The Rumour Thread

[Rachmani]

Thinking about the Thondia book a bit more, it came to me, that that’s really what I expect from the AoS team a lot more:

Support for their game, in more than just one way. 
It dawned on me, that I‘m okay with one foot hero releases, as long as the miniature foundation is good (IDK yay, FS nay) - there can always be later updates to the range broken realms style.

But support for the actual game is vital.

- Up the pace of matched play balancing & fix the outliers. Balanced matched play makes everyone’s playing experience better. I don’t want to feel bad for liking the Sentinel’s models.
- Keep the story going, give us narrative incentives to play in different ways (that’s why I‘m so stoked for the thondia book) & keep things fresh. 
- Support that narrative (PtG, AoA) with miniatures. The two (!) Eldar Autarchs should exist for every army. Give us diversity! Let us build our own heroes - without breaking a sweat, or buying 95 different boxes or sprues. 
The list goes on… . AoS is such a vibrant, breathing setting, don’t let it go to waste, GW! Use it!
 

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

1 minute ago, Chikout said:

On the Skaven side we are definitely getting another Underworlds warband. A dual build gutter runner/ night runner kit, a skyre acolyte kit and an eshin hero would be great. That's only 5  AoS kits that would help both factions a lot. 

Throw in a weapon team kit that can be built into a Warp Grinder, Warpfire Thrower or Ratling Gun Team, as well. They all have the same structure of one rat holding a big generator or fuel tank and another operating the weapon. I was honestly surprised that they are not a multi-build kit, but three separate metal models.

[Gothmaug]

1 hour ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

I still like it for what it is, but I agree that one medieval looking Zombie is pretty out of place. He is kinda dressed like the new skeletons and appears to be the personal zombie of the Necromancer's apprentice (who is not part of the warband?). It's confusing.

I find the entire set to be strange. Similar to the cursed city zombies, I felt the design philosophy was "how do we make zombies better? OOh! stick random bits into them!" Frankly I was hoping for more of a flesh golem/Frankenstein vibe with this warband, with lots of mismatched body parts sewn together. Instead the minis are just, well, kinda plain. My first though was "ooh a half dozen new zombies I can mix into my soulblight horde for variety" and that was about it. 

The Anvil of Apotheosis news got me excited though. I love character customization, and I feel its something that AoS really lacks. I jumped into the hobby a few years back with the idea that you'd get to pick a hero and use point buy to get a bunch of items/upgrades for him. Instead I got static warscrolls, with perhaps an artifact or warlord ability as my only flavor.  So the Anvil is exciting news to me. Doesn't help the tournament crowd though. 

 

 

[Ratboy genius]

45 minutes ago, Hawke said:

 

Skaven being an Eshin hero with buffs to Eshin existing kits or again a new kit (maybe an Eshin triad type unit like those introduced in the total war series)

 

I can't imagine even gw would shoot out only an eshin hero with gutter runners (metal in 3s for a 5 man unit LOLE) and nightrunners being in their current state. They did make that warcry box though

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

35 minutes ago, Rachmani said:

Support for their game, in more than just one way. 
It dawned on me, that I‘m okay with one foot hero releases, as long as the miniature foundation is good (IDK yay, FS nay) - there can always be later updates to the range broken realms style.

This is actually one of the more positive developments for me recently: Broken Realms has shown that armies can get the occasional new or refreshed kit outside of getting a new battletome, and the Nighthaunt release has shown that battletome updates are not exclusively either one hero or a dozen new kits with no in-between.

26 minutes ago, Gothmaug said:

I find the entire set to be strange. Similar to the cursed city zombies, I felt the design philosophy was "how do we make zombies better? OOh! stick random bits into them!" Frankly I was hoping for more of a flesh golem/Frankenstein vibe with this warband, with lots of mismatched body parts sewn together. Instead the minis are just, well, kinda plain. My first though was "ooh a half dozen new zombies I can mix into my soulblight horde for variety" and that was about it. 

Full disclosure: I am most interested in the warband for use in role playing games, where I think the escalation from fights against Deadwalker zombies to Arcwalker zombies as you get closer to the mad scientist behind it all seems pretty nice and thematic. And in that context, I can always supplement the warband with a 3rd or kitbashed party big boy Frankenstein. Plus I figure it will be a cool point of entry for Underworlds for me, and maybe their AoS rules will actually be good. But yeah, I think this warband could have been a lot cooler than it is.

Edited March 24, 2022 by Neil Arthur Hotep

[Hawke]

26 minutes ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

Throw in a weapon team kit that can be built into a Warp Grinder, Warpfire Thrower or Ratling Gun Team, as well. They all have the same structure of one rat holding a big generator or fuel tank and another operating the weapon. I was honestly surprised that they are not a multi-build kit, but three separate metal models.

A multi option weapon kit would be great, and I don't know if it's me being pessimistic, but it seems like such a perfect idea that GW won't think to do it...

[Hawke]

18 minutes ago, Ratboy genius said:

I can't imagine even gw would shoot out only an eshin hero with gutter runners (metal in 3s for a 5 man unit LOLE) and nightrunners being in their current state. They did make that warcry box though

100% agree with you, Skaven deserve way more and I hope I'm wrong as they really should get a full range refresh. I feel like Skaven are one of those armys that people avoid purely because the range is so old, and if they got a good haul of new kits a lot of people would be ready to dive in

[Noserenda]

Good preview overall i think, i was drifting off when they lead with a terrain box for AoS but the narrative book is genuinely quite exciting. 

I kinda wish the NH dude was a warmachine rather than a special character but hes still cool.

The Underworlds band is boring, but hey, new Necrach vampire! Who i bet will be the basis of a thousand conversions

Norse are well executed but not exciting, good to see a bit of gender mix too, even if its barely a step above token.

For the Skaven release id like to see new night runners, hopefully the return of triads and eshin sorcerors personally, with some gutter runners via Underworlds and then tidying up some of the metals/resin, mostly the poor old globadiers! 

[Maogrim]

I think the Exiled Dead are pretty boring. When they showed Coil I hoped he would end up being the least interesting of the bunch instead of the most interesting. Standard Soulblight zombies have more flavor than these. 

Happy for Nighthaunt though. Getting a new unit and a named character in addition to the mandatory hero is a pretty big deal. Now they just need some new cover art.

Not sure what to feel about the Thondia set. I wish they'd do more for GA: Destruction instead of focussing on stuff that'll just be around for a soecific setting. 

 

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

34 minutes ago, Maogrim said:

Not sure what to feel about the Thondia set. I wish they'd do more for GA: Destruction instead of focussing on stuff that'll just be around for a soecific setting. 

I think it makes sense that the terrain for this edition is Dawnbringer stuff, though. The Destruction factions are narratively set up to be the ones on the offensive, so it makes more sense that battles would take place at the strongholds of Order that those armies would be attacking.

If you mean that you would have rather seen new Destruction models instead of more short-lived terrain stuff, however, I can understand that perspective. There really has not been that much Destruction yet in the Era of the Beast. But I guess fleshing out the setting for this edition is worthwhile, too.

[Clan's Cynic]

I'm definitely let down by the Exiled Dead. You could print/greenstuff/buy some tesla boils, green stuff them to the SBGL Zombies and none would notice any difference. To say that they've not been afraid to be a bit more 'out there' with unique Underworlds designs I was surprised at how lacking they are and I say this as someone who generally dislikes 'overdesigned' models.

My prediction we'd see a splatbook was correct then. Pity.

The Tibia Mariner for Nighthaunt was a pleasant surprise. Be interesting to see if he'll be on the cover of the Battletome, therefore vindicating the theory a potential new model spoiler is why they used recycled art... even though Fyreslayers similarly were recycled.

 

[KingBrodd]

1 hour ago, Rachmani said:

Thinking about the Thondia book a bit more, it came to me, that that’s really what I expect from the AoS team a lot more:

Support for their game, in more than just one way. 
It dawned on me, that I‘m okay with one foot hero releases, as long as the miniature foundation is good (IDK yay, FS nay) - there can always be later updates to the range broken realms style.

But support for the actual game is vital.

- Up the pace of matched play balancing & fix the outliers. Balanced matched play makes everyone’s playing experience better. I don’t want to feel bad for liking the Sentinel’s models.
- Keep the story going, give us narrative incentives to play in different ways (that’s why I‘m so stoked for the thondia book) & keep things fresh. 
- Support that narrative (PtG, AoA) with miniatures. The two (!) Eldar Autarchs should exist for every army. Give us diversity! Let us build our own heroes - without breaking a sweat, or buying 95 different boxes or sprues. 
The list goes on… . AoS is such a vibrant, breathing setting, don’t let it go to waste, GW! Use it!
 

100% agree mate!! Absolutely stoked for the narrative content of this upcoming book!!

1 hour ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

This is actually one of the more positive developments for me recently: Broken Realms has shown that armies can get the occasional new or refreshed kit outside of getting a new battletome, and the Nighthaunt release has shown that battletome updates are not exclusively either one hero or a dozen new kits with no in-between.

 

It's actually made me far more excited at the possibility of Ogors getting a couple of new or updated kits. Update the Gluttons and the diversity in posing of infantry goes up by a whole third as currently Gluttons, Leadbelchers and Ironguts all have the same static block infantry posing. If they update the Gluttons to have dynamic posing watch those sales skyrocket!!

4 minutes ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

I think it makes sense that the terrain for this edition is Dawnbringer stuff, though. The Destruction factions are narratively set up to be the ones on the offensive, so it makes more sense that battles would take place at the strongholds of Order that those armies would be attacking.

If you mean that you would have rather seen new Destruction models instead of more short-lived terrain stuff, however, I can understand that perspective. There really has not been that much Destruction yet in the Era of the Beast. But I guess fleshing out the setting for this edition is worthwhile, too.

Did I mention I hope Ogors get something new? Models aside give the Mawtribes their due in the narrative. Gutbusters are basically Locusts that swarm across the land on their Mawpaths devouring everything they come across. Let's have a Mega Mawpath unleashed that impacts the narrative and forces Sigmars attention to them!!

[pnkdth]

It is an established theme, the Frankenstein stuff so it is what I've expected. If you're not into that stuff you're probably not into SBGL stuff either.

NH stuff looks genuinely great and I really hope they'll back them up with a thematic and interesting tome. Otherwise, the faction will be dead in the water (heuhuehuehue) as it slides back into irrelevance.

CSM release got me going. Despite no rules or anything substantial it is the faction I keep circling back to even if I barely ever play 40k. I really hope they'll let us create custom renegade chapters and I hope Night Lords and Word Bearers got some cool rules. The Necromunda stuff also gives me ideas for kitbashes.

[CommissarRotke]

First I'll get the meme out of my system:

Second I'll get the 40k out of the way: GW really just Warhammerfied Tusken Raiders and gave them bugs huh? They definitely look great, and it's nice to see such a different aesthetic for non-Imperium/Chaos/Genestealer humans. But they are very, very much Warhammer Tusken Raiders. Those bugs are not our rumor engine too, which is more intriguing.

Third is AOS impressions: I started laughing when I recognized terrain that already exists in the AOS intro... The new terrain does look fantastic, as does the Ghur incarnate. Article specifies this creature is "a new unit type" so it seems this is a separate idea from Endless Spells--I don't think this will replace the ES, maybe rename them and change how they work if anything.

I do wish the terrain wasn't ALL ruins and there was one completed building, though a board with all the 3.0 terrain together is gonna look fantastic. However! We know this box is going to be overpriced, and that on top of the new increase just 100% puts me off from it as a casual collector.

Finally the Season of War book: is it replacing the GHB? If not, does that mean we're meant to buy 3-4 "seasons" a year PLUS the GHB? The specific name feels like they want this to be how they update rules and battleplans throughout the year(s), so I'm hoping it's a replacement.

Pros:
-Specific narrative and PtG update/content
-Continued AoA updates
-Cover art!
-Moving Era of the Beast plot up!
-Expanded lore for Ghur and probably a variety of factions

-Thondia labeled as an "alpha" continent!?! Which I take to mean "continent we will specifically map out" for canon, and then leaving landmasses outside the Realm Core to fan's imaginations. I will be buying this map if they print one. I expect alpha continents for other realms too, as this idea makes room for both traditional fantasy mapping and the wildness of the Mortal Realms. Really brilliant way to solve AOS's 'map issue'!!!

Cons/Questions:
-the book is going to be overpriced
      -will it FEEL overpriced?
-it may not replace the GHB
-no mention of points, warscroll, or rules updates
-first book of its kind could easily end up obsolete
       -what happens if the next Realm's book makes Thondian rules, items, etc outdated?
       -will competitive play be able to use Thondia properly after the next two Seasons books?
-we will not get enough preview articles to help people decide if they really need/want this book
 

Edited March 24, 2022 by CommissarRotke

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

3 minutes ago, CommissarRotke said:

Thondia labeled as an "alpha" continent!?! Which I take to mean "continent we will specifically map out" for canon and leaving landmasses outside the Realm Core to fan's imaginations. I will be buying this map if they print one. I expect alpha continents for other realms too, as this idea makes room for both traditional fantasy mapping and the wildness of the Mortal Realms. Really brilliant way to solve AOS's 'map issue'!!!

Since it's the Realm of Beasts, in Ghur, the continents act like predators and constantly try to eat each other. Thondia is one of the largest and most dangerous continents, which makes it an "alpha". That's where that term comes from.

[SunStorm]

6 minutes ago, CommissarRotke said:

-Thondia labeled as an "alpha" continent!?! Which I take to mean "continent we will specifically map out" for canon, and then leaving landmasses outside the Realm Core to fan's imaginations. I will be buying this map if they print one. I expect alpha continents for other realms too, as this idea makes room for both traditional fantasy mapping and the wildness of the Mortal Realms. Really brilliant way to solve AOS's 'map issue'!!!

 

This is exactly the sort of world (realm?) building they should be doing. 

I'm in the process of sketching out a continent in Ghur where all my forces come from, so having some actual info/maps gives me a better idea of where I can base it and take inspiration from. 

Very much looking forward to this now.

 

[CommissarRotke]

5 minutes ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

Since it's the Realm of Beasts, in Ghur, the continents act like predators and constantly try to eat each other. Thondia is one of the largest and most dangerous continents, which makes it an "alpha". That's where that term comes from.

Ahhhh good catch! I am hoping my interpretation is true to some extent then; The Great Parch seems to be the main/alpha continent of Aqshy, and that was fully mapped out for Soulbound to give us an idea of where the big plot cities like Hammerhal, Anvilgard, and Hallowheart are.

[Lucien 2L]

20 minutes ago, CommissarRotke said:

will competitive play be able to use Thondia properly after the next two Seasons books?

I would really like to see in the future the possibility to organize tournaments placed in a realm and using rules specific to that realm (GhB + Thondia like rules for each realm)

[Mutton]

Adepticon reveals for AoS were pretty lame. Basically 2 new models, some terrain, and another $60 book I won't buy. They could have at least talked about the battletomes that are coming this year, at a minimum.

Yeesh...if it was supposed to get me excited about AoS again, boy did they fall far from the goal post.

2/10 show. 

[lare2]

I was chuffed with the reveal. Think we did well considering.

[novakai]

Stuff from the live panel seems to indicate that Season of War is maybe our version of the 40K Warzone books which is a separate entity from chapter approved/ GHB

[novakai]

5 hours ago, edmc78 said:

AOS did not do so well, but this was how 40k was treated in 2021, Its a shame we cannot get a more consistent pattern of releases but I understand this is down to production and supply problems over the last three years or so. 

The Necromunda boxed set looks like a great game and the HH refresh has me interested as RT01 was (alongside the original Adeptus Titanicus and HeroQuest) one of my first gaming purchases. There was so much to enjoy with that kit. 

I don’t think they where they got three big release in 2021, Orks, SoB, and Templars. They just got hit by the COVID train harder when their new edition was launch

[CeleFAZE]

Reveal was mostly meh, aside from the chaos knights.

I do like that the Thondia thing seems to be bringing in a monster that any list can use. With the focus on monsters it's kind of a feels bad moment for armies that don't have much in the way of options there, if any.

Definitely going to convert my own Slaanesh-corrupted elemental if this is the case.

Overall though, I was hoping to see the summer tomes revealed. They really hyped up this reveal, but for AoS it seemed to land with a wet thud more than a splash.

[Kronos]

Lots to unpack from adepticon. I wont do a unit by unit analysis because I know nobody gives a hoot. All looks cool, winner for me very much from a biased perspective  are the undead. is the new Vampire a new Not-Necrarch Necrarch?

Awlrach is so damn cool, I really want more characters like this that dial the surreal up a notch. My biggest “I want” from it though are those drowned spirits. I want a unit of Swarms of them so badly, they have such a detailed wailing and dying expression.

 

Now, TGA, I want to try something so please indulge me to see if it works... ahem.

I don’t care if they ever release Malerion, or Angron, couldn’t care less. In fact I hope they never get released. 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by Kronos

[GrimDork]

8 minutes ago, Kronos said:

Now, TGA, I want to try something so please indulge me to see if it works... ahem.

I don’t care if they ever release Malerion, or Angron, couldn’t care less. In fact I hope they never get released. 

Are you trying reverse psychology?