Andrey Barykin

Remington Leith Kropp is the frontman and vocalist of the indie art-rock band Palaye Royale, which he formed in 2008 with his brothers Sebastian Danzig and Emerson Barrett under another name ( Kropp Circle ). At the end of 2011 they became Palaye Royale.

Remington was born on May 5, 1994. Like his brothers, his last name at birth was Kropp, but they recently changed their last names - Leith is now Remington's official last name.

He and the band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, and later moved to Los Angeles, California.

Remington didn't want to be a soloist; after classical training in piano and music theory and finally choosing another instrument, all that was left was bass or vocals--Emerson and Sebastian had already taken drums and guitar. The first gig they did when Remington was about 10 years old (they did a cover of a Black Crowes song and a Hansen song), he was completely petrified and could barely sing. It took him several years to get completely over his stage fright.

After moving to Los Angeles, the brothers rented a house until one day they moved back in and were evicted (and all their belongings stolen). Eventually Remington and Emerson had to stay in a hotel - there was only enough money to stay there for 6 days - and they stole food (including lunches) from the 7-11 across the street. Luckily, they were signed by Sumerian Records on the fourth day.

In 2017, Remington recorded vocals for the movie American Satan; his singing voice was used for the main character Johnny Faust (played by Andy Biersack), lead singer of the fictional band The Relentless.

Palaye Royale is a Canadian-American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2008 by brothers Remington Leith, Sebastian Danzig and Emerson Barrett. The band was formed in 2008 as Kropp Circle, the name was later changed to Palaye Royale in the summer of 2011. It was taken from the name of the Palais Royale dance hall in Toronto, where the members' grandparents first met. The band's single "Get Higher" reached number 27 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts. In 2014, they became the only band without a label to win the Musical March Madness fan vote, surpassing artists like Linkin Park. They released their second album in 2018.[5] The brothers created their stage names using their middle names as last names, their last name at birth was Kropp.

Musical style.

The band's music has been described and identified by the members as fashion art rock, as well as being described as rock and roll, glam rock, indie rock and garage rock. The sound was influenced by The Animals, The Faces, The Small Faces, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, David Bowie, T. Rex, The Velvet Underground and classical music. Classic Rock magazine describes their style as "a transition from My Chemical Romance rock music to New York Dolls punk with a touch of Stones blues." Their style was also influenced by Tim Burton, which can be seen in the music video for "You'll Be Fine".

Members

Remington Leith - vocalist (2008 - present)

Sebastian Danzig (Danzig) - guitar and keyboards (2008 - present)

Emerson Barrett - drums and piano (2008 - present)

Andrew Martin - guitar (2018 - present)

Jenny Wee - bass guitar (2021 - present)

Group Membership

Current Membership

Sergey "Sega" Karamushkin - recitative (2009 - present), clean vocals (2015 - present)

Artem "Ortyom" Khorev - recitative (2009 - present)

Ilya "Mad Dog" Pogrebnyak - guitar (2009 - present), backing vocals (2018 - present)

Yevgeny "Yevgei" Formanenko - bass guitar (2010 - present)

Yevgeny Stadnichenko - drums (2020 - present)

Former members

Gleb "Brondo" Broniukov - rap vocals (2008 - 2009)

Zhanna "Red" Dar - keyboards (2009 - 2011)

Alexander Cherkasian Cherkasov - drums (2009 - 2013)

Timur "Mayor of Buryatia" Esetov - samples (2009 - 2020)

Alexey "Proff" Nazarchuk - drums (2014 - 2020)

Tour members

Vladimir Zinoviev - drums (2014)

Motionless In White is an American metalcore band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. The band was founded in 2005 and became known for their dark lyrics and gothic appearance. MIW currently has two EPs and five full-length albums. The dark atmosphere of the tracks is emphasized by the keyboards. The theme of the lyrics contains stories of horror, heartbreak and madness, combined with sci-fi.

Musical style and influences

The band is described by AllMusic as a blend of metalcore, gothic metal and industrial metal. They have also been called "horror-metal". The group's song structure commonly features intricate riffs coupled with occasional blast beats during verses and breakdowns present in songs. The band's keyboard effects are also noted, having been claimed to add a "dark and uneasy atmosphere" to the group's music on their debut album Creatures. The sound on their second album, Infamous, was said to have resembled Marilyn Manson's by Alternative Press, Revolver and Kerrang!

Discography

Creatures (2010)

Infamous (2012)

Reincarnate (2014)

Graveyard Shift (2017)

Disguise (2019)

Scoring the End of the World (2022)

Spencer Charnas (born November 14, 1985 in Swampscott, Massachusetts) is an American actor and musician, most well known for being a member of the band Ice Nine Kills. He is also know for being cast in a lead roles in the films The Retaliators (2021) and The Dark Offerings (2021).

Early years

Charnas grew up in a household of Russian ancestry.

Charnas' music was inspired by horror movies as a young child. While attending The Tower School, in the neighboring town of Marblehead, MA, he became friends with eventual co founding bandmate, Jeremy Schwartz. The group performed as a cover band for a number of years until they attended a Goldfinger (band) concert at the Worcester Palladium in the fall of 2000. It was after this show that the the two decided to form the band and write their own original compositions. The group toured and promoted in a DIY fashion relentlessly for almost a decade before landing a record deal with Fearless Records, a subsidiary of Concord Music Group and Universal Music.

Film Career

He will make his film debut in lead roles in both The Retaliators (2021) and The Dark Offerings (2021), which also features members of Mötley Crüe, Papa Roach and Five Finger Death Punch.

Collaborations

Spencer has collaborated with artists such as Papa Roach, Trivium, Hollywood Undead, Less Than Jake, Finch, Mest, Goldfinger and Fenix Tx among others.

Discography

Last Chance to Make Amends (2006)

Safe Is Just a Shadow (2010)

The Predator Becomes the Prey (2014)

Every Trick in the Book (2015)

The Silver Scream (2018)

Filmography

The Dark Offerings (filming), Hal Delrich, 2021

The Retaliators (post-production), 2019

Ice Nine Kills: IT Is the End (Video short, 2018

Ice Nine Kills: Thank God It's Friday (Video short), 2015

Ice Nine Kills: Communion of the Cursed (Video short), 2015

Ice Nine Kills: The Fastest Way to a Girls Heart Is Through Her Ribcage (Video short), 2014

Ice Nine Kills: Jonathan [Acoustic] (Video short), 2014

Musical style

The group originally pursued a style of ska-punk influenced by alternative rock, ska, and pop punk,[75] but they have since shifted into a style which has been described as metalcore, post-hardcore, melodic hardcore, heavy metal, and symphonic metal. Ice Nine Kills has described itself as "theatricore."

The band's latest album, The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood, retains its predecessor's metalcore, post-hardcore, and symphonic metal sound, but otherwise is described as deathcore and emo pop.

Band members

Current members:

Spencer Charnas – lead vocals, keyboards (2000–present); additional guitar (2019–present); rhythm guitar (2000–2009)

Ricky Armellino – rhythm guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals (2019-present)

Joe Occhiuti — bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2019–present)

Dan Sugarman — lead guitar, backing vocals (2019–present)

Patrick Galante – drums (2018–present)

Touring members

Chris Kelly — guitar, backing vocals (2021–present)

Chris LaPlante — guitar, backing vocals (2021)

Terrence Donnelly - guitar (2009-2010)

Former members

Andrew Justin Smith – bass, backing vocals (2002–2004)

Hobie Boeschenstein – bass, backing vocals (2004–2008)

Grant Newsted – drums (2003–2008)

Dave Marvuglio – bass (2008–2009)

Jeremy Schwartz – co-lead vocals, lead guitar (2000–2009)

Dave Sieling – co-lead vocals (2009)

Shane Bisnett (died 2019)

Steve Koch – bass, co-lead vocals (2011–2013)

Conor Sullivan – drums (2009–2018)

Justin Morrow – bass (2013–2019); rhythm guitar (2009–2018); backing vocals (2009–2019)

Joseph Merturi – Lead guitar (2008)

Justin "JD" DeBlieck – co-lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards, programming (2009-2019)

Games Workshop GroupGames Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are Warhammer Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000.

Founded in 1975 at 15 Bolingbroke Road, London by John Peake, Ian Livingstone, and Steve Jackson (not to be confused with U.S. game designer Steve Jackson), Games Workshop was originally a manufacturer of wooden boards for games including backgammon, mancala, nine men's morris, and Go. It later became an importer of the U.S. role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and then a publisher of wargames and role-playing games in its own right, expanding from a bedroom mail-order company in the process.

In order to promote their business and postal games, create a games club, and provide an alternative source for games news, the newsletter Owl and Weasel was founded in February 1975. This was superseded in June 1977 by White Dwarf.

From the outset, there was a clear, stated interest in print regarding "progressive games", including computer gaming, which led to the departure of John Peake in early 1976, who preferred "traditional games" (such as backgammon). The loss of Peake also meant the loss of the fledgling company's main source of income. However, having successfully obtained official distribution rights to Dungeons & Dragons and other TSR products in the UK, and maintaining a high profile by running games conventions, the business grew rapidly. It opened its first retail shop in April 1978.

In early 1979 Games Workshop provided the funding to found Citadel Miniatures in Newark-on-Trent. Citadel would produce the metal miniatures used in its role-playing games and tabletop wargames. The "Citadel" name became synonymous with Games Workshop Miniatures, and continues to be a trademarked brand name used in association with them long after the Citadel company was absorbed into Games Workshop. For a time Gary Gygax promoted the idea of TSR, Inc. merging with Games Workshop, until Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone backed out.

The company's publishing arm also released UK reprints of American RPGs such as Call of Cthulhu, Runequest, Traveller, and Middle-earth Role Playing, which were expensive to import (having previously done so for Dungeons & Dragons since 1977).

In 1984 Games Workshop ceased distributing its products in the U.S.A. through hobby games distributors and opened its Games Workshop (U.S.) office. Games Workshop (U.S.), and Games Workshop in general, grew significantly in the late 1980s, with over 250 employees on the payroll by 1990.

Tom Kirby became General Manager in 1986. Following a management buyout by him and Bryan Ansell in December 1991, when Livingstone and Jackson sold their shares for £10 million, Games Workshop refocused on their miniature wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB) and Warhammer 40,000 (WH40k), their most lucrative lines. The retail chain refocused on a younger, more family-oriented market. The change of direction was a great success and the company enjoyed growing profits, but the more commercial direction of the company made it lose some of its old fan base. A breakaway group of two company employees published Fantasy Warlord in competition with Games Workshop, but the new company met with little success and closed in 1993. Games Workshop expanded in Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia, opening new branches and organising events in each new commercial territory. Having been acquired by private equity firm ECI Partners the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in October 1994. In October 1997 all U.K.-based operations were relocated to the current headquarters in Lenton, Nottingham.

The company diversified by acquiring Sabretooth Games (card games), creating the Black Library (literature), and working with THQ (computer games).

In late 2009 Games Workshop issued a succession of cease and desist orders against various Internet sites it accused of violating its intellectual property generating anger and disappointment from its fan community.

On 16 May 2011, Maelstrom Games announced that Games Workshop had revised the terms and conditions of their trade agreement with independent stockists in the UK. The new terms and conditions restricted the sale of all Games Workshop products to within the European Economic Area.

On 16 June 2013, WarGameStore, a UK-based retailer of Games Workshop products since 2003, announced further changes to Games Workshop's trade agreement with UK-based independent stockists.

Tom Kirby stepped down in 2017.

In July 2021, Games Workshop made changes to their IP guidelines, adopting a "zero tolerance" stance towards fan-made games, videos and animations, drawing criticism from fans.

The presence of Games Workshop in the East Midlands has led the region to become the centre of the wargames industry in Britain, known as the lead belt with numerous other companies founded by former employees.

Victory depends on what kind of "mission" the players choose for their game. It might involve exterminating the enemy, or holding a location on the field for a certain length of time, or retaining possession of a holy relic for a certain length of time.

Most Warhammer 40,000 fiction is set around the turn of the 42nd millennium (about 39,000 years in the future). Although Warhammer 40,000 is mostly a science-fiction setting, it adapts a number of tropes from fantasy fiction, such as magic, supernatural beings, daemonic possession, and races such as Orks and Elves; "psykers" fill the role of wizards in the setting. The setting of this game inherits many fantasy tropes from Warhammer Fantasy (a similar wargame from Games Workshop), but these two settings are not connected despite the shared name. Warhammer 40,000 by extension inherits many of its fantasy tropes from Dungeons and Dragons. Games Workshop used to make miniature models for use in Dungeons and Dragons, and Warhammer Fantasy was originally meant to encourage customers to buy more of their miniature models.

The setting of Warhammer 40,000 is violent and pessimistic. It depicts a future where human scientific and social progress have ceased, and human civilisation is close to collapse due to war with hostile alien races and occult forces. It is a setting where the supernatural exists, is powerful, and is usually untrustworthy if not outright malevolent. There are no benevolent gods or spirits in the cosmos, only daemons and evil gods, and the cults dedicated to them are growing. In the long run, the Imperium of Man cannot hope to defeat its enemies, so the heroes of the Imperium are not fighting for a brighter future but "raging against the dying of the light". The tone of the setting has led to a subgenre of science fiction called "grimdark", which is particularly amoral, dystopian or violent.

As the setting is based on a wargame, the spin-off novels and comic books are mostly war dramas with protagonists who are usually warriors of some sort, the most popular being the Space Marines. The Imperium is in a state of total war. Many planets in the Imperium of Man are either warzones or heavily burdened by wartime taxation, and civil liberties are heavily curtailed in the name of security.

The source of magic in the setting is a parallel universe of supernatural energy known as "the Warp". All living creatures with souls are tied to the Warp, but certain individuals called "psykers" have an especially strong link and can manipulate the Warp's energy to work magic. Psykers are generally feared and mistrusted by humans. Psykers may possess many dangerous abilities such as mind control, clairvoyance, and pyrokinesis. Moreover, the Warp is full of predatory creatures that may use a psyker's link to the Warp as a conduit by which to invade realspace. Despite their associated suspicion and danger, psykers perform critical services for humanity: their telepathic powers provide faster-than-light communication, which is impossible under the "normal" laws of physics, and on the battlefield they counter the powers of enemy psykers. For all the problems that psykers pose, human civilization cannot do without them. For this reason, psykers must be trained to control their abilities and resist Warp predators. Those who fail or reject this training are executed for the safety of all. Those who pass their training are pressed into life-long servitude to the state and are closely monitored for misconduct and spiritual corruption.

The models available for play in Warhammer 40,000 are divided into "factions". Under normal circumstances, a player can only use units from the same faction in their army. For instance, a player's army cannot include both Ork and Aeldari models because Orks and Aeldari are enemies in the setting.

The Imperium of Man is a techno-theocratic human empire that comprises approximately 1 million worlds, and has existed for over 10,000 years. Its culture is highly religious, with their chief deity being the Emperor of Mankind, an extremely powerful psyker whom they mistake for a god. Anyone who does not revere the Emperor properly is liable to be persecuted for heresy. The Emperor founded the Imperium and is still its nominal ruler, but roughly two centuries after founding the Imperium he was mortally wounded in battle and has been on life support in an unresponsive state ever since. Despite his condition, his mind still generates a psychic beacon by which starships navigate the Warp, making him the linchpin of the Imperium's infrastructure. Although the Imperium has highly advanced technology, it has long ceased practicing science and its technologies have not improved for thousands of years. Imperial citizens are taught to obey authority without question, to worship the Emperor, to hate and fear aliens, and to be incurious about anything that does not concern their duties. Most Warhammer 40,000 fiction has humans of the Imperium as the protagonists, with other races being antagonists or supporting characters.

Of all the factions, the Imperium has the largest catalogue of models and the largest number of subfactions, which gives Imperium players the flexibility to design their army for any style of play. That said, players tend to build their armies around specific sub-factions which have more focused playstyles. For instance, an army of Space Marines will consist of a small number of powerful infantry, whereas an Imperial Guard army will have weak but plentiful infantry combined with strong artillery.

Chaos represents the myriad servants of the Chaos Gods, malevolent and depraved entities formed from the base thoughts and emotions of mortals. Those exposed to the influence of the Chaos are twisted in both mind and body and perform sordid acts of devotion to their dark gods, who in turn reward them with "gifts" such as physical mutations, psychic power, and mystical artifacts. As a faction, the forces of Chaos are malevolent and insane in nature, adopting the aesthetics of body horror and cosmic horror in the design of their models and story details. Chaos is among the oldest and most notable enemies of the Imperium, and the ongoing conflict between those still loyal to the God-Emperor and those who have "fallen" to the Chaos Gods acts as a persistent theme in the setting of Warhammer 40,000.

As with the Imperium, Chaos players have access to a large variety of models, allowing them to design their army for any style of play. That said, players tend to theme their army around a particular Chaos God, which focuses the style of play. For instance, an army themed around Nurgle will consist of slow-moving but tough warriors. Likewise, a Chaos army themed around Khorne will lean towards melee combat and eschew psykers.

The Necrons are an ancient race of skeleton-like androids. Millions of years ago, they were flesh-and-blood beings, but then they transferred their minds into android bodies, thereby achieving immortality. However, the transference process was flawed, as they all lost their souls and all but the highest ranking ones became mindless as well. They are waking up from millions of years of hibernation in underground vaults on planets across the galaxy, and seek to rebuild their old empire. The Necrons have an ancient Egyptian aesthetic to them, although they are not based on the Tomb Kings of Warhammer Fantasy.

Necron infantry have strong ranged firepower, tough armour, and slow movement. Necron units have the ability to rapidly regenerate wounds or "reanimate" slain models at the start of the player's turn. All Necron models have a Leadership score of 10 (the maximum), so Necrons rarely suffer from morale failure. Necrons do not have any psykers, which makes them somewhat more vulnerable to psychic attacks as they cannot make Deny the Witch rolls. The Necrons possess "C'tan shards" which function much like psykers, but since these are not actual psykers, they cannot make Deny the Witch rolls, nor can their powers be countered by enemy Deny the Witch rolls.

The Aeldari (formerly referred to as the Eldar) are based on High Elves of fantasy fiction. They are a haughty species who view humans and other non-Aeldari as vermin. Aeldari have very long lifespans and all of them have some psychic ability. The Aeldari travel the galaxy via a network of magical tunnels called "the Webway", over which they have exclusive control. In the distant past, the Aeldari ruled an empire that dominated much of the galaxy, but it was destroyed in a magical cataclysm along with most of the population. The surviving Aeldari are divided into two major subfactions: the ascetic inhabitants of massive starships called Craftworlds; and the sadistic Drukhari (also known as "Dark Eldar"), who inhabit a city hidden within the Webway. There are a number of minor subfactions too: the Harlequins, followers of the Laughing God Cegorach; and the Ynnari, followers of the death god Ynnead. Although it has been 10,000 years since their empire's fall, the Aeldari have never recovered, due to their low fertility and aggression by other races.

Craftworld Aeldari infantry tend to be highly specialised and relatively frail, often described as "glass cannons." Because of their lack of staying power and flexibility, Aeldari armies can suffer severe losses after a bad tactical decision or even unlucky dice rolls, while successful gameplay can involve outnumbered Aeldari units which outmanoeuvre the opponent and kill entire squads before they have a chance to retaliate. Aeldari vehicles, unlike their infantry counterparts, are very tough and hard to kill because of many evasive and shielding benefits. With the exception of walkers, all Aeldari vehicles are skimmers which allow them to move "freely" across difficult terrain, and with upgrades, at speeds only matched by the Dark Aeldari and the Tau armies.

Dark Aeldari are similar to Craftworld Aeldari in that they are typically frail but move quickly and deal a high amount of damage relative to their points costs. Unlike Craftworld Aeldari, the Dark Aeldari have no psykers.

The Orks are green-skinned aliens based on the traditional orcs of high fantasy fiction. Orks are a comical species, possessing crude personalities, wielding ramshackle weaponry, and speaking with Cockney accents. Their culture revolves around war for the sake of it. Unlike other races which generally only go to war when it is in their interests, the Orks recklessly start unnecessary conflicts for the sake of a good fight, because Orks do not fear death and combat is the only thing that gives them emotional fulfilment. Ork technology consists of dashed together scrap that by all logic should be unreliable if it works at all, but Orks emit a psychic field that by magic makes their ramshackle technology work properly. If a non-Ork tried to use an Ork gadget, it would likely malfunction for lack of this magical effect.

Ork infantry models are slow-moving and tough. The Orks are oriented towards melee combat. They can re-roll failed charge rolls. Infantry models are cheap (by point cost), so a favourite strategy is "the Green Tide": the player fields as many Orks as they can and simply marches them across the playing field to swarm his opponent. Orks do have a number of specialised models who can use psychic powers and attack vehicles (among other things), but typically Ork warfare is about brute force and attrition. Ork gameplay is seen as fairly forgiving of tactical errors and bad die rolls.

The Tyranids are a mysterious alien race from another galaxy. They migrate from planet to planet, devouring all life in their path. Tyranids are linked by a psychic hive mind and individual Tyranids become feral when separated from it. Tyranid "technology" is entirely biological, ships and weapons being purpose-bred living creatures.

Tyranids have a preference for melee combat. Their infantry models tend to be fast and hard-hitting but frail. They have low point costs, meaning Tyranid armies in the game are relatively large (many cheap weak models, as opposed to armies with few expensive powerful models such as the Space Marines). Tyranids also have the most powerful counter-measures against enemies with psychic powers: many Tyranid models possess a trait called "Shadow in the Warp", which makes it harder for nearby enemy psykers to use their psychic powers.

There is a sub-species of the Tyranid race called "Genestealers". Genestealers are inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's novella The Shadow over Innsmouth. When a human is infected by a Genestealer, they are psychically enslaved and will sire children who are human-genestealer hybrids. These hybrids will form a secret society known as a Genestealer Cult within their host human society, steadily expanding their numbers and political influence. When a Tyranid fleet approaches their planet, they will launch an uprising to weaken the planet's defences so that the Tyranids may more easily conquer it and consume its biomass.

In earlier editions of the game, Genestealer Cults could only be used as auxiliaries to a regular Tyranid army, but since 8th edition, they can be played as a separate army. Although there is a dedicated line of Genestealer Cult models, a player can also use models from the Imperial Guard (a sub-faction of the Imperium) in their Genestealer Cult army. This is an exception to the common-faction rule and is based on the logic that these "human" models are actually Genestealer hybrids who look perfectly human. Like other Tyranids, Genestealers are hard-hitting but fragile. All Genestealer Cult infantry and bikers have a trait called "Cult Ambush" that allows them to be set up off table and later be set up on the table, instead of being set up in the designated starting zones at the start of the game (similar to the Space Marines' "Deep Strike" ability).

The T'au are a race of blue-skinned aliens inhabiting a relatively small but growing empire located on the fringes of the Imperium of Man. The T'au Empire is the only playable faction in the setting that integrates alien species into their society. They seek to unite all other races under an ideology they call "the Greater Good" or "T'au'va". Some human worlds have willingly escaped from the Imperium to join the T'au Empire. Humans tend to have a better quality of life than Imperial citizens because the T'au do not practice feudalism, but practice ethics, science and encourage the spread of technical knowledge. The T'au are divided into five endogamous castes: the Ethereals, who are the spiritual leaders; the Fire Caste, who are professional soldiers; the Air Caste, who operate starships; the Water Caste, who are merchants and diplomats; and the Earth Caste, who are scientists, engineers, and labourers.

The T'au are oriented towards ranged combat and are generally weak in melee. They have some of the most powerful firearms in the game in terms of both range and stopping power. For instance, their pulse rifle surpasses the firepower of the Space Marine boltgun,[25] and the railgun on their main battle tank (the Hammerhead) is more powerful than its Imperium counterparts. They heavily use the Overwatch special rule, which allows them to shoot back at their enemies when charged with relatively devastating power. The T'au do not have any psykers nor units that specialise in countering psykers, which makes them somewhat more vulnerable to psychic attacks. Most T'au vehicles are classified as flyers or skimmers, meaning they can move swiftly over difficult terrain. The T'au also incorporate alien auxiliaries into their army: the Kroot provide melee support and the insectoid Vespids serve as jump infantry.

Games Workshop sells a large variety of gaming models for Warhammer 40,000, although Games Workshop does not sell ready-to-play models. Rather, it sells boxes of model parts. Players are expected to assemble and paint the miniatures themselves. Games Workshop also sells glue, tools, and acrylic paints for this purpose. Most Warhammer 40,000 models are made of polystyrene, but certain models which are made and sold in small volumes are made of lead-free pewter or epoxy resin.

Each miniature model represents an individual warrior or vehicle. In the rulebooks, there is an entry for every type of model in the game that describes its capabilities. For instance, a model of a Tactical Space Marine has a "Move" range of 6 inches and a "Toughness" rating of 4, and is armed with a "boltgun" with a range of 24 inches.

The assembly and painting of the models is a major aspect of the hobby. A player might spend weeks assembling and painting their models before they are all ready for play.

Officially, Warhammer 40,000 does not have a scale, but the models approximate to a scale ratio of 1:60. For instance, a Land Raider tank model is 17 cm long but conceptually 10.3 m long. This scale does not correspond to the range of firearms: on the table, a boltgun has a range of 24 inches, which corresponds to only 120 feet (36.6 m) at 1:60 scale. A model of a Primaris Space Marine is about 4.5 cm in height.

Warhammer 40,000 is meant to be played on a table. The official rulebook recommends a table width of 4 feet (1.2 m). In contrast to board games, Warhammer 40,000 does not have a fixed playing field. Players are expected to construct their own custom-made playing field using modular terrain models. Games Workshop sells a variety of proprietary terrain models, but players often use generic or homemade ones too. Unlike certain other miniature wargames, such as BattleTech, Warhammer 40,000 does not use a grid system. Players must use measuring tape (and templates in other editions) to measure distances. Distances are measured in inches.

An "army" in this context refers to all the model warriors that a player has selected to use in a match. In Warhammer 40,000, players are not restricted to playing with a fixed and symmetrical combination of warriors as in chess. They get to choose which warriors and armaments they will fight with from a catalogue presented in the rulebooks. The players must pick and agree on what models they will play with before the match starts, and once the match is underway they cannot add any new models to their armies.

The players may choose the models they will play with, subject to some limitations. Players should only use miniature models that were designed by Games Workshop specifically for use in Warhammer 40,000, corresponding to the warriors that the player wants in his army. Using wargaming models made for other wargames may cause confusion and spoil the aesthetic. For instance, a player cannot use a model of a Greek hoplite in a Warhammer 40,000 match because the rulebooks provide no rules or stats for Greek hoplites, and Greek hoplites do not exist in the setting of Warhammer 40,000, which is set 39,000 years in the future. In official tournaments, it is in fact mandatory for players to only use Games Workshop's models, and those models must be properly assembled and painted to match the player's army roster; substitutes are forbidden. If a player wants to use an Ork Weirdboy in his match, he must use an Ork Weirdboy model from Games Workshop. Although there is nothing to stop players from using third-party substitute models in their private matches, the danger of doing this is that the players might have difficulty keeping track of what kind of warrior a third-party model is supposed to represent if the model doesn't resemble those depicted in the official Warhammer 40,000 rulebooks. Furthermore, substitute models might not match the size of the proper model, particularly with regard to the base on which the figurine is mounted, and this is important because the space the model occupies on the playing field affects the play. Warhammer 40,000, after all, is not played on a grid.

The composition of the players' armies must fit the rivalries and alliances depicted in the setting. All model warriors listed in the rulebooks are classified into "factions", such as "Imperium", "Chaos", "Tau Empire", etc. In a matched game, a player may only use warrior models in their army that are all loyal to a common faction. Thus, a player cannot, for example, use a mixture of Aeldari and Necron model warriors in their army. That would not make sense, for in the game's fictional setting, Aeldari and Necrons are mortal enemies and would never fight alongside each other.

The armies must be "balanced", ie of equal strength overall. The players must agree as to what "points limit" they will play at, which roughly determines how big and powerful their respective armies will be. Each model and weapon has a "point value" which roughly corresponds to how powerful the model is; for example, a Tactical Space Marine is valued at 13 points, whereas a Land Raider tank is valued at 239 points. The sum of the point values of a player's models must not exceed the agreed limit. If the point values of the players' respective armies both add up to the limit, they are assumed to be balanced. 1,000 to 3,000 points are common points limits. In the most recent edition of the game, power levels are assigned to each model, which can be used to simplify or vary the process of creating an army list. Power levels work in the same way as points but are slightly less accurate.

Although the rules place no limit on how big an army can be, players tend to use small armies of about two dozen models. A large army will slow down the pace of the match as the players have that many more models to handle and think about. Large armies also cost a lot of money and take a lot of work to paint and assemble.

At the start of a game, each player places their models in starting zones at opposite ends of the playing field.

At the start of their turn, a player moves each model in their army by hand across the field. A model can be moved no farther than its listed "Move characteristic". For instance, a model of a Space Marine can be moved no farther than six inches per turn. If a model cannot fly, it must go around obstacles such as walls and trees.

Models are grouped into "units". They move, attack, and suffer damage as a unit. All models in a unit must stay close to each other. Each model in a unit must finish a turn within two inches of another model from the unit. If there are more than five models in a unit, each model must be within two inches of two other models.

After moving, each unit can attack any enemy unit within range and line-of-fire of whatever weapons and psychic powers its models have. For instance, a unit of Space Marines armed with "boltguns" can shoot any enemy unit within 24 inches. The attacking player rolls dice to determine how much imaginary damage their models inflicted on the enemy unit. The attacking player cannot target individual models within an enemy unit; if an enemy unit suffers damage, the enemy player decides which models in the unit suffered injury. Damage is measured in points, and if a model suffers more points of damage than its "Wound characteristic" permits, it dies. Dead models are removed from the playing field. Most models have only one Wound point, but certain models such as "hero characters" and vehicles have multiple Wound points, so the damage they accumulate must be recorded on paper.

Most of the races in the game have units with psychic powers. Psyker units can cause unusual effects, such as rendering allied units invulnerable or teleporting units across the battlefield. Any psyker unit can nullify the powers of an enemy psyker by making a Deny the Witch roll.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar[a] is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop that simulates battles between armies by using miniature figurines. Games are typically played on a relatively flat surface such as a dining table, bespoke gaming table, or an area of floor. The playing area is often decorated with models and materials representing buildings and terrain. Players take turns taking a range of actions with their models: moving, charging, shooting ranged weapons, fighting, and casting magical spells; the outcomes of which are generally determined by dice rolls. Besides the game itself, a large part of Age of Sigmar is dedicated to the hobby of collecting, assembling and painting the miniature figurines from the game.

Whereas some wargames recreate historical warfare, Age of Sigmar has a fantasy theme heavily inspired by the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien and Michael Moorcock.[1] Player's armies fight with medieval-era weaponry and cast magical spells, and the warriors are a mixture of humans and fantasy creatures such as elves, dwarves, and orks.

Age of Sigmar is the sequel to the discontinued game Warhammer (specifically Warhammer Fantasy Battle), after the setting was discontinued in 2015. Due to this, the game contains many of the same characters, themes, and models as its predecessor.

The first edition of Age of Sigmar in 2015 replaced Warhammer Fantasy Battle. The initial release of AoS did not include point values for individual units—these were added later—and instead imbalance was to be mitigated by number of models. If one side started the game with one-third more models than the other, the smaller side could choose a "sudden death" win condition for itself.[b] Summoning new units used the same mechanics as spellcasting and required the dedication of reinforcement points for each summonable unit.

The initial release is notable for having included many absurd rules such as:

Pride of the Reiksguard: Helborg’s skill is as legendary as his moustache is magnificent. You can re-roll any failed hit rolls when attacking with the Runefang so long as you have a bigger and more impressive moustache than your opponent.

Escapist Magazine noted that such ridiculous rules could easily be exploited since nothing in the rules said the moustache had to be real and suggested players buy novelty moustaches to satisfy the condition. Other such rules included re-rolls for players pretending to ride and talk to an imaginary horse, screaming a guttural warcry, and keeping a straight face when their opponent tries to make them laugh. Some contemporary reviews were highly critical of such rules saying that while they may have been intended as jokes to encourage roleplaying, they opened up players to ridicule and body-shaming.

The second edition of AoS was released in 2018 following the Malign Portents event. It brought multiple significant changes to the rules, notably an overhaul of the summoning system, the elimination of reinforcement points, and the introduction of endless spells.

The third edition of AoS was released in June 2021, following the Broken Realms campaign series - in which the status quo of the setting was drastically altered. The new edition featured an overhaul of the Battalion system, objectives, and the introduction of a new Path to Glory narrative campaign.

Age of Sigmar is set in the Mortal Realms, a system of eight interconnected realms spawned from the Winds of Magic. The second edition brought with it rules for each of the realms, adding spells, artefacts, and realm characteristics.

• Azyr, the Realm of the Heavens: A swirling array of comets, asteroids, planetoids and landmasses - some of which are dotted with great cities, such as Azyrheim - Sigmar's capital. The realm is ruled over by Sigmar, and as a consequence of him shutting its gates at the onset of the Age of Chaos, is the only one fully untouched by Chaos. Azyr is the home of the Stormcast Eternals and the Temple-Ships of the Seraphon, as well as a diverse population of humans, aelves, duardin, and other races.
• Aqshy, the Realm of Fire: A harsh, arid land generally dominated by volcanoes, deserts, and lava fields. It is the ancestral home of the Fyreslayers, as it is where their God Grimnir perished. The Realm had a significant Khornate presence before the arrival of the Stormcast Eternals, with the first battle of the Realmgate Wars happening in Aqshy. Since then, it had become more widely occupied by Order-aligned forces, playing host to many of the biggest Cities of Sigmar - Hammerhal Aqsha, Anvilgard, Hallowheart, and Tempest's Eye being notable examples.
• Ghur, the Realm of Beasts: A realm of untamed savagery, Ghur is a land of titanic beasts wherein everything - the trees, mountains, and even the continents themselves - is alive and apart of a food chain. The savage nature of the realms makes it the de facto kingdom of Gorkamorka, with the forces of Destruction mainly occupying the realm. Some civilisation does exist, however - the Free City of Excelsis and the Ivory Legion of Ossiarch Bonereapers being the foremost.
• Ghyran, the Realm of Life: Ghyran is distinguished by its extreme fecundity, being filled with the most verdant kinds of life - lush forests, glittering mountains, and pure streams being commonplace. It is claimed by Alarielle, goddess of the Sylvaneth, and plays host to a sizeable population of humans as well. The realm was the focus of Nurgle's attentions, being almost entirely subsumed by the Plague God before the resurgence of Alarielle.
• Chamon, the Realm of Metal: A realm composed of metal-based continents in constant flux with each other. It was originally colonised by the Duardin god Grungni, who left for Azyr upon being satisfied with his work. Due to the Realm's mercurial and ever-changing nature, it is coveted particularly by Tzeentch. It is the birthplace of the Kharadron Overlords, the first of which came from the holds in Chamon during the Age of Chaos. Each Realmgate in Chamon was destroyed by Be'lakor in the events of the Broken Realms series, with a storm of chaotic energy forming over the realm.
• Shyish, the Realm of Death: Shyish is every underworld and afterlife in the Realms, with the most ancient and forgotten of them being drawn into the centre of the Realm by a pool of death magic known as the Shyish Nadir. It is the nigh-uncontested domain of Nagash, who made sure to kill and absorb the essence of every other death god in the realms. Vampires, ghouls, undead, nighthaunt, and ossiarchs all are found in their greatest number here, although mortals do exist within it, such as the Cities of Lethis and Ulfenkarn.
• Hysh, the Realm of Light: The domain of the twin aelf gods Tyrion and Teclis. Hysh is a realm of enlightenment and knowledge, split into ten Nations - eight of which are dominated by the Lumineth Realm-lords, with one being controlled by non-aelfs and one totally uninhabitable. The Realm was greatly damaged by these Aelves' hubris in an event known as the Spirefall during the Age of Chaos. It serves as the "sun" of the Realms.
• Ulgu, the Realm of Shadow: A land of shifting illusions and impenetrable fog claimed by Malerion and his mother Morathi. Little is known of Ulgu other than that it is the home of the Daughters of Khaine faction and the City of Misthåvn.
• The Eightpoints: Known as the Allpoints in the Age of Myth, it is a sub-realm that lies at the centre of the Realms, serving as a way to connect and move between them all. When the Age of Chaos came, they were seized by Archaon the Everchosen and renamed the Eightpoints in honour of the Chaos Gods.
• The Realm of Chaos: A pseudo-realms that permeates the void between the Realms. It is home to the Gods of Chaos. Of the original four Chaos Gods, Slaanesh is currently missing, imprisoned between the realms of Hysh and Ulgu. The Horned Rat has ascended to the pantheon of Chaos and is now the Great Horned Rat.

Age of Sigmar emphasises the narrative aspect of the wargaming experience, encouraging the play of story-driven scenarios, recreation of battles from lore, and player-created stories. The ruleset is designed to make the game easy to learn but hard to master. Basic rules of play are simple and quick to understand, but more advanced mechanics can be found in unit-specific "Warscrolls" that detail more rules and stats of the individual unit. The art of the game lies in understanding how your units work together and exploiting synergies to use them as a cohesive army. The rules and Warscrolls are free, and can be downloaded from the Games Workshop website or viewed in the Age of Sigmar app.

Age of Sigmar has three different modes of play. Of these, Matched Play includes points total for different units and specific points limits for army building (1,000, 2,000, and 2,500 points). In this mode of play, there are Army Composition rules that change depending on the point level being played, and the base rules are modified to allow for balanced play. A Matched Play game also requires a minimum number of Battleline rank-and-file units, and imposes a limit on the number of Heroes and Behemoths that can be fielded.

In addition to Matched Play, Open Play represents an "anything goes" game style, while Narrative Play focuses on recreating historical battles and scenarios. The latter often adds additional rules specific to the setting or event, such as dangerous terrain, a meteor shower, or movement restrictions.

To play any of the game modes, two or more players assemble armies beforehand. The battlefield and its terrain is set up on an appropriate surface, and dice are rolled to determine turn order. The players play in turns, with a round consisting of one turn per player. Combat is resolved through a series of dice rolls: a hit roll and wound roll from the attacker, and a save roll from the defender. If both the hit and wound rolls pass and the save roll fails, then damage is allocated. Mortal Wounds do not require dice rolls and are allocated directly.

The first part of a player's turn, the Hero Phase, is when spells are cast and command abilities are activated. Wizard units can usually cast one of three spells: the offensive Arcane Bolt, the defensive Mystic Shield, and a third spell unique to that unit. Command abilities, on the other hand, require a Hero on the battlefield with that ability, and use Command Points for activation. The second phase is the Movement Phase, in which units are moved across the battlefield; the player may choose to make them run, which makes them incapable of shooting or charging in the following phases. The Shooting Phase resolves all the missile attacks possible for the current player, then the Charge Phase gets melee units within range of attacking. The Combat Phase starts with units piling in, then attacking with all their melee weapons. The player whose turn it is attacks first, then the defending player fights with another unit; the players continue taking turns until all units capable of attacking have done so. The final Battleshock Phase tests the morale of depleted units; failed Battleshock rolls cause further models to flee a unit.

Each faction in Age of Sigmar is apart one of four super-factions, called Grand Alliances. In the lore, factions within a Grand Alliance are generally united by common goals and aims. Conflict still occurs within Grand Alliances, however, as each faction will often have its own agenda that clashes with the agenda of other factions.

In early periods of Age of Sigmar - specifically First Edition - armies could be built from multiple factions within the same Alliance (e.g. Stormcast Eternals, Seraphon, and Sylvaneth), with an allegiance corresponding to that particular Grand Alliance but not to any of the individual factions. In more recent editions, armies are built mostly from individual factions (e.g. a Stormcast Eternals army) with an option to include a limited number of allies from related factions within the alliance (e.g. a Stormcast Eternals army with 200 points of Seraphon allies). An army consisting of Factions usually synergise best with their own units, and faction-specific armies receive bonuses and additional rules that are not available to mixed Grand Alliance armies.

Order is primarily opposed to Chaos, and its factions are united by a common desire to maintain civilisation, art, and learning, or preserve natural or divine holdings. Despite this shared goal, each faction more or less pursues its own agenda - sometimes to the detriment of the others.

• Stormcast Eternals: Heavily armoured magical warriors imbued with a portion of Sigmar's power, designed to be the ultimate weapon against the forces of Chaos. Each Stormcast was once a mortal that, upon death, had their soul taken to Azyr and subjected a series of trials in a process known as "reforging", granting them great power. This comes with effective immortality, as when they are killed, Stormcast souls are instead sent back to Azyr to be reforged again. This comes at a price, however - upon each reforging, the Stormcast loses a certain aspects of their personality, ranging from memories of their mortal life, certain emotions, or even changing physically. Sigmar's unleashing of the Stormcast is upon the realms was the first official lore of the setting, with the first Starter Set being an army of Stormcast Eternals against an army of Khorne Bloodbound. Due to their large armour and prominence in marketing of the game, the Stormcast Eternals are considered roughly analogous to the Space Marines of Warhammer 40,000. In the Broken Realms event, the Daemon Prince Be'lakor unleashed a Storm of Chaos upon the Realms (specifically the Realm of Metal) which prevented the Stormcast from returning to Azyr to be reforged. In reaction to this, a new type of armour known as Thunderstrike Armour was created. The armour causes the Stormcast to unleash an explosion of lightning upon death, breaking through the chaotic storm.
• Cities of Sigmar: Also known as the Free Cities, the Cities of Sigmar are strongholds and city-states established by the forces of Order, representing the average citizenry of the Mortal Realms. They can be found in every realm, with the highest concentration of them being in Aqshy and Ghyran - the first five founded in the latter being known as the Seeds of Hope. They are built on or around Realmgates, or other such strategically vital points. Each City typically has a fortress of Stormcast Eternals known as a Stormkeep within it, who generally keep a watchful eye over the population of the settlement. The majority of the remaining dwarf, elf, and human units from Warhammer Fantasy that continue to be usable in Age of Sigmar are featured in this army. While they are all the same army, each unit has a species keyword and each species is divided into several subfactions, with leaders' spells and abilities synergising with particular keywords, allowing for the armies to be played as diverse or similarly to how they played in Warhammer Fantasy. Stormcast Eternals are also able to be taken by all cities without regard to normal point limits on allies but may only make up 1/4 of the units in the army while the Living City is able to do the same with Sylvaneth and Tempest's Eye with the Kharadron Overlords.
• Collegiate Arcane: Colleges and academic institutions of human wizards dedicated to the study and use of magic.
• Darkling Covens: Aelven covens and cults originating mostly from Ulgu, each dominated by an individual Sorceress. They are known to practice unsavoury magics based around mind-control, kept secret from the other forces of Order.
• Devoted of Sigmar: The organised church of Sigmar, composed of priests, rabid flagellants, and Witch Hunters. Their main task is to purify corrupted land and purge unfaithful or treacherous elements.
• Dispossessed: The remnants of the shattered Khazalid Duardin empires that emigrated to Azyr with the coming of the Age of Chaos. The Dispossessed are known for their prowess in blacksmithing and masonry, being the primary architects and builders of fortifications in the cities.
• Freeguild: Regiments of mostly Human soldiers that generally make up the bulk of a City's standing army.
• Ironweld Arsenal An alliance of engineering schools composed of both human and duardin, responsible for technological innovation and the creation of War Machines.
• Order Serpentis: Cruel knights that claim descent from the Aelven empire of Nakarth in Ulgu. They are known for breeding various draconic beasts for war.
• Phoenix Temple: An Aelven cult that worships a Godbeast called the Ur-Phoenix.
• Scourge Privateers: Raiders and pirates that sail the seas of the realms searching for plunder and prey, sometimes hiring themselves out to the Cities for a price.
• Wanderers: A Druidic religious order of Aelves that once lived in Ghyran, serving Alarielle. After their perceived betrayal in the Age of Chaos, they were banned from re-entering the realm, and thus they guard nature elsewhere.
• Seraphon: The Seraphon are lizard-people lead by the Slann, a caste of frog-like mage-priests. They exist to follow a nebulous "Great Plan" known only to the Slann, serving as arbiters to the realms and warriors against Chaos. They are split into two groups - the Starborne and the Coalesced. The Starborne reside in the race's colossal temple-ships in the Realm of Azyr, with all non-Slann being in a state of stasis until they are beamed down into the realms at the Slann's discretion. They are generally more aloof and alien, being beamed back to Azyr once their purpose in the Realms is served. The Coalesced are Seraphon that have chosen to remain within the Realms, slowly adapting to the environment. These Seraphon are often more bestial and savage. In the first edition of Age of Sigmar, the Seraphon were celestial Daemons who fought for Order that were literally remembered into existence by the Slann. In the Second Edition it was retconned? that these celestial Seraphon were the Starborne the whole time.
• Sylvaneth: The Sylvaneth are a race of forest spirits mostly resembling Dryads or Ents. They are considered to be the children of Alarielle, the Goddess of Life. She created them to guard the forests and woodlands of the realms, and are telepathically connected to her via a collective telepathic network referred to as the "spirit-song". The Sylvaneth were a kind and peaceful race until the coming of the Age of Chaos, which decimated them. As such, they were forced to become cruel and defensive, with many Sylvaneth tribes murdering any who attempted to enter their forests.In the Broken Realms event, Alarielle performed a ritual which reversed the damage done to the Realm of Life by the forces of Chaos - specifically Nurgle - which simultaneously empowered the Sylvaneth and caused a ripple of life magic to travel across the Realms, which indirectly awoke Kragnos.
• Fyreslayers: Duardin who worship Grimnir, the deceased god of war. Grimnir was slain in the Age of Myth in a duel with the godbeast Vulcatrix. He supposedly exploded into an material called Ur-Gold, which the Fyreslayers will go to any length to obtain - a common tactic being hiring themselves as mercenaries. They seek the Ur-Gold both to empower themselves by hammering them in the form of runes into their bodies, and so that - by releasing Grimnir's energy back into the realms - they can resurrect their god eventually. Fyreslayers have strong family bonds, gathering in patriarchal Lodges headed by a single Runefather. Their design is based on the Slayers from the Dwarfs army in Fantasy Battle.
• Kharadron Overlords: A steampunk duardin faction that consists of ironclad airships and warriors wearing armoured suits. Separated a long time ago from the rest of their race, the Kharadron live in sky-cities and are armed with shooting weapons powered by the gaseous aether-gold, the resource which their entire civilisation is centralised upon. The Sky-ports are each bound by the "Kharadron Code", a constitution of which each port has its own divergences and sub-articles.
• Daughters of Khaine: The Daughters of Khaine are a shadowy cabal of witch aelves devoted to the Aelven God of Murder, Khaine and headed by his Grand Prophet, Morathi; ostensibly they wish to revive Khaine, however Morathi is merely using this energy to fuel her own ascension to godhood, which she went on to achieve.
• Idoneth Deepkin: Marine aelves created by Teclis with the intention of being the successors of the Asur. However, due to their souls being deeply scarred and wrong from their time in Slaanesh, they were rejected by Teclis and driven to hide in the sea. Their society is divided into three castes: the soulless Namarti, the magically inclined Isharann, and the militaristic Akhelians. They raid coastal settlements riding sea monsters in search of souls, which they use to extend the Namarti's considerably shorter lifespans. Although they primarily hunt Chaos forces, the Idoneth are known to raid races of the Order faction as well.
• Lumineth Realm-lords: Teclis' successful attempt at recreating the Asur, the Lumineth are a race of Aelves that inhabit Hysh, the Realm of Light. After plunging Hysh into a period of strife at the onset of the Age of Chaos, they became an ascetic society, bringing their predisposition for arrogance into check by binding themselves to the elemental spirits of the realm.

Chaos

Fueled by the base desires and actions of mortals, Chaos factions seek to dominate the Mortal Realms. They serve the Chaos Gods, eldritch and warping deities predating the realms that reside in the Realm of Chaos. During the Age of Chaos, they had conquered almost all of the eight Mortal Realms (aside from Azyr), only being stopped by Sigmar's resurgence. The forces of Chaos are lead overall by Archaon, Lord of the End Times, the greatest champion of all four gods.

• Slaves to Darkness: Mortals devoted to Chaos in its undivided form. Their Warbands can be the most diverse amongst the Grand Alliance, ranging from desperate tribespeople with nowhere else to turn to power-hungry marauders and fanatics seeking to maim and kill.
• Archaon's personal champions - known as the Varanguard - exist within the Slaves to Darkness, with each member of the order being a powerful chaos champion in their own right.
• Blades of Khorne: The servants of the Chaos God of War, Slaughter, and Blood, Khorne. Their deity is the most martial of the Chaos Pantheon, demanding that his servants commit as much wanton violence and murder as possible - with common chants amongst them being "Blood for the Blood God" and "Skulls for the Skull Throne". Khornate mortals (known as Bloodbound) are most often barbarians or warriors, whereas Khornate daemons resemble classical Devils.
• At the start of the Age of Sigmar, they controlled a vast majority of Aqshy, and were the first to encounter and battle the Stormcast Eternals.
• Disciples of Tzeentch: Followers of the Chaos God of Magic, Change, and Mutation, Tzeentch. Tzeentch resides in a crystal labyrinth within the Realm of Chaos, supposedly planning and manipulating fate itself. As such, followers of Tzeentch are Machiavellian to the extreme, often creating excessively convoluted plans and deceptions. Tzeentchian mortals (known as Arcanites) are generally wizards or scholars, specialising in infiltrating the Cities of Sigmar before leading mass cult uprisings. Tzeentchian daemons are usually gibbering, brightly coloured and amorphous monsters. Their major stronghold was Chamon, where Ghal Maraz had been hidden, until the hammer was retrieved by the Stormcast Eternals.
• Maggotkin of Nurgle: The servants of the god of Plague, Entropy, and Disease, Nurgle. As a god of plague, Nurgle is a horrifically bloated and rotted entity that resides within mansion at the centre of a twisted "garden", where he creates every disease in existence. Nurglite mortals (known as Rotbringers) generally revere Nurgle out of hunger power of desperation, often turning to him to avoid starvation or death from plague. Nurglite daemons are decayed, shambling creatures that maintain the Garden in Nurgle's stead. Nurgle's realm of choice was the fertile realm of Ghyran, wherein he sought to capture Alarielle for his own. The realm was nearly overwhelmed by the Rotbringers, before the intervention of the forces of Order pushing them back.
• Hedonites of Slaanesh: The servants of the god of Pleasure and Excess, Slaanesh. Upon consuming the souls of every elf in the World-That-Was, Slaanesh was weakened, being captured by the Aelven gods and imprisoned in the sub-realm of Ul-Ghysh, between Hysh and Ulgu. The mortal followers of Slaanesh (known as Sybarites) are usually excessive pleasure-seekers, such as corrupt nobles or aristocrats. The Slaaneshi daemons often resemble Succubi. Due to their God’s imprisonment, the followers of Slaanesh have split into 3 groups - the Godseeksers, who wish to find and free their god, the Invaders, that are content to raid and pillage freely, and the Pretenders, who actively seek to usurp Slaanesh’s position as the god of Excess.
• Beasts of Chaos: The forces of the Beastmen, Monsters of Chaos, Chaos Gargants, and Thunderscorn. Like the Slaves to Darkness they are not devoted to any specific chaos god, and many worship chaos in itself.
• The Legion of Azgorh: (Chaos Dwarfs) and Tamurkhan's Horde (Nurgle) are Forgeworld-only, and have their own rules.[9] Speculation on the return of Chaos Dwarfs to Age of Sigmar proper began in 2020 after the sourcebook Wrath of the Everchosen referred to Chaos-worshipping ‘corrupted duardin kingdoms.’[10]
• The Skaven are now formally part of the realm of Chaos as the Great Horned Rat ascended to the pantheon of the Chaos Gods. These vile ratmen are subdivided into clans with different approaches to warfare. The Masterclan unites the leaders of the Skaven armies. The Clans Skryre dabble in bizarre sorcery and science. The Clans Moulder breed grotesque war beasts. The Clans Pestilens are fanatically devoted to the Great Horned Rat's plague aspect, and they seek to spread pestilence across the realms. The Clans Eshin train stealthy assassins, and the Clans Verminus are Skaven warriors.

Death

Opposed to Chaos and more or less allied with Order when against Chaos, Death wishes to rule all the realms for themselves. The most homogeneous of the Grand Alliances, it is ruled almost entirely by Nagash, the self-proclaimed God of Death.

• Soulblight Gravelords: A Gothic Horror inspired faction of Vampires, primarily based on the Vampire Counts from Fantasy Battle. They are primarily lead by the two vampiric Mortarchs - Mannfred von Carstein and Neferata - and were created to spread Nagash's influence across the realms. They are split into individual Dynasties, each of which originates from the two Mortarchs.
• Deathmages: Necromancers that are commonly employed by Vampires to maintain the ranks of zombies and skeletons.
• Deathrattle: Barrow kingdoms lead by Wight Kings and populated with skeletons. They lend military aid to Soulblight Vampires out of both mutual defence and respect.
• Deadwalkers: Mindless Zombies that are created either by Death magic or risen by Necromancers or Vampires.
• Soulblight: Vampires, being those afflicted by what is known as the "Soulblight Curse". They are some of the most intelligent and independent of Nagash's servants, only paying lip service to the Great Necromancer.
• Flesh-Eater Courts: Insane cannibalistic ghouls descended from a Soulblight bloodline, that perceive themselves as shining and honourable aristocrats. This is due to a curse placed by Nagash upon their founder Ushoran, who escaped into the realms and infected others with it. Each court is lead by an Abhorrant, who is seen as a noble king by ghouls.
• Nighthaunt: Ghosts that were unleashed upon the realms at the onset of the Necroquake. Most Nighthaunt are souls given a cruel or ironic punishment for their actions in life - for example, healers become scythe-handed harridans, and prisoners who died in prison are bound with chains forever. They are led by Lady Olynder, the Mortarch of Grief, and came to the fore as the rivalry between Sigmar and Nagash developed in the Second Edition of the game.
• Ossiarch Bonereapers: Bone constructs imbued with gestalt spirits. They are Nagash's intended vision for the realms, with their sole purpose being to serve as his vanguard and elite troops, and to collect and assimilate all life in the realms into their own ranks, creating a society known as the Necrotopia. They are led by Orpheon Katakros, the Mortarch of the Necropolis.

Unpredictable and opportunistic, Destruction factions are unified by their love of a good fight, their own self interest, or just pure survival. The patron god of each faction of the Grand Alliance is Gorkamorka - traditionally the god of the Greenskins - who is worshipped in different guises by each faction.

• Orruk Warclans: The Orruk Warclans are large, muscular greenskins that gather in hordes known as Waagh!s to do battle for the fun of it. They are inspired by both the Orcs and Goblins army from Warhammer Fantasy Battle and the Orks from Warhammer 40,000.
• Bonesplitterz: Savage, tribal, bone-wielding orruks that are seen as insane even by other Orruks. Bonesplitterz are created when an Orruk has a mind-breaking religious experience with Gorkamorka, which causes them to go cover themselves in war paint and run away into the wild. They specialise in hunting and slaying the beasts of the realms, as they believe that if they kill the monsters, then its strength will pass into them.
• Ironjawz: Ironjawz are the heavily armoured elite of the Orruks, being the biggest and toughest Orruks in any given tribe. Each Ironjaw is an Orruk that has personally crafted a suit of armour by punching a plate of scrap metal into shape with their bare hands. The most famous Ironjaw is Gordrakk, known by many as the Fist of Gork. He gathered an enormous Waagh! with a battering ram carved from the bones of a Godbeast to batter down the gates of Azyr.
• Kruleboyz: The Kruleboyz are cunning swamp dwellers, using stealth and poison in place of brute strength. They are more gangly and thin than other Orruks, favouring worship of Mork over that of Gork. Their goal is to manipulate the god Kragnos into leading a never-ending Waagh! through the realms, by poisoning his homeland and sending him into a rage.
• Gloomspite Gitz: A diverse faction of Goblins (known as Grots in Age of Sigmar) united by their love of dark places and worship of the portentous Bad Moon.
• Moonclan: Troglodytic cave-dwelling Grots that make heavy use of fungus and breed numerous different types of Squig.
• Spiderfang Grots: Grots that traditionally dwell in either forests or caves, worshipping a "Spider-God" and their arachnid mounts.
• Troggoths: Brutish and durable Trolls that are manipulated by the Grots into fighting for them.
• Aleguzzler Gargants: Drunken Giants that are coerced into fighting for the Gitz by promise of alcohol or gold.
• Ogor Mawtribes: Giant, fat Ogres, renowned for their constant and all-consuming hunger. They were formerly the Ogre Kingdoms. Aside from the two main factions, it includes the fire-breathing Firebellies and the mercenary Maneaters.
• Beastclaw Raiders: Tribes of ogors who ride on massive warbeasts. Eternally pursued by the supernatural Everwinter, they are constantly on the move, and anything they do not eat or destroy is frozen in their wake.
• Gutbusters: Ogors most similar to the former Ogre Kingdoms.
• Sons of Behemat: A faction of Gargants (giants) descended from the godbeast Behemat. They sometimes hire themselves to other factions as mercenaries, being paid with things such as gold, food, and alcohol.