One of the major changes between the Old World and Age of Sigmar is that the new setting a) enables all kinds of models to exist and feel like they belong in the setting and b) enables virtually any battle between any group of combatants and it feels like it could happen without breaking immersion.

I really like(d) the Old World setting as a low-ish fantasy grimdark setting for a roleplaying game.   I quite liked the higher fantasy version of the world that was the setting for the more modern game of warhammer with more fantastical beasts and war machines.   But as time went on the plots became larger and larger in scale, and the models got crazier and crazier so that even though I liked many of the large models, they just didn’t feel like they belonged in the world I loved.

I’d thought for a long time they should make a spinoff game set in the Realm of Chaos that would draw upon the original ‘Path to Glory’ campaign and would enable players to have large skirmish games between forces of more elite units and larger monsters.

That wouldn’t have required destroying the Old World, although I don’t necessarily have a problem with them doing it.   I just think that the launch of the new game came around the low point in their disengagement from their fans and a self-harming disdain for customers who wanted to feel valued but didn’t.   As a result, they launched a game with almost no setting and rules that were too simple, or rather, too lacking in structure (points, set up, guidance on the suggested ‘shape’ of a game, etc).   But they’ve fixed or are in the process of fixing much of this.

So while there clearly is some continuity between AoS and Warhammer, I don’t think it’s accurate to say that they’re so similar that there was no point in making the change.