Path To Glory started out as a small supplement that came free with your copy of White Dwarf back during the days of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. It was a superb way for you to build up warbands following a fledgling Warlord of Chaos serving one of the Chaos Gods and allowed you to tell a story as they ascended to power and potential Daemonhood.

Since its days as a supplement for the Old World Path To Glory has grown into a digital download from Black Library and then became included in the first General’s Handbook for Age Of Sigmar.

However, Path To Glory has now been turned into a book of its own by Games Workshop with expanded rules for more of the races and factions present in the Mortal Realms alongside new scenarios and more for you to dive into.

What’s In The Book?

The book itself breaks down quite nicely with a first section explaining how to use the rules presented within. Essentially you can use this as a means of playing smaller games as you grow your army, maybe even using it as a bridge between Skirmish games and full on battles in Age Of Sigmar.

Next you have a great background section which charts the progress of a particular Orruk Warlord by the name of Gulgaz and his struggles to become the greatest warrior of the Mortal Realms. It’s nice seeing the growth explained in a narrative way as it encourages you to think about the rules presented in Path To Glory in a narrative way too.

You’ll then find a section showing off a whole bunch of models from the range before moving on to the meat of the book which looks at the new Battleplans which include both two player and multiplayer experiences for you to try out.

The new Battleplans seem to hit a good level of complexity without being overwhelming and allow you to play quite a few scenarios where it’s not just all about butchering your opponent forcing you to think about how best to use your growing warband.

Some favourites are in there like Trial of Champions which allows you to play with four warbands at once and Beast’s Lair which is a classic from the Mordheim days where you’re trying to be the first to bring down a hulking beast in the middle of the table.

After each of the battles, depending on the winner or loser and the objectives you accomplished you will be able to spend your Glory Points to gain new followers, new rewards and more. It's a nice and simple system that allows for growth and development of your small army.

You’ll then be treated to the selection of Warbands you can start collecting with lists covering pretty much everything you could think of. If you wanted to stay true to the original Path To Glory spirit there are rules for Slaves To Darkness (Chaos Undivided) as well as Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle and Tzeentch. Beasts Of Chaos are also thrown into the mix much like with the original and its expansion in White Dwarf.

Looking further afield you’ll also find rules for…

Skaven, Clan Pestilens, Kharadron Overlords, Stormcast Eternals, Fyreslayers, Sylvaneth, Seraphon, Ironjaws, Beastclaw Raiders, Bonesplitterz, and the Flesh-Eater Courts

Importantly you can also start to mix and match with warbands for Order, Destruction and Death which bring in a lot of the other races which haven’t been fully fleshed out at the moment.

Each of the entries comes with a comprehensive list of warband options, Champion and Follower Reward tables to give each of your growing units an individual feel which helps, as mentioned above, build the narrative.

One of the best parts of the book for me, however, is the final section which gives you details on how to start playing Path To Glory straight from the Start Collecting boxes that Games Workshop have created.

This single inclusion was very important as it means that you’re not going to find yourself rolling a warband and then realising you don’t have enough models to actually create it.

They have tried to achieve a balance for the different warbands too from the Start Collecting sets with some getting extra rewards or penalties imposed on them in order to keep things level. I think I’d still fear facing off against Fyreslayers with a Magamadroth or the Beastclaw Raiders with their Stonehorn!

Is The Book Worth Picking Up?

Personally I think so yes BUT with a caveat we’ll get to later. If you’re looking to get into Age Of Sigmar this helps as one of those entry points into the world. If you were able to pick up this book and one of the Start Collecting sets with a few friends you could get in some fun games of Age Of Sigmar and help to build up a narrative for your force.

Kharadron Overlord Path To Glory Warband

Twined with Skirmish you could then begin to tell both smaller and larger stories to weave together a narrative before you look towards buying a lot more models.

I like that they’ve covered all of the bases (as of right now) when it comes to the other factions and races out there and I’m sure we’re going to be seeing updates in the future as new factions come out.

A word of warning however. This is NOT the typical Path To Glory you might have enjoyed from your Warhammer Fantasy Battle days if you’re an old veteran. The number of models and creatures you can draw on in this game is significantly more than in its first incarnation and it now involves a lot more small units compared to individuals. It also still plays like Age Of Sigmar so rather than these being ‘warbands’ they are small armies.

If you’re looking to play something more akin to Path To Glory of old then I would suggest you instead pick up Skirmish and use that as your starting point, while still kicking things off with a Start Collecting box as your opening gambit into Age Of Sigmar.

Daughters Of Khaine Path To Glory Leader

If you’re ok with the larger scale and don’t mind painting up a lot more models then this is a good starting point and the random generation of new followers (models) helps you look towards units you might not have considered, opening up your collection to new possibilities.

There’s also no reason you have to go down the route of big units or monsters with this game but I feel you’d end up losing out to some of the other warbands if you did.

Bigger Is Better seems to be the overriding theme across a lot of the Age Of Sigmar rules and supplements so bear that in mind before diving into it as a new game of choice.

As mentioned above however this book fits in between Skirmish and full on Age Of Sigmar but helps you generate more of a narrative and story in the growth of your army. The additional skills and rules you can apply to your Followers and Champions makes this book for me and it’s meant to be used in this narrative way I feel rather than as a full on Matched Play experience which will come later down the line.

Final Thoughts

When combined with what’s coming down the line from Games Workshop AND what already exists I think Path To Glory is great for helping someone dive into the world of Age Of Sigmar and the Mortal Realms. If taken in the right spirit and played with a like-minded narrative focused and scenario driven gamers (which the book does support with its Battleplans) this could be a great experience.

Taking into account what we’ve already talked about it’s certainly a new take on the formula for a new game rather than going back to the past, but that skirmish level engagement on the tabletop is served by Skirmish and the upcoming Shadespire where you’ll find yourself looking at more of a board game experience.

If you’ve been looking to kick off games of Path To Glory with friends let us know in the comments below. It would be fun to follow the growth of your warlords and their followers in the forums too!

Drop your thoughts and comments below...