Questions from a prospective player

[wargamer]

Hello everyone.

I gave Age of Sigmar a try a couple years ago but schedule changes forced me to give it up. I have a much more stable schedule these days and was thinking of playing again, this time with actual AOS models instead of old WFB ones. To that end I find myself drawn to the Stormcast Eternals and am probably going to pick up a dominion box set.

I had a couple questions I was hoping you guys could help me with.

I am a bit vague on what books are actually needed to play. Odds are I will end up getting everything eventually but what do I need to get started? The army book and? Does the main rulebook have anything that is not available online in the free rules?

Not having a copy of the army book yet I can not see the different sub factions in the App I am using. It looks like they modify core choices, do they also restrict/narrow down what units from the massive roster you are allowed to take?

It looks like dominion has 1415 points. Is there wargear with points costs associated or do I have to find a 85point unit to make a full 1500pt game?

Thanks for your help!

[dave]

Hi there! AoS is lots of fun, and I wish my schedule would allow me more play time too, ha.

As far as books, the core rules are also found in the General's Handbook. It also has the rules for endless spells, the latest set of missions and an extra battle pack (extra seasonal rules). It's a nice addition, but definitely not necessary for starting out. The core book included in dominion, is all you need to play. The real important one is your battletome, but you figured that much out.

Subfactions are pretty tame these days. They incentivize you to lean into certain units and playstyles, but they don't restrict anything.

Wargear options are not purchased in AoS. You pay one price. Some units have weapon choices, but they're meant to be side-grades for specific uses, and have the same cost. So you may need to shuffle up your roster a bit, if you're not close enough to your target points level. On the plus side, the player with the fewest points spent gets to pick a fairly powerful, once per game ability (a triumph). So it's not terrible if you're a bit short.

[sean]

Nexus was selling some stormcast sides of the dominion box too, for a pretty good deal, as a cheap way to expand your force, either with or instead of a dominion box.

For list building I would suggest getting BattleScribe, if you don’t already have it, instead of the GW app.

[wargamer]

I was actually looking at those broken up box sets. Couldn't decide between Stormcast and Lumineth. Was a bit disappointed to see a brand new book for Lumineth that I would have to wait for and then two days later I stopped in a Nexus to see what was in stock and there they were. Clearly a sign from Sigmar.

Do new generals handbooks come out regularly? Wondering if a 2022/2023 one is going to drop soon, if so I will not worry about the current one.

[Jack Shrapnel]

They were once a year... but then GW this year announced for 40k (and I think if I'm not mistaken AOS) a 6 month season. I don't know if that will actually materialize because GW completely screwed up the summer launch of their 40k season, to the point where people still don't have that book and we're nearing end of September.

So their first product of their "season" idea was screwed up pretty badly production wise (the changes to the game however were quite good and the content of the book - when I eventually got it a month later - was good).

So I am assuming they're going to abandon this idea (it wasn't well received from the player base either!) but there is the real potential that they're going to stubbornly go with the 6 month timeline on General's Handbook... the corporate machine turns VERY slowly.

[distractedcarnifex]

Sept 17, 2022 14:29:27 GMT -5 wargamer said:

Hello everyone.

I gave Age of Sigmar a try a couple years ago but schedule changes forced me to give it up. I have a much more stable schedule these days and was thinking of playing again, this time with actual AOS models instead of old WFB ones. To that end I find myself drawn to the Stormcast Eternals and am probably going to pick up a dominion box set.

I had a couple questions I was hoping you guys could help me with.

I am a bit vague on what books are actually needed to play. Odds are I will end up getting everything eventually but what do I need to get started? The army book and? Does the main rulebook have anything that is not available online in the free rules?

Not having a copy of the army book yet I can not see the different sub factions in the App I am using. It looks like they modify core choices, do they also restrict/narrow down what units from the massive roster you are allowed to take?

It looks like dominion has 1415 points. Is there wargear with points costs associated or do I have to find a 85point unit to make a full 1500pt game?

Thanks for your help!

Welcome aboard! We have a good little AOS community here.

I play Stormcast Eternals - there are a great army and also a great place to start. Fairly low model count and the painting can be daunting than some other armies.

I echo the comments about picking up one of the Dominion Stormcast halves that Nexus has on for a very reasonable price. It is a solid start point at the price that Nexus is charging, although it is a bit character heavy. A 1000 (well 935) point list that you could field with the contents would be:

HQ - Lord Imperatant
HQ 2 - Knight Arcanum (some magic defence)

Battleline 1 - 5 x Vindictor
Battleine 2 - 5 x Vindictors
Unit - 3 x Annihilators
Unit - 3 x Praetors

You could have a solid 1000 point force with the starting contents and I think that folks would be happy to play at 1000 points on a given Wednesday night. You could also go to 1500 with all the characters but the list will be somewhat lacking in staying power. The GW site has a good list-building for AOS. You could play around and see what to add. 

I think that the Dominion half could benefit from the Warcry box for Stormcast Eternals. Gives you a third unit of Vindictors and another unit of Annihilators. With the entire suite of characters from the Dominion half this would bring you close to 2000 points. Some missile troops would be a good idea, potentially dropping the Praetors for the points as you get going.

Regarding making a full game, there is not requirement to go to the max points for a given level and in fact there can be an advantage to being "under." Whichever player has the least points gets a once per game Triumph. Additionally, wargear costs tend to be baked into the unit cost in AOS. 

Hope to see at the table!

[wargamer]

Thanks for the replies everyone. That does look like a good starting list at 1000pts.

I picked up the box yesterday. Time to start assembling.