Home » Deberts » Rules of the game warhammer age of sigmar. Warhammer Fantasy Battles: Age of Sigmar, or Oh my mosch! What about game mechanics?

Rules of the game warhammer age of sigmar. Warhammer Fantasy Battles: Age of Sigmar, or Oh my mosch! What about game mechanics?

Some fantasy worlds die quietly, collecting dust on library shelves. Others go supernova and fade away along with the careers of unsuccessful directors. Still others exhaust our patience with endless self-repetitions, remakes, and reboots. Few are given the opportunity to leave as they should. You can grieve for a long time about the thirty-year history of Warhammer: Fantasy Battles and remember the stories of the Old World. But in 2015, the two-tailed comet appeared in the sky for the last time. The world, always on the brink of destruction, finally broke away from him.

Fantasy Battles closed beautifully. Before abandoning support for the system, Games Workshop launched a series of events called The End Times. The plot of the cataclysm was revealed in books, and new sets of miniatures were released for the final battles in the Old World.

The End Times: Old Warhammer Fantasy Apocalypse

Chroniclers covered the fall of the peoples of Order in great detail. The southern human states and the jungles of Lustria were overrun by skaven ratmen. The country of the dark elves, Naggaroth, fell under the onslaught of the warriors of Chaos, the vain ruler Malekith took the remnants of the fleet to his lost homeland, to the coast of Ulthuan, and two branches of one people came together in mortal combat. A new undead army has risen in Sylvania. Corruption has spread to the elven forests and plains of Bretonnia. Slavic Kislev could not resist the onslaught of the barbarians - even a huge earthen wall, raised by the efforts of dozens of magicians, was able to stop them only for a while. States fell one after another. The Empire, the last bastion of humanity, lasted longer than the others - but only by a few years. Archaon the Ever-Chosen has completed his campaign.

Three eras

All that was left of the world was the metal core Mallus, which floated in the void until the great Sigmar found it. The ancient emperor, who after fifty years of rule went far to the east, spent most of the history of the Old World languishing in captivity under the treacherous Tzeentch, the wisest of the Chaos gods. Having freed himself, he, with the help of the dragon Drakothion, found small fragments of the old world and breathed life into them. There were eight new worlds in total - according to the number of previous winds of magic. One of them, Azir, became the haven of Sigmar's eternal companions. Inside it, the hero, who received divine status, built a huge city, and installed a metal core instead of the sun. Nature does not tolerate a vacuum, and now, following the principle of communicating vessels, souls hurried from Mallus to new worlds. Thus began the era of Legends.

Necromancer Nagash, new god of death

Sigmar Hammerbearer, creator of new worlds (illustration by Stefan Kopinski)

Sigmar traveled to new worlds, and wherever he appeared, people who had fallen into barbarism and other humanoids began to build a civilization. He also came across more powerful creatures - sleeping gods. Sigmar awakened them and voluntarily forced them to maintain the universe. The necromancer Nagash was promoted to the god of death and, in addition to power over one of the worlds, received the right to judge dead sinners. Nagash later took over all of Shyish, the world of death, and now considers all souls to be his own. It is to Shyish that all souls go after death.

Gork and Mork merged into one after the cataclysm; Sigmar made friends with them too, giving one world to the greenskins. The elf Tyrion became the god of light, and Malerion the god of shadows. At first, these two helped Sigmar, but soon abandoned their duties and went in search of Slaanesh, the god of Chaos who had sunk into oblivion. (Many explain his disappearance by the “childish” rating of the new game. After all, Slaanesh is the god of forbidden pleasures.) His place in the four gods was taken by the Horned Rat.

In reality, Slaanesh absorbed the flow of elven souls and simply stayed away. He was found by Tyrion and Malerion, who ripped open the belly of the Prince of Excess and freed the souls to create their new nations from them. True, all these souls are a little “corrupted” by Slaanesh, so the new elves are a little… different.

For some time, this order worked, but soon the gods became cramped in their own domains, and they staged a bloody war at the hands of their admirers. Chaos immediately appeared at the smell of blood, and other problems faded into the background. Seven of the eight Mortal Worlds were conquered. Sigmar personally escorted the few survivors to the gates of Azir, after which he sealed them securely. In one of the battles, the god lost the hammer of Ghal Maraz (after whom the game was named Warhammer). People remember this dark period as the Era of Chaos.

Azirheim: a golden city under a not-so-blue sky

For a long time, Sigmar did not show himself to his subjects. In the heavenly palace of Azirheim, he looked for a way to recapture the possessions of people from the monsters and eventually found it. He addressed the lost souls from new worlds. Not all of them were warriors before, but having received a piece of Sigmar's divine power, they became equal to the champions of Chaos. The weapons and armor of the Stormcast Eternals army are forged from the hardest metal in the world, sigmarite, by the hands of six duardin smiths sent to Sigmar by the friendly dwarf god Grungni. Like the Space Marines in Warhammer 40,000, the Stormcast Eternals are divided into Chapters: Lions of Sigmar, Astral Templars, Heldenhammer Anvils. The new army turned the tide of the war, marking the beginning of the Age of Sigmar. All games in the new Age of Sigmar setting take place at this time.

Eight Mortal Worlds

The seas and countries familiar to us from Warhammer Fantasy have remained in people's memory only as vague legends. The Old and New Worlds are now called the World Before Time, replaced by eight Mortal Worlds. During their short history they have known periods of prosperity and decline. We will not go into details - we will describe the status quo at the time of the wargames.

Cosmology has changed a lot. Scandinavian mythology has always inspired the authors of the setting, now its influence has spread to the structure of the universe itself. The worlds are connected by Gates, which the forces of Order, Chaos, Death and Destruction are constantly trying to recapture from each other. The “Age of Sigmar” starter is dedicated to the events of one of the attacks on Azir.

Agshi, world of fire. A dry, windswept wasteland with volcanic craters scattered here and there. The influence of Chaos is strong here. Bound by the blood of Khorne proclaimed their kingdom in Agshi.

Azir, the world of heaven. The only world that was not affected by Chaos. It was here that Sigmar founded his great city and gathered the first band of Stormcast Eternals. People settle on a huge ring revolving around the vortex of Mallus's souls. Azir's starlight is visible from other worlds.

Giran, world of life. A flowering valley, for which the goddess of nature Alariel and the god of Chaos Nurgle have been fighting for almost an eternity. For some time, plague and decay engulfed all of Giran, but with the help of Sigmar, the Chaosites were driven back.

Gur, the world of monsters. Dense forests and impenetrable jungles. Home of green-skinned orruks and grots (the same orcs and goblins, only they dress a little differently). Despite their violent temper, the locals do not get along with Chaos and vandalize the statues of Archaon with taste.

Ulgu, world of shadows. Thirteen areas of this place are shrouded in illusion and shrouded in fear. Here you can hear whispers of secrets and riddles everywhere. One of the Gates of this world leads somewhere beyond the known universe.

Hish, world of light. The once world of symmetry and strict forms, under the influence of Chaos, Khysh has changed - now it resembles a strange dream. The seraphon lizards built a huge tower on the plains, and vampires and ghouls live underground and in the mountains.

Shaish, the world of death, or the amethyst world, the kingdom of Nagash. After the god of death was expelled, the world was torn apart by his former minions. Temples covered with human skin, deserts made of dried blood - you won’t find anything like that here.

Shadespire's History

The shining city of Shadesspire. And it’s not neon at all, but shadow glass!

At the dawn of the era of Legends, entire civilizations were born and died on the Mortal Worlds. In Shaish, which was still the domain of death, the people of the Katophrans flourished. Magician inventors discovered the secret of shadow glass - a material capable of holding human souls. The new technology promised immortality: over and over again the souls of the dying were transferred to mirrors and other objects. From a small desert settlement, Shadesspire quickly grew into a global center of trade. The walls of the city were strengthened with the souls of the best warriors who swore to protect it from any threats. Family jewels began to literally pass on the wisdom of generations - dead parents could give advice to living children and grandchildren. They made everything from shadowglass, from earrings to huge golems.

The pride of the Katophrans caught Nagash's attention. The god of death looked with greed at the city, which violated the established order of things and avoided his judgment. Turning his wrath on Shadespire, he shattered Fenway's primary mirror, which was connected to each piece of shadowglass, into pieces. The prosperous city became a nightmarish dungeon - the souls locked in the shadowglass were now forever tied to Shadespire and could not leave it. As if this were not enough, Nagash carried the entire city through the void and left it halfway between the worlds of Ulgu and Hysh. The Katofrans tried to fight the curse and came to the conclusion that to remove it they needed to collect all the shadow glass in one place and restore Fenway, but they could not do this. Many of the city's inhabitants went mad, and some even began to worship Nagash in the hope that he would give them forgiveness. Shadespire became a dark reflection of its former self, a city of fear, violence and endless suffering.

“Would you like to talk about our Lord Nagash?”

But, despite all the horrors, the riches of the city attracted adventurers of all stripes. Reaching it through the bone desert and seeing the ghostly flickering of the walls is a challenge in itself. Shadespire was cruel with strangers: some were captured by the curse, and they endlessly wandered through dark alleys, gradually going crazy, others were killed by the same adventurers. But some managed to escape and take with them relics of a bygone era. Such lucky people spread rumors about the city of dark reflections and its treasures throughout the eight worlds. The board game Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire is dedicated to these events, in which players control small squads from all over the universe and fight with other similar groups for the right to survive and take the acquired knowledge and artifacts out of Shadespire.

Prisoners of the Mirror City

Almost everyone wants to get out of Shadespire, but the motives of the factions still differ. At the moment, four units have been published, but there will be six in total.

Champions of the Steel Heart

The Stormcast Eternals were sent to Shadespire by Sigmar himself. Their task is to discover the secret of shadowglass in order to use it in the Reforging process. Eternal warriors, having received mortal wounds, gain new life with the help of magic, but lose part of their human personality. Perhaps with shadow glass everything will change.

Garrek's Reavers and Magor's Fiends

Killers and cannibals loyal to Khorne fight for the sake of fighting. Robbers in rags and armored fighters are not alike, but they are united by a thirst for blood and hatred of the army of Sigmar.

Iron Skull Boys

Brazen and pugnacious, orruks love to fight even more than chaosites. A gang of marauders ended up in Shadesspire by accident, but over time they got a taste for it: the curse does not allow the victims of these guys to escape from them.

The risen dead, retaining fragments of memories of a past life. Once upon a time they were residents of Shadesspire, but now they serve the Grave Warden, Nagash's loyal servant, and seek to return the city to his bony hand.

* * *

Don't miss the Old World. Games and books are here to stay - there's even a new edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay coming in 2018. Let the new world tell different stories. Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire is the first game in the world of Age of Sigmar, officially translated into Russian, and by Games Workshop itself! The fighters of the new world have not yet managed to compare with the heroes of the Empire, Lustria and Naggaroth in the number of feats, but they have everything ahead of them. Games Workshop is focusing on small skirmish wargames. While the "big" formats of Fantasy Battles required a serious financial investment, Shadespire offers tactical battles and battles of wits without the need to collect and paint dozens of miniatures. Doctor Who remains popular by changing its face and character every few years. Warhammer has also changed, and this is interesting - while the plots of interesting games unfold in the new world.

Initially, the article contained several inaccuracies regarding the history of the world, which were pointed out to us by attentive readers. Thank you!

It is not so easy to remember the precedents for this event: Games Workshop closed the wargame and in its place created Warhammer Age of Sigmar - a fundamentally different game, although it allows the use of models from the old one. So, the Old World is destroyed, but Sigmar, the God-King, with the help of his immortal warriors, is fighting against the forces of Chaos.

Apparently, in order to finally finish off the fans of the old setting, the new faction introduced into the world of “Age of Sigmar” suspiciously resembles a mixture of space marines from and characters from the later parts. A sort of space marine without bolters, but with angel wings. The trolling turned out to be excellent: the mere sight of these units caused many players, to put it politely, to experience cognitive dissonance. And that was just the first shock...

The second shock came when people received the rules - they looked completely different. First of all, the movement phase, perhaps the most important part of Warhammer fantasy battle, has changed. In the predecessor game, maneuvers were of considerable importance: you could hit the front, the flank, or the rear, and the result, from the point of view of game mechanics, was fundamentally different. Now all this is not in the rules, you can move in any direction, from which point you attack - it doesn’t matter, at least at first glance.

The second thing happened to the players when it turned out that there were simply no rosters and cost of units in points: theoretically, an army could be recruited by anyone, in any quantity. For example, so far there is not even a limit on the number of unique heroes, so a squad of five Nagash may well meet on the battlefield against a squad of the same number of Malekites, for example. It is not yet clear how to balance armies among themselves; theoretically, you can adjust according to the number of lives on a model or the power of its weapons. The problem is that the rules don’t stipulate this at all.

Next: the wounding system itself has changed. Previously, you had two tables (for hits and wounds), which compared the performance of two models. Now each model has an indicator to hit, to wound, and another one indicating penalties to the enemy’s saving throw. Those. There are significantly fewer calculations, and the process itself is somewhat simpler. If I understand correctly: the same Nagash hits +3 (that is, if the die rolls 3 or more), wounds at +2 or +3 depending on the weapon. At the same time, the penalty to the saving throw is 1: if I understand correctly, then Nagash’s opponent rolls the die. Let's say the Sisters of Avelorn among the High Elves can boast a roll of +5: they roll the die and get a 5, but thanks to the penalty, 1 is subtracted, which means the saving throw failed (its value became 4) and the wound was inflicted.

The distribution system of the game is not yet completely clear: there is a starter with two factions (the same warriors of Sigmar and the Khornites opposing them, in the photo at the top of the page), but the rules for them are only in the "White Dwarf" and in the starter box - in neither They are not included in the previous factions. The rules of the game as such, as well as “Warscrolls” with rules for all other previously released models, are posted on the GW website for free download. Moreover, there are rules, including those translated into Russian; the scrolls are so far only in English. As I understand it, it will probably be like this in the future - new models with rules in the box are released from time to time, the old ones remain available for play. Most likely, the new units will be given some goodies to make them attractive even to those who already have assembled armies. Plus, perhaps, they will continue to produce “company boxes” similar to the starter one or those that came out in 40k. Personally, I like this perspective.

In fact, by releasing this game, GW solved the obvious problem of Warhammer Fantasy: the high barrier to entry. Let's say I really like the Dark Elves' Hydra, Cauldron of Blood and Witches - I'm more or less indifferent to the rest. But, according to the old rules, in order to put the first two listed units on the table, I had to recruit 40 witches. I like them, of course, but not that much: especially since four boxes will cost about 13 thousand. Hydra is still almost four, Cauldron is a little more expensive. Total - a little over 20 thousand for the roster of interest, despite the fact that no one guarantees that it will be worth anything at all in battle. According to the rules of Age of Sigmar, I can buy any of the three listed units and start playing. If I like it, I'll buy more. If not, I’ll put a beautiful model on the shelf, which cost about three thousand, and calm down on that. Three thousand for “trying” and twenty - the difference is quite significant, isn’t it? Again, the rules, I remind you, are free - unlike the deceased WSE.

At the same time, there is a strong feeling that GW also mocked the players of the previous version of Warhammer: there are a lot of funny clauses in the special rules of units. In the spirit of: “if you dance while rolling dice for the Mask in the attack phase, you can re-roll all the dice to hit, if you force your opponent to join, you can re-roll the dice to wound too.” It's more interesting with Conrad von Carstein: "if you talk to him while you roll the dice, you can re-roll the 1s to hit until the end of your Hero Phase. If he talks to you, then you can re-roll all unsuccessful hit rolls." Honestly, after a while “serious sports tournaments” will look more interesting than a circus. Apparently, the company was so fed up with the “bending fans” that they decided to bend them back. In my opinion, it worked out: it was a pretentious game with a couple of hundred pages of general rules and another couple of hundred for each army. Now the general rules take 4 pages, and the scroll, on average, 30, the game itself, at the same time, should be very fun to play with beer. In a sense, the circle has come full circle: the first board games and role-playing games were a means to have fun, “Warhammer 40,000” generally appeared as a parody of fantasy (orcs, knights, elves in space - isn’t that funny?). Then wargames became a gravely serious means of increasing HRV. Now they have been replaced again by a lively, fast game with a bunch of funny rules, which, in fact, is not a wargame at all. But for now it piques my interest. On the other hand, there is a good answer to my restrained giggle: when such rules reach 40K, then we’ll see my reaction. On the other hand, you can’t beat me like that: firstly, I’m not too interested in tournaments, and secondly, no one will take away the rule book and codes of the existing edition from me, which means I’ll just be able to play games instead of just one.

If you've been at all interested in strategy games, you've most likely heard of Warhammer. Over its 32-year history, the board game of fantasy combat opened the door to the world of gaming for an entire generation of players, and it remains one of the most recognizable franchises in the industry to this day.

But recently Games Workshop, the creator who brought three decades of bloodshed and battle, will destroy the world of Warhammer in a cataclysmic event known as the End of Time.

Now the company has presented a new incarnation of the game: Warhammer: Age of Sigmar This is a radical reworking of game rules and backing. So what has changed, and why Games Workshop has put an end to their canonical world of fantasy wars.

What is Warhammer?

Warhammer is a board game that divides players into armies of valiant men, noble elves, savage orcs and many other strange and terrible creatures. Players collect troops from miniature plastic models, all with different characteristics and abilities, and use them to role-play battles on a tabletop battlefield. Unlike a regular board game, where players' moves are limited to a certain area, Warhammer Commanders freely maneuver their army, setting distances using rules and conducting shooting and close combat using dice.

Over the course of its life, the game has gone through several editions, revisions to the rules, and the addition of new units and creatures. Its sci-fi sibling Warhammer 40,000 has become wildly popular with its armies of Space Marines, war machines and hordes of evil aliens.

If you go to a Games Workshop store, you'll likely see a huge battlefield set up in the store, usually beautifully modeled with real terrain recreated.

So these are toy soldiers? Is this only for children?

Many children and teenagers play Warhammer, but the game has always included a complex strategic component that has attracted adults as well. Building an effective army, wisely managing the strength of your troops and turning your opponent’s weakness to your advantage is the key to victory.

But Warhammer is a hobby that includes something else besides the game. Players sit for hours assembling and painting their miniatures, a process that requires patience and delicacy, and sometimes even considerable artistic talent.

How is the new edition different?

Age of Sigmar rewrites the Warhammer setting from the very bottom. Where previous editions of the game pitted rival armies against each other in a world similar to the works of Tolkien, Michael Murcak and Robert E Howard, the new version seeks to establish a clearer universe.

The most noticeable change is the addition of a faction Stormcast Eternals- elite warriors of humanity in the service of the god Sigmar. They replace several of the human armies of previous editions and bear a striking resemblance to the Space Marines from Warhammer 40,000, Games Workshop's best-selling miniatures series.

Other races, including rat-like ones Skavainov and the lumbering hordes of the undead are back, but the names of some units have changed, they can probably be trademarked. Unremarkable orcs, goblins and ogres began to be respectfully called Oroks, Grots and Ogors.

What about the game mechanics?

From a mechanical point of view, the game is terribly different from previous editions, where everything revolved around regiments scurrying across the battlefield in ordinary formations. Infantry in Age of Sigmar fighting as individual units is much more similar to Warhammer 40,000 and the format seems to be streamlined for faster play, veterans can argue whether this will have a positive effect on the game.

The new edition has also greatly simplified the process of collecting an army. Where before each unit came with cost points to ensure a level playing field between players. The game now moves away from arithmetic in matters of collecting troops, instead bonuses have been introduced into the game to level out the forces on the field.

The units themselves have also become simpler, now having only four numerical characteristics. Unlike previous editions, which forced players to purchase additional rule books for each army to play as a specific faction, each box of miniatures now comes with a Warscroll, a printed sheet containing all the information needed to take a unit onto the battlefield. This is a similar approach to Fantasy Flight Games' popular "Star Wars" game with spaceship cards.

Why has the game changed so significantly?

Just as video games spawn an endless number of sequels, board games of all kinds tend to change over time. As players improve their armies and find optimal strategies, designers introduce new elements for fresh challenges and new storylines.

But Games Workshop desperately needs to rejuvenate the game. After a long period of success, the firm's sales and profits fell sharply in 2014 as players became embittered by price hikes. The company also suffered from falling interest in the game Lord of the Rings, which initially generated significant revenues, but did not maintain its position after the end of the Peter Jackson trilogy.

Will the game expand over time?

Without a doubt. At the time of publication, two armies have been announced: heroic Stormcast Eternals And bloodthirsty warriors of the Chaos god Khorne . You can look forward to an ever-growing range of troops for both of these forces, as well as entirely new factions in the coming months and years.

Can I continue to use my old miniatures?

If you've been collecting troops from previous editions of Warhammer, there's nothing stopping you and your friends from playing with the old models and familiar rulesets. Games Workshop has published conversion rules for existing miniatures, allowing you to use your armies within the new edition.

Some of the conversion rules have a slightly ironic tone, with rules including bonuses for players who wear mustaches or who prefer to play while riding a horse, and this speaks to the studio's overall lack of seriousness.

How do I get started and how much will it cost?

Starter set E Knights of Sigmar comes with everything you need to arrange a small two-on-two battle: Stormcast Eternals against Chaos troops. At £75 ($125) it's not cheap, but to be fair it's cheaper than a gaming PC or top-end console.

You will also need some modeling supplies, paints and brushes, at least as long as the miniatures are released unassembled and unpainted. It sounds a little scary, but there are many online tutorials on army painting techniques. You don't have to be Michelangelo, of course, but many opponents will expect at least a basic paint job from you.

Speaking of opponents, you'll need people on the other side of the table. Games Workshop organizes events in its stores, of which there are about 400 worldwide. Alternatively, you can find a local gaming club. Some of them gather for informal games, while others hold more serious championships.

Are there alternative tabletop battles?

Yes. If the Warhammer universe doesn't interest you, there are plenty of other fantasy and sci-fi wargames that might catch your attention.

The English studio Fantasy Flight Games has released two board games based on the Star Wars universe.

X-Wing Miniatures Game focuses on lightning-fast combat between Rebel exadrons and Imperial pilots, while Star Wars: Armada offers a more advanced version of space combat using strategy and using some of the franchise's largest and most powerful ships.

Nottingham-based Mantic Games makes a range of games with former Games Workshop designer Alessio Cavatore at the helm. Kings of War pits armies of Men, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs against each other, while the upcoming Warpath - whose rules are being finalized but are already free to download - allows players to engage in futuristic battles with high-tech waxes and weaponry. If you're a fan of past editions of Warhammer and Warhammer 40K, these games are the closest you'll get these days.

Privateer Press's Warmachine puts you in the position of fighting as heavily armored foot soldiers in a steam-punk style, while their other game Hordes puts you in command of an army of monstrous creatures.

Beyond the Gates of Antares is a science fiction game developed by Rick Priestley, co-creator and longtime creative director of Warhammer. The game got rid of many of the Warhammer gothic attributes, leaving only the “heavy” military sky-fi.