Age of Sigmar: Points and Handbooks

[Requizen]

Are Tzaangors anywhere near as good in Sigmar as they are in 40k? I was thinking of picking some up for my Thousand Sons, and wondering if they'd be good for a Tzeentch Archaon list as well.

I see a lot of Tzeentch players that swear by at least one 30 man unit. It's easy to see why - at 2 wounds a pop with a 6+ shrug save and a bunch of other shenanigans, they might not blend everything in one go but they sure will be a solid blob that the opponent will have to play around.

I'd say they're only moderate in min units, I don't think you'd run 3x10 for instance, but 30 Tzaangors alongside Horrors or Arcanites is a real thing.

[PraetorDragoon]

Are Tzaangors anywhere near as good in Sigmar as they are in 40k? I was thinking of picking some up for my Thousand Sons, and wondering if they'd be good for a Tzeentch Archaon list as well.

Tzaangors are beasts. 2w, 5+ save and 6+ shrug save if any model in the unit is armed with shield (so give one a shield and the rest dual weapons & greatblades), bucketload of attacks if they are at 9+ models, run+charge, +1 to wound if they're near a Arcanite Hero, chance at mortal wounds if you have Wizards near them (you're tzeentch). Unconditional Battleline (unless you're beasts of chaos). Bravey 5 is their main weakness, so there is that. A block of 30 is hard to kill and deals respectable damage.

Tzaangor shamans can turn enemies into Tzaangors, so you can even add new models to Tzaangors units. (not that this isn't returning slain models...)

[LeSwordfish]

One of my regular opponents runs a block of ten tzaangor which is pretty tough to deal with at 1k points: they usually take a lot more killing than their cost implies, at least partially because they hit back really hard so you need to send in something big or they're going to fight you off..

[Tome]

Are Tzaangors anywhere near as good in Sigmar as they are in 40k? I was thinking of picking some up for my Thousand Sons, and wondering if they'd be good for a Tzeentch Archaon list as well.

Yes, annoyingly.

(I dislike the model but they fill such a vital role in a Tzeentch mortals list.)

[Artemis97]

Woo! I got my Griffon in the mail today, and yesterday Destro and I picked up some Shadow Warriors and Wild Riders for me to fill out my army. We also put in an order for two boxes of Glade Guard and some Kurnoth Hunters. I decided I like the hooded heads on the Glade Guard, but not the weird half-masked ones that are mostly shown on the GW site. Also GW's paint-job on them is really weird, too. Also they've got amazing range! 20 inches! They're going to look so good done up in Autumn colors.

Destro's been helping me put together my dryads, too. Seems like I get really anxious cutting them out of the sprue, but I love picking the parts and gluing them together (even if getting them to stay is a little frustrating). With his help I should have them done... eventually? Hehe. I think I'll take some pictures of the models once I've got them all built. It'll be a good progress shot for when Destro finally makes his painting blog. He's going to make a corner just for my minis. He's decided to call it "Elf BS" =P But I think it'll be good to show a beginner's work along side his more practiced stuff, if only for comparison. And hey I might get some good feedback!


As for Tzaangors, Destro's running thirty of them in his Thousand Sons army.

[Mystic Muse]

I see a lot of Tzeentch players that swear by at least one 30 man unit. It's easy to see why - at 2 wounds a pop with a 6+ shrug save and a bunch of other shenanigans, they might not blend everything in one go but they sure will be a solid blob that the opponent will have to play around.

I'd say they're only moderate in min units, I don't think you'd run 3x10 for instance, but 30 Tzaangors alongside Horrors or Arcanites is a real thing.

Tzaangors are beasts. 2w, 5+ save and 6+ shrug save if any model in the unit is armed with shield (so give one a shield and the rest dual weapons & greatblades), bucketload of attacks if they are at 9+ models, run+charge, +1 to wound if they're near a Arcanite Hero, chance at mortal wounds if you have Wizards near them (you're tzeentch). Unconditional Battleline (unless you're beasts of chaos). Bravey 5 is their main weakness, so there is that. A block of 30 is hard to kill and deals respectable damage.

Okay, so I would want to take them in a block of 30 rather than any minimum strength units?

And are there ang particular heroes you guys recommend? I am running Archaon, so this is going to leave me pretty lean on points.

One of my regular opponents runs a block of ten tzaangor which is pretty tough to deal with at 1k points: they usually take a lot more killing than their cost implies, at least partially because they hit back really hard so you need to send in something big or they're going to fight you off..

I find this encouraging, since it sounds like I might not have to buy a bunch of othef things besides the tzaangors for a playable army.

Yes, annoyingly.

(I dislike the model but they fill such a vital role in a Tzeentch mortals list.)

Good to know, I wasn't going to buy them if they weren't dual-use.

As for Tzaangors, Destro's running thirty of them in his Thousand Sons army.

I'm planning on grabbing 60. 2 batallions, plus a Supreme command detachment.

[Drasius]

And are there ang particular heroes you guys recommend? I am running Archaon, so this is going to leave me pretty lean on points.

Gaunt Summoner (not on disc) and them jam him on a Balewind. His unique spell will remove half a unit and then, unless they're immune, lose the other half to morale.

With that many Tzaangors around, a Shaman wouldn't go amiss either.

[PraetorDragoon]

Typically you either want max Tzaangor units or min-sized Tzaangor units. 20 are a bit odd, but can be used.

You want a Arcanite hero with Tzaangors, with the Ogroid, Gaunt Summoner or Tzaangor Shaman being the best picks. (Tzaangor Shamans are also in 40k)

[Artemis97]

Destro and I played a short proxy game tonight, my elves versus his skaven. It went...poorly for the elves. Thought I'd try out the shadow warrior's near movement after set up thing, and just stuck them right out into combat. Also wasn't nearly aggressive enough with my units. Didn't realize Bob's abilities meant he did ALL of them every turn, so missed out on major storm of shemtek damage. Destro's Doom Bell is downright scary. He started his turn three by summoning a verminlord thing, big scary magic horned rat demon thing. I conceded at that point. I'm slowly learning things, like using the auras and spells from my various mages. Really like that one the Spellweaver can do, to revive fallen wanderer units. Kept my Eternal Guard alive quite nicely. Once I get my 40 Glade Guard, it's really going to be nice.

I'm just glad I killed both of his doomwheels. Those things are really annoying! I wish I had a better answer to his Jezzailes too. They took out my dragon knights the last time we played, and this time they absolutely murdered my white lion rangers.

[PraetorDragoon]

Infiltrate/Scout moves are always tricky to properly utilize. Probably get the shadow warriors to hunt down the Jezzails might be a good idea.

What do you mean with ALL the abilities? Command Abilities or spells or generic stuff?

[Destro_Yersul]

Bob the Celestial Hurricanum has a list of abilities and a list of spells. She thought they were all spells, and thus she only got to pick one.

And yeah, having the Shadow Warriors charge the jezzails would have been bad. That's why I shot them to bits before they got the chance.

On another topic, anyone have experience making wargaming trees? We're looking to make a table and populate it with some terrain. Been poking through tutorials, and everything seems a little on the complicated side. Was wondering what your guys experiences have been.

[Sizzlefoot]

Bob the Celestial Hurricanum has a list of abilities and a list of spells. She thought they were all spells, and thus she only got to pick one.

And yeah, having the Shadow Warriors charge the jezzails would have been bad. That's why I shot them to bits before they got the chance.

On another topic, anyone have experience making wargaming trees? We're looking to make a table and populate it with some terrain. Been poking through tutorials, and everything seems a little on the complicated side. Was wondering what your guys experiences have been.

Well, one could always just gather some twigs and stick moss on 'em.

[Bobby Baratheon]

I think I posted here a while back that I was looking to get into Age of Sigmar, and I finally have. I was planning on using Free Peoples or Seraphon, but for I ended getting a load of Darkling Coven models. To be completely honest, it was mostly because I loved playing with them in the Beginning of the End Times mod for Medieval 2: Total War, what with the Darkshards being machine guns at all. I've also always liked the pointy edgelord elves in 40k, so I figured it wasn't that far of a leap. I've done a decent amount of homework on where they stand in AoS, and while they're not garbage persay they're definitely uninspiring. Fighting twice with Executioners and being able to get off Endless Spells thanks to the Blood Sacrifice ability seems nice, but there's just not a lot else they seem to do, and Darkshards just seem straight up bad to me. I do still like the models, though, so my plan for now is to proxy them as Free Peoples in friendly games (in a really obvious way, though - Dreadspears = halberdiers, Darkshards = Crossbowmen, Executioners = Greatswords, etc. Not looking to trick people) and, if someone isn't down for that, to have a Darkling Covens list prepared. I also dig the Anvilgard fluff, so (again, depending on my opponent's disposition) I'll run them under that allegiance.

I was hoping to get a little feedback on the lists I ended up making. I'm not trying to make anything particularly good - I just want to be reasonably competitive in friendly games. Apparently the word on the street is that Light and Shadow Aelves are a thing that's eventually coming, so I'm hoping that my pointy bois will get a new lease on life in the future. For now I'm pretty content to mess around with what I've got. Both of the below lists are 2000 points.

Spoiler: Anvilgard w/ "Free Peoples", better known as Naggaroth Drift

Show

Free Peoples (Order Allegiance)
-Realm of Origin: Ghyran
-Endless Spells: Aethervoid Pendulum, Geminids and Soulsnare Shackles

-Astolfo Sunseeker, General w/ Sigmarite Weapon, Shield and Barded Warhorse (General* w/ Inspiring)

-Freeguild Guard x40 (Halberds, Shields, Standard and Drummer)

-Freeguild Guard x30 (Halberds, Shields, Standard and Drummer)

-Freeguild Crossbowmen x30 (Crossbows, Standard and Piper)

This is the anvil, with the idea being to wrap enemy units in the halberd blobs and use Hold the Line (which I still get despite not having the Free Peoples Allegiance, right?) to make them and the Crossbowmen killier. Losing the Great Company stuff kind of sucks, but the Piper and Drummer still give me some decent support abilities. The General with Inspiring should keep them around for a little while.

Darkling Covens (Order Allegiance)
-Glissa, Sorceress w/ Verdant Mantle

-Teysa, Sorceress

-Bleakswords x10 (Drummer, Standard)

This little group is just so I can cast Endless Spells more effectively, with the Bleakswords being Blood Sacrifice fodder. They have leadership 8 while close to the Sorceresses, so I can sac two a turn and not lose any more to Battleshock unless the opponent shoots at them, in which case they wasted shooting on a 100 point unit. I plan on keeping them behind the Free People screen in most cases. I picked the Verdant mantle because it should let me dispel the Pendulum (or the Geminids, depending on the situation) for free and then recast it, letting me maximize its value. The sorceresses' unique spell Word of Pain also seems pretty good and can stack with the -1 to hit Geminid to get -2 to hit and d3+1 mortal wounds on any unit that seems too threatening, or spread the debuff love around as needed.

Ordo Serpentis (Order Allegiance)
-War Hydra

-War Hydra

-Drakespawn Chariot

-Drakespawn Chariot

-Drakespawn Chariot

-Drakespawn Chariot

This is the "hammer," though that might be a bit generous. I went with these guys because they're reasonably mobile and have giant bases, which should help set up the Anvilgard ability better. The chariots also have a decent chance of dealing a mortal wound or two when charging, especially if they can Tokyo Naggaroth drift sideways into a unit. They also have 4+ saves and 6 wounds, which is adequate for a cheap flanker with no wound track. The Hydras should hit a bit harder and, with the regeneration, stick around for a while.

I have some ideas for other things I can do with this list - an Excelsior Warpriest might be aight to help keep the blobs alive/dish out a few mortal wounds while being an extra unbinding attempt, and at eighty points he'd cost either a chariot or two endless spells. I can also cut the Pendulum or the Geminids to get the 30 man halberd blob up to 40, but idk if that's worth it, since the Endless Spells honestly seem like they'd outperform the extra ten dudes. I can also reconfigure slightly to get two 30 man crossbow blobs and one 40 man halberd blob, which might honestly be better thanks to Hold the Line. I also do own a third hydra in the event I like them enough to slide it in. Similarly, I have six chariots, so the specific number can get changed up. I also think a Knight-Azyros might be all right, so that's another thing I'd be interested in trying out.

Spoiler: Darkling Covens Thrall Warhost

Show

Darkling Covens (" Allegiance)
Realm of Origin: Ghyran
Endless Spells: Chromomantic Cogs, Aethervoid Pendulum, Geminids, Quicksilver Swords and Soulsnare Shackles

Thrall Warhost Battalion
-Sorceress (General w/ Master of the Sorcerous Arts)

-Sorceress w/ Verdant Mantle

-Sorceress w/ Decanter of Egos

-Bleakswords x10 (Standard and Drummer)

-Darkshards x10 (Standard, Darkshields and Hornblower)

-Darkshards x10 (Standard, Darkshields and Hornblower)

-Black Guard x30 (Standard and Drummer)

-Executioners x20 (Standard and Drummer)

Ordo Serpentis (Allies)

-War Hydra

-War Hydra

This list is a little more gimmicky - the idea is to get a super move by using both the Chronomantic Cogs and the Decanter of Egos, which will give my elves a 11" move and a 2d6 + 2" charge (rerolling one die thanks to the drummers). This should give me something like a 18" - 20" threat range, which should set me up nicely to use the Kill Them Now command ability on the next turn with the Executioners (or, if they're dead, the Black Guard). The Executioners should be able to spam a lot of mortal wounds that way, while the Black Guard are still pumping out 61 2" 3+ (rerolling ones)/3+/-1/1 attacks (and can do that twice if they're the Kill Then Now unit). I also like that I have the old Commissar ability to keep my guys in the fight, and that Lethal Precision basically lets my 3 100 point Battleline units operate as a single blob.

The Endless Spell spam is probably a little excessive, but I like having options and there isn't really a ton else to spend points on here. I wish I could take more Black Guard or Executioners instead of Darkshards and Bleakswords, but meh. At least I don't care sacrificing Darkshards to power the spells. I could go 30 Executioners, but that felt a little excessive, and would have meant dropping most of my Endless Spells or a sorceress and a spell (also, I only own 20 and they're expensive). They only have 1" weapons anyway, so idk if 30 is useful enough to warrant the opportunity cost.

This list feels a little more linear to me - the approach is basically going to be the same every time. Move really fast in one turn, then fight with the Black Guard or Executioners twice. The Endless Spells add a decent amount of variety, so that at least will be fun. The other thing I'm not excited about with this list is that there's not a ton of room to tinker. I can change up which Endless Spells I use in order to bring like ten more guys, which is a pretty minimal change.

I do want to pick up one or two more armies in the future, but I'm pretty tapped out as far as hobby budget goes at the moment. I like Seraphon a lot (teleporting Aztec dinosaurs and Temple Guard bricks seem pretty fun) and have always want to get some Tzeentch daemons, but I do want to see what happens with the Aelves before picking a second army to go for.

Any feedback on this would be awesome. I have been reading up on what I can and can't do and watching battle reports to get a better feel for the rules and general gameplay (I've played 40k for a while as well, so that makes it somewhat easier), but I don't want to show up with an illegal list or a faulty understanding of how my army plays. Also, if I'm just setting myself up to get roflstomped, that'd be nice to know too lol.

I have really had a blast putting this army together, and it's really reinvigorated my love of this hobby . My Freeguild General is a conversion of one my first miniatures ever, the Mouth of Sauron on his horse, and if I decide to run a sorceress on a dragon I do have the Witch-King on his Fellbeast that I could also convert. I never actually used either of them for anything in a real game, so it'll be fun to dust off miniatures that have been sitting on my shelf for close to 15 years and finally put them to use.

[PraetorDragoon]

Bob the Celestial Hurricanum has a list of abilities and a list of spells. She thought they were all spells, and thus she only got to pick one.

And yeah, having the Shadow Warriors charge the jezzails would have been bad. That's why I shot them to bits before they got the chance.

On another topic, anyone have experience making wargaming trees? We're looking to make a table and populate it with some terrain. Been poking through tutorials, and everything seems a little on the complicated side. Was wondering what your guys experiences have been.

Aaaah. Yeah. Only the part under MAGIC are spells. (Arcane Bolt, Mystic SHield and the Comet) The other abilities are always available.

Wire trees might be the best. Take some iron wires and twist them into a trunk, add in some leaves and done.

Or see if you can get some cheap hobby trees somewhere.

[Requizen]

On another topic, anyone have experience making wargaming trees? We're looking to make a table and populate it with some terrain. Been poking through tutorials, and everything seems a little on the complicated side. Was wondering what your guys experiences have been.

Go to Youtube and look up Lukes Aps. He has a double handful of Tree tutorials, so take your pick. His stuff is just great in general - water effects, terrain, make your own washes/inks, just general hobby tips.

[PraetorDragoon]

Slaanesh is coming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeTT6emb0aQ

[9mm]

Slaanesh is coming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeTT6emb0aQ

I know at least one guy who's quite excited.

Preview is up: https://www.warhammer-community.com/...wer-unleashed/

not sure I really care about forbidden power but new Slanessh stuff is pretty damn awesome.

[PraetorDragoon]

Things on the horizon
- Forbidden power
Book + terrain + endless spells. Will be interesting to see how it turns out, at the very least I like the boat.

- Fyreslayer battletome
Simple upate it seems in vein of Khorne/Skaven/Fec. A bit sad, as Fyreslayers were an army that could have used some additional models. Still, a fire golem invocation looks neat.

- Looncurse
Mushrooms vs Trees. Guess that means a new Sylvaneth vs Gobbos box like the Carrion Empire one. Interesting.

- Warcry
Warcry will contain non-chaos warbands! That should make people who were a bit miffed about the chaos only angle more interested. I spot stormcasts, Ironjawz, Idoneth, Gobbos, Vampires, Daughers of Khaine. Can't recognize the two other symbols. (flaming skull and roped spines)

- Hedonites of Slaanesh
New slaanesh, with a impressive greater daemon. Not much in the veins of mortals so far.

[LeSwordfish]

- Looncurse
Mushrooms vs Trees. Guess that means a new Sylvaneth vs Gobbos box like the Carrion Empire one. Interesting.

Also I imagine this will mean a new Sylvaneth book too.

[PraetorDragoon]

Also I imagine this will mean a new Sylvaneth book too.

Its safe to assume the books that weren't made with 2.0 in mind (LoN and post-LoN books) will be updated for AoS2.0.

[LeSwordfish]

Eventually, sure, but I imagine that this lines up Sylvaneth as third place behind Slaanesh and Fyreslayers.

[PraetorDragoon]

Eventually, sure, but I imagine that this lines up Sylvaneth as third place behind Slaanesh and Fyreslayers.

Oh, definitly. They might even be earlier, as I expect the Slaanesh release to include some Emperor's Children as well.

EDIT: Sylvaneth I expect a new Branchwraith in the box, new endless spells and thats it. Maybe another kit but that would be pushing it.

[Sizzlefoot]

So I'm looking to start my first army, and I'm kinda torn between skaven and Legion of Nagash. Which one would be better for a beginner?

[9mm]

So I'm looking to start my first army, and I'm kinda torn between skaven and Legion of Nagash. Which one would be better for a beginner?

They are about equal honestly. Legions is a little more forgiving due to regen, but shaven hit harder overall.

[Artemis97]

I don't know about the legions of Nagash, but the Skaven can be very random. Many of their abilities let you overcharge their weapons, at the risk they'll blow up or go berzerk. They may just blow up anyways. Which can be very fun, but very unpredictable. But if you like insane megalomaniac little furry evil guys, go skaven.

My husband, Destro, plays them against me, so I know a little what it's like to play against them. Sometimes he'll blow himself up. Other times he'll summon some sort of daemon thing into existence and crush all my elves.

So they're fun, but it's hit or miss, literally.

[Destro_Yersul]

I love my little furry megalomaniacs. Of course, I love skeletons too, so that'd be a tough choice for me.

[PraetorDragoon]

So I'm looking to start my first army, and I'm kinda torn between skaven and Legion of Nagash. Which one would be better for a beginner?

Depends a bit on what you are looking for gameplay style.

Skaven are more of a risk-reward army, they hit hard, are fast, and will probably die somewhere in the meantime due warpstone overload or just bad saves. Aside from mushing them together, you can also focus on one of the big clans: Eshin, Skryre, Pestilens or Moulder. You can use them in a regular Skaventide force, but most synergy is focussed on themselves. (i.e. Pestilens heroes buffing pestilens units)

Legions are more of a grinder army. Less worry about battleshock, plenty of ways of returning models or units, and a high amount of spellcasting. Their perferred method is overloading a unit with spell and command buffs and make them punch harder than they are. Legions of Nagash has 4 different alignments (the legions) each of which has a slightly different speciality.

Both are primary horde armies, so it also depends on how much skeletons/clanrats you are willing to paint.

[LansXero]

Silly question: How do vertical distances work in AoS for deep-strike / charge?

[9mm]

Sarephon take Adepticon with Thunder Quake.

https://aosshorts.com/adepticon-2019-champs-wrap-up/

once again no submission to ITC because the people running a competitive tournament don't want to promote competitive play.

Local folks took 30, 51, and 76th.

[PraetorDragoon]

Sarephon take Adepticon with Thunder Quake.

https://aosshorts.com/adepticon-2019-champs-wrap-up/

once again no submission to ITC because the people running a competitive tournament don't want to promote competitive play.

Local folks took 30, 51, and 76th.

I wonder if ITC even cares about AoS.

Nice to see lizards climbing up there again. Interesting to see the 4x razordons. Those haven't impressed me yet when I played against it. (though that was with my 1000pts elite nurgle list that didn't suffer a single casualty that game. The rolls were awful)