The new age of wargaming? The 9th Age Fantasy Battles system

EPIC is no stranger to tabletop wargames, with multiple ‘Warhammer’ games both ‘40,000’ and ‘Age of Sigma’, and the recent introduction to regular games of ‘Star Wars Legion’, it was inevitable that the community is constantly expanding and dare I say thriving. So much in fact that EPIC is now getting calls and enquiries regarding running games of Fantasy Battles’ ‘The Ninth Age’ as one of the most requested games we start to facilitate and stock.

If you’ve not heard of it, you’re not alone, whilst many veteran tabletop wargamers have either heard or played it, newer gamers may not have and surprisingly the staff at EPIC hadn’t until we received enquires. What exactly is ‘The Ninth Age’ and why does it have staff (naming myself) excited to potentially start running games of it within our store?

Before I delve any further, I will advise you that I have never played a game and am in no way an expert on Ninth Age, that being said, I have done some research and what I’ve read has excited me enough to write this blog.

Ninth Age is made by two staff members of the Swedish Comp System, which is a fan-made expansion for ‘Warhammer Fantasy Battle’. After the introduction of ‘Warhammer 40,000’, ‘Warhammer Fantasy Battle’ never got a 9th Edition and evolved into the ‘Warhammer Age of Sigmar’ many of us wargamers love today. It is named ‘Fantasy Battles The Ninth Age’ as it is essentially a fan-made 9th Edition to ‘Warhammer Fantasy Battle’ which got remade into ‘Age of Sigma’ after its 8th edition.

So why the excitement?

The Ninth Age is non-profit and made by fans of the older Warhammer editions for fans of the older Warhammer editions. Old players can keep playing with their old miniatures and subscribe to their established lore. Many players prefer the rank and file army game as opposed to the more skirmish games that newer editions of Warhammer introduced.

The best part about it? ALL THE RULES ARE FREE ONLINE! There's even a free bi-monthly magazine published on The Ninth Age Website.

Is this a good introduction to wargaming?

You betcha! With the use of old models and the system being entirely fan-made. Custom models are allowed and in a lot of cases encouraged. The rules are free online and you won’t need to spend upwards of $60 to learn the game and play.

In either case, I hope to see this amazing entry-level wargame take off at EPIC, should enough interest be gained. Until such a time, please do read up on this – I myself have found it quite insightful on how mainstream Warhammer formats came to be.

Your Friend and Ally,

Lachy

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