The new General’s Handbook sees changes to the points values of many units in the new edition as their Pitched Battle profiles are updated. We sat down with Sam Pearson from the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Studio to get some insights into the thinking behind the adjustments.
Sam: With the Dominion launch set now available for pre-order, the new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar is almost upon us. One of the most significant changes is a fully revised set of Pitched Battle profiles for every faction in the game.
Today we want to discuss some of the finer points you can expect when the new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar arrives.
To kick off, let’s take a look at a few of the new Pitched Battle profiles for the Daughters of Khaine, taken from the upcoming Pitched Battle Profiles book included with General’s Handbook 2021.
Reinforcing Units
The first thing to highlight is that we’ve done away with the minimum and maximum unit sizes. Instead, the Pitched Battle profiles now include a flat unit size for each warscroll you can include in your army. Unless the unit is noted as being ‘Single’, it can be reinforced or double reinforced. Reinforcing a unit allows you to double its size and double reinforcing a unit sees its size tripled.
Matched play battlepacks typically limit the number of reinforced units you can include in your army. For example, the Pitched Battles 2021 battlepack in the General’s Handbook 2021 limits this to four. Only battleline units can be double reinforced, and doing so counts towards this limit twice.
This has a dramatic effect on army composition. Larger units become rarer on the battlefield, and that rarity makes them all the more important. Which of your units you want to reinforce will become a key consideration when mustering your army for battle.
More Granularity
The second thing to highlight is that points values can now be in factors of five, allowing for more granularity between units. This is particularly impactful for units on the lower end of the points value spectrum, where you can keenly feel the difference between 70, 75, and 80. It also means we can be more precise than ever before when we adjust points values moving forward.
Increases Across the Board
On the whole, points values have seen an increase. Before you worry too much upon seeing the points values for your faction, remember that all of them have received similar treatment.
We increased the points values for several reasons. Firstly, during the last edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar, the points values of many different units were adjusted, usually seeing a steady drop. While this promoted better balance, the size of armies went up, which meant battles took longer to complete. This points rise will help battles come to their conclusion in a timely manner by reducing the size of armies once more.
The new edition also has a recommended minimum battlefield size that is slightly smaller than before – the reduction in army size ensures your units have plenty of room to manoeuvre.
Lastly, as battalions no longer have a points value, this increase will factor in those points that were used before on warscroll battalions.
The Points Calculator
If you read White Dwarf, you may recall that we discussed the points calculator that we use as a foundation for all of our points values in a recent Rules of Engagement article.
When developing the new edition, we put considerable effort into refining this calculator to make it much more sophisticated. It is not a simple formula that only adds up the damage or survivability of a unit, although these are accounted for. It is something that can spot trends within warscrolls. For example, it can identify if a warscroll is a ‘glass hammer’ – a unit with high damage but low survivability – or the opposite – a ‘tar pit’.
It also factors in the size of the base the miniatures in the unit are mounted upon and cross-references it with their weapon range. Finally, it takes the allegiance abilities a unit has access to into account, including everything from the different spells, artefacts of power, battle traits, and even unique enhancements such as mount traits.
Powerful allegiance abilities, such as those that let a player reliably add new units to their army through summoning, can increase the points values of the warscrolls in a faction. When comparing warscrolls from different factions it is important to think of which has access to more powerful allegiance abilities.
You can find examples of this within the Pitched Battles Profile book itself. Comparing the Tzaangor units in the Beasts of Chaos faction and the Disciples of Tzeentch faction shows they have different points values. This is because the Disciples of Tzeentch have access to more powerful allegiance abilities – not only can they summon many new units onto the battlefield, but they can also control fate itself with their destiny dice.
The values given by the points calculator were a starting point that was then refined through playtesting, both here in the studio and by our team of dedicated playtesters. We pinpointed which units share powerful synergies with others in their faction and identified those who do not so we could adjust their points values accordingly.
You can find examples of this in units that have seen a larger increase and in those that have had their points values either remain the same or lowered. For example, for Orruk Warclans players, Orruk Ardboys have come down in points to reflect the new restrictions of the reinforcement rules and the loss of synergies previously gained from warscroll battalions such as the Ardfist.
New FAQs
Alongside the new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar, we will update all of our existing Designer’s Commentaries and Errata. We’ll cover all the burning questions you might have about how your faction works with the new edition, and we’ll let you know if previous Designer’s Commentaries and Errata still apply.
For example, there will be an Errata for each battletome to ensure your Unique Wizards can still be given spells from the relevant spell lores. These will all be published right here on Warhammer Community, within days of the launch of the Dominion boxed set on the 3rd of July.
Further Refinement and Tweaking
The dawn of the new edition, and the new set of Pitched Battle profiles it brings, is an exciting time for players. We are entering a phase of experimentation where players can try out new strategies and develop army compositions that are different to those used in the last edition.
Here in the Studio, we’re looking forward to seeing how the meta of competitive play evolves and will be monitoring it closely so that we can make necessary adjustments moving forwards. We pay close attention to tournament results, discussion forums, and social media, as well as considering the feedback sent to us.
As the new edition grows, we will be making regular updates to points values to make sure every unit in your army has a chance to shine upon the battlefield.
We welcome your thoughts on the new points values, so please do not hesitate to send them in. The feedback that is particularly useful for us is that which focuses on powerful synergies and rules interactions between units that seem to have not been accounted for. Rest assured, we look at every bit of feedback that is submitted and greatly appreciate everyone who takes the time to do so.
We hope you’re all excited to fight battles in the new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar. As always, if you have any rules questions or would like to send specific feedback, you can reach us by emailing AoSFAQ@gwplc.com.
Thanks, Sam! Make sure that you pick up the new Dominion boxed set and join us on the 3rd of July when we’ll be hosting a dazzling celebration for the launch of the new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar.