Here’s the latest Age of Sigmar 3.0 rules rumors, and wishlisting as Trav runs down everything for the new edition for the Mortal Realms.
It seems we are weeks away from Age of Sigmar 3.0 rather than months and the theories, spoilers, and wish lists are all over the place.
Here is my wish list and thoughts on a new edition, given I do not have any sort of insider information this is all my thoughts, and what I have seen crop up on the internet that makes sense to me.
My Top 5 Wish List:
- Balance out spells: What I mean by this is that magic with mortal wound shooting is driving the meta right now and that is really hurting older armies and the game. Some armies have very little defense against magic users and if you are letting your opponent cast 5-6 spells a turn without any sort of way to counter it, you are going to be fighting a losing battle before the game starts. My thoughts are adding a command ability that lets you unbind or make it riskier to cast magic with double or something exploding in the mage’s face.
- Give your opponent something to do on their turn: A lot of times you are sitting around not doing much on your turn and to me, that is a shame. I would like to see more reaction abilities and commands that allow you to do things while your opponent is going.
- Change the scenery rules: I like how the army-specific terrain works right now and wish GW would open that up to more armies (more on that later). However, having a different rule for each piece of individual terrain on the battlefield is cumbersome. I think you have one terrain ability for the entire battlefield that is specific to the realm being played in, and then each army can bring one piece of terrain and have whatever special rules is way cleaner than constantly looking up terrain tables.
- Balance the books: I get that newer battletomes are updated and are generally better than older ones as that is just the nature of the game, but the General’s Handbook is supposed to be an equalizer for points and to bring balance to the game. It has not really done that recently, in that some models are way out of whack points-wise and rules that were effective 4-5 years ago need to be retired.
- Get rid of summoning and free units: I hate the idea of someone getting free units or returning full units to the battlefield for free just because. I get that it is part of the daemons or death or whatever, but a lot of times it just breaks everything and makes your opponent angry that instead of playing against a 2000-point army they are playing against a 2000 point army + whatever you can summon or return to the battlefield. Great for narrative not great for matched play.
Those are the five things I hope this edition gets figured out and resolves rules-wise within the new edition. And those are just things that rattle around my head. B
elow though are the top 5 rumors I am seeing multiple youtube videos, forums, comments, etc. posting about. Basically, the water cooler talk is strong with these, but they could all be fake so read into them what you will.
Rumor Mill Top 5 List:
- Battalions are going the way of the dodo and each army will have a single optional battalion: I love this as the battalion bloat is massive with countless battalions never getting used outside of narrative play. Also, some armies just don’t have access to a good 1-2 drop battalion, and this brings it in line with balance.
- Removing various weapon options: This goes with the Age of Sigmar rules of simplifying everything and makes sense in that you can just put together the models however you think looks cool and run them, rather than how they will work best on the tabletop. Sure, it squashes some list-building options but it fits the idea of Age of Sigmar being a game you can quickly get into and play.
- Massive Units and 5-point models: Supposedly they are removing massive unit bonuses as well as putting in models that are not a rounded number. I am mixed on this because I think massive units are cool and this might remove that. But it also adds to the fact that you’re getting free points by taking more troops which your opponent might not have access to. (See summoning on the wish list) This could help with balancing.
- Double Turn adjustments: The double turn is one of the most debated things in Age of Sigmar, and either you hate it or love it. For me, it is a cool concept, but I think it does more harm than good with a lot of people winning if they get the turn 2 double turn. I think GW figured that as well because rumor has it whoever goes second in turn 3 gets to remove an objective from the battlefield. This is way more of a big deal than just being the first to move endless spells, so I think it might be a good way of balancing it out while keeping it in play.
- Unit champions can use generic command abilities: This makes sense as that you would think the unit champion would be able to give basic commands like hold the line, on the double, etc., and allows you some freedom especially in the lower hero troop armies. My question is will they still have to be wholly within a certain distance of the champion to use it or is it just the unit no matter what.
Those are some things the rumor mill is kicking around, which could make the game smoother and more balanced. Change is a good thing when done right and I am hopeful that Age of Sigmar 3.0 is just as well-received as 2.0 was. Finally, to end things off here are my top 5 non-rules hopefuls that I hope Age of Sigmar 3.0 does.
Non-Rules Top 5:
- New Starter Set Armies: We all know the new starter set is going to have a new Stormcast vs someone and my hope is it is a brand-new destruction faction. They did Khorne when the Age of Sigmar first came out and introduced the mortal units. Nighthaunts with Age of Sigmar 2.0, so hoping it is something destruction-based (which needs love) for the next iteration.
- Smaller Table Size: This might fall under a rule, but I am hoping that they are writing this set of rules to be like what 40k did with smaller table size. Too many people do not have a 6 foot by 4-foot table at home and want to just play on a kitchen table or something similar. It won’t affect those with a 6 by 4 foot because they can still play at the smaller size, but it opens up a lot more houses to gaming. It also encourages a more melee type of game which is what this should be all about.
- Please stop going on about Nagash and the realm of Death: We get it, he was the big baddie for 2-3 years and he almost killed everything across all the mortal realms. (Thanks Skaven) But people are tired of hearing about Nagash and the realm of death and we want the story to move onto other characters. Now with Broken Realms Teclis, I think they are setting up the stage to do this, but until we see what they do with the setting of 3.0 it is still up in the air.
- Figure out army-specific terrain: A lot of armies have come out with army-specific terrain that costs them 0 points and I love this idea. There is also a lot of generic terrain that has come out since Age of Sigmar was released that could have a point cost of 0 that armies could take instead of their army-specific terrain. (or if they do not have terrain could bring) This adds a fun flavor to armies as well as the battlefield itself and adds some creativity to list building.
- A new global event: We need a new global event like what was done in Malign Portents where individual shops and gamers sent in-game results that affected the narrative moving forward. Especially with the pandemic and everything shutting down, as the world opens again this would be a great way to encourage people to dust off those miniatures, pick up some dice, and get rolling.
Well, there you have my three lists as to what I am hoping Age of Simar does, what the rumor mill is saying is going to happen, and what I am hoping the future of Age of Sigmar might hold for us moving forward.
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About the Author: Travis Perkins
An avid homebrewer and Detroit sports fan (yes even the Lions). I am new to the world of wargamming and very much enjoying the journey. If you have any suggestions or comments feel free to comment on the article or email me at perki116@msu.edu
