*Edit*The Poll Should Read:*Edit*
"What Fantasy Game Will You Play Going Forward"
"What Fantasy Game Will You Play Going Forward"
So after playing Age of Sigmar Kings of War and Warhammer Fantasy Battles multiple times and examining the Warthrone rules I decided to share my thoughts about what each game has to offer and de-bunk some common misconceptions I'm hearing about each game on this forum and others. The reviews will include things such as start-up costs and barriers to new players as well as game-play observations. After reading this feel free to vote in the above poll.
Warhammer Fantasy Battles:
General Thoughts:
I don't really need to write much hear as we all know what this game has going for it and what it does not.
Misconceptions:
That since it is no longer supported by GW you can no longer play it. Actually nothing stops you from playing this game with your friends and multiple major tournaments are already saying that they will stick to 8th edition and not convert to Age of Sigmar.
Start Up Costs:
If you have an existing 8th edition army there is obviously no additional costs to continue playing this game. However, if your new and want to start this games start up costs can be daunting.
Barrier to Entry:
There is the obvious cost barrier but in addition this game has a ton of rules. Even Warhammer veterans need to look up rules when playing and this alone can be off-putting for newcomers.
Gameplay:
This game has plenty of tactical play and can be fun to play. It deals with all the aspects of wargamming right down to the gritty model to model details. However, gameplay can be slow, drawn out and games can take many hours to complete with lots of time spent counting things when resolving close combat. The game is balanced-ish. I won't delve to deep here as this forum already has plenty of good articles on this topic.
General Pros:
It is a fun tactical game that fully simulates a fantasy battle. There is lots of flavour to each army
General Cons:
Massive barrier to entry and lots of rules that slow gameplay down. As well this game is no longer supported by the company that produced it.
Kings of War:
General Thoughts:
This is an alternative for Warhammer Fantasy Battles that is still supported and will likely continue being supported for years to come. And second edition just came out so its a great time to try out KoW.
Misconceptions:
That Kings of War is just Warhammer Fantasy Battles lite. I have heard this many times in this forum and others and it is simply not true. Kings of War is an entirely different game than Warhammer Fanatasy Battles and plays although not completely different (both are regimented games) quite differently from Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
That their is very little to no differences between the armies in Kings of War. Again this is not true. Although there is not bucket-loads of special rules attached to each unit each unit has a very specific battle field role and performs differently from any other unit in the game. Each of the armies gets at east one specific rule that their entire army has (sometimes with a few exceptions) (ours is lifeleach(1) for example).
I won't be able to use my Skaven army in Kings of War. Mantic is developing rules for every single army that was in Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Additionally, Mantic games encourages 'counts as' units. If your mortis engine doesn't transfer directly just use it as something you feel it 'fits' as.
Start Up Costs:
If you have an existing 8th edition army there is obviously no additional costs to try out Kings of War as the rules are free. However, the free rules are not the complete rules so you have to spend...ten pounds if you want acsses to the full game. If you don't have an existing army getting one isn't ridiculously expensive. A decent sized army probably clocks in at just over one-hundred pounds (including the rulebook (the rulebook is included in most starter sets)).
Barrier to Entry:
Although there are some cost barriers to playing this game the barrier to entry is relatively low. The rules are quite simple (I played my first game referencing the rules only a couple times a far-cry from my first game of Warhammer Fantasy) and there are no charts to constantly reference.
Gameplay:
This game is monstrously tactical; I would go so far to say it is definitely more tactical than Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Warhammer Fanatasy is often about who has the better list, Kings of War battles are almost always decided by good tactical play. Many of the tactics in Age of Sigmar are present in Kings of War (Retreating being one such example) and movement is by far the most important phase. Kings of War is extremely fast paced and games can change in an instant. The game takes relatively little time to play as many concepts are streamlined for ease of play. I can not understate the level of tactics in this game. There is even a timed play mode for this game. Additionally, this is by far the most balanced game I have ever played and is ideal for tournaments. Furthermore, their are no instant win moves in this game (No Purple Suns) and the win is always given after a hard fought battle not after some super-nuke play destroys your opponents chances of winning.
General Pros:
Quick to play. No removing individual models and no counting attacks really speeds up gameplay. Low costs to miniatures and the rules aren't obtusely complex so anyone can start playing in a short period of time.
General Cons:
The fluff needs a bit more developing and some of the variety in the game is lacking. However the developer are committed to fixing problems. Also on your opponents turn you do nothing but put wound counters on your guys so it can be a bit boring. Turns don't take very long so this isn't a huge problem. There is no magic phase in this game and it does hurt its inter-activeness a bit. Some of the models produced by the company are a little sub-par but their not really so strict on the whole use our models thing.
Age of Sigmar:
General Thoughts:
There are no point values so this game can get really imbalanced really quick. A lot of the warscrolls have some really coll and fluffy special rules tho. Also the rules are really streamlined and good for new players.
Misconceptions:
That Age of Sigmar has absolutely no tactics. This is far from the truth. Age of Sigmar has some great tactics in it that can make the game more fun. GW really packed some layers into those four pages. I won't delve to deep into this as @najo has already done a great job. Read some of his posts for more on Age of Sigmar Tactics.
Start Up Costs:
Because you only need a couple units to start playing fun, rewarding games the costs to start up are really low. However, to get a good army going the costs can escalate quickly.
Barrier to Entry:
None. Basically. This is a huge boon to Age of Sigmar; anyone can learn four pages of rules and with the low-model count required a miniature game has probably never been so open to new players.
Gameplay:
The game, as mentioned before, is not balanced. However a quick discussion between you and your opponent before the game can really make the game a lot more balanced. I don't think this is as huge of an issue as some people make it out to be. The game moves along fairly quickly once you start playing. A lot of times it can be hard to avoid the 'blob effect' where most of the units are tied up in some large combats. However, this eventually resolves itself and the game continues. With larger games and games that have lots of summoning gameplay is significantly slowed by having to move each individual unit,
General Pros:
The low (no) barrier to entry means that anyone can get started playing games. Their is a ton of variety and flavour to each army and this game plays really well to narrative players. General Skirmish tactics are exaggerated with the 3" control zone making for some interesting tactics.
General Cons:
The game scales nicely up to a point. After that point it becomes to hard to move each and every model around. The game, as stated before, is not balanced. Additionally, the measure from the model rules are a bit wonky as well as some of the other rules. One gripe players have is the 'joke' rules but these could be taken as both a pro and a con.
Warthrone:
General Thoughts:
This game reminds me a bit of the 3rd edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles with all the different formations. It is new game and may be infringing on GW IP but I'm not a legal expert so I don't know.
Misconceptions:
That because there is no active community for this game you should not try it. Since many of the units (actually pretty much all the units) are directly transferred from Warhammer Fantasy Battles convincing a guy with a Warhammer Fanatsy Battles army to play this with you shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Start Up Costs:
Same as Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
Barrier to Entry:
Same as Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
Gameplay:
This game has a lot of similarities to Warhammer Fantasy Battles. However, a lot of the problems in 8th edition are exaggerated in Warthrone. Steadfast gives you stubborn? Heck lets give every big unit over a certain size (That size is formation dependent) unbreakable because steadfast didn't hurt the game enough. Lots of nit-picky rules that slow down g the game. Before any unit does anything lets make every player roll some dice to see if it accepts the order and make them keep track of which units have accepted orders and which units have given orders and which units don't need orders, and which units can be given what orders, and what units can support orders, and the truckloads of different orders in this game. Oh did I mention how much I think orders will slow down gameplay? Oh and did I mention that your opponent can use more orders to deny your orders or use orders on your turn? Units can now split and join back up (but units can only join up with units that they previously were joined with just in case you thought there wasn't enough to keep track of) and only do this if they have two command groups and if splitting them would keep them in a legal formation for that unit. Their are different formations in this game that have varying minor effects and just in case you thought you would have trouble keeping track of every formation there is a chart. A WHOLE CHART: of different formations and how to recognize them. That being said some of these rules are cool and fluffy I just think they would slow gameplay to a screeching halt. Other than that it plays similar to various editions of Warhammer Fantasy (With chargers attacking first(unless the chargies have been given an order to counter-charge assuming they can be given orders to counter-charge). This game (in my opinion) offers very little that Warhammer Fantasy cannot and takes away a lot of speed of gameplay.
General Pros:
A lot of fluffy choices in the rules. Although the orders are quite (in my opinion) unnecessary complicated they are very fluffy. It is basically a supported version of Warhamer Fantasy.
General Cons:
Too many rules that do very little to enhance gameplay and do a lot to slow it down. A lot of copying from GW (may be infringing on IP I do not know). This game needs a lot more streamlining.
Warhammer Fantasy Battles (Other Edition):
General Thoughts:
May be hard to get other people to play this with you but a great Idea if you have a dedicated gaming group to play your favorite edition of Warhammer Fantasy. Also it may be hard to get new players to join as they need to track down the rulebook. Not much a problem for a version such as 7th but try finding a second edition rulebook in good condition.
Misconceptions:
none that I can think of.
Start Up Costs:
Most players interested will probably have an existing army.
Barrier to Entry:
Huge. If you go this route probably don't expect a bunch of new players.
Gameplay:
This game has plenty of tactical play and can be fun to play. It deals with all the aspects of wargamming right down to the gritty model to model details. However, gameplay can be slow, drawn out and games can take many hours to complete with lots of time spent counting things when resolving close combat. The game is balanced-ish. Can't go to deep as it depends on the edition.
General Pros:
It is a fun tactical game that fully simulates a fantasy battle. There is lots of flavour to each army
General Cons:
Massive barrier to entry. As well this game is no longer supported by the company that produced it and may be hard to get copies of the rulebook.
Warhammer Fantasy Battles (Fan Created Edition):
General Thoughts:
This is a cool idea and many people with experience writing rules are attempting to do this (Swedish comp writers come to mind).. May be hard to get other players to view it as 'legitimate' tho.
Misconceptions:
Will become the 'Warhammer Ninth'. This game will never be supported and will never be official may be played in a couple gaming groups but don't expect for a tournament scene to develop. Probably won't be the next pathfinder...although you never know for sure.
Start Up Costs:
Relativity unknown. Depends on the rules. Will have some costs tho to players without existing armies.
Barrier to Entry:
Probably pretty big. Hard to get new players to jump on board to a new unofficial, unsupported game.
Gameplay:
Probably a lot like 8th but its hard to say.
General Pros:
There will be lots of versions coming out (probably) so you can take your pick. Will probably fix some of the common gripes about Warhammer Fantasy 8th edition.
General Cons:
Unsupported and unofficial. It will be hard to get opponents to play with and new players playing this edition.
Final Thoughts:
Make sure to put your vote in the poll. It is set so you can put more than one result if you will play more than one game. Feel free to post what you voted and any other thoughts on this thread or how you will move forward with your wargaming experience. I would love to hear peoples opinions on my evaluations on this game. Personally, I think I will be playing KoW with some smatterings of Fantasy 8th games. Happy wargaming.
Haven't tried this game or looked at the rules but felt I should throw it in because of expressed interest by a couple of people.
I'll add it into the poll; want the other section to have as few votes as possible so we actually know what people are voting for.
Whew that was a long post.
erv:*Edit*
This post is about where your fantasy army is going next. I love Sci-Fi and a good 40k game as much as anyone but that is not what this post was meant to be about. That was my mistake as I did not put that anywhere
before this edit :slapface:. Please re-vote appropriatley (No 40k in other). Thanks and lets see where everyones Fanatsy minitures are doing battle now. 
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