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Hi Everyone,

I wasn't sure exactly where to post this.. my apologies if this is in the wrong place, but I am looking for some advice as I am basically a brand new "war-gamer"

I haven't picked up a mini since I hit high school essentially (16+ years ago), and even back then (while it was always 40k fantasy) I never really got into the gaming side of things. Just always loved the building/painting/hobby aspect.
I've recently rediscovered the hobby and I'm absolutely loving it! It's really great to be back, and this time around I'd like to give the gaming aspect a shot.

I recently stumbled upon some reviews of the AOS starter box and general info about the game and became very intrigued. Due to the simple rules (though I know the generals handbook has added points and more depth) I feel that the simplicity of the game would be a much better place for me to start as opposed to jumping back into 40k 8th edition right away.

I've picked up the Craftsworld start collecting box & codex, and am really enjoying working my way through that. Regardless I would like to step into 40k eventually, its just a lot more intimidating then the way AOS sounds.

I find myself leaning more and more towards AOS and looking for more information on getting started. I also love oldschool fantasy, but never played it back in the day as pushing square sets of multiple troops around seemed boring to me. Lord of the Rings was a huge part of my childhood so anything like that is really intriguing to me.
Ironjawz would be my first choice as I love Orcs, or just a "destruction" army in general so I could mix and match and have some fun with it.

Now, money isn't a huge issue. And as I stated I plan to play Eldar in 40k eventually. Now that I am an adult with a full-time career I have no problem sinking some cash into this hobby again. My idea was to get the starter set and go from there.. I'd really like to use that as a way to get a few buddies into it that I think might be really interested, and it sounds like it's got everything I need to start playing once we assemble the models.

I can say that the way GW is trying to attract new gamers to the playing aspect with AOS is definitely working. I am very, very intrigued by the simple 4 page rule set for starting out.

Anyways bottom line is.. what would you suggest? Please take this from an absolute new gamers perspective. While I have experience with GW from a modeling/hobby perspective, I have absolutely no tabletop wargaming experience and would be stepping into the rules or the first time ever.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

my personal opinion would be, since you already love LOTR, just go with that, its a very good game and its not overly complicated.

40k 8th is not appreciably more difficult than AoS. If you dont care about points or matched play then the GHB is not even really necessary, it didnt really add any depth to the rules, just some new options, the 4 pages are still the rules. AoS is easy to pick up and learn. Ironjaws are a very tough force IMO. I had a "barrel of monkeys on meth" level fun with those guys in AoS skirmish they can make a beautiful mess out of anything. I would ask though, what do gamers in your area play? some places AoS is popular, others it is not, so you want to make sure there are folks to play with first. Also consider Shadespire, the "Boyz" from that set are pretty sweet and can be used in AoS as well https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads/aos-warscroll-ironskulls-boyz-en.pdf

AoS was the alpha for 40k 8th edition.

The games from a core standpoint are more or less identical, it is just that 40k was transformed, AoS is brand new.
Ss sutch the 16 pages of core rules for 40k is as low as they can get 40k but imo still needs more advanced rules, as changing sutch a complex game as 40k 7th was into measly 16 pages wont cut it.

8th added something called powerpoints. It is a pointvalue based on avrage regular cost, AKA, a 10 man unit of imperial guards costs 3 powerpoints, regardless of how you kit it out.

But if you go to regular points you have spend a few houers working on spread sheets adding every single point cost as every single models has a value and the gear it uses has a value. while it is mutch more precise and allows more models on the table it is quite daunting for new players.
Powerpoints is the casual way of making an army fast and easy. 25 powerpoints equals 500p, 37 power equals 750p and 50 power equals 1000p.

Thing is, if you can play AoS you can allso play 8th 40k.
problem whit 40k is that it is in the middle of a codex nightmare atm that wont finish untill end of next year, before the work on balancing the codexes begins.
As stuch, AoS is a safer place as the battletomes are pretty decently balanced, as all the major balance work comes in generals handbook and FAQs.

They are both designed to be super board-gamey and easy to pick up so really its just a matter of what aesthetic or setting do you like more.

 thekingofkings wrote:
my personal opinion would be, since you already love LOTR, just go with that, its a very good game and its not overly complicated.

40k 8th is not appreciably more difficult than AoS. If you dont care about points or matched play then the GHB is not even really necessary, it didnt really add any depth to the rules, just some new options, the 4 pages are still the rules. AoS is easy to pick up and learn. Ironjaws are a very tough force IMO. I had a "barrel of monkeys on meth" level fun with those guys in AoS skirmish they can make a beautiful mess out of anything. I would ask though, what do gamers in your area play? some places AoS is popular, others it is not, so you want to make sure there are folks to play with first. Also consider Shadespire, the "Boyz" from that set are pretty sweet and can be used in AoS as well https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads/aos-warscroll-ironskulls-boyz-en.pdf

Isn't LOTR in the middle of an overhaul though? From everything that I've read online, I hear they are revamping the whole thing in mid-2018? Wouldn't want to invest in the game/any books if they are going to change it 6 months later you know?

Fair enough - I think AOS just appealed to me specifically cause of the 4 pages. I've got a few buddies that I know will be interested in playing, I just want to get some models together before I introduce them to it so they have a better idea. As far as what gamers play in my area, there is an actual Games Workshop store about 15 minutes from our place, and from what I've gathered they play all 40k and AOS, not so much LOTR at the moment.. though maybe when the new game comes out next year that will change.

I'm definitely not interested in being competitive, I'm just doing this for fun.. more interested in playing some games at home over a few beers with friends.. but I wouldn't mind heading into GW to play some games once I get used to it.

I've heard Ironjawz and be a bit difficult, but I go solely based off what I like the look of and having fun with it! I figured that is the better route to go for a casual gamer and I'd like to get as much general enjoyment out of it as possible


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 FrozenDwarf wrote:
AoS was the alpha for 40k 8th edition.

The games from a core standpoint are more or less identical, it is just that 40k was transformed, AoS is brand new.
Ss sutch the 16 pages of core rules for 40k is as low as they can get 40k but imo still needs more advanced rules, as changing sutch a complex game as 40k 7th was into measly 16 pages wont cut it.

8th added something called powerpoints. It is a pointvalue based on avrage regular cost, AKA, a 10 man unit of imperial guards costs 3 powerpoints, regardless of how you kit it out.

But if you go to regular points you have spend a few houers working on spread sheets adding every single point cost as every single models has a value and the gear it uses has a value. while it is mutch more precise and allows more models on the table it is quite daunting for new players.
Powerpoints is the casual way of making an army fast and easy. 25 powerpoints equals 500p, 37 power equals 750p and 50 power equals 1000p.

Thing is, if you can play AoS you can allso play 8th 40k.
problem whit 40k is that it is in the middle of a codex nightmare atm that wont finish untill end of next year, before the work on balancing the codexes begins.
As stuch, AoS is a safer place as the battletomes are pretty decently balanced, as all the major balance work comes in generals handbook and FAQs.

Thats another thing that really interests me - getting in at the ground level with AOS and growing along with the game. Don't get me wrong I'll read 40k lore all day and love it. I blew through the Craftsworld codex quickly as I love learning all about the lore, but there's something appealing about getting into AOS now and learning everything from day 1 alongside everyone else.

I never heard about the power points, that sounds like its a lot more up my alley. RIght now I have no interest in spending hours calculating an army list, and I guarantee that would turn my buddies off ever picking up the game. We all have busy lives and are looking for something we can pick up fairly quickly in a fun, non competitive way.

Yes I was very lucky to have picked Eldar as they were one of the first codex's to come out. It's been nice getting back into the lore of it all, I really enjoy that!

Hmm... still sounds like AOS might be more up my alley for first timer...


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 auticus wrote:
They are both designed to be super board-gamey and easy to pick up so really its just a matter of what aesthetic or setting do you like more.

Fair enough! Maybe I should just go into GW and play a game of both to see how I like it? I really love the aesthetic of both... its hard for me to pick. Like I said, I'm sure eventually I will be deeply involved in both, but just looking for advice on the best place to start.

I like the idea of AOS being a brand new game and getting in at the ground level. That's very appealing to me.

If I were you I would pick up a small force for AOS, paint it up and give it a god. Perhaps even try out ShadeSpire etc and put together a small warband.

Both games are quite easy to get into, and strategy mostly revolves around building a strong list.
If both mini ranges appeal to you, my advice would be to go with the community. Try to see which game is mostly played around your area, and more importantly, how you feel about the people playing it. Some people pick the units for their army based on how they look, or how they are coherent together (with respect to the lore), while some other people only choose the strongest units that form the best combos. As the games are now, a person from the first group playing with someone from the second would result in a bad game for both.
Obviously it's not as clear cut as that, but you should try to ask people around if they play competitively, and see if that's what you want to do or not.

LOTR / H obbit is getting a new edition and rebranded to "Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game" in 2018. The head designer has said that it is not a major revamp. That the rules will mostly be the same with some tweaks to things.

However the rules are more involved than both AOS and 40k. LOTR/Hobbit is where a lot of people went to after WHFB was changed to AOS.

That being said I play all three for three different reasons.

Id say give AoS a shot.

its a lot of fun, and "mostly" balanced.

8th 40k isnt bad. outside of a few builds that make the game not fun. you end up needing to invest far more into terrain house rules and depending on your play group it can be fairly unfriendly to new/casual players. it also has some problems with first turn table by the nature of the ranges and weapons available.

its ok in small doses.

as cool as lotr is i dont know how many people you are going to find to play it with. that may be the only problem with it.

right, so here is what you should do:
get to a GW shop and ask for a demo of both systems.

then you have an option of these 2 starter sets:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Age-of-sigmar-thunder-and-blood-eng-2017
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/First-Strike-Starter-Collection-2017-ENG

then try to sniff around to see if there are any clubs in your region.
go to them and ask what is beeing played of 40k vs aos and if they have a casual or competative enviroment amongst thouse who play thouse 2 systems.

however, if you are limiting the hobby to only your own friends then buy 1 of each starter set and have them play some games from both.
in either case, the linked stater sets is the best way to test the games whitout blowing too mutch money out the window.

 FrozenDwarf wrote:
right, so here is what you should do:
get to a GW shop and ask for a demo of both systems.

then you have an option of these 2 starter sets:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Age-of-sigmar-thunder-and-blood-eng-2017
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/First-Strike-Starter-Collection-2017-ENG

then try to sniff around to see if there are any clubs in your region.
go to them and ask what is beeing played of 40k vs aos and if they have a casual or competative enviroment amongst thouse who play thouse 2 systems.

however, if you are limiting the hobby to only your own friends then buy 1 of each starter set and have them play some games from both.
in either case, the linked stater sets is the best way to test the games whitout blowing too mutch money out the window.

You are totally on point! Funny enough, I stopped into my local GW as it is in the same plaza as our Costco (I was stocking up on delicious Christmas food.. it was absolute insanity in there) so I walked in as I was thinking about this post and hearing all of your advice. Our local guy Brian is amazing, and is a big reason why I actually took the leap to get back into the hobby.

He suggested much the same thing. He told me it is a 60%/40% split right now for AOS/40k.. he said AOS has really taken off in our region and there are TONS of people, including a lot of new people, who play it because it is a brand new game and a bit easier to pick up. He showed me everything from the skirmish book, to all of the starter sets, and even busted out an in-store copy of Shadespire and set it up on the table for me to check it out.

I am going to head in there some time over the next couple weeks and he wants to play a few games of Shadespire with me to see how I like it. He's also going to give me a basic run down of the actual AOS game and how easy it is to get started.

He didn't try to sell me anything, just offered to have me come back in and see what I actually like before making any purchases.

I am definitely going to go the AOS route.. and I'm really excited about it! Will just have to see exactly how I'm going to begin.

I ended up grabbing the "Getting Started" book with free Stormcast Eternal just to start reading up on the Lore and Rule a bit over the holidays, while I finish painting the "Start Collecting" Craftsworld box I purchased.

I will definitely give 40k a shot after a few months, but am going to jump in with one of the start boxes for AOS first and give it a go.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions! It was a huge help in making a decision


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Desubot wrote:
Id say give AoS a shot.

its a lot of fun, and "mostly" balanced.

8th 40k isnt bad. outside of a few builds that make the game not fun. you end up needing to invest far more into terrain house rules and depending on your play group it can be fairly unfriendly to new/casual players. it also has some problems with first turn table by the nature of the ranges and weapons available.

its ok in small doses.

as cool as lotr is i dont know how many people you are going to find to play it with. that may be the only problem with it.

Our local GW guy said the same thing. AOS is a lot more user-friendly for newbies, and that's the route I've decided to go. Thanks!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 auticus wrote:
LOTR / H obbit is getting a new edition and rebranded to "Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game" in 2018. The head designer has said that it is not a major revamp. That the rules will mostly be the same with some tweaks to things.

However the rules are more involved than both AOS and 40k. LOTR/Hobbit is where a lot of people went to after WHFB was changed to AOS.

That being said I play all three for three different reasons.

I was into our local GW today and Brian said that the LOTR doesn't have a huge following in our area. They are only selling one of the box sets out of the store right now, and it just seems to be kind of at a stand still until they release the new books.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hollow wrote:
If I were you I would pick up a small force for AOS, paint it up and give it a god. Perhaps even try out ShadeSpire etc and put together a small warband.

Going to head back into my local GW next week to give Shadespire a shot, as well as take a crack at a normal AOS game to see how I like it

Thanks for the advice!

Yeah LOTR has never had a huge following, primarily because it lacks the tournament crowd that drove WHFB and now drives AOS. We have one where I am only because we put energy into making things happen for it, otherwise there would be nothing.

 auticus wrote:
Yeah LOTR has never had a huge following, primarily because it lacks the tournament crowd that drove WHFB and now drives AOS. We have one where I am only because we put energy into making things happen for it, otherwise there would be nothing.

yeah its a local thing, here we have 2 flgs that still regularly host events, none of them even carry GW products, so its all a matter of area. I think personally it is far and away the best ruleset GW has done. I think around here the biggest draw for it is there are lots of RPG groups and a good number do 1 ring or merp as well.

oh MERP. I miss MERP!

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 FrozenDwarf wrote:
right, so here is what you should do:
get to a GW shop and ask for a demo of both systems.

then you have an option of these 2 starter sets:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Age-of-sigmar-thunder-and-blood-eng-2017
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/First-Strike-Starter-Collection-2017-ENG

then try to sniff around to see if there are any clubs in your region.
go to them and ask what is beeing played of 40k vs aos and if they have a casual or competative enviroment amongst thouse who play thouse 2 systems.

however, if you are limiting the hobby to only your own friends then buy 1 of each starter set and have them play some games from both.
in either case, the linked stater sets is the best way to test the games whitout blowing too mutch money out the window.

You are totally on point! Funny enough, I stopped into my local GW as it is in the same plaza as our Costco (I was stocking up on delicious Christmas food.. it was absolute insanity in there) so I walked in as I was thinking about this post and hearing all of your advice. Our local guy Brian is amazing, and is a big reason why I actually took the leap to get back into the hobby.

He suggested much the same thing. He told me it is a 60%/40% split right now for AOS/40k.. he said AOS has really taken off in our region and there are TONS of people, including a lot of new people, who play it because it is a brand new game and a bit easier to pick up. He showed me everything from the skirmish book, to all of the starter sets, and even busted out an in-store copy of Shadespire and set it up on the table for me to check it out.

I am going to head in there some time over the next couple weeks and he wants to play a few games of Shadespire with me to see how I like it. He's also going to give me a basic run down of the actual AOS game and how easy it is to get started.

He didn't try to sell me anything, just offered to have me come back in and see what I actually like before making any purchases.

I am definitely going to go the AOS route.. and I'm really excited about it! Will just have to see exactly how I'm going to begin.

I ended up grabbing the "Getting Started" book with free Stormcast Eternal just to start reading up on the Lore and Rule a bit over the holidays, while I finish painting the "Start Collecting" Craftsworld box I purchased.

I will definitely give 40k a shot after a few months, but am going to jump in with one of the start boxes for AOS first and give it a go.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions! It was a huge help in making a decision


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Desubot wrote:
Id say give AoS a shot.

its a lot of fun, and "mostly" balanced.

8th 40k isnt bad. outside of a few builds that make the game not fun. you end up needing to invest far more into terrain house rules and depending on your play group it can be fairly unfriendly to new/casual players. it also has some problems with first turn table by the nature of the ranges and weapons available.

its ok in small doses.

as cool as lotr is i dont know how many people you are going to find to play it with. that may be the only problem with it.

Our local GW guy said the same thing. AOS is a lot more user-friendly for newbies, and that's the route I've decided to go. Thanks!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 auticus wrote:
LOTR / H obbit is getting a new edition and rebranded to "Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game" in 2018. The head designer has said that it is not a major revamp. That the rules will mostly be the same with some tweaks to things.

However the rules are more involved than both AOS and 40k. LOTR/Hobbit is where a lot of people went to after WHFB was changed to AOS.

That being said I play all three for three different reasons.

I was into our local GW today and Brian said that the LOTR doesn't have a huge following in our area. They are only selling one of the box sets out of the store right now, and it just seems to be kind of at a stand still until they release the new books.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hollow wrote:
If I were you I would pick up a small force for AOS, paint it up and give it a god. Perhaps even try out ShadeSpire etc and put together a small warband.

Going to head back into my local GW next week to give Shadespire a shot, as well as take a crack at a normal AOS game to see how I like it

Thanks for the advice!

I am not sure I would go with a starter set for AoS as you already have an idea of the army you want to play ,.the soccer hooligans...errr ironjaws. So the starters really dont give you anything you need. same with a shadespire starter IF you are going to play it at the GW with folks(if playing it at home then by all means grab it,), Getting the Ironjaws expansion for Shadespire is kind of a "twofer" as they are for both games,. if you have a scribd account, you can download a pdf of the ironjaws battletome. the ironjaw army and the start collecting for them also give you a good number of degenerates,...troops to try out. AoS skirmish is also a pretty decent $10 "expansion" that lets you go with small bands at first. out of the three, obviously I think LOTR is far and away the best, but out of the two you will have an opportunity to play and expand upon, AoS IMO is the far better option game wise. despite only being 4 pages it seems they put more effort into it. also..maw krusha...just sayin...

 thekingofkings wrote:

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 FrozenDwarf wrote:
right, so here is what you should do:
get to a GW shop and ask for a demo of both systems.

then you have an option of these 2 starter sets:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Age-of-sigmar-thunder-and-blood-eng-2017
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/First-Strike-Starter-Collection-2017-ENG

then try to sniff around to see if there are any clubs in your region.
go to them and ask what is beeing played of 40k vs aos and if they have a casual or competative enviroment amongst thouse who play thouse 2 systems.

however, if you are limiting the hobby to only your own friends then buy 1 of each starter set and have them play some games from both.
in either case, the linked stater sets is the best way to test the games whitout blowing too mutch money out the window.

You are totally on point! Funny enough, I stopped into my local GW as it is in the same plaza as our Costco (I was stocking up on delicious Christmas food.. it was absolute insanity in there) so I walked in as I was thinking about this post and hearing all of your advice. Our local guy Brian is amazing, and is a big reason why I actually took the leap to get back into the hobby.

He suggested much the same thing. He told me it is a 60%/40% split right now for AOS/40k.. he said AOS has really taken off in our region and there are TONS of people, including a lot of new people, who play it because it is a brand new game and a bit easier to pick up. He showed me everything from the skirmish book, to all of the starter sets, and even busted out an in-store copy of Shadespire and set it up on the table for me to check it out.

I am going to head in there some time over the next couple weeks and he wants to play a few games of Shadespire with me to see how I like it. He's also going to give me a basic run down of the actual AOS game and how easy it is to get started.

He didn't try to sell me anything, just offered to have me come back in and see what I actually like before making any purchases.

I am definitely going to go the AOS route.. and I'm really excited about it! Will just have to see exactly how I'm going to begin.

I ended up grabbing the "Getting Started" book with free Stormcast Eternal just to start reading up on the Lore and Rule a bit over the holidays, while I finish painting the "Start Collecting" Craftsworld box I purchased.

I will definitely give 40k a shot after a few months, but am going to jump in with one of the start boxes for AOS first and give it a go.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions! It was a huge help in making a decision


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Desubot wrote:
Id say give AoS a shot.

its a lot of fun, and "mostly" balanced.

8th 40k isnt bad. outside of a few builds that make the game not fun. you end up needing to invest far more into terrain house rules and depending on your play group it can be fairly unfriendly to new/casual players. it also has some problems with first turn table by the nature of the ranges and weapons available.

its ok in small doses.

as cool as lotr is i dont know how many people you are going to find to play it with. that may be the only problem with it.

Our local GW guy said the same thing. AOS is a lot more user-friendly for newbies, and that's the route I've decided to go. Thanks!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 auticus wrote:
LOTR / H obbit is getting a new edition and rebranded to "Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game" in 2018. The head designer has said that it is not a major revamp. That the rules will mostly be the same with some tweaks to things.

However the rules are more involved than both AOS and 40k. LOTR/Hobbit is where a lot of people went to after WHFB was changed to AOS.

That being said I play all three for three different reasons.

I was into our local GW today and Brian said that the LOTR doesn't have a huge following in our area. They are only selling one of the box sets out of the store right now, and it just seems to be kind of at a stand still until they release the new books.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hollow wrote:
If I were you I would pick up a small force for AOS, paint it up and give it a god. Perhaps even try out ShadeSpire etc and put together a small warband.

Going to head back into my local GW next week to give Shadespire a shot, as well as take a crack at a normal AOS game to see how I like it

Thanks for the advice!

I am not sure I would go with a starter set for AoS as you already have an idea of the army you want to play ,.the soccer hooligans...errr ironjaws. So the starters really dont give you anything you need. same with a shadespire starter IF you are going to play it at the GW with folks(if playing it at home then by all means grab it,), Getting the Ironjaws expansion for Shadespire is kind of a "twofer" as they are for both games,. if you have a scribd account, you can download a pdf of the ironjaws battletome. the ironjaw army and the start collecting for them also give you a good number of degenerates,...troops to try out. AoS skirmish is also a pretty decent $10 "expansion" that lets you go with small bands at first. out of the three, obviously I think LOTR is far and away the best, but out of the two you will have an opportunity to play and expand upon, AoS IMO is the far better option game wise. despite only being 4 pages it seems they put more effort into it. also..maw krusha...just sayin...

I agree, the only thing I liked about the starter set is that it would give me 2 armies out of the box to get some buddies involved right from home and see how they like it.
It also gives me more mini's to build/paint, and it comes with everything else I need all in one box to start playing, right out of the box... at a great discount.

That being said, I do love me some Ironjawz! I think it just makes me a bit nervous NOT going with a starter set because I would feel very lost just buying the Ironjawz start collecting and trying to play from there.

To be honest, I'm finding it very confusing on what books I need to A) Get into the lore from step one (though the start collecting magazine I bought has been great) and B) Which books I need to start playing....
Do I buy the generals handbook right off the bat? Do I really only need the 4 page rules and just pick which army I like best? What about reading up on the 8 realms and the entire story of Age of Sigmar? I don't just want to read about Ironjawz, I want to learn about the whole universe.

And then there's the styles of play.. Thunder and blood, skirmish, open play.. how do I decide??

Shadespire seems great later on as a friday night game-night sort of thing. I really like the simplicity and idea of it, but I am more interested in building an army.

I'm just finding it difficult as there is no clear cut way to get started in sequential order. The lore and storytelling are just as important to me as the hobby aspect, and now hopefully the gaming aspect of things. I think it will help me choose my favorite army as well.
Any suggestions???

Just as an example... I purchased the start collecting set for Craftsworlds and the codex. I've learned a lot about Eldar and their depiction of the 40k universe/what they've done to screw themselves over... but I don't really know anything else at all about the 40k universe and how to start learning. Should I have bought the starter set for 40k 8th edition instead?

It feels like a bit of a daunting task to decide where to start.. or maybe I'm just overthinking it?

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 thekingofkings wrote:

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 FrozenDwarf wrote:
right, so here is what you should do:
get to a GW shop and ask for a demo of both systems.

then you have an option of these 2 starter sets:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Age-of-sigmar-thunder-and-blood-eng-2017
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/First-Strike-Starter-Collection-2017-ENG

then try to sniff around to see if there are any clubs in your region.
go to them and ask what is beeing played of 40k vs aos and if they have a casual or competative enviroment amongst thouse who play thouse 2 systems.

however, if you are limiting the hobby to only your own friends then buy 1 of each starter set and have them play some games from both.
in either case, the linked stater sets is the best way to test the games whitout blowing too mutch money out the window.

You are totally on point! Funny enough, I stopped into my local GW as it is in the same plaza as our Costco (I was stocking up on delicious Christmas food.. it was absolute insanity in there) so I walked in as I was thinking about this post and hearing all of your advice. Our local guy Brian is amazing, and is a big reason why I actually took the leap to get back into the hobby.

He suggested much the same thing. He told me it is a 60%/40% split right now for AOS/40k.. he said AOS has really taken off in our region and there are TONS of people, including a lot of new people, who play it because it is a brand new game and a bit easier to pick up. He showed me everything from the skirmish book, to all of the starter sets, and even busted out an in-store copy of Shadespire and set it up on the table for me to check it out.

I am going to head in there some time over the next couple weeks and he wants to play a few games of Shadespire with me to see how I like it. He's also going to give me a basic run down of the actual AOS game and how easy it is to get started.

He didn't try to sell me anything, just offered to have me come back in and see what I actually like before making any purchases.

I am definitely going to go the AOS route.. and I'm really excited about it! Will just have to see exactly how I'm going to begin.

I ended up grabbing the "Getting Started" book with free Stormcast Eternal just to start reading up on the Lore and Rule a bit over the holidays, while I finish painting the "Start Collecting" Craftsworld box I purchased.

I will definitely give 40k a shot after a few months, but am going to jump in with one of the start boxes for AOS first and give it a go.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions! It was a huge help in making a decision


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Desubot wrote:
Id say give AoS a shot.

its a lot of fun, and "mostly" balanced.

8th 40k isnt bad. outside of a few builds that make the game not fun. you end up needing to invest far more into terrain house rules and depending on your play group it can be fairly unfriendly to new/casual players. it also has some problems with first turn table by the nature of the ranges and weapons available.

its ok in small doses.

as cool as lotr is i dont know how many people you are going to find to play it with. that may be the only problem with it.

Our local GW guy said the same thing. AOS is a lot more user-friendly for newbies, and that's the route I've decided to go. Thanks!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 auticus wrote:
LOTR / H obbit is getting a new edition and rebranded to "Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game" in 2018. The head designer has said that it is not a major revamp. That the rules will mostly be the same with some tweaks to things.

However the rules are more involved than both AOS and 40k. LOTR/Hobbit is where a lot of people went to after WHFB was changed to AOS.

That being said I play all three for three different reasons.

I was into our local GW today and Brian said that the LOTR doesn't have a huge following in our area. They are only selling one of the box sets out of the store right now, and it just seems to be kind of at a stand still until they release the new books.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hollow wrote:
If I were you I would pick up a small force for AOS, paint it up and give it a god. Perhaps even try out ShadeSpire etc and put together a small warband.

Going to head back into my local GW next week to give Shadespire a shot, as well as take a crack at a normal AOS game to see how I like it

Thanks for the advice!

I am not sure I would go with a starter set for AoS as you already have an idea of the army you want to play ,.the soccer hooligans...errr ironjaws. So the starters really dont give you anything you need. same with a shadespire starter IF you are going to play it at the GW with folks(if playing it at home then by all means grab it,), Getting the Ironjaws expansion for Shadespire is kind of a "twofer" as they are for both games,. if you have a scribd account, you can download a pdf of the ironjaws battletome. the ironjaw army and the start collecting for them also give you a good number of degenerates,...troops to try out. AoS skirmish is also a pretty decent $10 "expansion" that lets you go with small bands at first. out of the three, obviously I think LOTR is far and away the best, but out of the two you will have an opportunity to play and expand upon, AoS IMO is the far better option game wise. despite only being 4 pages it seems they put more effort into it. also..maw krusha...just sayin...

I agree, the only thing I liked about the starter set is that it would give me 2 armies out of the box to get some buddies involved right from home and see how they like it.
It also gives me more mini's to build/paint, and it comes with everything else I need all in one box to start playing, right out of the box... at a great discount.

That being said, I do love me some Ironjawz! I think it just makes me a bit nervous NOT going with a starter set because I would feel very lost just buying the Ironjawz start collecting and trying to play from there.

To be honest, I'm finding it very confusing on what books I need to A) Get into the lore from step one (though the start collecting magazine I bought has been great) and B) Which books I need to start playing....
Do I buy the generals handbook right off the bat? Do I really only need the 4 page rules and just pick which army I like best? What about reading up on the 8 realms and the entire story of Age of Sigmar? I don't just want to read about Ironjawz, I want to learn about the whole universe.

And then there's the styles of play.. Thunder and blood, skirmish, open play.. how do I decide??

Shadespire seems great later on as a friday night game-night sort of thing. I really like the simplicity and idea of it, but I am more interested in building an army.

I'm just finding it difficult as there is no clear cut way to get started in sequential order. The lore and storytelling are just as important to me as the hobby aspect, and now hopefully the gaming aspect of things. I think it will help me choose my favorite army as well.
Any suggestions???

Just as an example... I purchased the start collecting set for Craftsworlds and the codex. I've learned a lot about Eldar and their depiction of the 40k universe/what they've done to screw themselves over... but I don't really know anything else at all about the 40k universe and how to start learning. Should I have bought the starter set for 40k 8th edition instead?

It feels like a bit of a daunting task to decide where to start.. or maybe I'm just overthinking it?

you are over thinking, the starters are not going to get the sequential thing you need, now the hardback book is nice, but there is only 4 pages of rules, thats all you need. your warscrolls are all free online, I would recommend you get the battletome, it will give you all the background on your ironjaws. The "starter" really is just have some stormcast and khorne, if folks arent interested in either of those, then its no value, especially with blight war as an option as well,. thats nurgle and different stormcast. This game really is much more "plug and play" than warhammer or even 40k.

sent you a PM.

Welcome back and welcome to the Mortal Realms!

Gonna chime in here and say you should give Mongoosematt's reviews a look for helpful info.

http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=51557.msg980010#msg980010

(I got sidetracked and haven't been linking his stuff since his Skirmish review so going to his post history here on Dakka would be a good idea for the recent reviews I missed.)

Speaking of Skirmish that's probably worth looking into as well. Let's you build a small warband so you can sample some armies through that while having a lot of fun.

Then there's the free Warscrolls builder you can use on the community site to help with list.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/warscroll-builder/

Finally, I fully suggest getting the AoS app. Let's you look up warscrolls quickly while having a book section of AoS battletomes, game books and novels to help you keep updated and having a efficient grasp on all your gaming options.

Good luck and hope you have fun!

 thekingofkings wrote:

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 thekingofkings wrote:

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 FrozenDwarf wrote:
right, so here is what you should do:
get to a GW shop and ask for a demo of both systems.

then you have an option of these 2 starter sets:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Age-of-sigmar-thunder-and-blood-eng-2017
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/First-Strike-Starter-Collection-2017-ENG

then try to sniff around to see if there are any clubs in your region.
go to them and ask what is beeing played of 40k vs aos and if they have a casual or competative enviroment amongst thouse who play thouse 2 systems.

however, if you are limiting the hobby to only your own friends then buy 1 of each starter set and have them play some games from both.
in either case, the linked stater sets is the best way to test the games whitout blowing too mutch money out the window.

You are totally on point! Funny enough, I stopped into my local GW as it is in the same plaza as our Costco (I was stocking up on delicious Christmas food.. it was absolute insanity in there) so I walked in as I was thinking about this post and hearing all of your advice. Our local guy Brian is amazing, and is a big reason why I actually took the leap to get back into the hobby.

He suggested much the same thing. He told me it is a 60%/40% split right now for AOS/40k.. he said AOS has really taken off in our region and there are TONS of people, including a lot of new people, who play it because it is a brand new game and a bit easier to pick up. He showed me everything from the skirmish book, to all of the starter sets, and even busted out an in-store copy of Shadespire and set it up on the table for me to check it out.

I am going to head in there some time over the next couple weeks and he wants to play a few games of Shadespire with me to see how I like it. He's also going to give me a basic run down of the actual AOS game and how easy it is to get started.

He didn't try to sell me anything, just offered to have me come back in and see what I actually like before making any purchases.

I am definitely going to go the AOS route.. and I'm really excited about it! Will just have to see exactly how I'm going to begin.

I ended up grabbing the "Getting Started" book with free Stormcast Eternal just to start reading up on the Lore and Rule a bit over the holidays, while I finish painting the "Start Collecting" Craftsworld box I purchased.

I will definitely give 40k a shot after a few months, but am going to jump in with one of the start boxes for AOS first and give it a go.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions! It was a huge help in making a decision


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Desubot wrote:
Id say give AoS a shot.

its a lot of fun, and "mostly" balanced.

8th 40k isnt bad. outside of a few builds that make the game not fun. you end up needing to invest far more into terrain house rules and depending on your play group it can be fairly unfriendly to new/casual players. it also has some problems with first turn table by the nature of the ranges and weapons available.

its ok in small doses.

as cool as lotr is i dont know how many people you are going to find to play it with. that may be the only problem with it.

Our local GW guy said the same thing. AOS is a lot more user-friendly for newbies, and that's the route I've decided to go. Thanks!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 auticus wrote:
LOTR / H obbit is getting a new edition and rebranded to "Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game" in 2018. The head designer has said that it is not a major revamp. That the rules will mostly be the same with some tweaks to things.

However the rules are more involved than both AOS and 40k. LOTR/Hobbit is where a lot of people went to after WHFB was changed to AOS.

That being said I play all three for three different reasons.

I was into our local GW today and Brian said that the LOTR doesn't have a huge following in our area. They are only selling one of the box sets out of the store right now, and it just seems to be kind of at a stand still until they release the new books.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hollow wrote:
If I were you I would pick up a small force for AOS, paint it up and give it a god. Perhaps even try out ShadeSpire etc and put together a small warband.

Going to head back into my local GW next week to give Shadespire a shot, as well as take a crack at a normal AOS game to see how I like it

Thanks for the advice!

I am not sure I would go with a starter set for AoS as you already have an idea of the army you want to play ,.the soccer hooligans...errr ironjaws. So the starters really dont give you anything you need. same with a shadespire starter IF you are going to play it at the GW with folks(if playing it at home then by all means grab it,), Getting the Ironjaws expansion for Shadespire is kind of a "twofer" as they are for both games,. if you have a scribd account, you can download a pdf of the ironjaws battletome. the ironjaw army and the start collecting for them also give you a good number of degenerates,...troops to try out. AoS skirmish is also a pretty decent $10 "expansion" that lets you go with small bands at first. out of the three, obviously I think LOTR is far and away the best, but out of the two you will have an opportunity to play and expand upon, AoS IMO is the far better option game wise. despite only being 4 pages it seems they put more effort into it. also..maw krusha...just sayin...

I agree, the only thing I liked about the starter set is that it would give me 2 armies out of the box to get some buddies involved right from home and see how they like it.
It also gives me more mini's to build/paint, and it comes with everything else I need all in one box to start playing, right out of the box... at a great discount.

That being said, I do love me some Ironjawz! I think it just makes me a bit nervous NOT going with a starter set because I would feel very lost just buying the Ironjawz start collecting and trying to play from there.

To be honest, I'm finding it very confusing on what books I need to A) Get into the lore from step one (though the start collecting magazine I bought has been great) and B) Which books I need to start playing....
Do I buy the generals handbook right off the bat? Do I really only need the 4 page rules and just pick which army I like best? What about reading up on the 8 realms and the entire story of Age of Sigmar? I don't just want to read about Ironjawz, I want to learn about the whole universe.

And then there's the styles of play.. Thunder and blood, skirmish, open play.. how do I decide??

Shadespire seems great later on as a friday night game-night sort of thing. I really like the simplicity and idea of it, but I am more interested in building an army.

I'm just finding it difficult as there is no clear cut way to get started in sequential order. The lore and storytelling are just as important to me as the hobby aspect, and now hopefully the gaming aspect of things. I think it will help me choose my favorite army as well.
Any suggestions???

Just as an example... I purchased the start collecting set for Craftsworlds and the codex. I've learned a lot about Eldar and their depiction of the 40k universe/what they've done to screw themselves over... but I don't really know anything else at all about the 40k universe and how to start learning. Should I have bought the starter set for 40k 8th edition instead?

It feels like a bit of a daunting task to decide where to start.. or maybe I'm just overthinking it?

you are over thinking, the starters are not going to get the sequential thing you need, now the hardback book is nice, but there is only 4 pages of rules, thats all you need. your warscrolls are all free online, I would recommend you get the battletome, it will give you all the background on your ironjaws. The "starter" really is just have some stormcast and khorne, if folks arent interested in either of those, then its no value, especially with blight war as an option as well,. thats nurgle and different stormcast. This game really is much more "plug and play" than warhammer or even 40k.

sent you a PM.

Ah I think you may be right.. overthinking. For some reason I just thought "hey this box has all i need and gives me 2 cool armies to start playing with friends" but I assumed you needed that hardback book to get going like it's the 40k rule book or something

My local GW guy alresdy gave me a free copy of the 4 page rules. So o guess I'm good to go there?

I found this link...
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-CA/Warhammer-Age-of-Sigmar-Factions-Guide

That's helping me decide on an army. I have been debating chaos/khorne instead of ironjawz.. would you say the starter box makes it worth it if you'll play even one of the armies?

Any other online resources on the different factions I should check out? Or general lore to get an idea of the 8 realms?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Baron Klatz wrote:
Welcome back and welcome to the Mortal Realms!

Gonna chime in here and say you should give Mongoosematt's reviews a look for helpful info.

http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=51557.msg980010#msg980010

(I got sidetracked and haven't been linking his stuff since his Skirmish review so going to his post history here on Dakka would be a good idea for the recent reviews I missed.)

Speaking of Skirmish that's probably worth looking into as well. Let's you build a small warband so you can sample some armies through that while having a lot of fun.

Then there's the free Warscrolls builder you can use on the community site to help with list.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/warscroll-builder/

Finally, I fully suggest getting the AoS app. Let's you look up warscrolls quickly while having a book section of AoS battletomes, game books and novels to help you keep updated and having a efficient grasp on all your gaming options.

Good luck and hope you have fun!

I will do all of that! Thanks very much for the suggestions

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 thekingofkings wrote:

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 thekingofkings wrote:

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 FrozenDwarf wrote:
right, so here is what you should do:
get to a GW shop and ask for a demo of both systems.

then you have an option of these 2 starter sets:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Age-of-sigmar-thunder-and-blood-eng-2017
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/First-Strike-Starter-Collection-2017-ENG

then try to sniff around to see if there are any clubs in your region.
go to them and ask what is beeing played of 40k vs aos and if they have a casual or competative enviroment amongst thouse who play thouse 2 systems.

however, if you are limiting the hobby to only your own friends then buy 1 of each starter set and have them play some games from both.
in either case, the linked stater sets is the best way to test the games whitout blowing too mutch money out the window.

You are totally on point! Funny enough, I stopped into my local GW as it is in the same plaza as our Costco (I was stocking up on delicious Christmas food.. it was absolute insanity in there) so I walked in as I was thinking about this post and hearing all of your advice. Our local guy Brian is amazing, and is a big reason why I actually took the leap to get back into the hobby.

He suggested much the same thing. He told me it is a 60%/40% split right now for AOS/40k.. he said AOS has really taken off in our region and there are TONS of people, including a lot of new people, who play it because it is a brand new game and a bit easier to pick up. He showed me everything from the skirmish book, to all of the starter sets, and even busted out an in-store copy of Shadespire and set it up on the table for me to check it out.

I am going to head in there some time over the next couple weeks and he wants to play a few games of Shadespire with me to see how I like it. He's also going to give me a basic run down of the actual AOS game and how easy it is to get started.

He didn't try to sell me anything, just offered to have me come back in and see what I actually like before making any purchases.

I am definitely going to go the AOS route.. and I'm really excited about it! Will just have to see exactly how I'm going to begin.

I ended up grabbing the "Getting Started" book with free Stormcast Eternal just to start reading up on the Lore and Rule a bit over the holidays, while I finish painting the "Start Collecting" Craftsworld box I purchased.

I will definitely give 40k a shot after a few months, but am going to jump in with one of the start boxes for AOS first and give it a go.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions! It was a huge help in making a decision


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Desubot wrote:
Id say give AoS a shot.

its a lot of fun, and "mostly" balanced.

8th 40k isnt bad. outside of a few builds that make the game not fun. you end up needing to invest far more into terrain house rules and depending on your play group it can be fairly unfriendly to new/casual players. it also has some problems with first turn table by the nature of the ranges and weapons available.

its ok in small doses.

as cool as lotr is i dont know how many people you are going to find to play it with. that may be the only problem with it.

Our local GW guy said the same thing. AOS is a lot more user-friendly for newbies, and that's the route I've decided to go. Thanks!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 auticus wrote:
LOTR / H obbit is getting a new edition and rebranded to "Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game" in 2018. The head designer has said that it is not a major revamp. That the rules will mostly be the same with some tweaks to things.

However the rules are more involved than both AOS and 40k. LOTR/Hobbit is where a lot of people went to after WHFB was changed to AOS.

That being said I play all three for three different reasons.

I was into our local GW today and Brian said that the LOTR doesn't have a huge following in our area. They are only selling one of the box sets out of the store right now, and it just seems to be kind of at a stand still until they release the new books.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hollow wrote:
If I were you I would pick up a small force for AOS, paint it up and give it a god. Perhaps even try out ShadeSpire etc and put together a small warband.

Going to head back into my local GW next week to give Shadespire a shot, as well as take a crack at a normal AOS game to see how I like it

Thanks for the advice!

I am not sure I would go with a starter set for AoS as you already have an idea of the army you want to play ,.the soccer hooligans...errr ironjaws. So the starters really dont give you anything you need. same with a shadespire starter IF you are going to play it at the GW with folks(if playing it at home then by all means grab it,), Getting the Ironjaws expansion for Shadespire is kind of a "twofer" as they are for both games,. if you have a scribd account, you can download a pdf of the ironjaws battletome. the ironjaw army and the start collecting for them also give you a good number of degenerates,...troops to try out. AoS skirmish is also a pretty decent $10 "expansion" that lets you go with small bands at first. out of the three, obviously I think LOTR is far and away the best, but out of the two you will have an opportunity to play and expand upon, AoS IMO is the far better option game wise. despite only being 4 pages it seems they put more effort into it. also..maw krusha...just sayin...

I agree, the only thing I liked about the starter set is that it would give me 2 armies out of the box to get some buddies involved right from home and see how they like it.
It also gives me more mini's to build/paint, and it comes with everything else I need all in one box to start playing, right out of the box... at a great discount.

That being said, I do love me some Ironjawz! I think it just makes me a bit nervous NOT going with a starter set because I would feel very lost just buying the Ironjawz start collecting and trying to play from there.

To be honest, I'm finding it very confusing on what books I need to A) Get into the lore from step one (though the start collecting magazine I bought has been great) and B) Which books I need to start playing....
Do I buy the generals handbook right off the bat? Do I really only need the 4 page rules and just pick which army I like best? What about reading up on the 8 realms and the entire story of Age of Sigmar? I don't just want to read about Ironjawz, I want to learn about the whole universe.

And then there's the styles of play.. Thunder and blood, skirmish, open play.. how do I decide??

Shadespire seems great later on as a friday night game-night sort of thing. I really like the simplicity and idea of it, but I am more interested in building an army.

I'm just finding it difficult as there is no clear cut way to get started in sequential order. The lore and storytelling are just as important to me as the hobby aspect, and now hopefully the gaming aspect of things. I think it will help me choose my favorite army as well.
Any suggestions???

Just as an example... I purchased the start collecting set for Craftsworlds and the codex. I've learned a lot about Eldar and their depiction of the 40k universe/what they've done to screw themselves over... but I don't really know anything else at all about the 40k universe and how to start learning. Should I have bought the starter set for 40k 8th edition instead?

It feels like a bit of a daunting task to decide where to start.. or maybe I'm just overthinking it?

you are over thinking, the starters are not going to get the sequential thing you need, now the hardback book is nice, but there is only 4 pages of rules, thats all you need. your warscrolls are all free online, I would recommend you get the battletome, it will give you all the background on your ironjaws. The "starter" really is just have some stormcast and khorne, if folks arent interested in either of those, then its no value, especially with blight war as an option as well,. thats nurgle and different stormcast. This game really is much more "plug and play" than warhammer or even 40k.

sent you a PM.

Ah I think you may be right.. overthinking. For some reason I just thought "hey this box has all i need and gives me 2 cool armies to start playing with friends" but I assumed you needed that hardback book to get going like it's the 40k rule book or something

My local GW guy alresdy gave me a free copy of the 4 page rules. So o guess I'm good to go there?

I found this link...
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-CA/Warhammer-Age-of-Sigmar-Factions-Guide

That's helping me decide on an army. I have been debating chaos/khorne instead of ironjawz.. would you say the starter box makes it worth it if you'll play even one of the armies?

Any other online resources on the different factions I should check out? Or general lore to get an idea of the 8 realms?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Baron Klatz wrote:
Welcome back and welcome to the Mortal Realms!

Gonna chime in here and say you should give Mongoosematt's reviews a look for helpful info.

http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=51557.msg980010#msg980010

(I got sidetracked and haven't been linking his stuff since his Skirmish review so going to his post history here on Dakka would be a good idea for the recent reviews I missed.)

Speaking of Skirmish that's probably worth looking into as well. Let's you build a small warband so you can sample some armies through that while having a lot of fun.

Then there's the free Warscrolls builder you can use on the community site to help with list.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/warscroll-builder/

Finally, I fully suggest getting the AoS app. Let's you look up warscrolls quickly while having a book section of AoS battletomes, game books and novels to help you keep updated and having a efficient grasp on all your gaming options.

Good luck and hope you have fun!

I will do all of that! Thanks very much for the suggestions

IF you want to play Khorne, then absolutely I would go with the big starter, the force in their is nice. yeah if you have that 4 page, you have all the rules. I would always recommend grabbing the $10 skirmish book, its just fun and a good little book. I sent a pm with a great resource to get the actual books, or I can assist as well. you can read till you burst

 thekingofkings wrote:

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 thekingofkings wrote:

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 thekingofkings wrote:

 BlazeBuster wrote:

 FrozenDwarf wrote:
right, so here is what you should do:
get to a GW shop and ask for a demo of both systems.

then you have an option of these 2 starter sets:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Age-of-sigmar-thunder-and-blood-eng-2017
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/First-Strike-Starter-Collection-2017-ENG

then try to sniff around to see if there are any clubs in your region.
go to them and ask what is beeing played of 40k vs aos and if they have a casual or competative enviroment amongst thouse who play thouse 2 systems.

however, if you are limiting the hobby to only your own friends then buy 1 of each starter set and have them play some games from both.
in either case, the linked stater sets is the best way to test the games whitout blowing too mutch money out the window.

You are totally on point! Funny enough, I stopped into my local GW as it is in the same plaza as our Costco (I was stocking up on delicious Christmas food.. it was absolute insanity in there) so I walked in as I was thinking about this post and hearing all of your advice. Our local guy Brian is amazing, and is a big reason why I actually took the leap to get back into the hobby.

He suggested much the same thing. He told me it is a 60%/40% split right now for AOS/40k.. he said AOS has really taken off in our region and there are TONS of people, including a lot of new people, who play it because it is a brand new game and a bit easier to pick up. He showed me everything from the skirmish book, to all of the starter sets, and even busted out an in-store copy of Shadespire and set it up on the table for me to check it out.

I am going to head in there some time over the next couple weeks and he wants to play a few games of Shadespire with me to see how I like it. He's also going to give me a basic run down of the actual AOS game and how easy it is to get started.

He didn't try to sell me anything, just offered to have me come back in and see what I actually like before making any purchases.

I am definitely going to go the AOS route.. and I'm really excited about it! Will just have to see exactly how I'm going to begin.

I ended up grabbing the "Getting Started" book with free Stormcast Eternal just to start reading up on the Lore and Rule a bit over the holidays, while I finish painting the "Start Collecting" Craftsworld box I purchased.

I will definitely give 40k a shot after a few months, but am going to jump in with one of the start boxes for AOS first and give it a go.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions! It was a huge help in making a decision


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 Desubot wrote:
Id say give AoS a shot.

its a lot of fun, and "mostly" balanced.

8th 40k isnt bad. outside of a few builds that make the game not fun. you end up needing to invest far more into terrain house rules and depending on your play group it can be fairly unfriendly to new/casual players. it also has some problems with first turn table by the nature of the ranges and weapons available.

its ok in small doses.

as cool as lotr is i dont know how many people you are going to find to play it with. that may be the only problem with it.

Our local GW guy said the same thing. AOS is a lot more user-friendly for newbies, and that's the route I've decided to go. Thanks!


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 auticus wrote:
LOTR / H obbit is getting a new edition and rebranded to "Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game" in 2018. The head designer has said that it is not a major revamp. That the rules will mostly be the same with some tweaks to things.

However the rules are more involved than both AOS and 40k. LOTR/Hobbit is where a lot of people went to after WHFB was changed to AOS.

That being said I play all three for three different reasons.

I was into our local GW today and Brian said that the LOTR doesn't have a huge following in our area. They are only selling one of the box sets out of the store right now, and it just seems to be kind of at a stand still until they release the new books.


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 Hollow wrote:
If I were you I would pick up a small force for AOS, paint it up and give it a god. Perhaps even try out ShadeSpire etc and put together a small warband.

Going to head back into my local GW next week to give Shadespire a shot, as well as take a crack at a normal AOS game to see how I like it

Thanks for the advice!

I am not sure I would go with a starter set for AoS as you already have an idea of the army you want to play ,.the soccer hooligans...errr ironjaws. So the starters really dont give you anything you need. same with a shadespire starter IF you are going to play it at the GW with folks(if playing it at home then by all means grab it,), Getting the Ironjaws expansion for Shadespire is kind of a "twofer" as they are for both games,. if you have a scribd account, you can download a pdf of the ironjaws battletome. the ironjaw army and the start collecting for them also give you a good number of degenerates,...troops to try out. AoS skirmish is also a pretty decent $10 "expansion" that lets you go with small bands at first. out of the three, obviously I think LOTR is far and away the best, but out of the two you will have an opportunity to play and expand upon, AoS IMO is the far better option game wise. despite only being 4 pages it seems they put more effort into it. also..maw krusha...just sayin...

I agree, the only thing I liked about the starter set is that it would give me 2 armies out of the box to get some buddies involved right from home and see how they like it.
It also gives me more mini's to build/paint, and it comes with everything else I need all in one box to start playing, right out of the box... at a great discount.

That being said, I do love me some Ironjawz! I think it just makes me a bit nervous NOT going with a starter set because I would feel very lost just buying the Ironjawz start collecting and trying to play from there.

To be honest, I'm finding it very confusing on what books I need to A) Get into the lore from step one (though the start collecting magazine I bought has been great) and B) Which books I need to start playing....
Do I buy the generals handbook right off the bat? Do I really only need the 4 page rules and just pick which army I like best? What about reading up on the 8 realms and the entire story of Age of Sigmar? I don't just want to read about Ironjawz, I want to learn about the whole universe.

And then there's the styles of play.. Thunder and blood, skirmish, open play.. how do I decide??

Shadespire seems great later on as a friday night game-night sort of thing. I really like the simplicity and idea of it, but I am more interested in building an army.

I'm just finding it difficult as there is no clear cut way to get started in sequential order. The lore and storytelling are just as important to me as the hobby aspect, and now hopefully the gaming aspect of things. I think it will help me choose my favorite army as well.
Any suggestions???

Just as an example... I purchased the start collecting set for Craftsworlds and the codex. I've learned a lot about Eldar and their depiction of the 40k universe/what they've done to screw themselves over... but I don't really know anything else at all about the 40k universe and how to start learning. Should I have bought the starter set for 40k 8th edition instead?

It feels like a bit of a daunting task to decide where to start.. or maybe I'm just overthinking it?

you are over thinking, the starters are not going to get the sequential thing you need, now the hardback book is nice, but there is only 4 pages of rules, thats all you need. your warscrolls are all free online, I would recommend you get the battletome, it will give you all the background on your ironjaws. The "starter" really is just have some stormcast and khorne, if folks arent interested in either of those, then its no value, especially with blight war as an option as well,. thats nurgle and different stormcast. This game really is much more "plug and play" than warhammer or even 40k.

sent you a PM.

Ah I think you may be right.. overthinking. For some reason I just thought "hey this box has all i need and gives me 2 cool armies to start playing with friends" but I assumed you needed that hardback book to get going like it's the 40k rule book or something

My local GW guy alresdy gave me a free copy of the 4 page rules. So o guess I'm good to go there?

I found this link...
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-CA/Warhammer-Age-of-Sigmar-Factions-Guide

That's helping me decide on an army. I have been debating chaos/khorne instead of ironjawz.. would you say the starter box makes it worth it if you'll play even one of the armies?

Any other online resources on the different factions I should check out? Or general lore to get an idea of the 8 realms?


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Baron Klatz wrote:
Welcome back and welcome to the Mortal Realms!

Gonna chime in here and say you should give Mongoosematt's reviews a look for helpful info.

http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=51557.msg980010#msg980010

(I got sidetracked and haven't been linking his stuff since his Skirmish review so going to his post history here on Dakka would be a good idea for the recent reviews I missed.)

Speaking of Skirmish that's probably worth looking into as well. Let's you build a small warband so you can sample some armies through that while having a lot of fun.

Then there's the free Warscrolls builder you can use on the community site to help with list.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/warscroll-builder/

Finally, I fully suggest getting the AoS app. Let's you look up warscrolls quickly while having a book section of AoS battletomes, game books and novels to help you keep updated and having a efficient grasp on all your gaming options.

Good luck and hope you have fun!

I will do all of that! Thanks very much for the suggestions

IF you want to play Khorne, then absolutely I would go with the big starter, the force in their is nice. yeah if you have that 4 page, you have all the rules. I would always recommend grabbing the $10 skirmish book, its just fun and a good little book. I sent a pm with a great resource to get the actual books, or I can assist as well. you can read till you burst

Sounds great! Got it and can't thank you enough for all of the help/guidance

As a fellow Khorne player, I can tell you it's definitely worth it to pick up the starter kit! If you aren't interested in the Stormcast, you could pretty easily sell them either to a friend or off eBay. If you like the way Khorne plays, we have a lot of options for expanding the army fairly cheaply. Surprisingly, the Khorne Battleforce from last Christmas is still available online. I would recommend picking up that, the Start Collecting, and if you can find it, Gorechosen. That'll give you basically everything you could ever want to start out.


Also, this is just kind of an aside, but the long "quote pyramids" make threads hard to read, especially when reading on mobile devices. Could you please use the spoiler function when they start getting that long? It keeps threads looking a lot cleaner.

Silence! Nagash favors the black pyramids of quotes!

As an aside, those Stormcast starter extras could make good "casualty pieces".

(That's what I do with the Khorne part if not using their amazing helmets and parts for kitbashes)

 EnTyme wrote:
As a fellow Khorne player, I can tell you it's definitely worth it to pick up the starter kit! If you aren't interested in the Stormcast, you could pretty easily sell them either to a friend or off eBay. If you like the way Khorne plays, we have a lot of options for expanding the army fairly cheaply. Surprisingly, the Khorne Battleforce from last Christmas is still available online. I would recommend picking up that, the Start Collecting, and if you can find it, Gorechosen. That'll give you basically everything you could ever want to start out.


Also, this is just kind of an aside, but the long "quote pyramids" make threads hard to read, especially when reading on mobile devices. Could you please use the spoiler function when they start getting that long? It keeps threads looking a lot cleaner.

sorry thats mostly my fault, I have no idea how to prevent the wall of text, not very savvy with this stuff :(

 thekingofkings wrote:

Spoiler:

 EnTyme wrote:
As a fellow Khorne player, I can tell you it's definitely worth it to pick up the starter kit! If you aren't interested in the Stormcast, you could pretty easily sell them either to a friend or off eBay. If you like the way Khorne plays, we have a lot of options for expanding the army fairly cheaply. Surprisingly, the Khorne Battleforce from last Christmas is still available online. I would recommend picking up that, the Start Collecting, and if you can find it, Gorechosen. That'll give you basically everything you could ever want to start out.


Also, this is just kind of an aside, but the long "quote pyramids" make threads hard to read, especially when reading on mobile devices. Could you please use the spoiler function when they start getting that long? It keeps threads looking a lot cleaner.

sorry thats mostly my fault, I have no idea how to prevent the wall of text, not very savvy with this stuff :(

If you're not familiar with HTML, the best way to do it is to click the "quote" button like normal, highlight the text you're quoting, and hit the "spoiler" button on the reply screen. It should end up looking similar to the post I just quoted from you.

Am I using the spoiler function right? lol thanks for that! I was getting annoyed with it myself but no idea you could do that.

Right now it is between a Khorne army and the Ironjawz/eventually a Destruction army with some Bonesplitters mixed in.

I ran this by my good buddy/co-worker this morning and he is VERY interested. In fact, super excited lol. He told me he is going to be checking out the armies today and get back to me.. if he lands on Stormcast (which I think he might, he loves all the superhero stuff) then we will split a starter box and voila! Everything we need to get started. I am also going to pick up the skirmish book for $12 so we can maybe start with smaller, less intimidating games. He told me he used to play D&D way back in the day (I had no idea) so this has really got him interested!

Either way it sounds like we will be heading down to GW together to pick some stuff up after Christmas

When you say how Khorne plays... how do they actually play? I like the idea of Ironjawz just running in and smashing things. Kind of why I went with Eldar/Saim-Hann for 40k because I like the idea of Jetbikes flying around and generally bothering everyone lol

What I love about Khorne most is that A) I'm a huge horror movie fan, as is my wife, so the deamons and creepiness are a huge plus and B) There are SO many options/models to build and collect. Ironjawz is pretty straight forward and not a lot of variety, which admittedly bums me out a bit. Thought I know the game is new and there is room for expansion!



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Very good point! If my buddy and I split maybe we will swap some extra bits and play around with that

if your buddy wants stormcast, then oh yeah the big starter is where its at. the khorgorath is sweet for you and it gives you both damn solid forces, plus that set is geared as a teach to play through scenarios pitting those forces against each other. I am not a khorne fan, but the force that came with it was very solid in it gave you some good chars and some good units. again if not using points, then its obscenely easy to just bulk that up the way you want with purchasing who you want.

there are warscroll compendiums for all the old factions on GW, so if you download them, all the old orc and goblin models are there to assist the soccer hooligans.

It is definitely a great value! It will just depend on what armies we land on.

Any suggestions for books/campaigns to play through if we dont buy the starter set by chance? Beyond the skirmish one which I will definitely grab for some smaller games to start with.

Is there a sequential order to how the "campaign/narrative" games should be played?

 BlazeBuster wrote:

Spoiler:

 thekingofkings wrote:
if your buddy wants stormcast, then oh yeah the big starter is where its at. the khorgorath is sweet for you and it gives you both damn solid forces, plus that set is geared as a teach to play through scenarios pitting those forces against each other. I am not a khorne fan, but the force that came with it was very solid in it gave you some good chars and some good units. again if not using points, then its obscenely easy to just bulk that up the way you want with purchasing who you want.

there are warscroll compendiums for all the old factions on GW, so if you download them, all the old orc and goblin models are there to assist the soccer hooligans.

It is definitely a great value! It will just depend on what armies we land on.

Any suggestions for books/campaigns to play through if we dont buy the starter set by chance? Beyond the skirmish one which I will definitely grab for some smaller games to start with.

Is there a sequential order to how the "campaign/narrative" games should be played?

Heh, where to start, well I am going to be using Firestorm for myself, and likely blightwar soon, but you can do the realmgate wars easy enough, then there is always the hardback AoS "main" book with its scenarios. AoS works much better when using scenarios to be honest.

[/spoiler]

By "main" book do you mean the generals handbook? Or the one the comes in the AOS starter set?