RuneBrush

I believe that a UK company selling to the EU shouldn't be charging the UK 20% VAT - instead you'll get a customs tax bill for your respective country. In theory that should mean your order only increases by 1%. However the rules are very complicated and many smaller companies won't have the expertise/time to get this sorted and implemented, so you may well find yourself paying UK VAT and import duties too.

Not going to lie I came very close to locking this thread as we're going over old ground again here and feeling a bit moany. Comparing AoS to 40k, especially during a 40k new edition year is always going to show that AoS has had less releases. The 40k community were having exactly the same discussions during 2018 when 2nd edition AoS came out. It's nothing to do with being neglected at all - the fact we've had any releases during a global pandemic when manufacturing & distribution is well up the spout is remarkable!

I'm 99% sure TOW will have a brand new ruleset written from the ground up in the same way Specialist Games did on the current version of Necromunda. A few "nods" towards the old system and maintaining the same "feel", but a new system implementing new ideas. Some of that is because the excellent community here is very good at flagging those posts up to the mods to sort out 😉 I'd agree on this, but I also think that it did encourage more hobby where it was easy to kitbash some units from left overs. I've a feeling that some ideas have been moved down the line a bit. I'm pretty sure we'll see more Sisters of Silence once we actually get to the Siege of Terra.

+++ MOD HAT +++ And please can we get back to rumours...

Just been catching up with this thread am and curious about something. Do people think that we're making our own lives difficult because we're using a digital tool to create our lists rather than going old school and using a pen and paper? A huge amount of the issues I've had in the past with writing 40k lists has actually been the tool rather than the process of writing the list. I've only played 40k using power level and it's been fantastic. At a few open days in the past, I've also spoken to many of the designers and the crux of power level is that it's reliant upon you and your opponent having similar mindsets. If one of you goes in with the approach that you want to crush your opponent and the other is looking for a chilled game, one (or both) of you is going to be disappointed. Ultimately power level is all about throwing a quick army together without over thinking it and having a good game, it's deliberately loose so that players are free to do things that may not be allowed under the stricter matched play points system. It actually comes back to the most important thing about gaming - communicating with your opponent. Make sure you both know what you're after from a game. It's something my local group does pretty well and why we all make sure we've an idea what each other are bringing to begin with (for example, I make sure to let my group know if I'm bringing a full unit of 30 grimghast reapers).

I've gone for the Formoroid Crusher. Just something I really like about that model (and have one to paint up at some point too) If it's like other years it'll be somewhen between 9.30am and 10.00am (UK time). It'll be a pre-recorded video & WarCom article rather than Twitch.

You've been talking about the margins in a number of your comments as if it were the margins they make on miniatures which is why I made the comment that the margin you're talking about is the overall company profit margin - that includes everything from computer game franchises to the beer they sell in their HQ. I meant more that the references originally drawn upon weren't original in themselves. Tolkien features heavily in many fantasy works, but many of his ideas were iterations of other ideas. I'd suggest you may wish to revisit this opinion because this is an Age of Sigmar forum and that's the names they go by. There's no problems with the odd slip here or there, but a downright refusal won't be looked kindly upon 😉

@Greybeard86 probably just worth pointing out here that GW's public margins aren't anything to do with the margin/markup on models - they're the companies profit margins (which is the difference between revenue from sales exceeds business costs). The actual markup/margin GW make on a miniature kit is a pretty closely guarded secret. There was, what shall we call it - an "incident" a few years back where GW and one third-party ended up in court in the US. The details have been covered in depth in other parts of the internet, but suffice to say that neither party had what you'd call a definitive win and it resulted in a fairly sizable shift where GW now secures it's IP a lot more aggressively both in names and styles. It also highlighted the difference in IP laws between different countries. There is a whole philosophical debate on originality (which isn't specific to AoS - or in fact GW - so won't go down that road). There's been a few interviews with various former GW staff over the years. I believe it was Rick Priestly said in one that GW either had to become a "company" or stay as a small hobby business and risk vanishing into obscurity or being bought out by somebody else. GW does have a tremendous reputation within UK as a good employer too. The base wage isn't the greatest (though I've been told they're not awful for Nottingham), however there have been regular company bonuses, good holiday, sick pay, things like a subsidised canteen (at HQ), gym (also at HQ), achievement awards, evenings out and a staff discount. They also appear to have been really fair during the first UK lockdown, where all staff were paid on full wages whilst being furloughed. I hope that other companies put as much time effort and money in and produce their own alternatives that people are prepared to pay a similar price for. This is what the smaller companies need to compete with GW.

They're not though, battalions are to allow you to represent a specific piece of background lore on the tabletop and something that's specific about that background. Many competitive lists use battalions as a way of sliding in an extra artefact and command point - if you're running the models needed and there's a cheap 70 point battalion available, why wouldn't you? There are odd super battalions (Tzeentch & Khorne both have them off the top of my head) that represents an entire organisation with specific rules that does make the army better as a whole. You're also focusing the diversity point back to competitive gaming. AoS isn't purely about competitive gaming or running a super powerful list. Competitive gaming by its nature will always lean into a "best of the best" which does reduce diversity in an army. What we do have in some armies where one unit is significantly better than the rest or some (e.g. Fyreslayer & Kharadron) that have a really limited miniature range. GW do make point changes every 6 to 12 months to help the under / over represented units.

Battalions are more about representing something specific on the tabletop. If you're running the Emerald Host, it's going to fix you on running many Hexwraiths for example. Gore Pilgrims isn't going to contain any of the more elite Khorne units. If you're looking for diversity, they're certainly not the way of achieving it.

That sounds like he may have started to collect Tyranids (they're bug-like looking aliens). If you can pin down the army he's doing, my suggestion would be one of the Start Collecting boxes (this applies equally to Age of Sigmar or Warhammer 40,000). Perhaps topped up with some Black Library books. @Neverchosens suggestion of terrain also isn't a bad one. There's plenty of it about and you can always use it 😊

This feels a bit like the "more balance" discussion wrapped up with a different coat and hat if I'm honest. The competitive / semi-competitive side of many table top games nearly always comes down to "min-maxing" your army. Leaning towards one build will generally give you an edge over another build (even if it's miniscule). You'll also find a lot of articles and advice out there which points out the "best" units to take, which results in them being more prevalent in lists. Despite it getting what I'd call "prime-time" coverage online, I don't think the competitive side of AoS is the best measuring stick when it comes to diversity of armies. It accounts for a far smaller portion of games played than people think. I will also point out that the AoS Shorts article you linked has to be 18 months out of date, so doesn't reflect point alterations that have come along since then.

Not going to get too far into this conversation as it's not the forum and sounds like you've got a fairly firm opinion. What I will say is I think you're overplaying the influence the various hobby managers (senior or not) have at a business level of the company. From speaking to people the move to disband the FW AoS & 40k teams and centralise them to the main studio came from "on high".

Not sure if you read my post. All bar a couple of game systems are designed by the Specialist Games team run by Andy Hoare, it appears a deliberate move away from the old set up, which has received various amounts of bad press over the past few years (which is something we will not be discussing on here). The last year has seen the world stuck in a pandemic with many GW staff being furloughed for at least 4 months of it (many staff are still not back in the office 9 months on), so it shouldn't really be any surprise that there haven't been any big changes. It's also very rare that organisational changes ever really get published either, we find out about them through "contacts" or speaking to the staff at events - which aren't happening due to the current climate. One thing I will also point out is that the various design teams (FW, SG, AoS, 40k etc) have zero involvement in deciding what models to put onto last chance to buy - which is why we've seen rules for models being produced and within a month those models no longer being sold. TL:DR FW as an entity does have a bit of bad rep in some circles, however let's not slate them for decisions that came from the business side of GW. Unless something has changed, FW had nothing to do with Finecast. I did hear a rumour that they may have some involvement in some of the newer miniatures (for example the resin Black Library miniatures), but they don't appear to be the same Finecast as other miniatures.

You're right, but this has always been intentional because GW has never had the manufacturing facilities to handle the demand if they did promote FW models the same as the main range. Let's be honest, they on occasion struggle to keep up the demand for Heresy miniatures which is a significantly more niche game. It was an issue they were very aware of and solved it by pulling all AoS and 40k items into the main studio out of FW. I do think there was a huge amount of scope for some amazing one-off AoS models, but by not doing them they've been able to produce some stunning resin miniatures for games like Necromunda & Titanicus which actually suits the more detailed precise sculpts you get from resin. I think you're making a good point here and not on your own either.

Putting that hat aside as we've had a few posts, FW are currently in a bit of a state of flux as it stands. We've had a number of big changes occur over the past few years. First is that FW no longer write the rules for 40k or AoS, the relevant design teams are now responsible for these. This is why we've seen warscroll changes for FW miniatures being done at the same time as battletomes come out and there's a question mark over some long anticipated books like Fires of Cyraxus. FW appears to be moving more towards an overarching "brand" than a specific department. The Specialist Games team headed up by Andy Hoare is part of Forge World and have been responsible for Blood Bowl, Aeronautica, The Old World & Necromunda. Age of Darkness (i.e. the 7.5 Heresy Rules) still falls under the umbrella of Forge World along with The Hobbit SBG. Titanicus I can't quite recall - I believe it's under FW but led by Andy, but it could be Specialist Games but calling on some of the Age of Darkness team. Structure wise each game system has a team of 2 or 3 staff with it's own sculptors (though they do sometimes jump into other game systems depending on demand). So, FW no longer have any staff specifically for AoS or 40k. 40k products will have been designed for Age of Darkness and ported over by the main design team. We may get this when The Old World arrives, time will tell - I do know that the GW design teams do not know what FW is working on (and visa-versa). Going forward I foresee FW basically being production of resin miniatures with everything else being done by Specialist Games. We're unlikely to see random Chaos Dragons being created because somebody fancied designing one (unless it was done during lockdown by a sculptor who was bored). I do think popular miniatures will continue to be produced though, the Rogue Idol and Troggoth Hag are pretty popular - although if I were really plucking things out the sky I could see plastic versions being created as the future. I'd also be bold and say that I think that GW plastic kits are so good now that the demand for FW to produce alternative versions of models for AoS & 40k has largely vanished. Disclaimer: This is all information that I've found out, been told, gleaned or in cases guessed from both things online and speaking to staff at open days/events. This is now coming up a year old due to the last event being the New Year Open Day. So it's entirely possible that many things have changed - or in cases I picked up the wrong end of the stick.

+++ MOD HAT+++ Just a gentle reminder that we try not to revive old threads on TGA. Much better to simply spin up a new one because a lot can happen in a year 😊

Quite like the concept. I'd perhaps look at it that if you choose to take the priority that you grant your opponent some kind of buff rather than your opponent applying a debuff to you (they lost the roll off after all). I also think your terminology of consecutive turns would be really confusing for some people and it's often prudent to give your opponent a double turn in some circumstances (some battleplans it can be quite beneficial). Using your bits as a basis: 1. Rapid Fire : If you chose to take the first turn of a round, during your hero & shooting phase your opponent is treated as being in cover (usual rules for cover apply). 2. Unprepared : If you chose to take the first turn of a round, any unit that successfully charges that was also deployed during this turn must attack last for the duration of this turn. This supersedes any rules that may allow them to attack first. Your item 3 feels like it will heavily affect some armies and do nothing to others, plus the minimum in AoS is pretty universally 1 so feels like it's going against a core component of the game. In fairness a simple way of making the second turn beneficial would be to just grant the person taking the second turn a reroll of some kind. Perhaps even granting them a pair of "faux fate dice" that match the two dice rolled for priority (but limited in what you can use them for).

Varies completely depending upon the model, my mood and all sorts 😊 If it's a model that I wasn't happy with when I painted it or simply dislike every time I put it on the table, I'll strip it back and re-paint. If not then I'll generally pickup a new one and paint it from scratch. Army wise, I have heard where people have basically bought a new copy of the army and painted it from scratch. The original gets put into a display cabinet and is a lovely way to see how far you've come on. It's what I'm tempted to do with my Space Wolves at some point, as I know I could struggle to replicate the paint job I did at the time. If I were in your shoes, I'd be tempted to pick up some more Blood Warriors and add them to the army. You then have the choice which unit you want to play with (with the option to play with both!). For my own Khorne force, I'm currently looking at trying to add some centrepieces - I've always wanted a Slaughterbrute and a Khorne themed Mega-Gargant is tempting at some point in the next year!

Now you say that, I don't think I've ever played a 1.5k game! Once things have settled back to normality I may have to correct that 😊 Back when AoS launched (before allegiance abilities existed), I always felt that battalions helped to add a bit of factional flavour into an army. Now I think about it, something along that lines could work really well for smaller games. You pick a battalion faction (e.g. Gorechosen, Anvils of Heldenhammer, etc). It will have restrictions on the units you can take (a few "must-haves" and perhaps a couple of "cannot take"), get a set of mini-allegiance rules and reduce the maximum unit size of units across the board. Although not quite as "clean" as how Crusade works, it would allow us to keep the current format of the game and help that smaller & quicker game format without losing the flavour of an army/force.

My own opinion - no, AoS heavily veered away from being a skirmish game a few years back. Horde discounts and allegiance abilities being written for around the 2000 point mark was roughly the point where the game moved away from "large scale skirmish" into an army game, compounded by year on year point decreases. I still think that the game has the potential to fulfil both a skirmish and army role. Looking at way 40k has implemented crusade gives me a bit of hope (being designed ideally for games between 25 and 50 power - so 500 to 1000 points). But it will require a change in approach because some things just don't work well at anything other than a 2000 point game (I'm looking at you allegiance abilities and scenery pieces)

It's worth pointing out that Forge World do note all of the requests for out of production minuatures. It's how we ended up with the Rogue Idol coming back and some of the Heresy miniatures. If you wing them an e-mail saying that you know it's out of production but to chalk yourself down as interested if it comes back, that could help to see it come back for a bit. I know it's a model that quite a few people would love to see in fairness!

She was quoted as having up to 3 months wait, remember this as I was wondering if it would arrive in time for Christmas or not (leaning on the not side of things). Would agree with you that for some bits. If the current rumour of a nautical themed soulblight army is true then probably less so, but certainly if it were a Neferatian Court themed army!

I think if there are any battleforce boxes we'll see them announced before the end of November - 15th or 22nd would be my punt. There's only 3 weekends in December prior to Christmas Day so for anyone wanting them for presents, it'd be cutting it really close if nothing happened until next month. As a few people have said, I'm not fully convinced we're getting any this year - happy to be proven wrong on that one though.

+++ MOD HAT +++ Please refrain from comments such as this on TGA, hoping that somebody gets fired based on your opinion of rules isn't acceptable and won't be tolerated.