The Rumour Thread

[Nazarjo]

26 minutes ago, The Lost Sigmarite said:

 

Also btw am I the only one who thinks the current clanrat kit looks better than the stormvermin kit ?

 

The biggest thing I'd want from a Skaven update would be for everything to look as good as those base clanrat units. The night runners and plague rats looks so chunky and bulky compared to the elegant little rat baboes

[novakai]

The beastmen in blackstone fortress were pretty cool if a bit more sci-fi then gallowdark ones

[sandlemad]

The basic ogres, i.e. gluttons, iron gut and leadbelchers, are solid classic sculpts, fun details, shoulder joints that surpass many more recent versions… but yes, they’re not terribly dynamic for AoS and suffer from a lot of very similar faces.

It would be good to have at least the gluttons and ironguts replaced (the leadbelchers’ standard poses hold up better given their role) but that’s nowhere near as needed as replacements for the metal/finecast gorger, yhetees and butcher. Sabretusks too, to a lesser extent. Those are critical, maybe some of the most needed replacements in all AoS.

[Neverchosen]

Models that most need updating:

[novakai]

Looking at the Tyranid release is seem like it about half refreshing old models and half brand new models

[The Lost Sigmarite]

17 minutes ago, Neverchosen said:

Models that most need updating:

When you order master Splinter at -50% off at AliExpress :

[novakai]

6 minutes ago, The Lost Sigmarite said:

When you order master Splinter at -50% off at AliExpress :

To be fair, current Master Splinter is showing his age too

[Neverchosen]

I feel like the easiest thing for getting a complete Skaven refresh involves something GW doesn't love doing namely having the basic and elite infantry share a box with slightly different builds. Clanrats/Stormvermin, Nightrunner/Gutterruners, Plaguemonks/Plague Censer Bearers.  

[Ogregut]

4 hours ago, Neverchosen said:

I feel like the easiest thing for getting a complete Skaven refresh involves something GW doesn't love doing namely having the basic and elite infantry share a box with slightly different builds. Clanrats/Stormvermin, Nightrunner/Gutterruners, Plaguemonks/Plague Censer Bearers.  

I doubt clanrats and Stormvermin will change. 

Gutter runners and night runners could absolutely share a box. 

Plauge monks and Censer Bearers could share a box but I would image they will get separate releases. 

[novakai]

Then again they did replace Gaunts and Necron warriors just because they are core infantry of an army, so they may just replace Clan rats just because.

but for how theoretically big this release is I doubt they will be able to refresh the whole range in one go. At best they do an all Skyre release (since they are the most popular clan and also have the most outdated models by far) with old model being replace and brand new units being created and that be it. Eshin can be updated via one warcry warband and Molder and Pestilins is left untouched for the future

[Still-young]

2 hours ago, novakai said:

Then again they did replace Gaunts and Necron warriors just because they are core infantry of an army, so they may just replace Clan rats just because.

but for how theoretically big this release is I doubt they will be able to refresh the whole range in one go. At best they do an all Skyre release (since they are the most popular clan and also have the most outdated models by far) with old model being replace and brand new units being created and that be it. Eshin can be updated via one warcry warband and Molder and Pestilins is left untouched for the future

Gaunts and Necron Warriors were both a lot older than the current Clanrats though.
 

Okay I just checked and they’re not as much older as I thought, Gaunts/Gants were 2001, Necron Warriors were 2002, and the current Clanrats and Stormvermin were 2009. It’s pretty wild how far GW came on in those 7-8 years. I think the current Clanrats are pretty perfect though. They’re characterful, the details seem to hold up well, and they’re like 2 parts each which is perfect for a horde unit. I also have a soft spot for the Stormvermin, I’ve always loved those models since that Skaven release in 2009. 

[Ogregut]

3 hours ago, novakai said:

Then again they did replace Gaunts and Necron warriors just because they are core infantry of an army, so they may just replace Clan rats just because.

but for how theoretically big this release is I doubt they will be able to refresh the whole range in one go. At best they do an all Skyre release (since they are the most popular clan and also have the most outdated models by far) with old model being replace and brand new units being created and that be it. Eshin can be updated via one warcry warband and Molder and Pestilins is left untouched for the future

Assuming they make weapon teams a plastic kit with varient builds and giant rats still in with rat ogres it's only 11 kits for a total range refresh replacing the plague priest, plague monks, Censer bearers, rat ogres, master moulder, warlock engineer, globiders, Jezzails, weapon teams, gutter runners and night runners. 

Throw in a couole of new kits to make it magic 13. 

Necronss had 15 new kits, lizards had 9 (10 with the warcry chameleon skinks) and nids are getting a fair few new kits so a complete range review isn't outside the realm of possibility. 

[Nazarjo]

The other thing I'd want from a Skaven refresh would be for them to rerelease the Skaven side of Island of Blood as a vanguard style box. Why is it 10+ years later and they still didn't replace the old rat Ogors and weapons teams with these plastic ones? 

[Matrindur]

6 minutes ago, Nazarjo said:

The other thing I'd want from a Skaven refresh would be for them to rerelease the Skaven side of Island of Blood as a vanguard style box. Why is it 10+ years later and they still didn't replace the old rat Ogors and weapons teams with these plastic ones? 

Because the Elves are on the same sprues as the Skaven

[Lucentia]

If Skaven are going to be part of the next edition launch then I think new clanrats are going to be inevitable; they like to have at least some basic, simple troops in the starter boxes, and they're not going to put the old clanrat sprues in there alongside any new stuff.  The only way I can see this not being the case is if they focus only on a specific skaven clan and give them some new clan-specific battleline sculpts instead.

I could see some of the more peripheral skaven warscrolls being removed as part of range update, things like giant rats which aren't necessarily very exciting or interesting.

[Still-young]

25 minutes ago, Lucentia said:

If Skaven are going to be part of the next edition launch then I think new clanrats are going to be inevitable; they like to have at least some basic, simple troops in the starter boxes, and they're not going to put the old clanrat sprues in there alongside any new stuff.  The only way I can see this not being the case is if they focus only on a specific skaven clan and give them some new clan-specific battleline sculpts instead.

I could see some of the more peripheral skaven warscrolls being removed as part of range update, things like giant rats which aren't necessarily very exciting or interesting.

I could quite easily see it being Pestilens themed with Plague Monks as the basic troop, or Eshin with Night Runners, yeah. 

[The Lost Sigmarite]

Eshin assassins would make a hell of a Warcry band. 

Also, expect some brand new Skaven units when they get a range refresh. A bit like what the Tyranids got : majority of new kits being newer versions of old plastics/resins, but a sizeable portion of the release being brand new stuff. 

[sandlemad]

6 minutes ago, The Lost Sigmarite said:

Eshin assassins would make a hell of a Warcry band. 

Also, expect some brand new Skaven units when they get a range refresh. A bit like what the Tyranids got : majority of new kits being newer versions of old plastics/resins, but a sizeable portion of the release being brand new stuff. 

Or indeed a sort of pseudo-replacement or reimagining, in that tyranid vein. Maybe night runners and gutter runners merge, or night runners stay as infantry while gutter runners become a minor hero (or group of heroes, like the old Eshin Triad). Maybe Skyre Acolytes become a fully-fledged infantry unit while the old Poison Wind Bombardier role is adopted by a new variant Warlock-Engineer.

Skaven are in an interesting position as clans Moulder, Eshin and Pestilens all received their own WD/supplement army lists at some point in WHFB, which makes for a pretty deep well of old unit concepts that could be drawn upon: stuff like the burrowing behemoths for Moulder or stealth-sorcerors for Eshin. Any of those could be pulled on and reworked for new-ish unit ideas. So too could the FW brood-horror, just as the FW dimachaeron was reimagined in the form of the tyranids' Norn Emissary.

[DoctorPerils]

3 hours ago, Matrindur said:

Because the Elves are on the same sprues as the Skaven

Basing material...

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

11 minutes ago, sandlemad said:

Or indeed a sort of pseudo-replacement or reimagining, in that tyranid vein. Maybe night runners and gutter runners merge, or night runners stay as infantry while gutter runners become a minor hero (or group of heroes, like the old Eshin Triad). Maybe Skyre Acolytes become a fully-fledged infantry unit while the old Poison Wind Bombardier role is adopted by a new variant Warlock-Engineer.

Skaven are in an interesting position as clans Moulder, Eshin and Pestilens all received their own WD/supplement army lists at some point in WHFB, which makes for a pretty deep well of old unit concepts that could be drawn upon: stuff like the burrowing behemoths for Moulder or stealth-sorcerors for Eshin. Any of those could be pulled on and reworked for new-ish unit ideas. So too could the FW brood-horror, just as the FW dimachaeron was reimagined in the form of the tyranids' Norn Emissary.

I think we really need to ask the question: Does the Skaven faction really need both Night Runners and Gutter Runners? Or both Plague Monks and Censer Bearers? Those units are broadly the same thing.

It feels like some minor warscroll cleanup for AoS should be bearable. Especially if Skaven get AoS-specific new stuff at the same time.

[Ogregut]

48 minutes ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

I think we really need to ask the question: Does the Skaven faction really need both Night Runners and Gutter Runners? Or both Plague Monks and Censer Bearers? Those units are broadly the same thing.

It feels like some minor warscroll cleanup for AoS should be bearable. Especially if Skaven get AoS-specific new stuff at the same time.

I agree with you about might runners and Gutter Runners but monks and Censer Bearers are different and I hope they keep them. 

[KingBrodd]

54 minutes ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

I think we really need to ask the question: Does the Skaven faction really need both Night Runners and Gutter Runners? Or both Plague Monks and Censer Bearers? Those units are broadly the same thing.

It feels like some minor warscroll cleanup for AoS should be bearable. Especially if Skaven get AoS-specific new stuff at the same time.

I agree. I honestly do not know the difference between Nights and Gutters.

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

4 minutes ago, Ogregut said:

I agree with you about might runners and Gutter Runners but monks and Censer Bearers are different and I hope they keep them. 

I can sympathize with this, because when you actually play the army you get to appreciate the differences between units a lot more than someone just looking at them from the outside. But then again, from my personal experience, whenever an army I played lost these kinds of differentiation, I found myself not really missing them in retrospect. That's why I am personally pretty willing to let units without a strong thematic or gameplay niche go.

[sandlemad]

24 minutes ago, Ogregut said:

I agree with you about might runners and Gutter Runners but monks and Censer Bearers are different and I hope they keep them. 

Same. Night Runners and Gutter Runners are both stealthy skirmishers, just one's simple chaff that comes in big units and the other's slightly more elite and comes in small units. They're both just points on the same clan Eshin advancement track so no harm in lumping them together or something.

Monks and Censer Bearers are meaningfully different in the background though, with one being line infantry and the other being skirmisher suicide-troops with very distinctive weapons and an AoE effect. Honestly, they're more distinct than any two Fyreslayers units, for example.

I could maybe see them being folded into the plague monks unit as a weapon upgrade - like the bonesplittas big stabba - but tbh they serve a purpose and make the Pestilens line relatively fleshed out: hero, big hero platform, line infantry, skirmishers, artillery. Sorry to rag on poor old Fyreslayers again but that's already more meaningfully diverse than their range.

Separately, on the point about AoS designers drawing from the deep well of old skaven designs, I think it's already happened. The design for the Warlock Bombardier owes a good bit to this old bit of art from the Skaven heraldry book. As far as I know, the doom rocket never got a sculpt and was just a weapons option for warlocks, so it appears that some design digging takes place.

Edited July 28, 2023 by sandlemad

[KingBrodd]

New Dawnbringers story today!?