madmac

I'm going to guess that Mages are probably an expansion. None of the chaos warbands have anything that obviously looks like a Sorcerer, and if we're assuming it will be similar to Kill Team...Also, way way back when Warcry was first announced, there was an early leak/rumor stating that it was going to be basically like Killteam with spells being added later. So I assume the first expansion will be one that adds Wizards, and a second expansion down the line that allows more...whatever. (Monsters? Mounted Units?). Also interesting that they've specifically called out that we've seen some of the upcoming warbands.

I think more than anything, forcing Stormcast into the next core starter for Underworlds would be a missed opportunity. Stormcast have 4 warbands in underworlds already, including the just announced spin-off for kids. They've got the Warrior, Vanguard, and Sacrosanct chambers all represented, there's no imminent chamber release that we know about, it's the perfect time to skip them for just one season and let the other order factions get a little more coverage. That said, I'm not really worried about it. The first hint we got for the next season was the lion, that tells me Aelves will probably be in the starter set so we've almost certainly dodged that particular bullet.

In no particular order, my guesses for likely new warbands: Chaos: Slaanesh and/or Nurgle Destruction: Ogors and/or Bonesplittas Death: Unless something tied to the new army, probably FEC Order: Wanderers, Seraphon, and one of either DoK or Deepkin

Yup, Bloodbowl. I've been saying for a while now though that the aelf hints we've been getting have had mostly Wanderers/Wood Aelves icons.

I fully expected it would, we're within about two months of the last expansion release.

The other thing is we've already seen 4 of the six warbands, and may see others soon. It's not like there's a vast pool of unknown Warcry models to create rumor engines for. The main thing that makes me call Ogors on this one though is the hooks. Lots of figures have heads or skulls tied on with leather straps or spikes, but only Ogors in my experience are festooned with meathooks that look exactly like that.

I don't disagree, (I've always been more of a High Elf fan than a Wood Elf fan, even though I like both) but still, there's an undeniable Wanderish bent to the recent rumor engines. That Shadespire lion for example has a blatantly Wanderer pattern on it's armor. Horns are also more a Wanderer thing than a High Aelf one, and the horse looking thing appears to be unarmored, which is also a bit more of a Wanderer thing. There's also the fact that pretty much the entire old High Aelf range is still online only in white boxes and square bases, while Wanderers are almost fully reboxed on rounds and have had (weak) allegiance abilities for the last few years in the GHB. Wanderers haven't gotten much story attention the last few years, but as a faction and model line they are better supported. In terms of Storyline, Forbidden Power had Teclis refuse to mobilize for Sigmar, which could mean we aren't getting Hysh Aelves until a little further down the line. In Black Library there are short stories about Sylvaneth, Deepkin, DoK, Wanderers and Corsairs, but nothing focused on Hysh/High Aelves or Ulgu Aelves so far. Whether that means Wanderers get absorbed into High Aelves or whether that means they get a book sooner I can't say, but just based on evidence I can't rule out Wanderers right now. That said, I think the biggest obstacle towards combining Wanderers and Hysh Aelves is that they worship different Gods. Wanderers have never been depicted as worshiping Tyrion/Teclis, Malerion, or Morathi, but are currently estranged from Ariel. I could see them continue as godless Wanderers, re-uniting with Ariel and the Sylvaneth (unlikely for now, given the Sylvaneth book doesn't give any indication of that happening) or maybe worshiping a revived Kurnoth/Orion like figure...

Ogors do like their meathooks, so it's a possibility. Could very well be Chaos as well though. I lean Ogors on this one, just because that hook design is exactly the same as several Ogor units have currently.

The Warlock Bombadier is what I would call a replacement in all but name. It does everything the old metal warlock does except it boosts it's rocket instead of a blade, which suits Skyre better anyway. If I were coming into Skaven as a brand new player I wouldn't give the metal warlock a second glance and I firmly believe that is the intent. It's true though, not all updated factions will get a major model update. At the same time, not all of them will just get endless spells and a pat on the head, either.

Having just finished painting my Saurus stuff like two months ago I would be both elated and crushed at the news. I do think it's fairly likely though, if you look at the Seraphon range, the vast majority of the ancient plastic or finecast kits are Saurus models. The Warriors and Knights especially are pretty awful, and I think giving them a facelift combined with the warscroll changes they so badly need would do a lot to invigorate the faction. If it's true though, I don't think Seraphon are coming particularly soon, which may be one of the reasons they just got a spell lore in the GHB.

As an aside, I'm thinking they might also tease the next battlebox. Listening to the Stormcast podcast this week, the guest mentioned that she had created a couple of AoS battlesets that haven't come out yet. Looking at what has already come out over the last year or so... Soul Wars: Stormcast vs Nighthaunt Wrath and Rapture: Slaanesh vs Khorne Carrion Empire: Skaven vs FEC Looncurse: Sylvaneth vs Gloomspite In that same time frame, only two armybooks have come out without a battlebox, Fyreslayers and Beasts of Chaos. Which can probably be chalked up (Sadly) to those factions not getting any new models, as I don't really expect either of them to get a battlebox in the next year. I could be wrong though. Anyways, looking at remaining factions, and sticking with the cross alliance matchups, we've got roughly: Death: Nothing, unless the new faction gets a vs box, which seems slightly unlikely. Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, which seems like a decent contender, maybe vs Freeguild for some human on human action. Small chance of something Tzeentch. Destruction: Gutbusters, Ironjawz, Bonesplittas, and Beastclaw Raiders. I haven't seen even a wisp of a hint of a Beastclaw rumor, (I'd love to get a Shadespire band with a plastic hunter, myself) and they don't lend themselves well to repackaging either. You have the start collecting box and resin kits, so even with a new hero, it's pretty blah. So I think we will see Gutbusters and at least one of the orc factions in battleboxes, maybe both. Order: Hoo boy, Order. The possibilities are limitless, but I'd say the most likely picks here are Seraphon, KO, Free People, and Aelves. You could do multiple Aelf boxes, easily. Overall, I think my top picks are Slaves to Darkness, Bonesplittas, Gutbusters, Wanderers/Hysh aelves and Seraphon, in whatever combination. In part because these are factions that could benefit a lot from having even just 1-2 more plastic hero kits, and partially because I think these are the factions most likely to be coming soon based on Rumor Engines, ect.

Warcry next week I assume, since it looks like they're clearing everything else out of the pipeline this week. Relieved for Sylvaneth to be out so we can finally look forward to previews on the next battletome.

I expect BCR will remain their own thing, whatever GW does with Gutbusters.

We haven't seen any mounted units in Shadespire so far, and I don't really expect that to change, Team Troggoth notwithstanding. Been a lot of aelf looking hints lately, including that Shadespire lion. To me, a lot of them look a bit more Wanderish than High Aelven, which is interesting.

We've got a lot of aelvish looking rumor engines at this point, I don't think it's scandalous anymore to suggest there's an aelf release in the works, especially with Slaanesh already out. Looks like some sort of mane to me, so probably a mount. AoS mounts are all fantastical creatures, so who knows beyond that.

I will say, if I was GW at this point I'd have shoved the book out at the first opportunity, no regard for release windows and such. I mean, the entire book contents leaked a month ago, what's left to hype?

Chaos Knights and the Blackstone expansion confirmed. I suppose on the positive side, pushing out all the 40k releases now clears the air for a pivot back to AoS next weekend. I would personally guess Sylvaneth next week and then the pre-order for Warcry following.

I'm sure we'll get at least a little more information other than Warcry for the next event, if only because after Warcry they will have finally released everything (except Sylvaneth, maybe/hopefully) that they have teased already this year. New Shadespire teaser and at least one new battletome or battlebox tease seem likely, given the black hole that is what we know is coming after Warcry.

Compare it to the back armor on Lotann: https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Lotann-Warden-Of-The-Soul-Ledgers-2018 Or the crotch armor on Thralls: https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Namarti-Thralls-2018 It looks a lot like Deepkin armor, but not anything else I personally recall to compare it to. It doesn't particularly look like any of the Old World Aelfs, but your mileage may vary on how important that is.

Reminds me a lot of Deepkin armor designs. Those little oval designs in the armor (and overall triangle-ish shape) are something that is common to all Deepkin units, and not something I've seen outside of them. Wanderers have very little metal armor to begin with, and the designs are different. High Aelf armor is more lamellar looking. I took a look at the Tzeentch stuff and didn't see anything that looked all that similar.

In the GHB, yes, but Greenskins were completely removed from the store. Given the direction of updates since the store was re-organized, I give the store organization more deference than the GHB these days. It may be that Greenskins will persist until the new Ironjawz book swallows them up or somesuch. ManEaters and Firebellies are also in the GHB and I don't expect them to persist a day longer than it takes to get the next Ogor battletome.

I don't think that's new artwork, I'm pretty sure I've seen it before. All reservations aside, the Savage Ork on Wyvern literally used to be a model, it's by no means a stretch to think Bonesplittas may get a new Wyvern model down the road.

I think the main thing (aside from rules) holding Gutbusters back as a marketable faction is not having a single plastic hero kit. Several factions so far this year have gotten a new plastic hero with their new book, that's the bare minimum I'd expect from a Gutbuster release. We do have a rumor engine hinting in that direction already.

Doubtful. That cog icon isn't used in any KO units or artwork so far, at least as far as I can recall. I think this one is probably 40k.

All in all, I think that rumor engine looks much more like an Ogor weapon than an Ironjawz one. The wooden weapon haft bolted to the weapon is something only Ogors have currently. I also think at this point a Gutbusters tome is looking increasingly likely. Ironjawz just got heavily updated allegiance abilities, point drops, and a spell lore, while Gutbusters and Bonesplitterz weren't even touched in the GHB. (and pretty much every faction besides those two saw at least one point adjustment, even Greenskins) To me that suggests that the GHB rules for Ironjawz (and Seraphon, sadly) are meant to keep those factions going a while longer before they get their battletome, while Gutbusters and Bonesplitterz are much closer.