Age of Sigmar thoughts 

"And that's why I get pepper sprayed a lot" ... LOL!!!!

Played AoS thinking "WTF I'll try this turd out" and you know what? I liked it. It's a stupid level of fun.

Awesome talk as well, your positive and fun attitude is great. Looking forward to more discussion on the upcoming AoS!!

I'm hyped. Bring on the new Age. Leaving the haters behind.

I see it in a similar manner to Magic The Gathering. The initial rules for MTG are simple (a single page if I remember correctly... been a while, I just shuffle my cards and have fun now)... But the complexity came from the cards. In this case, there's 4 simple pages of rules and then the real element... the warscrolls! Yes we have our starter scrolls to grasp the rules, but as each warscroll is added it adds more tactical choice. There's certain alliances Death, Destruction, Order, and Chaos... In magic you have plains, swamps, mountains, Forests, and Islands... each had a complex collection of cards and because of this, the game becomes a VAST array of different collections. Some go for a theme some are power-gamers but the set limits allow you to figure your deck to your tastes... I think that's the only piece missing. Not comp per-say just something so everyone feels like they are on the same page be them casual, competitive, or even "beer and pretzels" Someone released a competitive system for AoS and it does look cool and in the true spirit of AoS it's only 4 pages (coincidence maybe but works well). Here's the link... drive.google.com/file/d/0B3iUmocmCYCUWFRzcWdQTGcxS0U/view?pli=1 it seems fairly balanced, but I actually LIKE the initiative. It means tactics can't be as predictable as before. In my group we came up with a comping system too for competitive play. But this guy/girl has come up with something that genuinely looks like it could help balance games and still give freedom to field all the cool models you want. Best of both worlds! 

I'm someone who wanted to play Games Workshop stuff as a kid but came from a family that couldn't afford it. I'm now 29 and can afford it for myself, but thought it all seemed too daunting and didn't know where to start. A few days ago I went into my local games workshop to ask some questions, and was told about Age of Sigmar and the way the rules have been reduced to 4 pages plus warscrolls and the guy in the shop was able to explain it all to me with relative ease. I'm really, really excited. I bought two full starter sets and will get more when I learn more about what I like and what kind of army I want to build. I understand that a lot of longtime players are very upset at this perceived simplification of the game, but from my perspective it's exactly what I needed to be able to get into it as an adult who really knows nothing about the game.

GW made only 14% of their money from fantasy. I'm not surprised they scrapped it. If it was that good then more people would've played it.

Level-headed comments from a positive-minded member of the wargaming community. Soul sucking is spot on with the comments in forums, RU-vid, Facebook and face-to-face. I have only played one game and I am so keen to play more. Thank you for bringing something positive forward and some great theories. I am always keen for new models and I am already re-basing my Orcs and Goblins, Brettonians and Wood Elves for this fantastic game. Thank you Shawn, you have no idea how much I, and other members of the community, enjoy your thoughts and battle reports. Keep it up!

There is no heart or soul to this AoS. It is most definitely a beer and pretzels game.

Lol that's why I get peppered sprayed a lot. You're a riot Shawn. Lol

Played a few AOS games it's not for me found it pretty boring so I'll be moving to some other games. The real question is will AOS flop or not, it's pretty much certain that a large chunk of the fantasy players base isn't going to move to this new system so it begs the question does AOS have enough substance to hook enough new players to replace those lost. To be frank I think GW are in for a rough ride because unlike the 80/90's there's lots of competition and with the net there's easier access to other game systems, and ATM I fail to see what makes this system stand out hell even the fluff one of the things that GW does really well is god awful for AOS.

No thoughts about the elephant in the room? The complete lack of even an attempt to put balance into the game? Like when DnD got completely turned upside down they did it in a way that the game became a lot more balanced. While on Age of Sigmar it seems like they thought "People are complaining that our game is not very well balanced." - "Fine, then let's stop trying altogether."

Shawn, I must say that your optimism and positivity is such a rare thing on RU-vid. It is great! It makes me happy. I like happy. Keep it up! Change is good when you get into the right frame of mind and welcome it. Nostalgia is fine. I love nostalgia. I have a collection of old Judges Guild D&D products. However, new is good, too. Anachronism is great, too. Dig up the old and play it new. Gather new stuff and place it in the old world. Live it. “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

they should have revamped mordheim and made it better

SHAWN LISTENED TO ME AND I FEEL LIKE HE MENTIONED ME IN THE VIDEO AND I'M SOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY xD DEMONFIRE OF HAPPINESS RIGHT BACK AT YOU!!! :D

Omg, when did Shaun have the big d?

The age of strategy, tactics and fun war gaming is now over. We are now in dark age, an age were 8 year old brats paint miniatures with their fingers, an age with merciless price hikes with fewer figures, behold, we are in the Age of Smegmar!!!!

I love this guy.

Forever the GW Shills.......nice try but no thanks

Shawn your awesome don't ever stop being you or the world will be a dimmer place!

I love your optimism I love the game and the ease of play with kids and friends--simple enough to learn for new blood and still LOTS of strategy--more than meets the eye

I LOVE AoS! I have been into WFB for a long time but it was always a chore to play, you really did have to relearn the rules every time you play. Now, I have played more warhammer fantasy with the AoS rules in the past two weeks then I have in the past 5 years. In our first game we tried to break it, I had almost 50 percent more models than my opponent and he got the sudden death victory condition. We both throw down ever miniature from our army and the game lasted five turns and took about 3 hours (I had 127 miniatures and he had around 50). This was our first game of AoS and it felt balanced and intense and epic. We played two smaller games before trying or hand at a team game with about 250-300 miniatures on the table (we never bothered to count every single goblin!). We didn't worry about points, wounds, or anything, just put down our models and played. We played another scenario in which the player with the most models within 6 inches of the centrer of the board would win. It was dwarvs and empire vs orcs/goblins and ogres. It was another epic game with a surprising amount of tactics and thinking required. The empire and dwarf cannons were going a great job until a giant got to them and smashed them. My dwarv dragon slayer managed to take out a giant spider monster (though, it had been hurt by sniper fire with a hockland long rifle and grudge thrower). In fact, the dwarf was killed but got a "glorius deat" and was able to kill the spider as he died. In the end, the goblins won by releasing fanatics into the center at the end of the game, taking out most of our troops. He wont by a mere 8 models. So, yes, games are balenced enough and lots of fun. I am going to start up an empire tile campaign in the next few weeks. The rules will be that each player has to select a warscroll battaliion, and can only take extra warscrolls if they spend gold on them. Players can still end up having more models, but then the other player gets sudden death victory condition. It should be a lot of fun!

you can skip to 18:00 ...at least

I played some matches all this week, and I really liked it, even so, the more I play, I find it more interesting, it's too fun!

Wow this sure got a lot of views.

Re-naming the races won't stop people from making knock offs. At all. But I guess they have to try.

Dude thank you, finally someone I agree with on youtube about the system as a whole. AoS is a blessing.

Simple can be better, but you never go full simple, Shawn. Never go full simple.

age of sigmar = end of the age of warhammer fantasy

I think your right about someone else making a rank and file battle like how Warhammer was. Historical war gaming already has that. If warlord games made a fantasy game now based on the same rules as their historical games, they would be massive. Especially as Rick Priestley the guy who invented 40K works there and writes the rules for their games. I hope they do it.

I did some cool thing. Until forge world is done with chaos dwarfs, I did a custom with the stuff we got. Goblins, ogre slave, Dreadquake mortar as a trebuchet, and dwarf rules and whalla. I had a gunline of Fireglaves and magma cannon ;D

had to stop watching this after 4 minutes and nothing about AoS at all.

Wizards took over between 2nd and 3rd.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I was stupid enough once to inwest in to wh once, but im not gonna invest second time in to those fuckers, to stop supporting game i invested in to after two years.

I can imagine you doing Ride of the valkyries in your opera mode while ogling collections of Elven miniatures lol.

While I agree people are quick to complain about new rules or games they haven't played yet. But there is already batreps of Age of Sigmar on RU-vid. From what I've seen it's a big let down.

Really nice Confrontation(skirmish game) figures. Rackham made beatiful figures. Have a bunch of them. The metal ones can still be found on ebay but stay clear of the PPP they tried to save the company with.

Kings of War by Mantic Games. Join us in the revolution. You will love it and it fits you bubbly style :-)

Dude, i respect you as a gamer and businessman but this game is an abomination and an absolute unsult to our intelligence. It shits on everything Rick Priestly dared to dream of. RIP WHFB you will live on in my garage

My only question is - where does the depth come from? The reason I love Warmachine over 40k and other systems, is the immense amount of depth just a handful of units provides you on the table. a 30 pt game can tie you over for 1-2 hours, and there's less than 30 models on the board.

"High" Elves :D awesome haha

Is there a part two to this? It just chops off mid stream when you were talking about stores having to stock Fantasy.

"I relate to them." So did your debauchery create a chaos god as well?

Your previous Age of Sigmar video is cluster flubbed up. Wish comments were enabled. Wish it wasn't chopped up. Uhh.. ok.

I really had hope that this Age of Sigmar was just a standalone game that was a new way to get ppl in to the hobby where you could get new people into the hobby and direct them. Like if enjoyed that in age of sigmar you would rather 40k or fantasy

exactly what I thought when I first heard about it.

This comment will probably get downvoted to hell. That being said; here is my take on it: I am completely new to the hobby and I picked up AOS a couple of days ago -because- it flipped the script... I'm new to the hobby and didn't want to start out reading a 300 page book of rules to see if I liked it. Also, it's new for everyone so I'm not the complete newbie in the room. I have a fighting chance without 10+ years of experience. I believe GW had gamers like me in mind with AOS, a fun simple to explain game with loads of tactical depth if you want it (yes tactical movement decisions instead of knowing your codex by heart). This game is very attractive as a first wargame. And GW had to do something with the declining number of fantasy warhammer players. They rebooted a francise that had become nearly impossible to attract new fans because of the effort it asked for a beginner.

I think your D&D - Pathfinder comparison is quite good, especially if you think of Age of Sigmar to the earliest stages of Pathfinder (though I'm not familiar with the actual evolution of the rules there). I expect it to evolve over time, based of the core rules they released, to include things like rank an file, points, objectives and whatever people are missing from it right now once again, all in optional supplements (that will hopefully be for free too). I have to disagree on the model range, I actually expect them to keep a huge part of it, especially the newer ones. If you look at the fluff in the last editions army books, you'll notice that they started to set up the End Times campaign as far back as the last Vampire Counts book. I think they at least had a vague idea of where they'd want to go with that, so I doubt that they'd create all these new models if they don't want to use them after the reboot/continuation. I expect them to create counterparts to most of the old armies in the new fluff, though I doubt they will create new models for the more generic human armies and units that already exist. Skaven are sort of confirmed to be the same as before, I think, and with Nagash being chief of the undead, I expect them to stick around, probably also in their two existing forms as Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings, though with different names. If they wan this to be a succes, they will have to listen to their customers feedback, and I expect this to include catering to 'legacy players' who want to continue playing with their armies and to expand them. This will probably also include catering to people who play vodeo games like the upcoming Total War Warhammer, which is set in the old world. These potential players won't understand why the setting that got them interested should be gone for good. This leads me to believe that GW will simultaniously expand on the new fluff, but also keep the old fluff alive, at least by acknowledging it and weaving as many new things they release into it as they can. New models for 40k have always existed in the setting, they just weren't mentioned in the fluff up to the point where the designers added them (that's how I accept what many seem to see as rewriting the fluff with each new book), so why shoulden't it work for Fantasy (except Sigmarites anyway)? The Lizardmen in the old world always had the shiny new stuff they added for the Seraphon, the elven armies likely always had these new units they just added to the range that are clearly 'not' hight elves, dark elves or wood elves. While current statements contradict this (as far as I know, not everything on the internet is true and if enough people rage about something, the statements that would go afainst the source of the rage are often lost) and GW might actually believe they can let go og the old fluff, I expect tham to adopt a course along these lines sonner than later (sort of ties back to the D&D - Pathfinder comparison).

shawn but u forgot 1 big thing: points. there is no limitation of anything in AoS. you can put on the table whatever you want. and please dont tell me you like the idea of foodsoldiers hitting on 3 and wounding on maybe 4 or 5 to kill a mighty dragon or whatever? to hit and wound on a stiff number is wrong. ah yes, and what about just putting up 4 nagash scrolls? autowin...easy.

I'll spare you the diatribes lol. I'm very sad that a great part of my youth is over. But there's a lot of great games out there and a lot of places to spend our gaming dollar. May your dice always be sixes...

Classic shaun one liners lol...I can do a wicked shaun impression :)

I agree with Shaun here, I think GW had to make a change and AoS perfectly fits their business model and preferred player base. It will be a living, collectable game more suited to young gamers who will buy into the 'GW Hobby'. All the old Warhammer players just didn't buy enough to make the game viable. I've been playing since 3rd edition (Shaun I imagine started with 4th given his description) and only played a handful of 8th and none since then. Kings of War is a great game and my new mass battle game of choice. And there are many fantasy skirmish games I will go to before AoS. That said I do think it will be a success for GW, particularly when all the new faction stuff rolls out.

My opinion is mixed on Age of Sigmar. In my opinion Warhammer Fantasy needed a change of course as it wasn't popular and needed re-invigorating, however I do believe that Age of Sigmar was a step too far. I love the new models and the fact that all the factions got an update, so are on a level playing field, I like most of the new rules and how simplistic they are without losing most of the strategy. My main problem with Age of Sigmar is lack of a balancing system, without a points system or limitation to what models you can bring, it is very hard to get a balanced game, and the whole sudden death mechanic just worsens it in my opinion, armies that swarm the field such as Skaven are at a massive disadvantage, as they will have to compensate for their mediocre troops by relying on numbers, meaning that the sudden death scenario is activated and the opponent can just choose assassinate, kill your mediocre general and instantly win the game. Also the removal of the points system kinda makes Age of Sigmar "pay to win" which is rather sad I also think that it is obviously aimed at more casual players and not the competitive scene, partly due to the balance issues and partly because of the cheesy rules where you have to measure how impressive your beard is whenever you attack with your dwarf (sorry Duradin) thane attacks and shout every time your orc (sorry Orruk) unit charges (but don't get me wrong, this sounds hilarious but I just think it'll get boring and annoying after a while and is too silly) tl;dr: I think that fantasy needed to change but AoS was a step too far and is unbalanced

I have been actively trying to get into some game, either 40k or fantasy and my biggest argument is the large time dedication and having to remember all those rules to just play the game. I feel like this might finally be the time when I can pick up the game and actually play it.

i love age of sigmar, never liked fantasy because i was already playing 40k, now i can play both and have 2 different games. i like the freedom in Aos

Age of 4+. Not for me.

I'd be interested to see you guys try a game of Kings of War 2nd ed. Just grab some of those pretty WHFB armies and have at it. Most people seem to pick it up in 20 mins.

I love this game it got my group back into fantasy and i see kids playing this now it used to be just old elite grumpy grognards like me that played square bases lol i just wish everyone wuld stop relying on the internet for opinion and actually play

I am open minded about Age of Sigmar. I think that the change from the previous edition may not have been 100 percent necessary and yet I can see what they are thinking. While its really sad to see the old models go I am curious to see the future. This may also be a giant experiment for them. If they continue along the lines of free rules and free warscrolls then they will definitely have a great game base. I think the current growing pains that AOS is currently experiencing is because they are just a starting a reboot. The final version may just be a great beginners game with great rules and an interesting flow. I wonder if it will be a tournament game or just a friendly game. I would have liked to see a splintered game and having AOS and then Fantasy also being available. I loved fantasy I just wasn't a fan of the way it went such that you needed $500-1000 to be competitive.

I do hope that someone will take over the legacy of Warhammer Fantasy. GW can decide whatever they like but also people can do whatever they like with the miniatures they have! Warhammer Fantasy cannot be simply erased from the memory of so many people, it's idiotic even thinking about such a thing!

I want to remind you of the analogy you kept tip-toeing around when you compared WFB and DandD, namely 4th flopped. Some group like Kings of War will probably be the Paizo of fantasy wargaming and GW (just like wizards) will probably abandon AoS in 4 or so years. GW will then be trying to get back the market they used to own.

well im planing on playing WH40k, im in the process of painting my tyranid army right now so AOS and its simplicity doesn't effect my universe.....right?

HAHAHAH omg the high elves... new army >_> coming up

Came here for Age of Sigmar, saw a elderly man talking about his lifetime story. This is just uninteresting as hell, sorry.

As Paizo is to Wizards, Mantic is to GW I believe. This even goes right down to all the old GW hands by and large now having left GW. Even RP writing the foreword in the Kings of War book is a mirror of the foreword in the Pathfinder core book. I do not believe GW will survive long term in their current form and with their current financial trajectory. My bet is they get bought out at some point, probably by Hasbro.

Trevor, from Monster Hobbies in High River, Alberta here. I agree with what you're saying. Do you have a part #2 to this video? You lost your thought at the end of the 23 minutes.

If you came here to listen to a review of AoS skip the first ten minutes. Ok nevermind, dont watch any of it. He gives a handful of bullets that you have heard 50 times already. This guy can paint some models, but he really needs to attend a presentation workshop. Hope the channel owner isnt offended, its constructive and VALUABLE advice. You will understand after you attend a presentation workshop, and you will thank me.

Where's the rest of the vid...? Your view point was refreshing, I don't actually play warhammer (at least for some time). For some reason I can't help but look into age stuff...I think I'm a masochist...

moar Paiden, his voice rulz! , also excited for Sigmar, do a batrep ! quick one 5 Scrolls ! ps. snowbird rules! great resort!

Change you can believe in . ........................ " The Son is not always better than the Father"

i love your channel and age of sigmar

I have always had an interest in all things Warhammer (both Fantasy and 40K) except for the actual wargames, the hobbie aspect is not for me at all. So it is kinda interesting to see this change as an outsider. As Shawn says GW needed to do something with Warhammer Fantasy. I remember back in the early 2000s where Fantasy was the main Warhammer people played here in Denmark. But as time went by you started to see it less and less at conventions and most of the guys I know who played all switched to 40K. For me this is all about what ancillary products we are gonna see for AoS, boardgames, videogames and books. I am really hoping Fantasy Flight will make a new Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying game, hopefully based on the Edge of the Empire system and not whatever the hell that cardboard monstrosity they called third edition was.

WHOA!!! When did you get divorced?? I thought everything was cool on the homefront.

age of sigmar is crap and no one will buy it ,,,,well at least people in the know wont by it,,theres one of the rules that says that if i gallop around the table and act like im riding my horse i get a bonus and if i talk to my horse i get another bonus ,,,and theres one rule that if i raise mt gobblet and say for my lady and drink i get a bonus wtf,,,,,,,games work shop have lost their minds

I was very surprised to learn that this man is heterosexual.

sorry but i wont touch AoS

also, of course he likes the game,, if it doesnt sell he is going to lose business.

So after the big D are you living downstairs and that's why we never see it anymore?

Considering the similarities with a 3.5 going on to 4th edition for Warhammer age of Sigmar vs 8th, Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition or D&D Next as it's also called parallels the idea of the new Warhammer age of Sigmar living rulebook, wizards have each of the new modules for free available to download for free same thing with all the war scrolls and the rule books for the Warhammer of Sigmar

There are decaffeinated brands out there that taste just as good as the real thing;)

The old armies just aren't meant for the new system. Yet they needed to be playable or there would be outrage. I bet the AoS two player set plays a lot better then trying to play using the old armies. I haven't played AoS either way but I'm just trying to stay optimistic. So I'm curious to see a bat rep featuring the forces in the two player box. Two armies made specifically for AoS.

the video got cut off where is the second part ????

This makes me very sad, even though I haven’t played in a couple of years due to moving I still very much love it. I never really dug the skirmish type games and I always had a huge soft spot for the style and minis of WHF. Seeing as most of it just comes down to personal preference, there’s really no point in discussing it. However, the whole “Simple can be better” is something I’d be inclined to disagree on. Simple might make it more accessible, but it’s quite likely to make it less complex and interesting in the long run.

shawn- you are epic

Really not impressed by AoS. My friends and I debating going back to 7th or even 6th as they were clearing better systems. We didn't like 8th edition with the obvious 'cash cow' horde unit rule and magic was ridiculous!

Start from 11 mins. The rest is just waffle.

there is Warpath, too :)

When did you get divorced? It may have been a little while since I last stopped by the channel but I remember seeing your wife in videos not too long ago. Hope you're doing ok anyway.

Our global society seems to be dumbing down in all arenas - print, movies and now games. AoS is simple, way too simple for me. But people seem to be embracing the easy, less intellectual avenues nowadays. Good on them, bad for me.

age of sigma to me, feels like gw are trying to make it like warmachine, you have your warscrolls like wm stat cards, models are very skirmish like, you have a mix of range, close combat and magic units if their own effects, not to over powered. it just feels lazy.

I think simple is usually better.

1997 - 3ed. of wh40k was about to star and whfb 5ed has just started

Love AoS! New stuf yey

Shawn you do know that the last WFB edition is/was 8.

9 minutes in... are you gonna give your thoughts on Age of Sigmar any time soon?

NO disrespect but the guy is shit at the game, and clearly not get that why we have playd warhammer: becouse it was a non childish game , the game was a serious one that required effort for win, rules, army coposition, combinations, etc Age of Shitmar is a game for 12 years old that is impossible to bring on a competitive level, one fact i liked about warhammer was that i was able to bring my army on the other side of the planet and find ppl that used my same rules.

your video cut off before the end.

glory to the great horned rat

Is there meant to be a part 2?