Happy Friday everyone. As you may be aware I am very excited about the upcoming new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar coming out next month. Today I wanted to take a look at what we know so far and some bits you might have missed. While we don't know a lot just yet there is a lot to be excited about just knowing that the rules will be beyond the 4 pages we have come to know and love. Over the coming weeks, we will be seeing a lot of info released on the Warhammer Community Site so check there daily as we all ramp up for the release. Before I begin I want to give a shout out to a post put out this week from Mengel Miniatures where Tyler looked a bit at the new edition and the past few years of the game, you really should check it out if you haven't already.
One of the things missing from the game for quite some time is a truly defined space. Over the past year, we saw Firestorm and the recent Malign Portents begin to give up a defined physical space as well as define how the different realms exist around each other. The new edition will take this a step further and give us even larger maps defining the realms with much more clarity so we can see exactly where we will be battling. I cannot wait to dive deeper into these maps and I expect this to quickly improve future Black Library stories and novels. In The World That Was you had a sense of place when names like Altdorf, Ulthuan, and Athel Loren where used and we will get this same sense of location with these new maps.
We have also seen the news that we are getting Command Points to use in our game to somehow allow multiple heroes to use their command abilities and possibly tie into other phases as well. I enjoy how 40k uses Command Points as a resource and while Age of Sigmars take on the resource will be very different I am excited to see how this system will look. While we only know that it will work someway with hero command abilities, but it is likely we will see it tie into other phases as well, but how much it ties into each phase, and possibly list building will be interesting to discover when we finally hear more. We are also getting official Scenery Dice as well (as well as a sweet new Combat Gauge!). Perhaps we will see new rules for scenery or an expansion to the table see as the dice have two different icons on them from the released pictures. Either way, it is nice to see more fun add-ons for Age of Sigmar coming our way.
We are also starting to see some info about the rule changes coming to the game. We have heard in the announcement video that you can no longer shoot out of combat, but we haven't heard if shooting s altered in any other way yet. One of the bigger, but still subtle, changes is how the roll off for battle rounds for the game. We have seen no confirmation if there will be any changes to how we decide who can decide the first turn I am a fan of the change and I am really happy that the priority roll is here to stay. It is such an integral part of the game and its strategy so seeing it remain causes me much joy!
We only have a few weeks to wait and we will continue to see hints and teases of the changes through daily community articles. There will be plenty of speculation going as the days approach toward release. Faction changes or merging, point reductions or increases, warscroll adjustments are all possibilities but do not let any negative reactions drag you down. Age of Sigmar is in a great place and the changes promise to enhance the game we love. Stay positive and try out the changes before formulating your opinion and I bet you will be very pleased with your time in The Mortal Realms. I have seen a fair share of negativity going on and we don't even know the half of what is coming our way. I truly find going into change with a positive attitude is much healthier and better for yourself and the gaming community. You get out what you put in so why not put in positivity instead of negativity. I am very excited about the future of our game and look forward getting my Daughters of Khaine on the table with the new rules. Until next week, Happy Hobbying!
Chuck Moore
Chuck Moore