I have been a player of Age of Sigmar since it was launched by games workshop and I have enjoyed it immensely.
There are two things that you think about with Age of Sigmar and that is it is a complex game and it typically takes two and a half to three hours to play. This means some people rule themselves out for one or both of those reasons. I love the game, but sometimes your pushed for time or want something a bit more light weight.
This is where i turned to the new Spearhead game. It remains a turn based wargame with more than the dice causing twists and turns. With simplifies requirements of a rulebook containing all the information you need to play the game along with a board, gaming decks and 4 pieces of terrain. Then you just need your models.
I recently played my first game of Spearhead and have to say enjoyed it. We battled in the realm of Aqshy (Fire), but you can also play in the realm of Ghyran (life), each has subtle differences in play.
The playstyle is a lot less complicated that standard Age of Sigmar and even as a learner it took just over an hour to play.
There are a lot of pros to it:-
- There is no points system to create an army to play. Pick your faction and spearhead list and your good to go.
- The gameboard is also a lot smaller so can be easily played on the kitchen table.
- The twist system brings balance into the game through a series of cards played at the start of turns which benefit the underdog player (the player who has the least points at the start of the turn)
- Reinforcements - lost a unit no problem, you can bring many of them back in the following turn in your movement phase.
- Random battle tactics cards, use them to score points or use the command ability to sure up your position or units.
- Game takes about 1 hour to play.
- Point scoring is simple, either objectives or battle tactics
The cons:-
- Range abilities are a lot easier to have an impact to a shooting list can really easily get into range and the defender will not be able to avoid it.
- not much else to report so far... will keep you posted.
There are even tournaments for this format if you feel like you want to experience competitive play.
If you do want to find your local community to arrange a game with someone we suggest a few places to go
- Google to find a local gaming club. I find they are friendly and lots of different games are played. Finding someone to play is generally easy. Here's a link to a useful website Wargaming Clubs – CONNECTING GAMERS WITH CLUBS
- Talk to your local Games Workshop. Here's the address of their store finder page warhammer.com/en-GB/store-finder
- Facebook: Searches of Facebook in the events section or just members will find events and groups. where you can find information. Here you can see a few options including a group with over 8500 members where you can find out loads more information.
There are loads of events and they can be found in lots of countries, here's a snipped from a search we just did.
Happy spearheading everyone!
If you want to get yourself a set of Fire and Jade they are available here: Warhammer Age of Sigmar Fire and Jade Gaming Sett – JustRolling6's