My first AoS game

So after a break of 17 years my Wood Elves have marched again into my first game of Age of Sigmar (AoS). I can keep my comment on the new system short by just saying we had a blast. The simplification of the rules makes the game much more fluid and thus entertaining and you quickly start to memorize the most frequent stats.

We had one tweak to the rules, though: every side of the battle had the same amount of wounds. Other than that we played the game "as is". The game was balanced and although one side got tabled, the other was lucky to win.

This game features me (Wood Elves) and LoOn (Vampires) vs. Gabe (Beastmen), Dragonking (Skaven), and Goldark (Orks). The teams were decided by dice rolls.

This was how we set up (in the interlocking corners design). My Wood Elves are right in front of the camera, LoOn's Vampires are to their right and to the center left (to the left of the large tree).

My Waywatchers quickly moved into the Wood in front of them...

...all giddy for the Water Trolls and Wild Orkz in front of them.

The vampiric Varghs charged the the approaching horde first and tied them down...

...but since this is AoS where you can fire into close combat, the Varghs still got fire support from the Waywatchers.

In the meantime, the large block of archers took aim at the approaching block of Beastmen whose numbers started to dwindle quickly...

...also because the second block of Beastmen was simultaneously charged by the Undead.

Behind the temple's columns, the Wood Elves' wolves also tied down the Orkz' boar cavalry. The biggest threat, though, was the unit of Jezzails (in the upper right corner from the temple) who basically killed at will.

After the 2nd large volley of fire it was time for the Wardancers to enter the fray and block the enemy from crashing into the archers.

The Wardancers successfully engaged the remaining Beastmen...

...but the Skaven Slaves passed them and crashed into the archers' lines.

Also, the Beastmens' general proved to be quite persistent...

...so the Wardancers went from 8 to 3 men before they could kill him. (and it didn't help that he continued to call them "Ladies")

On the right flank, the Varghs were lost in the close combat with the Orkz, but thanks to their sacrifice the Waywatchers were able to clean the table. However, after that the Jezzails moved into position to fire at them which proved to be the Waywatchers' doom despite their cover in the woods. I am not familiar with that weapon, but the Jezzail's destructive power seems bigger than any other ranged weapon the Wood Elves have.

Up center the archers were able to finish off the Skaven Slaves despite numerous losses, but now the remaining Boar Cavalry charged in plus the Orkz' still standing general with his big axe.

A Skaven Warpsmith also engaged my general, my Standard Bearer plus the resummoned Wolves came to her help. However, even with combined efforts the Warpsmith proved to be a tough enemy before he got eventually removed.

Overview of the center where I wasn't sure if I can hold it...

... until the Undead Legion (still on the left flank) successfully resummoned the Varghs...

...and sent them to my help. This was it for the Orkz who had only their catapult left which was busy with the delivering of Gork's (or was it Mork's?) punishment at very random directions.

Once the center was clear, the Undead and Wood Elf Allies moved into the ruins of the temple to lock down that bothersome Jezzail that was responsible for so many deaths.

The wolves charged the remaining Warpsmith, the Varghs the Jezzail while the remaining archers' delivered still generous fire support due to me rolling above average.

Once the Jezzail was gone, we ended the game, but we just placed the Varghs around the Orkz' catapult for a final picture.

So in the end, the Alliance between Beastmen, Skaven, and Orkz got tabled because Vampires and Wood Elves could play their best game of marching and firing and roadblocks. Nevertheless, Vampires and Wood Elves were lucky: if for some reason the resummoning of the Varghs (and/or Wolves) had failed, the Wood Elves' archery would have been of very little use in the final rounds of the game.

I'd like to finish this battle report with a brilliant quote by Goldark who remarked on why this game is so much fun:

"In the end, it's just the final percentages that count before the roll of the dice and not how many tables you had to go through to get there."

Amen.

Trip down Memory Lane

The current state of my Wood Elves army: simple yet tidy coloring, huge clown eyes, missing parts. This used to be my battle standard bearer.

It was 1992 when I got started on Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WHFB), my first tabletop strategy game. Blood Bowl was the delivery truck that had me and a few friends pick the Empire, High Elves, Dwarfs, and Wood Elves in my case. I played WHFB until 1998 when I figured that I should start being serious about my life. When I got back into the hobby in 2008, my local meta was filled with 40K, so my Wood Elves continued their dormant life. I never felt compelled to unearth them until the release of Age of Sigmar (AoS) when Games Workshop rebooted the entire game and did quite a few things right:

• free rules
• simpler rules
• modular army building
• compatibility with all existing models
• free app

Granted, I haven't played a single game of AoS yet, but the feedback in the local community is promising. Plus I look forward to breathing life into my old models again. They were purchased between 1992 and 1998 and so far I haven't found an unplayable model yet.

The following is an overview of the painted parts of my Wood Elves army. I have virtually no clue  how many points are still sitting in boxes. However, right now I want to get started on AoS as soon as possible.

Cavalry

My plan is to redo my cavalry first while I play AoS using my infantry.

My Forrest Dragon in pieces after years in storage.

I want the overall color scheme of my revamped Wood Elves Army to be yellow and green to get an impression of autumn colors.

He's gonna be my general again and will look even better.

I plan on stripping the riders with acetone while I paint over the horses. The horses were among Games Workshops first models to come in plastic and significantly reduced the overall weight.

My general on a horse. He'll be repainted, too, to bring out the details.

Same goes for my wizard on a unicorn. According to the AoS Wood Elves conversion chart, the unicorn has to be played as an ordinary horse, however. (the unicorn used to give a protective aura against enemy spells) Oh, I also have to find the upper body of the cavalry's musician.

My airforce marked the point when I quit the hobby, so they are literally halfway done. I painted the war hawks as great eagles (because great eagles were more expensive and I was a high school student), so I'll strip them and paint them as hawks again - especially since I also added drybrushing and inking to my list of painting skills since 1998!

Infantry

My infantry is what I will use to play AoS until my cavalry is done. Once the cavalry is ready to hit the playing field again, the infantry will be redone piece by piece.

My Wood Elves archers.

 

Most of them look really uniform because Games Workshop introduced those "exciting" new boxes with plastic models that were way more affordable to build large units. Problem was the minis had only one static pose. I am not even sure if I'll redo them or just throw them away.

The first row of this archers' unit is where the minis shine as they are still the old metal models in various poses.

Musician, standard bearer, and hero.

My Waywatchers. They are still my favorite unit and I will repaint them just to have them benefit from my improved painting skills.

Their backs are painted in the Swiss camo pattern.

My Wardancers, my second favorite unit after the Waywatchers. I'll also redo them just to have them benefit from my improved painting skills.

I even had attempts at freehands. Didn't get any better in the meantime though. ^ ^

Various characters

Do you still recognize him? It's Games Workshop's original Durthu. I bet when I show up at the game store people will think this is an illegal 3rd company product.

Beyond being a far superior paint job by Terry, the current Durthu model also looks quite different.

If I want to play with my infantry first, I also still need a general.

To the left we have Skaw the Falkner (out of production, is being played as a simple Glade Lord with Hunting Falcons) and to the right a wizard on foot.

I already put these two onto round bases (something I was looking forward for a long time because I find them more aesthetically pleasing) to paint them up next for my games.

Existing problems

I still got to find my Wood Elves bits box somewhere deep down in my cellar.

Also Games Workshop is hoping for big sales and a huge success from AoS, but I am afraid they won't get that without me. My current budget for miniatures is comparable to what it was when I was a high school student, but these aren't the times anymore when you could get a Forrest Dragon for 45 CHF. Furthermore I still have two moving boxes of unassembled and unpainted Wood Elves, so I have still enough Elves to work on for years to come - and that's the case for every Games Workshop army I own. Not sure how Games Workshop wants to make big profits with me again. However, as long as the rules are free, I'll be definitely motivated to advocate the game by playing it.

Well, I found the bits box, so that's good. In it you can see Skaw's missing falcon, the cavalry musician's missing upper body, the army standard bearer's missing standard, and the hawk riders' missing spears. Plus two cool character models. :D

Also got these nice bases at the game store. Can't wait to put everything on round and bike bases.