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Me and the lads went up to GW's HQ in Nottingham this weekend to attend the first official Age of Sigmar event.



Did a (fairly lengthy) report here;

https://ttgamingdiary.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/event-report-age-of-sigmar-at-gw-hq/

Lots of piccies of the events, plus details (and a few snaps) of the tables and Battleplans that were used.

Thanks a lot! Will read later.

Very good reading -- great job!!

Good report indeed. How many people participated in the event?

That said, there's something unsettling about the 30 flamers guy... With all the atmosphere of gentlemanly agreement about the armies that has been promoted for AoS, having in mind the fun of the other player etc., there, in the middle of GW's seat of power comes a guy with such a unit... I can see that the models are square based (which means he has had them for some time), but still.
I can see some miniature speck of truth in the claim that somebody could have indeed shown with 50 bloodthirsters and all would have been alright with the organizers...

Depending on your view of AoS that is the problem with not having army lists, or else it's a problem with TFG. At any rate it disproves the theory that not having army lists discourages TFG from playing the game.

Though MongooseMatt said the Flamers guy did not seem like a TFG.

Maybe it will just take years for AoS players to create a social climate of taking moderate forces.

Was there any comments from TO's on summoning, 2 hand weapons, or warmachine 'units'?

 Kilkrazy wrote:

Though MongooseMatt said the Flamers guy did not seem like a TFG.

I really don't think he was. Though I do think he knew what he was doing

Part of it is going to be a perceived Power Level. If I were to go to another AoS event there, I would take a more robust force - I wouldn't cheese it out, but 60 or 70 Stormcasts would be able to hold their own against most forces easily enough.

The flip side is that, just as in 40k where you get 3 Wraithknight Guy, in this event it was Glottkin/two Maggoth Lords/Great Unclean One Guy (I shouldn't rag on just that chap - my mate Alan took a Cock Force and he certainly knew what he was doing). You may not be able to avoid that in any game where there is a free or very wide choice in army structure (and,to be honest, I would not want to give up that freedom to cater to the 2% who might take forces like that).

The balance of forces, at the end of the day, was no different than at a typical 40k tournament. The only difference is that, at a tournament, I would have gone in loaded for bear or, at least, had a very different attitude. My only hump was that I went in just wanting to throw some dice and push toy soldiers around on the table, and maybe have some close fought games, and I got confronted by that. You could argue that is more my problem than anyone else's.

RoperPG wrote:
Was there any comments from TO's on summoning, 2 hand weapons, or warmachine 'units'?

Here is a plus point.

Throughout the day, across all those games against all those opponents, I did not even hear of a rules dispute or argument. Not one. That alone, in my book, puts AoS and this event head and shoulders above some other games and events I have been to.

Specifically though...

Summoning: You could take 100 models to this event. Up to you whether they started on the battlefield or got summoned on, and if things got killed you could recycle through summoning.

Two Weapons: If the Warscroll says you get to re-rolls 1s, re-roll 1s (example, Bloodreavers). If your Warscroll has two lines for weapons (and the model has them), roll for two weapons (example, Plague Monks). If the Warscroll does not say anything of the sort, you don't get anything.

Overall Impression: AoS really is as free and easy as it looks, and you should not read too much into things or assume 'designers intent'. Just play with what you have. Simples!

What is the warmachine beef?

Nice to see sense prevailing on the 2x weapon issue!
Warmachine issue was whether the machine and Crew are a single unit, or two units (I.e. you can target crew separately)

Excellent write up, really enjoyed the accompanying pictures too!

30 flamer guy sounds like a treat. It makes me wonder if the AoS 'meta' for formal events will push towards being TFG as subtly as possible. Even though nobody brought 100 bloodthirsters, it seems like plenty of people were testing the limits of social acceptability with their lists...

RoperPG wrote:

Warmachine issue was whether the machine and Crew are a single unit, or two units (I.e. you can target crew separately)

Ah, with you. Only saw this crop up once, attack the unit as a whole, defender chooses where the wounds fall off (like any other unit).

I used some (2×4) flamers at the weekend in my local there not all that in AoS with a 4 & 3 no rend and 3 shots a pieace thats a lot of shots but not much out put and a shortish range as well, there also terrible in cc so charge and kill fairly easily. But i think 100 of them my be a bit much but would have looked really good on the board.

Thanks for the writeup and the photos! Sounds like you had a fun, and it looks pretty nice. Glad you got to play on the Dreadhold LOL

I love some of those 40k tables

Good write up. Sounds like a fun weekend.

Thanks for the write up. I hope to go to one of those events in the future. How many people turned up? Just from your description and the photos it seems a bit thin on the ground.

After playing list building games like 40k and WHFB for so long, everyone still gets that gleam in their eye when they dream up some killer combo. I doubt the flamer guy meant any harm by it.

@MongooseMatt

I don't want to seem like a rude guy for asking the same question twice, but in case you have missed it the first time, I'm very interested in the number of people that showed at Warhammer World for the AoS event. An approximate number of taken tables would also suffice. Thanks.

You can see on the pictures they weren't that many. But then, it doesn't really matter; they clearly had fun and played on nice tables.

Only true believers are worthy of AoS, after all.

Great write up!

It does look a bit sparse there but that's expected as AoS is still a very new game and we all know there is still a lot of hate for it,that will pass on with time though

Always game the scenario,especially with AoS as that's what makes the game sooo much more than just a mosh pit in the middle

What was the bounty set up by order players that made you thrown and unlosable game for the story impact ?

Makumba wrote:
What was the bounty set up by order players that made you thrown and unlosable game for the story impact ?

Don't think one was necessary - he got suckerpunched by a doe-eyed kid...

That looked like a ton of fun. Great tables and fully painted armies too!

 Sarouan wrote:
You can see on the pictures they weren't that many. But then, it doesn't really matter; they clearly had fun and played on nice tables.

Only true believers are worthy of AoS, after all.

Well, as I said it matters to me. I don't doubt that the players had a fun time. I was asking because I'm really on the fence if I should invest into this any more. My main concern was that with low number of players participating at a big event (and other reports of AoS doing poorly) the management may decide that campaign books are not worth pushing out. I really wanted to invest into every campaign book as the game and world is still young and it is good to be there when a new setting is born, but I was concerned if they will still be putting them out 2 years from now. I'm stopping here as my ramblings are beginning to seem somewhat darkly and I've already made my mind on the matter.

 CoreCommander wrote:

 Sarouan wrote:
You can see on the pictures they weren't that many. But then, it doesn't really matter; they clearly had fun and played on nice tables.

Only true believers are worthy of AoS, after all.

Well, as I said it matters to me. I don't doubt that the players had a fun time. I was asking because I'm really on the fence if I should invest into this any more. My main concern was that with low number of players participating at a big event (and other reports of AoS doing poorly) the management may decide that campaign books are not worth pushing out. I really wanted to invest into every campaign book as the game and world is still young and it is good to be there when a new setting is born, but I was concerned if they will still be putting them out 2 years from now. I'm stopping here as my ramblings are beginning to seem somewhat darkly and I've already made my mind on the matter.

If this event was in NZ we would probably consider it a failure due to attendance and there are probably more people in the city this event was held than in my country! We have more people at my club weekly in a town of 48,000 people...

I would say wait dude because it is likely this game wont last long unless it goes through changes. GW has a bad track record of keeping games alive in the past too. Even if you do get into this game you likely (like a lot of people) will be playing a modified version of the rules anyway.

Just my opinion on the matter anyway.

Just googled it, Nottingham is a very small city...

 Swastakowey wrote:

I would say wait dude because it is likely this game wont last long unless it goes through changes. GW has a bad track record of keeping games alive in the past too. Even if you do get into this game you likely (like a lot of people) will be playing a modified version of the rules anyway.

I've decided against buying more books for now. It doesn't seem lively enough, all other things aside (rules, massive changes, models etc.).

 Swastakowey wrote:
Just googled it, Nottingham is a very small city...

Nevertheless I'd expect people from all over the neighbouring game centers.cities to travel to it.

 CoreCommander wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

I would say wait dude because it is likely this game wont last long unless it goes through changes. GW has a bad track record of keeping games alive in the past too. Even if you do get into this game you likely (like a lot of people) will be playing a modified version of the rules anyway.

I've decided against buying more books for now. It doesn't seem lively enough, all other things aside (rules, massive changes, models etc.).

 Swastakowey wrote:
Just googled it, Nottingham is a very small city...

Nevertheless I'd expect people from all over the neighbouring game centers.cities to travel to it.

That sounds like the reasonable way to do it. Keep your investment low etc.

 CoreCommander wrote:

 Sarouan wrote:
You can see on the pictures they weren't that many. But then, it doesn't really matter; they clearly had fun and played on nice tables.

Only true believers are worthy of AoS, after all.

Well, as I said it matters to me. I don't doubt that the players had a fun time. I was asking because I'm really on the fence if I should invest into this any more. My main concern was that with low number of players participating at a big event (and other reports of AoS doing poorly) the management may decide that campaign books are not worth pushing out. I really wanted to invest into every campaign book as the game and world is still young and it is good to be there when a new setting is born, but I was concerned if they will still be putting them out 2 years from now. I'm stopping here as my ramblings are beginning to seem somewhat darkly and I've already made my mind on the matter.

This is a long term investment by GW. They are serious about AoS and I'm pretty sure you won't have to worry about it being around in a few years time. A Specialist game this is not. After the initial furor has died down you'll also probably see more and more people picking it up and realizing it's actually a good game. It's already getting positive feedback from tournament play. Of course in the long term there's no telling what will happen, but that's the same with all games. The attendance at one of the first events for the game, when it is a couple of months old and only two factions have been released, doesn't really tell you anything at all. And GW management certainly won't decide anything based on that short amount of time. If I were you I'd buy with confidence. I sure am.

I am not a fan of AoS but I believe GW will give the system two or three years effort before giving it up if it will have turned out to be a flop. They can't see the success of the game for at least a year, and if it isn't doing well they need another year or two to tweak it and then create a replacement system if such should prove to be necessary.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I am not a fan of AoS but I believe GW will give the system two or three years effort before giving it up if it will have turned out to be a flop. They can't see the success of the game for at least a year, and if it isn't doing well they need another year or two to tweak it and then create a replacement system if such should prove to be necessary.

Pretty much. I keep saying I give the game 3 years and the only way it will last longer is if it changes for the better. So really its the kind of game you buy into if you don't mind replacing your books etc after 3 years.

I wouldnt judge by table in either way, last time I was up there, you had to pay per table used, so I would not want to play stuck on the same table all day or shell out more cash for a different one.

RoperPG wrote:

Makumba wrote:
What was the bounty set up by order players that made you thrown and unlosable game for the story impact ?

Don't think one was necessary - he got suckerpunched by a doe-eyed kid...

Ok maybe I got it wrong, my english is not very good. I was talking about the part about him playing the stormcast and a GW official coming in and saying that their game will have effect on the story line and the eternal player had 0 chance to reach the objectives. Normaly in moments like that games are sold for nice bounties in other games.

It's already getting positive feedback from tournament play.

But where? It is in UK and US mostly, that is like in a different world as gaming goes. In my country and countries near me WFB/AoS never started or died realy fast after people saw the rules. Extra 3 years won't help, in fact they will hurt people, because there will be more models and units that are GW shop only or limited edition like some of the terrain.

This was not a tournament in the traditional sense of the GW Grand Tournament circuit and other such competitions.

It was an event with structured scenarios and high quality tables, where you were guaranteed a certain number of games over the weekend, and the overall results of all the games are taken to affect the AoS fluff.

A traditional tournament with first, second and third prize, and so on, is very difficult, perhaps impossible to do with a game that has no army lists and points structure.