Age of Sigmar/Tactics

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Hello, this is the general Tactica dump for the Age of Sigmar armies, units and rules.

2nd edition Age of Sigmar

2nd edition coming soon! While we do know that the warscrolls are going to be the same, we also know that new things (shuch as command points) are being added that will change tactics.

The Rules

The first thing you'll realize about AOS is that it's a very different system compared to Warhammer fantasy Battles, gone are the days of ranks and flanking but that is then and this is now. It starts off with a four basic page rule set for easy to learn quick play but can get very complicated by applying terrain rules, Scenario objectives and Times of War rules to add more character to the battle(s) which can be viewed in the corresponding Battletomes being released for each race/faction.

Battle Rounds

After the first initial round where either yourself or the Opponent takes the first turn subsequent rounds are randomized on who will take the initiative for that new battle phase. How it is randomize is by both players roll a dice each and the highest one can pick to start the next round or let the opponent start, so in other words you have a 50/50 chance of going first again if are lucky enough so a good general will always keep that in mind when positioning units on the board for those 'just in case' situations.

Phases

The game is split into multiple phases, like Fantasy, but these splits are a bit different. Also take note that modifiers are now applied AFTER re-rolls are made.

  • Hero Phase: Here's where your wizards can do wizardy shit and heroes do leadery shit. Unlike the complex strategies of the old game, your magic spells are SEVERELY cut down. Like, cut down to only at most 3-4. Why that many? Because ALL wizards learn the following two spells by default. And don't worry, spells are cast in the same manner, but all of them only use 2d6 to cast. But don't count your non-wizard leaders out, though! Some have a Command Ability that they can still use in this phase. Its also worth noting that many other abilities can also take effect or expire during this phase.
    • Arcane Bolt - Cast on a 5+. One enemy unit within 18" takes d3 Mortal (Read: Unsaveable) wounds.
    • Mystic Shield - Cast on a 6+. A friendly unit within 18" of the caster rerolls saves of 1
      • Unbinding - If you have a wizard within 18" of another wizard that's casting, you can roll 2d6 to repel it. All you need to do is beat his roll by rolling an equal amount of dice (2d6), which can be laughably undoable if the other guy managed to roll real high after modifiers if any.
      • Inspiring Presence - This isn't really a magic power but what is known as a Command Ability. This is available to your army general regardless of who he/she/it is. It allows one unit 12" or less of your general to auto-pass any Battleshock tests that unit takes until your next Hero phase. Only one Command Ability can be used per Hero phase and only the General of the army can use it unless stated otherwise on other Warscrolls.

Take Note: A wizard can only cast one type of spell per Hero Phase unless the warscroll somehow allows you to spam it X amount of times, an example is a wizard that can cast 2 spell per Hero phase will know 3 spells - Mystic Shield, Arcane Bolt and one is unique spell to the unit/warscroll. The player decides to cast Mystic shield and fails so can not cast it again this turn (it's on cooldown or something) and so decided to cast arcane bolt for extra damage instead.

  • Movement Phase - Each unit still has a movement range described in their profile/warscroll, which they can walk. Running adds d6 to that result (but can't shoot or charge afterwards) and flying units can only move within 3" of an enemy.
  • Shooting Phase - Here's where the changes come up in the old system. It runs the same way as before...
    • Pick a unit to shoot.
    • Roll to-hit, which means seeing if you roll over your chosen weapon's To-Hit score on a d6. This isn't modified based on any armor or other factors, meaning that if you have a weapon that hits on a 3+, ANYTHING will get hit. Unit positioning and cover should be taken into consideration during this phase after turn 1 or during setup.
    • Roll to-wound, which means using a d6 to roll over the chosen weapon's To-Wound Score. People complain about there being no modifiers to the roll due to how tough a creature is now, don't worry about that as it is reflected by how many wounds each model has in a unit now.
    • Roll to save, which are now all covered in one stat. After all hit and wound rolls are resolved then armor saves needs to be taken. Roll as normal then apply modifiers such as rending, cover saves etc. and see if you passed or failed the roll.
  • Charge Phase - For each unit within 12" of the enemy, roll 2d6 and if you can get a model with 1/2" of another unit with that roll, you can charge that unit. Means if you have 2 targets in range, you can pick which one you hit, positioning is key for successful charges.
  • Attack Phase - Combat phase. Now this is where things are a little different. For hitting and wounding it is the same thing as shooting however the main differences is which unit shall you pick to attack first. So if it is your turn you pick 1 unit in a combat, they attack, then your opponent picks 1 unit in combat, they attack, and you continue until all units attack. You have to be tactical if you have multiple combats as you have to try and maximise the amount of attacks your guys get before your opponent maximises his. Also two other differences is that 1) each weapon has a range (normally 1") so you actually have to pay attention to the poisitoning of your guys. And 2) your units can only use the selected weapons they have equipped on them (monsters can bite and swipe in the same attack) so read the units warscroll first and decide what they are going to have BEFORE the game starts but generally the model would show what they are wielding anyway.
  • Battleshock Phase - This is the panic phase. Any unit who lost models during ANY phases has to test Bravery on d6, adding 1 for every model that has slain from the unit during that turn and subtracting 1 for every 10 models the unit has. Failing this test means a model leaves for each degree it fails by. An example would be a basic unit of 10 model count Blood reavers with a bravery of 5 suffers (no upgrades for example sake) 3 casualties and made a Battle shock roll which ended up being an 4. Now you add the amount suffered in the combat phase(3) and add it to the roll you just made during the bravery phase(4) which equals to a total of (7). Compare this to the bravery profile (5) and you failed by 2 so the result is two more models running away leaving 5 left out of the original 10.

Army Tactics

Technically, nothing in the rules limit your model choices and thus can field anything from any army alongside each other. You should expect players to be grizzled sex pests, and prepare to fight fire with fire (if you know what I mean). While this can create interesting thematics, such as oldschool Morathi armies using Dark Elves and Daemons or Chaos Magic Sigmarines, most players will limit themselves to one of the four major factions or stick to the old tactic of choosing just one race army. Also you can now play with points since GW has released points for your units to create a more balanced game, and even the Bretonnians, Tomb Kings, and the removed units from the old warscrolls have points so you can still field them.


Age of Sigmar Tactics Articles
General Tactics
Order
Chaos
Death
Destruction
Others

Here you can find the old version of the tactics anterior to the new armies subdivision created with grand alliances books and battletomes.

Order

Death Note: As the armybooks don't even begin to correspond to the new factions, I'm making faction pages and let you guys deal with the shit of organizing which unit goes where.

Destruction


Chaos

Each race (in the 8th Edition sense) have several formations which if taken grant bonuses to those troops, giving incentive to take specific things. Most often these lean towards thematic choices (such as three Units of Crypt Ghouls, one of Crypt Horrors, and a Strigoi Ghoul King) or in existing groupings (such as the Island of Blood High Elves or the components of a Battalion Box). While its still better to min/max yourself by simply taking massive gobs of the best models available to you (the "ten Nagash army" example is thrown around quite often in disparaging discussions of crunch), players looking to be a bit less...douchey will aim for these bonuses instead.

Time of War

As of the General's Handbook, the Time of War rules allow you to play games under the conditions of a particular time and/or place. Providing additional benefits, penalties and often spells.

Strictly speaking, they are not restricted to any particular game mode, so can be used in Open, Narrative, or Matched Play games. Though most of their rules are found in the narrative sections as they tend to provide benefits to particular army builds or keywords, rather than being balanced for both sides, so many competitive players may decline to use the rules for them.

Particular campaigns have many more rules than those found in this section, such as the Realmgate Wars, which often come with their own victory conditions and may not be suitable for pick-up games. They can be found by clicking on their links.

The Storm of Sigmar

This are the general rules for the first round of the Big Guy ride in the mortal realms. Don't bother if you are using a DEATH army.

  • LEGIONS OF CHAOS: once per battle your CHAOS general has 5/6 chance of summoning from 1 to 1d6 units of DAEMONS, or, when things go south, suffer D3 mortal wound and eventually turn into a CHAOS SPAWN if he manages to die because of it.
  • OVERTHROW THE TYRANTS: with an ORDER or DESTRUCTION general you can try to evoke a unit of STORMCAST ETERNALS for every dice roll of 3+. Remember, you roll an amount of dice equal to the battle round you're playing, so use it at least at round 3.
  • RAIN OF SIGMAR: a PRIEST of ORDER once per battle can use this prey instead of his. If D6+complete battle rounds is at least 6, ORDER models gets +2 Bravery and CHAOS models gets -2 Bravery until the end of the battle.

Aqshy: Realm of Fire

  • CAPILARIA
    • Clouds of Smoke and Steam: Models cannot see targets beyond terrain features.
    • Flaming Missiles: At +1 to wound rolls of ranged attacks if the target is 20" or more away.
    • Fireball: Wizards can cast this spell in addition to any other spell they can use.
      • Casting value 5, pick a visible enemy unit within 18". If the unit is a single model it suffers 1 mortal wound. Units of two to nine models suffer D3 mortal wounds. Units of ten or more models suffer D6 mortal wounds.

Ghyran: Realm of Life

  • THE LANDSHOALS
    • Spontaneous Growth: Roll a dice at the start of each hero phase. On a 6 you may set up a Sylvaneth Wildwood anywhere more than 1" from any other scenery or models.
    • Lifebloom: If a unit rolls a 1 for a battleshock test, no models flee and all wounds suffered by models in the unit are fully healed. (This does not bring back dead models)
    • Spells known: Wizards know the following spells in addition to any other spells they know.
      • Shield of Thorns: Casting value 6, select a friendly unit within 18". Until the next hero phase, enemy units within 3" of that unit at the end of the combat phase automatically suffer D3 mortal wounds.
      • WHIPVINES: casting value of 5. If successfully cast, pick a point on the battlefield within 18" of the caster that is visible to them. Roll a dice for each enemy unit within 3" of this point. On a 4+ the unit being rolled for suffers 1 mortal wound.
      • MIRRORPOOL: casting value of 6. If successfully cast, remove the caster from the battlefield and set them up again anywhere within 18" of their previous position, more than 9" from any enemy models.
      • REALMBLOOD: a casting value of 7. If successfully cast, heal D3 wounds allocated to the caster
      • BRIARSTORM: casting value of 6. If successfully cast, pick a point on the battlefield within 18" of the caster. Until your next hero phase, any unit that finishes a move within 3" of that point suffers D3 mortal wounds.
      • FLESH TO STONE: casting value of 7. If successfully cast, re-roll successful wound rolls for attacks that target the caster until your next hero phase.
      • SICKLEWIND: casting value of 7. If successfully cast, pick a point on the battlefield within 12" of the caster that is visible to them and draw an imaginary straight line 1mm wide between that point and the closest part of the caster. Each unit other than the caster that has models passed across by this line suffers D3 mortal wounds.

Chamon: Realm of Metal

  • THE IRON HOLDS
    • Iron Trees: If the target of an attack is in a Citadel Wood or Sylvaneth Wyldwood then reduce the rend value of the attack by 1.
    • Rust and Steel: In your hero phase, roll a dice. On a roll of 1, inflict Rust Plague on an enemy unit. On a roll of 6, inflict Steel Rain on an enemy unit.
      • Rust Plague: Pick an enemy unit that is in cover. That units suffers -1 to save rolls made for the rest of the game.
      • Steel Rain: Pick an enemy unit that is not in cover. The opposing player must make a save roll for each model in the unit. Inflict a number of mortal wounds on the unit equal to the number of failed save rolls.
    • Spells known: Wizards know the following spells in addition to any other spells they know.
      • Transmutation of Lead: Casting value 7. Choose a visible enemy unit within 18". Until your next hero phase, halve (rounding up) the Move value of all models in the unit. In addition,you can re-roll hit rolls of 1 for attacks made against that unit in the combat phase.
      • RAIN OF LEAD:casting value of 7. If successfully

cast, pick an enemy unit within 12" of the caster that is visible to them. Subtract 1 from hit rolls and save rolls for that unit until your next hero phase.

      • MOLTEN GAZE: casting value of 6. If successfully

cast, pick a point on the battlefield within 12" of the caster that is visible to them and draw an imaginary straight line 1mm wide between that point and the closest part of the caster. Each unit other than the caster that has models passed across by this line suffers 1 mortal wound.

      • RULE OF BURNING IRON: casting value of 8. If

successfully cast, pick an enemy unit within 12" of the caster that is visible to them. Roll a dice for each model in that unit. For each 6+ that unit suffers 1 mortal wound.

      • GLITTERING ROBE: casting value of 6. If

successfully cast, re-roll save rolls of 1 for the caster until your next hero phase.

      • TRANSMUTATION: casting value of 7. If successfully

cast, pick an enemy unit within 18" of the caster that is visible to them and roll 3 dice. For each roll that is greater than that unit’s Wounds characteristic, 1 model from that unit is slain.

      • CURSE OF RUST: casting value of 7. If successfully

cast, pick an enemy unit within 12" of the caster that is visible to them. Subtract 1 from hit rolls and save rolls for that unit until your next hero phase

      • MOLTEN GAZE: casting value of 6. If successfully

cast, pick a point on the battlefield within 12" of the caster that is visible to them and draw an imaginary straight line 1mm wide between that point and the closest part of the caster. Each unit other than the caster that has models passed across by this line suffers 1 mortal wound.

Shyish: Realm of Death

  • GOTHIZZAR
    • Domain of Silent Decay: In your hero phase, roll a single dice. If you roll a 1, inflict Life Leeching on a unit (friend or foe), if you roll a 6, inflict Winds of Death on an enemy unit.
      • Life Leeching: The unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. DEATH units instead heal D3 wounds.
      • The Winds of Death: Roll a dice for each model in the unit; on a roll of 6 the model is slain outright (no saves). DEATH models are not affected.
    • Haunted Realm: DEATH units gain +1 Bravery, +1 to Casting/Unbinding rolls. MALIGNANT units gain +1 to save rolls.
    • Doom and Darkness: Wizards can use the Doom and Darkness spell on top of all their other spells while in Gothizzar.
      • Casting Value 6. Pick an enemy unit within 18", all models in that unit are at -2 Bravery until the caster's next hero phase.

Hysh: Realm of Light

  • PLAIN OF SIGILS
    • Domain of Symmetry and Purity: Subract 1 from the Bravery of DAEMON and DEATH units.
    • Dazzling Glow: Units in cover gain a -1 to hit.
    • Speed of Light: Roll a dice in the hero phase. If you roll a 6 you can pick one friendly uniy and redeploy it anywhere on the battlefield more than 9" from the enemy. This counts as moving.
    • Pha's Protection: Wizards know this spell in addition to any other spell they know.
      • Casting value 5, select a friendly unit within 18". That unit can reroll failed saves until the next hero phase.

Ulgu: Realm of Shadow

Ghur: Realm of Beasts

  • Spells known: Wizards know the following spells in addition to any other spells they know.
    • THE AMBER SPEAR: casting value of 6. If

successfully cast, pick a point on the battlefield within 12" of the caster that is visible to them and draw an imaginary straight line 1mm wide between that point and the closest part of the caster. Each unit other than the caster that has models passed across by this line suffers 1 mortal wound.

    • BESTIAL SPIRIT: casting value of 6. If successfully

cast, pick an enemy unit within 18" of the caster that is visible to them. That unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. In addition, if the unit suffers 3 mortal wounds from this spell, subtract 1 from its Bravery characteristic until your next hero phase.

    • FLOCK OF DOOM: a casting value of 6. If

successfully cast, pick an enemy unit within 18" of the caster that is visible to them and roll 12 dice. For each 6+ that enemy unit suffers 1 mortal wound.

    • IMPENETRABLE HIDE: casting value of 6. If

successfully cast, you can re-roll failed save rolls for the caster until the start of your next hero phase.

    • COWER: casting value of 6. If successfully cast,

pick an enemy MONSTER within 12" of the caster that is visible to them and roll 2D6. If the result is higher than that MONSTER’s Bravery characteristic, it cannot make a charge move in your opponent’s next

    • PRIMAL HUNTER: casting value of 8. If successfully

cast, pick a friendly HERO within 12" of the caster that is visible to them. Re-roll failed charge rolls and hit rolls for that HERO until your next hero phase.

Realm of Chaos

Battleplans

Age of Sigmar is less of a traditional sandbox-style wargame setting, and more of a single ongoing narrative story. Each Battletome focuses on a number of battles set in in the Realms, usually a new location within them for special rules to be added, between major named characters (of which there are few now in comparison to Fantasy).

After each story there are Battle Plans that recreate the plot-battles for any armies rather than the ones canonically involved, much like older Warhammer scenarios like Grudge Of Drong and Idol Of Gork used to. Each battle has special rules for the setup phase, for the actual battle itself, and command abilities for both sides which can be played as a stand-alone game or as part of a campaign.

Terrain

Of course, in a setting like this where the flow of magic is entirely weaved into the land, there are plenty of setpieces with curious rules dependent on how you play. However, most terrain rolls off the following list, which you roll for before the game begins.

  1. Damned: Suckers within 3" can opt to take d3 Mortal Wounds in exchange for adding +1 to all hit rolls until the next Hero Phase. Mobs can especially benefit from this since the damage won't mean so much to them and they get more guaranteed hits.
  2. Arcane: Wizards within 3" of this piece add +1 to all casting and unbinding rules. The use is pretty obvious.
  3. Inspiring: All within 3" add +1 Bravery. While wasted on Duardin and Stormcasts, this can mean the difference between a pack of Orruks holding on or breaking for the hills.
  4. Mystical: Now here's a wildcard. All units within 3" have to roll d6; on a 1, the unit becomes stupefied and can't do shit until your next Hero Phase, but on any other result, you can re-roll wound rolls.
  5. Sinister: The units within 3" now trigger fear (Inflict -1 Bravery against any other enemies) until your next Hero Phase. Pretty much your go-to for deleting mobs with the fist of a spiteful god.
  • Arcane Ruins: Not only do these ruins add +1 to all casting and unbinding rolls for any nearby wizards, but they also give the wizards the ability to absorb a magically-caused Mortal Wound on a 5+. Wizards within 10" of them also gain a new Casting Value 7 spell that summons 1-3 Spirit Hosts into play. Wizards will totally want this just for wizard duels.
  • Baleful Realmgate: The first new piece of scenery for AoS. It can roll for two different terrain traits, but if it rolls dubs, it inflicts d3 mortal wounds to nearby units, shutting it down for the turn. If a unit enters it, each model has to roll anything but a 1 in order to not die (Heroes or Priests near the gate can give the unit a re-roll). Those that win get set up near another gate or on another table edge for their movement phase.
  • Balewind Vortex: Unlike most terrain, this setpiece has to be summoned; It's Casting Value 7, but if it's cast, it'll automatically be erected under your Wizard's feet and they can still cast more spells (it won't count towards the total if it passes). This gives massive boosts (Double casting range, +1 to Casting and Unbinding) and forces everyone to back off from it, but it also makes the wizard a sitting duck. Good thing, then, that this can be undone and re-summoned at any point you want. - Unfortunately according to the FAQ, in pitched battles the points needed to summon the Balewind Vortex (100pts) have to be spent each time the model is placed on the battlefield, meaning you won't want (or be able to) do this often.
  • Chapel: Order units within 6" don't take battleshock. A Hero and some attached unit can also garrison themselves within it at the start of the Movement phase, allowing them to shoot from inside it while gaining cover. A Priest that's inside or within 6" of this Chapel can also heal a nearby model by d3 Wounds. Pretty much meant for Empire/Brett/Stormcasts.
  • Dragonfate Dais: This is a Priest's platform, but any model can get on it to benefit from a 6+ FNP-lite. If he's on it for the Hero Phase, he can pray for something to happen: On a 1, he fucks up, the dais shuts down and now your priest eats -1 on his hit rolls and the FNP roll for the entire game. On a 2-3, nothing happens. On a 4-5, the Priest or a nearby unit gains +1 to hit, but the dais shuts down. On a 6, your priest gains +1 to his FNP and he and another unit gets +1 to hit, though the dais shuts down.
  • Deathknell Watch: Your units can hide here too, with the bonus being that you can elect an enemy within LoS and all units now re-roll hits against them. However, you can now be charged, even if you're inside it.
  • Dreadfire Portal: Taking this means you now have to race to harness its power: Once you reach it, you have to roll a d6: On a 1, you take a mortal wound, but otherwise you now force all enemies within 3" to take -1 on all Battleshock Tests for the entire game. To stack up with that, Wizards on it can cast a spell that inflicts d6 Mortal Wounds on the target and then has a chance on inflicting another wound on nearby goons.
  • Dreadstone Blight: Like the Arcane Ruins, you add +1 to cast and Unbind and boosts Arcane Bolt to cause d6 Mortal Wounds on a 7+ or 6 wounds on a 9+. On top of that, it also automatically has the Damned Trait. Yeah, it's another platform for Wizard Duels.
  • Eternity Star: This piece has the Mystical trait by default and any heroes that are on there during the Hero Phase can roll d6 (+1 for Priests), on a 5+, a selected enemy now must re-roll hit rolls of 6. For the entire battle. Goodbye Spider Venom. Goodbye Spare Attacks. This will shut down quite a bit.
  • Garden of Morr: Thanks to a certain skeletal pope eating said god, this now heals a wound on any Death models nearby. Death Wizards also gain +1 to cast and a new spell which allows them to summon up to 20 zombies, just in case you needed more cannon fodder.
  • Magewrath Throne: It's a giant command throne. Generals and heroes can sit on it on the Hero Phase. This allows any other heroes within 15" to use their Command Abilities, even though they're not the general, but any wizards within that same range take -2 to casting because it hates magic or some shit. On top of that, the guy in the throne can also aim at an opposing unit within 15", making d3 Mortal Wounds, but if that hit roll is a 1, your guy instead takes those d3 mortal wounds.\
  • Numinous Occulum: This is a Mystical set of terrain for wizards. Not only do they gain a new spell that allows them to choose the result of one roll for your army, but it also at as a backup for any failed unbindings, neutralizing it on a 5+ for any models on it. Even if you don't have a wizard, this is pretty much your answer to their fuckery.
  • Ophidian Archway: This is a piece of cover with the Sinister rule. On top of that, a nearby Hero can attempt to use it to attack during the Hero Phase: If he targets an enemy model within 6" and rolls above their Bravery, that model dies, no saves allowed. However, if he fails that roll, then he has to roll under his own Bravery or else he dies instead.
  • Sylvaneth Wyldwood: Slvaneth, take note. You'll NEED this. If any model that lacks the Sylvaneth, Hero, or Monster keywords makes a run or charge move through it, they roll a die that kills them on a 1. Flying units ignore this since they ignore terrain. In addition, any non-Sylvaneth models that cast magic near it can get hit on a 5+ after casting, dealing d3 mortal wounds to any models right next to it.
  • Temple of Skulls: This is meant for Chaos armies. Any Totem units on top of it can double the range of their abilities and Generals can double the range of their Inspiring Presence. Chaos Heroes can re-roll hits and Chaos Wizards can re-roll a casting or unbinding roll. On top of that, it has the Damned trait, so your hordes can also raise some hell.
  • Walls and Fences: This is pretty stupidly obvious. It gives cover. Signposts also give nearby units an extra inch of movement.
  • Watchtower: It's yet another thing to garrison inside. On top of that, Heroes that are inside of it gain 6" range on their Command Abilities. Any allies within 18" of it can also re-roll charges, so melee armies can make use of it.
  • Witchfate Tor: Ahh, this overpriced heap of plastic. Things can garrison inside it and if a Wizard's in it, they gain +1 to casting or unbinding. If another spell is cast (if your have any other wizards in the game), they can also hijack it on a 4+, with any other result causing a mortal wound. Shooty wizards will like it.


Age of Sigmar Tactics Articles
General Tactics
Order
Chaos
Death
Destruction
Others
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