How to Play Age of Sigmar — Complete Beginner’s Guide

What Is Age of Sigmar?

Age of Sigmar is Games Workshop’s fantasy tabletop miniature wargame, set in the Mortal Realms — a collection of magical dimensions connected by arcane pathways called Realmgates. Players command armies of heroic warriors, monsters, undead hordes and magical beings, battling for control of these realms.

Age of Sigmar (often shortened to AoS) launched in 2015 as the successor to Warhammer Fantasy Battles. The current edition — 4th Edition, launched in 2024 — streamlined the rules while keeping the game’s signature features: the priority roll, powerful magic and spectacular monsters. Whether you field gleaming Stormcast Eternals, shambling Nighthaunt or savage Orruk Warclans, AoS offers deep tactical gameplay wrapped in a vivid high-fantasy setting.

Games are played on a tabletop with painted miniatures, dice and a tape measure. A matched play game lasts 5 battle rounds and takes roughly 2 to 2.5 hours at 2,000 points, with smaller formats available for faster play.

This guide covers the 4th Edition core rules and the current General’s Handbook 2026-27 matched play battlepack. If you’ve played before, note that battleshock, Bravery, grand strategies and the old army-building restrictions are all gone.

What You Need to Play

Getting into Age of Sigmar requires a similar set of essentials to any tabletop wargame. Here is what you need:

• Miniatures — A force of models from one faction. A Spearhead box provides a ready-to-play army for the Spearhead game mode.
• Dice — Standard six-sided dice (D6). Bring at least 15-20. Some abilities also use D3 rolls (roll a D6 and halve, rounding up).
• A ruler or tape measure — All distances are measured in inches, between the closest points of the bases. You can measure at any time.
• The rules — Core rules for Age of Sigmar are available for free from the official Age of Sigmar website and the official app.
• Warscrolls — The equivalent of datasheets, each unit’s warscroll contains its characteristics, weapons and abilities. Available for free in the app.
• A playing surface — Standard games use a 60″ x 44″ table. Smaller Spearhead games use a 30″ x 22.4″ surface.
• Terrain — Ruins, forests, walls and other scenery. Terrain blocks movement and line of sight and can protect units from shooting.

For a complete boxed experience, check our guide to the best Age of Sigmar starter sets, which include models, dice, rules and terrain in a single purchase.

Understanding Points and Army Building

Every unit in Age of Sigmar has a points cost that reflects its power on the battlefield. Before a game, both players agree on a points total, then build armies up to that limit.

The main ways to play are:

• Spearhead — Pre-built forces using a Spearhead box. No points or list building required, making it the perfect entry point for beginners.
• Path to Glory — A narrative campaign mode where your army grows over multiple games. Start with a small force and earn upgrades and reinforcements through battles.
• Matched Play (1,000 points) — A smaller competitive game lasting around 1.5 hours.
• Matched Play (2,000 points) — The standard competitive format, lasting 2 to 2.5 hours.

Under the current matched play army composition rules:

1. All units must come from the same faction (e.g. Stormcast Eternals, Skaven, Daughters of Khaine).
2. Your army is organised into regiments. Each regiment is one Hero plus up to 3 non-Hero units, and you must have at least 1 and no more than 5 regiments.
3. One of your Heroes is your general, and the general’s regiment can include up to 4 non-Hero units.
4. You can take auxiliary units outside your regiments, but each one after the first costs extra points, and the player with fewer auxiliaries gets a bonus command point each round.
5. A reinforced unit has twice its minimum size and costs twice the points.
6. You pick enhancements (one from each of your faction’s enhancement tables), plus one spell lore, one prayer lore and one manifestation lore.
7. You cannot exceed the agreed points limit.

The official Age of Sigmar app is the easiest way to build a legal army list, handling all restrictions and points automatically. Points change with each Battle Profiles update, so always check the app for current values.

The Turn Structure

A matched play game lasts 5 battle rounds, and in each round both players take one turn. Who goes first is decided by the priority roll (more on that below). Each turn runs through these phases, and in each phase the active player uses their abilities first, then the opponent can use theirs:

Start of Turn

Any abilities that trigger “at the start of the turn” are used here.

Hero Phase

The hero phase is where magic and heroic abilities take centre stage. During this phase you:

• Cast spells with your Wizards. Each spell requires a casting roll (2D6) that must meet or exceed the spell’s casting value. An enemy Wizard within 30″ can attempt to unbind it by beating your casting roll. Rolling two 1s is a miscast: the spell fails and the Wizard takes D3 mortal damage.
• Chant prayers with your Priests. Prayers are chanted on a D6, Priests can bank ritual points to answer harder prayers later, and prayers can’t be unbound.
• Use the many hero abilities on your warscrolls that happen in this phase.

The number after the keyword, such as Wizard (2), is that model’s power level: how many spells or prayers it can use per phase. Your Wizards know their warscroll spells plus the lore you pick when building your army — Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield are no longer universal spells. Magic is far more prominent in Age of Sigmar than in Warhammer 40k, and managing your spellcasters is a key tactical skill. The full rules are in Age of Sigmar magic explained.

Movement Phase

Each unit can use one of these moves:

• Normal Move — A unit that is not in combat moves up to its Move characteristic. It can’t move into combat.
• Run — A unit that is not in combat rolls a D6 and adds it to its Move. A unit that runs can’t shoot or charge later that turn.
• Retreat — A unit that is in combat takes D3 mortal damage, then moves up to its Move. It can pass through enemy combat ranges but can’t finish inside one, and it can’t shoot or charge afterwards.

Models must stay in coherency: each one within ½” of another model in the unit, or of two others if the unit has 7 or more models.

Shooting Phase

Units that didn’t Run or Retreat can shoot at visible enemy units within range. A unit that is in combat can only shoot with weapons that have Shoot in Combat. Every attack uses the same sequence:

1. Hit roll — equal to or above the weapon’s Hit characteristic. An unmodified 6 is a critical hit.
2. Wound roll — equal to or above the weapon’s Wound characteristic.
3. Save roll — the defender subtracts the weapon’s Rend and needs to equal or beat their Save.
4. Damage — each attack that gets through adds its Damage to a damage pool. Mortal damage skips straight to this step.
5. Ward rolls — if the defender has a ward, they roll for each point of damage; each success removes one.

Unmodified 1s always fail. Hit and wound modifiers are capped at +1/-1, and save bonuses at +1. For worked examples, see Age of Sigmar combat explained, and for Crit (Mortal), Anti-X and the rest, see Age of Sigmar weapon abilities.

Charge Phase

A unit that is not in combat and didn’t Run or Retreat can charge: roll 2D6 and move up to that many inches. To count as having charged, it must finish within ½” of a visible enemy unit. Some weapons get Charge (+1 Damage) on the turn their unit charges.

Combat Phase

Every model has a combat range of 3″. Units that are in combat or that charged this turn fight, and players take turns picking one unit at a time, starting with the active player. Strike-first units always fight before anyone else. Each fighting unit can pile in up to 3″ first. Combat uses the same hit-wound-save-damage sequence as shooting, with melee weapon profiles. Combat in AoS tends to be decisive and deadly.

End of Turn

End-of-turn abilities are used, then objective control is checked and you can complete battle tactics. There is no battleshock phase in 4th Edition, and units no longer have a Bravery characteristic.

Priority Roll — AoS’s Unique Mechanic

The priority roll is the single biggest difference between Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40k, and it fundamentally changes how you play the game.

In the first battle round, the player who finished setting up their army first chooses who takes the first turn (unless the battleplan says otherwise). From the second round onwards, both players roll off at the start of each round, and the winner chooses who goes first. On a tie, whoever went first in the previous round decides. This means the same player can take two consecutive turns — the end of one battle round and the start of the next. This is called a “double turn”. See AoS priority roll and double turn explained for the full detail.

The double turn is the most debated mechanic in AoS. It creates massive swings in momentum and forces both players to plan for the possibility of their opponent acting twice in succession. Here is how to handle it:

• Never overextend. If you push your army forward aggressively, a double turn from your opponent could see them charge and destroy your exposed units before you can react.
• Screen valuable units. Keep cheap, expendable units in front of your important models so they absorb the initial impact of a double turn.
• Plan for both outcomes. Before each priority roll, mentally prepare your strategy for going first AND going second. The best AoS players win regardless of who gets priority.
• Use it offensively. If you win priority and your opponent is exposed, a double turn is your chance to deliver a devastating blow. Push hard and score objectives before they can respond. Bear in mind that if you take the first turn after going second (seizing the initiative), you can’t complete battle tactics that turn unless your opponent is 11 or more VP ahead.

At the start of each round, the player with fewer victory points becomes the underdog and gets an extra command point, plus any other catch-up rules in the battlepack.

How to Win — Objectives and Battle Tactics

Age of Sigmar is won by scoring the most victory points (VP). The battleplan sets the exact scoring, but in matched play points come from two main sources:

• Controlling objectives — A model contests an objective if the objective marker is within its combat range (3″). Add up the Control characteristic of all your models contesting it: if your total is higher than your opponent’s, you take control. You keep control until your opponent takes it from you, even if you walk away. Control is checked at the end of every turn.
• Battle tactics — In the General’s Handbook 2026-27 battlepack, each player picks up to 2 battle tactic cards when building their army and reveals them before deployment. Each card has three tactics (Affray, Strike, then Domination) that must be completed in order. At the end of your turn you can complete one tactic per card, each worth 5 VP. See Age of Sigmar battle tactics for the cards.

Because Control is a characteristic, a small unit with high Control can out-hold a bigger unit with low Control. You are constantly making decisions: when to push for objectives, when to play defensively, and how to line up the next tactic on each card.

Your First Game

Here is how to set up and play your first game of Age of Sigmar:

1. Start with Spearhead. The Spearhead game mode uses pre-built forces from a single box, has simplified rules, and plays on a smaller table. It is designed specifically to teach new players.
2. Set up terrain. Place terrain pieces evenly across the table, with a mix of line-of-sight blocking pieces and open areas.
3. Choose a battleplan. Spearhead battleplans are straightforward and include clear setup diagrams.
4. Deploy your armies. Set up units in your territory as the battleplan specifies.
5. Decide the first turn. The player who finished setting up first chooses who takes the first turn in battle round 1. From round 2 onwards, use the priority roll.
6. Play through 5 battle rounds. Follow the phase sequence and score VP at the end of each turn.
7. Total up VP. The player with the most victory points wins.

Take your time, keep the rules handy, and do not worry about playing perfectly. The goal of your first game is to learn the flow of the phases and have fun.

Key Rules

Command Points and Commands

Each player gets 4 command points (CP) at the start of every battle round, and the underdog gets 1 more. Unspent CP are lost when the round ends. You spend CP on core commands such as:

• All-out Attack — Add 1 to hit rolls for a unit’s attacks. Excellent for ensuring key combats go your way.
• All-out Defence — Add 1 to save rolls for a unit. Use this to keep a critical unit alive through incoming fire or combat.
• Redeploy — Move a unit up to D6″ in your opponent’s movement phase, allowing you to react to their positioning.
• Covering Fire — Let a unit shoot in your opponent’s shooting phase, at reduced accuracy.
• Counter-charge — Let a unit charge in your opponent’s charge phase.
• Forward to Victory — Re-roll a failed charge roll.
• Rally — Bring back wounds or slain models to a unit that isn’t in combat.

Two limits apply: each unit can use only one command per phase, and each command can only be used once per phase by your whole army. Every command is covered in Age of Sigmar commands explained.

Manifestations (Endless Spells)

Manifestations are persistent magical models — endless spells summoned by Wizards and invocations summoned by Priests — that stay on the battlefield after they arrive. Some move around damaging units, others provide ongoing buffs or block areas of the board. Your Wizards and Priests can also banish enemy manifestations.

In matched play you pick one manifestation lore when building your army, either your faction’s own lore or one of the universal lores, and your casters summon from it. A well-placed manifestation can control entire areas of the battlefield.

Terrain Rules

Terrain in Age of Sigmar is more than scenery. Terrain features carry rules that affect movement and shooting — for example, a unit behind or on a terrain feature can benefit from cover, which makes ranged attacks against it harder to land rather than improving its save, and large pieces can block line of sight entirely. Check the core rules for the full list of terrain abilities, and your battletome for any faction terrain.

Understanding terrain is essential to playing well. Shelter fragile units behind line-of-sight blocking pieces, use cover to protect units on objectives, and remember that terrain also slows down movement.

Common Mistakes

• Playing from an old edition’s rules. Battleshock, Bravery, Inspiring Presence, grand strategies, CP gained in the hero phase, and Arcane Bolt/Mystic Shield for everyone all belong to older editions.
• Forgetting the priority roll implications. Many new players play as if they will always alternate turns. Always ask yourself: “What happens if my opponent gets a double turn here?” Position accordingly.
• Neglecting battle tactics. Plan your turn around completing the next tactic on each of your cards. Free VP is never worth leaving on the table.
• Spending all your CP in your own turn. Reactive commands like All-out Defence and Redeploy work in your opponent’s turn.
• Counting models instead of Control. Objective control uses the Control characteristic, not a simple model count.
• Overcommitting to combat. AoS combat is lethal. Charging a strong enemy unit without support can see your attackers wiped out in the counter-attack. Always commit enough force to win decisively.
• Not screening for double turns. Leave expendable units between your main force and the enemy. If your opponent gets a double turn, these screens buy you time.

Where to Go Next

Once you are comfortable with the basics of Age of Sigmar, here are your next steps:

• Explore factions. Browse our Age of Sigmar army guides to find the faction that matches your preferred playstyle and aesthetic.
• Expand from Spearhead. Once you’ve mastered Spearhead, add models to build a 1,000-point army, then scale up to 2,000 points for the full matched play experience.
• Try Path to Glory. This narrative campaign mode is one of the best ways to enjoy AoS. Your army grows and evolves over multiple games, gaining experience, upgrades and battle scars.
• Attend events. Local gaming stores regularly host AoS game nights and tournaments. These are the best way to improve your skills and meet other players.
• Pick up a battletome. Your faction’s battletome contains battle formations, enhancements, spell and prayer lores, and background lore that enrich the game dramatically.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40k?

Age of Sigmar is set in a high-fantasy universe with swords, sorcery and mythical creatures. Warhammer 40k is set in a sci-fi universe with guns, tanks and power armour. The core gameplay is similar — move models, roll dice, fight battles — but AoS has unique mechanics like the priority roll and more prominent magic. Many players enjoy both games.

How long does a game of Age of Sigmar take?

A Spearhead game takes around an hour. A 1,000-point game takes about 1.5 hours. A full 2,000-point game takes 2 to 2.5 hours. AoS games tend to be slightly faster than 40k due to streamlined rules and smaller recommended table sizes.

Is the double turn fair?

The double turn is intentionally designed to create dramatic swings and prevent games from becoming predictable. While it can feel punishing at first, many experienced players consider it one of AoS’s greatest strengths because it rewards adaptable, defensive play and punishes over-extension. The underdog bonus CP and the rule that stops a player who seizes the initiative from scoring battle tactics (unless they’re well behind) help soften it. The key is to always plan for the possibility.

What is the best beginner faction in Age of Sigmar?

Stormcast Eternals are the most beginner-friendly faction. They are durable, versatile, and have the widest range of models and starter sets. Other good starter factions include Orruk Warclans (aggressive and forgiving), Nighthaunt (simple mechanics and a ward save on most units) and Skaven (large hordes, fun playstyle).

Do I need to buy a Battletome?

Not to start. All unit warscrolls and core rules are free. However, a battletome unlocks battle formations, enhancements, spell and prayer lores, and narrative content that significantly deepen the experience. Once you have decided on a faction, a battletome is a worthwhile investment.

Can I use old Warhammer Fantasy models?

Many older Warhammer Fantasy models have warscrolls in Age of Sigmar and are fully playable. However, some legacy factions have been discontinued and may not receive future updates. Check the AoS app or Games Workshop website to confirm whether your specific models have current warscrolls.

How much does it cost to start Age of Sigmar?

A Spearhead box costs around £50-65 / $70-85, giving you a complete playable force. A full 2,000-point army typically costs £250-500 / $350-650 depending on the faction. Prices change, so check current retail prices, and see our starter set guide for the best value entry points.

What is the current edition of Age of Sigmar?

Age of Sigmar is currently on its 4th Edition, which launched in 2024 with the Skaventide box. 4th Edition streamlined the rules, made all core rules and warscrolls free in the official app, and introduced Spearhead as the recommended small-game format for new players. Older battletomes and rules from previous editions are no longer used in matched play.

Is there still a battleshock phase?

No. 4th Edition removed battleshock and the Bravery characteristic. A turn is now start of turn, hero, movement, shooting, charge, combat and end of turn.

Do I need to paint my models to play Age of Sigmar?

No. You can play with unpainted or part-painted models in casual games, and most players do while they build their collection. Some tournaments and official events ask for painted armies, so check the event pack. Painting is a big part of the hobby, though, and a painted army makes games more fun to look at.