The Rumour Thread

[PlasticCraic]

17 minutes ago, Thostos said:

  So apparently it was revealed on twitter that moonclan previews start next weekend.Now im no rumor monger and dont even use twitter,,this is from one of our local area TO`s that is active on twitter and follows many of the prominent members in the AoS community.

 

If it's the post I saw on Twitter, it was someone talking about it like it's a done deal, (jokingly) attempting to goad Ben Johnson into confirming or denying.  He did not blink!

[Barkanaut]

1 hour ago, swarmofseals said:

I think there are a couple of reasons for this aside from the likely increased production. The biggest reason is likely that the value was much lower. IIRC, the previous year's offerings had MUCH more value. Going by MSRP, the 2016 Stormcast box had $343, Ironjawz had $304.75, Sylvaneth had $311, and Khorne (which also took a while to sell out IIRC) had $287. So that's a discount of about 50%, 44%, 45%, and 41% respectively.

Last year, they reduced the value of the boxes significantly. Tzeentch had the lowest value at 235, while Kharadron had $240 and the other two had about $245. That's a discount of 28%-31%. Tzeentch and Kharadron had the advantage of featuring kits that were entirely new, but the Death and Stormcast boxes featured few things that weren't already available at a discount (SC and ally boxes for all of the Death stuff except the Morghasts, and the Blightwar box for most of the Stormcast stuff). Death at least benefited from the popularity and general competitiveness of the LoN release while Stormcast Vanguard suffered from a poor box composition (12 Gryph Hounds?? what?), few competitive units, and the fact that the Vanguard Chamber was eclipsed by the Sacrosanct Chamber, all but ensuring that boxes still on the shelves at the release of 2.0 stayed there.

Contrast that with the Sylvaneth box of 2016, which was IIRC the quickest to sell out that year. The value was quite good and it was the perfect complement to the SC box with only one kit (and a kit that you are likely to want multiple copies of, at that) overlapping. Basically any Sylvaneth player that didn't already have a complete force would look as a must-buy. It had great value, and you would likely slide nearly every model in the box directly into your army regardless of whether you were playing casually or competitively.

All of the 2017 battleforce options compare unfavorably to that, and not just in terms of value. An established Death player is likely to see a bunch of redundant kits, most of which are only seeing niche competitive play, but it remains an OK option for someone just buying into Death who hasn't already picked up a SC or two. A Stormcast player is likely to see the box composition and just pass unless you reaaaaaally love Gryph Hounds. A Tzeentch player might look at the box and see a solid value, but many Tzeentch players will only use a few of the kits, particularly for daemon focused players. Casual Kharadron players are going to want most if not all of the units in that box, but competitive players are going to see most of the value tied up in kits that are pretty bad (and were even worse when the box came out). 

I think that the Idoneth box shows that GW is aware of the problems that the 2017 Battleforces had. At 28-31% off, the boxes basically have to be very well composed to sell well to existing players, and they likely need an mix of new and existing players for the boxes to sell aggressively. The Idoneth box features $265 in value, or about 36% off. It's not as good as 2016, but it's better than 2017 and much more competitive with the Start Collecting range. The composition is not very competitive, but at that level of discount I think there is a chance that all but the most tournament-focused players will find it appealing.

 

I intend to grab one or two if there’s some left by next year and I get enough Kharadron done. 

[Thostos]

41 minutes ago, PlasticCraic said:

If it's the post I saw on Twitter, it was someone talking about it like it's a done deal, (jokingly) attempting to goad Ben Johnson into confirming or denying.  He did not blink!

  Thanks for the heads up and clarification,,that was probably  what it was.

 Ill ask my source when hes on our chat later:)

[Future]

****** I'm gonna buy the ****** out of Stormcast. I didn't realize how much of the mental war you won just dropping those dudes on the table. 

 

Also I really hope Nighthaunt and stormcast get battle boxes even though they are new this year. I didn't think I'd like painting the ghosts but the warband was heaps of fun.

[RuneBrush]

8 hours ago, Vasshpit said:

You are not misremembering. They previewed them awhile back and we're still waiting for them... 

Yup, saw them way back in May at Warhammer Fest:

[stato]

13 minutes ago, RuneBrush said:

Yup, saw them way back in May at Warhammer Fest:

Wonder if they have put them back for release next year as they were already planning the desolated township box for xmas release.  Or that could just be reading too much into it and its just not here yet because the scenery/paint/stuff department has a lot on.

[GeneralZero]

I'm asking myself: those ruins doors, are they an additionnal piece that opacify the door or is it an already opaque door? It should have been a great idea to put all the ruins "open" with additional parts beeing doors/walls/deacors to opacify those entries...

[RuneBrush]

Not a clue on the reasoning.  Speaking to Ray at the time he was expecting them out in the next few months*, so it sounds like the scheduling department have a reason for this (or keep forgetting).

As far as I'm aware the solid panels are cast into the actual wall section in the same manner as the single-story ones you get in the box with the board sections.  He did seem keen to work on more multipart AoS scenery though, which is hopeful we might get something at some point!

* this is backed up by GW's policy to not reveal anything outside a roughly 3-month window.

[chord]

16 hours ago, novakai said:

I will say I don't think Stormcast Vanguards sold really well since their battleforce box seems to be in ample stock even  to this day.

Wasn't that the box that gave you 12 gryph-hounds or something crazy?

That makes it highly unappealing. 

[Aeryenn]

We are really short on real rumours lately. What happened? Our informers threw a hissy fit? 

[hughwyeth]

9 minutes ago, Aryann said:

We are really short on real rumours lately. What happened? Our informers threw a hissy fit? 

Did anyone explain the profit warning GW issued a week or two ago? I imagined it was because a big product launch wasn't going to happen this quarter as they previously planned so the profits would be lower?

[AaronWilson]

Fairly sure that statement was just to tie In with the implications of Brexit, or expected impacts of it. 

[hughwyeth]

4 minutes ago, AaronWIlson said:

Fairly sure that statement was just to tie In with the implications of Brexit, or expected impacts of it. 

Oh i thought they never expanded on their initial "profits will be lower than forecast" statement? I initially assumed it must be Brexit but when they didn't elaborate i thought it might be some major product they wouldn't get to market in time.

[AshCrow]

To the people saying that they want MORE stormcast releases. What do you even want? What else do stormcast need? They have more heroes than entire armies have units and more units than Destruction. Why do you feel the need for more when half the other factions in the game are not only unsupported, but some even unplayable?

Edited October 29, 2018 by AshCrow

[alghero81]

18 minutes ago, AaronWIlson said:

Fairly sure that statement was just to tie In with the implications of Brexit, or expected impacts of it. 

Analysts online say that it could be related to the fact GW stock is at a ATH and they are trying to prevent a steep fall as always after an ATH. 

Brexit itself is not clear and even if it happens should not impact it before end of Q4.

[Tonhel]

26 minutes ago, AshCrow said:

To the people saying that they want MORE stormcast releases. What do you even want? What else do stormcast need? They have more heroes than entire armies have units and more units than Destruction. Why do you feel the need for more when half the other factions in the game are not only unsupported, but some even unplayable?

I wouldn't mind more upgrade sets for the different stormhosts and stormhost specific characters. But before you get in a frenzy. I would also love to see new miniatures for all factions! Especially Aelves, Soulblight, Slaanesh mortals, humans and than yeah some destruction. ?

[michu]

This. They should bring back old upgrade sets with shields and also make new upgrade sets for Sacrosanct Chamber and female Liberators, Paladins and Vanguard Chamber.

[Klamm]

 

Quote

 

To the people saying that they want MORE stormcast releases. What do you even want? What else do stormcast need? 

 

 

To play devil's advocate as someone who doesn't want more SC  releases crowding out fresher prospects, I think the biggest draw for more would be lore-flavoured.

From the fluff I've read in the last battletome, Azyr is more fleshed out and interesting than ever (chain-gheists immediately add a level of morbidness to this gleaming paradise). And yet, I think it's the paradox that the SC are the most developed army in the lore, and yet the cultural and geographical backdrop of Azyr is proportionally underdeveloped. So, every cavalry release introduces new Azryite Fauna, the chambers each gleaned some insight into Azryrite society (though I think people would have little issue of an Azryrite Free People's army release).

Stormcast don't NEED a single new model. But because of the sprawling SC lore, we have a great many dangling threads which would be interesting tp pursue. What are the redeemed SC like (the one's post Tornus)? How exactly do they coordinate lightning strike navigation? And, to me the most interesting:

Is there 'classcism' (my pet theory/question)

Stormcast can come from any realm. Well, almost: there probably aren’t many from Azyr. I assume those Azryrite heroes who marched with the Pantheon of Order were later reforged as Anvils of the Heldenhammer once Sigmar loots Shyish for the souls of heroes old. But  Sigmar shuts his gates and thus prevents Azyrites from fighting against Chaos for about 500 years or so. So, other than that period where they purge Azyr of dragon ogors and beastmen,  Azyr itself lacked the environment of conflict to foster heroes, and thus lacked Stormcast candidates. 

The Stormcast we’ve read about were heroes battling against Chaos across the other seven realms. Is it possible for some “Azyrite brat” to train themselves in battle and valour, becoming worthy of getting reforged?  Maybe, but there hasn’t yet been a character like that in any of the books. So, it would follow that Stormcast who were neither souls stolen from Shyish (which seems like a minority) nor recent Azyrite settlers of the Free Cities  CAN’T BE FROM AZYR.  In Spear of Shadows, many characters share the perception of Azyrite society as haughty, status-driven and proud. So, the question is, how do they square their “realm-superiority complex” with the fact that the Stormcast are predominantly NOT from Azyr? Obviously, both their power and their faith in the God-King commands respect. And yet, when ‘pure Azyrite stock’ is overlooked in favour of these foreign barbarians, do the people raise a brow? And, now that the younger generation of the reforged could be Azyrites, they will invariably be a junior rank within their Stormhost. Do they question Sigmar’s judgement in this?

I doubt there's an entire chamber idea in this, but it's an example of fleshing the SC out further which, if not for diverting precious resources from more deserving armies, I'd love to see. 

I know this isn't a rumour, but in terms of possible new SC, I'd be looking at the threads dangled in the fiction. 

[Sev]

1 minute ago, Klamm said:

but in terms of possible new SC, I'd be looking at the threads dangled in the fiction. 

Or maybe simply this art ...

[michu]

Yep, that picture makes you want to build Devoted of Sigmar army. GW should really make better rules and more miniatures for it. We need azyrite crusader force - something like 40k ecclesiarchy.

[Alexonian]

10 hours ago, Future said:

Also I really hope Nighthaunt and stormcast get battle boxes even though they are new this year. I didn't think I'd like painting the ghosts but the warband was heaps of fun.

Something tells me that with (one would assume) 5 boxed for each system, that stormcast is definitely one of them , and nighthaunt is almost a certainty another, then with Deepkin being one that only leaves two more which have me very interested, I assume one will be chaos of some sort(khorne/tzeentch or nurgle, and with tzeentch getting one last year and deathguard being one of the 40k ones my money is on nurgle) could the last one then be destruction? beastclaw raiders or ironjawz?

Edited October 29, 2018 by Alexonian

[Hoseman]

Ironjawz had a BAttleforce some time ago. I'll bet for DoK or BoC

[Alexonian]

3 minutes ago, Hoseman said:

Ironjawz had a BAttleforce some time ago. I'll bet for DoK or BoC

I think you are right, Gw loves to neglect destruction after all

[Sev]

8 minutes ago, Alexonian said:

I think you are right, Gw loves to neglect destruction after all

SC BF
NH BF
Dok BF
Nurgle BF

and a new destruction army battletome

 

Everyone would be happy that way.

[Hoseman]

2 minutes ago, Sev said:

SC BF
NH BF
Dok BF
Nurgle BF

and a new destruction army battletome

 

Everyone would be happy that way.

u forgot the only one previewed

edit: sorry I read battleforce instead of battleforce. This year for sure we will have some destruction love

Edited October 29, 2018 by Hoseman