Age of Sigmar Factions: A Breakdown of all 23 Armies

As a new player, it can be hard to figure out what Age of Sigmar armies there are and how the different factions are split up.

This article will run you through exactly what armies and factions there are in Age of Sigmar. You could also call the various factions for “age of sigmar races”. First, we have an overview of various things you should know to understand the different armies of AoS.

After that, we have a table with all Age of Sigmar armies and after that we run down things you should know about each specific faction or army – including a bit about the age of sigmar army playstyles.

If you are wondering if there are any upcoming releases for your army, you can check out our updated overview of upcoming confirmed releases for Age of Sigmar.

Age of Sigmar armies and factions: the complete list

Right now, there are 23 factions fully supported in Age of Sigmar. All factions received an index on launch day of the fourth edition meaning that any earlier battletome is not valid anymore (yes even the Flesh-Eater one that lasted only 6 months).

All indexes will eventually be replaced by battletomes, with Skaven being the first one. While Beasts of Chaos, Bonesplitterz and many Stormcast Eternal models received rules in an index, they also have an expiration date of the 1st of June of 2025. As such, those will not be included in the lists below. Beasts of Chaos will return, hopefully in 2025, for the game The Old World (with square bases).

Apart from those, all the factions below are supported with rules.

The 23 factions and armies in Age of Sigmar are:

1. Blades of Khorne (Chaos)
2. Disciples of Tzeentch (Chaos)
3. Hedonites of Slaanesh (Chaos)
4. Maggotkin of Nurgle (Chaos)
5. Skaven (Chaos)
6. Slaves to Darkness (Chaos)
7. Flesh-Eater Courts (Death)
8. Nighthaunt (Death)
9. Ossiarch Bonereapers (Death)
10. Soulblight Gravelords (Death)
11. Gloomspite Gitz (Destruction)
12. Ogor Mawtribes (Destruction)
13. Orruk Warclans (Destruction, although it’s two different armies: Ironjawz and Kruleboyz)
14. Sons of Behemat (Destruction)
15. Cities of Sigmar (Order)
16. Daughters of Khaine (Order)
17. Fyreslayers (Order)
18. Idoneth Deepkin (Order)
19. Kharadron Overlords (Order)
20. Lumineth Realm-lords (Order)
21. Seraphon (Order)
22. Stormcast Eternals (Order)
23. Sylvaneth (Order)

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What are Grand Alliances, Battletomes, Factions, Allegiances, Subfactions, Endless Spell and Faction Terrain?

Before we get to the table with an overview of all the armies, it might be helpful for you to know what pieces the various armies are made up of.

Grand Alliances

Age of Sigmar has four Grand Alliances. Each faction is part of only one of those four alliances.

The four Grand Alliances are Destruction, Death, Chaos and Order.

Factions

Each Grand Alliance is made up of several factions.

A faction could be Skaven (Chaos), Nighthaunt (Death), Gloomspite Gitz (Destruction) or Stormcast Eternals (Order).

To field an army you need to pick a faction. Each faction has a battletome or an index. A faction represents a more or less homogenous group of fighters that compose your army.

Battletomes and indexes

Each faction has a rulebook called a “Battletome”, giving them specific abilities when you take only units from that faction.

If you are used to Warhammer 40,000, you will be pleased to know that it is rare to see an army in Age of Sigmar that is not made completely from units that are found in the battetome for the army, making fielded armies more cohesive.

However, some factions may have rules spread across other narrative rule books like the recent Dawnbringers campaign, or in White Dwarf articles where the designers experiment with a specific aspect of the army and expand on it. These are usually quite thematic, but some give a competitive edge to a particular side of a faction.

An index is a placeholder set of rules, available for free in Warhammer Community download section, that replaces all earlier battletomes providing fourth edition rules to all armies and units. Eventually indexes will all be replaced by a battletome.

Allegiances

Every faction has their main faction abilities, composed of battle traits and enhancements. You can find more about them in our dedicated article.

Some factions have alternative modes to play the same army, called armies of renown. You can find more about them in the same article linked above.

A change in this season is that the point list, called pitched battle profiles, will be available for free in Warhammer Community after the battletome is released. These profiles will tell you not only the costs of each unit (in points), but also which units are allowed in a specific hero’s regiment.

Subfactions, allies and coalitions

The old concepts of subfactions, allies and coalitions are all gone. Now subfactions have been replaced by battle formations that provide one extra ability that favours a specific type of unit or playstyle.

Allies and coalitions have been replaced by Regiments of Renown, that are rigid blocks taken from a specific faction which can be used in other factions as they are.

If you want to know more about faction abilities, armies of renown, regiments of renown, etc, read our article on it here for AoS 4.0.

Endless Spells, Invocations and Faction Terrain

Wizards and Priests can summon magical (Endless Spells) or divine (Invocations) entities to do their bidding. Those are represented by models that can be used on the field and moved according to their rules until they complete their purpose, killed or banished.

The difference between an Endless Spell and an Invocation is that the former is usually summoned by wizards but can be unbound by any enemy wizard in range, while Invocations are summoned by priests. Both are generically called Manifestations and can be banished either by a wizard or a priest. Factions that have these entities usually come in boxes with three models, but there are some generic ones that can be used by any army.

The faction terrain is an awesome terrain piece that you can set up before the start of the game, providing some bonus to your army or hinder your enemies. In the fourth edition, they can be attacked and destroyed by any unit (or spell).

Not all armies have Manifestations, terrain or both, but this does not represent an obstacle to the army. As long as they have a wizard, they can use some generic ones.

Value Added Boxes

Value-added boxes represent the cheapest way of getting your hands on the miniatures for a given faction.

Having an amazing Spearhead box for an army will make it much easier to cheaply start an army and provides an immediate way to play Age of Sigmar with simplified, yet funnier, rules in the new Spearhead format.

Some Spearhead boxes represent a bargain and are useful even if you purchase multiple copies of the same box. Some others can be a bit more disappointing. All have Spearhead rules.

The Spearhead box is the rebranded name of the Vanguard box, that in itself replaced the old Start Collecting. While Vanguard and Spearhead have the same content, Start Collecting were smaller in unit size, number of total points and cheaper. If you can find them, they may still be a bargain, but they do not have Spearhead rules.

Periodically Games Workshop releases limited quantity of special boxes with different names, recently called Regiments of Renown. They are another way to add miniatures to your army at a cheaper price and sometimes they are a sort of mercenary box that you can use in other armies.

We have an overview of all Spearhead boxes to help you out.

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Tables and table legend

Below you can find a table for each grand alliance.

A note on the tables:

The table contains a link to the Battletome, Endless Spell, Terrain Feature and Start collecting in case they have them.

The Age of the Battletome shows when the latest battletome was released for that army.

Age of models is a personal comment on how recently the model line was updated. Some armies have really dated models (after the Skaven refresh the oldest range is Ogor Mawtribes) and some are completely new (like the Lumineth).

“Where are the rules” section represents whether the battletome or index represents the only place where you can find rules specific to that army or you need at least another book (like a White Dwarf article or narrative book) to expand on the army rules. “All over the place” represents a higher number of books required. More details can be found in the faction specific section.

Finally, the “Power level” represents how a specific faction fared recently in tournaments or the perceived power level. This is retrieved from the various meta analysis (woehammer, warhammer community, etc.) and it can change depending on the seasonal rules from the General’s Handbook, or what else is strong in the meta.

Chaos Army Table

Death Army Table

Destruction Army Table

Order Army Table

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Chaos Faction Armies Overview

Blades of Khorne Army Overview

Khorne was one of the first battletomes to ever be created as part of the Starter Set for Age of Sigmar 1.0. Its second iteration in 2017 established a new pattern for battletomes with new updated rules and allegiance abilities. Khorne currently has only an index battletome, meaning they are ready for the fourth edition.

Blades of Khorne represent both the mortal (more human) and demonic side of Khorne’s followers. Khorne is the Chaos God of violence, taker of skulls, and their armies represent exactly this. But don’t forget Khorne does not care whence the blood flows from, so be prepared to sacrifice your own units to honour the Skull Throne. Of course, blood red is the typical colour of Khorne armies.

Khorne has access to both Manifestations (in this case flavoured as “judgments” as Khorne will not accept magic being used by his followers) and terrain.

Blades of Khorne players will also have access to three different Value Added boxes, one dedicated to the mortal side (Khorne Bloodbound Start Collecting, Khorne’s half of Age of Sigmar original starter set), one to their demonic counterpart (it’s labelled Warhammer 40K but is fully compatible, Chaos Patrols: Chaos Daemons), and the newest Spearhead box with a good mix of mortal units. The first box is the only way to get some heroes and a Khorgorath outside of the second-hand market.

Khorne’s only Spearhead army, the Bloodbound Gore Pilgrims, uses the blood tithe mechanism to improve rend and move characteristics.

Khorne has a good mix of old and new miniatures, with most miniatures released in the last 5 years.

Currently Khorne armies are a one-trick pony that can be successful in certain situations but will struggle in others. Cost-wise the army is well price and with summoning gone in this edition, you don’t need to buy extra miniatures for your blood tithe points.

You can check out our guide here.

Disciples of Tzeentch Army Overview

The Disciples of Tzeentch rules are all available in the index that gives them a great start in the fourth edition.

Tzeentch is the Chaos God of Change; subterfuges and deceit being his weapons. His armies are adept to magic, represented in the many manifestations of wizards and spellcasters, including the humbler units. As all Chaos Gods, even Tzeentch armies are divided in mortals (humans, not without some mutations) and demons. Birds and blue hues are recurring symbols of the Changer of Ways.

Apart from new Endless Spells (but no terrain), Tzeentch got recent models not long ago, especially linked to the board game Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower.

As many other armies, the previous Start Collecting has been replaced by a Spearhead box that combines daemonic and mortal units and is an excellent starting point for this army. This box provides access to the Spearhead Fluxblade Coven army, that uses the usual trick of replacing any cast dice with one of the 9 destiny dice rolled at the beginning of the game.

Tzeentch excels in magic, therefore the hero phase is where they really shine, but they can play any phase and take advantage of playing other magic armies trying to contend the magic primacy. Any other army without great spellcasters, will suffer and will need to charge heads down to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Cost-wise, Tzeentch armies benefit from the removal of summoning in this edition, but since their daemonic side is currently more powerful than the mortal side, you may want to start directly there and invest in mortals at a later time (or just go for the units you think look the best).

You can check out our guide here.

Hedonites of Slaanesh Army Overview

Hedonites of Slaanesh starts the fourth edition with an index and a new revised set of rules, as every iteration the army changes identity. Their model range was recently updated with new daemons coming out in 2019, while the mortals followed in 2021, introducing new (and old) named characters to the fray.

Slaanesh armies are extremely fragile so they prefer to hit first and hit hard. Their speed is unmatched in the mortal realms so use it to control the board and commit to the fight when you are sure to win. However, be careful with the retaliation as the low defence of most units would mean that anything surviving your first charge can represent a high risk of annihilation. Temptation dice are a trap, but the archers available to Slaanesh now are really useful.

Slaanesh is the God of Excess and purple hues are usually used to colour his armies.

Slaanesh has access to both the Endless Spells and a terrain piece.

Slaanesh has a brand-new Spearhead box that replaces the Daemons-only Start Collecting box. The Spearhead army from this box, the Blades of the Lurid Dream, uses the old temptation dice rules from the third edition to obtain some coveted bonuses.

As mentioned earlier, almost all Slaanesh miniatures have been re-sculpted in recent years with the exceptions of some demons. Despite the continuous changes to their ruleset, a strong shooting army is the only successful way to play this army.

Cost-wise, as all new armies, Slaanesh is on the expensive side, but you don’t need any more to set aside some models for summoning.

You can check out our guide here.

Maggotkin of Nurgle Army Overview

The Maggotkin of Nurgle battletome was the third AoS 3.0 battletome released, and before that they had only one from the first version. Right now they have an index tome, that sees them struggling in any competitive match.

Nurgle has now the smallest model range between the four main Chaos factions, despite their 2018 release. Gone are also the allies and coalition rules, so now you can just focus on the Maggotkin of Nurgle units.

Nurgle is the benevolent Chaos God of pestilence and disease, overjoying in the new life arising from decay and decomposition of rotten corpses. The way they play is to present one of the toughest defences available in game combined with a splash of mortal wounds that can do every turn. They are however one of the slowest army (a big change since the previous edition, but more synchronised with the actual lore) and they may struggle to get to some objectives. On the other side, once there it will be difficult to remove them! Green hues are the favourite used by Nurgle armies.

Nurgle was one of the first factions to get their own terrain feature, but sadly no Endless Spells.

Nurgle’s Spearhead: Maggotkin of Nurgle provides some good units and their army, the Bleak Host, brings to Spearhead the disease points: a mechanism to do splash mortal wounds. One of the Pusgoyle will join the fray only from the 3rd turn.

Cost-wise, Nurgle is still an affordable army, especially now that summoning is gone.

You can see our guide for more in-depth details.

Skaven Army Overview

Skaven represents a race of ratmen followers of the Great Horned Rat, the newly ascended Chaos God. This army has its origin in Warhammer Fantasy and it’s one of the most representative and unique factions that appeared in that game and setting. They have also a huge and diverse range with different takes on the life of mutated rats: from stealthy assassins to stitched together monstrosities, from highly technical (but unreliable) weapons to hundreds of rusty pikes.

It is really difficult to describe Skaven playstyle as there are so many options available, but mostly you will have some hordes units to choke your opponent and allow your ranged or more elite units to surgically remove the opponent key pieces.

Skaven synergies play with some keywords that represent their main clans. Their battle formations give also some extra bonuses to one clan or another Here are the main clans, each with a unique visual style:

• Clan Verminus (hordes of rats)
• Clan Pestilens (plague monks and other Nurgle-related rats)
• Clan Moulders (rat monsters!)
• Clan Skryre (experimental weapons)
• Clan Eshin (stealthy and skirmish-y assassins)

Skaven are the first faction to drop the index in favour of a fourth edition battletome, but not much changed from the index, despite some new units being added. It did introduce two new armies of renown: The Great-Grand Gnawhorde with Vizzik leading a horde of non-Pestilens or Eshin rats, and Thanquol’s Mutated Menagerie with the titular champion trying to get the best out of few Moulder options.

Their model range is huge, and finally, with the latest edition, they got a full refresh with many sculpts obtaining a modern plastic kit, and some being retired for good. They still have some of the oldest kits in the entire game although. They also have Endless Spells and Faction Terrain.

Skaven are part of the different starter sets of the fourth edition together with Stormcast Eternals, but they also have a Spearhead box that represents the general Skaventide with a bit of a Skryre-team.

From the Ultimate Starter Set of the fourth edition you can get the Gnawfeast Clawpack, an army rich of heroes led by a mounted Clawlord with the ability to deploy one of the units in reserve ready for an ambush. The Spearhead box instead includes the Warpspark Clawpack, an army centred on a Grey Seer using his rats as screens for his shooting units and taking advantage of the free movement in the enemy phase.

Not all Skaven lists are extremely competitive but an expert player can get comfortably on the top tables.

Cost-wise it really depends how deeply you want to poke the rat nest: with the starter sets if you find someone to share the Stormcast half with, the costs are quite contained. On the other hand, the entire range is huge, so be prepared!

You can check out our guide here.

Slaves to Darkness Army Overview

The Slaves to Darkness recent battletome updates the previous index and expands on many important aspects while keeping the same identify of the army.

They form the masses of Chaos followers, mostly mortals or champions, either dedicated to a single Chaos God or undivided and therefore not yet aligned to a specific god. Archaon the Everchosen is the rightful leader of this faction, as he destroyed the Old World and is the favourite of the Chaos Gods, their Everchosen.

He is not, however, their pawn, and even the Chaos Gods fear Archaon as they were never able to control him despite all their efforts. Archaon’s dominion, the Eightpoints, is the centre of the skirmish game set in Age of Sigmar: Warcry.

Warcry releases have been mostly retired from the Slaves to Darkness roster, but, to compensate, a recent wave of Darkoath miniatures replaces all older Marauder miniatures. This adds up to the previous wave that refurbished the core armoured infantry and gives the entire army a new look.

There are two armies of renown available: The Swords of Chaos centred on Archaon, Abraxia and the Varanguard, and the Tribes of the Snow Peaks focussed on the Darkoath elements. To these, it was added the Legion of the First Prince, an army that allows to field Be’lakor and his most loyal followers and use any of the major daemons of the 4 Chaos Gods.

Slaves have Endless Spells and faction terrain. They also got a Spearhead box that allows to field the Bloodwind Legion army, able to receive the blessings of the Chaos gods when they destroy a unit or they control an objective. While the most recent Spearhead Darkoath Raiders sees a Darkoath Warqueen led a band of Darkoath to the battlefield while trying to complete some battle tactics as their own personal oath.

Slaves to Darkness roster is a dream for many list builders with so many options available multiplied by the possibility of giving a mark of chaos to most units, further specialising them. Despite this, Slaves are not beginner-friendly and the best lists currently are Varanguard-based.

With the reduction of the range available, Slaves to Darkness is a little bit more accessible to completionists, but some of they core models have an hefty price.

You can check out our guide here.

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Death Faction Armies Overview

Flesh-eater Courts Army Overview

Flesh-Eater Courts are a cannibalistic army of ghouls and other vampiric beings under the delusion of being grand nobles and knights travelling the world to fight evil and restore order. As such, they are a bit of a loose cannon and don’t follow Nagash’s orders directly. Some venerate him as an equal to Sigmar, some despise him and fight his armies.

Flesh-Eater Courts are born from the ashes of the Vampire Counts army from Warhammer Fantasy, gathering the more feral aspects of the vampires and their allies and providing a cool narrative around them. The result is a really fun army to play.

With their knightly ideals and medieval organization, Flesh-Eater Courts can be seen as an homage to the old Bretonnia army.

Flesh-Eater Courts still depend on their fourth edition index. The limited range of models mostly 10 years old has been greatly expanded in 2024 with the release of their leader Ushoran and many more models, including more heroes and new troops that expanded the previous released Endless Spells and terrain faction.

The old Start Collecting that included most of the core army (as number of warscrolls) is not available any more, so if you can find it, it’s a great investment. It was replaced by a Spearhead box containing an Abhorrant Archregent, 1 Varghulf Courtier, 3 Morbheg Knights and 10 Cryptguard that are all new or recent miniatures making this a great deal to start the army.

This box allows also to field the Carrion Retainers army that sees the Arch-Regent as the focal point, able to resurrect fallen comrades or improve their attacks.

Playing Flesh-Eater Courts allows you to submerge your enemy in hordes of tiny ghouls or smash them with powerful monsters depending on your taste. Either way, the current ruleset from the index sees them at the bottom of the meta ranking.

Nighthaunt Army Overview

The Nighthaunt army was born together with Age of Sigmar 2.0 to represent a new threat for the Stormcast Eternals, Sigmar’s paladins. Their inspiration comes from a few Vampire Counts spectral models (e.g. Tomb Banshee and Cairn Wraith) from the Warhammer Fantasy range which was expanded to obtain one of the best looking and cohesive armies in Age of Sigmar.

Their current ruleset resides in the fourth edition index and they are one of the strongest army in the game currently.

Nighthaunt armies are made of different ghosts or spectres representing the various levels of punishment that Nagash distributes on the souls of “perceived” deceased criminals. In game this is represented by units with an average but unchangeable defence and the ability to fly ignoring all terrain features.

They don’t have terrain features, but they do have Endless Spells.

Nighthaunt have a Spearhead box, that contains some good miniatures to start collecting this army if you lost the multiple starter sets and promotional items released when they were the main antagonists in the second edition of Age of Sigmar.

This box allows also to field the Slasher Host army which introduces the same ethereal ability that ignores the modifiers to save rolls for an easy-to-use group of units.

Nighthaunt range includes few push-to-fit miniatures, which means that, while difficult to convert and mostly mono-pose, they are also part of the cheapest range and also used in many other spin-off games (Warhammer Underworlds) or board-games produced with GW license.

You can check out our guide here.

Ossiarch Bonereapers Army Overview

Ossiarch Bonereapers take the concept of skeleton to a completely different level. They are not simple animated bones resurrected by a random necromancer, but rather osseous constructs filled with the best martial souls Nagash had access to and fielded as his elite army.

Ossiarch armies can be comprised of just a few models because of their elitist nature, ranging from infantry to cavalry, from terrifying bone catapults to monstrous constructs. At the helm is Katakros, Mortarch of the Necropolis and loyal general at the service of Nagash. One of the best martial leaders to ever fight in the Mortal Realms.

To some, the Ossiarch are the spiritual successors of the Old World Tomb Kings army while differing in many aspects.

Ossiarch don’t have a battletome, but have the full range of Endless Spells, faction terrain and a Spearhead box. The latter introduces the Tithe-Reaper Echelon army which introduces the concept of Ossiarch commands, a limited resource used to activate certain abilities during the game.

The range is almost completely new: only Nagash, Arkhan and the Morghasts have been pulled out of Legions of Nagash and found a new home with the Ossiarch (and those where models created just before Age of Sigmar launched).

Ossiarch armies are currently trending average in the fourth edition.

Cost-wise they are slightly cheaper than other similarly new armies, but still on the expensive side.

You can check out our guide here.

Soulblight Gravelords Army Overview

Soulblight Gravelords replaced Legions of Nagash. They are a powerful army composed of vampires, skeletons and zombies led by some of the most powerful generals Nagash ever had. While Nagash technically in the lore is… indisposed, he can still be used in any death army.

Although vampires are at the top of the command chain, some are more powerful than others and lead entire dynasties or legions (remainders of Legions of Nagash). However it is not unusual to have minor lords, like Wight Kings, lead armies of Deathrattle skeletons to war.

Soulblight have an army of renown, Scions of Nulahmia, which sees Sekhar guide other vampires, dire wolves and bats to battle.

There’s no battletome yet, but the index contains all you need to play. There are no faction terrain or endless spells. But you can use many of the various Shyishan spells from the various expansions.

The recent Spearhead box, allows to field the Bloodcrave Hunt army led by a Vampire Lord and his Blood Knights, all able to heal while the Vargheists swoop down from the sky in the third battle round.

Soulblight’s range has been recently updated and only few models are remaining from the old roster. Some models can also be found in Cursed City if you have access to it. In particular the Vyrkos and Avengorii dynasty are completely new. If you have an old Legions of Nagash army, just double check the base size and most miniatures can still be used.

Soulblight had ups and downs during AoS 3.0 tournaments, becoming strong competitors in many objective based matches, thanks to their great spawning abilities, zombies in particular, and the trend in the fourth edition keeps seeing them in high positions.

Many old miniatures are still available, at least in the second hand market. The new range is not too expensive considering skeletons and zombies come in boxes of 20, the existence of a Spearhead box, and comparing to more recent armies.

If you are looking to start an endless horde of zombies or an elite vampire army, you can check out our Soulblight Gravelords army guide here.

Nagash

Special mention goes to Nagash, that has been playable in all Death armies 2021. In the fourth edition this mechanism slightly changed, and his warscroll now appears in all army indexes. But, aside from the faction keyword, so far has been the same in content and point cost.

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Destruction Faction Armies Overview

Gloomspite Gitz Army Overview

Gloomspite Gitz is one of the craziest armies out there. Initially, Orcs & Goblins from Warhammer Fantasy were split in different Orks and Grots (the name of Goblins in AoS) factions. Then, Gloomspite reunited all Grots and friends under one single banner (technically Skagrott’s but every Loonboss wants to be at the top). The result is a new army with an extremely diverse and fun roster. There’s no battletome, but the index contains all is needed to play the army.

The different components of the army are:

• Moonclan Grots: these are the usual small black-hooded green guys. They are used in droves and can employ different tactics. They are the core of the army, with the best magic casters and the titular king.
• Squigs: while technically not a faction in itself but part of the Moonclan, Squigs are fungi bred for many reasons, but the red round ones with sharp teeth ridden to battle are the most feisty.
• Troggoths: these are the Trolls of old, now uglier and badder. While there’s not many models, it is possible to field a competitive army entirely of Troggoths.
• Spiderfang: if you are arachnophobe, this is not the army for you. It consists entirely of spider riders, including the biggest centrepiece available in the army fully loaded with grots. They are old models, and the least performant.
• Gitmob: while technically already in the army at the beginning, the entire range was retired and now is slowly coming back as wolf-riding Grots hailing from Hysh, the Realm of Light.

Gloomspite Gitz have access to the army of renown Trugg’s Troggherd that focuses on the Troggoths.

This army has both Endless Spells and faction terrain.

Gitz also have a brand new Spearhead set that combines some of the newest models in the range with the oldest, while maintaining a good balance. It is also a great Spearhead army, the Bad Moon Madmob, that combines horde of returning units with hard-to-kill models like the Rockgut Troggoth.

Gloomspite Gitz range has seen many replacements in 2019 when most range was refreshed, plus few new models released in 2023, including a revival of Gitmob. The only side that did not receive any love is the Spiderfang, whose warscrolls are also between the worst in the army.

Gloomspite are extremely funny to play, with a dash of randomness on squigs that makes them unpredictable, providing competitiveness to the army, while keeping the fan factor that characterises the army.

Despite being new, Gloomspite Gitz have average prices and is not an expensive army. You can find most models available through third-party retailers.

Do you want your own army of crazy sneaky grots? Check out our Gloomspite Gitz army guide here.

Orruk Warclans Army Overview

The other side of the Warhammer Fantasy Orcs & Goblins army, the Orcs, were also split into different factions. Some disappeared forever, some were created anew and all of this was recently merged in the Orruk Warclans.

The new index dropped both the combined force of all Orruks, and the Bonesplitterz entire range and it is now really just two different armies: the Ironjawz, the best and strongest Orruks clad in heavy bulky plate and the Kruleboyz, released in 2021, who represent the cunning side of Orruks (from Mork, the cunning but brutal side of Gorkamorka).

Despite having basically two armies combined, they don’t have either Endless Spells nor faction terrain. Their competitiveness really depends on which side we are considering with the Kruleboyz faring much better than the Ironjawz. This despite the latter receiving a range update in September 2023 that almost doubled their amount of warscrolls and replaced their main troop with a brand-new kit.

This range refresh came also with an army of renown, Krazzog’s Grunta Stampede which focusses on an entirely mounted army with Maw-gruntas and Gore-gruntas at the lead.

With the fourth edition all starter sets including Kruleboyz are gone, but their side is now available as a Spearhead box, which can also be played in the same name game format forming the Swampskulla Gang, an army led by a mounted Killaboss able to strike-first with another friendly unit once per game.

According to next year roadmap, Ironjawz should be getting their own Spearhead box and army, and perhaps the two army will get their own battletome being definitely separated.

Cost-wise Orruks are average, on the affordable side, but mostly depends on how many Kruleboyz you can find from the left-over boxes of the previous edition.

You can check out our guide here.

Ogor Mawtribes Army Overview

Once upon a time there were the Ogre Kingdoms (Warhammer Fantasy). In the Age of Sigmar they were split in different factions with different levels of rules support. Then the Ogor Mawtribes battletome came and reunited all surviving kits in one single cohesive force. Or two… The index that brings them in the fourth edition allows little differentiation between the two.

Ogors (Ogre name in AoS) are giant humanoid people constantly hungry: they are either eating or searching for their next meal. They are roughly divided into two types: the savage Beastclaw Raiders condemned to be always followed by the Everwinter, a supernatural blizzard that freezes anything behind their path, even the Beastclaw if they linger too long, and the Gutbusters, the tribal Warglutts roaming the Mortal Realms.

Ogors have an army of renown called The Roving Maw with a focus on Gutbusters and Gorgers.

They were the first to obtain a second terrain feature, but they still don’t have any Endless Spells.

The Spearhead box for the Ogor Mawtribes creates a good core of the army from a single box. It is also devastating in Spearhead format, where the Tyrant’s Bellow army can blast enemy’s off with their Leadbelchers until the Ironblaster and Mournfang Pack arrive in the third battle round.

Ogor miniatures come from Warhammer Fantasy, and while the Beastclaw range is around 10 years old and has still solid models (with few exceptions), the rest of the range is much older. They are definitely due an update and, looking at the quality of the Warhammer Underworlds warband, we are looking forward to that. Note that that warband had access to a better Icebrow Hunter and Frost Sabre model at a decent price.

The fourth edition index sees the army averaging towards the higher part of the meta, but one side, the Beastclaw, is much less performing.

If the age of the models does not discourage you, Ogors have decent prices compared to other armies, and if you find old value added boxes, they may contain a good portion of the points you need.

You can check out our guide here.

 Sons of Behemat Army Overview

Sons of Behemat is the latest Destruction army composed of basically… 2 giant kits. And for giant we mean really giant: the leaders of the army, the Mega-Gargants, are the tallest models ever made for Age of Sigmar.

The old Gargant kit is the basic troop, the brand-new kit has 5 assembly options with a total of 7 warscrolls, the smallest for an Age of Sigmar army. Mega-Gargants can also be used as mercenaries in any other army (each grand alliance has a named character they can recruit).

In fourth they haven’t received a battletome yet, living with just the index. The army of renown King Brodd’s Stomp focusses on the titular king and adds a different ruleset to play the same army.

There are no Endless Spells (or wizards for what it’s worth) or faction terrain but the Spearhead box containing 3 normal Gargants can also be used in the Spearhead format.

Sons of Behemat have strong rules being able to basically own whichever objective they desire. They suffer in some matchings but are otherwise really powerful.

The giant size of the miniatures is reflected by the giant cost of each one, the most expensive model available for Age of Sigmar. The good news is that you can field an entire army with only 4-8 models. The bad news is that it will cost you the same or a bit more of 2000pt equivalent in other armies.

You can check out our guide here.

Kragnos, the End of Empires

Kragnos received the same treatment as Nagash. His warscroll appears in every Destruction index allowing him to be fielded in whichever army while obtaining any advantage from that faction keyword.

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Order Faction Armies Overview

Cities of Sigmar Army Overview

Cities of Sigmar was a passion job that brought together all left-over miniatures from different Warhammer Fantasy armies in a single roster representing the various people living in the cities that Sigmar built in lands reclaimed from the Chaos hordes. Today this army is divided in 3 main groups: humans, duardin (or dwarfes) and aelves.

The first group is the one that received a huge wave of new miniatures, while at the same retired many older sculpts. The human side is now definitely more cohesive and visually appealing. The duardin and the aelvish side are composed of few survivors from the previous game and are most likely next to be retired or moved to the Old World roster.

The core of how the army works is centred around each hero providing Orders to the different units with greater bonuses given by some orders to a specific group. For example giving the order to Hold the Line benefits the duardin further than other units.

There is no faction terrain or endless spell set, but they recently got a Spearhead box with all brand- new miniatures: a Freeguild Cavalier-Marshal, 1 Ironweld Great Cannon, 5 Freeguild Cavaliers and 10 Freeguild Steelhelms. They can also be played as the Castelite Company who can use one of the commands in the battle tactics for free once per game.

With the fourth edition index, Cities are faring pretty well. They will most likely receive some miniature expansions in the future, but it is not known, however, how long the old kits will survive as a staggering 13 kits have been retired with the third edition battletome.

Daughters of Khaine Army Overview

Daughters of Khaine are the murderous followers of Morathi, the new goddess in town and powerful sorcerer. What started as a spin-off of Warhammer Fantasy Dark Elves army, is now one of the most powerful and characteristic Age of Sigmar armies.

Daughters of Khaine grouped together the blood-thirsty girls from the Dark Elves and extended the range with monstrosities created by Morathi on her image: female half-snake (Melusai) and harpies (Khinerai).

Daughters don’t have a battletome yet, but the fourth edition index see them quite strong. They don’t have a faction terrain, but they have Endless Spells. Their playstyle is consistently that of a glass cannon army.

The latest miniature in the range, Kretusa, allows also to play an aelf only army of renown called The Croneseer’s Pariahs.

Daughters recently obtained their own Spearhead box that, aside being a good starting set, it allows to play the Spearhead army Heartflayer Troupe with similar blood rites as the main army.

Daughters is not a cheap army by any means, and probably one of the most expensive, but the range is not too vast and you can decide if focus on the aelf side or the Melusai side that historically has been performing quite well.

You can check out our guide here.

Fyreslayers Army Overview

Fyreslayers are an Age of Sigmar army created expanding on the concept of Slayers from the Old World. They are a bunch of half-naked angry duardin (AoS language for dwarves) venerating Grimnir, their God who died while fighting Vulcatrix, godbeast and mother of all Salamanders. So now Fyreslayers are associated with lava and magma beasts that they ride into battle to literally turn their enemies to ashes.

Fyreslayers in the fourth edition have only an index, but they have Endless Spells and faction terrain. They are tough to remove from an objective but they have also low mobility. The Lofnir Drothkeepers is an army of renown focussed on the Magmadroth and the preservation of their eggs.

The Spearhead box available for the army is a good purchase as it contains a good amount of units with few assembly options. The Spearhead warband, however, requires the assembly of the Hearthguard Berzerkers, while the Vulkite can use either weapon profile. The Saga Axeband uses a similar runic enhancement system as the main army.

Fyreslayer models are new, all created specifically for Age of Sigmar, but they suffer from very similar look and feel and limited warscroll options.

Their armies are relatively average price-wise, while on tournaments, depending on the matching, can do well. An able general will need to take advantage of their high defence and cover their slowness with accurate positioning.

You can check out our guide here.

Idoneth Deepkin Army Overview

Idoneth Deepkin is another recent army for Age of Sigmar based on Aelves living underwater and taming with brute force sea monsters of any sort. If you have seen Aquaman the movie, you will be excused if your first urge is to buy this army and your first question is: where are the giant crabs?

Idoneth lore is extremely interesting and compelling, which sees them as secluded communities hiding from everyone for fear of reprisal from Teclis that created them but saw them flawed. Indeed today most Idoneth are both with broken souls and raiding parties are sent to the surface to collect the souls required to maintain in life most of their society.

They don’t have a battletome yet, only the fourth edition index, but they have a faction terrain. Their lack of Endless Spells is an internet meme.

The Spearhead box represents an average discount and can be used to play the Soulraid Hunt army with similar tide effects to the main army which apex on the third round with all units on Strike-First.

The miniatures are all extremely recent, and they are likely to receive small updates here and there.

Idoneth are a difficult army to use in the fourth edition, requiring a high skill level, especially if you are playing at tournament events where they are faring decently well.

Cost-wise, they are average, depending on which direction you want to build the army as you can space from horde armies to elite cavalry.

You can check out our guide here.

Kharadron Overlords Army Overview

Kharadron Overlords is another duardin army created at the beginning of Age of Sigmar. They represent those dwarves that decided to hide in the clouds before retaliating against the forces of Chaos. Their steampunk art, full of flying vessels and units armed with the more disparate weapons, from fishing hooks to aether guns, really characterizes the different aspects that make Age of Sigmar a unique setting.

In the fourth edition they have only an index, no battletome yet. They do have an army of renown, the Grundstok Expeditionary Force, that focusses on ground troops (plus the Gunhauler) rather than the bigger flying vessels.

Kharadron do not have Endless Spells or faction terrain but they have a Spearhead box. The Frigate surely makes quite an impression on the Spearhead battlefields lending its guns and docks to transport its comrades of the Skyhammer Task Force.

The entire range is new, released specifically for Age of Sigmar, but there’s not many options available, so hopefully the Kharadron are due for an expansion soon.

Kharadron armies are averagely priced but in tournaments they are suffering the lower importance of shooting in the fourth edition.

Lumineth Realm-Lords Army Overview

Lumineth Realm-Lords are the spiritual successor of the Warhammer Fantasy High Elves. They represent all that is Elf in this world, from the arrogance that almost destroyed them and their realm, Hysh, to the perfection in anything they achieve (martial arts and spellcasting).

After Teclis saved them from the belly of Slaanesh and they almost destroyed themselves in their hubris, they perfected the understanding of the elements and communed with the elemental spirits. The first battletome, in 2020, introduced the basic martial units (Vanari) and the disciples of the Mountain (Alarith). The second battletome (2021) further expanded the Vanari and introduced the Wind temple (Hurakan), but in the fourth edition they need only the index for now.

There are 2 more temples yet to be explored (Water, of which we had a taste in a Warcry warband, and Zenith), together with Tyrion yet to be represented in the game, leaving open more than a door for future expansions of this army.

Lumineth have Endless Spells, a faction terrain and a Spearhead box, that is a great way to start the army. It allows also to play the Glittering Phalanx, a Vanari-focussed army using the same facets of war mechanic as the main army.

The miniatures are all new and they are extremely powerful. Their performance in recent tournaments has been astounding, including representing the “spelldome” (the friendly name with which is called the current phenomenon where certain armies can completely prevent any magic activity to their opponents).

Cost-wise, be prepared to open your wallet. This is an expensive army, elite in numbers means less units on the field but to complete your roster you will encounter some of the most expensive models in their category.

You can check out our guide here.

Seraphon Army Overview

Seraphon is the Age of Sigmar name given to the Warhammer Fantasy Lizardmen army. They represents any kid’s dream: dinosaurs riding dinosaurs with lasers, but there’s a little bit for everyone including giant toads floating on chairs and casting extremely powerful magic spells.

Seraphon are divided into two main groups: Skinks that represent the priest caste and the more numerous and nimbler lizardmen, and the Saurus representing the warrior caste and the strongest units. On top of that, we have the Slann, relics from an age now forgotten, struggling in their never-ending fight against the forces of Chaos. All around we have everything from Triceratops to T-Rex, Pterodactyls and similar iconic dinosaurs.

Seraphon don’t have a fourth edition battletome, relying on the index, neither Endless Spells but they do have a faction terrain.

Seraphon range has been recently refreshed with many older units being replaced and few new ones being added, leaving only some Skinks in need of a new look, but they were already the youngest side and the one that looked better.

Seraphon’s Spearhead box is a joy for Saurus lovers, with an Oldblood on Carnosaur leading the charge of the Starscale Warhost.

Seraphon armies participate in the “spelldome” together with Lumineth Realm-Lords and are the rightful contender of the Aelves, especially in Lord Kroak, the only miniature that was already a corpse before even becoming a miniature (his spirit is so powerful that keeps him around his own mummy). They are not only strong in magic, but also in ambush tactics and ability to hurt the enemy where it is needed, making them one of the strongest armies in the game at the moment.

Model prices can vary considerably, cheaper on some older models and more expensive on the latest releases. You can still find some of the old models in the second-hand market, but obtaining every single model is going to be quite an expensive adventure.

If you are looking to start a Seraphon army, you can find our Seraphon Army guide here.

Sylvaneth Army Overview

The Sylvaneth genesis comes from the World-That-Was as they are the nature spirits that once formed half of the Wood Elves army led by Alarielle, once the Everqueen of the High Elves and representation of their Mother Goddess. Now the Sylvaneth and their leader embody the cycle of the seasons and fight for survival in Ghyran, the realm of Life. But since Sigmar arrived with his Stormcast Eternals to retake what Chaos destroyed, it’s the season of War for Alarielle and her kindred.

Sylvaneth are made of dryads (female tree spirits) and other similar attuned units, but there were rumours about Kurnothi, of which we have only seen glimpses, being a part of the army one day. The last expansion followed the Arch-revenant style however, with flying units and Revenant-type aelves.

Sylvaneth have Endless Spells and a new kit for the dreaded Sylvaneth woods. In the fourth edition they rely on the index for now. They have also an army of renown, The Evergreen Hunt, which sees Belthanos lead an army of Kurnothi.

The Spearhead box contains some important units and can be a safe multi-purchase, as many units have multiple assembly options. It can also be used for the Bitterbark Copse army with an interesting mechanic for Spearhead that allows a unit to jump from one terrain feature to another after fighting.

The entire range is relatively recent, most of the models introduced during the End Times, the last episode of Warhammer Fantasy and more than a few have been released in the past couple of years. As mentioned above, the Kurnothi, spirit folk half animal, half man like Satyrs and Centaurs, may or may not be a new expansion of the army, their own thing, or actually never be developed further.

Currently Sylvaneth are one of the weakest armies in the game despite Belthanos doing his best to lead the charge.

To be a recent army, Sylvaneth is on the cheap side, but the Dryads are still on a 8-model sprue making weird completing a full rank unit.

You can check out our guide here.

Stormcast Eternals Army Overview

The Stormcast Eternals are the paladins of justice created by Sigmar with the best and most noble souls subtracted during the long war against Chaos. They have now been released in the Mortal Realms to reclaim what was lost to the forces of Chaos and dispense justice. The theft of their souls noticeably angered Nagash, the Supreme Lord of Undeath, creating the premises for the Age of Sigmar 2.0 narrative (Soul Wars).

But behind their golden armour, these incredible warriors hide a dangerous secret: every time they die, their soul is re-forged in Azyr and sent back to battle, making them virtually immortal. This process is far from perfect and every time they go through it, they lose something of themselves, becoming indiscriminate dispensers of justice or forgetting who they were.

In the Age of Beasts (third edition), the Stormcast Eternals have been refurbished with a brand-new armour, the Thunderstrike, forged by Grungni himself to contrast the effects of the “Cursed Skies”, a phenomenon of chaotic origin that prevents Stormcast souls to reach Azyr when they fall in battle. This same armour is proudly displayed by the latest army component to join the fray, the Ruination chamber, and many new updated sculpts.

Stormcast Eternals latest battletome (the 6th one) does not add much from the previous index, but clarifies few open points.

Each warrior belongs to a Chamber, each representing a military aspect of Stormcast’s organization:

• Warrior Chamber: the first wave that introduced us to Age of Sigmar, made mainly of infantry soldiers of which the Liberators are the exemplification.
• Harbinger Chamber: same as Warrior Chamber but without the Paladins.
• Extremis Chamber: the heavy cavalry, literally! Riding Stardrakes they represent the most massive units in the range.
• Vanguard Auxilliary Chamber: the second wave representing the scouts of the army, with ambush and skirmish tactics, riding fast beasts or shooting from afar.
• Sacrosanct Chamber: the third wave released, representing the wizards and sages taken by Sigmar and tasked to find a solution to the Stormcast re-forging problem. They have since been retired.
• Ruination, the last Chamber to be opened, representing those warriors that are one step from forgetting who they are and be lost forever.
• Covenant and Logister Chambers: they yet have to open, who knows what’s behind their doors?

Stormcast have Endless Spells and are going to receive very soon their first faction terrain, together with a new wave of models. They also have a Spearhead box, that was the Stormcast side of the launch box of the third edition, centred on Yndrasta, the Celestial Spear, a Start Collecting box, the Thunderstrike Start Collecting (AoS 1.0 starter set) and two starter sets of the fourth edition.

The Ultimate Starter Set allows to play the Spearhead army the Vigilant Brotherhood with a couple of once-per-game useful abilities, while Yndrasta’s Spearhead focusses on the titular character and her arrival on the battlefield on the third battle round together with the Annihilators.

Stormcast’s army of renown Draconith Skywing is centred on the dragons allowing to field an army with only these terrifying yet majestic beasts. The battletome instead adds the Ruination Brotherhood which focusses on this chamber led by Iridan and accompanied by few others from the Warrior chamber to supplement, while Heroes of the First Forged would want to play as many heroes as possible, with the occasional Annihilator to fill the gaps.

Collecting Stormcast Eternals can be cheap if you find second-hand models, buy the discounted starter sets or various value-added boxes released each year, subscribe to the Hachette Partworks magazine subscription for some great discounts (if you happen to be in a country supported by them) or get access to miniatures from other spin-off games like the several Warhammer Underworlds warbands. If you are, instead, trying to collect every single model, you are in for a long and expensive journey.

Stormcast Eternals have the infamous record of having the youngest range of miniatures specifically created for Age of Sigmar being retired, as some of the Sacrosanct models were only 6 years old when it was announced they would be leaving support. While a staggering 20 products were retired, many were replaced by newer models showing off their new armour (e.g. the Liberators), meaning that the Stormcast range is still bloated and, while being recommended for beginners, can be extremely daunting to approach considering how many warscrolls are currently supported.

In tournaments they are having mixed results, we will have to see if the upcoming battletome will change things around.

You can check out our guide here.

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