New AOS player, need advice on starter boxes

[Blood Priest]

Hi everyone. I've played some demo games and decided to get into Age of Sigmar. I'm only recently getting back into tabletop gaming, but ages ago I played Undead in Warhammer Fantasy. I love everything dead and/or loyal to Nagash. I noticed there are two starter kits that have undead stuff so it seems like I picked a good time to start. Just curious if the Soul Wars and Carrion Empire boxed sets come with everything I need, or if there are other books I need to get.

More importantly....I don't really know a lot about the Nighthaunt and Fleash-eater Courts gameplay wise. Can anyone give me a brief newbie rundown on what their playstyles are like? Would you recommend starting with a particular set as easier for a completely new player and painter? If it helps, I plan to collect all the major Death armies eventually, and I like the look and lore behind these two just about equally.

I appreciate any advice. I look forward to psychotically eating/haunting the enemies of Nagash in the near future :)

[Overread]

I think if you like undead and Nagash I would look at the Legions of Nagash as through that you get Nagash and a whole host of undead beasties from ghosts to zombies to skeletons to vampires and there's two functional GS stets for that force (Malignants* and Skeleton Hoard). I think that would give you most of what you're after with a flavour of all the death elements from spirits to corpses and you get some of those epic mounted lords atop huge skeleton horses to use as well!

 

Flesh Eater Courts are getting a new Battletome released this weekend and some Endless spells (which Nagash can use as well). They are a more restricted force in model variety (check the GW website) however they are shaping up to be potentially very powerful. They are also a quirky race as they are basically an entirely insane cannibalistic faction that has delusions of being kings and knights. Essentially they are Bretonnians who are utterly insane and whilst they scream and pull at organs and devour rotting bodies they think they are dining at a fine table; that they are noble and they are taking out great feats of heroic chivalry as they tear into peasants and their foes be they human, beast or monster. 
They are a bit more limited in model range and feature mostly ghouls and the like with the odd zombie dragon thrown in (though they can take a force almost entirely of terrorgasts and zombiedragons). 

 

Nighthaunt might also be worth a look, its the more spirit side of the whole Death Grand Alliance. Featuring more ghosts and spirits and the odd skeleton thrown in. They are a brand new faction recently added to the game. 

 

Each of the three factions in Death has its own Battletome, letting you field armies with distinct flavour and focus for each. However you can also draw in allies from the other forces, limited to 1/4 of the points for your army (eg at 2K points you can take 400 points of allies). So you can build a very mono-faction or splice in some allies. In addition there are Grand Alliance Death forces, but the book for that is very old and lacks many of the alliance abilities and features that mono-factions have; so typically you'll see more monofactions with allies here and there. 

 

 

*Note that the hex-riders kit is the same as the Black Knights kit so both the GS stets contain the same mounted sprues. 

[Overread]

Note I just re-read your post and a few other things to clarify:

1) Soul Wars is a two army getting started boxed set that has the core rules (The big rule book) and two armies (stormcast and nighthaunt) which both feature all the warscroll cards and rules to use both of those armies, but only those models. It's designed to be a single complete game right out of the box. However you get Stormcast models that you maybe won't need unless you split the box with a friend. 

You also will still need to get the Battletome for the army (in the case of Soul Wars that would be the Nighthaunt Battletome) to use the rest of that faction. 

It's a great set, but if you're starting up on your own you might get more from a "Getting started" boxed set (which is jsut models) and the Battletome you need for the army of your choice. 

 

2) Carrion Empire is a little like SoulWars in that its a complete battle experience; but it lacks dice and only has the rules for the game* and, again, the warscroll cards for the models in the box itself. It also has a load of skaven so, agian, is a box you want to split or sell off half the contents to someone else (or find another who has the same box and swap over the model half so that you both wind up with a double count of the half you want). 

 

Note the Big Rule Book has rules, but also a big chunk of lore and background to the game and setting, making ita great purchase on its own or as part of Soul Wars. 

 

 

*The rules are identical to those in the Big Rule Book; with the main difference being that the big book has all the lore and background and modelling elements thrown in too. 

[Blood Priest]

Thank you. I knew FEC were crazy, but that description is crazy awesome So the Carrion Empire set does not include the big rulebook with backstory, and both sets only have a starter mini-army book for each faction? I think I'm leaning heavily towards FEC now, would you say one or two of the Start Collecting boxes, the big rulebook, and the new FEC army book are where to start? Also, can flesh eaters replenish their numbers during the game as other death factions can? I'm a little unclear on that.

If I include allies at some point, does a battleline unit from another Death army count towards the limit or must all mine be from FEC? I think I read that the subfactions let you take different FEC units as battleline.

[Honk]

9 hours ago, Blood Priest said:

where to start?

Starting FEC now:

the new book, generals handbook 18 (general open rules are freely available in the app) and models...(maybe the essential set for the spells)

models are kinda tricky, I would suggest starting collecting box AT LEAST twice. That gives you 2 big monsters, two normal kings, 2x3 knights and 2x10 ghouls. That sets you up for 1k games to try out all the options and playstyles.

 

then cometh the future... 

love big monsters, add new SC-Box

Elite knightly knights, maybe dedicated boxes

same goes for the WWZ ghoul approach.

just keep your eyes open and the calculator ready, nightfeast box also an option

[Gorthor21]

I would suggest downloading the Age of Sigmar app.  I has the rules for the game there for free as well as all the different warscrolls for all the models.  Take some time to familiarize yourself with the rules of the game and how the units function within those rules.  

A good place to start is with 500 points of any faction, that way if you like how a different faction works it won’t be too much of a loss and you can still use them as allies if you want to use Legions of Nagash.  Given you said you would like an eclectic choice of units I think Legions of Nagash would be a safe place to start. Both Feash Eaters and Nighthaunts have their own unique play styles, one focusing on large monsters and large units of fodder and heavy infantry and the other focusing on positioning and  manoeuvrability.  Legions of Nagash is less focused and plays more into the recursion abilities of Death which is really their hallmark aside from the universal 6+ save after the failed armor roll.  A good place to start would be one of the Start collecting sets if you are going for FEC or LoN, though soul wars would make a good core for Nighthaunts like @Overread suggested.  

Warhammer is an investment hobby so it’s important to buy with a solid plan in mind so I recommend going into it with a basic understanding of what the things you are buying do in the game and how they function together.  

[Blood Priest]

Thanks everyone, much appreciated. I didn't even realize there was an app so I'm giving that a try. There's not really any Death players of any flavor at my local store but the owner is pretty nice and is letting me try a few proxy games to get a feel of the different armies

[Gorthor21]

With the App and the warscroll builder on the Warhammer community website you should get a rough idea of what you would need for whichever faction you chose to go with. Best of luck and let us know what you decide and how your games go.

[Honk]

1 hour ago, Gorthor21 said:

Best of luck and let us know what you decide and how your games go.

Start with some easy 1k Games and try out all the madness, LoN is full of synergies and possible playstyles. Don’t miss out on something you’ll like, just because it’s not the easy mode...