bigbossredskullz

We can for certain say that AoS has sparked a lot of..well feelings I guess. Very few are indifferent and take a very clear YAY or NAY side. I’m not going to talk as much about that but I will be looking into the 3 big comp systems that has surfaced after AoS was released and give my opinion on them compared to playing more or less rules as written (RAW) with battleplans.

First off I think most people that follow me know that I’m in the YAY group when it comes to AoS. I really like it and the battleplans so my views are not only subjective but coloured by that fact. But I’m very intrigued by the whole comp thing as its obviously done by people that care enough for the hobby that they want to fix perceived faults or matters that are considered unbalanced.

Let’s check them out.

Canhammer
You can check their comp here.

Straight off the bat I like that they’re not trying to add points as a means of balance and I feel in this regard that it still tries to stay true to AoS. This is very much a comp package I could see myself playing because I can take what I want without any points penalties. That’s one of the huge appeals to me as I never liked the percentage style of fantasy. 40k uses only a force org limitation (if you choose) so I’m obviously very used to it already.

Azyr
You can check their comp here.

Well you’re seeing where this is going right? I’m not even close to liking the points as it misses the mark of one my appeals with AoS and that’s making everything viable. When points are added you’re back to taking hard choices and then everything that’s not cost effective gets cut. I appreciate the effort and I really like the battle type matrix as a way of differentiate the size of the game. Just cut away the max points column 😉

Ninth Age
You can check their comp here.

So yeah where to begin huh..the group writing this are obviously very passionate and talented. This is a massive undertaking as they’re basically doing what it says in the title and improving 8th into 9th. Crazy undertaking and fascinating in that regard.

However. I didn’t like 8th, nor 7th. In fact I haven’t enjoyed fantasy in any incarnation enough in the last 10+ years to play more than a handful of games. I don’t want to be cruel but this isn’t even close to what I’m after and we’ll let it be with that.

My conclusion

So while not intending to steal Reece from Frontlines article format (pure coincidence actually so if you’re reading Reece my apologies in advance if I stepped out of bounds – etiquette wise) it just fits very well don’t you think?

The Good
Obviously Canhamner.

When my group will organize events in the future this is the set I’ll recommend and work for. Simply because it still feels like AoS.

The Bad
The Ninth Age.

Purely on effort and ambition this should definitely be in the Good category but my dislike of fantasy is so deep that I’m sorry. Obviously those that are in the NAY AoS group will probably really like this.

The Ugly
Azyr.

I guess I could accept this if I’d have too but only for the odd tournament or pick-up game but that’s basically it. But if I was in charge of a tournament I’d definitely steal the battle type matrix though (still minus max points) 😉

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I like AoS for what it is and will easily play it as RAW as possible so personally I don’t feel the need for a comp. I’m not even sure we’d need comp for our regional tournaments beyond determining battleplans, scenery, deployment type and time available per round. I’m actually gonna run both the comp packages vs RAW in our regular Open day event in September. You can of course read all about it here afterwards. Maybe my opinion will change?

So that’s my thoughts. What’s yours?

-t