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Made in us
Powerful Ushbati





United States

Alright, I'm ready to do this. New year, new game. The question is, where do I start?

Obviously I purchased a copy of the rules, and spent a good couple of hours looking at models, battletomes and such. I've decided to go with the Stormcast Eternals, and having looked over their battletome I'm not sure exactly how to organize my forces. I want to build a specific theme, and have it fit within the rules, but I'm finding the organization tables to be quite confusing. Any advice?

Models I'd like to use include

Celestant Prime
Retributors
Prosecutors with Javalins

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/01/06 08:04:11


 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka




How about the Start Collecting starter sets? I can't remember if there is two of them or one of them is discontinued now. How does the Age of Sigmar starter set look for you or do you not want the Nighthaunts?

Sorry I don't know much about Stormcast eternals so can't be of much help besides what I mentioned.

Agies Grimm:The "Learn to play, bro" mentality is mostly just a way for someone to try to shame you by implying that their metaphorical nerd-wiener is bigger than yours. Which, ironically, I think nerds do even more vehemently than jocks.

Everything is made up and the points don't matter. 40K or Who's Line is it Anyway?

Auticus wrote: Or in summation: its ok to exploit shoddy points because those are rules and gamers exist to find rules loopholes (they are still "legal"), but if the same force can be composed without structure, it emotionally feels "wrong".  
   
Made in us
Powerful Ushbati





United States

Davor wrote:
How about the Start Collecting starter sets? I can't remember if there is two of them or one of them is discontinued now. How does the Age of Sigmar starter set look for you or do you not want the Nighthaunts?

Sorry I don't know much about Stormcast eternals so can't be of much help besides what I mentioned.


Hi Davor,

Well, my question is more about how you build an army. Unlike 40K that says pick a detachment and apply x amount of units based on what that detachment allows, AoS appears to just tell you that you can have x unit of a, b and c and that if you have x units of those, that counts as this battalion and you get the rules. Then there is something about pitched battle profiles and what not that really has me confused.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Basically, pitched battles have certain limitations on what kinds of units you can brings (found in the General's Handbook), but for the most part it is pretty simple. Like at 2,000 points, I think you can only bring 1-6 heroes, 0-4 monsters, and stuff like that. Only tricky part is the required number of battleline units. At 2,000 points, I think it is 3. If you are doing basic Stormcast, this means 3 units of 5 Liberators (minimum).

The Battalions are optional sub-forces for your army. Basically, if you bring units X, Y, and Z, you get to say they belong to a battalion (that requires X,Y, and Z). Battalions are just little extras, and many of them require you to spend points to use them. You are under no obligation to use them.

In the Battletomes for most armies, there are things like artifacts, allegiance abilities, command traits, and subfaction abilities. I think the rules for most of this stuff is now included in the core rules, but the Battletome should explain how to do it. Battletome also has a bunch of battalions in it, if you choose to use them.

Long story short, if you are starting out, get the Stormcast Battletome (for allegiance abilities and all that stuff) and the newest General's Handbook (for pitched battle scenarios, points, and army creation). You'd probably do well to go with the Start Collecting box, which is the Stormcast side of the original Age of Sigmar box. This means you can't customize any of the models (the Prosecutors only have hammers, I'm afraid), but you get some cool models in it (Lord Relictor is one of my favorite Stormcast models, and I think you can only get him in this set).
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

 Togusa wrote:
Davor wrote:
How about the Start Collecting starter sets? I can't remember if there is two of them or one of them is discontinued now. How does the Age of Sigmar starter set look for you or do you not want the Nighthaunts?

Sorry I don't know much about Stormcast eternals so can't be of much help besides what I mentioned.


Hi Davor,

Well, my question is more about how you build an army. Unlike 40K that says pick a detachment and apply x amount of units based on what that detachment allows, AoS appears to just tell you that you can have x unit of a, b and c and that if you have x units of those, that counts as this battalion and you get the rules. Then there is something about pitched battle profiles and what not that really has me confused.


Like 40k AoS has the Open, Narrative, & Matched play rules. Open & Narrative are just like 40k - do whatever the gak you want & work it out with your fellow players....

Matched play is what you're stumbling through because it's poorly written, spread through multiple books, & is about as clear to use as mud.

1st, from page 48 of the 2018 Generals Handbook (AoS version of Chapter Approved), the Pitched Battle Chart:

We'll use a Vanguard force as an example. This is just like picking a detachment type in 40k. It'll tell you how many units of certain types you must/can include.
Vanguard: 1000 pts.
Leaders = 1-4, These are the character models
Battleline = 2+ units These are the Troop slots
Artillery = 0-2, Cannons/warmachines/etc
Behemoths = 0-2, Monsters
Other units = any #, Other Units - Being ne wly returned to the game myself, I'm not clear on what this applies to - terrain models I think.
Allied Units = 200 pts or less - Allies - see p.86 of the 2018 GH for the allies list (maybe also in the specific army book?) - so you're playing Stormcast - you can pick anything with the ORDER keyword (as long as it doesn't break the limits). Myself? I play a Free Peoples army - so my Allies are Collegiate Arcane (where I get my wizards from), Devoted of Sigmar, Ironweld Arsenal (where my cannons come from), & Stormcast Eternals

In order to tell what category a model/unit counts as you need to turn to the "Profiles" chapter of the book starting on p.62 Or the last several pages of your army specific book. Some models/units count as multiple types - for ex; I have an elf general on a dragon - he's both a leader & behemoth. After this you just spend pts & build the army like you would in 40k.

Battalions: Think of these as the formations out of 40k 7e. In order to qualify as such you must field the listed models. If you do, you get x benefits.

   
Made in ca
Speed Drybrushing





t.dot

Warhammer Community Warscroll Builder

Link above. I highly recommend using this tool; it's a great way to build your army, it tells you illegal or insufficient entries (say, not enough Battle Lines, too many Relics, etc.), and you can save a PDF list output afterwards.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/01/07 18:21:59


   
Made in ca
Perfect Shot Ultramarine Predator Pilot






Warscroll Builder is a great tool, and so is Battlescribe.

If you've ever used Battlescribe for 40k, it's the same as AoS. It breaks down units in to their battlefield role, and depending on the points/mode you're playing will tell you what you need to make your list legal.

Another benefit, I've found that Battlescribe is more accurate than Warscroll Builder, and it can handle Batallions quite well. Could just be my own bias, and preferring to use Battlescribe while being more comfortable with it, though.

Skaven - 4500
OBR - 4250
- 6800
- 4250
- 2750 
   
Made in ca
Preacher of the Emperor






 Togusa wrote:
Well, my question is more about how you build an army. Unlike 40K that says pick a detachment and apply x amount of units based on what that detachment allows, AoS appears to just tell you that you can have x unit of a, b and c and that if you have x units of those, that counts as this battalion and you get the rules. Then there is something about pitched battle profiles and what not that really has me confused.


I see, you're basically trying to determine how matched play works. The short answer is you'll find that in the General's Handbook, which contains rules for how matched play works, the matched play missions, and, critically, the updated points costs for every book that came out before that edition of the General's Handbook.

In broadest strokes compared to 40K, the chief things to note are as follows:

-Every faction falls under one of 4 'Grand Alliance' macrofactions. You can run an army as your specific faction (like Stormcast Eternals or Daughters of Khaine) or run them together under their common Grand Alliance (in this case: Order), each Grand Alliance has its own spells and relics etc that provide certain generic benefits while every faction has their own spells and relics that are better suited to their specific playstyle.
-Unlike 40k, there is only one 'detachment' in your army, so you can't have a half-DoK, half Stormcast army running around with all their best respective equipment
-Every faction does have an 'allies' list, depending on the size of your game you can allocate a certain number of your points to picking units from those allied armies and still count as your core faction (DoK can ally with a small subset of elves, Stormcast can ally with pretty much everyone!)
-Units fall under certain set categories: Leader, Battleline, Artillery, Behemoth, and Other, your army must be within a certain minimum and maximum limit for these units depending on the size:
-Your army must have at least one Leader to act as your general, and depending on the size of the game must have a minimum number of 'battleline' units (2, 3, or 4), which units are battleline is specified in the General's Handbook and in the battletome, depending on when it was released.
-Units are purchased in blocks rather than individually like 40k, and their price points in the handbook and battletome are factored based on the size of that block, so a squad of 5 men for 100 points can be a squad of 10 men for 200 points, a squad of 9 men of the same unit would also be 200 points.
-Warscroll Battalions work a lot like formations used to in 40k, with the notable difference: you must pay for the units in the battallion and meet its minimum requirements, but you must also pay points to use the battalion in matched play.

   
Made in us
Powerful Ushbati





United States

 Captain Joystick wrote:
 Togusa wrote:
Well, my question is more about how you build an army. Unlike 40K that says pick a detachment and apply x amount of units based on what that detachment allows, AoS appears to just tell you that you can have x unit of a, b and c and that if you have x units of those, that counts as this battalion and you get the rules. Then there is something about pitched battle profiles and what not that really has me confused.


I see, you're basically trying to determine how matched play works. The short answer is you'll find that in the General's Handbook, which contains rules for how matched play works, the matched play missions, and, critically, the updated points costs for every book that came out before that edition of the General's Handbook.

In broadest strokes compared to 40K, the chief things to note are as follows:

-Every faction falls under one of 4 'Grand Alliance' macrofactions. You can run an army as your specific faction (like Stormcast Eternals or Daughters of Khaine) or run them together under their common Grand Alliance (in this case: Order), each Grand Alliance has its own spells and relics etc that provide certain generic benefits while every faction has their own spells and relics that are better suited to their specific playstyle.
-Unlike 40k, there is only one 'detachment' in your army, so you can't have a half-DoK, half Stormcast army running around with all their best respective equipment
-Every faction does have an 'allies' list, depending on the size of your game you can allocate a certain number of your points to picking units from those allied armies and still count as your core faction (DoK can ally with a small subset of elves, Stormcast can ally with pretty much everyone!)
-Units fall under certain set categories: Leader, Battleline, Artillery, Behemoth, and Other, your army must be within a certain minimum and maximum limit for these units depending on the size:
-Your army must have at least one Leader to act as your general, and depending on the size of the game must have a minimum number of 'battleline' units (2, 3, or 4), which units are battleline is specified in the General's Handbook and in the battletome, depending on when it was released.
-Units are purchased in blocks rather than individually like 40k, and their price points in the handbook and battletome are factored based on the size of that block, so a squad of 5 men for 100 points can be a squad of 10 men for 200 points, a squad of 9 men of the same unit would also be 200 points.
-Warscroll Battalions work a lot like formations used to in 40k, with the notable difference: you must pay for the units in the battallion and meet its minimum requirements, but you must also pay points to use the battalion in matched play.


Got it!

I just received my copy of the GHB today, and I see what you are talking about now. I may have more questions, but for now I am going to read this and see what I can gleam.
   
 
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