- Feb 12, 2008
- 27,732
I've been reading more and more into the background of the AoS, and I've come to realise I did GW an injustice when I dismissed AoS previously because of how much they changed what I had grown up with and loved. There have been some fantastic thought put into AoS, especially the latest realise, and some things are really for the better.
That said, there are also somethings that I still don't like and I thought this would be a good way to share and also highlight to others things they might have missed.
Favourite Change
There are quite a few things I like here. The Mortal Realms I have to give a thumbs up to, now I've read more in the Core Book. Yes the old Warhammer World had time to become developed, but it was very much like other fantasy worlds and based upon ours. The Mortal Realms are much more unique and push the flights of fantasy further. It really encourages players to be able to develop their own little mini worlds and kingdoms, whilst still retaining enough structure for good storytelling.
I like how the "gods" and god-like zodiac creatures are more prevalent, showing how they are working to influence the realms
Chaos actually having already taken over the realms, and the realms having to fight back is also a strong plus for me. Too many fantasy worlds paint a big bad who can never seem to invade more than one place (like how Chaos could never seem to move past the poles in WHFB). You get a real feeling for how potent Chaos is with the amount of land they have hold of
But my most favourite change, is closer to our wonderful vampires. I love - LOVE - the changes to Strigoi xd The concept of them believing they are like Bretonnian knights, full of grandeur and fine armour etc, this derangement overpowering the minds of their Ghoul followers. It's brilliant. It not only shows why these cannibals have semblances of order, but stops them just being mindless beasts they were previously. I'm looking forward to writing some stories with them included.
Worst Change
Firstly, I'm not going to harp on about the gameplay changes here, and for one good reason; I haven't played a game of AoS yet, so it is unfair to do so. I will say that my initial impressions of not being able to use some of the previous tactics like flanking etc does make me wonder whether I'll like it as much, but we'll have to see.
So I'll stick to what I do know, and that is the fluff. I have got to say I still have reservations about Stormcast; the super-soldier good guys is very overdone and whilst I see that GW have done everything they can do make them fit fluffwise, give them more nuances in the latest edition with "losing their humanity", I feel they still stand out.
I mean, I really do understand why GW did it. Fantasy was flagging, they looked at their biggest income for WH40K and tried to replicate it. I suppose if they choice was AoS + Stormcast or scrap the fantasy element altogether, I prefer having the Stormcasts! But I much preferred the mortal armies of the Empire/Elves/Dwarfs as the main good guys
On that note, whilst I understand for IP reasons, some of the renaming has irked me, Malerion? Going to be a while before I stop just saying Elves...
Biggest thing I don't like? Not fully referencing the background of WHFB. I get things had to move on, but why does that mean that in the latest books all the extensive history built up before has to be ignored. There are references of course, take Nagash for example. It says that some believe he was once a mortal man....no, we know he was. We have his full history which was very interesting and a great read. There is no reason why some of the history couldn't cover the iconic events in WHFB (same as AoS covers details in the Age of Myth), with the Battletomes fleshing out the earlier histories of Nagash, Malerion (grr) and so on.
So that's my thoughts, what do you guys think?
That said, there are also somethings that I still don't like and I thought this would be a good way to share and also highlight to others things they might have missed.
Favourite Change
There are quite a few things I like here. The Mortal Realms I have to give a thumbs up to, now I've read more in the Core Book. Yes the old Warhammer World had time to become developed, but it was very much like other fantasy worlds and based upon ours. The Mortal Realms are much more unique and push the flights of fantasy further. It really encourages players to be able to develop their own little mini worlds and kingdoms, whilst still retaining enough structure for good storytelling.
I like how the "gods" and god-like zodiac creatures are more prevalent, showing how they are working to influence the realms
Chaos actually having already taken over the realms, and the realms having to fight back is also a strong plus for me. Too many fantasy worlds paint a big bad who can never seem to invade more than one place (like how Chaos could never seem to move past the poles in WHFB). You get a real feeling for how potent Chaos is with the amount of land they have hold of
But my most favourite change, is closer to our wonderful vampires. I love - LOVE - the changes to Strigoi xd The concept of them believing they are like Bretonnian knights, full of grandeur and fine armour etc, this derangement overpowering the minds of their Ghoul followers. It's brilliant. It not only shows why these cannibals have semblances of order, but stops them just being mindless beasts they were previously. I'm looking forward to writing some stories with them included.
Worst Change
Firstly, I'm not going to harp on about the gameplay changes here, and for one good reason; I haven't played a game of AoS yet, so it is unfair to do so. I will say that my initial impressions of not being able to use some of the previous tactics like flanking etc does make me wonder whether I'll like it as much, but we'll have to see.
So I'll stick to what I do know, and that is the fluff. I have got to say I still have reservations about Stormcast; the super-soldier good guys is very overdone and whilst I see that GW have done everything they can do make them fit fluffwise, give them more nuances in the latest edition with "losing their humanity", I feel they still stand out.
I mean, I really do understand why GW did it. Fantasy was flagging, they looked at their biggest income for WH40K and tried to replicate it. I suppose if they choice was AoS + Stormcast or scrap the fantasy element altogether, I prefer having the Stormcasts! But I much preferred the mortal armies of the Empire/Elves/Dwarfs as the main good guys
On that note, whilst I understand for IP reasons, some of the renaming has irked me, Malerion? Going to be a while before I stop just saying Elves...
Biggest thing I don't like? Not fully referencing the background of WHFB. I get things had to move on, but why does that mean that in the latest books all the extensive history built up before has to be ignored. There are references of course, take Nagash for example. It says that some believe he was once a mortal man....no, we know he was. We have his full history which was very interesting and a great read. There is no reason why some of the history couldn't cover the iconic events in WHFB (same as AoS covers details in the Age of Myth), with the Battletomes fleshing out the earlier histories of Nagash, Malerion (grr) and so on.
So that's my thoughts, what do you guys think?