Rules Complexity

Anyone thinking that the rules set and all of the tiny variations will be difficult for new players to pick-up and implement when introduced to the game?

I've played the PnP several times now with 1 person in particular and he seems to grasp the rules pretty well (he did watch one of the first BoW videos prior). Introducing the game to new people though has been a challenge and gameplay always seems frustrating to them.

The complexity stems from a couple of factors:
• Variation in Talents
• Variation in map or more specifically Terrain effects

I also find it hard to quickly teach the game to new people with so many factors at play. Anyone have a good outline for how to explain the rules? It would be nice to include basic rules on the player aides.

I suppose it depends on the experience of the people you're showing it to. I've not had any difficulty explaining, or people grasping the rules, myself. Demo games were run for thousands of people at many events, and the response is not generally one of confusion.

I don't think the rules themselves are complex. As you say, the variety in possibilities from the many different units gives you a lot of things to consider, but only if you start with everything on the table (metaphorically or literally) at once.

When I'm teaching people, I start with just the core box. That's got loads of replay and depth without anything else. Then simply add extra stuff at the pace your group is comfortable with.

Isnt there a basic introduction scenario with the hydra or something?

I think there is a startup scenario (there used to be anyway) with fixed teams already deployed and 3 Omphalos - you can find it in the pnp rulebook :
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/806316071/mythic-battles-pantheon/posts/1756740

Yup. There is, in fact, a whole separate getting started book, with a chattier rules presentation and a simple scenario (basically the one in the PnP).