Wraith

Good grief, man! Think about what you are saying! If we allow those upstarts in the Americas let their temporary independence go to their head and spell English words as they please, think what will happen to the language elsewhere in the world. Next it will be those shackle draggers in the antipodes wanting to degenerate the language by spelling their nation’s name just as they pronounce it: “Straya”. Heaven forbid!

IIRC, Warhammer was released in July 1983. So ToW should ideally have been released back in July. I am not sure why they are going for October as the target for their 40 years of Warhammer count down. Can anyone explain? The rumour (not spelt ‘rumor’) is that the release date for ToW was to be November but has been pushed back. I suppose we should be grateful that GW doesn’t reschedule the release to meet the 50 year anniversary of Warhammer. But I guess too many of the old granary’s would have died of old age by then and GW wouldn’t make as much money. Would be better for the kid’s inheritance balance, though.

OK, so the rumours are for the release date to be pushed back and into 2024. No problem! I have a big backlog of AoS stuff to paint so I will arrange my schedule accordingly. @Gaz Taylor is there something that can be done about the spell checker? Warhammer is English in origin and thus should use the King's English, not that North American pigeon English that the spell checker seems to be using.

The ToW project was announced 3 years ago (or was it 4?), which is not standard practice. I doubt it really counts as a marketing exercise as it has been so drawn out, which leads many to suspect an ulterior motive such as maintaining a claim to living IP of the Old World so they can keep getting their royalties from certain computer games is the real objective. It quite possibly might be the case that they have announced minis that won't be released for yonks. Since the ToW team have seen fit to release no more news, we have nothing but clues and logic to guide us. One theory is that there will be the final ToW release announcement on Warhammer Day this year to mark the 40th anniversary of Warhammer. Personally, I'd be happy with just the new bases and a list of base sizes for each model so I can get an army organised.

You're right! There is definitely a pattern emerging!

So, I guess ToW release date should be announced in four weeks, then? No doubt that release date will be 10 years in the further to coincide with 50 years of Warhammer. That would make pre orders around mid October, 2033.

Me too! A couple of those bad boys are at the top of my buying list for ToW reruns.

Somewhere near in Nottingham...

It depends on whose point of view we take. For example, from an Ogre Kingdom's point of view, we are looking to start with two lunch boxes.

Looks like smooth sailing for the wallets of Chaos players through to the end of the year. I might catch up on my painting backlog if this pattern holds up.

Dang! A new plastic sculpt for ToW. I wonder if it is part of the launch box? If the other spur is ghouls, they are very different from the old Vampire Courts era ghouls. I see halberds, nice looking swords and a standard. Could be an elite unit rather than battle line ghoul replacement. Guess we will find out in 6 months or so. Or sooner if stuff keeps falling off the back of a truck.

Would the KO count as financial pirates? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSO9OFJNMBA

@Hollow is right. Models are a physical asset. They have intrinsic value. The solution, as already stated on this thread, is to look at other rule systems. Go to clubs rather than shops to join a community who will play with notGW rules or old rules. Anyone familiar with GW* will know that they need to future proof their investment. Associating with people who let you proxy and are prepared to try alternative rules or play old rules, is how you manage GW risk. The LGS and the tournament scene, and range refreshes that obsolete part of your collection, along with the excitement of new releases, are the mechanisms of a games industry. If one is sick of being caught up in the machine, and one wants to be involved in a hobby rather than an industry, then leave the places that impose the rules that restrict what models you are allowed to use. Or at least attend those places that do more regularly. *WotC is much the same. The big boys like to create and exploit monopoly power.

Well, to be honest, not until you pointed it out. But now I think about it, this is a rather unfortunate, though surely unintended, representation of the old 1899 racist trope of "The White Man's Burden". All the more unfortunate that the theme for this faction is to march out into the rude lands beyond the walls with the intention of civilizing the savages beyond. I am sure Richard Kipling himself would heartily approve of the message conveyed by this miniature. The funnest thing about it is those posters here who have called out your post but clearly have no knowledge of history. To these simple souls, the model is just a representation of a non European in a position of power. Anyway, let us not bring too much real world politics into AoS. Our community is for everyone and everyone who is in it should be represented in the modelling and artwork. I thin we can agree that GW is put some effort into doing this. I propose that we give the GW design team the most charitable interpretation of this model and we assume it is merely that they were trying to show an inclusive model. Therefore, the important thing for us to find out is whether or not it has 9 wounds or 10. If the latter, I shall enjoy blowing it of the table with the Khorne Skull Cannon I am currently working on.

A good sign daemon minis needs an updated replacement is whether I buy them or not. Going by this rule, the Skullmaster needs a new sculpt. Could Scarbrand get a better model? I use Raging Hero’s mantis warriors in place of Daemonettes. They really needs better models, including Seekers and chariots.

My Hedonites of Slaanesh army is mainly mortals. I don't think any of those are ideal for ToW. I have plenty of more suitable minis, so don't really need to press them into service. That whole army is only around 1000 points at present. This one will stay AoS focused and will always remain a secondary army. I just really like the models in this range. Also, this list is a bit overpowering at present. OK in tournaments but not ideal in friendlies. Undercoated and waiting for painting. The Dark Elves will definitely be ToW focused, square bases and all. This one is for old time's sake. I used to run a Dark Elf army back in the day. So this is a little nostalgia trip for me. I am thinking of doing the full Monty and building it around a narrative story. It will be something similar to the "Mengil Manhide" story, a corsair force cut off from the fleet and left to fend for themselves. I bought some of the DoK box sets on big discounts. I have a few DoK overflow minis as a result. I will build a small 1000 point AoS DoK army. Though that will grow to 2000 points if I buy Morathi (the new one, I mean. I have the old one on pegasus). And who doesn't love a monster girl army? Building not yet started. Slaves to Darkness is my main faction and I have accumulated a sizable collection. I can make a good start on a ToW WoC army just with my StD pile of shame. I might rebase the marauders, as I suspect their time in the Mortal Realms is coming to an end. That will still leave enough StD in the Mortal Realms to field three 2000 point chaos armies simultaneously. The Darkoath Ravagers is my favorite, but narrative only, as it sucks, competitively speaking. I recall reading comments on youtube when the square bases were announced by people swearing they would not buy a bunch of new figures on square bases just to play ToW. And I was like: "Wait, you mean I have an excuse to build yet another new Chaos army?". The StD/WoC collection is so big that I think I can get away with both round and square bases. And I still have some old ones on the traditional sized square bases, just for good measure. Chaos daemons and some other allies fit in here. Various stages from unbuilt to finished. The Skaven are the faction I should have been playing all along. I am definitely a natural Skaven player. I take risks and enjoy throwing more cannon fodder into the meat grinder. I had planned to start building the army in June of this year. But I felt that I need news of ToW and the next AoS launch box to decide how best to go about this project. Square bases or round bases? ToW focused or AoS focused? I still haven't reached a decision. Building not yet started. So I could end up with three ToW armies. Depends what I decide to do with the Skaven.

I will have three armies for both ToW and AoS and one for AoS only*. Dark Elves/DoK will be ToW focused and will have mainly square bases with some AoS only models on round bases (eg: Melusai) . I am not decided how to handle the Skaven and Slaves to Darkness/Warriors of Chaos. Hedonites of Slaanesh are AoS only. Though I guess the daemons might overlap worlds. Who else will have army collections that overlap both ToW of AoS? *plus Daemons of Chaos as a fifth army for 40K. I don't actually play 40K, but including all my daemons in one list seems like a neat creative accountancy trick to pretend I have few armies than I actually do.

Given the Chaos Dwarf warband and turned out to be some guys that dressed up as chaos dwarfs, will the ogre warband also turn out to be some guys that have dressed themselves up as ogres?

That was the combat resolution in 3rd edition as well. I wonder if we will get the rules for fighting over the losing side’s standard? The formation rules sound different. Did Warhammer ancients have a trade off between depth and width? Shooting units look to be in two ranks. Characters are seperate. Is this just for a better photo or does it reflect the rules? All in all, it sounds promising.

Good point. They should have used hex bases in HH. The design team really dropped the ball on that one and missed a golden opportunity to annoy a whole bunch of people.

So ToW will be a sort of Legends, but with rules.

I agree. This is definitely going off topic. And who really wants to have to read my 15,000 word reply to why I disagree with the Pinker thesis, anyway? But we don't come to this forum for academic debate about the state of the world. A far more relevant way to think is to focus on what possibility is there of us getting all our toy soldiers painted before global civilization collapses? (responses in 1000 words or less, please)

Wait! OPR = One Page Rules. Ok, I get it! I was wondering what OPR was. I was thinking it could have stood for Overproof Rum? I mean, that would be one way of coping with new release disappointment and model loss.

A search of historical 28mm minis for the Italian Wars will turn up some similar models based on the illustration. These models will typically be smaller than current fantasy models. I have something similar to Durer's illustration in 20mm soft plastic, but I doubt that is what you are after. If you scroll down to the light cavalry, they have some models based on this illustration. https://www.steelfistminiatures.com/product-category/italian-wars-1494-1538/page/3/ Eureka have something similar, though this is a French 'Archer' (why is a heavy cavalry trooper called an archer...long story): https://www.eurekaminuk.com/collections/italian-wars/products/italian-wars-archer-sallet-open-visor-28mm There would be other stuff out there. These Lancer minis look good, but don't yet have the one you want in their range. Maybe pester them to produce it? Here's what their Zweihander look like (usable as Empire Greatswordsmen). https://lancerminiatures.com/product/zweihander-x4/ Not that WFB Empire armies look anything like armies of this period...wait, yes they do!

The Landsknecht idea reflects the choice of the early modern era for the setting. Take a look at Albrecht Durer's art style to see where a lot of Warhammer art gets it's inspiration from. The Italian Wars are a great period to wargame. Warhammer takes that and adds monsters and magic. Modern fantasy, or should I say late modern era fantasy, doesn't have the same aesthetic. AoS seems to be more contemporary in it's fantasy style, hence the D&D like feel.