I’ll admit to not being the biggest Games Workshop expert out there, having mainly dabbled in their Warhammer 40k Universe. But fellow BGQ reviewer and all-around good guy George is probably the biggest Warhammer: Age of Sigmar addict I know. He’s constantly telling me how much better Sigmar is than 40k. Whatever! Scifi > Fantasy. Everyone knows that.
But, lest it be said that I don’t have an open mind, when the Warhammer: Age of Sigmar Beginners Set showed up from Games Workshop, I figured this was a good chance to try out the system and see what makes it tick.
Gameplay Overview:
This Beginner’s Set comes with a 30-page handbook, plastic ruler, 20 Clanrat miniatures, and 5 Stormcast Eternal minis. Before you can play, you first need to assemble the miniatures. But as daunting as that sounds, Games Workshop has gotten miniature assembly down to a science, and these pushfit minis were a breeze to assemble (no glue required). When it comes to gaming minis, Games Workshop is still in a tier all to themselves.
The basics of Age of Sigmar (at least in this Beginner’s Set) is that you have a team of warriors trying to control 5 objectives on them map. On your turn, you can activate each of your units. They can take a move action and a combat action.
There are 3 different types of movement and each is handled using a range ruler. A standard move is up to your unit’s listed speed, but cannot end in combat. You can also run, which adds a 6-sided die (d6) to your speed, but you can’t runif you are already in combat (and can’t run into combat). The final move is a charge, which means that instead of your combat speed, you roll 2d6 and move that far, but must end in combat.
In combat, your unit rolls a d6 equal to its attack stack (1 for Clanrats, 2 for Stormcast). Rolling a 4+ for Clanrats, 3+ for Stormcasts will be a hit. For each hit, the defender can make a save roll. A 6+ saves a Clanrat and a 3+ saves a Stormcast. Any hits not saved-against will kill the unit.
At the end of your turn, if you have the most units on an objective point, you score a victory point. After a set number of rounds, the player with the most points is the winner.
Game Experience:
Like many of Games Workshops’s products, a big chunk of the draw (other than fighting with cool-looking miniatures) comes from the story and lore of the world. In fact, about 1/3 of the handbook is all about the lore of the world and the two factions. While you can skip over these bits if you are only here for the combat, they do provide a nice bit of info on the units you’ll be playing with.
For the game itself, it’s actually a solid system (no surprises there) and works quite well as a primer for the gameplay. There are 3 battles that the game walks you through, slowly doling out more rules as you play. For example, the first battle uses only 1 Stormcast miniature and 3 Clanrats. There is no movement; it’s only here to teach you the basics of combat (as described above). You can also play this one solo to get a feel of what is happening in the game.
The next battle walks you through movement and fighting, giving you a few more units to play with. Finally, the last battle takes everything you’ve learned and tosses in a few abilities as well. I’m not sure if this is the full game (though I doubt it ), but it at least gives you a taste of the gameplay. Moving, fighting, controlling objectives, and using special abilities.
The handbook ends with a few pages on where to go from here (hint: buy more stuff), and a few bits about painting. Overall the product actually does a good job of what it sets out to do: Take a brand new player and slowly introduce them to the Age of Sigmar gameplay. I’ve played Warhammer 40k before, so I didn’t have any trouble with the rules, but viewed from the lens of a completely new player, I think they’d have an easy time learning from this book. The step-through of the battles is a fantastic way to ease yourself into the system.
The only downside is that there isn’t a concise section in the rulebook to reference things. If a rules question pops up during gameplay, you’ll need to dig the answer out of one of the teaching missions.
Final Thoughts:
Much like Costco will give you a free sample to entice you to buy that box of 400 Churros, the Age of Sigmar: Beginner’s Box is also just a sample. You get a taste of the system, the quality of the miniatures, and the lore of the world. If you want more, then it’s time to upgrade to the Starter Set. However, for a $35 price point, you get 25 high-quality miniatures that can be used in other Sigmar games and a nice introduction to the world. If you’ve never played a Warhammer game before, this is a great place to start. You can try out the waters without actually having to shell out money for a pool.
Final Score: 3.5 stars – A nice way to dip your toes into Lake Sigmar without having to shell out half of your paycheck.
Hits:
• Steps you through learning the game
• Great looking minis that are easy to assemble
• Perfect starter set for a new player
Misses:
• Not that helpful to reference rules
