Faction predictions for 2019.

[marke]

Someone mentioned humans. I like it. They are, in fact, quite necesseray to provide a point of reference and also some contrast.

I don't think GW will do bland humans, however, so I hope it's steampunk humans

 

[Melcavuk]

On 12/30/2018 at 12:54 PM, EccentricCircle said:

I'm not convinced that Gutbusters are going to be coming soon. I applied for a GW game designer job earlier in the year (didn't get it, but did get an interview). The assessment exercise involved designing a set of allegiance abilities for the Gutbusters, and the interview largely involved discussing the rules, and the game design philosophy behind them.

It was strongly implied that it wasn't a faction which they were actively working on, and I got the impression that it wouldn't be coming for a while, or didn't presently have a direction. I didn't get the impression that they were hiring someone with that faction in mind per se, but it wouldn't surprise me if its a bit further ahead than some people are hoping.

Its hard to be sure though, clearly they weren't blabbing secrets about the upcoming schedule to all their candidates, and could have been dissembling so that people like me wouldn't immediately run to the net and say "Ogres are coming!" If anyone else on here applied it would be interesting to know whether everyone got the same faction for the assessment, or whether each candidate was given a different one.

Hey me too, interview was fun atleast.

Ogors I cant see arriving in proper for atleast another two years, largely the fact it was the basis of an interview says to me its something thats still wide open without any strong theme to permeate through the faction. Given that the production time from design to release is apparently roughly two years even if they got so inspired at the point of the interviews it'd still be a ways of.

For me this year is:

Gloomspite (obvious)

Slaanesh (said something in the new years post)

Aelves x 1 faction

1 wildcard (either Darkoath or Aelf number 2)

[Throt the Unclean]

What I want to see:

Skaven: I would be happy if they only got a combined LoN styled battletome and nothing else. But I would really love for them to get a unified battletome and updated models like Gloomspite Gitz. I also want more novels and short stories involving the Skaven. 

Seraphon: I would love to see updated models, endless spell, terrain, dice, cards, and a rework of their battletome like Beasts of Chaos. I would also really love for them to have tons of novels. They are one of the most interesting and powerful armies (possibly the most powerful) and we never hear anything about them. They desperately need a Blood Bowl team. The need a Nightvault team. 

Free Peoples: I loved old Empire and Brettonians. I would like to see a brand new Free Peoples army that incorporates elements of both armies. 

Scenery: I would love if GW sold realm specific, 6x4 sized battle mats and terrain even though it could potentially be an overwhelming amount of stuff to buy and really expensive. GW sold two skirmish mats, one in particular was made to be used with the Sigmarite Mausoleum and it looks incredible with the terrain on it. I think doing full-sized mats with each realm  would be amazing. 

At the very least I would like the Shattered Dominion gameboard turned into a 6x4 sized battlemat. I think gameboards are too expensive for what you get and are outdated. Everyone is playing on mats these days.

[Malios]

I think that we stand at an interesting split in the road for AoS at the moment.

From observations so far, AoS has been different to its predecessor and even compared to 40k in that, until recently, its new releases ebb and flow between being related to its narrative progression and periods of "filler" rather then being driven purely by sales or, to the more cynical critics of GW's releases, at random.

• The first releases associated in AoS' launch were factions, mostly Order and Chaos factions, who played pivotal parts in the Realmgate Wars and establishing the new setting. They were also released in such a manner that supported the flow of the narrative of the Realmgate Wars. 
• This period was then followed by a "filler" period  where  older fantasy ranges that could be better salvaged or expanded upon into the new setting such as Beastclaws, Flesh Eater Courts and Bonesplittas were done so and "fresh" material like the Kharadron Overlords were introduced.
• The flip back to the narrative releases occurred again in 2018 as Nagash took to the stage with Malign Portents and rolled into the factions most prevalent to the ongoing soul wars narrative of 2nd edition.
• We now seem to be transitioning, that is unless the narrative hasn't been released to us yet, back to the filler period with the recent Beasts of Chaos and the upcoming Gloomspite Gitz.

Now, its more complicated then merely assuming that GW is cycling between narrative tied releases and filler: as we know, 2017 was a massive year for 40k with the new edition so it makes sense that AoS would settle into a "filler" period to tread water. We also know that there was demand on the market for Elves in AoS post the Realmgate Wars so GW capitalised on this market trend with tying the Elven factions into the Soul Wars narrative: both Daughters of Khaine and Idoneth Deepkin were very successful releases (personally I'd argue that Daughters of Khaine moreso then the Idoneth) because GW listened to the market trends and released them at the right time. So external elements do play a part in the release schedule and do play a part in shaping AoS' narrative as evidenced above. 

But, with previous patterns having emerged, and understanding that GW are a business that is now staring to pay attention to its marketing trends and target audience's feedback, we stand at an interesting split in the road as to how AoS goes forward into the next 18 - 24 months:

• The first path is that they can do what they did with 40k and put the new releases of AoS on halt  for a bit to play catch up. (and release an overbearing level of Stormcast equivalents to Primaris Lieutenants at every opportunity they get)
• The second path is that GW continue establishing their narrative and push on with new or refurbished releases tied to their narrative and IP. Or,
• Somehow GW takes the third path and finds a way to do both.

All divergent paths have their pros and cons naturally:

The first path keeps the established old guard happy as their older, faithful collections get some attention and a bit of a boost. That as a result will keep them engaged with the game and may encourage others in the old guard who've set aside their old fantasy collections to return. But, unless such releases redefine the competitive scene's "meta" or have a healthy dose of new and improved plastic crack to accompany them to generate new, army sized sales (kind of like the upcoming Gloomspite Gitz release with all that new plastic), the old guard aren't a reliable target audience for big increases in sales: even with GW's marketing methods to encourage buying the new toys, most of the time the old guard already have their cake and will only buy piecemeal decorations to go on top. Further to this, the more GW uses their greatly expanded but still limited resources to recycle or renew the old, the less resources they have to bring in the new. Some people may attribute this, mainly the old guard, as a good thing as they don't want new but its a delicate balance, particularly for a company whose new drive behind AoS is to have a progressing story line.

The second path on the other hand means that GW continue to power forward, rolling with their narrative and establishing newer product lines that further protect and cement their IP, distancing their brand from the archetype fantasies that defined the wargaming and roleplaying genres for the better part of a century. This naturally includes new, full line releases such as Kharadrons and Idoneth, but also includes refresher releases like Sylvaneth and Daughters of Khaine where they greatly expand upon an existing line to further tie it into the evolved narrative of AoS from its fantasy roots. The big pro of this, aside from cementing IP for GW, is big sales: in many cases whole armies will need to be bought. The natural downside is that tabletop wargamers love to fear change. My close group of friends, who've been heavily invested in tabletop wargaming for decades, bar a few exceptions like myself didn't like the Kharadrons over all, citing that they were great models but had no place in their fantasy game. Naturally their opinions of the Idoneth Deepkin are even more negative which is a shame as their narrative has so much potential if one can look past the elves riding sea monsters aesthetic. Now, naturally most of my close gaming mates are middle aged men who've been playing "their game for decades as they always have," but middle aged men with long investments in warhammer ie the old guard are not a minority and tend to be quite a vocal majority which GW has to wrestle with. Thats not to say that all middle aged men who happen to be wargamers are like this, but stereotypes, just like with neckbeards, have some foundation in truth.

The third path is that somehow GW bats a miracle century and manages to achieve both: successfully pushing forward the narrative while achieving a balance between new, unique AoS releases and throwing enough bones to the old guard to squeeze as much life out of their ageing fantasy ranges as possible.

With the announcement that Slaanesh is coming (which, lets face it we all kind of saw coming based off previous chaos release trends and the narrative progression of AoS focusing on the Soul Wars which the Aelven Gods and Slaanesh play a distinct part of) and the merging of items on the website it could really swing either way.  If they go the first route, then the releases will likely be based off market trends and what sells well: Skaven may be thrown a bone, as might the split Dark Elf factions, former-Empire factions and Gutbusters if such was the case. If they go the second route instead, then I'd fully expect to see Tyrion's and Malaerion's Aelven ranges within the next 18 months to complete the loop of the Soul Wars followed possibly by more Chaos in the form of the increasing releases of "Darkoath" kits.  Who knows, death may be thrown a second bone and receive a Soulblight release for all we know. If instead they go the third way, I really don't know what to expect.

None-the-less, either way its an exciting time to be in Age of Sigmar.

[kenshin620]

Skaven will be inevitable, but it could be as far as late 2019 or even 2020 depending on what the schedule is

After all the 2.0 previews had shown Beasts of Chaos Preview back in May (long before anyone even thought BoC was a real thing)

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/05/31/31st-may-faction-focus-the-beasts-of-chaosgw-homepage-post-3/

and "Grots" Preview back in June which while mentioned gitmobs, all the pictures only showed Moonclan, Spiderfang, Troggoths, and Gargants (aka everything in Gloomspite)

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/06/03/3rd-june-faction-focus-grotsgw-homepage-post-3/

 

Thus this leads to the combined Slaven focus

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/05/26/26th-may-faction-focus-skavengw-homepage-post-3/

I can't believe all the answers were in front of us the ENTIRE TIME (at least for now) 👻 .

 

THAT BEING SAID there are also faction focuses for Combined Aelves, Free People+Ironweld (Hmmm), Dispossessed, and Gutbusters (who dont even have a GHB allegiance).....

But Skaven already has a leg up on all the others since they already have 1 Battletome under their belt (albeit over glorified GHB at this point), a Shadespire Warband (no other non-Battletome army has one as of currently) and even was a faction mentioned in the Getting Started With AoS beginning magazine (which left out all other non-battletome armies like Free People or Gutbusters or heck even Beasts of Chaos since they didnt have their book yet)

 

And for other releases, slaanesh is inevitable, following probably the exact formula of the other chaos god books. How much it shakes up the fluff, I dunno. Then theres the darkoath/slaves to darkness/everchosen thing. Thats a bit confusing since it could be separate darkoath, or it's 3 factions in one book much like BoC or Gloomspite. Possible chance of more aleves (probably to fight slaanesh) either shadow, light, or reusing the old aleves.

Maybe if we're lucky they'll finally fix at least ONE non-SCE old 1.0 battletome like KO or IJ. And if it's seraphon, they REALLY need new models! 🦖

[MacDuff]

GW is on a roll with their expanding narrative. I'd wager they keep going in that direction to open up unexplored Realms with newly invented armies. That's what's been getting me to drop several hundred bucks at a time. But I think they'll also be backfilling existing (newish) armies. For that they'll probably use new Shadespire warbands for a splash fill, and boxed games like WQ (the AOS one) for bigger model additions. I don't expect a significant redo of older WHFB stuff or resin in general. What I can't figure out is how their reinvention of normal human armies fits in. There is bound to be a BIG story twist we don't see coming yet, maybe something because of the wild Magic Nagash has unleashed?

PS: I don't see Seraphon coming back for a while. They're an extensive line and serviceable, and a warband or two can replace a few key resin characters. I think one of the older short stories will ultimately lead to their reinvention as wilder living lizards who will start to repopulate in some Realm. This lets GW put some character flesh on their currently imaginary bones and adds rooting interest when they return as strangers in a strange land.

[Skreech Verminking]

On 1/2/2019 at 6:38 PM, kenshin620 said:

But Skaven already has a leg up on all the others since they already have 1 Battletome under their belt 

Man-thing think-says that we already have a Battletome.

Does it not know-see that traitor-meat like pestilence will, never scurry-run in the name of the horned rat.

 say-squeak they are the chosen of the horned rat, but follow treacherous god Nurgle in his conquest, say-squeak they scurry-search for great gifts of the horned rat, but use it to help chaos-things to kill-slay.

all traitor-meat!!!

think-see they are more special then us-us?!

we will show-kill them.

Yes-yes,

 traitor-things shall pay-Die.

 

 

[Mutton]

On 1/1/2019 at 4:28 PM, Melcavuk said:

Hey me too, interview was fun atleast.

Ogors I cant see arriving in proper for atleast another two years, largely the fact it was the basis of an interview says to me its something thats still wide open without any strong theme to permeate through the faction. Given that the production time from design to release is apparently roughly two years even if they got so inspired at the point of the interviews it'd still be a ways of.

For me this year is:

Gloomspite (obvious)

Slaanesh (said something in the new years post)

Aelves x 1 faction

1 wildcard (either Darkoath or Aelf number 2)

That'd be quite disappointing, and could potentially mean that Gutbusters won't even get a basic allegiance ability in the next GHB. I was hoping that the new reboxing of ogor troops might have indicated something.

[Skreech Verminking]

15 minutes ago, Mutton said:

That'd be quite disappointing, and could potentially mean that Gutbusters won't even get a basic allegiance ability in the next GHB. I was hoping that the new reboxing of ogor troops might have indicated something.

If it will be like the ghb 18, we will only be getting pointchanges and some new battle plans.

maybe 1or 2 updates for a certain allegiance but that’s probaly it.

I find it very lacking, but who knows maybe they’ll finally change that.

[AaronWilson]

Do people think we will see a revisit to some of the very early battletomes at all?

[Skreech Verminking]

2 minutes ago, AaronWIlson said:

Do people think we will see a revisit to some of the very early battletomes at all?

Does hoping count?

then yes

[kenshin620]

6 hours ago, AaronWIlson said:

Do people think we will see a revisit to some of the very early battletomes at all?

For customer morale they really do need to. GHB updates can only do so much (and actually technically has nerfed a few since they switched over to wholly withing ranges).

As much as I like seeing new armies, it does feel not very good if GW's AoS strategy (other than SCE for obvious reasons) is "make new shiny army to make money....then make another new army, repeat". Especially the very first armies that have less total units than the SCE has Heroes.

[Barbossal]

7 hours ago, AaronWIlson said:

Do people think we will see a revisit to some of the very early battletomes at all?

Well, GW managed to blitz out codexes for all 40k armies (sorry Genestealers) within about a year and a half. These just focused on the books and occasional model. We could see GW focus on something similar now that they've hit their stride in understanding the direction in AoS 2.0. To recap we'd need to cover: 

• Clans Pestilens
• Disciples of Tzeentch
• Blades of Khorne
• Everchosen
• Seraphon
• Fyreslayers
• Kharadron Overlords
• Ironjawz
• Flesh-Eater Courts
• Bonesplitterz
• Beastclaw Raiders

Thats not including any factions that don't have Battletomes, or those that released in 2018 that were supposedly written with 2.0 rules in mind.

The ones in bold probably need the most TLC, and I expect those could see revisions this year.

 

 

[kenshin620]

13 minutes ago, Barbossal said:

Well, GW managed to blitz out codexes for all 40k armies (sorry Genestealers) within about a year and a half.

To be fair that was a massive anomaly since they basically had to make all new books after rapidly changing how vehicles worked with the Indexes being band-aids. The jump from AoS 1.0 to 2.0 is far less significant in terms of how unit profiles and army building worked, much like the movement from WFB 6th to 7th to 8th (given the fact that the 2003 Bretonnia book still worked in 8th edition, albeit with a few FAQs/Erratas)

(and of course...40k being the main money maker also helps motivate them....)

 

Though yes the other point you made is true than many AoS factions need some more significant model updates than "just a book" update. Even Seraphon who technically have a large army, really could use some model replacements. At the very least Plastic Slaan, Plastic Kroxigors (TWW2 Style), and at least one updated plastic kit (Knights Knights KNIGHTS).

[Barbossal]

3 hours ago, kenshin620 said:

Though yes the other point you made is true than many AoS factions need some more significant model updates than "just a book" update. Even Seraphon who technically have a large army, really could use some model replacements. At the very least Plastic Slaan, Plastic Kroxigors (TWW2 Style), and at least one updated plastic kit (Knights Knights KNIGHTS).

2

Definitely agree. Even more dire than the Krox in my opinion is finally giving us a plastic Salamander / Razordon kit. It's so overdue it's not even funny

[dirkdragonslayer]

20 hours ago, AaronWIlson said:

Do people think we will see a revisit to some of the very early battletomes at all?

I think they will have to soon. Some early factions like Fyreslayers and Ironjawz have very few units available to them and have a lot of room to expand on. Seraphon is popular, but their models are needing some updates like Gloomspite got.

[Dragon10]

No wanderers then  I want woodelves 

[kenshin620]

Looks like FEC may be the winner! They may get the works assuming this means a new book (full spell lore, endless spells , some terrain maybe like a FEC Keep)

[Aegisgrimm]

Ironjaws just need to swallow up Greenskinz to at least have unarmored boyz, boars and chariots but it looks like instead GW will probably just Squat them, unfortunately.