Workshop Wednesdays — Getting Started With ‘Warhammer: Age Of Sigmar’

Welcome to the table,

My happy childhood memories are not holidays with family or moments around the dinner table. That was not the world I grew up in. I have long come to terms with it. I’d rather focus on the moments from my youth that made me feel safe and seen without the weight of guilt, shame, or expectation.

Those moments typically came in the back of a comic shop watching the group of people I loving refer to as the “Elder Nerds.” They’d work on their Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40k miniatures between battles that could take all weekend if the dice deemed it so.

There was a peaceful security that came from tucking myself into my hoodie, eating a cold slice of pizza, and watching these talented artisans work with micro thin brushes and pots of paint. These miniature masters would transform shaped bits of metal and plastic into vibrant warriors and space wizards, complete with hulking metal fists and swords that seemed to capture lightning itself.

For as long as I live, I will always liken the art of Games Workshop mini painting to those scenes in historical documentaries where the various artistic masters like Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, or Leonardo da Vinci were putting brush to paint. It may be an idealistic view, but it was nothing short of magical.

As the world seems to become more and more uncertain, I have desperately been clinging to the things that bring me joy and remind me of the positive moments in my life. Warhammer is one of those things. As I have been talking to friends, family members, and you fine folks who reach out to ask about gaming, it has dawned on me that a lot of people really want to get into miniatures gaming, but don’t know exactly where to start.

That brings me to the matter at hand: Workshop Wednesdays will be a semi-regular series where I will do my best to provide resources, info, and perspective on miniature gaming as part of the larger pop-culture conversation that we provide.

Today we are going to talk a little bit about Warhammer: Age of Sigmar from Games Workshop. They sent me over the Ultimate Starter Set for Age of Sigmar. After spending some time with it, as far as the miniature war-game space goes, it strikes me as a really solid jumping-on point for this branch of the hobby.

We’re going to dig deeper into all the fun details of the Age of Sigmar as we explore this aspect of table top gaming, but for now, it is fantasy setting that takes place in a landscape known as the Mortal Realms. There are a bunch of cool factions that include dwarves, orcs, knights, undead, and more cool-looking creatures than you can paint in a month of weekends.

The game leans into the narrative aspect of war gaming and encourages play at the table to focus on lore, scenarios, and stories crafted by the player that build upon the vast webwork of mythology the team at Games Workshop has created.

Like most table top games that use dice, there is always an element of chance. You need the numbers to succeed. However, there is a lot of skill that goes into building the right faction to fit your play style. There are so many options to choose from. The Age of Sigmar starter sets make a whole lot of sense to start this new conversation.

The Ultimate starter set includes 37 minis to build and paint; a 72 page players handbook; a Spearhead: Fire and Jade book that will give you rules to play a more fast-paced game with your minis in Spearhead mode; a double-sided game mat; 6D6; 36 Spearhead cards; a 1×6′ range ruler; and a 1×3 range ruler.

It’s right there in the name. This is kind of the ultimate starter kit for someone, or honestly, a handful of someones, to jump into Warhammer Age of Sigmar. I think back to my teenage years. We would have pooled our cash and bought this set to use for both our TTRPG games and to clash across felt covered tables amid foam landscapes. I don’t think we had even considered the rad mini battlefield that could be provided by a double-sided battle mat.

Also, having the books and dice needed to play is kind of perfect when you are starting out and not looking to buy a bunch of stuff all at once. The storage options in this box are also nice.

The Spearhead option is also really cool because it allows you to play in a compact game mode that is faster and more dynamic. It uses all the same minis and dice and such, but the board is smaller and you can pick up and play it way more easily than the full game mode.

The more modest Starter Set that has 35 minis to build and paint; a 64 page players handbook; a double-sided playing mat; 2 12′ range rulers; and 6D6. It’s a little less costly and comes with fewer items, but the base Starter Set provides many of the opportunities to learn the game and jump into the hobby.

While you don’t get the added bonus of a Spearhead game book, you can still enjoy your intro into the hobby with this set. It makes a perfect weekend project for a group of friends or someone who wants to unplug and do something with their hands around the gaming table.

The Introduction Set has 25 minis to build and paint; a 48 page handbook; playing mat; 6D6; and a 12′ range ruler. It also comes with 1 Citadel starter brush and 6 Citadel Colour (It’s a brand name. That’s how they spell it.) paints to start working on your army with.

The Intro set is, honestly, a great single person project pack. You can really get yourself into the thick of it, painting minis and finding your stride, giving you the opportunity to decide if this is the kind of thing you want to get into.

From an advice perspective, unless you are some kind of wizard with the paints and brushes, you are going to make a mess and goof things up a lot. That is half the fun of this whole process and should not make you feel stressed or ashamed. None of us are as skilled as the Elder Nerds out of the gate and the path to the top of that mountain is half the fun of the hobby in the first place.

The long and short of it all, my dear friends, is that there are some great options to dive into the fantasy mini war game landscape and these offerings from Games Workshop are a heck of a way to go.