Foray into Age of Sigmar and Fenrisian Wolves

I know this blog is primarily about the grimdark, but I was recently convinced to give Age of Sigmar a try. Made me think a lot about the state of 40K, so I figured I would share my thoughts.

I had been resisting getting into AoS for a long time, thinking that time and money was not conducive to a new system. But someone kept telling me it was really, really good. So I did some research and here is what I found:

First, the general's handbook is awesome in its simplicity. Second, so are the rules. I literally learned the rules by reading them a few times. I have my first game coming up this weekend and will report on how well I retained them. Third, the models are gorgeous and very different than 40K - since I was a bit tired of painting space marines, etc., the prospect of painting something completely different appealed to me. Fourth, I had been watching a lot of battle reports and was amazed by how tactical the game was, even with such simple rules. Finally, while the system is not perfectly balanced and there seems to be OP units, it seems to me at least to be a lot less point and click than some 40K armies.

Ok, so the game system is appealing and the models are gorgeous, but what about the costs? Well, turns out you can build a fun, good AoS army relatively cheaply. The get started boxes are an absolutely steal and you can double up or triple up on them, buy a few other models and boom, you got yourself a 2000 pts matched play army that will do well on the tabletop. Sylvaneth, Seraphon and Ironjawz in particular can cost you ~$400-$500 dollars for a good looking, competitive army. What does that dollar amount get you in 40K? Yes there are start collecting and bundle armies, but they tend to either not have a big discount on them or have units in them that are absolute garbage in game terms in the current meta (looking at you landraider). Finally, I am not even talking about the deals one can get on eBay from former fantasy players who rage quit the game after GW nixed it.

Anyway, I got sold and shelled out for a Beastclaw raiders army. My choice was based on 2 things only: 1) the models are super cool and I had an urge to paint them and 2) the cost was cheap since they are such a low model count army. The only thing I did is get Fenrisian wolves instead of the sabretusks because I hate resin and because the thought of having 10-15 models with only two basic poses was abhorrent to me.

Below are my first painted units. One Icebrow Hunter and two squads of Sabretusks (i.e., Fenrisian Wolves). Hope you like them!