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Surfing eBay and the AoS starter set seems to give you alot relatively. None of my friends are into Fantasy, but if I got the box and painted up the forces I'm sure I could get a few games going.

Ive read AoS has done away with a points system. In terms of balance, are the two forces pretty equally opposed? Is it enough balance so you don't have to invest anything else to even things out? Is GWs claim that the set contains everything you need to start playing correct?

Pretty much - the forces are pretty balanced and were enough to get me started. You cannot really go wrong with the starter.

Not only does the starter set include some of the finest GW sculpts to date but it gives 2 players an average size army to start the game with,as opposed to all previous fantasy starters that really never gave enough for even a small game.

Minijack wrote:
Not only does the starter set include some of the finest GW sculpts to date but it gives 2 players an average size army to start the game with,as opposed to all previous fantasy starters that really never gave enough for even a small game.

Because clearly the comparison with WHFB's starters was necessary

Flame bait much?

If it was flame bait you rose to it.

Getting back on track, the starter set contains everything you need for an intro level game, with modestly sized armies.

Currently selling for about £60 on Amazon.

If you end up not liking the rules, you can still use the figures with a different ruleset.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
If it was flame bait you rose to it.

Hardly. If I was really going to flame him I definitely wouldn't have only said that.

I was really only just pointing out how unnecessary the comparison was to the thread. Matt answered it perfectly, and without any need to bring WHFB into it.

And yes you can say that my post was off-topic (rightfully so, too) but it doesn't qualify as flaming at all.

But hey, you're the mod.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I agree that the sculpts in the box are awesome. I actually picked up a Celestant Prime model for 40k use, which got me looking at the Stormshield Eternal models, which got me looking at the starter set. It's actually the Khorne models in the box which are giving me the itch to pick it up...that and tyhe fact that the box is so packed with models in general.

AoS noob question as well: will I need the rulebook to fully play the game/have access to all the rules? Retails at $75 but I could get it for less at my FLGS which is closing in a week. I just got the starter today and I'd like to play some, but I won't buy the rulebook if I won't need it, lol.

The rules are all free.

There is no rulebook. There are campaign books, but those are not necessary to play (though I will say out of the box the default AOS game is not very good and the scenarios are definitely something that make it a lot better)

Every book out there has a free copy of the core rules. The core rules can also be downloaded for free.

grumpy_newenglander wrote:
AoS noob question as well: will I need the rulebook to fully play the game/have access to all the rules? Retails at $75 but I could get it for less at my FLGS which is closing in a week. I just got the starter today and I'd like to play some, but I won't buy the rulebook if I won't need it, lol.

The big hardback books aren't rulebooks. They are like 98% fluff, 2% scenarios and battalions you can't get anywhere else. The rules for the game and all the units (except a handful unique to the starter box) are available on GW's website as PDFs. Not only do you not need the big book, I wouldn't even recommend getting it.

The big books have Battleplans and Time of War rules to add flavour to your games. The books are overpriced in my opinion too.

You can buy just the rule content of the books from the AoS app (I.e. Without all the pictures and backstory). The content from the first book can be bought for £12.99 from the App.

I'll offer a counterpoint...

If you are really 'into' Warhammer, in terms of background and storyline, the book is definitely worth it. It also contains quite a few Battleplans (missions) which you may find is the best way to play AoS.

On the other hand, if background is not your main priority, you will find a lot of wasted pages in the book