Rou Dantes

Come on, they have the magical ability to summon an etheric sea that lets them alter reality. They can make fish and giant sea monsters able to fly and breathe on land, and coral and shipwrecks magically appear out of the ground wherever they go... I don't think it's much of a stretch to assume that the same magic they use to slow and choke their opponents by making the air thicker can also allow them to move through the water as swiftly as if it was air if they want to. The word "realistically" really shouldn't be applied to them, especially when talking about the physics of liquids and gasses. LOL

I think the spikes in her arms look more like body modifications than mutations, because in all the official depictions of her, they're metal, not bone or horn. Either way, growth or implant, all of the other characters also have features unique to them, so that doesn't necessarily mean anything. She has more hair than the unhelmeted Deepkin we've seen so far, but I think it is worth noting that we have no confirmation that they are all bald, so the ones with helmets could have hair, for all we know. It's also interesting to note that the bottom half of Mistweaver's head, under the strap for her mask, is either totally bald or shaved, so while she does have long hair, it's not exactly normal, and with they way it looks, it might actually be part of her mask and not growing out of her head. I also can't help but note the similarity of her hair with and the flowy tassels on all the Deepkin armor, in both color and shape. In fact, looking at the Soulrender, we can see that she has long red hair coming off of the back of her head, but we can't tell if it coming out from under her helmet, or if it is clearly attached to it. Given the variety we've seen with the Idoneth units' clothing, I wouldn't say that her style of dress is completely different, not any more so than the other 4 Isharann are from each other. I'd say it's very similar overall, flowy and blue, with little (fish?) hooks dangling on it, and her halter top is pretty similar to the female Namarti. And the Crescent Moon makes PERFECT sense with the Deepkin. First, they were created by Teclis, who also taught them magic and gave them artifacts; the Crescent Moon is his symbol and is on his own helmet and staff. Secondly, they are all about the tides, which are created by the moon. So it makes sense where she'd have gotten it and why she'd have kept it after they fled away from Teclis and went into isolation. What's also interesting to me is that, personally, I think Mistweaver's name, description, and abilities match that of a Tidecaster far more suitably than the actual Tidecaster model we've been shown. When I first saw the Tidecaster mini, I expected her to be a healer of some kind (like the Tru'heas), since she is easily the most "noble" high-elven looking one of them. It's weird, the White Dwarf article says that, "Tidecasters excel at magic and illusion... [they] also conjure the ethersea... a phenomenon that often leaves their foes disoriented and gasping for breath as the phantasmal sea washes over them, drowning them in fear." Mistweaver is described as "...disturbingly serene in the centre of her storms of illusory horror..." . She sounds and looks like a dead ringer to me. In fact, whether or not Mistweaver actually turns out to be Deepkin, I plan to customize her model to use as a Tidecaster. LOL It is puzzling why she would not be in some of the art yet but there are also a number of reasonable explanations that don't rule out her still being ID. We know we haven't seen all the art, since the Battletome is sure to have more than the stuff they've shown us so far. We know we have yet to see the entire Deepkin range (whether it's more models, just dual-build kit variants, or just more weapon options, we don't know). We also know that some of the Idoneth are very isolated even from each other, so she may be a lone shark *winkwinknudgenudge*, which could also explain why they chose to reveal her first, apart from the rest of her faction. At this point, GW might also be trolling us, reveling in the debate it's caused both here and on Reddit. It certainly plays into the whole "mysterious" nature of the Deepkin, and it is definitely been fun speculating!

I can see a second version of shark weapons on the far right, which we hadn't seen before. And waaay in the back left, there's a unit of the sword weilding thralls, but they have pole arms and standards, so that's the second version of them. I think we got a glimpse of a standard bearer in the video, but there are other weapons in there, like halberds or something. Further to the right in the very back there is a unit of the bow thralls, and I can't see what they are carrying, but it is *definitely* not bows. My guess is dual weilding small one handed melee weapons like knives. So that's the second version of them. Frustratingly, no alternative turtle build yet, though I am confident that there is at least one other config for it. Probably will be revealed when they show us decent pics of those new, blurry alts. Also, it just occurred to me that we've seen 2 different character models riding the deepmare, but neither of them look like the guy on the cover of the battletome; the helmets are *dramatically* different. So there may be 3 rider options for that.

Hey, you never know, GW did just release a 40k box that had ZERO Space Marines. The times, they are a changin'...

The tips may resemble fur, but the valleys in between are far too rounded, especially when you compare them to that Space Wolf. Fur is generally sculpted with parallel grooves to depict collected strands of hair and with sharp indentations towards the roots to mimic the way hairs part. In the rumor mill pic, the valleys between the spikes are very curved and smoothed out in a way that is more difficult to sculpt, both digitally and traditionally. You'd have to intentionally round them out, which wouldn't make sense if you were trying to sculpt fur or hair. Traditionally, you'd stick pointed sculpting tools into the clay/putty/whatever to create spiky hair, and digitally, defining concave or convex curved surfaces is an additional and more mathematically complicated step beyond determining more simple lines and single curved planes. I'd say that the sweeping curves leading up to the peaks more closely resemble fins or a spiked shell or carapace, but could also be water, fire or some kind of magical effect. With more unseen Idoneth on the way, I think an aquatic creature or water effect is pretty probable. With the ork rumors, it may be something like a squig, although scales and reptilian spikes often have sharper indentations between plates, so I'm leaning towards it being an aquatic creature or something non-solid like water or magic.

That particular passage might not specify that T&T made the angelic elves, but I am positive that there is at least one official blurb that does. I think it was in some of the leaked bits about the Idoneth Deepkin, but I don't remember where exactly, so I can't give you a direct quote. I believe I read it in the 'New Elves' thread that was started here before the DoK came out. Also, given that we know that Morathi, Malerion, Teclis, and Tyrion are the ones reclaiming elf souls from Slaanesh and making new elves, we can deduce that at least one of the T Brothers is involved, cause it definitely isn't M&/orM.

You don't need tolerance to appreciate a giant flying war turtle chariot, you just need love and joy in your heart. And you don't need to apologize to us because you're dead inside, can't feel joy, and don't love the greatest thing ever - you should apologize to yourself. You can't rain on this parade, Mr. No-Fun-Norman! We'll just fly over those clouds, riding our enchanted sky turtle chariots through the rainbow into a magical world of wonderment. *queue 90's cartoon theme music* "Giant Magic Flying Tuuurtles, GIANT MAGIC FLYYING TUUURRTLES, GIANT MAGIC FLYYYING TUUUURRRRTLES..."

What do you mean by "raider version" and "atlantean version"? I know that most of the units are going to have multiple versions and many options, but I hadn't heard them described that way.

I'm going to apologize in advance if any of this sounds antagonistic or disrespectful, as neither is my intent, but I am just flabbergasted by some of these comments and I don't know how else to express it, but I'm trying to do so as politely as I can. I don't understand the turtle hatin' here, nor any of the comments about some perceived lack of creativity. I think these minis are extraordinarily creative and unique. Saying the eel and shark riders are just copies of dark eldar and harlequin jetbikes is such an outrageously reductivist comparison that it boggles my mind. Their similarities end at "spikey elf riding on flying thing". Their armor is all elven-esque, but it is in no way a copy, and I fail to see how you can overlook the unprecedented fact that they are riding magically flying SHARKS and GIANT EELS, something that has never been done anywhere before and which no one predicted, and dismiss that as "lazy" and "uncreative". I don't understand how you can judge something's details while simultaneously glossing over all of the biggest ones. Say you think they're lame, say you don't like them, but to accuse them of being lazy and lacking creativity is soooo unfair to those incredibly talented artists. What do you think would have been "more" creative? You think they're lazy? What have you designed and created? I'm not trying to attack anyone here, so please forgive my passion, I just feel the need to defend the very talented people at GW on this one.

New Lizardmen or Skaven are pretty unlikely because they were both massively updated right before and during the End Times. They were being prepped for AoS and have already been extensively included and described in the new AoS lore as being pretty unchanged from they way they were in the World That Was. They may put out some new named characters for them, since the pre-existing characters all died in the End Times and their models are now just representing generic unnamed characters. But other than that, I'd expect them to address the armies that still have really old models. Like mortal, non-chaos humans, and the other kinds of elves they've been dropping hints about, as well as updated Death, which they announced as imminent. Grot sky pirates would be awesome, and I think are still quite possible, as they'd fit in really well with the KO and the Deepkin. They'd be super easy to convert by kitbashing the KO ships. I might do that myself, actually... LOL

Yeah, in addition to the mirror masks showing up on several units in the video, it's also worth noting that Mistweaver's hair and fabric are sculpted and painted just like all the plumes and cloaks on these new minis. Tenebrael Shard doesn't match them as well as Mistweaver does, but I'm not counting him out just yet either. There are a few Deepkin that have similar finger-blades. We also know that this video does not show the entire Deepkin range, so I'm still convinced that rumors that she is one of them were true, and I can't help but still suspect that Shard is as well, especially after seeing that official artwork of him with all the swirling blue.

Have there been any reputable murmurs about Exodites, or is that just your hope?

Nope, we can confirm that number 7 is definitely not Khinerai. They're up for pre-order now, and the "leader" has a special hairdo and outfit, but her hook doesn't look like number 7 at all, nor do any of the other ones in the kit.

You know, with the Dark Eldar getting a new Codex soon, you're probably right about number 7... Honestly, I would be a bit surprised if 1, 3, 5, 14, 18, or 20 turn out to be Deepkin. I was reeeally trying to use my imagination with those guesses. lol I feel almost certain that 6, 10, 15, and 16 are Deepkin, though, and 7 and 13 are quite possibly as well. I*hope* that 17 is a sea dragon cloak, because I love that aesthetic, but it does look more undeaddy. The Corsairs are my absolute favorite, so I just hope they get some new... something. It'd be such a lost opportunity to make Sea Elf "Raiders from the Deep" and not have some Corsair in there somewhere.

Well, I did say "speculation" and that I thought many of them were really reaching. LOL About number 7, the Khinerai Lifetakers do have hook weapons, but so far I can't find any pics that match that exact one. We don't have as many pics of them as we do of the Melusai and the ones we do have do not show their weapons very clearly. Chances are good that it is a winged lady hook, but we don't have confirmation yet. Personally, I think those barbs look much more nautical than Blood Witchy, but they have all kinds of crazy blades, so who knows... Again, I do admit that 1, 3, 14, 18, and 20 are pretty far fetched and your guesses are much more plausible, but 5, 7, 12, 13, and 17 are really all too generic to be fairly discounted. And 16 really doesn't look like the way GW sculpts fire, IMHO. I'd say it's definitely organic matter, probably an ocean plant or coral, but it might also be a bush or a tree.