Starfyre

Pretty sure it's one book that includes Core and Spearhead rules. Plus cards for Spearhead and the General's Handbook. The SCE Spearhead will definitely be made from all the new models they are previewing. Let's be honest, the launch box just includes a bunch of new units for both factions, which is the equivalent of a small AoS army that equates to a 'Spearhead force' if you want to play that way. Otherwise it's just a bunch of models for Age of Sigmar and nothing more complicated than that. I think comparing it to Dominion and Leviathan is possibly misleading, and it might be better to consider it outright as it's own thing, as in the formula is being innovated on. The card and paper is the expensive bit - the volume they do plastic sprues in means they cost pennies - and there's a lot more of it in this box.

Probably not, but there are cool models in the existing range like the doomwheel. Of course, it could consist of new units sold outside of the launch box too.

Oh yeah definitely. And they could just have unique Spearhead rules for the forces in that box right, since SCE already have a spearhead, and presumably GW will mix in some of the older plastics for a Skaven one. The launch box will also presumably get cut down into multiple starter sets again, so I'd expect the mounted heroes to be the first things to get removed, like Yndrasta and the mounted Killaboss did. I reckon for the launch box it's 1 and it replaces the warpfire thrower weapons team. The ratling gun had a glow-up and a change of concept, so I think the Rat ogor will be along the same line - more akin to the CoS Ogor sniper dude.

Cheers, thought it was a monster but yeah, it's a hero - still, only has 2 other units, so the pattern is still there.

This part is really interesting. All Vanguard boxes are being rebranded as Spearhead sets, and the launch box is made up of two complete Spearhead forces. The make-up of the existing Vanguard boxes is almost always 1 hero and 3 units - with the exception of SCE and Kruleboyz which have 2 heroes and 3 units, likely due to the way the sprues were cut for Dominion. With that in mind, this means it's likely the launch box will have 2 heroes and 3 units per side, probably: - SCE: Lord Vigilor on Gryph-Stalker, Foot Hero, 3 Prosecutors, 10 Liberators and 3 Reclusians + 2 support workers (20 models) - Skaven: Mounted Clawlord, Warlock Engineer, 20 Clanrats, 5 Jezzails, 1 Rat Ogre Warpfire Thrower and 1 Ratling Gun (29 models) Although my Skaven guess breaks convention a bit with 4 units. Could be only 3 Jezzails too. The inclusion of terrain is cool and doesn't worry me - what concerns me is the amount of card and paper. A hardback book, game board and card decks for spearhead and the general's handbook. I mean, two vanguard sets are £85 each, a hardback book £40-ish, plus all the other bits. The launch box could easily be £200+, maybe they'll go for the £185 price-point like the Horus Heresy set is if they're wanting to keep it >£200.

Never heard of them, but those look good. I know GW explored pre-paints internally (I used to work for Ronnie Renton who ran the design studio at GW among other things), and decided against it. That was a while ago now though. Who knows, but I don't think it'll happen.

The warhammer hobby is so vast that the show could have an impact on video games, novels, merchandise as well as their mainline miniature games and model kits. Parents will buy kits for their kids as well, so it could have a reasonable impact all round. Other than X-wing, pre-painted minis don't sell. I also know GW experimented with it internally and didn't back it.

I also don't like the wording of the witchbane curse when it comes to the powered up version. You roll a D6 chanting roll and on a 2+ you get that many ritual points. And you spend 4+ of them for the prayer to go off. In the wording it says 'If the chanting roll was 8+, inflict D3 mortal damage on the target.' But you can't roll 8+ on a D6 chanting roll. I know it means that once you've got 8 ritual points you can spend it on the enhanced ability, but that's not what it says. I don't think anyway.

I like that all wizards know a spell lore, it's so much more flexible than what we have currently. Agree! Tracking points is just going to be annoying. I guess it's trying to be thematic, but from a game play standpoint, I don't love it.

This has made me realise that SCE are the Mortal Realm's answer to Team Rocket and now I've thought it I can't unthink it.

Reading through it I thought Spite Revenants getting 2" range is a little odd, but then again in 2 months' time everyone's getting 3" range so whatever.

Agree, but tbh I also think 'at a glance' they'd look like alternate builds off of each other. Absolutely brilliant models though.

I think the reclusions are brilliant brilliant models and they've sparked my interest in this wave of SCE after all but the thing that sticks out for me is they're all facing the same way with very subtle variations and I would have liked to have seen more variety in the poses. That's to take nothing away from the models, and I presume there's a multi-part kit coming as well, but it just sticks out for me. They're phenomenal otherwise.

It's perfectly fine for them to feature their product in their promo materials.

I played in a recent tournament with someone with these and he was fine until he needed to pile-in, whereby they became a total hindrance.

I like it! I painted mine in the Hammers of Sigmar colours. I think were I to pick up Thunderstrike though, to me they look almost like a different army, so good excuse to mix it up and choose a fresh scheme of my own creation.

New Liberators look better in gold than silver to me. The Reclusions will look great in weathered Hammers colours as well.

TBF even the 1st ed SCE had parchment on them.

The SCE battle traits look fine, the two previewed battle formations look super dull in my opinion.

Wonder if they'll attempt faction-specific command abilities like they tried with SCE 3.0 again or keep it limited to these 10. OBR getting new abilities to replace their reliance on command points generation as well, interesting. We could see a lot of faction shake-ups.

The new clanrats are pretty fantastic I think, way nicer than the last kit which were pretty good I recall at the time. Always like the WHU band, and it's nice to see them evolve even further. Having seen the engineer and big gun sprue though, I actually think this might be an example where the paint job is elevating the sculpt. I see paint jobs getting a lot of flak so important to talk it up I think, 'eavy metal do a fantastic job. They have got me far more excited for the launch box, which I'd already decided I wasn't getting after seeing the Liberators. As a SCE collector since the start of 1st edition and with a sizeable sacrosanct force, if it's largely a refresh of the 1st ed box then I've got enough models. I have to say I want to buy stuff to get ready for 4th ed so I've a new army to play for the edition, but I don't feel like I know what to buy. BoC, BS and Sacrosanct, despite logically knowing they've rules support for the next year, has definitely had an impact on my confidence. I feel Lumineth, Hedonites or OBR are safe bets though.

Stormcap Eternals. "And get this man a shield!"

Yeah, which is great for the modelling perspective and I think not so great from the gaming perspective. It's taken away a player choice and a level of customisation, and a visual aid on the tabletop. Could have had something cooler on the sprue instead of 5 left arms that'll not get used half the time.

It's not really the other way around, it's both. It removes any limitations of how you build your models but limits customising the units load-out and their purpose in your army list e.g. taking shields for defence, taking paired hammers for offence, putting special weapons on the champion because it'll have more attacks with it. It removes all of that side of the game. Personally I modelled my models to match the unit profile I wanted them to have. I don't think it's a good thing really and kind of flies in the face of 'unit profiles are designed around the way the models looks on the tabletop' since neither the shield or the extra hammer do anything different, they've got the same save and same offensive profile regardless. Why even bother wasting the space on the sprue for the paired hammers.

I expect the new background details how BoC fall into a timewarp where they mutate to square bases and Bonesplitterz into a black hole named Biffa.