Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Old/Order
THE PEOPLES OF ORDER
The Mortal Realms belong to us.
We are the people born from the true gods of the realms, reborn from the people of a forsaken and dead world. We rose and populated the lands given to us. But Chaos cannot leave the good and faithful alone and tried to enslave, kill and destroy everything we dearly built, almost driving us to annihilation. They failed, as we hid or sought refuge in Azyr and waited for our chance to take back what is rightfully ours and the lands we once lived on.
Then Sigmar, lord of the heavens launched his warriors and we followed them, claiming the realms in their wake and pushing off the enemy from the realms, be they tainted chaos creatures, deathless servants of an undying god or the savage and uncivilized tribes. But the fight is long and the enemies many, so we have to band together and show them that no more we will be slaves or prey of anyone, not in these worlds nor in any other.
STAND...AS ONE!! FOR THE ALLIANCE ORDER!
Why play Grand Alliance: Order?
One word: versatility. Order is the Grand Alliance with the most variety of factions out there and the most diversity of units. They have a lot of options on all categories: light infantry, cavalry, artillery, monsters, range… So basically if you have a concrete playstyle, Order will have the perfect tools for you.
There are several “races” among Order, but a few are self contained in their factions. The three that extend on several are:
- Humans: humans are the “horde” race of Order with a bit of Jack-of-All. They’re numerous, comparatively squishy and greatly versatile but not the best in any field. The synergy for them is vital, both within their factions and outside, which they can change from rather pathetic to really dangerous if you play right, with Stormcast reaching even to game breakers.
- Duardin: Dorfs, that’s it. Slow, hard as nails, really good in range and several of them really strong in melee. If you want to have it at your pace and fight where and when you want, look no further. However they’re not many guys and the lack of speed in almost all of them may prove a disadvantage.
- Aelves: The “Elite” choice. Let’s hope that you know what you’re doing here because their units usually are expensive, very strong, fast, hard, complicated, quirky, or a combination of those; usually in some flavor of elite infantry/cavalry/monster. However, well used and knowing who does best what and not, along with throwing them where they can use their talents, Aelves of all origins can be frightening. But do not lose too many, that doesn’t sit well with them.
Alleigance: Order
In Matched play, playing ORDER has its perks. Not only has access to Command and Battle Traits, but also to the artifacts. And ALL FREE.
- Challenging Avengers (Battle Trait): All friendly ORDER units reroll battleshock tests. This is great for all units with low Bravery (and Order has many) for this makes them more durable, especially with standards and the like, HERO shenanigans and other things. To form a strong and tough battle line able to withstand what the Mortal Realms launch to you, this trait is wonderful.
Command Traits
Only your general has this, but you can choose what is cheesiest/fluffiest/Your dudes-est or roll. Beware that if you have to choose a new general for whatever reason, you have to roll.
- Strategic Genius: At the start of the first battle round, you receive 1 extra command point. strong options for first turn shenanigans with 2 command points at your disposal.
- Inspiring: Friendly ORDER units at 6" doesn't roll battleshock. If you expect heavy casualties, this trait is great, as it doesn't make a potentially bad situation worse. But be wary of becoming a DISTRACTION CARNIFEX and shot to death.
- Reckless: Reroll charge of the general. If you have a melee powerhouse of a general (and Order has a few candidates), go ahead
- Tenacious: +1 wound. Nice, but don’t get overconfident. A squishy wizard is still a squishy wizard, either with 5 or 6 wounds.
- Legendary Fighter: +1 attack to a chosen melee weapon each combat phase. Depending on the hero, this can be shit or awesome.
- Defense Master: Ignore wound and mortal wounds on 6+. Somewhat disappointing, but an additional save always is nice, save for Phoenix Temple generals which is useless... or devastating when you realize they're worded differently and you can actually give your Phoenix Temple General a 4+, 4+, 6+, 6+ when you combine Ignax's Scales and an Allied Archmage's spell onto Witness of Destiny. Full allowed and will make even Death players rage with impotence.
Artifacts
A HERO in your army can have one of these for free, and for each Batallion, you include you can choose an additional HERO to carry another one.
- Quicksilver Potion: Once per battle, you and your mount can attack before anyone, even in your opponent's turn. This can be potentially nasty in the right hands. Sure, a Freeguild General can't do much (you'll be surprised), but it's another story in a Lord Celestant on Dracoth or Stardrake or a Dreadlord. A good trick is to deliberately put them in charge distance from a nasty but manageable unit and drink it in the enemy's combat phase to take them for surprise and crush them.
- Obstinate Blade: -1 Rend to one of your melee weapons. Always useful. If you're not sure which artifact to take, this one is always a good option. Remember that a Rend -4 is usually overkill with the average saves out there, a -2/3 is way better if you have around 4~5 attacks with the said weapon.
- Relic Blade: +1 Damage to one of your melee weapons. As with the Obstinate blade, useful. Prioritize this if you know that your hero is going to face many multi-wound models, like cavalry or elite infantry.
- Hoarfrost: Choose one of your melee weapons, anyone who is wounded but survives, suffers -1 to Hit for the rest of the battle. This can be situational, but characters who rely on a flurry of attacks but are almost naked, like the Assasin or the Death Hag can be a lifesaver.
- Talisman of Blinding Light: Once per battle at the start of the combat phase, -1 to Hit to all who targets its bearer. Don't. There are better artifacts that do almost the same that last longer, like Hoarfrost, or better suited for defense, like the Phoenix Stone. And that's if you want to go defensive.
- Phoenix Stone: Heal 1 wound each friendly hero phase. Really good, even if somewhat underwhelming. That wound saved can be the difference between alive or dead, or a holy deliverer of the Pantheon's fury or a clawless newborn kitty. Combine with abilities or spells which heals like Lord Relictor's or Collegiate Life Battlemage's to great effect.
City Alliances
Coming from the FIRESTORM Book and are usable in Matched Play (but check with your tourney/opponent). Each alliance gives an additional ability, but restricts which units you can take. Has been FAQed that Order factions that not a part of the City Alliance can be brought in as allies.
Hammerhal
- Restrictions: Can't include Seraphon
- Pride of Hammerhal: add +1 bravery to all units during the Battleshock phase and make it +2 instead if the opponent currently controls twice as many models than you. If they have 3 times the number than your units auto-pass Battleshock tests.
- List Building: mostly opened ended, and useful for units with low bravery or have high casualties.
Anvilgard
- Restrictions: Can only take Stormcast, Free People, Dispossessed, Devoted of Sigmar, Darkling Covens, Scourge Privateers, Order Serpentis
- Implable March: during your hero phase, roll a dice for each enemy within 1" of your units, on a 5+, the unit must make a 6" non-run move and if any non-monster models end this movement within 3" of your units, they are slain.
- List Building: Building around this, use Flagellants, Black Ark Corsairs or even Dwarf Warriors to envelope foes so they can't easily run from death. Cavalry Units also benefit from this as they don't need to Retreat to perform a Cycle Charge. This can also help get your archers get untied.
Tempest's Eye
- Restrictions: Can only take Stormcast, Free People, Kharadron Overlords, Swifthawk Agents, Eldritch Council, Dispossessed, Ironweld Arsenal.
- Alert and Foreword: During the first battle round your units gain +2" movement (+4" if they can fly) and +1 to their save rolls
- List Building: you are taking this to get into the opponents face with Airships of dwarfs, flying elves, and Stormcast; allowing your guns to reposition faster, or to give your army some initial protection from opponent's first round fire and flanking.
Hallow Heart
- Restrictions: Can only take Stormcast, Fyreslayers, Free People, Collegiate Arcane, Dispossessed, Eldritch Council, Order Draconis, Phoenix Temple
- Magical Resistance Your wizards add +1 to unbinding rolls, and once per battle one of your units within 18" of a successfully cast spell can unbind it like a wizard but must subtract 1 from the roll.
- As of Aos2 with More magic and Endless spell, the increased ability to dispell is a valuable one.
- List Building: if your trying to improve your wizards unbinding attempts when taking this city so you should take some.
The Living City
- Restrictions: Can only take Stormcast, Free People, Sylvaneth, Wanderers, Dispossessed
- Hidden in Shadows: you can place a unit to the side and place them during your movement phase within 3" of a Sylvaneth Wyrdwoods or Table edge for their movement.
- List Building: used to put a single unit up the board, or hiding it while still having a mixed faction. Elite Dispossessed, Stormcast or DemiGryphs are a contender. You must buy the Sylvaneth Wyrdwoods if are planning to increase your deployment options.
Greywater Fastness
- Restrictions: Can only take Stormcast, Free People, Ironweld Arsenal, Collegiate Arcane, Dispossessed, Wanderers
- Punishing Bombardment: Roll a dice for each Warmachine during the Start of your Hero Phase, you Fire a cannon when you roll a 6 for them.
- List Building: Take as many guns as you can and use Dwarf Warriors and Glade Guard as cheap melee protection and battlelines. Ironweld Arsenal Engineers will grant their factions guns additional ability while the Stormcast Lord-Ordinator improves your chances to hit.
The Phoeniccium
- Restrictions: Can only take Stormcast, Free People, Dispossessed, Phoenix Temple
- No Defeat Unanswered: Re-roll hit rolls of 1 for all units during the combat phase which one of your units where destroyed. They also gain +2 bravery for the turn if 2+ units were destroyed during Combat. repeat this ability only applies when one or more of your units are destroyed during competing, allowing your opponent to denied you a re-roll by destroying a unit near the end of the phase but this will also give you a chance for your units to retaliate.
- List Building: best to maximize with many small units that tarpit the enemy and to have more swings in combat than the opponent.
Lethisian Army
- Restrictions: Can only take Stormcast, FyreSlyers, Excelsior Warpriest, Kharadron Overlords, Idoneth Deepkin. can't take named characters
- Warriors of the Grand Necropolis: standard order reroll battleshock, and Human and dwarfs add +1 to hit roll against enemies that charged.
- Akhelian Phalanx: the Akhelian Deepkin cavalry gain +1 to their move and on charge rolls.
- Command Ability- Onyx Shield wall: a Stormcast hero can give a Liberator units +1 to saves during the enemy's turn but they can't pile in that turn.
Factions
Humans
- Stormcast Eternals: The poster boys. These guys have almost everything you can ask for. Melee infantry, both elite, and line? Paladins and Liberators. Heavy cavalry? Dacothian guard. Monsters? Wizards? Sell your soul for the Stardrake. Range? Some heroes, as well the Judicators have it good. They’re a great choice for what you feel that your army is lacking. However, take into account that they are expensive in $$.
- Spotlight: Overall pretty good, in a unified ORDER army the basic Stormcast troops bring strong anvil units to batter the enemy and missle infantry. However, their elite troops, the Paladins and Dracothian guard are what you really want to get. If you need something dead, call for them, point them to their direction and bring popcorn.
- Free Guilds: Cheap, massed infantry, with a bit of cavalry thrown in. While not close to skavens, grots or others, the Free Guilds thrive in numbers.
- Spotlight: Their basic infantry, but specially Handgunners are incredible and Battleline to boot, making them a great choice for a rearguard while the heavy hitters like Paladins or Order Draconis/Serpentis cavalries go ahead. Be aware that to make the most out of them requires having a Freeguild General, especially one with Stately Banner leading the whole alliance. And the same problems with all freeguild remain, lose your general or too many models and your units become drastically worse, so be carefull.
- Collegiate Arcane: Human mages and toys. Nothing much else to say.
- Spotlight: The humble Battlemage is a great support unit, and the Battlemage on Griffon is also good, if specialized. But the best support in the Collegiate is the Celestial Hurricanum, double with a mage on it.
- Devoted of Sigmar: Human fanatics that decided that hitting faces with a hammer and fight battles are better forms of worship that temples.
- Spotlight: Flagelents are ok but the heroes are what you want. Sadly, the Priest's abilities are limited to other Devoted with one exception: the Excelsior Warpriest. He only needs the model to be Order to heal them (adventuring does that for you). The Witch Hunter is also advisable and both the priest and the hunter do better against CHAOS enemies. Alternate Opinion: Pass hard, until these guys can sort out their points and synergies you have far better options looking elsewhere. Everything they can do another army does better.
- The Empire: Remnants of vintage empire units.
- Spotlight: Great Cannon, not included in the Ironweld Arsenal and is a heavy hitter against the big monsters.
- Bretonnia: Remnants of vintage Bretonnians.
- Spotlight:
Duardin
- Dispossessed: Dorf infantry. Great when you want to defend a site because they almost-army-wide "Shield Wall" ability.
- Spotlight: As said, all units with Shield Wall like Dispossesed Warriors, Longbeards or Quarrellers are good in defense. But the best in this area are the Ironbreakers. If you want some shooting Irondrakes are a good choice, if pricey.
- Ironweld Arsenal: Warmachines, Warmachines everywhere.
- Spotlight: The whole faction is useful, as a little artillery doesn't hurt anyone (the enemy disagree, but fuck them). If there's a unit that can be relied on their own, is the Steam tank. It's durable, shooty, choppy and a literal monster of a unit. Go ahead with him, especially if you have means to it to recover wounds. If you go to the artillery option, remember to bring a Engineer with you; Cogmaster or Gunmaster, take your pick. Especially if you already included a Lord Ordinator.
- Fyreslayers: Determined Naked angry Dorfs and fire lizards.
- Spotlight: Vulkite Berzerkers is a unding melee hord and can deepstrike behind enemy lines with Auric Runesmiter with a unit of Auric Hearthguard.
- Kharadron Overlords: Steampunk flying Dorfs with airships, what's not to like?
- Spotlight: The Aether Khemist + Arkanaut Company with Light Skyhooks combo is always fun. Endrinriggers and Skywardens are very scary Cavalry with low survivabilty but high damage output both with ranged combat as well as in melee. They can be enhanced with Aether Khemists too. Skyvessels dont do a lot of damage, but can be used for their utility. Or pick Brokk Grungsson.
Aelves
- Swifthawk Agents: Fast skirmisher elfs & Archers that know how to Defend them selves.
- Spotlight: Reavers are fast archer cavalry.
- Eldritch Council: Aelven mages went all Ministry of Magic to regulate themselves and others. With badass bodyguards.
- Spotlight: If you think that you'll need some extra protection, the Archmage's Elemental Shield can give another layer on 6s. The Swordmasters Are also a good elite unit which can act as vanguards and resists pretty well-ranged attacks.
- Order Draconis: A rather badass knight order that stayed behind in the Realms.
- Spotlight: The Dragon Lord is a nice beatstick of a hero with decent durability. The Dragon Blades are also pretty good cavalry. But overall, it's a Draconis or Serpentis kind of choice.
- Phoenix Temple: Servants of the so-called Ur-phoenix.
- Spotlight: The basic Phoenix Guard can resist wounds better than everyone in Order, and have decent offensive power to boot.
- Lion Rangers: Beasthunters who roam the realms looking for their next prey.
- Spotlight: With only two units there's not much to say. White Lion Chariots are good if you want a heavy hitting unit without going cavalry, while the White Lions are for those monsters with nasty ranged attacks.
- Idoneth Deepkin: Sea elves mounted in all kinds of sea creatures and apparently related to Mathlann. Some of them doesn't have eyes. Creepy.
- Spotlight: Fast Akhelian cavalry and Namarti Thralls are good but pricey melee fighters that can maintain its numbers with an Isharann Soulrender.
- Darkling Covens: Basic aelven troops with Sorceress and some elite infantry thrown in.
- Spotlight: If you want to cover your Battleline with aelves, Breakswords are... decent for what they give in wherever you put them, but the Executioners are great if expensive. If you bring basic Covens soldiers, and ONLY if you bring basic Coven soldiers (sacrificing elites is a bad idea) it's a good idea to bring also a Sorceress for her spell.
- Daughters of Khaine: Naked Murder aelfs
- Spotlight: Fast and murderous but fragile battlelines, in addition to Khinerai, flying deepstriking harassers, and Doomfire Warlocks.
- Order Serpentis: The ruthless counterpart of the Order Draconis. Ulgulite aelves and their scaly friends.
- Spotlight: If you want monsters, the War Hydra or, even better, the Dreadlord are sure hits. If you want somthing more discreet, the Drakespawn units are nice, be it Chariots or Knights.
- Scourge Privateers: Pirates, a missele platform, and one Sea monster
- Spotlight: Their Scourgerunner Chariots make fast missle platforms to harass the enemy and take pot-shots at enemy monsters. Also the Kharibdyss is a very scary melee monster that has the potential to heal itself.
- Shadowblades: Aelves who murder traitors. Messily. Ask not for whom they seek, lest it be thyself.
- Spotlight: the Assasins are nasty surprises, especially if you have fast moving units that will see combat sooner or later. With careful positioning, not even screening units can save heroes on their sights. Recommended taking an artifact to make them even more killy.
- Wanderers: Hippy aelfs
- Spotlight: They have a battleline that is nearly as good as Dispossessed Warriors in the form of Eternal Guard and armor-piercing Glade Guard archers.
Unsorted
- Sylvaneth: Angry tree people of all shapes and sizes.
- Spotlight: Have some of the best magic in the game, excellent elite infantry in Kurnoth Hunters and battlefield control with Sylvaneth Wyldwoods.
- Seraphon: Has Powerful Magic Frog & summonable Dinosaurs and Dinosaurs riding Dinosaurs.
- Spotlight: Possesses the best chaff battleline in the form of Skinks, preferably with ranged weapons and Star-Bucklers. Plus the Slann or Lord Kroak make for amazing spellcasting.
- Monstrous Arcanum: Your big forgeworld monsters
- Spotlight: Just two large hulking behemoths, the Carmine Dragon and Dread Saurian.
Army Building
If you want to build a unified ORDER army, take into account that you have NO allegiance save ORDER, and it means that if a unit isn’t battleline by default, they won’t become one. However these units have rules or combos with heroes or other units from their own faction, so is usually a good idea to cover the requierements of battleline with the same faction. Factions who have Order battleline units are:
- Bretonnian(Discontinued)
- Knights Errant
- Knights Of The Realm
- Men At Arms
- Darkling Covens
- Bleakswords
- Darkshards
- Dreadspears
- Daughters of Khaine
- Sisters Of Slaughter
- Witch Aelves
- Dispossessed
- Longbeards
- Warriors
- Free Peoples
- Freeguild Archers
- Freeguild Crossbowmen
- Freeguild Guard
- Freeguild Handgunners
- Fyreslayers
- Vulkite Berzerkers
- Kharadron Overlords
- Arkanaut Company
- Seraphon
- Saurus Warriors
- Skinks
- Stormcast Eternals
- Liberators
- Swifthawk Agents
- Reavers
- Sylvaneth
- Dryads
- Wanderers
- Glade Guard
Be wary, however, as many of the units may seem redundant and the sheer volume can be overwhelming. But many pledge themselves to a certain playstyle that can be expanded and their weaknesses covered by other factions. Once the core is settled, choosing the right expansion is key. Bring a Hero and his minions to ensure that you make the most of them and synergize reasonably well with what you already have.
But let's be honest, if you choose Order over particular factions it’s because you like many Order miniatures (or suffer from hobby ADHD) and don’t want to commit to a particular one. So be careful and enjoy.
Sample Tourney List
- Lord-Ordinator (General, Leader, Stormcast Eternal)
- Archmage (Leader, Eldritch Council)
- Loremaster (Leader, Eldritch Council)
- Phoenix (Leader, Behemoth)
- 40 Skinks (Battleline, Seraphon)
- 10 Skinks (Battleline, Seraphon)
- 10 Skinks (Battleline, Seraphon)
- 1 Celestial Hurricanum (Behemoth, Collegiate Arcane)
- 1 Luminark of Hysh (Behemoth, Collegiate Arcane)
- Reaper Bolt Thrower (Artillery, Dark Elves)
- Reaper Bolt Thrower (Artillery, Dark Elves)
- Reaper Bolt Thrower (Artillery, Dark Elves)
- Reaper Bolt Thrower (Artillery, Dark Elves)
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