Age of Sigmar: Battle Tactics Make A Big Impact In The New Edition
Battle Tactics are getting major updates. They are going to be the keys to unlocking your ultimate victories on the tabletop!
If you’re playing the current edition of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar than you’re already familiar with Battle Tactics. However, in the new edition they are getting tweaks that will make them even more impactful. If you’re playing with the new First Blood, Matched Play, or The General’s Handbook battlepack you’re going to be using Battle Tactics. Knowing how they work is your key to success.
“…battle tactics are secondary objectives you’ll want to complete each turn – whilst also trying to secure objectives and slay your opponent’s warriors.
At the start of your turn, you can pick one battle tactic using the Tactical Gambit ability. Upon completing that battle tactic you’ll be rewarded with four valuable victory points, to supplement the six you can score each round from that game’s battleplan.”
As mentioned previously, players will have the option to score up to a total of 10 VPs per battle round — 6 from the game’s battleplan and 4 from your Battle Tactic. But note the change to how this Tactical Gambit works. You can’t choose a Battle Tactic if you’re choosing to taking the double turn. That means if you win the priority roll and opt for the double you forfeit the Battle Tactic. However, if your opponent gives you the double, you don’t miss out — you still get to pick one.
Universal Battle Tactics
“The Battle Tactics module contains six universal battle tactics, which are used in both the First Blood and The General’s Handbook battlepacks. To carve a path to victory, you’ll need to carefully consider which battle tactic you’ll declare each turn. “
These examples are just three out of the six we’ll have access to with the Universal Battle Tactics. It’s interesting to see that two of them are positional while one of them (so far) is combat related. With six to choose from and games only having five rounds, that means that you’re always going to be avoiding one of these options as well. Choosing Battle Tactics has been a very interesting part of the game, even in the current edition. Trying to decide if you go for the easy one to score now vs later is tactical decision that can really impact your games.
“The General’s Handbook 2024-25 also includes two extra battle tactics for each Grand Alliance, alongside the Honour Guard Season Rule. These provide some extra flexibility outside of universal battle tactics, and replace faction-specific battle tactics.”
The GHB will also add in extra Battle Tactics to keep things interesting and on theme, too. I do wonder if we’re going to see army specific Battle Tactics return later as Battle Tomes roll out for each army. Personally, I could go either way on those. On the one hand they did make your army a little more unique to play as you had your own set of Book Battle Tactics to choose. On the other hand, some armies really struggled if their Book Battle Tactics were bad — or conversely if they were super easy to achieve.
Having everyone use the same Universal Battle Tactics and their Grand Alliance Battle Tactics does level the playing field a bit. Still, we’re only seeing half of these — it’s still pretty early to gauge them.
Battle Tactics are going to be worth 4 points a round. What do you think of these changes overall?
