I'm still in the proces of theorycrafting and testing the game, so my view on the game is still subject to change. But considering the big overhaul that AoS brings, and the various debates about its mechanics, I thought I'd dive in and write in my view on it.
For sake of structuring my text, I'll follow the structure of the rules which are simple enough as it is
The Battle Rounds - Random turn sequenceThe randomized choice on who goes first every round feels like a cheap trick to disorient the strategists. It also gives your movement and shooting an irregular pace.
Warhammer had it as well, with fleeing, overrunning, quick reforms, stand and shoots etc, but it was more controlled.
I'm ambivalent about it. WFB may have overemphasized min-maxed movement. AoS too little.
The Hero PhaseMagic moved to the start of the turn, which is a big thing. Your opponent (last move?) has the initiative now to position his troops against your magic phase. You will have to set up your magic defense during your movement.
Other than that, this phase feels like a charge-up round that becomes a mini management game with cards or tokens:
- Start by collecting any of your cards/tokens from the table
- Redistribute them across the table, one at a time.
I mourn the loss of 8th's magic system though. I enjoyed that. But perhaps 6-dice Dwellering all those noobs demanded a fix.
For the non-magical abilities, it's a great addition and I bet we'll see counters or cards come up for this soon.
The movement phaseIt's so simplified it benefits ranked units as well as skirmishers. It might just make AoS a sort of hybrid between a ranked mass battle and skirmish game.
It brings a new aspect to the game: formations. Formations can influence combat, defense or terrain benefits.. which is a thing I didn't expect to find in this AoS. A nice surprise.
Still, strategy and style are replaced with "game". 360 degrees sight and free movement lets you slide a model or unit in any direction (without rotating). Rotation becomes an aesthetic thing, and something for irregular bases/formations.
I see dynamic scenery landscapes may become a thing in AoS.
It does seem possible to control your opponent's movement, but not without dodging a counter charge. The most reliable way to dominate their movement is by charging the enemy.. which means committing your troops.
Running: A D6 movement bonus replaces all movement restrictions and irregularities. Light-hearted, simple, gamey and non-strategic.
Retreating: Flee as a choice and it seems possible to prevent a unit from fleeing. Something to keep in mind.
It also means you can't "catch" a unit, but have to take it down or make it fail battle shocks.
ShootingBy using pre-compiled hit and wound chances, a lot of the finesse is lost. It felt a bit overpowered, as one can shoot from combat (even a warmachine), into combat. You can't "escape" into combat, or block shooting with combat, which is another strategy removed.
It feels way less refined, but gunlines rarely felt refined in WFB. It still captures the gist of things: you're going to blow things to bits.
There is but one counter: it looks like warmachines and gunners get shot more easily themselves.
ChargingNote that the new rules require you only to declare that you're charging. There is no declared target, response or anything. So, roll your dice and choose your target depending on the results. The movement liberty is interesting: you can reform during charge to maximize/minimize your models in contact with the enemy, provided you have the movement available. I bet this will permit some tricks.
It -will- be important!
It impresses me that, once your units are in combat (or within reach), then combat will happen and it's hard to get out. Taking the initiative is bound to benefit you which means you'll be rewarded if you dare to commit your troops.
All in all, we did lose the mini-game that the charge phase was in WFB. I guess the focus now lies on the result of it: combat.
Pile inThe counter to the tricks that charges permit is the pile-in. This is its equivalent and I think it will become important in more competitive games. It's a phase that can be manipulated, and so it will become a part of the game where the difference is made between the casual and the pro.
CombatInitiative is gone and fights are picked by alternating players. This actually increases the importance of battle selection compared to WFB.
WFB, especially 8th, had the entire strike order set in stone. Only dice could make a difference now. As such, WFB emphasized the importance of movement and charging.
AoS takes a different approach, and it's quite interesting. By choosing your units to fight, it turns into a minigame where each players try to maximize their damage or minimize the damage taken. It can be strategic choice which will undoubtedly play a role.
Instead of committing a unit to a predertmined scenario, throwing in an extra unit may turn some initiative.
It also means attacking a big unit with a lot of small units gives you a penalty: the big unit goes first against all but one small unit, probably reducing the effectiveness of a frontal MSU attack.
BattleshockA very interesting design but it has a design flaw: you need to keep track of wounds, across several subphases (hero phase, shooting, combat, ...). This could make for a messy table.
Attacking, hitting, woundingWFB was stuck in its interpretation of damage dealing and they were in a constant limbo to overcome the engine's limitations through special rules, like re-rolls (hit, wound, armour), blanket ward saves and all other kinds of horrors.
AoS steps away from this, which offers clarity and flexibility. The cost is losing an important tie to WFB's roleplay history.
I think AoS offers less flavour, but it will play better.
Wound and counter heavyThey killed off ward saves in general (well, except for Phoenix Guard because high elves), lowered the saves and then boosted the wounds to compensate. While I applaud this change from a gaming perspective, there's a downside: keeping track of all the wounds!
I think we'll see a lot of specialized wound counters emerge soon enough
This makes AoS token or counter heavy, with the spells and abilities from the hero phase and then the wound counters for the units.
It almost reminds me of a Wizkids game I observed (never played).
Warscrolls and unitsI think it's a very smart move to replace books by scrolls. It permits them a much more flexible release schedule. Books don't have to be completed, just the units you want to update/release.
I imagine GW will come up with battle formations of some sort, to sell new models in bulk. Depending on their compatibility with old models, they might throw in old models to boost their sales again.
The downside is that it's harder to get an overview of an army, and its abilities. I think a database of units, scrolls and special rules would be interesting at this point.
If they don't provide one, I will.
Final remarksIt's a fun game, emphasis on "fun" as in.. You have to focus on the "fun" because it's all what's keeping the game from being broken. It plays a bit like a game that's in open beta.
The game engine itself is alright. It plays fast and light. I can definitely see myself play this, for a long time.
But the character of WFB is gone, and that was important. It's the old world and its battles that inspired people to build momentous scenery, that pushed creativity and conversions.
It's neater to build a conversion if you can somehow reflect that customisation in the rules.
WFB combined a rigid and complex game with a history rich sandbox world. I remember having to look up rules in almost every battle I had. I remember being inspired to make my own characters and write my own piece of history in its rich and inviting world.
AoS turns it around, it seems. It creates a sandbox game that almost begs intervention to make your own campaign or framework. At the same time, it blew up the world and history and the first release offers a premade story which you'll have to read to go with the flow.
Ahh well.. I have a closet full of unopened WFB boxes because I have a spending issue and never enough time. AoS seems better paced to players like me. I just hope the game still presents enough of a challenge in a few months time.