https://m.facebook.com/groups/83120...593:mf_story_key.167030739124565053&__tn__=*s Age of Sigmar: The Balance of Power The Realmgate Wars: Volume 2 So the latest AoS supplement release has come and I was able to finish reading it last night. A few things really stand out. The Battle Plans These are the AoS equivalents of 40k Scenarios or Missions. The book adds 10 more the growing collection of Battle Plans available to players. Some of them are really interesting and add a unique layer of detail to the game. The one I am looking forward to most involves fighting a battle on top of a frozen lake. The armies have to deal with one another, as well as the quickly deteriorating lake surface. The table is sectioned off into regions and each region will take damage as the battle progresses. As each section becomes unstable it becomes risky to run or charge on these areas. Eventually, if damaged enough, entire sections will be swallowed into the icy deep. Anyone unfortunate enough to be in these areas has a pretty quick exit from the game. The rest of the 9 battle plans are also pretty interesting and I am looking forward to trying them out. Score: 6 out of 5 The Battle Plans are straight up awesome and I am looking forward to trying these out. Time of War These are sections where you can have battles take place in certain regions of the 8 Mortal Realms. They add battlefield conditions, new spells, unique treasures, and a bunch of other assorted goodies. There are 4 more sets for these Time of War supplements. One of them involves fighting in a massive blizzard and adds a bunch of optional rules as well as a ton of spells. Score: 4 out of 5 Unique and varied rules which can be added in to create a really compelling narrative. I would of given it a perfect score but I wish there were more of these. Story Being a big fluff nerd, this was the part that interested me the most. The story picks up right where the first volume of the Realmgate Wars left off. Sigmar's Hammer, Ghal Maraz, had been recovered and he placed it into the hands of his greatest champion, the Celestant Prime. Celestant Prime is basically a Stormcast Eternal that has gone Super Saiyan....who also happens to have the most powerful weapon in the universe at his disposal, the god-smiting Hammer of Sigmar himself. The title of the book is very appropriate as we finally start to see other factions get involved in the fight. Dwarven Fyreslayers, Seraphon (lizardmen), and the Undead feature heavily in this story. I won't ruin the storyline for anyone who is planning on reading it, but Archaon makes a pretty grand entrance and lives up to his reputation. There are a bunch of really interesting plot threads they begin and I wouldn't be surprised to see if Archaon actually ends up as a hero within a few years. There is a lot of foreshadowing which points towards a major character turn for Warhammer's Big Bad. Overall the grip of chaos is seriously weakened by the Stormcast Eternals, and that allows other forces to rise up and join the battle. There are a lot of subtle hints in this book for anyone who has ready a lot of warhammer novels or army books in previous editions. The storyline advances significantly but definitely leaves the reader wanting to know more. There are 3 major story arcs that are all left at cliffhangers at the end of the book. Score: 4 out of 5 Great story but leaves you really wanting to know more. There were also some story telling decisions that left me scratching my head. Other The book also contains tons of great painting tutorials, gorgeous mini galleries, and excellent artwork. They also contain a bunch of unique Warscroll Battalions (AoS formations), that would be very fun to build/paint/play. Score 5 out of 5 The book has a lot of content and it is easy to forget about the Warscroll Batallions. They give some really interesting options when it comes to building AoS armies. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Age of Sigmar storyline. The rules content is great as well and brings a lot to the table.
Here another review warning though.. Little bit of a spoiler given, so read at your own risk! https://ttgamingdiary.wordpress.com/2016/02/08/review-balance-of-power/
IS this the first book to properly contain Seraphon story lines? I'm really interesting in following that, even if I'm not as interested in the stormcast right now.
So wait, battalion warscrolls for a campaign book? Are they generic formations? I can't wrap my head around this, what exactly do you mean?
Ohhhh.... Spoiler Realm of Life Returns The book switches back then to the Realm of Life, and here we get the first real curve ball in the storyline. Alarielle runs and Nurgle pursues, but he is not the only Chaos god watching things. Khorne fancies a bit of that Life Goddess action as well, and he is not messing around – he sends Skarbrand down. However, the Seraphon have been watching events too, and a Slann Starmaster moves to intercept in a battle that only has a sideways mention in the Wardens of the Everqueen novel, but makes a lot more sense now! Raging Fury is the Battleplan that covers this, pitting Skarbrand (alone) against a Seraphon army that cannot have any monsters! This is on a 4′ x 4′ table, so there are not many places to run, and the Seraphon can try to tempt Skarbrand into a portal that will fling him back home rather than try to kill him outright (which won’t be easy with a bunch of Saurus Warriors and Skinks!). The next Battleplan covers the Battle of Blackstone Summit, the final confrontation between Torglug and the forces of Alarielle. Once again they are battling over the artefact (Alarielle’s seed pod), but while Nurgle sends a Great Unclean One (or three), Sigmar sends the Celestant-Prime, guaranteeing some high-powered action! This is most certainly a pitched battle, where the forces of Life can pass wounds inflicted upon the artefact carrier to other nearby units, but have to travel across what is effectively an 8′ table to do it. The result of this battle will determine the fate of the Realm of Life!
Gonna be honest, this book portrays the Seraphon exactly how I was hoping they'd be portrayed, I think it's perfect.