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I'm lucky enough to spend a lot of my time testing, writing about, and reviewing Warhammer, but it isn't often that I fall completely head over heels for a product. Yet that's exactly what happened with City of Ash, a beginner box set for the fantasy-based Age of Sigmar wargame. The trouble was, everyone else seemed to appreciate how great it was too; it sold out almost instantly, and hasn't been available since. Well, until now...
This isn't a drill; City of Ash is back in stock for $180 at Amazon, down from the full price of $220. Seeing as it's almost impossible to find the Warhammer box set outside of browsing eBay for overpriced listings, that's a huge deal (both literally and metaphorically). As a result, I'd recommend leaping on the offer as soon as possible if you were tempted. Who knows how long it'll last?
As noted in our City of Ash review, this is by far the easiest route into the shorter, more streamlined Spearhead game type - and from there, Age of Sigmar itself. It literally provides everything you need to play other than dice; there are two full armies (Cities of Sigmar and assassin-like Skaven), terrain, a board, seasonal cards to provide twists in each battle, and the full Spearhead rules. I think that's a big part of the reason why it's proven so popular. It's a complete introduction to the game in one place, and those armies can easily form the backbone of a larger AoS force.
We can't overlook the fact that the models themselves are sick as hell, either. The Cities of Sigmar half is evocative of the wonderfully bizarre old Empire faction from Warhammer Fantasy Battles. The Skaven, on the other hand, revitalize a beloved Skaven faction of assassins called Clan Eshin - and they do a bloody great job of it. These guys drip menace. And poison, of course.
They both really stand out in combat, too. The Cities of Sigmar half of the box are an intimidating wall of guns and armor that will make mincemeat of anything foolish enough to break cover. The Skaven, on the other hand, are astonishingly fast. Supernaturally so, in some cases; a few, like their Deathmaster leader, can warp out of trouble and into combat elsewhere where the deck isn't so stacked against them. This is a phenomenally fun ability that I used to my advantage during test matches, where I lured my foe into combat (he was stood all on his lonesome with what may as well have been an "attack me" sign above his head) before immediately teleporting elsewhere. In so doing I tied up some of my opponent's most powerful troops while tipping the odds in my favor on the other end of the board. It was wonderfully devious.
With that kind of fiendish gameplay to grapple with, I wanted to rerack and start again as soon as the battle was over - not something that happens often for me. As such, I'd highly recommend diving in now that the box set is back in stock. Sure, it's not necessarily the best fit for total beginners because the Skaven in particular are hard to construct. But I'd say that fiddliness is worth enduring even so, because the end result is so satisfying.
Again, just move quickly; I doubt stock will hang around for long.
- See all Age of Sigmar deals at Amazon
For something else you can play between battles, why not try the best board games or the best card games?
