Warhammer Age of Sigmar is a 28mm fantasy wargame set in the Mortal Realms, a place made up for 8 interconnected realms where magic and high fantasy races are commonplace. The game can be played in one of three ways: Open Play which is a casual format, Matched Play which is far more competitive and Narrative Play which is a story driven mode where battles and campaigns relating to the official story are brought to life.
Within the Mortal Realms there are four allegiances known as Grand Alliances that almost all factions prescribe to, with generally shared agendas and common enemies. These four Grand Alliances are Grand Alliance Order, Grand Alliance Chaos, Grand Alliance Death, and Grand Alliance Destruction, all of which have their own purpose for fighting over control of the Mortal Realms.
The Grand Alliance Order all act with the end goal of maintaining the order in the Mortal Realms, stopping the other warring factions from destroying the few civilizations who are still surviving and the culture they represent. Prominent factions from the Grand Alliance Order are the Stormcast Eternals, Daughters of Khaine, Seraphon, and Cities of Sigmar.
While all of the Grand Alliance Order share the goal of maintaining order, their individual goals vary. For example, whilst the Stormcast Eternals primarily focus on fighting the Forces of Chaos in the name of Sigmar, the Seraphon are simply following the Great Plan under the direction of Slann, and the Daughters of Khaine wish to resurrect their God: Khaine.
Directly opposed to the Grand Alliance Order, the Grand Alliance Chaos seek to dominate the Mortal Realms through pure Chaos, acting on every one of their desires. These Chaos forces are led by Archaon, Lord of the End Times, and similar to Warhammer 40,000, members of the Grand Alliance Chaos tend to follow one of the four Chaos Gods: Nurgle, Slaanesh, Tzeentch and Khorne.
The followers of the four Gods each form their own factions; the Maggotkin of Nurgle act as servants to the Lord of Pestilence - Nurgle, The Disciples of Tzeentch are followers of the eponymous God of Magic and Change Tzeentch, the Blades of Khorne worship the God of War Khorne and the Hedonites of Slaanesh who are servants to Slaanesh, the God of pleasure.
The Grand Alliance Death holds an altogether different vision for the Mortal Realms compared to the other Alliances, but they are all united in this goal. They aim to take control of the Mortal Realms under the rule of Nagash and transform all who survive into Ossiarch Bonereapers.
Some popular factions under the Grand Alliance Death are the Soulblight Gravelords (Vampire-like beings led by Mannfred von Carstein and Neferata), the Ossiarch Bonereapers, the Nighthaunt ghosts, and the cannibalistic ghouls of the Flesh-eater Courts. Sharing the common aesthetic of spectral, gruesome, undead beings, the Grand Alliance Death serves the end goals of Nagash
Unlike the other factions, the Grand Alliance Destruction has no overarching plan for the Mortal Realms, no end goal to rule or eliminate a kind of being. Notorious for being the Alliance the Orruk belong to, the Grand Alliance Destruction is fueled by their love of fighting and desire to be more destructive and unpredictable than the others. All factions worship Gorkamorka under different forms and aliases and enact wanton violence and brutality to please them.
Some of the most notable factions of the Grand Alliance Destruction are the Orruk Warclans, a race of muscular Greenskins who gather themselves in a Waaagh! There are also the Sons of Behemat, giants who work mercenaries for the other factions, and the Ogor Mawtribes, who are Ogors driven by their immense hunger to smash, crush and consume. Finally, the Gloomspite Gitz are much smaller than the rest, a race of goblins who worship their version of Gorkamorka known as the Bad Moon and do as it says to appease it.
The Allegiances in Age of Sigmar can be seen as opposites to each other, with Order and Chaos on opposite sides with some overlap as to how each side wars with the other. Ultimately, the Allegiance a faction belongs to says a lot about their motives and which of their allies also fight for the same cause. It can be very beneficial to understand this to find the faction that is right for you.
