AoS Lore Tomes

[Shankelton]

Im looking for more in universe, cool bookshelf lore tomes for AoS in particular. Does anyone know of any good products that have a lot of both in universe tomes? Something in the vein of Libre Chaotica (Which I hate that I missed the run of), where there are no table top rules but just more information on the Geography, Realms, Customs, Currencies, peoples, ect of the mortal realms.

Bonus points for cool, collectors sets that have an interesting finish that might look cool on a bookshelf.

Really looking for more of these so I can begin to develop/ pioneer some world building/ Fun narrative campaigns to get me a bit more attached to AoS.

If you don't know of any, would things of this nature interest you too? Novels are great, but for me nothing beats a fun history book that lives in the world so to speak... and they are terribly hard to come by it seems!

[Shankelton]

Just now, Shankelton said:

Im looking for more in universe, cool bookshelf lore tomes for AoS in particular. Does anyone know of any good products that have a lot of both in universe tomes? Something in the vein of Libre Chaotica (Which I hate that I missed the run of), where there are no table top rules but just more information on the Geography, Realms, Customs, Currencies, peoples, ect of the mortal realms.

Bonus points for cool, collectors sets that have an interesting finish that might look cool on a bookshelf.

Really looking for more of these so I can begin to develop/ pioneer some world building/ Fun narrative campaigns to get me a bit more attached to AoS.

If you don't know of any, would things of this nature interest you too? Novels are great, but for me nothing beats a fun history book that lives in the world so to speak... and they are terribly hard to come by it seems!

Cross posted from the reddit as well! Thought the formatting would go away, seems not! haha

[Chikout]

Unfortunately there aren't any dedicated lore books for AoS yet. The closest thing is the RPG books. The era of the beast book for example is 100 pages of pure lore plus about 50 pages of rules that have lore snippets throughout. These books do have info about currency, trade etc. The city guides are particularly good as they really do give a feel of what life in the realms is actually like. 

Edited December 28, 2023 by Chikout

[Baron Klatz]

1 hour ago, Shankelton said:

Thought the formatting would go away, seems not! haha

Right? I love this forum but it gets so weird where copy and paste are concerned. 😅

Anyway, above all Get the Soulbound Rpg books.

They are a treasure trove of great lore, art, culture and history in the Mortal Realms.

https://cubicle7games.com/warhammer-age-of-sigmar
 

Example of the Realm of Fire Great Parch map in the Soulbound Corebook:

 

Which funny side note a friend on twitter made a Aqshy realm lore thread, I’ll show it at the end of this post.*
 

Then speaking of Corebooks I heartily recommend the current 3rd edition Corebook and 2nd edition core books.

 

Mengal has a good review on the AoS2 Corebook to give you an idea why you want to nab it.

http://www.mengelminiatures.com/2018/06/review-age-of-sigmar-second-edition.html?m=1
 

For other Lore books(that are quite rare now) worth hunting on the internet I say keep an eye out for:

Malign Portents which kicked off AoS 2nd edition and the rise of Endless Spells.

http://www.mengelminiatures.com/2018/02/review-malign-portents_14.html?m=1
 

A very rare one now is Realmgate Wars:Godbeast which was a climatic campaign book which started the end of Chaos’ domination of the realms and set-up many of today’s current stories and races like the Sons of Behemat.

http://www.mengelminiatures.com/2016/06/review-godbeasts.html?m=1

 

Wrath of the Everchosen was a bit before AoS 3rd edition and a good lore book for seeing Chaos on the back foot after the events of Godbeast, All-Gates & Malign Portents while showing more of the workings of the Eight-Points sub-realm which used to dimensionally connect the 8 major Realms and chaos staged it’s invasions from.

http://www.mengelminiatures.com/2020/02/review-wrath-of-everchosen.html?m=1

Now here’s an easy find, the Thondia Narrative tome chock full of great lore on the Realm of Beasts and was used as a major set-up for this current edition there. You can find it on Amazon for like $10.

http://www.mengelminiatures.com/2022/04/review-season-of-war-thondia.html?m=1

 

After that well, basically all the battletomes have a map of part of a Realm they like to inhabit along with their history leading up to the current narratives they’re in.

Purely for lore I’d say the top 5 to get are:

Cities of Sigmar. It is Brimming with lore of the cities, cultures and goes over each realm a major city is in with examples to smaller cities clinging to existence or thriving on magi-tech industries to the point I want to grab an additional book or two of the same copy it’s so good.

Then the Seraphon tome which goes over the Arcane cosmos of the setting and it’s more cosmic elements.

 

NightHaunt, the recent tome really digs into their unique lore and how they spread fear to anchor themselves to reality but some of the biggest lore tidbits are how the afterlives operate in the Realm of Death & how souls work in the Mortal Realms via any death overloading a body with so much Death energy it becomes an instant mini-realmgate directly to that realm so the soul gets transported there.

http://www.mengelminiatures.com/2022/05/review-nighthaunt-battletome-lore.html?m=1
 

Either of the Sons of Behemat times from 2nd or 3rd edition. They have very few units so they filled out the book lore instead with all kinds of myths, mercenary legends and histories of these towering tribes.

Idoneth Deepkin.

You can’t get more interesting from a lore stand point than a race that exists completely beneath the waves across the oceans of the Realms and built societies on ocean floors. And Then you get into their tragic origins and history with the other aelves & the gods that cursed their existence.

http://www.mengelminiatures.com/2022/03/review-battletome-idoneth-deepkin.html?m=1

 

That’s my suggestions for now, hope they help! 👋 

 

*Friend’s lore tweets worth a look into the Realm of Fire and how the lore has built up over the years.

 

[Shankelton]

2 hours ago, Chikout said:

Unfortunately there aren't any dedicated lore books for AoS yet. The closest thing is the RPG books. The era of the beast book for example is 100 pages of pure lore plus about 50 pages of rules that have lore snippets throughout. These books do have info about currency, trade etc. The city guides are particularly good as they really do give a feel of what life in the realms is actually like. 

Appreciate it! On one hand its nice to not have "missed" anything. I look at some of those old Warhammer Fantasy lore books that fit when Im looking for, and I have to cringe at the price xD. But sad that we haven't seen anything like it yet. Hope that changes. Soulbound seems interesting, so long as they dont invalidate it like i've seen them do with some of those 3rd party TTRPG books.

 

Thanks @Baron Klatz for the info! I'll have to look and see what I can try to pick up. I'd always shied away from some of the supplements or battletomes. As I don't really care for the rules clutter, and just want some good, solid lore books that double as a decoration as much as a source of information for the lore. Will see what I can find!

[Greyshadow]

The closest thing in the Age of Sigmar range is the 3rd Edition Core Book. It's lore section is extensive and incredibly illustrated. After that, have you considered Black Library? I'd really recommend the two Ven Denst books as excellent for recent lore.

I'd also recommend the Broken Realms series if you can get your hands on them. Cracking story and a great introduction to the realms.

Edited December 28, 2023 by Greyshadow

[Shankelton]

9 hours ago, Greyshadow said:

The closest thing in the Age of Sigmar range is the 3rd Edition Core Book. It's lore section is extensive and incredibly illustrated. After that, have you considered Black Library? I'd really recommend the two Ven Denst books as excellent for recent lore.

I'd also recommend the Broken Realms series if you can get your hands on them. Cracking story and a great introduction to the realms.

Ive thought about the novels. But honestly I prefer my lore to come kinda like an encyclopedia, or some kind of written work where I can really get excited about a special edition/ bookshelf piece to help me get immersed into the world. I find a lot of the time warhammer novel's can kinda turn into "bolter ******" for lack of a better word xD.

I've already got the core book but I was really looking for things like Libra Chaotica. Might have to look at some of the old world stuff if I can find it not costing the equivalent of a car payment

[Greyshadow]

1 hour ago, Shankelton said:

I find a lot of the time warhammer novel's can kinda turn into "bolter ******" for lack of a better word xD.

I know what you mean. I’ve found a few Black Library books to be unreadable unfortunately. Even a few authors who have great reputations. I guess it is down to personal taste but I generally find battle scenes and anything too graphic to be boring. I also need really written prose to stay interested. There are some books I have really loved though. Hallowed Ground by Richard Strachan and City of Secrets by Nick Horth are real favourites. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love a big illustrated lore book too.

[JackOfBlades]

19 hours ago, Baron Klatz said:

Who is that female stormcast with the hammer? she looks so damn cool!

Edited December 29, 2023 by JackOfBlades

[Greyshadow]

She sure does. It's some nameless Liberator I believe, no doubt a powerful and competent soldier of Sigmar. (Perhaps the artist gave her a name?)

Edited December 29, 2023 by Greyshadow