Aids & Strategies for Age of Sigmar-General Principles

[Cornix]

Good day Tyrants, Dread Lords and Ladies.

It has been suggested that I use my experience of AoS to start a series of threads regarding the tactics and strategies I have used and encountered so far. I have been playing Warhammer for 26 years and have played about 30 games of AoS now. Please feel free to add your experiences to my own. I apologise for the length of the post, hope that doesn't put you off from reading it.

In this topic I will talk about some of my thoughts on general principles to AoS, I will start post another more Druchii specific thread soon.


1-Forget all of the tactics you had before.
This is a new game which requires a different approach. Your units will pretty much do the kind of things they did before but potentially in a different way. AoS more strategic than Warhammer is less tactical, wide sweeping outflanking manoeuvres are less important than they have been previously but there are still a huge number of strategic decisions. In fact you in far more control of your army than you ever have before.

2-Communication is key.
The freedom AoS gives us is virtually unprecedented, that means that the styles of games we can play can hugely differ. If you are wanting a more competitive game make sure your opponents know in advance. That way you will both get the experience you want. There are also several things that you will want to clarify in advance, things like composition structure and summoning rules (I will discuss both of these later).

3-Composition rules.
This is were the genuine freedom of AoS really starts. I have played a mixture of composition and discussion based games. Daeron has made some excellent videos about composition and I urge everybody to watch them. Both comped and uncomped games been hugely enjoyable and in fact the social contract games are often closer than the comped ones. In my opinion this is because with a army composition structure we feel free to make the armies as powerful as possible within that structure as it's an equaliser while in a discussion based game we both want a close game. What I would say is that it was easier to gauge the power levels of units after using them. So I did play with comp first. There are several systems to use, each has advantages and disadvantages. Don't use them or use one or even better come up with your own, it's your game. Here are a few options I have encountered and some of the perceptions I have about them.

Wound count-Easy and popular. In my experience this leads to a more competitive style game with a large number monsters and summoning.

Model count-gives huge advantage to armies which have multiple wound models such as ogres

My local GW store has just run an extremely successful tournament with a comp system maxing the number of warscrolls and number of wounds per warscroll, and limit of how many times certain keywords can be used (Will list full comp rules at the end if you're interested). Everybody loved it. The only disadvantage with this system in my opinion is it promotes use of elite units as twenty black guard are better than goblins. So our games group has added a new keyword, core, which allows players to combine warscrolls into single larger units during deployment.

Here is a link to the new style throne of skulls scenario from GW themselves,
http://warhammerworld.games-workshop.co ... announced/
As long as you don't know many phoenix guard players seems okay. Having not played it I do not know if the underdog bonuses are worth the army of monsters on the other side

If you have a composition structure not mentioned here please let us know.

4-Deployment
AoS is significantly more tactically forgiving than previous editions. If played at a high level and assuming no insane luck most games of Warhammer were determined during deployment and first movement phase, those days are gone. Obviously if you are playing a specific scenario that will determine you deployment. I often deploy units in small battle groups with supporting units near main damage causing forces or units which are fast together so my army can not be destroyed piecemeal. Remember anything within 3" can pile in and attack even if not the target of a charge. Unit deployment has huge freedom too. Some of my opponents are shocked that I do still use movement trays for some of my units, not only as it's easier to move them but it has tactical reasons behind it. If units are using old style skirmish set up the unit has a wider impact area but equally can be targeted by more things. If your units are deployed wide and some body charges nears one of your flanks you may not be able to pile in with as many models as if it's tightly packed. So my Executioners with one inch range deploy 5 wide 4 deep in tight ranks, while my doomfire warlocks deploy in as wide as possible so doombolt has the maximum number of targets.

5-First turn
The vast majority of the time going second is dramatically better. As magic is done before movement any spells that target your opponent will automatically be out of range. If your opponent does mystic shield several units you can just not target those units. Not only are your units likely to have targets for our barrage of missile spells but you have a chance of charging this turn or if you get the holy grail of a turn two/three double turn. The only times I would consider going first if given the option is if my enemy has significantly more shooting than me, and possibly if they had vast summoning potential.

6-Sudden death.
Assuming you are playing a standard pitched battle style game there are four sudden death victory conditions. As dark elf players we are likely to encounter these regularly. If you get to pick one please choose wisely, if you are playing to a time limit will you get to turns four or six for seize ground or endure respectively? If unlikely do not pick them. Also consider with blunt and assassinate the player that picks the condition does not pick the target, so consider having at least one tough unit and character/monster for this. For blunt CoK are a fine choice, good armour with some re-rerolls and multiple wounds or in magic heavy armies SoS are much tougher than they look. For assassinate don't look too far from a DL on dragon or war hydra, Malekith is always an option if you are using big named characters.

7-Shooting
Remember line of sight and range are the only limiting factors with shooting. If you're in combat you can still shoot and split targets so hide those small support characters well. Does your opponent have a number of visible low level summoners or buffing wizards one large shooting unit can deal with both.

8-Charging and Combat
In previous editions of Warhammer we players had very little say in what went on here, other than splitting attacks and challenges the rules or previous phases decided everything for us, not now. When charging you now roll charge total and then pick target. The order that you choose combatants is supremely important. If there is a unit that has huge damage potential and you get to hit them first do so. Executioners are going to be a target, if they are in numbers use them first, trust me. Obviously if a unit can not be affected in combat due to all attackers already being activated don't use them until the end.

9-pile in
Although linked to above topic I think it's important enough to high effective pile in discussion in it's own right. You can pile in towards the nearest model it does not say by shortest route. So if you are in base/model contact with something you can still move the 3" potentially allowing you to attack another juicier target nearby. As long as weapons are in range they can attack whatever you choose. I was playing a lizardman player with beastmen, he was in combat with a big unit of gor but my minotaurs were in range so he attacked them instead. You also get a pile in move even if the target of your charge was killed. On Saturday my executioners and a hydra charged the same unit, the executioners killed the target before activating the hydra. As it had charged it could still pile in and attack a nearby unit with whatever was in range.

10-battleshock
This phase can be scary to us Druchii. One wound infantry are very susceptible to suffering wounds each turn they take wounds. Multi wound models such as cavalry and monstrous infantry don't lose often but it hurts when they do due to removal of models not wounds. When fighting armies like ogres or undead (whose banners resurrect units) I tend to concentrate fire and attacks to maximise the modifier to the battleshock roll.

I have talked long enough today, if you have any questions please let me know. I hope you find this interesting and helpful, if you have any comments please let me know.

I will do another shortly with some more Druchii specific points and other topics such as summoning.

Games Workshop Plymouth winter war composition rules.

Maximum 8 warscrolls (which can combine into up to 1 battalion)
each warscroll can have up to 20 wounds
up to 3 warscrolls can be heroes (two of which can be wizards/priests)
up to 2 warscrolls can be monsters/war machines
no army may summon above starting strength

[Daeron]

A very interesting start! I'd like to add in another point.

11-Stand in terrain or keep your distance
Terrain is a game-changer and works differently from WFB. In WFB, a good spot to place your unit was along a terrain feature's border, using it for cover. In Age of Sigmar, you need to put your foot in it Or feet, since you want most models in cover. This will grant you +1 on the save, which makes a significant difference. If you can not stand in it, then keep a distance!

Here's a good example of a bad move, and one I made in a recent tournament.


I moved up my Blood Warriors and Lord of Khorne up to the terrain feature, which was my maximum move distance. I reasoned it would give me enough room to control the terrain feature next turn or to run out and attack.
I underestimated my opponent's range, however, who charged his chaos knights all the way in from his deployment zone. Since they stood in the terrain feature, they gained cover up to a 2+ save which pretty much negated my attacks. Since I didn't get the cover, they could damage me at their full potential.

By comparison, these reavers of mine did use the terrain:

Combined with a pretty defensive flank, using the doorway to keep the chariots locked in combat but limited in movement, they lasted several combat rounds, far longer than would be expected.

So keep a distance, or get in there!

[Cornix]

Agreed. Terrain is very important. Remember the save bonus applies in every phase however if you've charged that turn you don't get it in the following combat phase.

[Tullbeard]

Really interesting discussion, it's good to read.

One thing I'd like to point out though is that all models from a unit need to be in cover to get the bonus to save; not simply the majority of models.

I therefore find it quite difficult to fully benefit from the save bonus of cover.

[Daeron]

You're right. I checked again, and I probably mistook a comp rule of the local store for a general rule. Under the general rules, my blood warriors would still have fallen to the trap, but the reavers would have had a different fight.

[Calisson]

Buildings make great terrain.

Garrisons: A unit can garrison a <insert here the type of the building> if all of the models in the unit are within 6" of it at the start of their movement phase, or if they could be set up within 6" of the <insert here the type of the building> when deploying for the battle. Remove the garrisoning unit from the battlefield and place it to one side.
A unit garrisoning a building can attack and be attacked as normal, except that the range and visibility for the models in the building is measured from the building model. The garrison counts as being in cover if it is attacked.
One Hero and one other unit can garrison a Watchtower. Models cannot enter a building garrisoned by the enemy.
A garrisoning unit can exit a building as its move in a future movement phase. To do so, set it up so that all models from the unit are within 6" of the building and more than 3" from any enemy units.

The size of a building is irrelevant, only matters the ability to have a whole unit within 6" - not forgetting that you may have bases step up on each other. A hydra or 30 COK may garrison a hut.
The drawback is that the building reduces the movement:
- it takes two turns to enter if the unit is not already close.
- exiting at 3" consumes the movement phase although it does not prevent to charge.
A great asset is that it allows a hero to merge with a unit. My understanding is that it would be "the garrison" which would be attacked as a whole, which takes away the ability of the enemy to single out one hero.

Buildings may therefore be used in two ways:
- stationing close to a building, with the option next turn either to garrison or to move away;
- garrisoning a building with shooters and one hero, most likely a magic-user.

[Shadowspite]

My understanding is that it would be "the garrison" which would be attacked as a whole, which takes away the ability of the enemy to single out one hero.

I think if it meant that, it would say so explicitly.

It says "a unit garrisoning a building can attack and be attacked", not "the garrison can attack and be attacked". That doesn't imply any changes to the regular targeting rules, IMO. Each garrison unit is still a seprate unit and can be targeted.

[Calisson]

Ah, you're right. Then the hero does not much benefit from the garrison, besides the cover.