The Rumour Thread

[Gareth 🍄]

Looks like an fantastic set, I like the new Stormcast and the Skaven look brilliant! The new core book sounds great too 😁

[Ejecutor]

43 minutes ago, Dragon-knight77 said:

Wait a minute i think i know where this guy from

So after resting on his chair he became a Questor...

[EonChao]

32 minutes ago, PraetorDragoon said:

The interesting question will be if those two spearheads are also the spearheads that will be sold seperately later or if there are different new spearheads waiting in the wings.

They'll probably be sold separately as well as in a starter box. That's how they've done it with 40k. You can buy either the Tyranid or Space Marine Combat Patrol separately for £95 or you can get them both plus some terrain for £125. Of course this can always change but that's the current model we have to base it off.

I'm assuming most factions will get their Vanguard boxes replaced with new Spearhead ones alongside their army books. My guess is the ones that have had their product names changed on the website (Idoneth, Maggotkin, Ogors, Gloomspite, Soulblight, Kharadon, Ossiarchs, and Sylvaneth) are probably going to get their books further into the edition so are being changed to match the new branding, whereas the others (Orruks, Nighthaunt, Daughters of Khaine, Lumineth, Slaves to Darkness, Tzeentch, Khorne, Slaanesh, and Fyreslayers) that are still using the Vanguard branding will be probably getting their books with new boxes between now and next summer.

[sandlemad]

I don’t quite follow the concern about terrain in the kit? Ultimately it’s exactly the same situation as anything else, isn’t it?

If I don’t like stormcast, then yeah, the box is not as optimal as I might want. Same if I didn’t want rat ogres, or a rulebook, or (in the past) templates. Whether that’s because I have some already or just don’t want them.

[Ejecutor]

40 minutes ago, PraetorDragoon said:

The interesting question will be if those two spearheads are also the spearheads that will be sold seperately later or if there are different new spearheads waiting in the wings.

Very likely they will be the same. Yes.

[Ejecutor]

32 minutes ago, Kronos said:

Just realised that one of Singapore Warhounds leaked images - The strange Rat Ogreesque head was not ib the preview - Rumoured Behemoth model. My bet is still that this is an update on the burrowing Behemoth conversion. 

They mentioned Rat Ogors are highly customisable. Maybe a bit that they didn't show us yet?

[sandlemad]

11 minutes ago, Grungnisson said:

Goonhammer's view on Spearhead

Rob: I was fortunate enough to be invited to play Spearhead earlier and ever since, the one thing I want to scream at everyone I see is “IT’S NOT AOS COMBAT PATROL.” Sure, that’s a very 40k-centric way of looking at it but I cannot stress enough that Spearhead feels totally different from Combat Patrol, and I mean that in all of the good ways possible. It’s thoughtful, well designed, and well laid out, and it honestly feels more like AoS Kill Team than it does Combat Patrol. It’s a surprisingly deep game which I feel has real legs for competitive play.

This sounds pretty promising.

[Ejecutor]

23 minutes ago, sandlemad said:

I don’t quite follow the concern about terrain in the kit? Ultimately it’s exactly the same situation as anything else, isn’t it?

If I don’t like stormcast, then yeah, the box is not as optimal as I might want. Same if I didn’t want rat ogres, or a rulebook, or (in the past) templates. Whether that’s because I have some already or just don’t want them.

Minis are easier to sell than terrain. Especially something so "small" in terms of terrain, IMO.

[dmorley21]

1 hour ago, Sarouan said:

Well at least I was right about the box including CoS ruins in it, to fit the new setting. It's just disappointing in numbers...but who really cares about terrain in the competitive scene anyway ? Competitive players aren't interested in building an awesome looking table with thematic terrains. They just want gameplay gimmicks.

Given that putting big stone circles showing the objective control range is already taking quite a lot of space on the table and that terrain can be in the way of determining it, makes sense the Spearhead mode looks a bit pathetic in the terrain field. I think it's sacrificing looks for gameplay on purpose.

Also, they need to produce less terrain plastic kits that way, so more money by selling rules / gameplay accessories than great looking sets of ruins.

Mate, I know you’re disappointed and that’s a bummer, but one thing needs to be cleared up here:

In the competitive scene, people care about terrain a ton! People around me in the Midwest of the US will often choose tourneys to attend due to what the terrain and boards look like. 

Terrain plays a huge role in games, and people wanted mysterious terrain to go for a better terrain system that we’re getting. 

So please dispel that competitive players don’t like terrain. They love it and want it to be meaningful. I’d say we, but I only get to about two tourneys a year due to having a young family.

[Lucentia]

The last tournament I went to had themed tables for almost every faction in the game, with unique scenery pieces and paint schemes on each board, I'd almost say part of the fun of playing in a competitive event is getting to play on nice tables, though, granted, that does depend on venue.

Regardless, I imagine they main reason they've put the terrain sprue in this boxset is so they can promote it as everything you need to play a game with a single purchase (except dice, I guess, maybe they figure everyone has duce lying around!)

Edited May 17 by Lucentia

[Asbestress]

Great box, although the quantity of ruins is a bit disappointing.

Probably not gonna buy it, but most of these (especially the Reclusians and Lord-Terminos with their little squires) will make some great Stormcast auxiliaries for my Cities, if they get a reasonable separate release. Absolutely lovely models.

And the Lord-Veritant is sooo good! Blindfold is kinda weird, but otherwise probably my favourite mini revealed today (alongside the Gryph-stalker and this little crow dog).

[Ejecutor]

1 minute ago, Asbestress said:

Great box, although the quantity of ruins is a bit disappointing.

Probably not gonna buy it, but most of these (especially the Reclusians and Lord-Terminos with their little squires) will make some great Stormcast auxiliaries for my Cities, if they get a reasonable separate release. Absolutely lovely models.

And the Lord-Veritant is sooo good! Blindfold is kinda weird, but otherwise probably my favourite mini revealed today (alongside the Gryph-stalker and this little crow dog).

It is like a disabled guy with his assistance dog. He even has the stuff to look where the Skavens are.

[Chikout]

38 minutes ago, Mcthew said:

So watched the preview (yup, agree that it felt a little out of step but hey ho...). Thoughts about the box: well, it looks really, really good.

And yet...

After the initial excitement I did wonder who this is aimed at. Spearhead is an entry level system like combat patrol for those who don't really play AoS. But £160 for entry into an increasingly expensive hobby is way too expensive. Parents I've spoken to won't buy this, they would look at their kids getting into the hobby in a cheaper way.

And it's unrealistic to think that people with money that are on the fence about Warhammer will suddenly jump into a game that now has 4 ways to play (yep, 4... So much for AoS 4.0 being a less complex game). It would put me off if I'm honest. I wouldn't know what I was buying and would worry who I could play games with (who plays what version of 4th, you know?). So that and the price would stop me as a newbie from investing.

On the positive side, the models do look great. Loads of eye-candy on show, but still feels lacking in set-piece models unlike Leviathan. Compare that to other starter boxes that are much cheaper than Skaventide, it's not gonna win more converts.

(Not counting, but that's 3 strikes, isn't it??)

Seriously, that's fine right, cos there's loads of existing players (like me) here and plenty for them in this box? Well, not so much unless you're a Skaven player (and definitely nothing to stop the tears flowing for Beasts of Chaos or Bonesplitter owners). And if you're an existing Stormcast player can you really justify spending £160 on resculpts of your Liberators and Prosecutors?

At least Kruleboyz and Nighthaunt were brand new factions and could tempt players to a new faction. This doesn't tick those boxes for me, and with my 15 or so factions it's a bit meh (but I reckon any non-skaven players might be tempted... C'mon you know you want to...)

But you also get terrain! Yes, and I love me a bit of terrain. Although a couple of crumbly walls? A Warcry terrain-offer this is not.

You do get cards. Lots of cards. GW loves its cards. I've got a whole stack of them in my Leviathan box gathering dust, but they look good.

You also get the book, and I love the Core Books. Something to pore over on a rainy day, or light reading before going to sleep (no, honestly, I do that). But I'm not going to pay £160 for a Core Rule book no matter how lovely, because there's only so many ways you can present the same lore over and over.

And I don't want a hardback version of a game that I know I'll never play (Spearhead). 

It took me one second to decide I was going to buy Dominion. It took me a little longer to decide I'll never buy Skaventide.

Ho-hum. Loved 2nd and 3rd launch sets though. Which is nice. And hey, the excitement lasted about 20mins and I'll take that any time, while I sort out my army list for a good ol' game of 3.0.

(Edit: just to add I may have finally shaken off that FOMO itch I used to get from GW products. It's a nice feeling by the way).

It's funny. I felt exactly the opposite. I wasn't in love with Dominion from the start and didn't buy it until I found it on sale in December. I didn't like the hobgrots at all initially, especially the helmets. There's nothing in the Skaventide box I don't like and what are the clawlord and the lord vigilant if not centrepieces? 

The price is slightly less than 2 vanguard/ spearhead boxes and you get the rules, the terrain, the board and a bunch of extra minis. It also isn't much more than the basketball shoes my son wants for his birthday and is less than the Lego set my other son wants. There are many justifiable complaints about GW prices but launch boxes like this are actually a pretty decent value for what you get. 

Of course I'll buy the game for me not them, but I will probably play spearhead with them. We already play Warcry. 

[Clan's Cynic]

36 minutes ago, Asbestress said:

Great box, although the quantity of ruins is a bit disappointing.

As much as I would love more ruins/terrain, I can already hear the complaints of "we lost out on more models for some terrain!" if they added much more in. 

 

Edited May 17 by Clan's Cynic

[HCMistborn]

All very cool, but I have to say I came out of the preview more excited about Spearhead. The box is huge, and it made my skin itchy just thinking about having another big box of mini's in my pile of shame. Instead I think I will grab a Spearhead and focus on that until Chorfs.

[Sarouan]

17 minutes ago, dmorley21 said:

So please dispel that competitive players don’t like terrain. They love it and want it to be meaningful. I’d say we, but I only get to about two tourneys a year due to having a young family.

They like terrain for the competitive aspect of the game : meaning symetric tables that don't disadvantage either side and having tactical purpose for cover / breaking of line of sight, that kind of things.

Competitive players don't care about the narrative aspect of the game in tournaments, and the role of terrain in it.

That's why I don't like the spearhead maps. They're really meant solely and purely for the competitive aspect of the game, all focused on gameplay and with zero concerns for the looks of it or the story it could tell.

[Ejecutor]

6 minutes ago, Chikout said:

It's funny. I felt exactly the opposite. I wasn't in love with Dominion from the start and didn't buy it until I found it on sale in December. I didn't like the hobgrots at all initially, especially the helmets. There's nothing in the Skaventide box I don't like and what are the clawlord and the lord vigilant if not centrepieces? 

I agree about missing Centerpieces, but just for the SCE. Skaven has 3 (5)! The Clawlord, the Gatling and the 3 Rat Ogors.

[Rachmani]

54 minutes ago, MitGas said:

I dunno, AoS became better with every step towards grimdark they took.. leave the happiness to some meh setting like Forgotten Realms! Nobledark… the goody two-shoes in the setting can be nobledark, let the rest of us be grimdark! 🙏

If we consider 40k to be "grim dark", then I strongly disagree with that statement. 

AoS has always had a hopeful core (the noble dark part), which is an essential part of its appeal. I'd agree, that for nobeldark to shine, grim dark has to exist in the world, but...

I definitely don't think AoS gets better or more interesting through 40kisation. 

[Vaellas]

Well I've gone from it has nice stuff in it, but maybe I will wait for starter sets to I'm getting it overnight.  It's priced pretty nicely at 160 considering all you get in it then compare that to the 150 and what came with Dominion. I love the Stormcast very much, the skaven are also brilliant but felt more like a bonus to me until a friend asked if we wanted to split the box with him interested in Skaven so that's me sorted.

Honestly can not wait to get playing, love that it is confirmed that the Ruination chamber are connected with Morrda since my Cities are Lethis and the stars for me were Lord Vigilant and Veritant.

[dmorley21]

4 minutes ago, Sarouan said:

They like terrain for the competitive aspect of the game : meaning symetric tables that don't disadvantage either side and having tactical purpose for cover / breaking of line of sight, that kind of things.

Competitive players don't care about the narrative aspect of the game in tournaments, and the role of terrain in it.

That's why I don't like the spearhead maps. They're really meant solely and purely for the competitive aspect of the game, all focused on gameplay and with zero concerns for the looks of it or the story it could tell.

Fair, though you may want to check out the Holy War tournaments in the US which is all about narrative terrain and narrative maps in a tournament setting.

Bottom line is competitive players and narrative players both like terrain. And everyone likes playing on cool looking boards.

[Vaellas]

6 minutes ago, Sarouan said:

They like terrain for the competitive aspect of the game : meaning symetric tables that don't disadvantage either side and having tactical purpose for cover / breaking of line of sight, that kind of things.

Competitive players don't care about the narrative aspect of the game in tournaments, and the role of terrain in it.

That's why I don't like the spearhead maps. They're really meant solely and purely for the competitive aspect of the game, all focused on gameplay and with zero concerns for the looks of it or the story it could tell.

Competitive players have a vast mixed group of people. Some will care and others will not. To each their own.

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

10 minutes ago, Sarouan said:

Competitive players don't care about the narrative aspect of the game in tournaments, and the role of terrain in it.

[citation needed]

[Ejecutor]

We didn't get this one solved yet:



Probably it will be part of the new Judicators.

[HCMistborn]

I just hope that Spearhead gets actual support throughout the edition, and isn't just something to throw in the box for the first year of the edition then ignored. It really seems perfect for people with Hobby ADHD, so that I can paint up several Spearheads without committing to the full 2k of an army.

[Hollow]

2 hours ago, Kronos said:

My quibble however is the Preview - there’s something so un-organic and forced about this preview style. It feels like I’m watching the QVC/Tele sales channel instead of Warhammer. Not Sure why they’re chatting on sofas, I want to see someone holding the miniatures around a table chatting going “Korr, Look, it has a little hidden Vial here, look a rune on this side of the helmet” - yh know while someone else doe s a little lore break down. And then showing the same video near on Repeat, I think the pace needs to be different, and the couch interview really needs to move to a table with the minis at hand. 

Yeah. The formatting has seen some improvements (Having more images on screen whilst the designers talk) but the presentation still feels very stilted and corporate. I know they want to spread out their hype and marketing, but I can't help but feel like the entire show would have been so much more impactful if it had started with the Cinematic for the first time, and then led into a full reveal of the box. 

The sitting on the sofa format just feels off.