Age of Sigmar 4th edition has been out for about a month, and I finally played my first game.

Conclusions

Pros
– The gameplay is faster, especially compared to 40k or 2nd edition
– The new app is a significant improvement over the old
– Armies feel different
– New command point structure and reactions
– Consequences for double turn

Cons
– New detachment rules will be challenging as new books get released
– Simplification leads to a lack of depth
– New missions were a tad confusing

Other Thoughts
– Fly is a big deal
– The game is about Hero’s and monsters
– Know your army’s rules!!!

At first glance, the game was the same as in the prior editions. Most things will be the game you remember. I think the changes that were made helped differentiate AOS from 40k. The new list-building rules, the reactions, how command points work, and losing VPs for taking the double turn all add up to a unique game.

Since the 8th edition, 40k has always felt competitive and gamey rather than beer and pretzels. While I love a good league and competition, I would prefer to roll dice and make pew noises on a summer Saturday afternoon while trying to pull off a ridiculous combo. Age of Sigmar gave me that beer and pretzels vibe.

Using the app during gameplay was easy once you did it a few times. I would prefer one less touch of the screen when going from unit to army and vice versa, but it felt natural once you did it a few times. I have always thought that you should be able to add your opponent’s force and have a dice rolling function in the app, so if your unit A was shooting at his unit B, with this buff, here is how many casualties. I understand why they don’t. In competitive games, they want there to be skill involved in Mathhammer.

I did glance through several individual armies’ various rules, and at first, they appeared very well balanced. I am fearful that as new army books are released, we will see classic power creep, and every couple of months, it will be about the newest army.

Battle Report
My friend was interested in getting into AOS, and I was itching for a match. He was looking at purchasing either Nighthaunt or Idoneth. I brought both to our battle. I built the lists based on what my friend wanted to buy rather than what I thought would be good. I honestly hadn’t even opened my 4th edition rulebook and knew nothing about the army’s special rules. Of our 3-hour session, 1.5 was spent looking up rules.

Idoneth	1570	Nighthaunt	1430
Mathlann Aspect of the Storm	330	Lady Olynder Gen	300
Akhelian King	200	Black Coach	260
Akhelian Leviadon	500	Bladeghast Revenants	150
Akhelian Morrsarr Guard	170	Bladeghast Revenants	150
Namarti Reavers	130	Chainrasps Reinforced	200
Namarti Thralls	120	Chainrasps	100
Namarti Thralls	120	Grimghast Reapers	140
		Spirit Hosts	130

The entire game took less than three hours, from mission selection to set-up, 5 battle rounds, and tear down.

We used a random card from the Skaventide box. After looking through the GHB missions, we found that they were all a little rule-heavy for what we were looking for today, so we just said kill.

In what ended up being a very close game, my friend did just a bit more damage to my Nighthaunts than I did to his Idoneth. My black coach’s failed 4″ charge into his reavers would have changed the game. He also had an additional unit that would have been a beneficial screen.