Barak Votann, Kharadron engineering let loose

[EntMan]

2 hours ago, Kaleb Daark said:

You took the words right out of their mouths...

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/04/05/the-saga-of-the-squats-from-space-dwarfs-to-the-leagues-of-votann/

The FW termite definitely belongs with the League, and I can see many a thanatar being proxied for men of iron if they get their automata in the new book.

I have to say, I do love me a thanatar.

 

@Baron Klatz those helverin flyer conversions are all of the awesomeness, I really like what he's done with those.

Reading that article it seems GW have not yet decided (or decided not to tell us yet) if Demiurg are Squats or not. 

They do seem to be presenting them as having been allies of the Imperium rather than part of the Imperium. iirc from back in the day they were formally a different and separate but still part of the Empire, encouraged to worship the Emp as the ultimate ancestor. Makes me think they're gonna be closer a Xenos rather than Imp faction. 

Edited April 5, 2022 by EntMan

[Snorri Nelriksson]

Just now, EntMan said:

Reading that article it seems GW have not yet decided (or decided not to tell us yet) if Demiurg are Squats or not.

If Demiurg will be just "squats" it will be a retcon because Demiurgs are a Xeno species in the lore of BFG and 40k...i hope they'll not retcon that.
But maybe they are just teasing us misleading theories XD.
Maybe they could even link Demiurgs and Squats in a new way like "Demiurgs are similar to squats because they were an allied species during the past and were helped greatly with technology and whatnot" or something like that.

[King Under the Mountain]

Never been a fan of Squats/League being humans and much preferred if they were aliens like the Eldar or Demiurg.  I have never been a fan (in and out of universe) of the Imperium.
 

I think the vagueness in their relationship is one way to show just how alien the League is without doing a complete break from past lore.  The fact that they have mentioned Demiurg more in the last week then the whole precious decade shows that there is some connection, either a shared heritage or cultural exchange of some sort.

The league is going to look amazing on my shelf right next to my beloved KO regardless. 

[El Syf]

Not a squat or Duaradin player but the potential for mixing and matching with the Kharadron and League minis must be bloody exciting for you guys!

Can't wait to see what people come up with

[EntMan]

Slightly off topic but seems the best place to ask without making an account on Bolter and Chainsword:

Do we know how long ago in universe the Squats got eaten up by the Tyrannids? So how long they've had to do whatever they were doing while Squatted?

[Snorri Nelriksson]

1 hour ago, EntMan said:

Slightly off topic but seems the best place to ask without making an account on Bolter and Chainsword:

Do we know how long ago in universe the Squats got eaten up by the Tyrannids? So how long they've had to do whatever they were doing while Squatted?

No because it was said in an interview by Jervis Johnson...iirc was never said in any book (or there was some strange mentions about Squat  "gone" but not "eaten by Tyranids") .
Tyranids arrived not too long ago (not even a millennia) in the galaxy so i think they'll never acknowledge the whole tyranid apocalypse.

[EntMan]

4 minutes ago, Snorri Nelriksson said:

No because it was said in an interview by Jervis Johnson...iirc was never said in any book (or there was some strange mentions about Squat  "gone" but not "eaten by Tyranids") .
Tyranids arrived not too long ago (not even a millennia) in the galaxy so i think they'll never acknowledge the whole tyranid apocalypse.

Thanks. Maybe I'll ask the question another way (with a probably more retconnable by GW number as an amswer) How many years/decades/centuries has the 40K narrative moved on since the 1990s?

[EccentricCircle]

19 minutes ago, EntMan said:

Thanks. Maybe I'll ask the question another way (with a probably more retconnable by GW number as an amswer) How many years/decades/centuries has the 40K narrative moved on since the 1990s?

This is the kind of lore sleuthing I like! We know the squats were gone as of 3rd edition, and that's the oldest set of rulebooks I have in any event. So I'm flicking through my 3rd edition core book. The introduction doesn't cite a year, beyond the fact that it is the 41st millenium, and actually dates are sparser on a quick skim than I remembered. However, the date of the final inquisitorial memo at the end of the book is 3928997/M41. As far as I could see in the 2 minutes I've spent on it, that could be the latest date in the book.

Now from a 40K fandom wiki we learn that the Era Indomitus begins in 999/M41.
The latest event they list are the Plague Wars, which seem to be happening as of 012/M42. I'm not up on 40K lore enough to know whether that is the current date or not, but to me it looks as though a few hundred years have probably passed since 3e.

https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Warhammer_40,000_Universe

 

[EntMan]

The return of the Squats and now the Beakies compelled me to check out the few minis I have left from my old Rogue Trader army. I suspect the current incarnation of guardsmen will weep at the evidence of scale creep "I used to be as tall as a space marine and twice the height of a squat!"

More pertinent to the current discussion I'm not sure how my old Squats are going to look  compared in size to their new cousins...

[silverstu]

Oh I noticed on twitter that Andy clark seems to have been working on the lore/maybe a novel for LoV. He's done Gloomspite and Stormvaultfor the black library amongst other things- anyone read his stuff? Any impressions? 

He's listed as 40k senior background writer and Black Library Author. 

[Snorri Nelriksson]

New article about the Leagues:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/04/22/the-leagues-of-votann-are-coming-but-what-actually-is-a-votann/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=warhammer-40,000&utm_content=blpregallery230422&fbclid=IwAR1OrbznV7DNBzwYYL84cCslZvQcaincNpL4iRgwjZwy7pNIIX4TCmTRHrA

So the Votann are huge cogitators\computers bordering AI status that contains every single informations from the past(some even containing whole STC's)...i like this approach to the whole "ancestor's cult" idea that dwarves always had(at least GW dwarves).

Edited April 22, 2022 by Snorri Nelriksson

[EntMan]

So, if the "heretical tech" or at least part of it is these Votann AIs, does this make  the inclusion of Men of Iron or similar in the faction more or less likely?

[Snorri Nelriksson]

21 minutes ago, EntMan said:

So, if the "heretical tech" or at least part of it is these Votann AIs, does this make  the inclusion of Men of Iron or similar in the faction more or less likely?

After reading this i would say the opposite.
Men of Iron AI's seems on another level from these Votanns,they destroyed humanity with superweapons and are seemed a superior type of AI (or so it said), so unless they'll change Men of iron lore i don't think they'll be here.
Also maybe the rumormonger mistaken the whole "Votanns are AI's" for "they have AI so they have men of iron".

Edited April 22, 2022 by Snorri Nelriksson

[Baron Klatz]

It would be awesome if the tech the Votann’s stores included pre-Men of Iron schematics so even if they can’t have the genuine articles they could make robot prototypes like some of the Black Fortress guardians. ( and maybe not far off from the Kharadron Cogmonculus in being a bare-bones mechanical entity)

[Kaleb Daark]

I’d like the league to be a heavy faction if that makes sense.

I can see them with the assault drill
Transporters and men or iron and automatons that are solid and imposing, im thinking thanatar level imposing and just as cool looking.

I don’t see them as a big number of boots wafty flighty delicate army, but I see them with near deathguard hard as nails toughness and resilience. Thats how I saw the mechanicum of 30k at its core.

However the league has advanced enlightened reasoning and solidity on its side free from rituals and doctrines where you spend an hour chanting just to flick the on switch.

I suppose I’d like them to be quite elite rather than swarming chaff and distraction units.

[Snorri Nelriksson]

@Kaleb Daarki just hope they'll be enouggh different from Space marines and Mech playstyle-wise.
I could see also GW putting in some vehicles and making them a more flexible and fast army.

Edited April 22, 2022 by Snorri Nelriksson

[Kaleb Daark]

1 hour ago, Snorri Nelriksson said:

@Kaleb Daarki just hope they'll be enouggh different from Space marines and Mech playstyle-wise.
I could see also GW putting in some vehicles and making them a more flexible and fast army.

I hope so too, or perhaps this is where the automata come in, machines to plug the gaps that they physically fall down on.

 

i just hope they don’t become 50’s sci-fi B movie looky likees.

[silverstu]

I really love the Ancestor AI angle- ties in nicely with the revered ancestor feel of dwarfs. The artwork is amazing - that big head form and the war room with the ancestor faces on the wall plates and the figures seemingly plugged into the machine. Their armour looks fantastic- the new exo-suit guards look imposing. I really want to see their helmets and weapons- I'm thinking the helmets will be stylised bearded faces but more realistic/modern than the Kharadrons. The art reminds a lot of some the art of in the KO book. Can't wait to see more!

I agree I hope they have mobility otherwise they might not be fun to play- could be through their vehicles or teleportation if they have better more reliable tech than the imperium. Could see a warlord and his hearth guard beaming in and laying waste! I like the idea of robot constructs like the Thanatar Siege robots providing heavy hitting focal points, but being LoV constructs not Men of Iron. 

[Kaleb Daark]

34 minutes ago, silverstu said:

I like the idea of robot constructs like the Thanatar Siege robots providing heavy hitting focal points, but being LoV constructs not Men of Iron. 

yes, exactly this.

They have mechanicum level of cool constructs but of their own making.

[EntMan]

More Squats news.  

"Long millennia spent isolated from the worst of the galaxy’s conflicts have done nothing to soften the Leagues of Votann."

Does this mean the 'new squats' have been absent since the Age of Technology or Age of Strife? And that our beloved Tyrannid nommed Squats never existed?

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/04/26/take-a-first-look-at-leagues-of-votann-rules-with-this-hearthkyn-warrior/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=warhammer-40,000&utm_content=votan-

 

[zilberfrid]

41 minutes ago, EntMan said:

More Squats news.  

"Long millennia spent isolated from the worst of the galaxy’s conflicts have done nothing to soften the Leagues of Votann."

Does this mean the 'new squats' have been absent since the Age of Technology or Age of Strife? And that our beloved Tyrannid nommed Squats never existed?

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/04/26/take-a-first-look-at-leagues-of-votann-rules-with-this-hearthkyn-warrior/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=warhammer-40,000&utm_content=votan-

I thought the Tyrannid story isn't all that sturdy, mostly stemming from a reply in White Dwarf.

[Beliman]

More books to read (I hope), more games to play (40k/Killteam) and more miniatures to paint!
I'm excited about League of Votann!!! Everything seems awesome!

[Snorri Nelriksson]

1 hour ago, EntMan said:

More Squats news.  

"Long millennia spent isolated from the worst of the galaxy’s conflicts have done nothing to soften the Leagues of Votann."

Does this mean the 'new squats' have been absent since the Age of Technology or Age of Strife? And that our beloved Tyrannid nommed Squats never existed?

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/04/26/take-a-first-look-at-leagues-of-votann-rules-with-this-hearthkyn-warrior/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=warhammer-40,000&utm_content=votan-

 

They had the "age of isolation" (during the age of Strife) where they evolved into squats because their colonies were separated by warp storms(and so they were left out unable to communicate with others)...though this wording seems to imply they got another period of isolation "till now".
 

[EntMan]

42 minutes ago, Snorri Nelriksson said:

...though this wording seems to imply they got another period of isolation "till now".

I'm confused because this article suggests they have been off the radar for millennia, but other articles talk about them remaining on good terms with the Empire, and the tease trailer implied they had been around recently enough to have out of date but valid Imperial boarding/docking codes.

But whatever, I can't wait! 

[silverstu]

3 hours ago, Beliman said:

More books to read (I hope), more games to play (40k/Killteam) and more miniatures to paint!
I'm excited about League of Votann!!! Everything seems awesome!

Yep me too! Hoping for some books! Actually I really hope they chat about the development of LoV next week and maybe mention what sorts of things are coming [i.e novels!! and art!]. 

Incidentally there has been no mention of squats in the new Nid book that I've noticed .. I am thinking now that they are showing off stats that they are coming soon [like an army box first ] maybe in June. Although June is for Heresy...