Your Faction Ideas?

[Black Waltz]

Loads of great ideas here, especially the thought behind the djinn and furnace kings. My two pence;

Death

Beefing up the soulblight range. In the old vampire counts days there was a great range of stylistic and thematic differences between the different bloodlines, which sadly seem to have died out with just a few vanilla vampires and Carstein special characters remaining. No need to retread old ground though. I remember at the time of the Strigoi's creation the developers saying they looked at a vast number of concepts, including Thugee style death cultists, Voodoo practioners, giant gluttons and humane vampires with a soul (much like Angel or Brad Pitt in Interview with a Vampire). For two birds with stone you could rope the mortals of Shyish into the faction, to act as thralls thematically and give the vamps something to chew on in game. Just the one kit would probably do for the mortals, as for the aesthetics all I can think is lots of robes and a nihilistic vibe. Probably a bit too similar to the new nighthaunt range though.

Order

Surely it's a matter of when rather than if for aelves of Hysh. I'd love to see them go down the angelic route with these, by this I mean the old school weird heavenly imagery. Gentle looking brutes with innocent cherub faces, Gemini style shining knights, burning wheels of fire....google "Bayonetta angels" or "orphan final fantasy" for a visual representation of what I've mentioned above.

Destruction

I really like HiddenElephant's idea of a gargant army. My take on these would be visual similarities to the sky giants and storm titans of dungeons and dragons or Jotuns from Norse mythology; distant relatives of the gargants and holding them in disdain for their brutish ways. Maybe they were quite populous during the birth of the realms, but were hunted down and slain by those who mistook them for gargants or creatures of chaos. To avoid the elite 4/5 model army getting spammed by certain builds you could always chuck in summonable elementals to beef up the numbers (I'm thinking something similar to blue horrors). Great weapons of crystal or obsidian and you have a design that sets them apart from others of their allegiance. As for why they'd fight alongside other creatures of destruction...maybe they just don't care? The sky titans come down from their frozen peaks to crush a mortal city that threatens their existence and a bunch of Orruks just follow them there knowing there'll be a scrap at the end of it.

Chaos

Slaanesh. Not exactly original....but more focus on sins of excess other than lust (again not exactly original). Maybe as part of his/her escape Slaanesh is torn apart, exisiting no longer as one entity but six lesser Gods that collectively form it's former power. Split them into embodiments of lust, pride, vanity, gluttony, greed and sloth (not sure that one fits actually). Vain, beautiful gladiators as foot troops (like a cross between wardancers and dark eldar wyches). Huge, corpulent monstrosities borne aloft on palanquins borne aloft by slaves hidden under masks of idealised perfection. Some weird mechanics to diversify the Slaanesh range beyond running really fast; another post over on the Chaos discussion board mentioned a giant mirror as terrain and foot troops that allow you to almost teleport to the mirror (almost like the Necron Monolith). I'm thinking design wise something akin to the more flamboyant elemts of Xerxes horde in 300...not just the orgy tent, but the weird execution beast, the exotic beasts with their handlers.

Oh and some sort of comeuppance for the former pretenders of Slaanesh (Outcasts of Slaanesh)? Maybe reduced choice in units and slightly lower stats as they feel separated from their God but more willing to ally with other Chaos. I've not thought that one through...

 

Well that was a bit longer than expected but that's what this thread is for I guess!

[Elita1]

Demons of the Great Horned Rat.

He's a full blown chaos god now right?! And he's always had a greater demon. What do lesser deamons of the Horned Rat look like? 

[JReynolds]

17 hours ago, TheR00zle said:

I’ve been thinking of a Circus of Death faction, where all the models are based off of classic circus roles, but are all about helping Nagash gain a foothold in the Free Cities.

 

Oh nice! Especially if it was akin to Vampire Circus...shape-changers posing as animals, evil acrobats...that'd be neat. 

Also, all of these ideas are very cool, and I wish I'd thought of some of them. 

[Durant]

What I would like to see is fractions that are in two great alliences, like human barbarians who you could both ally with destraction and chaos, or assasins (or deat worshipers) that can be allied with order and death. Their main purpose would be to help people to start a new allience army, eg I have xxxx point of destraction, but would love to start a chaos army, curently I would need to buy 2000 points of chaos miniatures assemble them and paint,and it all takes lots of time. But if we had a force that is both chaos and destractions I could buy my self 400 points then go and make them proper 1600 point force with 400 of destraction, then buy 400 points of chaos and so on. Of course order would only go with deat or destraction, as would chaos go, so no order/chaos force.

[sandlemad]

18 hours ago, Melcavuk said:

Furnace Kings is a fantastic name and concept. Plus ogors are always good

Turns out fire and soot-blackened big brutes work well together, eh?? It's tricky, you don't want to eat into the fyreslayers' visual language. Your dudes manage to look quite distinct btw.

[Melcavuk]

1 minute ago, sandlemad said:

Turns out fire and soot-blackened big brutes work well together, eh?? It's tricky, you don't want to eat into the fyreslayers' visual language. Your dudes manage to look quite distinct btw.

The fyreslayers avoid armour largely in their designs, its all tattoo and rune. To me the name Furnace Kings implies massive boiler plate, steam belching weaponry, massive crude metallic warriors with the glow of a raging furnace in their stomach, the concept also lends it to a lower model count massively individualised model army (Each Ogor literally carrying their own trophies and treasures on their back into battle, unique customised weapons (An axe made with sharpened stormcast chestplate as the blade etc)

[Badlander86]

20 hours ago, TheR00zle said:

I would very much like to see this faction, what are you thinking of calling it? for models you could use a mixture of ad mech and necron bits with green stuff add ons!

I'm no good with names so I'll just pinch what I know from other franchises. Like apparently there was a City of Djinn lost in the Arabian desert called Ubar or the Pillars of Iram or the City of Brass (I'm trying to recall what it was called in Uncharted 3). And since the name "Caliphate" is equated to wanton death, destruction and slavery in the modern world thanks to certain news outlets and politicians (i.e., Islamic Terrorism is the Communism of the 21st Century), maybe it can be called the Iram Caliphate. Or playing on the "Smokeless Fire" aspect of the Djinn, the Burning Caliphate or Sultanate or so forth.

[Twisted Firaun]

17 minutes ago, Badlander86 said:

I'm no good with names so I'll just pinch what I know from other franchises. Like apparently there was a City of Djinn lost in the Arabian desert called Ubar or the Pillars of Iram or the City of Brass (I'm trying to recall what it was called in Uncharted 3). And since the name "Caliphate" is equated to wanton death, destruction and slavery in the modern world thanks to certain news outlets and politicians (i.e., Islamic Terrorism is the Communism of the 21st Century), maybe it can be called the Iram Caliphate. Or playing on the "Smokeless Fire" aspect of the Djinn, the Burning Caliphate or Sultanate or so forth.

I prefer the Burning Sultanate.

[Gecktron]

1 hour ago, Badlander86 said:

I'm no good with names so I'll just pinch what I know from other franchises. Like apparently there was a City of Djinn lost in the Arabian desert called Ubar or the Pillars of Iram or the City of Brass (I'm trying to recall what it was called in Uncharted 3). And since the name "Caliphate" is equated to wanton death, destruction and slavery in the modern world thanks to certain news outlets and politicians (i.e., Islamic Terrorism is the Communism of the 21st Century), maybe it can be called the Iram Caliphate. Or playing on the "Smokeless Fire" aspect of the Djinn, the Burning Caliphate or Sultanate or so forth.

Im not sure if naming something a Caliphate is a good idea since the caliph is supposed to be the successor of the prophet and ruler of the entire muslim community. 
Sultanat is better since its less religious and the arabian equivalent to the european kingdom. But the safest way to do it would be to just go with made up but arabic sounding names. 

[pseudonyme]

I guess that to create a good AoS faction you have to get the essence of a classic  faction and twist it enough to be original/not common and still be true to its nature.

If we take the exemple of Kharadron overlords, they match the fantasy dwarves trope: they are greedy, they exploit luxury ressources, they use technology and  they live in an hostile environment. Both classic fantasy dwarves and KO matches this trope, but in the case of KO, GW inverted their earth trope to the aerial one (I guess they could have gone on a water based trope).

Same with Idoneth, classic « good » elves are linked to nature. As the KO, they shifted their earth trope (wood elves/Sylvaneth) to a water based one. I guess they could have gone on fire based trope but it might have been too opposite with Sylvaneth.

 

Even if I will jump on the new Nighthaunt because I love the models, I would have loved even more a reimagined take on ghosts. And yes I am talking about Deathcasts, but not in a chaos space marines sort of way. 

Take classic good factions: knights, elves and dwarves. Make them all a little hunchback (the burden and all) but not too much , give them heads/helmets that reminds Death factions, twist a little the weapons so that they remind of scythes and to finish, remove the legs (like most asian ghosts) and make all of them half ethereal like the previewed new cavalry. And make the official colour scheme yellow, like the holy magic in most of video games. But not a warm yellow, a cold and slightly greenish yellow. I think they miss an opportunity to reinvent their ghost faction.

Someone was mentioning somewhere that Serra did not die and was in the realm of light. I don’t see that happening because they would be too clause to Nighthaunt, but ghosts from the realm of light could match this wet fantasy of mine

[Ar-Pharazôn]

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you: 

BATTLETOME DESTRUCTION: KINGDOMS OF THE FAE

Swarming out of the deep places of the Realms, the Fae seek only to wreak havoc and to have fun. Once a people aligned with Order, the Fae Folk fled into hidden kingdoms during the Age of Chaos, and abandoned by their old allies, were filled with malice. Now they return seeking ecstasy through violence and insanity, dragging victims to be playthings and dolls for the Seasonal Courts. Having grown and spread in Ghur, they aligned themselves with the bestial Orruks, who see the winged Fae as Gorkamorka's own jesters. 

[Melcavuk]

4 minutes ago, Ar-Pharazôn said:

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you: 

BATTLETOME DESTRUCTION: KINGDOMS OF THE FAE

Swarming out of the deep places of the Realms, the Fae seek only to wreak havoc and to have fun. Once a people aligned with Order, the Fae Folk fled into hidden kingdoms during the Age of Chaos, and abandoned by their old allies, were filled with malice. Now they return seeking ecstasy through violence and insanity, dragging victims to be playthings and dolls for the Seasonal Courts. Having grown and spread in Ghur, they aligned themselves with the bestial Orruks, who see the winged Fae as Gorkamorka's own jesters. 

I actually have a background write up somewhere for Fae Kingdoms  it included them feeding off of severed strands of fate, wielding entropy as a weapon and making marionette puppet armies from debris to wage war on the corporeal realms after having been sealed in “the darkness” between realmgates for an age

[Orsino]

Playing with an idea for a human death faction drawing inspiration from earthbenders/Himalayan mummies. 

Bonepeak Cultists

In the high and remote places of the Mortal realms perch the hidden monasteries of the Bonepeak Cults. Small communities of humans who have dwelt in peaceful seclusion for uncounted aeons, eking out an existence at perilous altitudes in some of the realm’s most unforgiving regions.

Yet the ascetic Bonepeak Cultists conceal a horrifying secret beneath their very feet. For within the mountains on which the Cultists tend their flocks lie the bones of generations of their ancestors. For millennia the Cult’s silent Catacomb Abbots have interred the dead within the rock and earth of the mountains, accompanying the burials with strange, secret rituals. Over the millennia the mountains have transformed, the rocks themselves coming alive with the spirits of powerful ancestors and the lonely peaks quaking with the chilling calls of the dead. To the people of the lowlands these are ill-omens, foreboding unnatural and unholy distortions of nature.

To the Catacomb Abbots the mountains whisper that it is no yet enough, more bodies must join them in their cavernous resting places, more life must be sacrificed to the mountain, so that the ancestors may walk again on feet of rock and earth.   

Underbringers – (Battleline)

The novices and laypeople of the cultists, providing cheap massed infantry, flagellants might be a good base for conversion.

 

Catacomb Monks

Somewhat more elite infantry, the old kung-fu monk cliche with a funerary theme.

Catacomb Abbot

A kung-fu death wizard who wears a hardened skull on each fist. His special ability might be redundant in AoS 2.0...

Cliffcrawler 

Samurai-esque cavalry archers mounted on creepy many-limbed bone constructs.

Bone Golem

A horrific blending of bone, rock and grave earth, as the very ground in which the ancestors are buried comes to life. Would probably use rogue idol with bones glued to it and the orc glyphs filed off.

Gilded Incorruptible

A geokinetic living mummy inspired by the practice of Sokushinbutsu, a kind of flying desiccated saint able to control bone and rock. Could be made through some demented kitbash of stormcast/tomb king on a flying Magewrath throne surrounded by skeleton hands for good measure.

 

[Twisted Firaun]

1 hour ago, Orsino said:

Playing with an idea for a human death faction drawing inspiration from earthbenders/Himalayan mummies. 

Bonepeak Cultists

In the high and remote places of the Mortal realms perch the hidden monasteries of the Bonepeak Cults. Small communities of humans who have dwelt in peaceful seclusion for uncounted aeons, eking out an existence at perilous altitudes in some of the realm’s most unforgiving regions.

Yet the ascetic Bonepeak Cultists conceal a horrifying secret beneath their very feet. For within the mountains on which the Cultists tend their flocks lie the bones of generations of their ancestors. For millennia the Cult’s silent Catacomb Abbots have interred the dead within the rock and earth of the mountains, accompanying the burials with strange, secret rituals. Over the millennia the mountains have transformed, the rocks themselves coming alive with the spirits of powerful ancestors and the lonely peaks quaking with the chilling calls of the dead. To the people of the lowlands these are ill-omens, foreboding unnatural and unholy distortions of nature.

To the Catacomb Abbots the mountains whisper that it is no yet enough, more bodies must join them in their cavernous resting places, more life must be sacrificed to the mountain, so that the ancestors may walk again on feet of rock and earth.   

Underbringers – (Battleline)

The novices and laypeople of the cultists, providing cheap massed infantry, flagellants might be a good base for conversion.

 

Catacomb Monks

Somewhat more elite infantry, the old kung-fu monk cliche with a funerary theme.

Catacomb Abbot

A kung-fu death wizard who wears a hardened skull on each fist. His special ability might be redundant in AoS 2.0...

Cliffcrawler 

Samurai-esque cavalry archers mounted on creepy many-limbed bone constructs.

Bone Golem

A horrific blending of bone, rock and grave earth, as the very ground in which the ancestors are buried comes to life. Would probably use rogue idol with bones glued to it and the orc glyphs filed off.



Gilded Incorruptible

A geokinetic living mummy inspired by the practice of Sokushinbutsu, a kind of flying desiccated saint able to control bone and rock. Could be made through some demented kitbash of stormcast/tomb king on a flying Magewrath throne surrounded by skeleton hands for good measure.



 

 would very much like to see more of these guys!

 

[Orsino]

Thanks, I've got quite a lot on my plate so not sure if I'll ever actually get round to modelling these guys, but they're fun to think about.

[Orsino]

Named Hero version on the Gilded Incorruptible:

Yuwan the Timeless

A deathless and serene abomination against nature staring out unmoving from behind a mask of jade.

According to legend Yuwan was once a mortal man in the World that Was. A humble young novice in an ancient progenitor to the Bonepeak Cults, he made the perilous journey to the top of that world’s highest peak and looking out upon that world he saw that all life was suffering, pain, and decay and that entropy and death were the inevitable result of the passage of time. Yuwan remained in the high place meditating and attempting to capture and remain within a single moment. No one knows how long Yuwan spent alone in that silent place but it is known that whether through arcane magics or pure force of will Yuwan eventually succeeded, became the first cultist to achieve transcendence and escape the tyranny of time.

Men are born, grow old, and die. Empires rise and fall. World’s are formed and destroyed. It is as nothing to Yuwan the Timeless. Encased within his jade burial suit, tended to by the Bonepeak Cultists, Yuwan now exists beyond and outside of time, persisting in that single unending moment, an unfathomable and terrifying will shaping mountains and moving continents across the aeons.   

[Melcavuk]

Wonder if Ben would consider a Creation Hub subforum for such endevours, currently threads for custom warscrolls and factions get allocated to the respective grand alliance threads but thosed areas tend to gravitate toward list building and tactics endevours or sent off to the narrative subforum. One combined subforum might help focus the specific subset and allow feedback.

[Melcavuk]

8 minutes ago, Orsino said:

Named Hero version on the Gilded Incorruptible:

Yuwan the Timeless

A deathless and serene abomination against nature staring out unmoving from behind a mask of jade.

According to legend Yuwan was once a mortal man in the World that Was. A humble young novice in an ancient progenitor to the Bonepeak Cults, he made the perilous journey to the top of that world’s highest peak and looking out upon that world he saw that all life was suffering, pain, and decay and that entropy and death were the inevitable result of the passage of time. Yuwan remained in the high place meditating and attempting to capture and remain within a single moment. No one knows how long Yuwan spent alone in that silent place but it is known that whether through arcane magics or pure force of will Yuwan eventually succeeded, became the first cultist to achieve transcendence and escape the tyranny of time.

Men are born, grow old, and die. Empires rise and fall. World’s are formed and destroyed. It is as nothing to Yuwan the Timeless. Encased within his jade burial suit, tended to by the Bonepeak Cultists, Yuwan now exists beyond and outside of time, persisting in that single unending moment, an unfathomable and terrifying will shaping mountains and moving continents across the aeons.   

Looks good, tough as anything and heavy shooting attack but limited in range so not op. The "Earth Bend to my Will" ability might be a touch much, moving 3 objectives gives you board control in every mission to my knowledge  without rolling, contesting or moving (Usually varies between 3 and 6 objectives, if its 6 then 3 were already in your board half, now all 6 are). It means that all the force has to do in every mission is turtle up which could leave to some deeply unplesant games.

[Orsino]

5 minutes ago, Melcavuk said:

Looks good, tough as anything and heavy shooting attack but limited in range so not op. The "Earth Bend to my Will" ability might be a touch much, moving 3 objectives gives you board control in every mission to my knowledge  without rolling, contesting or moving (Usually varies between 3 and 6 objectives, if its 6 then 3 were already in your board half, now all 6 are). It means that all the force has to do in every mission is turtle up which could leave to some deeply unplesant games.

I think you're probably right there, I was originally going to limit it to moving terrain but I know not everyone plays with much terrain, maybe limit it to moving one objective marker or terrain piece? With this guy I was trying to think of interesting ways to make a hero powerful without giving them lots of attacks/spells or 15 wounds.

And thank you for your feedback, I'm a big fan of your jaw-dropping Suneater conversions and very much inspired by them.

[Melcavuk]

Cheers. I like the terrain movement bit as it really can show the age of the mountain vs the "new life" of sylvaneth woods, new growth given way to the movement of time itself. I think on an average board (D3 terrain per tile) the terrain bit would work enough but agree that when you reach that awkward game where either everything is nailed down, or no terrain is on the board you'd feel let down. (I'm thinking the sculpted warhammerworld boards as I type this, that terrain doesnt move)

Have been trying to mull it over without going too far tzeentchy (destiny dice as threads of fate, aged experience) my objective concern is mostly on missions where pillaging the objective is an option, as it means with this character you'd just need to relocate them all to your table edge turn 1, move and pillage them all for 1 objective point and the game is over. As even if tabled the opponent could never catch up on objectives.

Also trying to avoid things the arcanbulum does and the new cog spell  So many variables.

Will mull it and see what can come up, the terrain shifting one is definately a keeper but you're right it needs a second part incase the board isnt terrain intensive.

[Twisted Firaun]

1 hour ago, Orsino said:

Named Hero version on the Gilded Incorruptible:

 Yuwan the Timeless

A deathless and serene abomination against nature staring out unmoving from behind a mask of jade.

According to legend Yuwan was once a mortal man in the World that Was. A humble young novice in an ancient progenitor to the Bonepeak Cults, he made the perilous journey to the top of that world’s highest peak and looking out upon that world he saw that all life was suffering, pain, and decay and that entropy and death were the inevitable result of the passage of time. Yuwan remained in the high place meditating and attempting to capture and remain within a single moment. No one knows how long Yuwan spent alone in that silent place but it is known that whether through arcane magics or pure force of will Yuwan eventually succeeded, became the first cultist to achieve transcendence and escape the tyranny of time.

Men are born, grow old, and die. Empires rise and fall. World’s are formed and destroyed. It is as nothing to Yuwan the Timeless. Encased within his jade burial suit, tended to by the Bonepeak Cultists, Yuwan now exists beyond and outside of time, persisting in that single unending moment, an unfathomable and terrifying will shaping mountains and moving continents across the aeons.   

 

Looks like a great unit to an already great faction in my opinion, though I agree with Melcavuk when he says that the ability to move objectives is OP.  If I may I would suggest adding some kind of priest or totem type unit to round out the army.

[Cyanid32600]

Has anyone ever done a chaos alligned FeC army? I can imagine deamonettes with pet ghouls on chains like bloodhounds and a ghoul king with a herald of slaanesh as a queen, could have them on a throne carried by crypt horrors...just a thought

[Melcavuk]

3 minutes ago, Cyanid32600 said:

Has anyone ever done a chaos alligned FeC army? I can imagine deamonettes with pet ghouls on chains like bloodhounds and a ghoul king with a herald of slaanesh as a queen, could have them on a throne carried by crypt horrors...just a thought

Would definately be a cool conversion project, having the daemonettes as "fair maidens" and one being "The Lady" (old bret lore reference for fans) who spurs them onwards in their knightly pursuits.

[Orsino]

4 hours ago, TheR00zle said:

Looks like a great unit to an already great faction in my opinion, though I agree with Melcavuk when he says that the ability to move objectives is OP.  If I may I would suggest adding some kind of priest or totem type unit to round out the army.

I actually don't have a very good strategic understanding of the role of priests and totems, what's their value over wizards?

To fill out the faction I've got some terracotta army inspired heavy infantry, a bonesnake monster, and some little vultures. Not sure how I'd model these, converted terrorgheist for the Death Worm and stormcast/Ironjawz kitbash for the Gravestone Guard? 

 

 

 

[Cyanid32600]

2 hours ago, Melcavuk said:

Would definately be a cool conversion project, having the daemonettes as "fair maidens" and one being "The Lady" (old bret lore reference for fans) who spurs them onwards in their knightly pursuits.

This was kinda what i was thinking, the DoK blood altar could work well for ut