I heard about AoA on Warseer and thought that I’d give it a try. I ordered it direct from Thane’s Games for $20 US and shipping. I figured that for the price of a few figures it would be worth a try. Thane is a great guy to deal with and I received my book quickly. On opening the book the first thing I noticed was that it wasn’t nearly as fancy looking as I was used to with GW. The book has simple black and white diagrams to explain things. No glossy photos of brightly painted models. I quickly realized that this was a book about the system and not the models. Thane has a line of 15mm models for the game but his system allows for the use of any 28mm or 15mm models. There’s no difference in the mechanics or measurements between the scales. There is also only the briefest of history and fluff included as Thane wanted to allow the players to use any fluff that they desired.
I personally really like the openness of the game in that any models may be used and any fluff. I have many models that have become obsolete with the passing of time. Now they can march of to battle again. For those that prefer more official armies there are 15 included in the rulebook and another 15 available for download on the website. For fluff purposes you can use any existing fluff from any game/world. At the present time some of us are working on AoA specific history and fluff that may become “official” in the future.
The heart of the system is Thane’s creature creation formula. This formula is applied equally across the board on all figures and armies used. Due to the inclusion of various “special rules” for movement and weapons there is a huge range of diversity possible. Creatures can be given the ability to cross a variety of terrain at full speed or even fly. Weapons can also be bought with a variety of abilities such as first strike, multiple ranks, ranged and increased strength. The stat line is simple and all rolls are made at or under the listed skill level. Levels vary from 1-6 as d6 are used exclusively.
Army designing is relatively simple. The major construction parameter is a 60/40 division between normal troops and everything else. Normal troops are anything under 50 points. You can buy more troops than 60% but have a maximum of 40% the total army cost for artillery, characters and monsters. There are no unit upgrades that can be purchased for extra points. You use the points listed for that troop type or make a new creature/unit with the CCF that has the equipment you want. There is a variety of race specific artillery and monsters but also large lists of generic ones available to all armies.
In the rulebook there is only one battle scenario which is objective based. Objectives may include taking/holding ground or killing certain opposing unit/characters/monsters. Usually both sides have multiple objectives. There are also more scenarios available on the website and forum.
AoA is turn based and each turn is split into phases (movement, shooting, magic, combat, morale). Both players complete a phase before moving onto the next phase, which is an aspect I really like. This means that both players are constantly doing something and there is little time spent waiting for the other player to complete his entire turn before being able to respond.
Movement is handled well and one unique aspect of the game is that all units can adopt either skirmish or rank and file. They may switch between these two formations during the game and both have advantages and disadvantages. Skirmish formation allows for much better manoeuvrability and allows units to move through difficult terrain more easily. Rank and file formation is less manoeuvrable but grants the units greater bonuses in morale/courage and the mellee rules generally favour large rank and file formations when rank and file units are engaged with skirmishing units. That isn't always the case, however, as some units really excel while fighting in skirmish formation. However, without going into the details ... I've found this to be a really interesting aspect of the rules as whether to adopt skirmish or rank and file formation is a very tactical decision.
Shooting is powerful in this game and missile weapons closely match the effectiveness of their real-world counterparts. However, there are many tactics available to counter missile heavy forces so I haven not seen missile-heavy armies dominate in my games so far.
Magic is done very well. Most spells are support spells in nature and do things like making troops better, weakening enemy troops, creating terrain, summoning units, taking control of enemy troops temporarily and so forth. Magic is an expensive ability as wizards cost a lot so using them to just throw damage spells isn't a very wise idea. However, having a wizard summon a lake or forest in the right place or confuse an enemy unit at just the right moment can pay off in spades. Wizards can also use magic to turn very poor quality troops into much better warriors though the use of spells by granting them magical weapons, the ability to breath fire, extra limbs and so forth. Magic is also a very tactical aspect of the game.
Melee between units is resolved very quickly and is often quite brutal. Players resolve damage by rolling dice for each model's attacks and this usually results in a lot of casualties in a single phase, depending on which types of units are involved. There are no opposing skill charts for attacks. For example a unit with a skill of 2 hits on a 1-2 no matter what the opponents skill level. There is no extra toughness versus strength roll. Just an armour save which includes the inherent toughness of the creature. The armour save may be modified by strength of the attack or if the armour or weapon is magical. There is no initiative stat and all attacks and damage are resolved at the same time unless the specific weapons involved change that. For example spears allow you to hit the enemy before they retaliate and 2 hand weapons are slower to attack with.
The final phase is morale where players must test to see if units that have suffered casualties or were outmanoeuvred significantly lose their nerve and break. One thing I like is that units don't run away generally unless they have taken a significant beating and suffered heavy casualties. You don't get a situation where a big unit of infantry flee because a nearby unit was destroyed or ran away. To make an enemy battleline collapse, you really have to focus a lot of damage their way. Skirmish units break much more easily than rank and file units.
I’ve spent some time creating/modifying the official AoA lists to match more closely my existing collection of models. It wasn’t that difficult with the CCF. I’ve also made up a couple of new and modified scenarios for use in my mighty empires based campaign system. I’m working on finishing collecting and painting my existing GW armies and then I’m off into historical minis for my next armies. I’ve got dreams of a Roman army taking on my elves and goblins. Where else can you find that?
Overall I’ve found it a fast paced game that’s fun and interesting. I’m still in the learning stage and occasionally have trouble converting my thinking from WArhammer to AoA tactics. There are so many tactical options available. The game flows logically and seems to have few unclear areas in the rules. Thane is active on the AoA forum and gladly helps with misunderstandings and suggestions of game play.
The weakest area in the rules is vehicles. While the rules included in the book are workable they can be complex. Thane is working on a new system and has passed along his notes on that to the group at large. They seem to be streamlined and sensible. Siege rules is another grey area. They aren’t in the main book but available on the website. For game balance the defender buys the castle out of his army points and pays for the strengths of various sections. But the rules are very basic and don’t include points or stats for any of the various siege specific engines(towers, rams and such).
Review Summary