Marius au

I am more excited from Kragnos than third at the moment (must be the only one).

As a dark elf player of 20+ years I would love a Malerion teaser in BR Kragnos (I don't expect it, even just something that could stir him from the shadows)

I was hopeful that it would be something to do with Belakor's schemes as he is associated with the realm of shadow. I suspect it will be to do with Newborn and the rise of Slaanesh, as that is the great doom of the Aelven race or possibly a new race. The point from Lummineth Mage's post about the interaction between the Idoneth and the Lummineth is good. This is something I would have loved to have seen explored more in the Lummineth tome. Some of the Idoneth fluff in the black library stuff is really good. There were factions that viewed themselves as failing Teclis for being flawed/unworthy and that they were striving to be worthy of him, others disliked Teclis but revered Tyrion as the saviour of the race (this is played up a bit in Court of the Blind King). In the Broken Realms short story there was the interaction between the Idoneth and Lummineth that revealed a little about how they both view each other. More of this would be great. From Broken Realms we can see there is still this racial fear among the Idoneth that Teclis will try to wipe them out if he is able to, however they still have this desire to prove that his decision to spare them was the right one.

That warband is perfect. This seasons warbands have been great, with the Slaanesh, Vampires and the Idoneth being the standouts in my view. I hope it is a preview for a second wave of Idoneth, but the Crimson Court wasn't a great foreshadowing of the Soulblight Grave Lords, whereas the Slaanesh one was.

Hmm, its interesting. They have shown a lot of stuff, with a lot of it being good, but I don't feel that hype that's usually there. Maybe because a lot it was expected. The dire wolves are better than expected. I was surprised that there isn't an equivalent to the Vykros vamps unit from Cursed City, or duellst vamps similar to the Crimson Court. I assume that the 2 previewed vamps (the rat prince and the other with the insect looking hair/style) would be included in the book, but not sure if we received that confirmation. It feels a little light on, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a second wave or at least something in a boxed set later. I do like that Kroak seems to have a bigger role, as we hear a bit about the plans of the Slaan but they always seem to be something else. Alarielle on the move is good as well.

Yep, the souls she took were some Cythai (the original lummineth) which also raises the question do Aelf souls still end up in Slaanesh if they die now?

Enjoyed this one, probably not as much as Morathi but more than Teclis. In the White Dwarf (current one) the campagin is for the first legion to destroy the Eye of Tepok a Seraphon scrying device. Presumably this is what prevents the Slaan from seeing what he is up to. I like the participation of the dwarves, although in 3 books the absence of destruction has been interesting. Keen for the next in the series.

I would be surprised if there wasn't an official statement made/released early in the week. The amount they spend/invest in marketing to have something like this dominating the headlines is a problem for them. Especially without new releases for the next few weeks to reduce the focus.

Teclis is interesting as a character, however he is not one that I particularly like. For supposedly the most enlightened being in the Realms he certainly isn't prepared to listen or entertain anyone else's thoughts or views (other than his brother perhaps). He feels like that annoying person who is the smartest person in a room and needs everyone else to know it, while dismissing them because of his intelligence. Even in his interactions with Allarielle he is the same, a bit condescending and defensive. He doesn't bother to try and marshal allies to confront Nagash just goes about it. Regarding the Idoneth, the impression I got was that Teclis wanted to wipe them out because they were flawed and reminded him of his failure. It wasn't, in my view some kind of altruistic 'spare them pain' type of decision.

I enjoyed it, probably a little less than I did Morathi. I think it suffered a little from having to include all of the Lummineth stuff as that made the undead parts of the rules feel tacked on. Having Nagash bound to the Realm of Death isn't a poor ending to the soul wars for any faction. I did like the implication that it would have impacts for the fight against Chaos, as Alarielle seemed to hint that Chaos cannot be defeated without the complete pantheon. Keen for the next installment though as these both have been good so far.

Thought Kragnos was confirmed as book 4. I am also excited as so far the plans of the title character have worked so, what is Belakor up to ....

I really like that list. Will look amazing on the table.

Thoughts. Teclis will achieve his objective (likely reversing or limiting the drawing of death magic to Nagash's pyramid) but suffer heavy losses. Nagash will return to Nagashizzar and dispatch Arkhan to follow up/pursue Teclis into Hysh. Coverage of the undead invasion of Hysh which ends similar to Wrath of the Everchosen, with death having a stronghold but progess stalled. Large parts of the Ossiarch empire will be damaged/destroyed in Teclis' invasion.. Invidia will be stirred up some how, possibly by Neferata after Manfred makes sure the task of invading is impossible. I don't think a city will fall, that has already been done and it would be old to do it in every book.

It's interesting. We could get a wave of OBR with the archers and the ax wielding guy already seen, plus the other member(s). Or they could be like the Kurothi or the Godswornhunt. Who just led nowhere so far. I suppose it depends how popular OBR were/are. I think this will include Gravelords, OBR, and probably something from BR Belakor (possibly a Tzeentch character given the Tzeentch reference). I think Tzeentch is the only god who doesn't have a follower from the world that was (Nurgle has Festaus, Slaanesh Sigvald and Khorne Valkia).

It would be super odd for Malerion to be dead. I think if they went down that route that he would have been imprisoned by Belakor, but that seems unlikely. The implication is basically that he is plotting in the shadows, similar to Nagash prior to the Soul Wars and creating an army in the shadows. As for where the narrative goes, I think in Belakor we will find out that Belakor sent the skaven to disrupt Nagash's ritual, that he tipped Morathi towards using varanite for her ritual, and was involved in pushing Teclis to action. I hope we find out how he escaped Alarielle's gem after the end times but not really expecting it.

Belakor looks sensational. It is also really odd that the BR site hasn't been updated for BR Teclis.

I agree with the concept of improving the Tzaangor and that Transient form and alter-kin need a little work. Nothing major, just something focused on Tzaangor. Perhaps something non-daemon characters turning into spawn and the ability allowing Tzaangor that die to fight again similar to the acolytes, I really like the simple idea of making them min size 5. I wouldn't hate the ornate totem being simplified as well. Simply giving a bonus to the unit to simplify their scroll a little.

Agree, there are a couple of things I would like but Tzeentch has one of the best ranges and tomes in AOS.

3/4 way through Soul wars and enjoying it. Perhaps the most enjoyable part is the kind of humanising/fleshing out the stormcast. They were human but now completely different, probably more so in outlook. Almost like the opposite of vampires in how they view mortal humans. Would recommend it.

If they follow the Silver Tower formula they will. I think the Blackstone fortress models have 40K rules as well

I think it is Belakor, he fought with Archaon in Wrath of the Everchosen and it makes sense that they would look to strike back at Nagash after invading the Eight Points. It would also bring a bit a close to the Soul Wars.

Kurothi Huntlords of course ...

Agree, Depravity sounds really good and will encourage a lot of diversity (I assume GW has sold enough Keepers). Really liking the sound of the Shard wizard as well. Sounding like a good release on all fronts (models and rules).

I would be amazed if they weren't considering they were included in an article about the evolution of beastmen/gors through the years.

That does sound good, although it would likely mean only a battalion for the Gloomspite Gitz, Sons of Behemat, Ogor Mawtribes, and Hedonites of Slaanesh. Hopefully a nice update for the Warclans though.