Age of Sigmar: Rules (Part 1)

The rules for Age of Sigmar have now been out for a while and the dust is beginning to settle over the game, its rules, and the tournament scene. Even though the tournament scene is in its infancy, I wanted to take this opportunity to go over the rules for the game in depth and with some basic strategy to up your games. I also want to provide a general outlook and opinion on the game and its basic rules for three different categories of players: (1) new intro players, (2) the occasional hobby player, and (3) the tournament player. Let's dive in!

The rules for Age of Sigmar are interesting in that they are extremely basic providing an way to ease into the game for new players. Even thought the rules are presented in a single four-page pamphlet, most of the rules for the game are presented on only two and a half pages. I know that many players have said that Age of Sigmar is "kiddie-hammer" or a game for children. And on first review, the opinions are correct. The basic rules of the game are presented in a way that lends themselves to a basic game and play style. What I like to term "rush-hammer," or where two players simply rush at each other with their units to engage in close combat until one side's models are completely wiped out. However, when you look behind the rules a little more, you can seem some interesting complexity that makes generalship an important part of the game. Especially, when you move away from the old idea of victory points and more toward a skirmished-based game that focuses on objectives and scenarios. This is far different from the old style of Warhammer which focused on the simple destruction of your opponent's forces with the occasional bonus objective. 

The four-page rulebook (if it can really be called a rulebook) is provided in the Age of Sigmar starter set or available as a free .pdf download from the Games Workshop website. If you don't yet have a copy of the rules on your computer (slacker!) pick it up here. 

ARMY CONSTRUCTION

The rules start with army construction. Under the basic rules, armies can be as big or as small as you desire with no more recognition of balance or army composition other than use whatever models from your collection as you wish. This provides us with the general outlook of the game. 

For the new player, this easy type of army construction is great. The new player can use all of the models that he has in every game. Now remember, most new players probably just have the starter box and maybe an additional unit box or two. And so do their friends that are also getting into the game for the first time. With such a limited range of models and units in their collection, the games are going to be much more balanced than another player who has a huge collection of models. In fact, most games against their friends will most likely involve similar builds as they learn the game: the same number and type of units and total number of models. This naturally brings in a level of balance that allows the new player to learn the rules and play the game without feeling that some type of unit or model restriction is necessary before they play their next game. 

For the hobby player, the new army construction rules are also great. The new rules free up the hobby player from restricting themselves to certain units when they play because they must always take so many points or units of "core" troops are are limited in bringing three of the same "rare" unit even though they happen to like the model or it fits within their "theme" or general army idea. Removing army construction requirements free the hobby player up to play with their favorite units and models (like special characters or models that just aren't as competitive) or try out an entirely new army idea without getting bogged down if the army "fits" within set army construction guidelines. 

It is with the old Warhammer tournament player that the army construction rules of Age of Sigmar have created the most disquiet or "player angst." Allowing anyone to play with their entire collection of models without limitation upsets the tournament player. If you don't believe me, check out the forums or rants on Twitter about Age of Sigmar. The fact that players now have to police themselves when they create an army to play against someone with no framework of how to min-max a system is extremely frustrating. Further, most tournament players have huge collections of powerful models meaning that they could be playing against others with special characters like Nagash or armies of nothing but cannons. Without guidance, tournament players go crazy as there is an inherent need to see immediate balance within a rule set so that players can gauge the effectiveness of armies, units, or even individual models. And it is from this group that I have witnessed players leaving the scene for other games with more intensive rule systems and balanced army construction guidelines like Kings of War, Warmachine/Hordes, and Infinity.

Now that the rules have been out a while, this is the area where I see people tinkering the most. Tournament players in general want to be able to go into any game store and play a competitive, but balanced game so that they can work on their skills or list. They need a balancing system to measure their generalship so that the outcome of a game (win or lose) is not dependent on having way more models or type of models than an opponent. Without any balancing system for their games, the tournament player cannot learn from the game and make appropriate changes to his list or fix mistakes in his play style. There are several different army composition systems that are currently being established by the community that place restrictions on army building and I will be going over several of these systems in the future (especially the prominent ones that are used for tournaments). It is my hope that these systems find a way to bring back many of the players that have left the tournament scene, but if they are gone for good, then maybe the players who are just now starting the game will take their place.

Armies in the game are now made up of Warscrolls. Models in fight in units. A unit can have one or more models (thus, a single model is still defined as a unit under the rules), but the unit must be made up from the same Warscroll. Each Warscrolls provide all of the specific rules for the unit, or model that a player wishes to use in a game. Examples of warscrolls are below.

Example of a unit scroll

Example of a character scroll

Each Warscroll (and there are Warscrolls for every model in all the old Warhammer armies) contains the following information:

• movement amount in inches
• number of wounds (note that individual characters have far more wounds than they used to and mounted characters have wounds that include both the character and the mount)
• a bravery score (which is explained in a separate section of the rules and correlates to leadership, thus a higher number is better than a small number)
• the armor save of the unit (the lower the better)
• the weapons (either ranged or melee) used by the model (and models can use all listed weapons during a turn)
• the weapon stat lines (including range of the weapon, number of attacks, the "to hit" number of the weapon (the lower the better), the "to wound" number of the weapon (also the lower the better, and note weapons now wound on a set number regardless of what they are attacking), the rend amount (which correlated to armor piercing), and the damage that the weapon inflicts with each successful wound (the higher the number the better)
• a description of the unit including the number of models in the unit (if limited), choices for weapons (if available), and unit upgrades that apply to the unit (like a champion, or fly)
• any special abilities for the unit (this includes things like musicians, standard bearers, special weapon attacks, spells, heroic abilities, etc.)

An important note about units is that "[a] unit mist be set up and finish any sort of move as a single group of models" with all models within 1" of at least one other model from the same unit. This keeps the unit in coherency so that the unit can be easily distinguished from other units on the battle field (even duplicate units of the same Warscroll). Further, if anything would cause a unit to lose coherency for any reason (by losing a model in the center of the unit, for example), then the unit must reform the next time that the unit moves so that all models are back in the 1" coherency. These rules become more important once we examine the different movement rules for the game.

Tools of War

The basic tools to play a game of Age of Sigmar are the similar tools to games of Warhammer: a tape measure that measures in inches and six-sided dice (or d6s). The tape measure is used to measure distances and move units around on the battlefield, tabletop, or whatever surface you are playing on.
Distances in Age of Sigmar are measured in inches between the closest points of the models or units you are measuring to and from. Note, this includes any point of the model that is sticking out like the barrel of a weapon, an outstretched sword or claw, or even a model's tail. Importantly, under the basic rules, a models base is not part of the model and isn't included when measuring distances.

This rule may have been the most abused and talked about rules change by 8th edition players in the first few weeks after the rules were released. The number of pictures I saw online, or games I watched where players wound model for an advantage by hiding the most outstretched portion of the model from an opponent until the unit fired (if it was a gun barrel), or attacked (if it was a long claw, wing, or spear), was appalling. I'd like to think that most players weren't thinking about abusing these measurement rules, but it has become apparent after seeing that entire techniques on piling into combats "tail-first" in order to gain additional attacks or walking backwards with spear-wielding troops until the turn they charge, that many of the more abusive players immediately found ways to break the spirit of these rules. Thus, the most basic and fundamental change that I have seen in almost all composition and rule-change packets, and one I use in all of my games of Age of Sigmar, is to measure from the base of one model to the base of another model. Though this has created some issues with what types of bases should be used for each type of model so that there is some consistency within the Age of Sigmar community. (Note, I refer to the Age of Sigmar community as separate from the old Warhammer community as that community is now working on an entirely new edition of the game known as 9th Age)

The dice are used when certain actions, like spells or attacks are made. Although rolling a d6 is self-explanatory, there are a few special dice rules that need mentioning. Some rules require the use of a d3. If you must roll a d3, instead roll a d6 and halve that dice total rounding all fractions up to get the appropriate number. Thus, a "1-2" is a "1", a "3-4" is a "2", and a "5-6" is a "3". Further, some rules allow you to re-roll a dice. If a rule allows you to re-roll a dice, you must use the re-rolled number and can not re-roll the re-rolled dice again (i.e., you can never re-roll a re-roll). Further, all re-rolls happen before modifiers, if any, are applied to the roll.

The Battlefield
The basic rules do not set forth any specific play surface, other than to say that the battlefield should be bigger than three square feet. However, in their pictures, they use the standard 4' x 6' gaming table with the GW made 2' x 2' square pieces. Thus, I expect most standard games will be played on a 4' x 6' table unless a specific scenario is played.

The rules then go on to provide that players should decide in which of the seven (7) Mortal Realms that the battle is taking place (if it is a pitched battle). I wouldn't be surprised if rules eventually came out for specific terrain types or specific realm rules to play a part in the game depending on which Mortal Realm is chosen, but for right now, choosing which of the Mortal Realms a game takes place in is only necessary for the use of certain abilities of certain models. If two players can't agree on a Mortal Realm, for instance because one player will get a bonus in one realm over another, both players roll a d6 and whoever rolls highest chooses.

I don't know how important this rule will become in the grand scheme of things. For tournaments, it seems that the more likely approach will be to have a table already set up with a specific Mortal Realm to prevent certain players from trying to game the system as more special rules come out. But I could also see allowing players to choose which provides more incentive for taking certain troop types and allows the players a bit more control in the outcome of the game and the manner in which their armies play. Though, to be honest, I think this rule is going to be forgotten more often than not, or just generally ignored by most players. In fact, the type of player that usually remembers a rule like this and enforces it in games is the type of player who will directly benefit by a specific Mortal Realm and has built his army to only play in one realm to gain certain special abilities.

Terrain and Mysterious Landscapes
As with previous games from Games Workshop, battlefield terrain is a integral part of the game. Although there are no hard and fast rules for terrain, the rules do provide that a "good guide is at least 1 feature for each 2 foot square." This is pretty standard terrain placement and most 8th edition tournaments had six pieces of terrain on the board. Though, after playing just a few measly practice games with Age of Sigmar, I have found that more terrain is better (unless the terrain pieces you are playing with are unnaturally large). I like terrain to be in the area of 8-10 pieces for a standard 4' x 6' table as I think this gives a bit more flavor to the game and actually makes the terrain rules come in to play a bit more than just six standard pieces. Note, that terrain is placed first, before deployment zones are chosen, so it is important to balance terrain placement as you never know what your deployment zone will be.

The rules also have an alternative terrain placement guide to help set a number of pieces in each 2' x 2' square. If you want, each player can roll 2d6, alternating for each section of the board, and depending on the roll add anywhere from between 0-3 terrain pieces on that section. The prospective 2d6 table is as follows:

• 2-3: No terrain pieces
• 4-5: 2 terrain pieces
• 6-8: 1 terrain piece
• 9-10: 2 terrain pieces
• 11-12: choose from 0 to 3 terrain features

In comparison with past games, the terrain rules for Age of Sigmar are more interactive with the game. As the terrain comes from the Mortal Realms, each piece has the chance to help or hinder your warriors throughout the game. After terrain has been placed on the board, the players should either roll a d6 for each terrain piece to determine what type of terrain it is (the fairest choice) or choose the effect of the terrain from the Scenery Table. I personally like the d6 roll as it makes the terrain a little bit more random each game, but this can add unnecessary length to a game being played in a certain time (like a tournament) and so I would expect most tournaments to have terrain on the board already determined and marked for the players (which would aid in competitive terrain placement by placing certain pieces that could aid or hinder your troops in different areas based on where you expect to move your troops in the game). The d6 Scenery Table is as follows:

• 1 - Damned: Any unit within 3" can make a sacrifice during the Hero Phase. The sacrificing unit suffers d3 MORTAL wounds and gains a +1 to ALL to hit rolls (both close combat and ranged attacks) for the unit until your next Hero Phase.
• 2 - Arcane: Any wizard within 3" of the terrain feature adds +1 to any casting or unbinding rolls while within 3" of the terrain feature.
• 3 - Inspiring: Any unit within 3" of the terrain feature adds +1 to its Bravery characteristic while within 3" of the terrain feature.
• 4 - Deadly: Each model that makes a "run" or "charge" move across, or finishing on, a Deadly terrain feature rolls a d6 and on the roll of a 1, the model is SLAIN OUTRIGHT. (Deadly terrain is truly deadly as it it can kill monsters or heroes outright. I know I won't be moving close to any Deadly terrain in my games.)
• 5 - Mystical: Each unit within 3" of the terrain feature rolls a d6 in your Hero Phase. On the roll of a 1, the unit is befuddled and can't be selected to cast spells, move or attack until your next Hero Phase. However, on the roll of a 2-6, the unit can re-roll ALL failed wounds rolls until your next Hero Phase.
• 6 - Sinister: Any unit within 3" of the terrain feature in your Hero Phase causes Fear until your next Hero Phase. Fear forces all units within 3" of one or more fear-causing units (so multiple fear-causing units do not stack) to subtract 1 to their Bravery characteristic.

The in-game terrain rules for Age of Sigmar are straightforward. Models may move across terrain, but not through it. I.E., a model can move through a forest copse, but not through the actual tree. Or a model can move over a wall by climbing it, but can't move through a building, etc. 

Army Deployment
Army deployment in Age of Sigmar begins after the battlefield and all terrain have been set up. Both players roll a d6 and the player who rolled highest (re-rolling ties) divides the battlefield into two-equal sized halves. The rules show three examples including down the middle of the table lengthwise giving each player a 6' x 2' deployment zone, down the middle of the table width wise giving each player a 3' x 4' deep deployment zone, or in an "L" shape giving each player a corner that extends 4' on each side but is only 2' deep.

Once the battlefield is divided into two equal parts, the player that lost the roll-off chooses which deployment zone he wants to deploy his army in. The players then alternate deploying units, one at a time, beginning with the player that won the initial roll-off. Note, this means that the player who won the roll gets to divide the battlefield as he wants, but doesn't get to choose his deployment zone and has to place the first unit.

Units that are deployed must be set up entirely in a player's own deployment zone at more that 12" away from the enemy deployment zone. This means that models will always be at least 24" away from the closest enemy unit during deployment, not 24" away. This is an important distinction that players can forget when they could theoretically make contact with a unit with a maximum move of 24". Under these rules it is impossible for units to be closer absent some other special rule.

Players alternate placing units until one player has chosen to deploy all of the units that they want to fight in this particular battle. The other player can then continue to deploy units until he chooses to stop, or has run out of space in his deployment zone. Any remaining units are held in reserve and will not be used in the battle absent special rules. From a tournament perspective and general game perspective, this means that a player would bring an army designed around a particular force, and then chose to deploy less of that army in a particular game if certain units would not be useful or could not be deployed on the board, etc. This gives the game a little bit more tactical flexibility in a tournament through the use of an army pool (or total number of units that could be used). Personally, I really like this rule and hope that it finds its way into the tournament scene through the various army composition rules being tossed about.

After deploying their armies, both players count up the total number of models in their army as this total model count will be used to determine victory conditions.

After both sides have deployed (and not when constructing army lists in contrast to 8th edition), each player chooses one of his models as GENERAL. Each army GENERAL has the ability to use command abilities during the HERO PHASE.

Victory Conditions
Under the rules as written, battles in Age of Sigmar are played until one side has destroyed all of the models on the other side. If one side wipes out the other, that player immediately claims a MAJOR VICTORY.

However, if for some reason a battle could not be played to conclusion, perhaps because the game is only being played during a certain time-frame, a certain number of game turns, or for specific objective, then the result is calculated by comparing the number of models removed from play from each side with the number of models that each player originally set-up during deployment. Victory is then determined by comparing the percentages of lost models. Whoever lost the lowest percentage of of models is the winner and has won a MINOR VICTORY.

Models added to a player's army during the game (through summoning for example) do not count towards the number of models in a player's army. But they are counted among the casualties that a player suffered.

Additionally, if a player starts with a model count that is over 1/3 higher than the other player - like 16 models on one side and 10 on the other - the player with the lower model count may choose to use the SUDDEN DEATH VICTORY CONDITIONS. If the player with the lower model count chooses an objective from the SUDDEN DEATH VICTORY CONDITIONS, and that player achieves the objective, that player immediately wins a MAJOR VICTORY and the game ends. The objectives from the SUDDEN DEATH TABLE include:

• Assassinate: The enemy player picks a unit with the HERO, WIZARD, PRIEST, or MONSTER keyword in their army. Slay the unit that the enemy player picks.
• Blunt: The enemy player picks a unit with five or more models in their army. Slay the unit that they pick.
• Endure: Have at least one model which started the battle on the battlefield still in play at the end of the sixth battle round.
• Sieze Ground: Pick one terrain feature in enemy territory. Have at least one friendly model within 3" of that featrue at the end of the fourth battle round.

For the new player, the model rule is not that much of a problem and adds an interesting dynamic to the game. Remember, most new players are playing their friends or someone at their local gaming store and have similar model numbers or are more likely to play with similar numbers (i.e. a character, and a few basic unit boxes worth of models). So for the new player, its is either unlikely that someone will have significantly more models than another player, or they will specifically choose to play with less models to play a game and tryout the sudden death rules.

For the hobby player, the model rule is also not that much of a gaming problem. Hobby players enjoy playing one-sided battles to see how the game will play out and what interesting things a particular miniature can do during a game. Further, hobby players enjoy playing with specific models and the model based victory conditions are less of a concern as the purpose of the game is simply to play with fantastic looking models.

However, for the Warhammer tournament player, this model count rule, over something else like wounds or units, is probably the most controversial rule in the entire packet as under the rules as written, the person with the lowest model count (regardless of how powerful those individual models are) gains serious bonuses to the game. The model count rule is also one of the most frequently comped, or changed rule, because of the inherent unfairness in the rule. As one model is not always equal to another - for example, a monster with 12 wounds, lots of attacks, and decent statistics is not comparable to a single clan rat - the player who takes the most powerful single models (monsters, special characters, etc.) has a complete advantage over any player who takes single wound models and a larger army. That is one of the reasons that this rule has divided the playing community: the inherent unfairness and inequity in the basic victory conditions of the game. Although there have already been many attempts to address this issue, and I am sure there will be many more, the basic rules as written allow for easy abuse of the victory conditions.

Next time, I examine the actual play rules for Age of Sigmar and breakdown the basic concepts as well as some of the more intriguing and confusing rules. Check back for Age of Sigmar: Rules (Part 2) in the near future.