The 9th Age is announcing the Basic Starter Edition for all 16 factions. Its a set of pre-made army lists for all the factions. In addition there will be advanced rules for creating armies with two hero characters and six units.
Here are the details.
via The 9th Age
http://www.the-ninth-age.com/news/index.php?news/357-9th-age-starter-edition-coming-soon/
Thank you for telling us your concerns about the sustainability of our great hobby. We fully share this concern! That's why we're developing a product specifically designed for new players.
One of the key points of discussion was whether to move away from T9A rules or whether to stick with them, but to just simplify them. We specifically chose to stick with the basic principles of "Fantasy Battles: The 9th Age", because this game is supposed to be a stepping stone for the actual game! Luckily, the rules can be simplified without changing them.
The second tough call was to determine how many playable armies we need: are we going to include them all, or only two, four or six? In order to make the most appealing choice, we added an extra layer in the Starter Edition. Don't get alarmed, it's not that complicated!
The basic Starter Edition will contain a pre-made army list for all 16 factions. All 16 factions! The main reason for this decision is to allow two players to start a game instantly, without any list building. Because they can skip reading the army construction rules, they can focus on just learning the game itself. Now, we all know that list building is a fun and vital part of the game, don't we? That has also been taken into consideration: the advanced Starter Edition will contain rules for creating lists, with two hero characters and six units (divided into Core, Special and Rare)!
The result? Well, it is not completely finished yet, but close!
The rules retained for the Starter Edition have been selected carefully to accurately represent our beloved game, but still offer the tactical challenges that you would expect from a sophisticated R&F wargame.
So what's next?
Right now we are focusing on finalizing the texts and the overall style of the rules, as well as playtesting. Then our Background & Art team will further work on the look and feel of the Starter Edition, to deliver a superb final product to please newcomers.
So if you are looking for an easy way to “seduce” your friends or family into trying out The 9th Age, or even if you yourself are the one that needs to be convinced, then keep your eyes open release of the Starter Edition in the near future!
Your T9A Staff
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