So how do you build an army

[KhaosOP]

As you all know I'm new to the AoS.

I had chance to get hands on with the game at GW today in Wakefield as they had a preview of the Soul Wars game box which I immediately ordered along with a copy of the Malign Sorcery box set.

I do however have a question on how the armies are put together. So the codes books for 40k have a points cost for each unit and the various different options for weapons of which you can only take certain ones, I've had a goosey at my Idoneth Deepkin book and the only thing relating to points I can find is the very final page and reading each units little Warscroll it seems they are pretty much kitted out with certain weapons and only certain ones can take one thing instead of another. This keeps things simple I guess as you will always know which unit is equipped with what weapons but how do you decide how many units you can take into battle? 

Is it a case of you must take 1 hero along with certain amounts of other classes of unit?

[Nin Win]

In open and narrative play things are basically a matter of scenario design and negotiation.  Hopefully there will be some guidance for this in the new rulebook.

Matched play has a bit more of a rigid structure.  You need a certain number of battle line units depending on the game size.  Different allegiances or certain characters can change which units count as battle line.

Then you'll need to figure out a points size for you and your opponent.  Then select units up to that amount.  If you want allegiance abilities then you'll need to stick within the allegiance you want plus a bit of allies if you want.

I think the best way to start will be the scenario book that comes with Soul Wars set.  You'll have a load of stuff to paint between the two sets you got, so I think you'll have ample time to read about how the different ways to play work and to read threads and listen to podcasts and the like.

Here's a video from Anthony at AoS Coach that you might find to be a good starting point: