Welcome, Age of Sigmar generals.

The goal of this blog is to write short essays dealing with specific concepts and strategic problems within the Age of Sigmar game, like “Casting spells against the Blades of Khorne,” “Anticipating Sylvaneth Teleportation,” or “Measuring and Movement.” My target audience is for new and intermediate Age of Sigmar players who are interested in becoming stronger competitive players by better understanding how to tackle specific problems presented by different possible opponents. But the main reason I’m writing this blog is just for myself. I think best when I am writing, so this blog gives me a medium to analyze various strategic problems I’ve encountered in my games of Age of Sigmar. Furthermore, I find this hobby and community very fun and engaging, and I thought this blog would be a great way to engage more in a way that fits my approach to things in general: plodding, reflective, and without frills.

(For newcomers to Age of Sigmar, check out “A Beginner’s Guide to Age of Sigmar” by The Honest Wargamer.)

It may seem odd to focus on very specific problems in AoS. Each match-up brings with it it’s own problems, so learning about one specific problem may have limited utility in the great majority of games. But there are already a great many resources out there that focus on general principles by some of the game’s best players, like the “Miscast” podcast, Jeremy Veysseire’s “Barak-Dur” Youtube videos, or faction focuses pieces from Woehammer or AoS Coach. I don’t think I can add anything to that discussion, at least not anytime soon. But also, I believe that we learn general things through the analysis of very specific problems that we don’t always see when focusing on more general concepts. We learn general things about history by examining specific historical events, and by slowly moving from particular observations to general ones.  We often uncover general truths about natural laws by beginning our examination with a hyper-focus on a small puzzle. I wish to do the same with Age of Sigmar. I find this to be an enjoyable aspect of thinking about the game.

Who am I?

I’m a middle-aged community college philosophy professor, living and working in Chicago. I played Warhammer when I was younger, took a twenty year break, and returned to it in 2019. In all that time, I enjoyed playing board and video games, but never competitively. After a lifetime of avoiding competitive play, a friend suggested that a group of us attend a tournament. She had played in many 40k tournaments before and it sounded like it might be a fun experience. In October 2021, I attended my first tournament at the Michigan GT in Lansing. I had a great time, managed to go 4-1 with my Disciples of Tzeentch army, and I was immediately hooked to tournament play. Since then, I have attended about twenty grand tournaments, and maintained a two-year 3-2 streak. Last summer, I finally broke that streak…with a couple of 2-3 finishes last summer. I switched gears, switched armies, and finished 3rd edition with some 4-1 and a 6-2 using Kharadron Overlords. In 4th edition, I’ve attended on GT with the Disciples of Tzeentch, finishing 5-3. All that is to say, I’m an average but avid gamer.

Playing AoS competitively is the first time I’ve done anything competitively, and I have been fascinated by the mindset, goals, and social experience. This approach may seem strange- lots of people get introduced to the competitive mindset when they are young, and perhaps I would have benefitted if I had as well. On the other hand, I find it fun to look at the competition mindset through new eyes at 45.  

Although the Disciples of Tzeentch are my main army, they are not the only army I play. In recent years, I’ve started expanding my collection and try to get in competitive games at my local store using my Ironjawz, Kharadron Overlords, and Fyreslayers. I’ve found that playing with a variety of armies helps me become a better player as I learn about different sides of the game. Before I picked up Ironjawz as my second army, my fragile Tzeentch armies were getting pummeled in every casual game I played through underestimating just how much damage the Flesh-Eaters and Ogors of the world could pump out. Playing Ironjawz taught me how a melee army works from the melee army’s perspective. After playing Ironjawz for a couple months, something about the entire game clicked for me.  I went back to Tzeentch, and immediately became a better player, as I understood how to position and protect my wizards and counter-deploy to mitigate my opponents’ destructive power. Likewise, Kharadron have taught me about movement and shooting. I enjoy magic and movement themed armies the most, so my future projects include Seraphon and Lumineth, but those are in early stages.

Frantic Scribbling

I almost called this blog “Know Thy Enemy,” a quote from Sun Tzu, because the blog is driven by the philosophy that very successful play depends on understanding the tools and threats in your opponents’ armies. But I also wanted to capture something Tzeentchian about the acquisition of knowledge. “Frantic Scribbling” is the ability from the Blue Scribes warscroll which, by the lore, has the scribe P’tarix writing every magical spell cast by their enemies in the mortal realms. The effect this has has changed over editions, from giving the Blue Scribes the ability to cast enemy’s spells, to its current iteration of granting the Blue Scribes mastery over their own spells. Frantic Scribbling seemed to fit my goal perfectly.

The Blue Scribes went to Legends this edition. Maybe they will be back through the infinite machinations of Tzeentch. But for now, rest in peace.

Future Articles

As we take our first steps into 4th edition, I will be taking a close look at my two main factions, the Disciples of Tzeentch and Kharadron Overlords. In the future, I’d also like to spend some time discussing community event organizing, which has become a hobby unto itself for me in the past couple years.

Thank you for reading.