JPjr

well so far we've had or know for sure that we have coming up... Order Daughters of Khaine (1) Fyreslayers (1) Kharadron Overlords (1) Lumineth Realm Lords (1) Seraphs (1) Stromcast (3 if inc. Dreadfane) Sylvaneth (2 if inc. Kurnothi) Chaos Beasts of Chaos (1) Blades of Khorne (2) Disciples of Tzeentch (1) Hedonites of Slaanesh (1) Maggotkin of Nurgle (1) Skaven (1) Slaves to Darkness (1) Death Flesh Eater Courts (1) Legions of Nagash (1 - kind of) Nighthaunt (2 if inc. Dreadfane) Destruction Gloomspite Gitz (3 if inc. Rippa's Snarlfangs) Ogor Mawtribes (1) Orruk Warclans (2) So with 5 spots left this season I'd say that Idoneth Deepkin & Ossiarch Bonereapers are probably dead certs. Cities of Sigmar would then be the only extant faction without one, so I guess whilst not as definite a shot as the others you can chuck them in there too, today's Rumour Engine definitely has that vibe too. So 2 left... Malerion/Ulgu Aelves as a late season entrant has to be worth considering. In a normal season they're normally still pumping out the war bands deep into spring/early summer and we'll have been due a new army by then. So let's say them then, though that also would be a lot of Aelves in one season, so not a sure shot by any means. Final one... hmmm Stormcast would feel on brand, especially if there's a new chamber launched though that might be a Season 5 thing post summer 21. non Beastclaw Ogors could also be worth a shot, like wise Bonesplitter Orruks, though I thought they'd have had their go with Beastgrave. But I'm going to go with Legions of Nagash or Soulblight depending on whether they get a relaunch/new book. Or outside option just occurred to me, couple of non-aligned Chaos Warriors & a Chaos Sorcerer, can see that coming if not this season next.

this came up in another thread but it's relevant here, personally I hope they bin the Grand Alliance system. it's a vestigial organ that had a purpose at the dawn of AoS and does nothing for the game now but either confuses people narratively or create false, and frankly impossible to implement, ideas that each Grand Allegiance needs to be balanced in terms of factions and models. in the sea with it. replace it with something akin to the big coalition matrix from GHB 2020 and it will be both more narratively satisfying and open up some more interesting, not thought about or seen, army builds whilst also possibly creating a better role for some factions with smaller unit counts (especially if you tied it in to an idea of making it so that allies get some kind of allegiance ability, maybe depending on how friendly they are, so they have more potential anyway) could be a total boon for model ranges like Fyreslayers, I think they're quite interesting in small groups but would be incredibly dull to collect and paint an entire army of so never would, but open them up to nearly all armies as allies and I'd be more tempted to pick up a unit or 2 to have around for specific occasions.

you say this like it's a bad thing and yet I personally would take it as a valuable lesson to be strictly and rigidly applied in real life too.

yeah to be honest by the time I'd written about 2/3 of that I was pretty sure it was a load of old nonsense but sunk cost fallacy and all that I heroically ploughed on regardless.

this is a really interesting one, I like to think of myself as about as far from a WAAC competitive type as you can get, full narrative fun times here AND YET I struggle with aspects of this a little bit. Warhammer is, I would suggest, a game of strategy & tactics and one where you're in a state of imperfect information. you can just line your troops up and have them all charge headlong at the enemy, and for some armies that's both narratively sound and probably a decent enough plan but a lot of armies it's a case of lining up lots of different moving parts, getting them to all work together at the right time and in the right place. I look at it less as a 'gotcha' and more of a general using his tools to the best of their abilities, if someone attacks one section of my army because I've left it as a tempting, possibly weak looking target but I've set it up so that when he commits x I can do y then to me that feels like good playing. Now I have zero problems letting my opponent have access to warscrolls (I mean they're free and online anyway), explaining key parts of the army at the start of a friendly game, especially if there's some particularly egregious ability they have that others might not know about or indeed even explaining mid game if someone says oh what can x or y do again... BUT I'm less keen to correct someone's moves or walk them through my tactics (unless it's literally someone's first couple of games but then that's a totally different scenario). for me for all the importance of list building (or not) the game happens at the table with what I do with those models. if I spend all that time figuring out which units work best together, position them right, entice the enemy to do something and then just before I spring the trap go 'oh by the way if you move there, next turn I'll have a good chance of destroying you', so they can reset and do something else, then what's the point? It's like any game, we were playing Root the other day (if you've not played it it's an amazing very high level abstracted war-game/resource management 4x boardgame that hides some really interesting sneaky little political/social themes behind ridiculously cute artwork), I'd figured out my plan for that game and was busy executing it. Towards the end I'd set it up so that I could win next turn, or if my wife called my bluff on one space lose half my points. I'm sat there trying to keep a straight face as she keeps picking pieces up, going to move them then stopping. But I wasn't going to tell her, and likewise once we've played a game or two I wouldn't expect her to tell me, I'd learn from that experience and factor that in next time I played. It's a game of toy soldiers, whilst you set out to win the game, the point is to have fun whether you win or lose. so if I get hammered because I walked into a trap then I can make a narrative out of it and avenge myself another time (or not). Being a good loser is as, if not more, important as being a good winner in this game.

All of this, and I don’t think it’s cynical, of you thinking it or even GW doing it. i think looking at “do we need a new edition?” from a rules POV is generally pretty irrelevant really Assuming that what we’re dealing with in both AoS & 40K are reasonably mature rules systems, then every 3/4 years there will have been various new ideas/additions to the core systems that can be codified or abandoned but nothing that needs a new edition or couldn’t just be handled with something slimline like the Gaming Book. but after 3-4 years you’re going to want to refresh your starter sets, whilst Soul Wars/Tempest of Souls/Storm Strike are all still good value for newcomers introducing 3 new boxes with new models will both reenergise existing players and bring in a spike of new blood. and if you’re doing that you’re going to take the opportunity to refresh the big rule book, correct what you think hasn’t quite worked or worked too well and advance the storyline/refresh the status quo. i mean I had no intention of ever getting into 40k, but then a new big box appears, big marketing blitz, for a brief moment people being excited about a GW product are louder & prouder than the usual miserable gits endlessly moaning & making the hobby embarrassing and like the dumbass I am there’s suddenly a massive box of space marines & necrons sat on my desk.

I’ll put a fiver on the usual heady mix of disappointment, anger, wailing & weeping, recriminations, the tearing of clothes, the death of hope & all things good in the world turning to ash, virulent bigotry in the comment stream & a new Primaris lieutenant.

mine arrived yesterday and I normally get it a few days, at least, after a lot of people in the UK seem to get theirs

I was just flicking through the new issue of White Dwarf and it occurred to me that we often see people on here complaining variously about the state of the AoS lore, lack of maps, not understanding what's going on, thinking that nothing has been fleshed out, or makes any sense or that there's been no new characters introduced etc etc etc and how that impacts their enjoyment/perception of the game. But as someone that buys pretty much every battle tome just to read, subscribes to White Dwarf and bangs through a reasonable amount of BL books I feel like a lot of that stuff is out there, and in spades, it's just spread around a bit unevenly and locked inside books a lot of people won't touch. So would any of you buy like the equivalent of the GHB but for lore? An annual book that each year condenses all the new lore/maps/little bits of info that's been published in battletomes, supplements like Wrath of the Everchosen, things like Tome Celestial or the region guides in WD, key elements from the novels that are directly impacting the wider, ongoing story, new artwork, nice big spreads of all the pick of the new models released that year etc etc. It might take a little bit of time to compile, rewrite and edit but then as it would just be based on existing material it wouldn't be the world's most difficult book to bring together and would make the game feel like more of a living, breathing place.

basically you know how football terraces are filled with tens of thousands of out-of-shape lads in cheap, ****** looking Sports Direct knock off kits, all hurling abuse at the few incredibly well paid, highly skilled, peak of human fitness men on the pitch. well it's like that, just with little plastic wizards.

It only feels like a few weeks since I received my last crushing rejection from The Black Library (mainly because it was) but it looks like they're opening up a new submissions window and this time they're focusing on horror stories. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/08/19/we-want-your-tales-of-darkness/ So... once more unto the breach dear friends, we have nothing to fear except fear itself (and feeling like utter ****** after our nonsense scribblings get filed in the bin).

I will say this, back in pre-plague times I grabbed that Sisters of Battle box set because I thought it would be fun to paint (I obviously haven't touched it since) but as I also got the Indomitus set the other day I thought I should actually sit down and at least read the Soroitas Codex as I might actually like to try 40K again... Now whilst I'm no genius in my less depressed moments I do like to think I'm not the thickest ****** ****** around, but readers let me tell you that game is aggressively obscure at times. I think I spent about 30 minutes alone just trying to figure what the actual living ****** the wargear options on the Cannoness model were before hurling the book away in disgust, and that was just the very first data slate, or whatever they call those grotesque messes. So basically after that all I can say is whatever its current faults AoS is still in a much better place than our unironic fash loving space cousins. -------------------------------------- OH one last thing for AoS3, and this one is super important to me, every faction should have their 4-6 or whatever sub-factions but every battletome should also come with a 'create your own sub-faction' section, with a range of various allegiance abilities, etc etc to pick and choose from so those who like to create their own totally wild stuff feel more empowered to (I mean I know it's ****** to do it anyway but really bake it in as a concept, build your own Sigmarite city or Orruk tribe etc YES PLEASE).

Battletomes Battletomes to be like the GHB, hardback book with all the lore, models etc, paperback with the warscrolls etc, that can then be updated once a year (that's probably wishful thinking but would be nice). Or if they insist on keeping them all as one book then go all in & battletomes should include stuff like Warcry rules as well, would only be a few pages for most factions, but make them THE BOOK for collectors of that range whatever they play. Rules - evolution not revolution Make terrain more interesting and impactful. Make cavalry better, allow them to plough straight through units. Make ranged units do more damage but don't let them do ranged and melee in the same round. But then also make ranged shooting ****** by making it so you can't hit every model in a unit just because 1 single model has their ****** toe sticking out from behind a wall. I don't know how just sort it. Make it so there's more interesting & different ways to score points (obviously this can be just a battle plan thing, but I like the idea of certain types of units having actions that allow them to do stuff other than just stand around or hit things). Look at the rules for behemoths, if we're not going to let them hold objectives then really figure out what it is that they are there for and then make them good at it. Allow characters to embed within a unit. Either lose the bonuses that max sized units gain, or lose the points drop they gain. Both is dumb. Figure out what's going on with battleshock and either ditch it or reform it entirely. Not alternating activations as such as it's tricky with larger games but you can't tell me after how ever many decades of wargames there isn't some better ideas out there they can steal to make turn orders better. Employ some normal people to read the rules before they print them. edit: oh one other thing from 40K - stratagems. I like these, don't replicate them entirely but they are interesting.

make them a bit like slightly more refined troggoths or apocryphal Roman diners, who can gorge on a great feast and then hose the enemy down with fragrant bile by sticking a crab claw down their throats.

I don't think it hurts really, these things are so off the main track they're just fun little gateway things, using up existing models and getting them in front of people who wouldn't step into a Games Workshop store. the boardgame market is so big and thriving now GW need to tap into that audience as much as possible, I mean I sometimes feel like half the people playing any form of any of their games right now are in it because they circled HeroQuest in the Argos catalogue one Christmas 30 years ago. I'm pretty sure a new AoS quest will come but don't think it will be this year now, we're still waiting for the last part of BSF and we've got a new edition of Blood Bowl coming out which could take this year's Xmas big box slot, next edition of WHU will be out later than usual, so it's getting busy in the Christmas period for standalone games already. would love it to but suspect next year if at all is more likely now.

they pretty much always assign the WHU warbands to one of that army's sub-factions, which I get from a narrative/flavour reason as they're supposed to be specific unique/named individuals but it does annoy me. I absolutely wholeheartedly love pretty much all the WHU models but it does make units who are often fairly borderline worth taking seem just that little bit less useful for anyone not running that particular sub-faction. just allowing them to take whatever keyword you've picked for your army would be so much better, I mean it's not like we're super massively invested in these particular models life stories and don't want to go against long & deeply established lore. it's something that winds me up whenever they do really cool stuff then lock it behind a specific sub-faction with no other alternative, Triumph of St Catherine Junith Eruita & her Flying pulpit I'm glowering at you there.

They sure are extracting every penny out of those push-fit models. Fair play I guess. seems to only be US & Germany again though. Shame I’m always up for a quick boardgame, actually anyone know from past experience if the German sold copies of these come with English text? I can easily pop across the border, assuming Belgium isn’t sealed off again soon. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/08/13/new-board-games-coming-soon/

warscrolls up for the new war bands, if you can keep them alive long enough to chuck them at something big the orruk lads are nice and straightforward and could do some fun damage the DOK one too is thankfully not too complicated with half a dozen different weapon profiles. wish they'd go back and re-do some of the older WHU warscrolls. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/08/13/new-warband-warscroll-previews/ iLLS3MR4CtRTr3U6.pdf IJ3vCzuu2DmvGzun.pdf

Paging @KingBrodd this could be a pretty good clue as to when you’ll get your big boys

So... Kharadron skyport or Chamon Ironjawz encampment?

THE PUMPKIN HEAD! THE BED SHEETS! I’ve waited around 30 years for GW to give me an Ian Miller pumpkin head army. I AM SHOOKETH https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/08/07/terrifying-touchdowns-from-beyond-the-grave/

hey look! All the Psychic Awakening &, I think, Malign Portents short stories published in dead tree format. Didn’t realise they were doing this. seems like it was just for the since cancelled Adepticob but I know there were a lot of people here wanting the MP one at least so might be copies for sale floating around now.

Well I see it as working with on 2 levels. Out of universe it’s a handy bit of branding to hang on all the releases within this iteration. So we got Soul Wars - Malign Sorcery*, Soul Wars - Forbidden Power, Soul Wars - WOTE & I presume any other supplements that come out before the next edition will be similarly branded. ObviouSly we’re hardly overburdened with supplements but still it’s nice to have them all packaged up like that. But then in a in-universe level everything from Soul Wars on has effectively been dealing with the fallout from the Necroquake and its side-effects both in terms of things like Endless Spells and the Optimum Arcana but also, within their battletomes we see just how it has effected, sometimes dramatically sometimes less so, each faction. So things like the Wrath of the Everchosen, whilst being big events in their own right, are linked, directly or not, to the Necroquake in one way or another. I think of it like The Soul Wars are WW2 and within that there are multiple theatres of conflicts and hundreds of different battles that all might be going on independently of each other, shifting alliances and power vacuums that each faction is looking to exploit. hopefully if we do get more WOTE style books then each one will pair up 2/3 factions and detail just a part of the bigger story. Some super dramatic (Orruks v Excelsis perhaps) some on a smaller scale perhaps but obviously important to those factions. then when “AoS 3 : Slaanesh is Free” drops all the supplements, battletomes and the like released over the following years will reflect that & its effect on the realms * actually just checked MS was branded Soul Wars - Malign Sorcery though obviously it was a key part of it, but guess they handed thought of branding everything like that at that point

FFS, well it looks like I really am going to have to start playing* Blood Bowl now aren't I and also I'll clearly need at least two of this team, one for BB and one to proxy into my Gloomspite army. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/08/06/waaagh-ere-come-da-black-orcs/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_campaign=BB&utm_content=BBOrcs06Aug20 *or at least buying the models and thinking about playing