Neil Arthur Hotep Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 (edited) This is a thread to collect all the news and rumour around the upcoming Soulblight Gravelords release. As of the Faith and Damnation preview, Soulblight Gravelords have been confirmed to be a new faction with their own Battletome. They will be the successor of the current Legions of Nagash. Confirmed units: Updated sculpts: Wight King on Steed Skeleton Warriors Deadwalker Zombies Fell Bats Blood Knights Vampire Lord on Foot Dire Wolves New units: The Cursed City Gang Radukar the Beast Kritza the Rat Prince Lady Annika, the Thirsting Blade Lauka Vai, the Mother of Nightmares Vengorian Lord Belladamma Volga, First of the Vyrkos The Crimson Court (Underworlds Warband) Returning units: Black Knights Grave Guard Neferata Manfred Nagash Corpse Cart Vargheists Zombie Dragon kit Unconfirmed units: Mortis Engine kit Necromancer Bat Swarms Wight Kings on Foot (Wight King with Black Axe likely discontinued) Removed units: Arkhan Morghast kit Vampire Lord variants (on Steed, Winged Horror) All Nighthaunt shared units Use this thread for Gravelords news, rumours, speculation, hopes and dreams. Edited May 4, 2021 by Neil Arthur Hotep 8 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lare2 Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Awesome stuff. Thanks for doing this. Very excited for what's the come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sception Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 I believe the comment on black knights is referring to the /current/ black knight models. Several details of the new mounted wight king are designed to fit in with the aesthetics of the black knights (particularly the layered metal and cloth barding on the steeds). The current black knights are also a dual kit with hex wraiths, a unit from another faction. There have been no rumors of hexwraiths being replaced, which means black knights are also likely staying the same. Similar with the zombie dragon. There is currently no reason to think there is a new zombie dragon kit coming. The cover art still shows a four limbed zombie dragon, matching the current zombie dragon kit and notably not matching any other GW zombies. If we were getting a new dragon kit it is unlikely that they would stick to the four limbed body plan. The only notable difference that couldn't be easily written off as artistic license is the lack of horns on the dragon's head, and the horns on the current zombie dragon kit are optional bits anyway. And as with black knights/hexwraiths, the current zombie dragon kit is a multi kit box with not just one but multiple units from another faction - terrorgheist, ghoul king on zombie dragon, ghoul king on terrorgheist, & ghoul king on foot from FEC. Again there are no rumors of those model kits being replaced, which makes it unlikely that the vampire lord on zombie dragon would be. I'm not saying it's impossible that we would see new units for these, but at the moment there's absolutely no reason to think we will, and significant reasons to think we won't. They're both pretty much confirmed to be /in/ the faction, but I think it should maybe be a bit clearer that we aren't currently expecting new models for them. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Arthur Hotep Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 Here's a line from the Faith and Damnation preview to get some speculation going: Quote You can find all the warscrolls for these units in the new Soulblight Gravelords battletome, packed with updated lore, battleplans, and more. It’s stuffed to bursting with a wealth of content for Nagash’s undead legions too, so budding generals of the Death grand alliance definitely won’t want to miss it. Does this mean that Nagash and the Morghasts are in the book? How about Arkhan? Will the Battletome be Soulblight Gravelords in general with a Legions of Nagash suballegiance within it that allows you to take extra units like the current Legion of Grief? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clan's Cynic Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 (edited) Nagash would make sense to include, since he's still their boss and this is presumably the Legions of Nagash replacement anyway - he's a big expensive (£££) centrepiece GW know people are liable to include anyway and there's no point upsetting those who bought into LoN for the titular character only to them yank him away. Morghasts I'm not sure on, but then Vampire Counts had them for five minutes in the End Times and with this just being Vampire Counts: AoS Edition I don't see why they'd not stick around if Nagash is... oh and Arkhan because, well, why not. Nagash and Arkhan felt more tacked on to Ossiarch Bonereapers because of their shared aesthetics, which I think makes their inclusion more likely (it felt more like 'Katakros' army' than Nagash's personal guard or anything). There was a Rumour Engine I recall had an almost identical banner shaft to the Black Knight kit, but I can't remember if the new Wight King and Blood Knights share it. Mortis Engine I think will stick around just because it's got nowhere else to go and the Coven Throne has the spirits surrounded it anyway so having a few Not-Nighthaunt floating around isn't too out of place, assuming the latter isn't squat'ed anyway (and I don't see why they would). Again, Necromancers will probably stick around just because it's BT: Not-Vampire Counts and having living underlings seems an even more consistent thing in AoS... plus the plastic sprue isn't a Direct Only which is a good sign they plan some longevity for him when just about every WHFB sprue became such (and some AoS like the Fyreslayer heroes). I think the existing VLoZD will remain, but equally I wouldn't have expected a new Skeleton kit (the existing one isn't that old and there's nothing too offensively bad about it). What I'm more curious about are the Grave Guard, unless they're getting a thus-far unseen new kit as well? The blurry silhouettes I'm unsure about because the the proportions seem more like an Ossiarch thing compared to the gritty/grounded (as far as undead go anyway) LoN/Soulblight stuff we've seen. I'm wondering if they're a dedicated kit of Kosargi Nightguard? Undead Ogres holding weapons seem like they'd be pretty big. Edited March 22, 2021 by Clan's Cynic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordPrometheus Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 I hope this gives Nagash, Neferata, and Mannfred some love. Nagash doesn't do much for OBR, and at this point he's just hideously overcosted. Neferata and Mannfred have been ignored for so long, most people forget they exist in AoS. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Syf Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 (edited) So hyped for this. I'm preparing myself for the inevitable disappointment of Abhorash not appearing (i'll still hope until it's 100% he isn't in it.) but even if he doesn't I could live with it given all the other cool stuff. We do need a new centrepice model though... Edited March 22, 2021 by El Syf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Arthur Hotep Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 4 minutes ago, Sception said: I believe the comment on black knights is referring to the /current/ black knight models. Several details of the new mounted wight king are designed to fit in with the aesthetics of the black knights (particularly the layered metal and cloth barding on the steeds). The current black knights are also a dual kit with hex wraiths, a unit from another faction. There have been no rumors of hexwraiths being replaced, which means black knights are also likely staying the same. Similar with the zombie dragon. There is currently no reason to think there is a new zombie dragon kit coming. The cover art still shows a four limbed zombie dragon, matching the current zombie dragon kit and notably not matching any other GW zombies. If we were getting a new dragon kit it is unlikely that they would stick to the four limbed body plan. The only notable difference that couldn't be easily written off as artistic license is the lack of horns on the dragon's head, and the horns on the current zombie dragon kit are optional bits anyway. And as with black knights/hexwraiths, the current zombie dragon kit is a multi kit box with not just one but multiple units from another faction - terrorgheist, ghoul king on zombie dragon, ghoul king on terrorgheist, & ghoul king on foot from FEC. Again there are no rumors of those model kits being replaced, which makes it unlikely that the vampire lord on zombie dragon would be. I'm not saying it's impossible that we would see new units for these, but at the moment there's absolutely no reason to think we will, and significant reasons to think we won't. They're both pretty much confirmed to be /in/ the faction, but I think it should maybe be a bit clearer that we aren't currently expecting new models for them. Good post. I have edited the main post to be more explicit about what we should expect for individual rumoured units. I didn't want to editorialize too much, because I think this thread should also be for speculation, so I don't want to come right out and say "Expect no new sculpts for these guys." The intention was just to call out the fact that we have seen Zombie Dragons and Dire Wolves in the context of Gravelords already, and that there have been comments regarding Dire Wolves. For what it's worth, I think for all the kits shared between new factions new sculpts are possible, but unlikely. Here's why I think so: A kit being shared between two factions in not great. The people at GW know this, and will probably not want to be stuck in a situation where the fact that a kit is shared in this way makes it impossible for them to update it. They will have to do something about those kits sooner or later, and there is not really a reason to think that they can't do it now. Plus, the new Skeleton Warriors sculpt shows that GW is willing to replace even servicable plastic kits in some cases. I could see GW wanting to resolve the Hexwraith/Black Knight situation at this time, especially after revealing the new Wight King on steed. That guy would definitely be more exciting if he was leading a unit of Black Knights with shiney new sculpts. Plus, they might take the opportunity to bring all the Deathrattle in line aesthetically. This might necessitate a new Hexwraith sculpt, as well, or they could go the route of only updating one side of the kit for now and updating Hexwraiths later. That would mean that there are two Black Knights sculpts available in parallel for a while, but that's not the worst state of affairs all things considered. However, I still think the Black Knight kit getting a resculpt is less likely than it just sticking around in it's current form. The Zombie Dragon is even less likely to be replaced in my opinon. The kit definitely holds up well and as a big centerpiece kit with a fairly central role in FEC, it's not clear how GW would go about replacing it. However, if enough of the rest of the range gets replaced, I think even this kit has an outside chance to be redone. Just so that the faction is not weighed down by any legacy models. So, overall: I agree, the smart bet would be that Black Knights and Zombie Dragons just stick around in their current form. The chance they get an update might not be zero, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clan's Cynic Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 (edited) GW seem to really love their big, expensive, flashy centrepiece characters models these days and so I think we've got one of those coming still. I'm hoping for Abhorash but like @El Syf I'm prepared to be disappointed. An updated VLoZD would fit said centrepiece, but as has been discussed, it's not that old and holds up pretty well, plus they'll want to sell something NEW in that spot to get LoN players buying what they've probably already got one of. There's inevitably also a terrain piece and Endless Spells to be shown, although the latter usually gets revealed right at the end. Edited March 22, 2021 by Clan's Cynic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Arthur Hotep Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 13 minutes ago, Clan's Cynic said: There was a Rumour Engine I recall had an almost identical banner shaft to the Black Knight kit, but I can't remember if the new Wight King and Blood Knights share it. I checked that right after the reveals: That banner is from the new Skeleton kit. 14 minutes ago, Clan's Cynic said: Mortis Engine I think will stick around just because it's got nowhere else to go and the Coven Throne has the spirits surrounded it anyway so having a few Not-Nighthaunt floating around isn't too out of place, assuming the latter isn't squat'ed anyway (and I don't see why they would). Again, Necromancers will probably stick around just because it's BT: Not-Vampire Counts and having living underlings seems an even more consistent thing in AoS... plus the plastic sprue isn't a Direct Only which is a good sign they plan some longevity for him when just about every WHFB sprue became such (and some AoS like the Fyreslayer heroes). I personally don't think any kits will be completely removed from playability without a replacement. That's why I don't see the Mortis Engine or Necromancers going away. I could see some stuff that either has a comparable new unit as a replacement or is playable in a different faction go away, though. For example, could see the Varghulf go, for example, now that we have the Vargskyr. I could see Morghasts and the ghost units leave the faction for OBR or Nighthaunt, as well. However, I think having subfactions like Legion of Grief and Grand Host of Nagash that allows you to continue playing those units in special cases seems like a possibility, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sception Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 A new big centerpiece is likely, but by no means guaranteed when we have several large centerpieces already that are likely remaining (zombie dragon, terrorgheist, mortis engine, coven throne, palanquin, mannfred, & neferata). Comments on the battletome including rules for GA:Death & 'Nagash's Undead Legions' imply that Nagash & Arkhan may also still be around in some form or other. Still, though, GW ~does~ like their big centerpieces, so even if I don't think the faction needs another one it ~is~ still reasonably likely that we will see one. There are tons of forms such could take - a big fancy blood fountain faction terrain piece, an actual discrete model for Prince Vhordrai (far more likely imo than a new model for the generic zombie dragon), zombie giant... more likely than not something we'd have no means of imagining in advance. Re Abhorash (or vlad, or other oldhammer vamps) - Possible, but I sure hope not. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see models & rules for these in the in-development old world game, but most of the oldhammer characters are fully grounded in the oldhammer setting and don't really fit age of sigmar. IMO we already have more than enough oldhammer holdovers and I'd rather not see more when we could instead be getting more novel characters like Kriza. I'd be *especially* disappointed to see Abhorash, Vlad, or any other character that might distract attention away from Neferata. Neferata is the queen of all vampires and the first of their kind, yet she has always been denied top billing whenever warhammer vampires get rules and factions of their own. If any character should be the Katakros-esque faction-defining headline leader it should be her, and I will be sorely disappointed if she doesn't finally get to be the star of the show. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clan's Cynic Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 (edited) I'd be fine with Vlad never cropping up again just because his story had a very definitive ending with the End Times and him playing second fiddle to Nagash would always come off as kind of odd. Abhorash on the other hand feels like he'd be a perfect fit for AoS; being the Bestist Duelist Wandering The Realms Killing Stuff MegaCoolAwesomeStyle is the type of thing GW like to pen for their newer OCs anyway, he's always been a fan favourite but has never been depicted in model form, nor has he appeared too much in the story despite the former. His potentially more reclusive/nomadic nature also means he'd fit rulewise as a sort of "can be taken in your force regardless of which <Bloodline/Legion/Whatever> you take" if they went that route, which would leave the empire-building/scheme to Neferata. Edited March 22, 2021 by Clan's Cynic 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doko Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 In the blurry pic i only see zombis and bones in pikes. Only a scenary and not units. I dont think dual kits as cavalry or dragon gonna get new kits. New big centerpiece for sure,i hope a big badass dragon with aborash Vampires on foot in a unit of 3\5 i think,also a unit of berzerkers vampires with wings as we got the shadespire vampires. I dont think we gonna get all the wolfys units fron cursed city,i think that is something special done only for the box. Also i dont think ghost,arkhan,nagash and morgast gonna stay in this tome,they are bonereapers and nighaunt in my opinion 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAWzrd Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 They said that the new skeletons are replacing the old ones, but do you think that means the regular warriors, the grave guard or both? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dekay Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 1 minute ago, NotAWzrd said: They said that the new skeletons are replacing the old ones, but do you think that means the regular warriors, the grave guard or both? Grave Guard still look a lot more fancy than the new skeletons and they're very consistent, style wise, with Black Knights. I wouldn't be surprised if they remained unchanged. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Televiper11 Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 I hope they are keeping Vargheists in Soulblight! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasper Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Please dont make this faction yet another toy army for Nagash. Im really hoping to enter into the Death Alligiance but they feel all the same with daddy Nagash being such a major role in all of them. So far its looking really interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK9T Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 What I am looking forward to is an updated black Knight warscroll. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dekay Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Just now, Televiper11 said: I hope they are keeping Vargheists in Soulblight! Would be very weird if they disappeared. The models exist and the box can't be discontinued without removing, like, half of the Flesheater model line ; ). Same goes for Zombie Dragon. Speaking of, despite no confirmation yet, I'm almost certain that Manfred and Neferata are in (because it would make zero sense not to include them), same as Coven Throne and Bloodseeker Palanquin. Highly likely that Mortis Engine will be in as well, because where else to put it? Out of the current models I'd also be willing to bet that Corpse Cart will be in the book as well. It still looks good and zombies are in the book, so... 2 hours ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said: New units: ^There are also new vampires from Underworlds. Who knows, maybe it will be the Beastmen case and they'll be actually useful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raptor_Jesues Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 i know it is not exactly lore friendly but i would love a diorama like model with vlad, isabella and some other goon like the katakros one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lare2 Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 We now know there'll be warscrolls for the Cursed City models so... welcome to our new vamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lare2 Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Personally, as with everything in the range, I think she's great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Syf Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Is she on an Oval base?! I prefer the Vamps in the Underworlds warband but she's still good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRowan Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 I think she is actually part of the Soulblight release rather than Cursed City. Guessing her background ties into Cursed City like the Rat guy. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitzdee Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 1 minute ago, El Syf said: Is she on an Oval base?! I prefer the Vamps in the Underworlds warband but she's still good. I noticed the same thing. Although it would make it feel like she is moving sideways XD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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