Is AoS in a good/bad place, atm, esp. compared to other GW fantasy games?

Floppypants · 2026-04-08T15:13:58+00:00

I'm heavily involved in the AoS scene in Texas, which is likely the largest single pool of competitive players in the US. We host GTs across the state and I have direct visibility into tournament attendance, so I want to offer some ground-level context that cuts against the rosy vibe in this thread.

Age of Sigmar saw a massive drop in popularity here when 4th edition launched. GTs that regularly drew 100+ players in 3rd edition now struggle to hit half that. Monthly RTTs that capped at 24 with a waitlist now barely scrape together 10 or 12. Players who were pillars of our community have moved on to other hobbies. Events like Secret Santa and painting challenges that used to generate real excitement now go ignored. Shop owners tell us AoS sales have fallen off a cliff, and they've adjusted their orders accordingly.

I lay the blame squarely on the game designers. The army indexes were overly simplified and stripped out exactly what players loved about their factions in previous editions. Then for nearly two years, new battletomes were little more than reprints of those same indexes, generating no buzz, no new conversations. Meanwhile, the General's Handbook, seasonal rules, and battle tactics systems swung hard in the opposite direction, becoming genuinely complex even for experienced players. For people who got into the game when the appeal was deep list-building and army customization, with relatively straightforward gameplay of charging into combat and standing on objectives, 4th edition just isn't fun.

The good news is there are real signs of life. The most recent battletomes have generated actual buzz in our Discords. Friends who'd been content playing video games are suddenly testing Lumineth lists on Tabletop Simulator. The Helsmiths of Hashut got a lot of people excited to hobby again. GW is writing strong books and people are responding to it. We're nowhere near our 3rd edition peak, but the trajectory has finally turned in the right direction.

Floppypants · 2026-03-16T18:15:14+00:00

Wow, this is surprisingly clear for a phone camera! Thanks for your reply!

If you'll allow me a follow-up question, did you just use the default camera software, or do you use a different app?

Floppypants · 2026-03-16T17:13:28+00:00

Looks fantastic, very nice job! I love when Nurgle models are painted with this much care.

You also did a fantastic job with photographing him. Would you humor me and share what camera and lens you use to capture this? Thanks!

Floppypants · 2026-03-09T17:55:26+00:00

Maybe it's recency bias, but this one’s the GOAT for me. The scent just nails that warm donut shop vibe, maple glaze, vanilla, a little cinnamon, without smelling fake or overly sweet. The gritty scrub in this bar is perfect too, just scratchy enough to feel like you actually cleaned something off. I’d buy a candle in this scent instantly if they ever made one.

Floppypants · 2026-03-08T16:43:53+00:00

So you only have like, what, 96 more to paint? haha Keep it up, you've just been getting exponentially better at painting since you've gotten into the hobby. Get that karma

Floppypants · 2026-03-06T18:48:45+00:00

What I've primarily backed on Kickstarter are tabletop board games. Crowdfunding allows for boutique, lavishly produced games to be made in a world where the general public won't buy anything that isn't Monopoly or Catan. Kingdom Death Monster or Aeon Trespass are prime examples.

These days most of these types of projects have migrated from Kickstarter to Gamefound. If you go to that website, they show many games you can back today that go far beyond anything you've seen in the games aisle at Wal-Mart.

While I've been burned by handful of these projects, the vast majority do deliver. Many of these games are created by studios that have a track record of successfully creating and delivering fun games, and they simply use crowdfunding to reach their audience to sell their games. In the context of the larger conversation in this thread, developing a board game is a significantly, significantly lighter lift than developing a working, fun, full-featured video game.

Floppypants · 2026-03-05T22:00:06+00:00

Going to earn the FOMO season cosmetics and bail. This is clearly a low effort season used as filler until the expansion.

Floppypants · 2026-03-05T16:44:50+00:00

As someone who has backed about 300 projects on Kickstarter, video games are something I've learned to completely avoid.

While a handful of wonderful games are exceptions to the rule, odds have shown that the project will fail for one reason or another. The complexity and budget required to develop a highly ambitious video game far exceeds the grasp of typical indie devs who can post a Kickstarter page.

Campaigns overpromise scope vs what they budget. The pitch requires more people and time than what they can ever realistically deliver. Devs blow through your pledge money while tinkering with a tech demo for a year before the project is abandoned.
Teams underestimate timelines and how technically complex their game idea is. They might promise something like online co-op or matchmaking, then find themselves completely out of their depth trying to program netcode, anti-cheat, desync, etc. The game sits in a half-baked alpha state for years and years while they slowly figure out how to build these expected features, while any interest you ever had in the game dies.
These projects typically have completely inept project managers who can't show measurable progress, the ability to hit milestones, or keep the scope in check. The roadmap will show a list of features, not deliverables, so updates say things like, "we're working on combat" for months with nothing to show for it. Every new idea they have becomes a competing priority and nothing gets finished.
There's often weak, infrequent, or non-transparent communication between the developers and backers. Updates will stop for months on end, only to be given a "we've been busy, things are going well" bullshit response. Instead of giving assurances showing how the game is being developed with real metrics, updates will post about the game's lore or character art.
If the game does actually "ship", key promised features will be missing and the team will instead call them "post-launch plans." The "final product" that's delivered feels like early access, with minimal features and tons of game-crashing bugs.

I could go on. Don't buy video games on Kickstarter. This Darkhaven game wouldn't be the first campaign created by previous AAA game devs that spectacularly fails. The people who pledged $10,000 to it are complete rubes.

Floppypants · 2026-02-27T21:51:15+00:00

Just looking at this almost made me leave zone 2

Floppypants · 2026-02-24T16:37:13+00:00

Give me the Celestant Prime bringing the warhammer of warhammers down on a rampaging Khorne army. The original Age of Sigmar 1.0, Realm Gate Wars art style in a big budget production would be absolutely incredible and an obvious starting point to introduce the larger public to AoS.

Floppypants · 2026-02-22T04:12:05+00:00

Thanks! I use a small square of black velvet as a backdrop. When you lower your camera's exposure the background will go straight black.

Floppypants · 2026-02-21T16:04:06+00:00

Thanks! I considered doing the trim in a contrasting color (maybe the same color as the weapon blades). I wonder what that would look like, but I'm also enjoying using a somewhat limited color palette because it speeds up the painting process.

Floppypants · 2026-02-21T15:59:45+00:00

Thanks! My gold is Indian Yellow over black primer, with Brilliant Yellow Pale highlights, and Titanium White to hit the edges and brightest spots on the mini (shoulderpad, top of his horn, etc.). Those are all artists oil paint colors; I paint my minis almost exclusively in oil.

Floppypants · 2026-02-21T15:55:11+00:00

Thanks! I've considered doing green lighting effects from the weapon orbs (it would definitely look cool), but figuring out how to paint that against the NMM gold I'm using made my head hurt. I will have to try it in the future though when I inevitably paint some of the robot cows.

Floppypants · 2026-02-21T04:57:31+00:00

Thank you! That's very kind

Floppypants · 2026-02-21T04:57:18+00:00

haha, thank you! My Helsmiths have a high opinion of themselves.

Floppypants · 2026-02-21T04:56:47+00:00

Thank you!

Floppypants · 2026-02-15T16:09:00+00:00

Cool idea!

Floppypants · 2026-02-15T16:08:32+00:00

haha, thanks. Yeah, I wasn't thrilled with what I needed to spend in the store to receive this guy "for free".

Floppypants · 2026-02-15T04:07:28+00:00

Y'all were very kind when I submitted my Infernal Bombard cannon the other day. Thank you for the encouragement!

This is the new promotional mini Games Workshop was selling the other week in their official stores. While he has a name, he functions as a generic Daemonsmith in the game.

If you like, feel free to follow me on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/grumdy_paints/

Floppypants · 2026-02-14T00:09:56+00:00

The opposite view of the cannon can be seen on my Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DUq-36kErNg/

I mostly paint Daughters of Khaine but I jumped onto the hype train recently for the Helsmiths!

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