AoS 2 - Kharadron Overlords Discussion

[Skyeline]

Feels like I missed some rumors out there somewhere. Have there been substantial rumors that a new battletome is eminent for KO? I'll admit that I'd be surprised if we got one before factions with even older battletomes such as Sylvaneth, Seraphon, Fyreslayers, and Ironjawz. Our battletome (despite it's unfortunate state) isn't quite even 2 years old yet.

It doesn't really feel like the Underworlds KO warband is any indication of something to come since the treatment of it has felt very standard when it comes to teasing/revealing Underworlds teams. Nightvault has been quite consistent so far with Reveal Models -> Reveal some cards -> Release. I haven't seen any indication that marks them as heralding something bigger.

[Kramer]

19 hours ago, Skyeline said:

Feels like I missed some rumors out there somewhere. Have there been substantial rumors that a new battletome is eminent for KO? I'll admit that I'd be surprised if we got one before factions with even older battletomes such as Sylvaneth, Seraphon, Fyreslayers, and Ironjawz. Our battletome (despite it's unfortunate state) isn't quite even 2 years old yet.

It doesn't really feel like the Underworlds KO warband is any indication of something to come since the treatment of it has felt very standard when it comes to teasing/revealing Underworlds teams. Nightvault has been quite consistent so far with Reveal Models -> Reveal some cards -> Release. I haven't seen any indication that marks them as heralding something bigger.

I think you summarised everything said about that rumour in one go. There is nothing substantial, people wish it, see the signs in the KO warband etc. But everybody attributes different values to those 'signs' so hype or no hype.. that is the question  

[Mordeus]

On 3/18/2019 at 7:59 PM, Azamar said:

Is there any source to those rumours beyond that one guy in the rumour thread? As it looks like he just made it up.

I don't know, it does feel fake but it has been shared around as a possibility. People really want rumours rather than just what GW shows us on the community website.

[Nick907]

Well the invisible hand is a powerful market force and Gamesworkshop exists to make money. KO are a popular and totally unique intellectual property and they have a dedicated fan base. The demand for a new book and expanded range  are right here, as this group clearly demonstrates. It only makes sense for the company to satisfy our demands and make more money in the process.  A new book, an endless spell equivalent, a new hero, and a new melee unit are all guaranteed to sell well with current KO players.  Positive reviews of the new rules will bring in more new players as well. Seems like an obvious move for GW to make. 

[Luzgurbel]

How much old was the battletomes for FeC, Skavens and (specially) Khorne?

[Sttufe]

Umm... 19th of March, almost 2 years ago. Very close to the age of our battletome actually. Khorne, not any of the others.

As far as I can tell, Skavens was somewhere in 2018 and FeC was somewhere in 2017, so most newer or the same age as ours.

Edit: Skaven was in as far as I can tell, don't pay attention to it.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Sttufe

[Ointagru]

2 hours ago, Sttufe said:

Umm... 19th of March, almost 2 years ago. Very close to the age of our battletome actually. Khorne, not any of the others.

As far as I can tell, Skavens was somewhere in 2018 and FeC was somewhere in 2017, so most newer or the same age as ours.

 

Skavens didn't have a unified battletome until now.

[DavionStar]

Finally got my Riggers all painted! It took a while because I kept having issues to decide what to color what.

[Riavan]

21 hours ago, Sttufe said:

Umm... 19th of March, almost 2 years ago. Very close to the age of our battletome actually. Khorne, not any of the others.

As far as I can tell, Skavens was somewhere in 2018 and FeC was somewhere in 2017, so most newer or the same age as ours.

Edit: Skaven was in as far as I can tell, don't pay attention to it.

Fec and skaven were like over 2-3 years.

Khorne got a new one when stormcast got their 2nd one. Probably a year and a half ago.

[Nick907]

I don't think the book releases set any sort of predictable pattern, but I like the optimism. 

[The World Tree]

KO require a significant rewrite, I'd imagine that factors into the priorities. But that could go both ways - it might mean it is prioritised as it is a meaty (and therefore motivating) piece of work, Or it might be de-prioritised in favour of quicker wins.

The fact that they have a fresh model range and are receiving a Nightvault warband does indicate that in terms of production priority they are important. 

I think a book comes this year, but I'd be surprised if there's more models. 

[Luzgurbel]

I think Nightvault means nothing... Look at the IJ warband...

[Baron Wastelands]

10 hours ago, DavionStar said:

Finally got my Riggers all painted! It took a while because I kept having issues to decide what to color what.

 

Congrats. That’s a nice colourscheme, like the purple, and you have a good balance of colours.. I would think about giving them a thin wash in something like sepia, all over, then picking out highlights. Wouldn’t need much, you’ve done a very neat job, but would help you get more definition on the details. 

[Sttufe]

Sorry about the inaccurate time findings. I wasn't really trying all that hard and I didn't really know where to look for dates

On 3/23/2019 at 6:13 PM, DavionStar said:

Finally got my Riggers all painted! It took a while because I kept having issues to decide what to color what.

On another note, those guys look super cool!

[Kramer]

On 3/22/2019 at 9:40 PM, Nick907 said:

The demand for a new book and expanded range  are right here, as this group clearly demonstrates. It only makes sense for the company to satisfy our demands and make more money in the process.  A new book, an endless spell equivalent, a new hero, and a new melee unit are all guaranteed to sell well with current KO players

I see where your coming from, but it's all based on the assumption that this group is representative of the whole client base (interested in KO) of GW and the assumption that your list of updates would sell well. (and i'm assuming that sell well, means at least play even or make money on the investments). 

I honestly don't think this group is representative. For one thing, and i'll see if I can find the podcast, a game designer talked about their choice to divide the game into the open, narrative and matched play. They discussed that the matched play group is the loudest so they get a lot of feedback from them but the other types of players were at least equal in number. I don't remember if they actually said the tournament/club players were outnumbered by the other hobbyist and garage gamers.
Another thing is that these are the players so connected to the faction that they spend time online discussing it. And it's they same few names that keep coming back. The sample is just to small, and only shows the most dedicated of players. (or people who travel by train a lot like me  ) 

For that group, and I count myself amongst them, does it really matter? Would those additions/updates make GW money? I still have great fun with my KO? And I've come to love the aesthetic and am very happy painting and playing them. The Book, sure would buy it. Cool new fluff and no need to check the FAQ's, count me in. Endless spell equivalent*? Only if it's really cool looking, or changes gameplay. But that's only one to three models. New hero & unit... I might. But in reality if I buy those i'm going to skip other boxes. The bigger the range, doesn't mean I will buy more of a faction. If they release a melee flamer unit. Super cool concept, but if I buy it, it will mean I buy two boxes of Thunderers less. So GW won't make it's investment back if i'm representative of that type of player. 

TLDR: if this thread is representative they might make their money back on the investment costs of all your suggestions but... I really don't think this thread is that representative. And as a result I doubt GW would make their money back. But it's hard to judge without specific sales numbers. 

*And I'm being very generous here, because personally I would honestly hate it if GW gave every factions terrain and endless spells. Sadly seems to be case but why level the playing field for everything? Keep the factions unique imo. It's what got me interested in KO. So I wouldn't buy them anyway. 

Edited March 25, 2019 by Kramer

[Riavan]

If they give off kharadon endless spells surely they need to give a kharadon wizard of some kind. Or rewrite a model.

[Dekison]

1 hour ago, Riavan said:

If they give off kharadon endless spells surely they need to give a kharadon wizard of some kind. Or rewrite a model.

Probably a rewrite 

I don’t see why an admiral shouldn’t be able to “command more reinforcements” 

or a navigator help bring in more units - you know dear ships land there 

[Riavan]

Just now, Dekison said:

Probably a rewrite 

I don’t see why an admiral shouldn’t be able to “command more reinforcements” 

or a navigator help bring in more units - you know dear ships land there 

Thinking about it. The nightfault squad will probably have some magical abilities. Don't all of them have wizards?

[Dekison]

1 hour ago, Riavan said:

Thinking about it. The nightfault squad will probably have some magical abilities. Don't all of them have wizards?

Personally I wouldn’t want a “wizard” but maybe something like that more “magic-science” which is what a Khemists is kind of. 

So for summons to use a wizard what would he “summon” portals would defeat the purpose of airships. 

Hence why I’m more leaning to the admiral callin in reinforcements from the sky 

[DavionStar]

23 minutes ago, Dekison said:

Personally I wouldn’t want a “wizard” but maybe something like that more “magic-science” which is what a Khemists is kind of. 

Navigators already know Aetherstorm, so I could see that unit getting other magic like abilities.

Also thanks for the comments on my Riggers! I'm still new at painting minis so it means much to me.

[Sttufe]

5 hours ago, Riavan said:

If they give off kharadon endless spells surely they need to give a kharadon wizard of some kind. Or rewrite a model.

Or, they didn't give KO endless spells. Woah! I know, very strange concept, but keep factions unique. Make it so that KO can get rid of magic like Khorne but not use their own special magic. Maybe they can use really powerful machines that have to be called down or something, but not endless spells.

Edited March 25, 2019 by Sttufe

[Skyeline]

4 hours ago, Riavan said:

Thinking about it. The nightfault squad will probably have some magical abilities. Don't all of them have wizards?

Almost all of them. Mollog's mob does not feature any spellcasting, which leads me to strongly believe that the KO team will not have any spellcasting either.

[Nick907]

I'd rather not have a standard 'wizard' either, but a 'rocket bombardment' type endless spell could be fun. 
 

@Kramer I'm pretty sure KO sold well, but I can't remember why I think so.  We agree that a new battletome would be an important buy for all the existing KO collectors, and I think a new hero or unit would also sell well, although not as well as the book. I'd buy the endless spell and terrain kits too, even if some players did not. If the new Battletome makes the KO more competitive in the tournament scene we can expect more of those people to by in as well.

[Baron Wastelands]

16 minutes ago, Nick907 said:

I'd rather not have a standard 'wizard' either, but a 'rocket bombardment' type endless spell could be fun.

That’s a great idea. Call in an air strike 😊 There is now a precedent for non-magic endless ‘spells’ with the khorne release.

Presumably terrain pieces and endless spells for existing armies sell well, or they wouldn’t keep doing it. Personally, I will usually buy the terrain pieces for my armies, even if I’m not bothered about the bonus. And usually it’s a nice freebie in game.

[Gecktron]

1 hour ago, Sttufe said:

Or, they didn't give KO endless spells. Woah! I know, very strange concept, but keep factions unique. Make it so that KO can get rid of magic like Khorne but not use their own special magic. Maybe they can use really powerful machines that have to be called down or something, but not endless spells.

Khorne has shown that "endless spells" don't have to be spells per se. GW has stated that they like how Endless Spells visualize certain abilities and that they were well received. I think its entirely possible that GW will keep releasing them and simply modifies them to fit armies that dont use spells. 

1 hour ago, Nick907 said:

I'd rather not have a standard 'wizard' either, but a 'rocket bombardment' type endless spell could be fun. 
 

@Kramer I'm pretty sure KO sold well, but I can't remember why I think so.  We agree that a new battletome would be an important buy for all the existing KO collectors, and I think a new hero or unit would also sell well, although not as well as the book. I'd buy the endless spell and terrain kits too, even if some players did not. If the new Battletome makes the KO more competitive in the tournament scene we can expect more of those people to by in as well.

@ Kharadrons selling well: GW has said so much on events following their release back in 2017. They stated that they sold much better than expected and that they seriously considered making more stuff for them.