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My Bolton starter set arrived in the mail a few days ago, which got me to thinking, now that it's out the announcement for the next faction to be released could be only 2 to 6 months away!

I feel like the biggest missing actual faction would be House Arryn. I saw some talk about Tyrell, or even more neutral forces like the Golden Company or Brave Companions, as they've already got quite a few units, and even the suggestion they could throw those existing units in the box like they did with Stark/Lannister/Bolton. That sounds like a real problem to me though, as it's one thing to redo the Kickstarter miniatures (some of which had their problems) and sell those in new starters, it's another thing to package up existing models people already own and try to sell them again. I don't think CMON's quite that brazen.

Though you could give those forces three brand new units. I'm still skeptical that they'd do any more mercenary forces though, I feel like Bolton has appeal because they're the Boltons, I don't know that the Brave Companions are going to inspire that kind of purchasing.

Anyways, anybody else have guesses about what they'll do next? Seems like the game remains selling decently, so I'm assuming we'll keep getting product.

 frankelee wrote:
My Bolton starter set arrived in the mail a few days ago, which got me to thinking,

That it's flaying time? Congrats on the pickup. I hope to someday get (when I think I'll actually paint them up!) some freefolk kits for general fantasy use.

How viable are non-massed infantry builds in this game? Is the answer faction dependent? I've been looking at free folk on and off for years and all the units I'm interested in are big models like giants, elephants, skinchangers, and bear riders for example. I'd be buying them for the models specifically but I'm curious if I'd have a competent army when, from what I've read, the free folk are known as the low cost horde faction.

Typical game size is 40 points.
There are two "standard" kinds of builds. One uses 3 giants as core and adds Mammut(s) or Varamyr and his zoo or even another giant or whatever unit you fancy.
The other uses lots of activations of cheap infantry with a sprinkle of quality. May be a single giant or Bear Riders. Often Varamyr and his zoo are added to the mix.
There are also lists without the quality but even more activations.
Those two kinds play completely different and need you to implement different tactics.
There are other ways to built an army, but those are the most common.

brumbaer wrote:
Typical game size is 40 points.
There are two "standard" kinds of builds. One uses 3 giants as core and adds Mammut(s) or Varamyr and his zoo or even another giant or whatever unit you fancy.
The other uses lots of activations of cheap infantry with a sprinkle of quality. May be a single giant or Bear Riders. Often Varamyr and his zoo are added to the mix.
There are also lists without the quality but even more activations.
Those two kinds play completely different and need you to implement different tactics.
There are other ways to built an army, but those are the most common.

Thanks. Yeah, that giants/mammoth list with Varamyr is similar to what I was going for as I'd be buying the models that I like rather than the units that are useful but at the same time I don't want to screw myself over. I've traditionally heard that free folk are the out activate your opponent horde army and this would be kind of the opposite in that regard.

The more recent videos though talk of major changes in the past year (and prior videos talk of previous years' changes as well). Are you basically guaranteed to NOT get current rules out of the box if you buy figs? I know the game has been around for five years but it seems like they're going at the very least in a yearly update AOS type of schedule and lots of rules have changed (at least for the free folk that I've been purposefully looking at). Raiders (which admittedly I'm not focusing on) losing insignificant, other units frequently losing half their special rules (whether for better or worse), etc. It seems like the cards are all outdated. Is tourny play that strong of a focus for the game? I know there is a free online app but the idea of getting significantly outdated rules (as opposed to minor FAQ/errata clarifications) right out of the box is a turnoff for me. The free online app/builder helps but my point still stands.

On a more positive note, I see that more units are on the horizon including some more giants. I think these are my favorite sculpts for the giants so far.



And apparently they recently announced a skirmish game coming next year to crowdfunding as well

https://cmon.com/news/cmon-revisits-westeros-in-a-song-of-ice-fire-tactics

Most people play 7 activations regardless of faction.

3 Giants and Varamyr plus zoo gives you 9 Activations.

You can consider the cards in the boxes to be outdated. Even the upgrade packs will often be.

It's a pain, but at least the cards can be downloaded for self-printing.
The only Cards you really need are tactics, objective and mission cards. Objective and mission cards haven't changed for ages and the one in the starter box are still valid. Anyway all three card types can be downloaded from the cmon website as pdfs and you can print them out and be done.
The same is true for unit cards, but often there are only the cards available that changed since the last revision. But all the text on those cards can be found on the print out from within the WarCouncil of your armylist.
And you might find pdfs of all current cards somewhere on the web.

Thanks. I'm surprised they still offer the outdated cards for sale instead of prepping ahead of time to have the new ones in stock including buying back the unsold old ones from stores for credit. I don't want to sound too miserly but it was a bit of a let down watching back to back videos and seeing completely different takes/stats on the same unit frequently.

Regardless, I'm glad there is a viable big guy build. I'm not sure what Varamyr plus zoo exactly is (I assume it's when you add his two animal bases that the fig comes with). I was a bit surprised that I didn't see any cavalry heroes/attachments to add to the bear riders. At first I thought you might be able to add Varamyr himself but he only seems to be listed as a solo and I have zero idea how survivable those types of units are since I've been looking at the models instead of the base rules first.

If Varamyr ist your commander, you have to choose shadowcat and the wolves. In a Giant list, you would choose Mag as commander and if you add Varamyr you can do so with none, one or both of them. They are no big fighters. There main role is to add activations and being a deterrent. Preventing a giant from being charged or enemy unit to move where they would be a danger or at least a nuisance. For starters, you would get the starter box and Heroes 2 (Mag the Mighty and WunWun). The starter box will give you everything you need to play and the Hero Box will allow you to play a Giant list. You can use 4 giants or three plus some units from the starter to get a feel for the game. Once you're comfortable and have some experience you will realise how Varamyr could add to your game. Or add Mammuts if you fancy them.

Thanks. Stupid question... if you part on a spot on the tactics board with an NCU, do you keep getting that benefit every round? I'd assume from the rules it only applies when you move to a new unoccupied spot but figured I'd ask.

Also, do CMON ASOIAF figs have any primer restrictions/requirements like the old Reaper Bones figs had? I know that's sometimes the case with PVC types of plastics.

Regarding Primer:
I've never heard about any problems. I use GW Primer and for Movement Trays some spray from a local DIY.

Regarding NCUs
I'm not sure what you are talking about.
When a NCU claims a zone he will stay at it until the end of round. At the end of round he will be removed from the tactics board.
There are also one or two characters that can move a NCU to a different zone, but I'm not aware of any way to remove a NCU from the tactics board at a time other than end of round.

What benefit are you taking about ? Influences ? If so, the influence ends at the end of round.

brumbaer wrote:
Regarding Primer:
I've never heard about any problems. I use GW Primer and for Movement Trays some spray from a local DIY.

Regarding NCUs
I'm not sure what you are talking about.
When a NCU claims a zone he will stay at it until the end of round. At the end of round he will be removed from the tactics board.
There are also one or two characters that can move a NCU to a different zone, but I'm not aware of any way to remove a NCU from the tactics board at a time other than end of round.

What benefit are you taking about ? Influences ? If so, the influence ends at the end of round.

Thanks. The part about removing them from the tactics board wasn't in the tactics board part of the rulebook when I did a quick lookup and I noticed it in the cleanup section after posting. I'm glad the primer works well on the figs as I always worry potentially with board game plastic style figs.

I started in April this year (2023). Began with Nights Watch, now playing Free Folk most of the time, but tried myself at a Neutral army lately.

That's what I painted since April.



Looks more impressive from higher up probably.

Very impressive especially given that they're painted too! For what it's worth, i think the first more frontal view makes the greater effect.

I will admit that I was pretty eager for this game but now when Old World seems to come out soon I don't know which way to swing when I get back to work from my sick leave.

I suppose that time will tell.

Gurkhal wrote:
I will admit that I was pretty eager for this game but now when Old World seems to come out soon I don't know which way to swing when I get back to work from my sick leave.

I suppose that time will tell.

Warhammer Fantasy is the game that got me into wargaming back in the mid 90's, but I haven't been able to get excited for it. Warhammer was a good game back then, but I think it needs some modernising to make it less complex and more streamlined, and it doesn't look like it's going that way.

If I were going to play any rank and file game a month from now, it'd probably be either ASOIAF or KOW rather than Old World.

Brumbaer I will just say that it honestly the most impressive single collection of miniatures I have seen for this game..

I am not sure how many players will leave ASOIAF for Old World - I think even though both games are rank and file, they give such a different experience (I am assuming, based on previous WHFB games, I haven't kept up with the Old World news and which version they are basing the new edition on). And ASOIAF has such a good tournament community going for it.

Hope everyone is doing well in the new year! I started a new rpg campaign as a player recently and that always gets me looking at figs (even nonsensically for virtual online play!) and I discover more and more from this line each time I do. They really do knock it out of the park for human minis in terms of their sculpts in terms of variety and styles that still look cohesive together as well as realistically proportioned.

Yes happy new hobby year guys!

A lot of ASOIAF in my hobby plans, hope to get two playable forces (Lannister and Stark) on the tabletop for this year.

Looking forward to seeing them posted! I just bought my first ASOIAF figs this weekend but, in my case, a couple of singles for RPG purposes... or at least that's what I'm telling myself/using to justify the purchase despite only playing online now for years! It'll be interesting to see how they'll stack up next to my D&D minis. I'm guessing they'll probably dwarf the old true 25-28mm figs D&D prepainted minis I have but would probably fit in well with current AOS.

My normal provider for hobby items had a sale with the Greyjoy starter going for a 50% reduction in price during this month, and so I struck.

Plan is to use this and my Baratheon starter set to play some games with myself to learn the rules and see if I like this game. If I do like it and I've learned the rules, I can start to have my friends come over and play some games. From there we'll be able to see if there's an interest in playing and investing more into this.

The Victarion model from the Greyjoy starter is quite nice!

 warboss wrote:
The Victarion model from the Greyjoy starter is quite nice!

Yes.

My own favorite faction from the books are the Lannisters so if I decide to get deeper into the game I hope I'll pick up the Lannisters and make them one of the armies that I expand to a large degree. On the condition that I like their playstyle. If I don't like their playstyle I'll have to look at some other faction.

All that I know is that Stark, Baratheon (Stannis) and perhaps Targaryen would be taken by other prospective players due to fandom reasons.

Just a heads up that Season 4.0 is coming out on Monday. I hope they tweak Greyjoy some more. I lost all interest after the last Update to the rules. I'll be printing out new cards next week when they release the update online.

https://asoiaf.cmon.com/news/season-4-coming-in-1-week

I did pick up the Umber Ravagers last Saturday. Still looking at the Bolton Faction too.

As a fan of the chonky zorse rider and Belwas, I approve of big boy barbarians on horses! Arya looks like a nice fig as well for a waif type kid in an RPG.

Update is apparently out. I only follow the game for the minis so can't comment on the rules personally.




https://asoiaf.cmon.com/news/season-4-changelog

Update is good. Stark, Targaryen and Baratheon all got a nice and deserved polishing up. NW and Lannisters got nerfed (deservedly).

Almost everyone but NW players who are sad they won't be playing on easy mode anymore are happy.

My little gaming group is stoked to get regular games going again.

Excellent update for an excellent game!

ASOIAF Tactics was just announced and folks are talking about it over in the News and Rumors thread for CMON.

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/2820/756746.page#11636619

https://gamefound.com/en/projects/cmon/a-song-of-ice-fire-tactics#/section/project-story

https://cmon.com/news/keeping-true-to-the-books-a-song-of-ice-and-fire-tactics-design-diary

Getting back to painting some ASOIAF stuff from the starter set and finished off these Stark Outriders. Actually quite nice painting something grounded in reality (horses!) and had to actually do some research about what colours they are, as I realised I had no idea!



Can anyone recommend a good ranged attack unit for Starks/Lannisters and also a mounted unit for Lannisters that would be fun to paint?

 Pacific wrote:
Getting back to painting some ASOIAF stuff from the starter set and finished off these Stark Outriders. Actually quite nice painting something grounded in reality (horses!) and had to actually do some research about what colours they are, as I realised I had no idea!



Can anyone recommend a good ranged attack unit for Starks/Lannisters and also a mounted unit for Lannisters that would be fun to paint?

Hey Pacific, nice painting on those Outriders!

For Stark Cavalry I highly recommend the Tully Cavaliers. They are beautiful models and one of the best cavalry units in the game right now. Stark ranged unit that would be fun to paint...the bowmen are pretty basic historical models if that is what you are into, but I don't see them in many lists these days. The Crannogmen Trappers have nice but limited sculpts, so they would probably be my recommendation.

For Lannisters the Knights of Casterly Rock are a great unit and I found them fun to paint, but you might enjoy the Clegane Butchers more for painting if you are enjoying lots of horse flesh. Both are good cav units.

All the Lannister ranged units are pretty boring sculpt wise imo. The Crossbowmen are great in game, but just very basic historical sculpts. Not sure what you find enjoyable! They do paint up fast though which I enjoyed.

Some neutral ranged units whose sculpts I really like are the Stormcrow Archers and Golden Company Crossbowmen.

Look forward to seeing what you paint!

 Gallahad wrote:

 Pacific wrote:
Getting back to painting some ASOIAF stuff from the starter set and finished off these Stark Outriders. Actually quite nice painting something grounded in reality (horses!) and had to actually do some research about what colours they are, as I realised I had no idea!

Spoiler:

Can anyone recommend a good ranged attack unit for Starks/Lannisters and also a mounted unit for Lannisters that would be fun to paint?

Hey Warboss, nice painting on those Outriders!

Lol, not me in this thread! I wish I had painted those like Pacific did! Nice job on the painting. Is the shield wolf detail embossed or is it a decal? Do you use the same basing technique for the whole army? It looks good as well.