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can someone make me a mini-review of mortal realms magazine


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hi folks,

I recently discovered the new age of sigmar magazine collection, that at first glance looks really cool

but, while the miniatures are fine, I must admit I am quite disappointed by the quality of the booklet, especially when we compare it to the "lord of the ring battle games in middle-earth" one that was WAYYYYYY better (and the difference is even more noticeable when one factor the fact that I don't care about Warhammer lore).

In particular, I am particularly disappointed by how poor the gameplay section is, same for the painting section that was quite minimalistic

But the fact is that we (in France) are currently only at 3th issue, and I was thinking, maybe it’s just for the beginning and it gets better later, and as I wasn’t able to find out any review that focus on the quality of the collection as a collection (all reviews focused on the monetary value and the value of the content, not the value of the collection as a collection)

So, as I know the collection was released for long in others countries, can someone who already is into the collection tell me what I can expect from following release, and, if It’s worth buying if one considers the booklet as the main product and the miniatures as the “bonus” and not the other way around (and also considering the fact I don’t care about the lore)

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Agree - it works fine for the minis and how to start playing the game. For the lore only you're better off with the Core book, or even the AoS Soulbound RPG rule book. If its a mix of minis and rules get the starter box such as Tempest of Souls or better still the Soul Wars boxset (which should be the same as around 12 issues of MR magazine).

I get MR on a irregular basis as they have some £15-20 models there for less than half price. But you also overpay on the paint set issues too, so beware.

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ok, thank you,

i was exepcting mortal realms to be a spiritual sucessesor of "lord of the ring battle games in middle-earth",  but it turns out, as you confirmed to me, that it's just minis sold weekly "with a themed booklet",

that's quite unfortunate regarding the high quality of the lord of the ring collection (that provide each two week real scenario, with original objectives, sometimes their own specials rules... (and provide proxies to be able to play interresting scenarios straight form the first issue), it also provide a section dedicated to scenery crafting, and one other painting, and the whole covering the same thematic so everything fits together). To summurize, it was a collection really worth buying as a collection, not just as minifigures for cheap.

Rest in peace BGiME😪

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bit late to the party with my comment here (sorry).  The painting guides are purposely basic because they assume the reader is brand new to the hobby and only owns the items that have come through the magazine.  As more paints are added, they revisit older models - so once you get Reikland Fleshshade they show you how to wash all that gold you've done and so on.  I'd say the guides we're getting now are on par with the current WHTV videos.  If you use them your army won't set the world alight, but you will have a very solid tabletop army there.

Although the actual structure of the 'magazine' is lacking a bit, once built up it's a pretty reasonable collection of lore and background covering every faction within AoS - that includes newer factions like Lumineth and Mega Gargants too.  The how to play section is pretty basic if I'm honest - however I've been playing AoS since pretty much when it landed and am certainly not the target audience.  I'd say that an average teenager would be able to pick AoS really easily reading through the how to play.  I actually quite like the battleplans that have been included.  Many of them are predefined scenarios that list the miniatures to play with and the set up of scenery - in all honesty I'm actually looking forward to playing some of these when the circumstances allow as quick 30 minute games with minimal set up really appeals!

If you're an existing player, the magazine isn't going to excite a massive amount from a gaming perspective, it's not really intended for us though.  I've had a subscription from day one, so am into issue 60+ and collectively I've a ring binder full of faction lore, notable battles and named characters - certainly things in there that I don't know and I consider myself pretty well invested in the hobby.  The miniatures are certainly the reason for buying though, giving a massive saving throughout.  It is a massive commitment though, with 80 issues the amount of plastic that I've got so far is pretty intimidating .  Once MR is complete I'll likely give away the how to play section to a friend with children who want to get into the hobby and go through the mass of plastic to work out what I want to keep and sell - it's certainly given me more than I could ever paint up (plus you have a new 40k version coming out in September)

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  • 2 weeks later...

thank you for the replies.

that being said, my issue was not that much about the fact it was the collection was aimed for newbies (in fact i am a newbie: never had the opportunity to play since i was a child, and even then, i collected more than i played), but more about the fact that the issues, aside from being poorer (but maybe it is just a subjective impression), focus more on the lore than the game and are wayyyyyyyyy slower to introduce the new gameplay elements/painting methods.

To compare: (i wasn't able to find the first three issues of bgime available without registration on the internet, so i will show the 1,5 and 10 to illustrate my point)

https://vdocuments.site/lotr-battle-games-in-middle-earth-issue-01.html

https://kupdf.net/download/lotr-battle-games-in-middle-earth-issue-5_58f89cccdc0d600140da9863_pdf

https://doku.pub/documents/battle-games-in-middle-earth-issue-10-6oq1e4o9mz02

as you can see, both mortal realms and bgime start from scratch (in terms of rules, painting, scenery craft). The only difference is that bgime goes way faster in all of those aspects (on the first issue you already learned basic painting of gobelin, while for mortal realms, on 3rd issue you only learnt undercoat... same for the rules, you learn the rules much more faster in bgime, thus are able to play advanced scenario much more quickly (also thanks to the use of proxies))

In fact the ironic part is that when i got bgime, i used to watch pictures and overlook text (i was 8), thus i didn't understand/misunderstood lots of things that i understood much later, and now that i am a young adult, I have a new collection with very big picture in it and that over-explains everything😆...

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