AoS Shorts: Your Essential Guide to Age of Sigmar
Hey all, this will be the home of the Battle of the Northern Realms 2019 coverage. Battle of the Northern Realms is an event hosted by Michael Thomson and the Savage Northmen up in Cairns, Australia.
Its been a busy week, so for the moment, here are the links to:
I’ll be back over the weekend to expand this post and wrap in all the results and awards.
Hey all, today I have a guest post written by Alex Ley of the Angel Wargamers with the first in a series on the growing Warhammer Age of Sigmar scene in London. Alex will be giving us a tour of the boroughs, their clubs and events throughout the season.
As always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming. Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive. Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.
I remember moving to London with my girlfriend nearly 7 years ago and one of my immediate ambitions was to locate my nearest club and start getting involved with the Warhammer scene as soon as possible. This was back in the days of 40K 6th ed and 8th ed fantasy and I was a dedicated 40k player at the time. One of the luckiest moments of that move was going to house party hosted by one of closet friends from school and meeting Adam Cunis (@hadrielcaine) for the first time who introduced me to the Angel Wargamers at the Blacksmith and Toffeemaker pub in Angel. 7 years on, I’m a proud Angel Wargamer and co-host of the club’s podcast!
Despite London’s size, it was a little intimidating back then trying to locate a club as the scene was quite binary between 8th ed and 40k and often existed out of pubs or non-dedicated venues. There were loads of events and clubs to choose from but, as you may imagine, getting around London with a KR case full of models on the tube can be a challenging and off-putting endeavour. The hurdle for clubs and venues was not just to exist but to coax in players who largely do not drive or own a car by offering scenic tables and maximum utility from their spaces as possible in great locations.
This market gap coupled with the arrival of Age of Sigmar and hobby now being more accessible than ever, the London scene has grown tremendously with clubs for every district of the city and more dedicated gaming venues and events than ever (including some that my own club proudly organises). Whether you want narrative or pure competition, I guarantee the big smoke has something for you.
Over this series I will be covering the London scene, starting with covering the cities brand new dedicated wargaming venues, their events and what they bring to the scene. Part 1 covers Magic Madhouse London, the home to my club and host to our recent and upcoming events.
Since Angel Warmers moved to Magic Madhouse nearly 3 years ago its become our second home. Based in Hackney Wick, East London, Magic Madhouse London (MMH) is run by the intrepid Gav and Tim and we now congregate here every Tuesday. MMH now even cover Angel events on their very own Twitch!
Magic Madhouse London’s initial focus was Magic: The Gathering, our hosts branched out to become a great venue for anyone looking for a game of all sorts – including lots of Age of Sigmar! They now fully support the Age of Sigmar scene scene with a mixture of bookable tables and hosting events. Situated in the trendy East London hipster-highway, if you’re looking for a game within easy access from Stratford and the Olympic park then look no further.* MMH has hosted Angel’s matched, narrative and even master’s events.
Angelcore, our premier matched play event in conjunction with Corehammer, has now run for two years over 2017 and 2018, utilising the brilliant pack written by our very own Matthew Hinton (@skyel14). Matt wanted to ensure that competitive AOS tournaments used a robust set of secondary objectives. As the power in the game shifts with time and the natural evolution, Angelcore was designed to make sure that players always had something to play for, even if the primary is over quickly. By having a comprehensive and achievable set of secondaries the game stays competitive and allows players to never feel like its all over by turn 2! London is a city of inclusion and this pack was designed to bring that mantra to the matched play scene.
Matt captured this by using a 50-0 scoring system of which only a maximum of 30 points is achieved by a major win on the primary. Up to 20 points are available by scoring secondary objectives which ranged from achieving maximum board coverage to killing the enemy general. Players also did not max score secondaries by labelling their opponents, meaning that keeping the game alive was of tactical benefit to generals looking for maximum points.
With the support of MMH Angel hope to bring you Angelcore again in 2019 so watch this space. [Editor: check out the coverage of Angelcore 2018 for a taste of the action]
The London AOS masters was one of the premier events hosted at MMH this year. The nefarious Looking Donal Taylor (@wargamerdonal) invited 8 of London’s top players for a showcase show-down event at the start of 2019. Covered on the MMH Twitch and by yours truly on Twitter, it was amazing to see some of the South East’s finest take to the tables. The main takeaway from this was just how many masters live within the London based community, underpinning the strength of the scene here with not only great venues but a pool of some of the top players. If you want to see some of the coverage, head to MMH’s YouTube channel and catch some of the games!
Finally, I think its worth noting that yours truly, in collaboration with Ming and Steve of the RAW fame, are planning the Narrative Party Invitational 2018. Tim from MMH is already planning how we can use set design and lighting to bring even more drama to this stream. While the event is an invitational for now, this is simply so we can experiment with the format. Once refined, we will be launching this as part of MMH/Angel event calendar so I promise to update you all soon.
I guess the point I wish to make here is that London is melting pot of a wide array of talents and for us to be able to experiment with taking the streaming and viewer engagement part of the hobby to the next level is a testament to that. The Narrative Party aims to enrapture the joy of story driven narrative gaming and set a new precedent for the city.
Thats all for now folks. See you next time.
*Space for 6×4 war-games tables are limited at MMH and we would always recommend booking or contacting the Angel Warmers direct if you’re looking for an opponent!
For more on Age of Sigmar in London, check out my profile on the South London Legion and coverage of the new Bad Moon Cafe.
This weekend also saw 90+ players attend the BrisVegas Open at Briscon in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to battle it out in a hot tin shed. This post covers the pack, the results, awards and pictures of the event. However, the story of the weekend has to Nick Guthrie’s 31 drop Gitmob Grots list with all the Snotling Pump Wagons in Australia.
And, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming. Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive. Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.
The BrisVegas Open was fought over five rounds using realm artefacts but not full realm rules. The organisers also used a unique approach to scoring. Check out the full pack here.
Bris Vegas Open will be trying a new way of scoring Major and minor victories, this will be based on the difference between the score at the end of the game.
The exact differences will be listed on the tournament scoring sheet at the be-ginning of the weekend.
As an example: Battle for the Pass, if you beat your opponent by 6VP or more you will win a major victory, if you beat your opponent by 1—5VP you will win a minor victo-ry.
The aim of this is to more accurately reflect the outcome of a game being close or a crushing defeat.
The full results will be published to Tabletop.TO, however, for now, here are the top 10. Australian Masters qualifier, Andrew Wright, took out the win with Fyreslayers.
Other results were:
You can access all the lists in the Google Drive here and check out all the list coverage over on the Rune Axe Wargaming Facebook page.
And a collection of pictures from the weekend.
Hey all, now that the weekend is done, we have the results for the South Coast GT 2019, one of the preeminent Warhammer Age of Sigmar events in the world . The 11th year of the event saw 120+ players from across the UK battle it out for supremacy in a hotly contested field. You can read my preview post for a full breakdown of the event pack, or read on for the results.
And, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming. Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive. Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.
As covered in the preview, the event was fought across six rounds using randomly selected matched play battleplans and pre-determined subsets of the realm rules. So what was in play?
Warhammer TV were at the South Coast GT live-streaming all weekend. If you are a subscriber on Twitch, you can go back and watch some top-quality Warhammer commentated by the Warhammer TV presenters with guest commentary from Russ Veal (former UK #1 and Master) and Dan Heelan (of Team England ETC and Heelanhammer).
With thanks to Vincent Knotley, he who corrals the chat, the match-ups on stream were as follows.
Jimbo
Kieran
Paul Marshallsay
Mark Wildman
Karl Breakspear
Forest Wilhoite
Ian Hannam
Jack Armstrong
Tom Mawdsley
Tony Moore
Jack Armstrong
So the South Coast GT 2019 results were:
You can see the full results over on Warscore – the top 12 were:
As you can see, we really are starting to see the rise of Skaven in the UK scene, the continued strength of Daughters of Khaine (such a good book) and a mix of Flesh-Eater Courts, the new Blades of Khorne, and soon to be updated Slaanesh.
As everyone is usually interested in lists, the top lists were:
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I’ll add more lists as I get them.
The South Coast GT is always a great opportunity to see some truly amazing hobby. For the last few years, the event has also run an open painting competition on the Saturday night with a number of great prizes up for grabs. The best place to find the pictures of these events are Heelanhammer and the Pro Painted Podcast on Twitter, check them out.
Finally, I’ll round out the coverage with a gallery of pictures from the event across the weekend. Check out those sweet tables and armies in action.
Hey all, cutting it fine with my South Coast GT 2019 preview now that the event has started, but better late than never. The South Coast GT has been one of the largest Warhammer Fantasy events in the UK consistently over the last ten years! In this post, I go through the event pack and touch some key points before the weekend. On Monday, I’ll wrap up all the results, awards and top lists.
In the mean time, you can watch all the coverage over on Warhammer TV on Twitch.
And, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming. Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive. Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.
This year is the 11th South Coast GT! Its held in Horndean Portsmouth by Dan Heelan and Wayne Kemp of Heelanhammer fame and Russ Veal of Facehammer. Previously this event has reached 200 players – this year it looks like around 150 players.
Let’s break down the players pack! You can read it in its entirety here.
The event is held over six rounds – a premiere, destination event with a large field needs six rounds often to find a true winner.
Armies are selected according to matched play and General’s Handbook 2018. Rules up to April 20th are in force.
Lists are submitted on the day – so I will do my best to pull the top lists together over the weekend.
All 18 matched play battleplans are potentially in play at the South Coast GT. The battleplan will be randomly determined on the day using the Generals Handbook. Flexibility in army selection is therefore key for success!
The South Coast GT organisers have selected sets of realm rules from each of the realms. A realm set will be randomly selected for each battleplan.
The Overall Champion will be the person with the most Tournament Points. So how do you score Tournament Points?
The tiebreakers are:
The South Coast GT 2019 is using the Hidden Agendas from Games Workshop but in its own way.
There are a large number of awards up for grabs over the weekend – with the painting awards sponsored by the Pro Painted podcast
Hey all, doing a quick Age of Sigmar tournament round-up to catch-up on events from the last two weekends. Here you’ll find the results and lists from events in the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, Oklahoma, California and Quebec! The ADFA ANZAC Cup, the Warhammer Championship for Australia Heat 1, Iron Realms, the Broadside Bash and the Tireux D’des Grand Clash respectively. The common theme is Flesh-Eater Courts and Skaven continue to perform well and take a large number of podium spots.
If you want to see what is coming up check out the Age of Sigmar Tournament Calendar (aosevents.org) and use the Google Calendar I update, or if you are running an event get in touch at [email protected].
And, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming. Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive. Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.
The ADFA ANZAC Cup was held in early April in Canberra. A two-day, five game event run by the Australian Defence Force Wargaming Association.
The awards:
You can find the full results on TTT and the full lists here.
The lists for the podium places were:
Mr Stats, LLV and the Honest Wargamer, provided the breakdown of the event meta here. As you can see, Australia still going strong with some Order Serpentis!
Ash, the event winner, also kindly sent through some photos of the event (held in the same venue as CanCon).
Australia’s new Warhammer Championship Store at Mt Gravatt recently played host to the first heat in the Australian Age of Sigmar Grand Championship. 24 players competing for 6 spaces in the Grand Final over 4/5 May.
The results were:
Some photos from the event and of the Warhammer Championship Store
Best painted went to James Lynch and his stunning Blades of Khorne army.
Gabe’s army (that came second in the event) was also a great looking Legion of Azgorh army with a cool centrepiece conversion.
The Iron Realms GT, another five game, two-day event in Oklahoma, USA.
You can find the full results on Best Coast Pairings and below.
The next gallery has the podium placing lists – with a special shout out to Scott who piloted his Wanderers to 6th place. You can find all the other lists on Best Coast Pairings.
The Broadside Bash is a Californian multi-system event now in its 10th year. Age of Sigmar has been growing from year to year at the Broadside Bash.
The top 12 players were:
And the podium winning lists:
And some pictures courtesy of Alex Ramirez.
The Tireuz D’des Grand Clash was a 40+ player Age of Sigmar event held in Quebec with 6 games over two days. This is one of the largest Age of Sigmar events held in Canada. You can check out the Facebook group, or the pack (French, English), for more details on the event.
The full results were:
The podium lists were:
Today is a new video from Troy at Sonic Sledgehammer Studio about how he paints Skaven Clanrats. As I announced previously, I’ve partnered with Troy to add a range of Age of Sigmar painting tutorials to the site. All part of the plan to be an invaluable resource for all aspects of the hobby.
The Skaven are a race of ratmen without counting, gnawing away at the very roots of reality and chewing at the gaps between realms. An endless tide of furry bodies, gnashing teeth and crude weapons, they are a primal force to be reckoned with, burying their enemies under swarms of Clanrats.
Painting a whole Skaven army can seem pretty daunting, but it doesn’t need to be! There’s plenty of places you can cut corners and get a pretty decent result on the table without worrying about highlighting every strand of fur, and for those that have enjoyed the speed painting and simple techniques in some of the other ‘quick’ videos so far, here’s how I tackle the Skaven. Remember that you can swap colours as necessary to fit your own clan allegiance – green, brown, purple or even putrid yellow all work perfectly well with these same techniques.
I’ll give you a clue: Agrax Earthshade may very well feature heavily in these…
If you do decide to stick to Citadel paints, then after using Bugman’s Glow as the base colour for your Skaven’s skin but before the Agrax Earthshade, just go over with a coat of Cadian Fleshtone and all will be well. 😀
How I Paint Things is a series of simple instructional videos designed to help the newcomer through some of the basics and demonstrate how the very simplest techniques can still give you some great results that’re easily replicated. Aimed at the beginner to painting miniatures, there might be one or two tips or tricks that help even you old hands!
BASES:
LAYERS:
SHADES/DRY:
VALLEJO MODEL COLOR:
You can also check him out on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter as well as support him through Patreon and Ko-fi. There is also the hobby section of the site, including the Creator Class and Army Showcase series for more inspiration.
For more Age of Sigmar painting videos, check out Vince Venturella, Mengel Miniatures and Warhammer TV.
And, finally, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming. Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive. Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.
Hey all, the last post in my Adepticon 2019 series is covering the Age of Sigmar Championships held over 30/31 March 2019. 180+ players playing 2,000 point matched play Age of Sigmar in the halls of Adepticon, the world’s premiere wargaming convention, just outside Chicago, USA. For more Adepticon 2019 coverage, check out:
And, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming. Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive. Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.
The Adepticon 2019 Championships is the largest Age of Sigmar event in the USA, with over 180 players this year. The key details of the pack are:
And here are all the results!
NB: lists are hand-submitted on the day for Adepticon events. I am trying my best to get copies of the lists from those that attended, and tracking people down on social media. I will update this post with the lists when I have them.
You can find the full results on Warscore.
Thanks to Jimbo at the event, here are galleries of each of the painting nominations at Adepticon 2019.
Hey all, not to be lost in all the Adepticon hype was the Justice Series GT this weekend, hosted by JustPlay Games. 42 players in Liverpool, UK, playing under a really modern pack that is worth checking out. Scenarios and rules selected to ensure games finish on time and with a challenge for different army builds. I have only heard good things from the attendees.
And, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming. Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive. Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.
You can check out the Justice Series GT Pack here.
LLV as always did his great army breakdown analysis so that you can easily see where the world-wide tournament meta is shifting and how the tournament attendees are adapting to the new Age of Sigmar battletomes.
So the results were:t
You can find all the results on Tabletop.TO (TTT) and I’ve screencapped the top 15 below. As you can see, still a strong showing from Daughters of Khaine and Idoneth Deepkin, but perhaps surprising no killer Skaven builds at the event and that the second best Death player was 17th.
All the lists up on TTT but the top ten are below. Will be really interesting to see how Mikey goes when he has his hands on the new Hedonites of Slaanesh book.
Ian and Ritchie of JustPlay Games and the JustSaying podcast did some excellent round re-cap and list tech videos throughout the weekend. I highly recommend you check out the interview with Mike below regarding his list and the rest of the videos on their channel: JustPlay YouTube channel
Here are the painting nominations – as always Graham Shirlie’s force stands out from a mile due to its amazing top quality painting. I could look at that army all day long.
Hey all, a quick round-up of day 2 of the Warhammer Age of Sigmar events at Adepticon 2019. The second day was for the Team Tournament (doubles) . You can check out my preview of all the events, the day 1 round-up, and follow along all the coverage on Twitter here.
And, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming. Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive. Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.
The Team Tournament is the largest Age of Sigmar event at Adepticon 2019 – 147 pairs, 294 players! all playing Age of Sigmar at once.
Thanks again to Tanya, the results were:
You can find the full results on Warscore.
Best Appearance at the team event was taken out by Jimbo and Mitzy, all the way from the UK, with their stunning Stormcast and Gloomspite Armies.
Thanks as always to the people sharing pictures at the event, we get a chance to see all the amazing tables and armies in play.
The Teams Tournament brings some truly stunning efforts with armies and display boards. Thanks to Rhellion for most of these pics.
And finally the day ended with a four player game between Tyler Mengel, Eric (StoneMonkGamer), Mitzy and Jimbo as they had the culmination of their 8th Wonder of Ghur campaign. Seriously check out the #8thWonderofGhur hashtag on Twitter and Tyler and Eric’s blogs for all the background on these great forces.
