Inq28 meets Age of Sigmar

Inq28 explores the lesser known aspects of the Warhammer 40,000 universe and has been a huge success, inspiring Blanchitsu articles, numerous blogs and countless incredible miniatures. Inq28 has become a term that describes not just a particular game but a whole approach to the hobby: an approach that puts creativity and imagination first.

AoS28 is an attempt to bring that same approach to the Nine Realms.

The Age of Sigmar has the potential for all sorts of stories, and just because we mainly see the epic, cinematic god-battles in the Games Workshop books doesn’t mean there aren’t other stories just out of frame, or just off the beaten path. That’s not to say your warband can’t include a few heroes, just that not every hero has to have a duel with Archaon.

What makes a model AoS28?

Conversions – The Age of Sigmar range contains loads of great miniatures but you’ll probably want to convert them in order to personalise them. This could be a kitbash or a complete resculpt. The important thing is to make the model yours.

Character is essential – you don’t have to write a full background story, but you’ll have to think about your character’s personality, they aren’t just pieces on a gaming board: what are their motivations? How have they survived the Chaos apocalypse? What do they think about the return of Sigmar? What secrets do they have?

Extra grimdark – Age of Sigmar has a distinctive, vibrant style, but there is a lot of darkness that is waiting to be explored. You think 40k has a monopoly on grimdark? The Nine Realms were conquered by Chaos, we are only just beginning to learn about the horrors that were unleashed.

What rules can I use?

We’ll be supporting the Hinterlands rules for AoS28, however your warband could be designed with games of Silver Tower, Mordheim, Realm of Chaos, Frostgrave or countless others in mind – or not for gaming with at all. The focus should be to make models you think are cool, rather than being constrained by points costs or restrictions.

How do I join in?

You’ll need to make a warband – probably between 2 and 8 models – led by a hero. The warband can be based on the theme below, or can be anything else you want to make.

Post in this thread on The Grand Alliance forums, or start a new blog on there or on another forum.

Use the hashtag #aos28 on instagram and twitter.

Join the Facebook group

Or if you have a blog already, let people know where to find it by posting your updates in the AoS28 thread on tga.community or by emailing [email protected]

If you don’t want to make a miniature or two, you could join in by writing stories or making art.

What comes next?

Over the next few months we’ll be showcasing all the best AoS28 models and warbands from any participating blog, as well as our own warbands. We’ll track what everyone is doing with Work in Progress photos and then final photographs in a few months.

There is no real deadline, because AoS28 is an ongoing thing. But we will roll out a new theme every few months, along with a wrap up of everything so far.

In addition there will be a new edition of Hinterlands dealing with AoS28 specifically, posts about background stories and ideas and possibly even gaming events at Warhammer World.

I need some ideas

Without many background or art books to draw inspiration from it might seem more difficult to come up with Age of Sigmar concepts than it is with Warhammer 40k. Age of Sigmar is often regarded as high fantasy, and you may feel that things need to fit this style in order to be suitable, but really you have a free reign to do whatever you can imagine: with infinite realms there are very few limits to what is acceptable. Like Warhammer 40k, Age of Sigmar has room for all sorts of stories of all sorts of genres. You are free to make whatever you want to make, but if you are stuck there is a theme you could try:

AoS28: Witch Hunters

The gates of Azyrheim are open and the Stormcast are unleashed on the Nine Realms. Cities and fortresses, thought lost forever are rediscovered. Lines of communication are rebuilt. And along with the Stormcast there are also other emissaries of Sigmar’s new world order. These Witch Hunters are tasked with rooting out corruption within the so-called Free Cities and the lost tribes, where mortals claim they have managed to resist the apocalypse. They seek the truth of these claims, and hunt the deceivers, betrayers and abominations.

Some travel in disguise and infiltrate the Free Cities, rooting out the corruption where it may otherwise go unnoticed. Some arrive at the city gates at the head of a punitive force, demanding tribute in Sigmar’s name. There are stories of tribes that claim to have escaped the taint of Chaos being put to the sword during these witch hunts. And there are stories of Sigmar’s agents themselves falling foul of the taint of Chaos and instead spreading the very corruption they profess to seek out.

The Shadowblades of the Seven Severed Fingers Cabal use assassins that travel through the Chaos wastes unnoticed, cloaked in the hides of daemons. They fight the horror of Chaos with horror of their own, and are able to strike fear into the blackest of hearts.

The Bitterlight Guild of Azyrheim use blinding, excoriating magic to interrogate those they suspect of corruption, stripping away lies and flesh until only truth remains. Their agents are said to be pure and incorruptable by some, and perverse sadists by others.

The childlike Oracle of Shyish can taste the taint of Chaos in the blood of men and women. Under the watchful eye of her immobile, silent Stormcast guardian, thousands of pilgrims bring her offerings in a hope to prove their purity.

The Knight-Venator Calliostro, tasked with finding tribes that had resisted the hordes of the Blood God, instead came across a Slaughterpriest who claimed to have been cured of the madness of Khorne when he pierced his own skull. The pair formed an unlikely alliance, but so far have been unable to replicate the accidental trepanation, despite the accuracy of the Venator’s arrows and an unending tide of test subjects.

The aquatic Duaradin fortress of Deepthunder has held out against the apocalypse since time immemorial. Under near constant attack, the citizens seal themselves in their hold and flood the city using ingenious mechanical walls and pumps, drowning any invaders. But emmissaries sent to the fortress noticed with some alarm that the barnacles that can be found all across Deepthunder can also be found on the skin of the sallow-eyed, secretive Duaradin that live there.

Eager to establish new alliances in the wake of Sigmar’s return, the crippled Vampire diplomat Malapraktor set out in his iron carriage, a ruinous steam-powered contraption. The vampire’s diligence in finding those whose blood is tainted by Chaos is perhaps unsurpassed by any other, but his manner of creating converts to his cause is more forceful than most.

The Shaii’ik tribe lived unseen by the scrying eyes of Tzeentch, worshipping a frail, masterless daemon. The entity granted them all invisibility from Chaos so long as they protected it in kind. When ambassadors from Azyrheim encountered the tribe the sight of the withered daemon sickened them, and they burned it. After some deliberation, they burned the tribe too.