Is it finally time to try Age of Sigmar? I’ve shied away from Age of Sigmar long enough. Here’s what finally makes me want to play.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar has finally reached the release of the game system’s first update, 2.0. Along with the new rules update, new General’s Handbook, a new core rules book with a nice update to the narrative status quo, and a frankly astoundingly good looking starter set.
2.0 is also getting a side by side release with AoS’s new expansion. Dubbed Malign Sorcery, this expansion is a veritable paradigm shift in how AoS is going to be played. Malign Sorcery has, me, HYPED!
Let’s break it down. Skipping past the lore aspects of the expansion, Malign Sorcery brings a slew of new things into AoS from a gameplay standpoint. New “Living Spells” have been unleashed upon the Realms of AoS, these spells are an addition to your army, think of them like magical force multipliers, that aren’t really able to be controlled.
Here’s the rub, living spells can be controlled by both players. Once a spell is cast, which must be cast like any other spell, the spell is controlled by the player who cast it. But, after the turn order is decided after each game round, the player who will be going second gets to pick a living spell and move it, whether they cast it or not.
Then both players alternate moving the spells until each one, if there are multiples on the board, has been activated. Your mileage may vary, but this concept immediately got me interested. Living Spells are going to change how AoS battles go down.
And on top of getting Living Spells, Malign Sorcery also adds a new way to play AoS, Realm Battlefields.
With this expansion, players can choose a specific Realm in which their battle will happen. Deciding a Realm can also be random for added fun. Each Realm has its own set of pros and cons for players and different factions.
At it’s most simple, Factions are buffed by playing in the Realm from which they hail. Running Nagash and his skelly boys? Probably want to play in Shyish The Realm of Death. Krumpin’ fools with your Orruks or Beastclaw Raiders? Probably want to throw down in Ghur The Realm of Beasts.
Each Realm also has some random elements that effect the battlefield that are rolled for off of a table in each Realm entry. And coming in with a Hat Trick, the Realms also provide players with unique spells, which can even be used by your general even if they aren’t a wizard, plus a new set of artifacts to equip your heroes with!
Malign Sorcery also comes with expanded rules for Path To Glory, and some new missions. As well as a mission type where players can hunt down and dispell, or capture Living Spells that have been unleashed upon the Realms.
Suffice it to say, Malign Sorcery has a lot going on. AoS 2.0 also adds new elements like Command Strategies, basically Stratagems from 40k. Albeit implemented in a different way, Command Points actually cost points in your list, making them much more risk-reward oriented.
Up until now, I really hadn’t had much interest in getting into AoS. I didn’t have a negative view of it, in fact it always seemed like a great game and an overall improvement to Warhammer Fantasy.
Being interested by Malign Sorcery got me to look into the new world and lore behind AoS. And I gotta say, it is one of the most unique fantasy genre settings I have seen in recent memory.
When you get right down to it, Warhammer Fantasy was basically the same boring riff on Tolkien’s LoTR setting that we have seen time and time again (fight me).
But with AoS, GW has a fully unique fantasy setting that has risen from the ashes of WHF. With the advent of AoS 2.0, in conjunction with Malign Sorcery, the game finally has enough going for it to get me hooked. If you were in the same boat as I was, I suggest looking into what is coming with 2.0, it just might give you the nudge you need to get into this cool game system.
And you can catch me four nights a week at Jack of Clubs Painting on Twitch. I also create Youtube tutorials as well under Jack of Clubs Painting.
