Games Workshop has been chatting about the rules design that you'll be dealing with when the new edition of Warhammer Age Of Sigmar lands. One of the big things they have been talking about is the modular nature of the new edition.

Rules Design // Warhammer Age Of Sigmar

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Whilst a lot of what they have been chatting about is wrapped up in marketing speak and hype, there is actually some good substance to what they have been discussing. At its core is the diagram above where the Core Rules for Warhammer Age Of Sigmar are now key but separate from the different "modular" Advanced Rules that can be bolted on. The idea is to try and make the game more approachable to newcomers whilst not being so divorced from the expanded experience that you're playing a different game.

What does this mean in practice? It means that when you dive into different ways of playing the game you only need certain elements of the rules. Are you playing Spearhead and just starting out? You just need the Core Rules alongside your particular Battlepack for your army and the relevant Warscrolls.

Modular Rules // Warhammer Age Of Sigmar

If you're playing Matched Play, on the other hand, you can see above which sections of the rules you need to worry about. It does mean that you will gradually get to know the rules as you play and expand your army throughout the edition.

Now, "picking and choosing" rules is nothing actually new. We do this all the time with our games. I know plenty of times where I've just said "We'll play this game without x to make it simpler to learn". So Games Workshop aren't really doing anything massively revolutionary. The main thing is that Games Workshop are baking this into their philosophy for the game from the off.

It also means that rather than wholesale errata of rules, the design team should be able to just update certain modules and slot them into upcoming supplements and/or online updates.

As I mentioned at the beginning, a lot of this is wrapped up in marketing speak and the proof will be in the pudding at the end of the day. We heard a lot of good ideas around Combat Patrol for Warhammer 40,000 10th Edition and whilst I like the game mode, it hasn't really continued to be played nine or ten months down the line. We'll have to see whether or not this modular approach and the staggered addition of "modular rules" actually make for a fun experience.

As someone who has been enjoying Warhammer Age Of Sigmar over the past few months, I am eager to try out the new edition. I will always hope for good game mechanics and considering the fun I've had with the current edition, I am currently quietly excited.

Out With The Old

It should be noted that because of this change in the rules, your old Battletomes from the previous edition are going to be null and void.

Old Battletomes // Warhammer Age Of Sigmar

These old Battletomes will be replaced with free downloadable Faction Packs which will contain all of the information you need to play your faction from the off. That means army rules, subfaction rules, enhancements, spell lores and all of your warscroll cards for the valid units in your army. This will also include warscroll cards for Spearhead and regular Warhammer Age Of Sigmar (so there will be a separation between game modes).

You will also be able to pick up physical faction packs (like they did with Warhammer 10th Edition) but beware, these are likely to be out of date pretty quickly. Only get these if you're an avid fan who knows they're going to be playing games pretty regularly from the starting gun.

I do hope that Games Workshop continues with the tradition of all unit information being free for Warhammer Age Of Sigmar with just specific army rules locked behind your Battletomes. I guess, as with everything we've discussed here, time will tell.

Are you interested in the new edition or has this done nothing to make you more intrigued?