I have a warhammer itch and Total War: Warhammer is only doing so much. Its been years since I played 40k (though I have been oogling over the Thousand Sons, my favorite warband...). I started playing fantasy during End Times (so sad that they killed it right when I started) and now I've entertained the thought of playing Aos. SO, should I start playing AoS? My flgs doesnt play Fantasy or 9th age, just AoS. What rules books do I need? And are there any point values for units? I looked through the Seraphon book at my flgs and could see any point values. How does army composition work? Is it really "take whatever you want?" How is that balanced?
General's Handbook 2017 https://www.games-workshop.com/en-EU/The-Generals-Handbook-2017-sb-eng ^ Points values, Match Play structure and some Seraphon abilities can be found in here. You will need this as well as the Core Rules.
I think the game is pretty reasonably balanced by now. Of course there are still a few things that suck but every game of that size has that and GW is working on it, streamlining and balancing gameplay for more and more armies. Seraphon are in a relatively good shape (There are Seraphon lists that have a realistic chance to beat any army), and AoS is a game that - IMO - flows well, with a little bit of practice you can play it rather quickly and have fun with it. So yeah I think you should try it. Most people (even the not very competitive ones) tend to play with points just because of balance reasons, so the GHB2017 is heavily recommended. You can get along without the Battletome but it is still a great book so if you like Lizards and have the money I would recommend getting that as well.
The game itself is pretty balanced (except for Mortal Wounds, which is a real issue). Some armies, on the other side, have serious balance problems... we have neglected armies, that lies at the bottom tiers, and absurdly overpowered armies.
I partly disagree I think. IMO there are a few absurdly overpowered LISTS and yes of course in tournament and among d***heads (sorry but that's how I see it to a certain degree) those get played for that very reason, but the rest of even those strong armies are OK matched against armies of a tier or two lower. The neglected ones (Brayherd, some goblins etc.) and some that were hit with the nerfbat a bit too hard (Beasctlaw Raiders) are indeed an issue but actually, judging by what GW did in the last year, I am pretty optimistic about them "reviving" at least most of them, and I'd say most armies have some interesting gameplay mechanics and/or can be fun to play if you account for their tier and just maybe don't play a killer list while facing them using a top tier army. I made that experiment picking Deathrattle some months before the new Battletome came along. A low tier army hardly ever seen in tournaments. This is not to brag but my friend playing Ironjawz and SCE has yet to beat them. Sure: if he played Vanguard Wing he probably would have, but if you ignore that one broken list? I am not a THAT much better player, I think armies are closer to each other in power than most people think if you just don't play the most streamlined competitive lists. Bonesplitterz without Kunnin Rukk, SCE without Vanguard Wing, Seraphon without Kroaknado and so on.
You can play with points just using the warscroll builder from the warhammer community site. I finally bought the GHB just for reference when I'm playing the six pitched battles, but I otherwise have never needed it for the points since I have them on the builder site (plus by now I just have them memorized).
The builder is really great. The GHB2017 contains a lot more than just points though, I still recommend getting it to everyone
I would recommend it too! BUT, we're slowly approaching august, which if GW respect their engagement, should be about the time for the release of the GHB 2018. I think we're approaching the point where new players should probably try to hold out on buying the 2017, especially if they manage to find other ways to get the useful stuff (point costs, allegiance abilities, battleplans and so on).
We're getting so much AOS stuff this year that it's easy to forget this promise I just hope GHB18 will be as good as its predecessor!
Good to know. Another Question. I have a large demon army, all 4 gods. Is there a codex for them, or is it just 4 individual god themed rule books?
There is a Grand Alliance Chaos book but it is outdated. What you want is the Battletomes, and yes unfortunately those are always for one God and his demons and mortals. There is no Battletome for Slaanesh though. Not yet at least. But I heard that all three other Battletomes are great books, Nurgle being the last one that was released. Nurgle and Tzeentch are very strong armies right now.