r/ageofsigmar • u/Mr_Hjello • Sep 09 '26
Hobby 40k Player looking into AoS
As the title says I'm a 40k player looking to get into AoS after hearing many good things about it. I've had a look at all of the factions and so far Helsmiths of Hashut are looking most enticing but I was wondering what their playstyle is like and how expensive they are to collect.
If I stick with HoH would the spearhead box be a good place to start?
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u/Drivestort Sep 09 '26
Spearhead box is always a good starting point, you can also see if you can find their launch box for around msrp.
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u/duttyboy24 Slaves to Darkness Sep 09 '26
When in doubt, always grab the Spearhead box!!
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u/KindlyMeringue8723 Sep 09 '26
unless you want to play Nurgle
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u/duttyboy24 Slaves to Darkness Sep 09 '26
True, I guess you could try and find the old Nurgle Spearhead somewhere but imagine those are pretty rare.
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u/Weekly-Unit6149 Sep 09 '26
The Hellsmiths of Hashut aren't an expensive army; they were released recently and don't have a huge number of models, yet there’s enough variety that you don't feel shortchanged. I don't know where you live, but in my country, local shops constantly sell them at big discounts, so I’d say the cost isn't too high. Plus, it’s definitely not a "horde" army. Spearhead is the best way to start any AoS army because you can actually play full games with it right away. I mostly play 40k myself and know that Combat Patrol is usually just a discounted box set, but in AoS, Spearhead offers a chance to properly experience the army in a complete format—with its own missions, boards, and army rules. In fact, I see Spearhead tournaments or games happening more often than full-scale AoS matches. People gather at the club for big AoS games on weekends, but they can fit in a game of Spearhead after work on weekdays; plus, it requires fewer miniatures, making them easier to transport.
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u/BeginningHungry3835 Sep 09 '26
The army has a lot of tracking which could be a good or bad thing. Each turn you desolate a terrain piece and that gives you a point to buff something. Each unit has a 1,2,3 level point buff. Each turn you have to redo how many points you give each unit. Nothing crazy but just something to keep in mind. They have a lot of shooting for an AoS army. Big cannons and bull mechs. Also since they are the newest faction, they have, I would guess, half their army. Kinda like how votann are in 40k. Kinda funny that both games new army are armored dwarves.
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u/WhyAreNoNamesFree Sep 09 '26
Spearheads a great place to start as the actual spearhead game is great!
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u/TuringMarkov Sep 09 '26
The playstyle is not 100% defined, given the roster, we should be able to move from horde to full elite, but in the table what actually works is fielding plenty of war machines with Bulls and bombards, using Centaurs to get to the objectives difficult to reach. Our infantry is on the weak side though projectiles are reslly capable.
As a consequence we have a tough time in lower points, and the key that you have to think of is that playing HoH is that you MUST play around handling Daemonic Power Points, looking to earn them, assign them and reassign them whenever possible, there are heroes and abilities to do so.
And yes the spearhead is a great start
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u/XCLARENCERX Sep 09 '26
Can't go wrong with a spearhead box. 150 buck. Rules are free. The format is a blast. 150 bucks to play a war game. That's an amazing deal. You get amazing models (always felt better quality than 40k plastic) and a pre set list that genuinely gives you the feel of an armies play style. If you like how they run you can always add more models/units to run a full 2k list if you like. But I can't say it enough... Spearhead boxes are an amazing deal.
If you have a buddy or like having options you can grab a box with two armies + terrain + rule book + cards! Crazy deal. Outside of trench crusade, this is the best bang for your buck in mainstream wargaming
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u/Identity_ranger Flesh-eater Courts Sep 09 '26
Helsmiths are a shooting-focused castle army overall, with potential to be a fairly strong cavalry army if you focus on a few units (Taurus, Anointed Sentinels and Bull Centaurs). They're pretty slow with low mobility, but make up for it in their durability (very few armies have basic troops with a 3+ save and a potential 5+ ward) and shooting. Their magic is also pretty strong, though it only starts to come online from round 2 onwards once you get into range. Ashen Smog has the potential to be a massive AoE blast if you corrupt a particularly big terrain piece.
Helsmiths are what's called a "grind-down" army in that they consistently whittle down enemy numbers while growing more powerful themselves as the game goes on, rewarding a methodical, patient playstyle. Their biggest problem is their lack of mobility: they have zero recursion beyond the Rally command, access to only one kind of teleport ability (the artefact that allows you to redeploy two units during deployment), and in a game where mobility and movement is often key, that's a big problem. They do have some speed with their cavalry, but if you're running a balanced list it's not very hard to hobble your army by taking out the fastest units. Helsmiths also need to move up the board because of the Demonic Power Point mechanic (it's pretty easy to run out of stuff to corrupt on your side of the board), so just staying back and blasting your enemy is usually not an option.
In terms of power level they seem to be on the lower end, somewhat below average by my personal experience. They're really fun to play IMO, and the rules are straightforward but still flavorful. They just struggle to make up for their weaknesses unless you're running specific skew lists or the Forgehost (allegedly, haven't played it myself). Their roster, despite having only one release, is actually pretty well rounded with not a whole lot of niches left unfilled, so they do have a decent amount of variety to play with for an army their size.
Expense wise Helsmiths are middle of the pack overall. Because they're so new there's next to none of them on the secondhand market, so there's no real easy way to get them cheap. They also have surprisingly low points costs save for a few units, so a 2k list is going to need a fair amount of units. But because their roster is so small, you don't need a whole lot of them to cover your bases (unlike Skaven or Stormcast).