The General’s Handbook is bringing a lot to the table in terms of in-game spice for AoS. Check out the latest on the book that we’re all waiting on!
Warhammer Community previewed some of the rules on Narrative Campaigns, Arcane Objectives, and even unit rules. But before we jump into the latest details, be sure to check out our earlier post covering Mercenaries and Meeting Engagements.
Streets of Death Revealed For Narrative Campaigns
Cities that were beginning to build back up after being crushed by Chaos have fallen under siege once again. Keeping pace with the narrative of the AoS universe, we will be able to do battle in the city streets and dark alleys of the Realm’s most popular cities. The cool thing about this game mode is that all the in-game terrain is interactive.
New game mechanics allow you to lay siege to buildings or garrison them with deadly effect, adding challenging and thematic twists to your games!
While we don’t know the specifics just yet, it sounds like we can load a tavern up with musket fire from your Free Peoples or just topple it over completely with something like a Hell Pit Abomination!
Arcane Objectives
Arcane Objectives are going to be a thing in the new book as well. With Endless Spells, Arcane Terrain, and now Arcane score-pieces, we have a lot to keep track of in terms of magic.
Usable with any battleplan involving objectives, each of these 11 arcane objectives adds extra challenges to your battles and are perfect for weaving into your stories.
GW gave us a first-hand look at some of the objectives we’ll be seeing. Keep in mind you can randomly generate them or pick them by hand before the game.
With all the healing Sylvaneth has in its army, why not tack on another free D3 wounds back to your units with Healing Light. All in all though, Trove of Arcane Glory sounds a lot more useful than just D3 wounds.
The first batch of rules might have been decent. But you can also roll pretty bad when you generate how the objectives will treat you in-game. You could just take D3 mortal wounds with the Trapped objective. Or blanket multiple units on the table in a Plague dealing D3 mortal wounds to everything.
While we haven’t seen all the rules on the objectives, the game might be adding more incentive to the player to keep units physically sitting on them for the duration of the game. Trove of Arcane Glory is going to be a real center of attention with a 6″ bubble of a 5+++ FNP.
Units Get Better With Age- Regiments of Renown
In Narrative Campaigns, your units can actually get better with age. You’ll be able to upgrade your units with the Regiments of Renown system that give bonus rules for a “feel” of veterancy.
For example, you can call a Battle Drill once per game that lets them reroll all failed hits, wounds, and reroll armor saves of 1. Pop this on a unit that’s really in the thick of it and watch them fight their way out of trouble by tooth and claw!
You can also give your guys some heavy armor. They may be slower, but they’re even more durable. If you’re playing Nurgle, who cares if you lose an extra two inches of movement. You’re already as slow as molasses anyway.
There will be a table in the book where you can roll for the rules at random if you’d like. While we don’t know exactly how many there will be, it will definitely be cool to watch our armies progress as they fight through multiple battles.
The General’s Handbook is really setting itself up to add a lot of excitement to our games of AoS. We’ll actually be able to take a breath of fresh air with all the new missions, Mercenary support, and more.
So what are your thoughts on Narrative Campaign system? Have you tested out the Forbidden Powers campaign yet? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
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Bio: Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4.
If you like what he writes and want to reach out or get your models painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
