AoS Lore – The Tainted Axe by Josh Reynolds

Hey all, I’ve been on a massive Age of Sigmar lore buzz recently and reading as much of the Black Library works as I can. I buy all the books electronically so that I can highlight up passages and take notes as I go along – The Tainted Axe being my most recent read. The Age of Sigmar Black Library works are great for details that really ground and expand the Mortal Realms in a way that you simply can’t get just with reading a bit of background in the Battletomes.

For a while now, I’ve been thinking about how I can share these details in a way that will show people the depth of the Mortal Realms while also being accessible. There are plans for a database and index, but for the moment, I’m just going to share my notes (hopefully as spoiler-free as possible). So below you’ll find some short descriptions of the characters, locations and other points to note in the Josh Reynolds short, The Tainted Axe.

If you are interested in reading the Tainted Axe, please consider using my US and UK Amazon Affiliate links as a small part of the purchase price will go to supporting the site. If you are interested in more AoS lore, check out the AoS Shorts Lore section and the Age of Sigmar fiction Goodreads site.

The Tainted Axe by Josh Reynolds

The Tainted Axe is an e-short following Sir Roggen of the Ghyrwood March at a time after the novel Eight Lamentations: Spear of Shadows.

The Tainted Axe is part of the Eight Lamentations series and I hope we get many more novels to come as Spear of Shadows was a great read. Pick up Spear of Shadows if you haven’t already, you need no background knowledge of the Age of Sigmar lore and narrative (US / UK). We also have another short in the series, Auction of Blood (US / UK), which is set before Spear of Shadows.

Characters in the Tainted Axe

Sir Roggen of the Ghyrwood March, a Knight of the Order of the Furrow, unkempt hair, thicket-like beard, scarred features, lost left hand, rangy limbs thick with hard-earned muscle, wears a simple jade habit of woven fibres belted at the waist with leather. Sir Roggen lost his hand in the service of Grungni. Though they worshipped Alarielle, the Knights of the Furrow had often shed blood in service to Grungni.

“As novices, we are taught to be wary of Alarielle’s children, for they are not mortals and do not think as mortals do. They change with the seasons and cannot be trusted.’

‘No more so than the storm or the flood. We are taught to respect you, but not to trust you.’ He bowed his head. ‘Seek no favours of the tree-kin, but sink deep the roots of every bargain,’ he recited.”

Knights of the Order of the Furrow don’t use metal as it would break their oath to the Everqueen. Instead they carry bronze-coloured ironwood war-plate and weapons grown from seeds gifted by Alarielle before the coming of Chaos. Sir Roggen’s weapon is made from the seedpod of a devourer plant. Thick, vein-like convolutions connected the dark blade to the hilt, and the pommel-stone was a milky-hued gem, uncut and heavy.

“They had worshipped a different god, once. Or so the stories said. Now, the Order of the Furrow bowed only to the Lady of Leaves, and watered her sacred forests with the blood of her enemies – and their own, when necessary.”

Sir Roggen rides Harrow – demigryph, vibrant green feathers, dark ironwood armour.

The Bramble-Maiden, branchwraith, sister to the Lady of Vines and daughter of the Everqueen. Set Sir Roggen his quest and promised to regrow his hand from wood in return for successful recovery of the Tainted Axe.

Kryael, formerly the Knight of Evensong – now a bracken spirit given as companion for Sir Roggen. It is suggested that Kryael’s current form is due to either disfavour with or a broken promise to Alarielle

Sir Feculus, of the Duchy of Bitterbile, Knight of the Order of the Fly, kinsman of Duke Goral of Festerfane – sent to reclaim the Tainted Axe.

Hygal, a moss-leper, and Knight of the Order of the Furrow.

With passing references to:

Drycha Hamadreth, Queen of Thorns, Regent of the Outcasts.
Alarielle, the Lady of the Leaves.
Grungni – often referred to as “The Crippled God” by critics.

Locations in the Tainted Axe

The Writhing Weald, Ghyran, an old and savage forest.
Verdant Bay.

Other points of note

Moss-leprosy – a condition where the person has ever-growing patches of cancerous moss. It ate away at flesh and muscle, leaving only dense, green clumps clinging to the bone but causes no pain.. Sufferers smell musky.

In Ghyran, the honoured dead and bound in sacks and buried here, where they might add their strength to that of the trees.

The Tainted Axe, Lifebiter, an ancient weapon, once wielded by Duke Goral of Festerfane, a cursed scion of Nurgle’s demesnes.

Balefire – Nurgle’s fire, twists what it touches and spreads sickness.

July 19, 2018 0

Age of Sigmar Calendar

Today I also have a guest post from Jacob Burleson (@ReverendDangles) on a partial description of the Age of Sigmar Calendar as we know it. Jacob used the journal entries of the narrator in the Malign Portents short story, “Beyond the Walls” to piece together the calendar of Azyr for, at least, this part of the Mortal Realms.

For more great lore articles, check out the lore section of the site. But for now, I’ll hand over to Jacob.

The Age of Sigmar Calendar

While the Age of Sigmar lore grows ever expansive and broad, some smaller details are becoming known. These little features may seem insignificant but they add more depth to the lore and they can have a powerful impact on our ability to imagine a particular place or people.

The Malign Portents short story Beyond the Walls is presented in the form of a series of diary entries. From these entries, we can deduce the calendar used in this part of the Realms.

Moonsday, 7th of Azyr’s Gleaming, City of Heldelium, Crowswatch Barracks
Starsday, 10th of Azyr’s Gleaming, City of Heldelium, Crowswatch Barracks
Cometsday, 13th of Azyr’s Gleaming, City of Heldelium, Crowswatch Barracks
Voidsday, 19th of Azyr’s Gleaming, City of Heldelium, Crowswatch Barracks
Starsday, 24th of Azyr’s Gleaming, City of Heldelium, Hawkswatch Tower
Sigmarsday, 28th of Azyr’s Gleaming, City of Heldelium, Hawkswatch Tower
Starsday, 31st of Azyr’s Gleaming, City of Heldelium, Crowswatch Barracks
Voidsday, 2nd of Golden Harvests, City of Heldelium, Crowswatch Barracks
Cometsday, 2nd of Golden Harvests, City of Heldelium, Crowswatch Barracks

Two months are currently known: Azyr’s Gleaming and Golden Harvests, in that order. Given the name of the first month, the Realm of Azyr is a safe assumption. The second month implies it could be during the time of year that crops are harvested (October-November on Earth). So this means the story could take place in the fall.

Five days are mentioned by name in the story: Moonsday, Starsday, Cometsday, Voidsday, and Sigmarsday.

There are three entries of Starsday in the story: 10th, 24th and 31st. The 10th and 24th are 14 days apart and the 31st is 7 days. So the calendar seems to follow a seven day week.

If the 31st is the last day in Azyr’s Gleaming, the next entry in the story, Voidsday (2nd), would be 14 days from the previously mentioned Voidsday. This shows that Azyr’s Gleaming has 31 days and confirms the 7 day week.

With this in mind, more days can be extrapolated to populate the calendar.

Starsday (3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31st)
Voidsday (5th, 12th, 19th, 26th, and 2nd)
Cometsday (6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th)
Moonsday (7th, 14th, 21st and 28th)

From this, it follows that Voidsday, Cometsday, and Moonsday are always in that order.

The fifth day mentioned, Sigmarsday, is on the 28th of Azyr’s Gleaming, which is also a Moonsday. From this, it is likely a special day that the people of Azyr observe and not a separate day itself.

You can find a Google Sheet of the Calendar here.

The Mortal Realms on the Age of Sigmar Calendar

You can also check out Eric (@StoneMonkGamer) of the Mortal Realms channel discussing the same subject 🙂 Video embedded here, but head over and subscribe if you haven’t already.

AoS 2 Early Event Round-Up

Hey all, with Age of Sigmar Second Edition now out for a few weeks, we have had a number of events testing out the new rule-set. To the extent that I have been able to get them, I have a wrap-up of the events, AoS2 lists, and results. This post covers Summer Massacre (UK), Summer Carnage (US), the ATC Singles event (US), a German event hosted by the Würfelgötter club, and the Games Cube (Aus).

You can also check out the coverage of Warhost 2018 and the AoS 6 Nations for more Age of Sigmar second edition event coverage. For more event details, check out the events page and the tournament list archive.

Summer Massacre – UK

First up is Summer Massacre. Hosted by the Newcastle Warlords and run by James Chalmers of the Tales of Sigmar podcast/YouTube. The Warlords have a really great set of club nights going and seem to be growing from strength to strength. They are definitely worth checking out if you are in the area – you can find them on Facebook.

Summer Massacre event pack and lists

Summer Massacre Pack

Summer Massacre AoS2 Lists

Summer Massacre Results

The podium places went to:

1st place – Richard Hudspith – @13on2D6 – Seraphon
2nd place – Martin Swaffield – @martinswaffield – Nighthaunt
3rd place – Lee Hamilton – @leehamilton86 – Fyreslayers
MOST SPORTING – Kyle Brunskill
The Reserved (Least Kill Points) – Ian Crew
Last Place (Winning is for Losers) – Scott Wall
BEST IN FACTION (Kill Points)
- Chaos – Philip Gibbons
- Order – Richard Hudspith
- Death – Tom Healey (@ladvoncarstein)
- Destruction – Andy Thompson

The full results were:

Armies on display at the event

There were also painting prizes:

1st – Mike Plissken (Maggotkin of Nurgle)
2nd – Samuel Robert Goodwin (Legions of Nagash)
3rd – Tom Healey (Legions of Blood) (@ladvoncarstein)

Germany event hosted by Würfelgötter (the Dice Gods)

The Würfelgötter club have recently hosted the biggest Age of Sigmar tournament in Germany. This last weekend they had 20 players testing out Age of Sigmar Second Edition. You can find the pack and lists here.

The event was won by Stormcast, with Nurgle Blight Cyst second and Gnarlroot third.

For more on the European Age of Sigmar scene, check out the T3 Tournaments site and this forum.

Summer Carnage – US

Regular readers of the site will know that Scott Reed (@thelnorn1) runs a number of Age of Sigmar events in the West of the US. Recently he ran Summer Carnage at @AtEaseGames in San Diego.

Scott always does great Age of Sigmar event packs, so it is worth checking his out here: Summer Carnage pack. The event used Realm of Battle Rules and allowed players to pick one realm spell from the realm for use in their army.

Congrats to the following podium winners:

Jarrett Zazuetta – Seraphon
James Thomas – Tzeentch
Mathew Jones – Grand Host of Nagash

American Team Championships (ATC) Singles Event

The ATC has traditionally been a large 40k team event. This year it added an Age of Sigmar event at (fairly) short notice. I understand 12 players turned up and the podium places were:

William Soehaili – Tzeentch
Robert Baer – Beastclaw Raiders
Terry Throop – Seraphon.

The Games Cube – Sydney, Australia

Every month @TheGamesCube runs a monthly #AgeOfSigmar 3 game mini-tournament in Sydney. 24 players turned up to the first event under Age of Sigmar Second Edition and it was taken out by friend of the show, Mr Anthony Magro (Legion of Night with Mannfred).

If you are in or near Sydney, check out Anthony’s Sydney GT in September.

July 17, 2018 0

Army Showcase: The Meatmen of Mitzmanheim

So today’s showcase is with a community favourite, Mark Mitzman, NEO (*Narrative Event Organiser) and co-host of the Mitzy and Jimbo Show, a great new Warhammer Age of Sigmar lifestyle show on YouTube. Check out his show, give him a follow on Twitter and see all the great coverage leading up to Realms at War 2018 🙂

Mitzy has kindly set out his army narrative below and shared a number of really great pictures of his Destruction army. Straight off the bat is Grazgrog and his mate Nucklez 😉

The Meatmen of Mitzmanheim: the lore

The name “The Meatmen of Mitzmanheim” is a name that harks back through centuries. It is a name passed down from one generation to the next. It is a name that is feared by all who speak of it, and for good reason. For the Meatmen of Mitzmanheim are a purely destructive force descended from an ancient ogre tribe.

The legend tells the tale of an Ogre Tyrant the mighty Marg Magrog and his wife Mo who ran the Colossal Collie Inn. The Inn was deep in the heart of Mitzmanheim and was world renowned for its fabulous meat pies. Mo Magrog was a fantastic cook and her meat pies (known as “Big Dogs”) were celebrated the world over.

The people of Mitzmanheim had a special bond with both the Ogres having formed an unusual alliance with Marg Magrog. Unlike other Ogre chieftains Marg had found an unusual way to build his wealth. He was waging war throughout the old world and clearing the battlefields of the corpses, these were transported back to Mitzmanheim where Mo Magrog butchered them and turned the meat into pies.

The pies were being sold far and wide and such were the quality of the goods that they fetched a hefty price. Little did the rich aristocracy of the mighty empire know that their table centrepieces were in fact full to the brim with the meat from their own kin!

Today the Meatmen of Mitzmanheim is made up of many units from across the Destructive factions. Lead by the toughest Orruk in the realm of Ghur, Margrog Meatzniffa.

Margrog has roamed the realm of Ghur for decades, in search of a of a fabled artefact. He longs to appease Gorkamorka and present his deity with a Big Dog pie, for in his mind the only way other than through war that his name will be passed down through generations is if he can find the long lost recipes of Mo Magrog!

Margrog insists that all units in his army fly the original Meatmen of Mitzmanheim flag, and the flamboyant colours of Marg and Mo Magrog (a vivid Turquoise and golden Yellow) can be seen for miles around as the Meatmen march to war. As they march the ground quakes, horns and drums sound and the cry “For Da Big Dog” is enough to drain the blood from the faces of all who are near!

Margrog Meatzniffa

Margrog, a grizzled warrior and leader of the Meatmen of Mitzmanheim has lived and breathed war for decades. He has slashed and ripped his way to the top of the pile and is rightly feared by all Meatmen. He searches tirelessly for the fabled “Big Dog” list and will continue to ravage all who stand in his way. His path has crossed that of many factions but none have tested his resolve more than the The Huntspinney of Sequoyya in particular the Crimsonwood Kurnoth Hunters who recently left him scarred as they showered the Meatmen with their arrows, they will pay in droves the next time that they meet!

Hedrippaz Andyboyz

Hedrippa has lived among the Meatmen almost as long as Margrog. He has risen through the Brute ranks and through countless engagements has proven his worth. Kunning in nature he is adept at using speed of his kin to wreak havoc on any enemy foolish enough to be caught out by his speed. Hedrippa is Big Boss of the Meatmen Ironfist formation. He also tears heads from shoulders with his bare hands. The Andyboys fly Marg and Mo’s personal banner handed down over centuries.

Tinka n da Troggiez

Tinka n da Troggiez come from a realm now lost, Tinka lived in the sewers of Mitzmanheim, coming out at night to prey on any citizen foolish to stagger home alone at night. One evening Marg was escorting the last of the punters out of the Colossal Collie Inn and caught sight of Tinka in the alley. Marg persuaded Tinka to seek out and find other Troggiez who would like to march with him in return for free meat. Tinka raised an army of Troggoths that became a reliable and devastating part of the Meatmen army. Marg and Mo presented Tinka with the flag that hung on the Inn as recognition of his skills. Tinka lives on to this day through the power of regeneration, and is the only living Meatman to meet the tribes great iconic leaders Marg and Mo. Margrog knows the history behind Tinka n da Troggies and Tinka is the only living soul that truly scares him…

Sneaky Stikaz

Every Orruk tribe has its grots, they run amok fetchin and carryin fings for the big uns. The grots that run with the Meatmen are amongst the toughest and grizzled grots in the mortal realms. The Sneaky Stikaz are made up of Snotlings, Spiderfang Grots, Nasty Skulkers, common all garden Grots and are lead into battle by Tiny. Tiny is a snotling. Snotlings are not normally known for being the sharpest knife in the block, but Tiny is very much the boss. He has been lurking around the Meatmen for years and has a filthy reputation for getting what he wants, namely gold teeth. Tiny collects them and has been pulling them from heads since he was a fungus spore, he has a hammer, and it’s very good for taking teeth and breaking knees.

Grazgrug’s Gruntaz

Grazgrug cut his teeth brawling his way to the top of the brute pile, he has been on Margrogs’ right hand throughout his reign at the head of the Meatmen. Grazgrug was the first of the Meatmen to track, capture and tame a Gore Grunta. He spent months perfecting his riding skills and even longer teaching the craziest and most savage brutes to ride. The Gruntaz now form the fast attack, speed strike element of the Meatmen.

Piggot’s Pigmen

Piggot yearns to be a Brute, moreso he longs to be riding a hulking Gore Grunta. He leads the Pigmen into battle time and time again trying to prove his worth. Piggot and his riders are fleet of foot and are often sent out to scout ahead and report back to Margrog on the advancing enemy.

Reinforcements

Big Geoff Gutwrench – Giant

Rokko – Idol of GorkaMorka

The Clankerz – led by Gruzgler One Eye

July 16, 2018 0

Warhost 2018 – First AoS2 Matched Play Tournament

Hey all, a quick preview post for the world’s first* two day matched-play Age of Sigmar Second Edition matched play tournament happening this weekend in Hamilton, New Zealand. Its going to be really interesting to see how the armies go in the Wild West of the early days of AoS2. So check below for the crazy hot takes on AoS2 lists.

We are also trialing a few new things in order to encourage narrative and hobby involvement at a traditionally matched play focused event. Game-play, narrative and painting all have separate scoring systems and prizes of equal value awarded at the end. Check out the details below, and I’d encourage you to participate in the public voting for narrative and painting here over the weekend.

Finally, the event has been sponsored by Mighty Ape, a New Zealand online retailer and hobby store that is currently starting to host its own Age of Sigmar events in Auckland. Mighty Ape have kindly provided prize support and discounted mats for use on the table tops.

Warhost AoS2 Pack

The Warhost pack is 5 rounds of 2,000pt Age of Sigmar Second Edition using the General’s Handbook 2018, Endless Spells and Realm Artefacts. The Realm of Battle Rules are not in play. But apart from that, the event is straight out of the book.

We are playing Total Commitment, Focal Points, Shifting Objectives, Places of Arcane Power and the Relocation Orb. We are also using 3 hour rounds so that everyone can get a grip with the new rules.

For the full details check out the pack.

Warhost AoS2 Lists

All our AoS2 lists are now in, and you can download and check them out. As you will see there are quite a few lists rocking magical defence, some strong Death lists coming and a lot of order armies bringing the Lens from Hyish to protect their armies from mortal wounds.

I’ll have some coverage on these lists and how they did after the weekend, but check out the Notorious AoS podcast on Podbean and iTunes for a list preview show.

Warhost AoS2 Narrative

Each player has been encouraged to write a narrative for their army for the tournament, including a narrative that ties into the scenarios that are being played. Players are invited to engage with their opponent about their narrative.

We are trying something a little different with this tournament. One of the things we love about the hobby is the ability to create a shared story between the players. For this tournament there will be a narrative competition judged by your pairs. Further details on this section will be discussed on page two of this pack. The minimum requirement for this section is that you must participate with your opponent in their story. This section is mostly optional we do not expect
players to come up with background information or a narrative story if they just wish to throw dice, however you will still be asked to rank your opponents on the narrative they presented to you during your games as discussed on page two

Event Narrative
For this event, YOU will be setting the narrative for your games. Examine what scenarios are being played on which rounds and come up with interesting narratives for your army on those scenarios. During each game you with play through your narrative with your opponent. The narrative could involve sub objectives for your army to accomplish or stop your opponent form accomplishing, however these sub objectives do not come into play for gameplay scoring in deciding who achieves victory. Effectively you are trying to create a story during gameplay with your opponent – perhaps during one scenario your heroes are attempting to draw power from one of the objectives or one of the objectives signify a hostage. The options are endless and it is up to the players to create an enjoyable story with their opponent.

Narrative Scoring
At the end of the tournament each player will score their opponents from favourite to least favourite in terms of their narrative. Each players favourite opponent scores 5 points, second favourite 4 points down to 1 point for least favourite.

Already we have some players going to great lengths to really set the scene for their armies. Just check out Andy Long (@golongdesign)’s work for his Slaanesh army.

AoS2 Event Coverage

I’ll be providing coverage over Twitter over the weekend, and you can follow along at #Warhost2018. I’m also hoping to have some videos recorded 🙂

*as far as I know, and by only about 12 hours over the AoS 6 Nations in the UK 😉

July 6, 2018 0

AoS 6 Nations Preview

Hey all, this weekend brings the premier international team competition for Warhammer Age of SIgmar – the AoS 6 Nations, hosted this year at Common Ground Games in Stirling, Scotland. The 6 Nations is a 8 player team tournament featuring England (the 2017 champions), Scotland (2017 runners up), Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Sweden. With Age of Sigmar second edition released a week ago, and so many more options available to the players, the lists and competition is expected to be crazy! In this post I’ll cover the AoS 6 Nations lists, the tournament pack and tell you where to find all the coverage you need.

AoS 6 Nations Pack

The event is over 5 rounds of 2,000 points Age of Sigmar Second Edition. The General’s Handbook 2018 and all current FAQs and Errata are in play. All games will be played using the 6 new matched play scenarios from General’s Handbook 2018 and the Realm of Battle rules are not being using..

In terms of list-building restrictions, the key ones are:

Endless spells with a points value may be used by any player in a team and must be included as part of
submitted list. Spells with models must use the correct models.
Realm Artefacts may not be duplicated within a team.
Excluding Battleline units Warscrolls may not be duplicated across armies in a team but may be duplicated
within a single players’ army. For example, two players in a team using a Stormcast Eternal Army may
include Judicators however a third player with a mixed order army cannot use them as they are only
Battleline within a Stormcast Eternals army.

You can read the full event pack for all the pairing, victory point and tie breaker details here. Key to note is the return of the round score cap – now a team will score between the minimum of 60 points and the maximum of 120 points per team per round. Capping helps to reduce the potentially skewing effect of the random team match-up process in the first rounds.

AoS 6 Nations Lists

So, what you have probably been waiting for, the AoS 6 Nations lists 🙂 I’ll come back and add some notes on the lists later in the week. I also understand some amendments to the Irish SCE list and Byron’s weapons choices (both submitted before deadline) are coming.

(credit to Stephen Mitchell)

AoS 6 Nations Schedule

Round 1

Scotland v Wales
England v Ireland
Northern Ireland v Sweden

Round 2

Scotland v Northern Ireland
Sweden v England
Ireland v Wales

Round 3

Ireland v Scotland
England v Northern Ireland
Sweden v Wales

Round 4

Northern Ireland v Ireland
Wales v England
Sweden v Scotland

Round 5

Wales v Northern Ireland
Ireland v Sweden
England v Scotland

AoS 6 Nations Coverage

As always, the best way to follow all the breaking news and coverage from the 6 Nations over the weekend is on Twitter (#AoS6Nations). This year each of the teams have their own official Twitter accounts, so give them a follow and keep up to date:

When I get a chance, I’ll add the full team lists and links to individual twitter accounts.

July 4, 2018 0

Last AoS 1 Tournament Round-up

Today is the last Age of Sigmar matched play tournament round-up that I will be doing for first edition. Yes, ‘Ardfists (Melbourne, Australia) and Flying Monkey Con (Wichita, US) are still to come, but I don’t realistically see myself having the time to cover them as well as all the Second Edition news that is hitting. So today is the last time I’ll be covering Age of Sigmar lists for first edition. Below, you’ll find the top Age of Sigmar lists, results and pictures (to the extent that I have them) for:

Games Workshop Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament Heat 3
Sydney Slaughter
Badgacon
Triumph GT

All four events were held over the weekend of 9 / 10 June 2018. Given the number of events, and that we have a new edition around the corner, I have not covered the events in my usual detail, but I still wanted to have a record of them for posterity.

For more Age of Sigmar tournament lists and coverage, check out my archive, and the events coverage posts.

Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament Heat 3

Heat 3 saw a new range of armies around the top tables, as well as several old favourites as players took armies out for a spin for the last time.

The pack is here.

Heat 3 Results

So the Top 10 were:

Tony Moore – Changehost
Dan Bradshaw – Disciples of Tzeentch (Tzaangor)
Bryan Carmichael – Mixed Order
Daniel Ford – Maggotkin
Rob Symes – Seraphon
Carl Martin – Seraphon
Mark Busby – Skryre
Nick Thompson – Daughters of Khaine
Ant Lewis – Legions of Nagash
Hayden Long – Sylvaneth

The full results were:

Heat 3 Painting Nominations and Awards

As always, the standard of army painting was high at Warhammer World and you can check out my army showcases of Tim’s Daughters of Khaine and Brad’s crazy Skaven for more great pictures.

If you are a subscriber to the Warhammer Twitch channel, you can also check out the videos of the games.

Sydney Slaughter

The Sydney Slaughter is hosted by Chris Welfare of the Mortally Wounded podcast. Chris is a great bloke and top tier gamer. You can find the event’s page here.

Sydney Slaughter Pack

The pack has a number of cool custom scenarios which are worth checking out.

Sydney Slaughter Age of Sigmar Lists

The lists (here) were reviewed over on the Heralds of War podcast.

Sydney Slaughter Results

1st Place – Dave Kerr
2nd Place – Dan Brewer
3rd Place – Adam Burt
Wooden Spoon – Jakeb Sparke
Best Order – Rob Reimers
Best Chaos – Dave Kerr
Best Death – Anthony Magro
Best Destruction – Deano Matthews
Strategic Genius – Dave Kerr
Best Opponent – Dan Saye
Best Presented – Travis Cooper
Coolest Army – Ryan Kirby
Hero of Legend – Travis Cooper
Monstrous Marvel – Andrew Bigwood
Regiment of Renown – Travis Cooper
The Masterpiece – Steven Drury

Sydney Slaughter Pictures

Badgacon

Badgacon looked like a mental event run in the Aussie bush by those great lads at the Measured Gaming club – seriously these guys have an enthusiastic Twitter presence. Here is a pic of the guys from their trip to Cancon (currently the second biggest Age of Sigmar event in the world in 2018).

Badgacon Pack and Details

The event details can be found on Facebook and the pack is here.

The lists (here) were reviewed over on the Doom and Darkness YouTube channel.

Badgacon Results

Sam Morgan, wisened square base expert, now round base convert and Khainite devotee took first place with Daughters of Khaine.

Badgacon Armies

Badgacon Tables

Triumph GT

Hosted in New Jersey, with Martin Orlando as TO for the Age of Sigmar event, this was another medium sized US event. The event was streamed over the weekend on Twitch here.

Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced the lists and results Martin sent me, but I do have a collection of pictures from the event for you to enjoy 🙂 I’ll update the post with the lists and results when I relocate them.

June 19, 2018 0

Army Showcase: Brad Glover’s Skaven Army

Hi all, with all the news and releases coming out for Age of Sigmar Second Edition, I didn’t want to forget to post this Age of Sigmar army showcase on Brad Glover’s amazingly converted Skaven army. Brad did rather well in the painting competition at the Games Workshop Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament Heat 3 (9/10 June 2018).

As you can see, Brad’s army is full of amazing conversions and scratch-builds using parts from Kharadron Overlords, Clan Skryre and Freeguild. The vehicles in particular are just absolutely crazy – exactly what you think of when you picture Skaven war machines. Make sure not to overlook the work Brad has done on the foot-troops too. Brad’s work shows that you are only really limited by your imagination 🙂

You can find Brad on Twitter, more Army Showcases on this site, and more UK tournament hobby coverage over at ProPainted Podcast. If you know an army that should be showcased and displayed for a wide audience, you can get in touch with my through this site, Facebook and Twitter.

What a stunning Skaven army

New additions since this showcase was first posted

June 18, 2018 0

Age of Sigmar Second Edition Matched Play Preview Video

Hi all, today I’m lucky enough to be able to bring you an initial preview video of Age of Sigmar Second Edition – the Core Book and Malign Sorcery. In this video, I cover the new things that we learn about Age of Sigmar matched play from the Soul Wars Core Book and Malign Sorcery – what’s changed, what books do you need to pre-order etc.

There are two initial provisos to give important context to the video:

this video was recorded on Friday 15 June and is based on the Core Book and Malign Sorcery. I do not have a copy of General’s Handbook 2018 – which is obviously a vital tool for Matched Play. However, there is still lots of good new information on Age of Sigmar matched play in the Core Book and Malign Sorcery;
there has been a deluge of content from Games Workshop, and the community, over the last few days in particular. I couldn’t possibly cover it all in a (relatively) short video. For a full run-down of all the key changes with Age of Sigmar Second Edition, check out my compilation page and the Facehammer podcast’s Core Rules review.

I recorded the preview at Vagabond Games in Auckland, New Zealand. If you are a local player, check out Vagabond at www.vagabond.co.nz, www.livewiregames.co.nz and in their central city store for all your Age of Sigmar Second Edition needs.

Given this was my first video recorded on location, there is a little bit of rustle and background noise about two minutes from the end of the video., but hopefully its not dramatic The winds of magic must have started stirring with all the talk of Malign Sorcery. Enjoy and let me know any feedback you have, either through the website or at @AoS_Shorts on Twitter, or on Facebook.

Initial impressions on Age of Sigmar Second Edition and Malign Sorcery

Before I dive in, I do want to give my overall impressions:

Aesthetic and design choice
- Clean – removing exceptions to rules, streamlining, clarity of thought with rules
- Maturity – coming of age – confidence

What is in the Age of Sigmar Second Edition books?

Core Book
- Rules for Open Play, Narrative Play, and Matched Play Rules
- 18 page Core Rules (also in separate book in box and available free online)
- Battle Strategies – add VPs
- Conquest Unbound
  - Allegiance abilities for the four Grand Alliances
  - Realms of Battle Rules for seven of the Realms – Aqshy, Chamon, Ghur, Ghyran, Hysh, Shyish and Ulgu
  - Endless Spells
Malign Sorcery
- Endless Spells
- Skirmish at the Realm’s Edge and Path to Glory at the Realm’s Edge
- Spells of the Realms
- Artefacts of the Realms
- Two new pitched battle battleplans
General’s Handbook 2018
- Points (although on Warscroll Builder)
- Warscroll changes – Gaunt Summoner, Horrors, Great Bray, vortex beast, Lord Skreech, Screaming Bell, Everqueen, branchwraith etc
- Summoning rules
- 6 new matched play battleplans
- 6 reprinted and tweaked GHB2017 matched play battleplans
Errata
- Errata online at day 1 covering warscroll changes.

So what books do you need for Age of SIgmar Second Edition?

Probably all three – if you aren’t using realm rules, then you won’t need Malign Sorcery for realm spells, but you could still need it for artefacts (subject to the house rules of any event and General’s Handbook 2018).
Folded some in, but still a bit of a missed opportunity

The Realms – How they impact games of Age of Sigmar Second Edition

Realms of Battle Rules are Optional – You can pick a realm for the battle – if you are using
If you can’t agree, roll-off and winner decides
Realms also contain Regions of War (sub-areas which may have unique rules)

Realm of Battle Rules

Realmsphere Magic – each wizard knows an additional realm-specific spell (different from the spell lores in Malign Sorcery).
Realm Commands – each HERO can use the realm command abilities in addition to the command abilities they are not normally allowed to use.
Realmscape Features – the person who chose the realm can roll a D6 to generate the realmscape feature

Malign Sorcery Realm Rules

Realm Artefacts
- After choosing the allegiance for your army, you can decide it is from a specific realm – if you do, you can select any of your artefacts from either list – THEREFORE allied heroes can’t be given a realm artefact.
Spell Lores
- IF you are in a Realm, each wizard knows ALL of the appropriate realm spells!

Core Rules

What’s inside?
- Rounds
- Attacking
- Wizards
- Triumphs
- Terrain (including obstacles and garrisons)
- Rules about battleplans – OBJECTIVES
- Warscrolls rules – characteristics, saves of -, abilities (rules of one for exploding attacks folded in)
- Warscroll battalions
- Realm of Battle Rules
- Allegiance Abilities
  - Battle Traits
  - Command Traits
  - Artefacts of Power
  - Spell Lores
  - Unique Abilities
Rules of one folded into core rules – if you get an extra attack on a 6, you don’t generate another attack after that.
6” vertical coherency
Cover – no cover for monsters or war machines with wounds characteristic higher than 8

Writing a list in Age of SIgmar Second Edition

Pitched battle chart the same.
Everything goes on the list.
Can’t nominate a new general if general dies during game.
Battalions
- set up some or all at the same time – now clearer than before, but no restriction on how you drop – could drip feed and then drop all in one go.
Artefacts – rule of one built in.
Allies – clarification
References to 1 in 4 units vs 25%
Cant be general and cannot use or benefit from allegiance abilities
Reinforcements can be allies
Mixed faction battalions – the units count as allies, but do not count against the allies limits. So now you can’t rely on a liberator unit in a shadowhammer force as a battleline unit? We will see.

Hero Phase

Command abilities – allies can use. No limit on multiple of the same ability (unless new rule of one in GHB).

Magic

Magic – rule of one for spells now in core rules
Dynamic of dispelling and unbinding now real

Endless Spells – how do they work?

How paid for?
- All wizards know the spell
- Matched Play – Can’t have two of the same Endless Spell
How cast and unbound?
- One Endless Spell cast per wizard per turn
- If you can’t set it up it doesn’t work.
- Can’t be affected by abilities
How many can you have at once on the table?
- One of each per side
How dispelled in subsequent turns?
- Dispell – no modifiers, just beat casting value – 8 for Purple Sun
- Cross a battlefield edge
- A method on warscroll is used to remove it from play (not all of them have a way)
- Can you dispel yourself and cast again?
If dispelled can it be recast without paying points?
- Yes
How do they move?
- Start of battleround, alternate players choosing
Comment
- Impact on Bravery debuff lists – LoN, Endless, Spell portals
- Blob to protect your heros – with LoS and with spells

Attacking

Shooting – chaffing up and shoot order is important
Multiple weapons – controlling player chooses order – used to be roll all at once but occurred at the same time – now is that you resolve separately

Combat Phase

Combat
- Pile in – tagging on both sides and then can’t move
- Pick or Pass
  - Pick or pass (can’t pass if eligible unit able to fight – i.e. is within 3” or made a charge – no more refusing to fight)
  - If pass – do nothing and option goes back to opponent
  - If both players pass then phase ends
- Passing? Indicating abilities in future?
  - Hypothetically, let’s say there is a unit that has a special rule “retaliating strike”
  - They can choose to trigger it after they have been chosen as the target of an attack in the combat phase
  - the rule might say ” once per game, after the enemies attacks have been resolved, the unit can choose to immidiately attack back”
  - So having a mechanic where players need to pass makes sense
  - That is how some of the shadespire units play, and it could indicate abilities in the pipeline.

Battleshock Phase

Battleshock – split units – at end of turn must remove models out of coherency – go go Stardrakes and Treelords
New Inspiring Presence impacts – in battleshock phase (nice tweak that doesn’t change target priority), fine for bravery effects outside of the battleshock phase.

Further Age of Sigmar Second Edition coverage

June 16, 2018 0

Army Showcase: Tim’s Daughters of Khaine

Hello, today is another Army Showcase post – a great opportunity to share a cool Age of Sigmar army with an excellent paint job and great conversions. This post is on Tim Fisher’s Greco-Roman inspired Daughters of Khaine army which only recently (9/10 June 2018) received a painting nomination at Games Workshop’s Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament Heat 3.

Given how beautiful the army is, its hard to believe that Tim started building the army only in February. Now, I’ve asked Tim a number of questions relating to the army, its background, his inspiration and his tools, which he was kind enough to answer below. You can find Tim on Twitter as @timfisher22 – so give him a follow and check out his next awesome project. You can also find me at @AoS_Shorts 🙂

For more Age of Sigmar painting and hobby content, check out the hobby section of the site, the Creator Class series, Mengel Minis, Vince Venturella’s hobby videos and the @ProPainted Podcast – check it out at their website and on iTunes. If you are tempted by the Daughters of Khaine, you can also check out the Daughters of Khaine page on the site covering all the details from the release.

Tim’s Daughters of Khaine

Painting inspiration and background

AoS Shorts: Where did your inspiration for the army and the colour scheme come from?

The inspiration was implanted from the moment I saw the animated video that the GW Community Team released. The nods to ancient Greco-Roman culture and the revelation that Morathi had survived being consumed by Slaanesh had me hooked from the get go!

AoS Shorts: Does the army have a background and story?

Morathi is up to her nefarious schemes again! In this instance she’s leading a force of her Daughters across the realms to find ancient Khaine temples built by the aelves during the Age of Myth. These temples were all ruined during the Age of Chaos but they are sacred to the Daughters and Morathi is basically stringing them along in a fool’s errand to search for fragments of Khaine on these holy sites. Of course, there’s a great deal of enemies in such inhospitable areas so Morathi is in a win-win situation. She keeps the aelves hoodwinked and has them believe she’s loyal to Khaine by searching for his fragments and in the process much blood and souls are spilled in the name of Morathi…..erm Khaine!

Daughters of Khaine army selection

AoS Shorts: Did you start the project with a particular list in mind or did you pick the models you like?

After using Warherd earlier in the year (and getting beaten….a lot!) , I decided I’d go for whatever power build was doing the rounds early doors.

I’m a sucker for a quirky build though and one of my favourite things about Age of Sigmar is the flexibility you have when building your army. I’m a fan of big, stompy things and so…… I used all the big stuffs!

Making great bases for your Age of Sigmar models

AoS Shorts: You have some great bases in the army – can you share how you did them? Where did you source the parts from etc?

The colour scheme is a variant of Tyler Mengel’s desert base tutorial that he has on his blog

I used Seraphim Sepia to wash the whole base after the highlight was drybrushed on then added a further highlight. The columns/stone floor are P3 Hammefall Khaki, washed with Reikland Felshtone and highlighted with khaki + white.

In terms of the parts of the bases themselves:

For the stone flooring I used Will’s Paving plasticard. It’s a thick plasticard used in model railways. You can source it from eBay.
Elven columns are from Figone.
The jars and vases are from Fenris
The tufts are from Tajima1 – they have the best range of tufts I’ve used.

Converting your Age of Sigmar models

AoS Shorts: There are also some cool conversions – can you talk us through your favourites? Tell us how you did the amazing Avatars to start?

The Avatars are based on the Forgeworld Aeldhari Avatar for 40k. I shaved off all of the Aeldhari imagery and gemstones etc and removed the runesword. I then used the plastic Avatar from the Cauldron kit to donate parts such as the head, swords, forearms and assorted spikes. An expensive conversion, but worth it I feel!

AoS Shorts: While I didn’t ask Tim directly, his Death Hag and Cauldron of Blood have both been heavily converted drawing on Eldar and other Daughters of Khaine bits.

AoS Shorts: How did you do the blood effect on the Eidolon of Khaine?

I wanted the Eidolon to look like a part of the force rather than a random water borne ally. The moment I saw the Deepkin vid that went online after Adepticon I thought it would look great as blood instead of water! I also used another plastic Avatar head and some spikes to pimp him out a bit, as well as swapping his spear for one from a Bloodwrack Medusa. I think the end result ties him in nicely with my force.

All of the blood effects and also the laquered paintwork on the Cauldron/Eidolon armour is painted on using Tamiya Clear Red (I get mine from Element Games – you can use my referral code TIM697 ;))

I painted the cloak a deep umber colour and highlighted the ‘splodges’ and cloak edges with a mid, then brighter red. I washed with Carroburg Crimson then painted on 3 coats of Tamiya straight from the pot allowing to dry overnight for each coat to cure fully.

Future plans – expanding the army

AoS Shorts: Any future plans for additions to the army or themed terrain?

After Heat 3 where I used the army for the very first time game 1 (having been up until 2:30am painting!) I realised that big, stompy stuff is a lot of fun to use, but it isn’t great at some scenarios as you lack the numbers.

I plan to add a unit of 10 Blood Sisters and 2 x 5 Khinerai Heartrenders. I’ll need to drop the Avatars and downgrade the Slaughter Queen on Cauldron to a Hag to fit this in. Looking further ahead I think I’ll need to make a decision to drop either the Eidolon ally or Morathi as both of them are almost half of the army…. I think Morathi will win that war but it’ll nice to use some other choices than Morathi now and then as I’d like to try out a Bloodwrack Shrine and also have some points for a battalion and maybe at some point more Witch Aelves (though I’m avoiding that as I didn’t enjoy painting them!)

June 12, 2018 0