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Finally got through Quest for Ghal Maraz and put a few thoughts together. More piccies of the book here - some are referred to in the text (https://ttgamingdiary.wordpress.com/2015/08/19/review-quest-for-ghal-maraz/)

So, the next hardback for Age of Sigmar has been released. What we all want to know – is it any good?

I may be able to save some of you a bit of time here. If you are the sort of gent who skips the background sections of a Codex to go straight to the crunchy bits, you won’t like this book (in fact, as things stand, you probably won’t like the whole game, but I digress!).



Quest for Ghal Maraz is a campaign book much in the same vein as the Age of Sigmar hardback. However, it is much more of a heavyweight in terms of content.

It describes a campaign (actually, five of them, but they are all linked to one degree or another) covering the quest for Sigmar’s hammer, the aforementioned Ghal Maraz. Why has Sigmar lost his weapon? Well, to cut a long story short, there was a bit of a barney on the Age of Chaos (long before the ‘current’ timeline of Age of Sigmar which is in the Age of, well, Sigmar), and Sigmar was blatting every hard Chaos daemon that popped up. When Archaon appeared, however, Sigmar didn’t fancy engaging him in close combat and so flung his hammer at the guy, missed, and the hammer disappeared in a crack within reality. Sigmar throws his dummy out of the pram, retreats out of the Mortal Realms and then sulks for a long, long time.

Could happen to anyone, really.

As it turns out, the hammer travelled to the Chamon (Realm of Metal) where a Tzeentch sorcerer got his hands on it and started using the artefact’s power. This was discovered by one of the Stormcast Eternal commanders and so the quest for retrieving the hammer begins.

As a whole, the book is much lighter on nuts and bolts information such as force organisation than its predecessor, though it does include the intriguing chart above. You tend to skip over tables like this but, with Games Workshop, it is usually worth a second look. We have seen how the Stormhosts have been organised before, but some new units/organisations have crept into this one – just what is a Command Temple, eh? I have yet to find the answer in this book – it may be buried within the text, but I would not count on it. Games Workshop do like to release information a bit at a time.

The artwork on the right hand side also catches the eye, and is a campaign map similar to those in the last hardback. This one depicts an area in the Realm of Metal and as you can see, Age of Sigmar is becoming very, very high fantasy, a big departure from the grittier Old World. I know that will turn some people off, but I quite like the change (regular readers here will know I am quite into the dark ‘low’ fantasy as well, as the Enemy Within campaign demonstrates).

Oh, and that big silvery worm? That is an actual dragon. A very, very big one. And yes, that is a river of silver cascading down from one island to the next and forming a river.

Quite cool!

More Time of War rules are included, not just for Realms but for specific areas within Realms. So, the rules on the right hand side cover battles fought in the Hanging Valleys of Anvrok. A little later in the book, you get Time of War rules for a specific area within those same valleys themselves…

If you are of a critical mind (and why not, eh?) you might have to try hard to ignore the left hand page in that photo, which details the same Storm of Sigmar rules (daemon summoning and Sigmar’s rain – is that a euphemism?) that are found in the last hardback. We’ll come back to that point in a minute…

The Blighted Realm is one of the campaigns, charting the progress of the Stormcasts within the Realm of Life (Ghyran) and following on from the story in the War Storms novel. Nurgle is a big feature here, as are Pestilens Skaven. You will find Great Unclean Ones, Verminlords and a Chaos horn that is bringing everything low with its braying. Speaking of which, Beastmen are a big thing in this Realm.

The campaigns are more detailed in this book as compared to the previous hardback, with more campaign maps, battlescrolls and character descriptions (even the Branchwraith warrants her own section). This is very much a characteristic of these books – if you are looking for lots and lots of new units, these books will not be your thing. If you want to know what is happening in the Mortal Realms and then following that on your tabletop, you are going to find hours of use from these parts of the book – first in the reading, then the playing of the scenarios, then the making of your own games as your narrative goes through all sorts of twists and turns, inspired either by the text, the novels, or the results of your own games.

I am liking it a lot.

There is no grand ‘hobby section’ in this book, but there are bits and pieces dotted throughout. In the Realm of Life section, for example, you have this guide to painting Nurgle warriors. Your mileage might vary on the usefulness of this but as I am about to embark on a Nurgle force (and not having done a Nurgle model before in my life), I quite appreciated it!

This is one Battlescroll from the Realm of Life, covering an attack on Pupa Grotesse, a massive daemon of Nurgle that is spewing filth into the surrounding land. One of the things that makes this one interesting is that it takes place on two battlefields at once – one covering the ground attack and the other representing the ‘sky’ battlefield. As with all other Battlescrolls, it is easily adjusted to other forces, Realms and campaigns, and I am looking forward to giving this one a whirl.

Speaking of looking forward to things, this is a battlescroll from the Realm of Metal – and yes, it has the Chaos fortress that is appearing next week (if I recall correctly). Oh, wallets across the land are going to weep when that thing appears but as it is accompanied by a book which, presumably, includes lots of ways to use it in Age of Sigmar, it might actuall ybe a good investment on an hour vs. Sterling graph.

We’ll have to see!

Not to spoil anything, but Sigmar gets his hammer back – and is now preparing to launch the War for the Allpoints, a kind of nexus of Realmgates. That will be in Book Two, I would say.

This is a 240 page full colour hardback and, Time of War pages aside, it is page 188 before we get a whiff of actual rules – like I said, if crunch is your main interest, this book may not be for you.

It kicks off with lots of Warscrolls and the first thing we notice… they are the same Warscrolls as in the last hardback. And the starter set.

They have added units that have been released since, so the Stormcasts have all their Paladin variants, and the Goretide has their Exalted Deathbringer (coming out later this week!). And I can see why GW have done this – it keeps everything in one place and the page ‘tax’ to do so is relatively low. However, I just know that will set some people off who will accuse GW of being lazy.

Do they have a point?

Hmmm…

Well, I can see why they did it. And let me say now that right at the end of this book is the four page core rules set, something else which is repeated. As far as the gamer is concerned, everything they need is kept in one place, and they only need to lug one book around. From GW’s point of view… well, they can now let the original hardback go out of print and feel absolutely no need to reprint it. By repeating certain sections (which, to be fair, do not take up that much space) any Age of Sigmar book is the core rulebook.

I kinda get that.

But I just know some people will take a very dim view of it.

As they say, you pays your money…

Anyway, back to it – as well as the Exalted Deathbringer and all the regular Khorne units we have seen before, the Wrathmongers have appeared as well. Not new models, sure, but through the campaigns (and the novels, incidentally) these are one of the units that are getting pushed front and centre for Khorne warbands.

The Skaven of Pestilens are up next, and include the Plague Priest, Plague Monks, Plague Furnace and the Verminlord Corruptor (but not the Plagueclaw, interestingly). Nurgle is next with the Glottkin (back from their demise in the End Times), Morbidex Twiceborn (so you know which Maggoth Lord to build if you are picking up the kit soon), the Lord of Plagues, Gutrot Spume, Putrid Blightkings and everyone’s favourite, the Nurglings. Oh, and there is a page for Chaos Spawn too.

Now, all of this is in the (free!) Age of Sigmar app (which is actually quite good and worth a look – it seems to be under continual development), but you cannot help but think they have been quite selective in which Warscrolls have gone into this book. The Sylvaneth are not here (fine, they are in the last hardback), and both Stormcasts and Khorne guys are here in their entirety. However, the Plagueclaw is not present for Pestilens (notable, as it is the only retail Skaven re-release not to appear) and the Nurgle section omits, of all things, Plaguebearers.

So, it is by no measure complete.

So you might be using print outs or the app anyway.

In which case, why are they in here?

They are very pretty, to be sure, and I enjoyed reading them. But actual utility? I have to admit, I am struggling here – there is a pattern to these Warscrolls/rules reprintings that I am just not smart enough to see at the moment…

Beyond the unit Warscrolls are those for battalions. There are some new things here, such as the Annihilation Brotherhood for Stormcasts, which sees a Lord-Relictor lead three mobs of Retributors into battle, and who can then demolish terrain pieces (!). There is a Vengeful Skullhunt for Khorne (Lord, Deathbringer, Bloodsecrator, Blood Warriors and Wrathmongers), with the rest going to Pestilens and Nurgle – the Pestilant Clawpack, Bringers of the Rotsmog, Blighted Warband, and Nurgle’s Deluge.

These are not free, either as download or on the app, but they can be added to the app for 79p each. Again, some people are going to complain about that but honestly… there is a huge amount in the app that is for free and 79p a throw is a small enough amount if you actually use the app in play. If you don’t, it won’t affect you anyway.

Beyond the battalions, you get the four page ruels set and, finally, the Dramatis Personae, which details the main players of the campaigns featured in the book.

Conclusion
So, is it any good?

Well, I think, overall, it is. It is certainly a step up from the previous hardback and if you were in two minds about that, go for this one. It is far meatier in terms of both background and gameplay, and the artwork is second to none. It is a very pretty book.

I think the biggest criticism that will be levelled at Quest for Ghal Maraz is the repetition of material. The inclusion of the four page rules I get, and the repeated Storm of Sigmar ruels in Time of War is understandable. The Stormcast Warscrolls, why not? They are the poster boys for the game, I understand why they are there.

Beyond that, it gets a little harder to understand what is going on. You have every Pestilens unit in there that you can buy in a retail store – except the Plagueclaw. And, thinking about it, I am pretty sure that Plague Priest is only available by mail order – but the Censer Bearers, also available by mail order only, are absent (though, thinking about it, a Plague Priest comes with the Furnace…).

At the end of the day, that is a minor quibble, and there is a good, solid 200 pages of material in this book that you will not have that issue with.

Should you buy Quest for Ghal Maraz?

If you are into Age of Sigmar, yes. I would wholeheartedly recommend it. If you have been on the fence, it may be worth a look. If you are dead set against the game, don’t bother – it will not convert you!

So Quest for Ghal Maraz is out. I finally took it and give a read, because well I'm interested to see what happens next in the story.

As Mongoose said, it is a campaign book and like his former fellow, it's very low on rules. They are more of a "tool box" than something that will be enough by themselves. Don't expect to see any way to balance your armies because there isn't any. It's exactly the same format than the first one.

If you expect to read in details the background of the "new world of Warhammer", you will be disappointed. This book focus on the quest for Ghal-Maraz, Sigmar's hammer. It just tells how the God King lost his emblematic weapon (and actually, he didn't miss; it was a trap made by Tzeentch by using an illusion of Archaon so that Sigmar would throw his hammer in the crack in reality hidden behind), shows a few "history events" that happens afterwards and then gets back to the main topic; finding the hammer and gets it back to its rightful owner.

To be honest, it's more of a story than anything; it's not really a whole campaign, just background stuff with nice pictures and drawings - oh, and sometimes you have the skeleton of a rule to replay that event or something similar with other armies. But it will not be enough by itself; you will have to agree with your opponent to make something interesting out of it (like the rest of the game, anyway).

There are quite a few repetitions, indeed - it tells what happens before, especially the events of the starter box and it's even more blatant with warscrolls - a lot of them are EXACTLY THE SAME than those seen before in the former book - even the 4 pages of core rules, damn it.

But then I understood; Quest for Ghal Maraz isn't just the continuation of the Realmgate Wars storyline; it's also a campaign book that you can take without the others and use it by itself. That's why there are all the former rules and warscrolls; so that a new player can just start with it if he wishes, he won't be so lost since everything is recalled in the beginning of the book (summarily, sure, but it can be followed quite easily if you just bought this book).


To me, it's a nice book. It's well done, the artwork is pretty and the pictures inspiring (they did a good job with the models, IMHO). Its content is pure background and really is telling what happens in the battles during the quest of Ghal-Maraz. If you just focus on the game...well, that book isn't really necessary. Like, at all. The rules inside aren't outstanding, most of them are repetitions of what was written before (or can be downloaded for free on the webstore, anyway) and the scenarios give you no way to balance your armies, exactly like before (and seriously, some of them can become completely ridiculous if you play in a particular way, even with the homemade limitations you can see on this forum).

You will also feel there are some holes in the story. I believe it is intentionnal - this campaign book is, to me, complementary with the novels that describe "more in details" the same events.


Finally, my personnal feeling is that Alarielle is more a damsel in distress than a real goddess. That's why the Life Realm is lost to Nurgle in the end, I believe.

Stormcast Eternals are...OP in the background. With these new battles, you really have the feeling their death isn't that bothering. They just go back to Sigmar, Sigmar reforge them and send them back to battle. Which is strange, because some characters "killed" reappear in a very fast time to maul some chaos beasts with the rest of their brothers. It's a chance the Chaos Gods have "unlimited hordes", because these Sigmarines just keep coming back again and again. And with their full stuff, too!

The only thing that can really be annoying would be trapping their soul/making sure they're not killed so that they don't go back automatically to the Celestial Realm. A lot like demons, thus. And that's why it's hard to identify self to them; we can't really be afraid about them, since death isn't that terrible. Oh sure, they seem to "lose a part of themselves" each time, but hey...that's not so a big deal for warriors who already lost everything when Sigmar "kidnapped" them in the middle of mortal battles.

Also, it was funny to see how Hammerhand put back his armor at the beginning of the story, when he was retrieved by Sigmar after his "fake death" - Saint Seiya style!

Are the warscrolls included just the units used in the battalion war scrolls I wonder?

More like the products out until now.

For Stormcast Eternals, it's all of them.

For Khorne as well (including the alternative options for reavers and warriors) plus the wrathmongers.

For Nurgle/Pestilens, it's exactly the reconditionned boxes.

No Sylvaneth. Those are in the first book.

Yes, but as you said, the plague claw isn't in it.

Looking at the battalion warscrolls sets on the web page, it seems to cover all the models mentioned, and I assume there are sigmarine ones as well?

Would explain why some are not present (despite being available as multi kits) or left out like the plague bearers (as they already have round bases in box, and the Nurglings are not reboxed either I don't think)

Thanks for that review, extremely well detailed yet no spoilery-esque stuff.

Good stuff

Is there a pronunciation guide in the book?

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Is there a pronunciation guide in the book?

Good question. No, there isn't.

I find these books fascinating (caveat: just ordered the first one, so I haven't read through them yet). There is no doubt that they are twice the price they should be and offer little direct gameplay for the price. They even come out too frequently. Even the fluff is better done in the novels and short stories. There's no one thing these books do better, and largely, they just seem summarize other bits of the hobby - and that's why I find them so fascinating. They seem almost like a documentation of AoS's hobby.

With AoS, I have the opportunity to be at the beginning of something that will, presumably, last a long time, growing and changed over years and decades. What AoS ultimately ends up as in it's 8th edition will probably not resemble its current incarnation at all. These books don't just document the narrative as it goes along, but the narrative is built around the model releases. Ten years from now, you can grab a book off the shelf and know exactly where the hobby was at that particular point in time. It's kind of like have every issue of White Dwarf and being able to travel back in time to the first release of Blood Bowl or something.

I think when taken in that light, the books are still too expensive... but they do have some value above and beyond the handful of scenarios that they provide. Other parts of the hobby do it better, but they are collected here in one place. It's exciting to be at the beginning of something - to be there as it grows and changes - and I think it is worthwhile to have a nice chronicle of the hobby.

I swear, if there was something like this for some of the MMOs I used to play (like Star Wars Galaxies), they would be valued treasures that allowed me to revisit nostalgic parts of my life that no longer exist. These kind of chronicles do exist for things like Star Wars toys, LEGO sets, Doctor Who serials, and video games, but many of them are made long after the fact and made vague by history or given contemporary perspectives that offer new ways of looking at the past, rather than representing it directly. Periodicals are really the best way to experience history in context.

Anyway, I just wanted to point out that I think these books have potential and I hope they do keep up with them in some form.

kyrellification wrote:


Would explain why some are not present (despite being available as multi kits) or left out like the plague bearers (as they already have round bases in box, and the Nurglings are not reboxed either I don't think)

I'm not sure. The nurglings are in, by the way. I would like to say it's the "emblematic forces" that are in the events of the book, but since Sylvaneths play quite a role as well and aren't inside while they insisted to take all the Sigmarines...it's a bit strange. I feels like they had a few pages to fill with something but not enough for everything, so they just put those warscrolls.


About the price, well it's GW. Like it or hate it. Still, the book has 240 pages, the quality is good and artwork is not just some copy and paste. Pictures of battles with models are also very nice and inspiring.

In itself, it's a fair book. But you must love background to take it and, like I said, if you are just glad to play the game AoS with models and don't really care that much about the new fluff, it's not necessary.

 Sqorgar wrote:
They seem almost like a documentation of AoS's hobby.

I was thinking something similar about this book. The one thing I think it lacks is a section that talks about building your own scenarios and the types of forces to use - on the other hand, I suspect there may be someone in GW who fears this would immediately be latched onto by the wider number of gamers and become the 'default' method of play, which is the last thing they want (kinda like Dawn Attack used to be the default for 40k). A shame, as something like that would really round out the book for me.

 Sqorgar wrote:
It's exciting to be at the beginning of something - to be there as it grows and changes - and I think it is worthwhile to have a nice chronicle of the hobby.

You know, I haven't mentioned this in any of my reviews, but I know exactly what you mean here. There is a 'fresh start' aspect to AoS that I am finding extremely refreshing, and it is working on multiple levels - not just the fluff/background, but in terms of my model collection too. The real weird thing is that it is solely responsible for me changing my painting style. My models look way better now, and it is down to AoS. How weird is that?

Speaking on a price point these books aren't actually too bad for what you get. I own a LOT of RPG books and for a large hardback with this much commissioned artwork and production values £40 is about average.

I think people need to view these as GW Prime's 'Imperial Armour' books as they are basically some nice new scenarios, an accompanying background story (which isn't all that badly written IMHO) and a few flavoursome rules thrown in for good measure.

So while people may complain about the repetition I think the whole point of these books (like the IA books) is that you can pick and choose which part of the story you want to play, buy that book, and have a good few weeks of story-driven gaming for the two/three armies contained within.

I for one will continue to buy them, just because I am a sucker for a nicely laid out campaign that I can play through in a weekend with some friends. And given that many scenarios simply require one person to be the defender and the person with more models to be the attacker, you can spend as little or as much time as you want playing through the story.

@ Mongoose:

Nice review. This, plus the Spikey-Bits review have me sold on buying it.

But:

'There is no grand ‘hobby section’ in this book, but there are bits and pieces dotted throughout. In the Realm of Life section, for example, you have this guide to painting Nurgle warriors. Your mileage might vary on the usefulness of this but as I am about to embark on a Nurgle force (and not having done a Nurgle model before in my life), I quite appreciated it! '

Well, I think GW should distance themselves from putting hobby sections in theit books and save that for the AOS App/ WD etc. Makes more room for gaming/ narrative info.