Collecting
Understanding factions (plain-English overview)
By the end of this page you'll know what a 'faction' actually is, and be able to read a faction's blurb without feeling lost.
Faction is just the word for "which army are you." Every model, every box, every set of rules belongs to one faction — think of it like a team, or a fantasy nation. When someone asks "what faction are you playing," they mean "which army did you pick."
Age of Sigmar has a lot of factions — more than you need to think about as a beginner. Spearhead uses the core rules but skips the advanced ones that full games add, like spell lores, army building and command points, and adds a few simple extras of its own, like battle tactic cards. That's one of the reasons it's a much easier place to start than the full game.
Grand alliances: the loose groupings
Factions are grouped into four broad "grand alliances." You don't need to memorise these, but they're useful shorthand when you're reading about the hobby:
Order
The defenders of civilisation: heroic Stormcast Eternals, human cities, aelves, duardin, tree spirits and the ancient, reptilian Seraphon, all fighting to hold back everything else in the Mortal Realms.
9 factions
- Cities of Sigmar
- Daughters of Khaine
- Fyreslayers
- Idoneth Deepkin
- Kharadron Overlords
- Lumineth Realm-lords
- Seraphon
- Stormcast Eternals
- Sylvaneth
Chaos
Worshippers of the Dark Gods, from blood-mad warriors to the scheming ratmen of the Skaven, who want to drag the realms into ruin.
7 factions
- Blades of Khorne
- Disciples of Tzeentch
- Hedonites of Slaanesh
- Helsmiths of Hashut
- Maggotkin of Nurgle
- Skaven
- Slaves to Darkness
Death
Undead armies of skeletons, ghosts, vampires and flesh-eating ghouls, many of whom can bring their fallen back into the fight.
4 factions
- Flesh-eater Courts
- Nighthaunt
- Ossiarch Bonereapers
- Soulblight Gravelords
Destruction
Orruks, grots, ogors and gargants who fight because they love fighting, trading finesse for muscle, numbers and noise.
5 factions
- Gloomspite Gitz
- Ironjawz
- Kruleboyz
- Ogor Mawtribes
- Sons of Behemat
Not shown: Beasts of Chaos and Bonesplitterz, which only have Legends (retired) warscrolls.
Why this matters more than it sounds
Picking a faction isn't just a rules decision — it's the thing you'll be painting, reading about and representing on the table for months. Read each faction's short blurb and notice which one you find yourself re-reading. That's usually a good sign.
Once you've got a shortlist, go back to Which Spearhead box should I buy? and compare them side by side.