had at heart for a long time:
-A perceived "Fairness" based on the well-established rule of having a "Points system".
-Big "Blocks" of troops, and so a scale that brings to mind historical conflict of days gone by.
-Tactics deeply affected by movement and facing. This added another layer of depth to a game considered by many players to be fun because it feels like Chess.
-Deep and extensive rules, designed to cover the vast majority of situations that you would find yourself in.
At first glance, all of these things seem to have been thrown out of the window with Age of Sigmar:
-No "Points" limits (but already plenty of people are suggesting balancing armies by using "Total wounds per side".)
-Blocks aren't necessary and don't have to line up - just put your models in coherency. (Uh-oh!)
-Facing and flank attacks don't make any difference.
-No deep rules, plenty of gaps to be addressed.
-Seems completely unsuitable for tournament play.
Initial playtests seem to divide into two camps (of course!). Firstly, an overall negative or indifferent experience. This is not raging or anger, but more lamenting that AOS isn't a deep game, and that for the players in question, what they liked about Warhammer Fantasy isn't present.
"All in all I fail to see any merit in this game"
A good example would be the report of the first game over at Kiwi Hammer. This was my first visit to the site, but I will be back as I enjoyed the thoughtful write-up by the author ("Jeff" - great write up!), who is a very experienced WHFB player. Overall, not a good experience from his perspective, as AOS simply doesn't hold what he is looking for.
Comments over on Warseer are broadly similar at the moment, with the majority of poll respondees not interested in playing, or noting that they will have a couple of games but the lack of depth means they are unlikely to stay on.
...a more positive experience was had by Mc1gamer. I've just come across his YouTube Channel, and was excited to hear that he is going to "Test the $**t out of" AOS. To get his thoughts, please see the video below:
There are certainly things that Mc1gamer doesn't find stimulating about the new rules (movement for one) but he is keeping an open mind as he and his buddies try different game sizes and armies. It'll be interesting to see if his position changes over time.
SkaveninAZ takes a different tack. Not having playtested the game in detail, he still thinks it is important to keep things in perspective (and thanks to him for reminding me about Marvin.)
Me?
I'm definitely going to give it a go.
After all:
I can still use most of my models. I don't want to sell them.
The armies that I love are still there (thanks to the Warscrolls).
I don't have to re-base anything.
I never play in tournament games, so if the relative power of my army decreases it isn't going to impact my chances to win in a competitive setting.
I can still use movement trays to get troops across the board until they hit combat. They will still look pretty cool I reckon.
The armies still have the core DNA that I liked about them (e.g. Skaven) and even some of the humour (Skaven Screaming Bell...roll 2 dice, and on a score of 13, you get an "improbable" win??)
The whole games seems faster, which is a good thing as I am a slow player.
Half the fun of the game is meeting up with friends, and I reckon we can still do that.
The sight of lots of models on a decent gaming table still looks cool (not as cool as everything ranked up, but still pretty good!)
...and I can always continue to play 8th edition!
Image credit: The 4 Open Space Rules, by Roland Tanglau (CC by 2.0) on Flickr
