Age of Sigmar 2.0 is finally out and all the rules have been updated. Come find out if we think it’s really worth your hobby time and dollars.
After playing a few games, is it how we thought it would be?
Pass or Fail: Is GW’s New Age of Sigmar Worth It?
While reading and writing posts for AoS 2.0, it sounded like it would be a wacky battle royale on paper. It had some of us worried that there would be way too many endless spells running around. We thought it would get to a point where we wouldn’t be able to move our models without taking some mortal wounds.
Endless Spells or Endless Shenanigans
We thought endless spells would be floating around everywhere and there would be nowhere our models could move safely. It’s actually a lot tamer than that.
The Endless spells cost points; they aren’t expensive, but they aren’t necessarily cheap either. They do cost just enough to force you to alter your list if you want to take some. Even then, you really don’t see more than 2-3 on a board at one time. If you play a faction like Seraphon, you should be able to get rid of anything you don’t want being there with your fancy Slann.
As for endless spells, the Purple Sun heavily underperformed for its point cost. We think the real heavy-hitter is the Aethervoid Pendulum.
The wording is a little weird on the movement of the spell. But it says that the caster places it at an angle within 6″. It can move up to 8″ in that direction. This means that even though this is a predatory spell and your opponent can move it, they can only move it in the direction you sent it. (more often than not, it’ll be heading straight for their lines). This thing hits hard doing auto D6 mortal wounds at over half the cost of the Purple Sun.
Chronomantic Cogs are another powerful spell to bring if you run a melee-heavy assault army.
Cogs are a nasty combo with assault armies because you can speed up time to move 2′ further and charge 2″ more. Then next turn, cast another instance of Cogs and speed up time to get the same effect as before and slow down time on the other to cast another spell.
Maybe protect your horde of dudes barrelling towards the enemy with Mystic Shield.
Units We’ve Dealt With
Beastclaw Raiders still hit…very hard. They got some small points decreases sprinkled into their list so they actually got a little better. A perfect ally for them or any destruction-aligned faction is the Troggoth Hag.
She can cover the backfield as your Beastclaws run up the board. She can only cast 1 spell a turn but it should be Chronomantic Cogs to get your Beastclaw boys in quicker. On top of that, if she unbinds a spell, the wizard that cast it takes D3 mortal wounds. Oh yeah and she heals D6 wounds a turn.
Skaven Stormvermin got an unsuspecting nerf but it’s understandable. They were pretty powerful before.
Stormvermin can’t be taken in groups of 40 anymore. The max has been brought down to 30 and their points are the same. A whopping 500. Do you think 16.6 points per rat is expensive? Maybe with all the changes in the new edition, it won’t be much of a NERF at all.
All in all, AoS 2.0 is fleshing out to be a really fun and interactive new edition. If you don’t have a wizard in your list, it’ll be difficult to deal with endless spells. But it’s definitely not as bad as some thought it would be. If you thought AoS 2.0 wouldn’t be right for you, hopefully, this has shed some light on the matter. The 18-page core rules are free, why not give it a try?
What do you think about AoS 2.0? What army do you play? How does your army run compared to before? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
Latest & greatest on everything AoS 2.0
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. 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 contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
