Nos

He can get to his job at the Post Office way faster with 8"

I don't think you'll ever get an early advantage out of him due to the very specific wording. You can't kill anyone on turn 1 because you can't roll lower than a 1. On turn 2 you have to roll a 1. On turn 3 a 1 or 2 On 4, a 1-3 On 5, a 1-4 and at the end of the game, a 1-5.

Is the Scriptor Mortis as gimmicky as he reads? I can't see past it but love to be wrong with such a gorgeous model.

Think that's the plan unfortunately

Really like the Butterfly Revenants, ill be getting some for sure. Big Bugs are for Chaos though, not feeling them in this context. I'm not averse to the idea, if they were riding big butterflies I think that would have worked really well, but these chitinous things ain't doing it for me. Pretty meh on everything else. The Ogroid model for Warcry is one of my favourites of all time, but somehow seeing a bunch together lessens the impact? The Free People's are exciting but nothing to see yet.

Also there's been *the entire Horus Heresy Box* leaked and a lot of the rules. GW haven't even had the stomach to deal with that on a Community post yet, just posted an Incidental picture.

That's most of next weeks reveals covered then I guess

It's not strange. GW aren't going to let a big ticket thing like Malerion come out before he can make the biggest impact possible . He'll have like a year minimum of warcom released gossip and trickles of intrigue before he shows up. He's arguably the biggest thing AOS has left to reveal in respect to unfinished Old World stuff. Pretty sure he won't be out until they've established how to move the lore on from an Old World tribute act into something with its own distinct voice.

Any idea when the Conan Warband from Warcry are due their box release?

Pretty sure it's a Cursed City thing

It's more spacce suits though. From a painting perspective those are all components ready available throughout 40k- space suit, human head, cool gun. I was hoping for something more like the Nordic Jerkin wearing Frontiersman sort of aesthetic, like the Necromunda guy. That would have been an interesting theme to develop and a much needed injection of some of the punkish energy of Rogue Trader and 40k that is being buried under corporate sheen right now. More Dwarfs who are heavily armoured and technologically proficient in a Universe populated by numerous existing heavily armoured factions who are technologically proficient? Yawn. Hopefully there will be Dwarf Women though. That would be exciting.

They're Squatting Little Space Marines for Primaris And Squatts are now little Space Marines

Squats are confirmed, also very dull looking TBH https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/04/02/what-april-fools-the-41st-millenniums-next-faction-is-real-heres-a-model-to-prove-it/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=warhammer-40,000&utm_content=leaguesofvotannreveal020422

There's already Squats in Necromunda, so I think it will be a little (lol) more than one or two guys

I've bo doubt Squats are in the Pipeline but we won't see them for a while yet. Expect they'll be drip fed through different smaller releases . Squat Killteam is probably best bet for any substantial release in the next year or so.

They're definitely doing some teasing, but most folk do on April 1st 😉

Oh I quite agree, lighting is overexposed and diffuse there, but it's still more optimal than a dingy yellow low watt light at night overcast by a shelf was my point. Put the 'Eavy Metal ones on that bookshelf or your average dingy domestic lighting ie where most people see things and the colours are so flat and volumes so indistinct they'd look worse than in the cabinet, also GW paints gave a satin finish which hampers them further in natural light. Everyone's models- or indeed literally anything you photograph- look most optimal in a favourable contrived lighting setting but it's not how most people are going to see them. By the same token though you can see that the models in that lighting painted by Mike McVey for example, or some of the guest exhibits, are profoundly better than the ones painted by the studio. The craft still comes through. The Skink has NMM as do 95% of the winning entries in all categories. NMM is a funny one because its artist 101 if you want to paint metal- until recently it was the only way to do so because metallic paint didn't exist and most artists still don't use it, because metallic pigments react to light in their own environment, like lighting from the room they're in, but *not* from the artifical lighting sources within the composition of the piece itself. For mini painters accustomed to working with light sources in mind, NMM is just an extension of that mindset and it tends to be a pretty elementary part of their workflow, if you look at someone like James Wappel for example he cranks out armies with *reflective* NMM metal like he was painting brown boots and in just as short a time, but for most painters in the hobby who have grown up with base shade layer highlight and a notion of colour rather than form and value, lighting is another dimension entirely. One of the key issues you see with people starting NMM is they otherwise paint a model without any appreciation of light sources elsewhere but then apply an approach of painting highly reflective material. Same for OSL. Interestingly though if you go the other way and focus on lighting and texture elsewhere on the model and use basic metallic paint to block in metal, a more basic metallic finish dosent seem to register because it's not the focus. You can do whats called TMM (True Metallic Metal) using metallic pigmented paints and associated theory around how it would react to the light sources you're working with on your model but it's pretty rare at Award Winning Display level currently. Most award winning painters are using NMM by default at this point as its a natural extension of working with imagined light sources, and is a deep and rich subject that allows for a lot of experimentation- material, colour, texture. Bust and bigger scale painters have been perfecting that for years, as well as other subjects like texture etc, and the best small scale painters are cribbing off them heavily at this point.

I was at Warhammer World the other day and it was quite interesting. Certainly when I grew up The 'Eavy Metal style was what you aspired to, think it still is for most. But as I've gotten older its more apparent is a particular aesthetic and increasingly not one I'm convinced best serves the new models with their increased dynamism and shape etc because its basically anti volumetric. Like here's the 'Eavy Metal Gutrippaz in cabinet lighting: And here's mine in poor lighting on my bookshelf: In spite of their less than optimal lighting set up I think mine are superior and I would think that if someone else had done them too. More dynamic , not flat, richer colours, conciousness of lighting and textures and greater chromatic values and transitions. And I spent about an hour on each, I'd be surprised if the 'Eavy Metal team did theirs quicker. Now of course an 'Eavy Metal Painter is more technically skilled at painting than me, but I'm increasingly of the opinion that the GW house style neuters alot of that talent. But also there's like I dunno 50+ units of Gutrippaz on Instagram also look better than the 'Eavy Metal ones. It's not a rarity. Likewise I took pictures of multiple new units like the new Kilkteams etc. I've seen dozens done by Instagram painters/in person which are dramatically superior. I was amazed by how flat the Studio ones looked. It really feels to me now that 'Eavy Metal are being surpassed fairly frequently by people who paint following traditional painting principles like wet blending, sketching etc instead of 5 billion layers and using artistic supplies like heavily pigmented acrylics (still cheaper than GW paints), oils and Inks. Dozens of commission painters are producing better work thab the GW team at this point and at a faster rate. And the likes of Angel Giraldez and Sergio Calvo have transcended the layering technique if that still is your thing. Likewise with Golden Demon- it feels like they reward the 'Eavy Metal style. Which is fine, it's their award. But as with above, it feels they're trapped within a mentality which doesn't reward classical painting skill if it's outside of their studio interpretation. But the best painters in the world might not win Golden Demon for that reason, and it would have nothing to do with how good a piece was. When I was younger one of the best things about GD was the winners showcased a multiplicity of styles, from clean 'eavy Metal style to smoothe blends to inky scratchy finishes to everything in between. Style was still a key component. Feels less so now. John Blanche wouldn't win a Golden Demon for example. He's the Ur Text of Warhammer's visual language, but his work submitted under a different name wouldn't win a Golden Demon.

I actually think the Duel Sets are pretty neat products. They do a good job of establishing context, theme and simple rules and are getting more inventive with it. The value of the models is very good. I know most people who buy them ignore the context in which they're released but that dosent mean that side of the product isn't well done. They make them, like they make everything, to make money, so I'm not claiming its out of the good of their hearts or anything. But if these sets didn't make money, they certainly wouldn't replace them with products that allowed a buyer to make a big saving no strings attached. They're not a charity.

Very interesting situation. The Skink is remarkable and in terms of composition and paintwork on the model it's basically perfect. In terms of technique though, the work required to capture reflections, the light sources and the nature of NMM is far more complex. Which- I dunno. Is Golden Demon about what looks best? Or is it about sheer technical ability? Ideally both of course, but in this instance it feels like a real divide between the two. But it is surprising to me how often technically brilliant model painters mess up composition. For example the Sigvald is extraordinary but I think the cloak being essentially as complex as the armour hurts the overall effect. Something less complex would have allowed the truly incredible armour to be more to the fore. Essentially the pillar, top of the cloak, armour, shield and face all look to he indistinguishable from each old other. For me the Sam Lenz GD should have beaten the Skink. Pretty much a perfect combination between technique and composition and on a bigger (harder) scale *and* with freehand, which for Me is the absolute pinnacle in mini painting when it's at this level. It's one thing to paint on a sculpted surface, but to paint your own stuff at intricate levelile that is a mix between applying and sculpting with paint.

The big reveal for me was that GW are already selling Horus Heresy stuff? As in, GW itself, not forgeworld. I know it's just plastics that have been out for years but I thought they'd all been squatted.

Sum Shootin' Guyz

I'm just about to start a Path to Glory campaign with my Kruleboyz. I've done a Plog elsewhere but they're basically a homage to the low fantasy, earthy toned orcs and goblin art of the early 80's or so, the models just shouted for that treatment to me.

Yeah same. PTG/low point games are a way for me to paint stuff I like and then get it on the table without a headache or high stakes. It's an extension of the creative side.

The game right now I think is better for people who don't want to eat, drink and breathe it and buy every Battletome to understand every potential match up. That does mean Battletomes are devalued though. But for me that's a good sign in the sense that rules to play the game against any potential opponent shouldn't be paywalled, and Battletomes are a pay wall so huge you can see them from space. As someone who played Warhammer from 5th to 7th, I can tell you that Army Books were exactly the same, but worse. It seems rather unintuitive that a system designed to refresh all that is going back there. The fundamental thing with Warhammer is that its asymmetry in factions, very much a strong point, is what makes it what it is. But that's also what makes it incredibly hard if not impossible to balance. The only real balance is player expectation. Players playing Thematic tomes because they want it yo feel evocative- it won't feel that way if they get squished by an apex synergy that tables them on turn 2. I only see it going one way: Competitive and Narrative gaming. These are also by far the most lucrative markets. I think most people play competitive AOS because its popular, accessible, lots of options for list building, and models are good. For that format to maintain popularity, theme dosent matter as long as *illusion of difference* is there. Playing Idoneth should be different to playing Chaos should be different to playing Sons etc. From that angle, 3.0 is far better at creating Rock Paper Scissors forces. For non-competitive gamers, there is always the caveat that they're your toys and you can do what you want with them. The best way to engineer a fun thematic game is to do that- engineer it. And I think for most of GW's history that's what most of its staff, as game designers and people with lots of time to invest in this stuff, have done. But are finally coming round to the idea that not everyone else is in that boat do are more explicitly fiving the tools they use to do that eg PTG. For gamers who are casual, who don't want to invest in either of the above, who want to net list but without the thought behind it, or who want to "feel" their army but without any investment in the context around that etc- I think the game will leave them behind because either one is liable to be dissapounted in an uncontrolled environment for those games. In short I think they're actually far better at articulating what they want AOS to be now - A streamlined competitive game with models, or a narrative sandbox. Both of those require a level of investment a lot of people don't have. But its entirely in keeping with the direction of GW. As I said about + last year, their intention is the creation of an eco system that requires constant investment, as with the MCU. You'll feel more and more like you're missing out if you're not part of it all. Because- well, you are. By design. To encourage you to spend money to keep up with it.