madmac

Honestly, I can't say. It doesn't do much at all to break up the main issues of the army being samey looking and a chore to paint, but OTOH new rules could potentially breathe some life back into the army by creating more elite builds. Right now, on top of all the units looking the same they also all pretty much cost the same to field and magmadroths suck so you're building a horde of identical looking dudes no matter what. The preview hints at new builds like columns of Auric Hearthguard (a laughable proposition with their current warscrolls) and mass Magmadroth builds (Ditto, and hero only, unless they introduce a non-hero variant) so they could squeeze more variation out of them by giving them a book roughly on par with FEC. And of course the terrain and spells are very nice to have and potentially change up gameplay quite a bit, remember this was a completely non-magical faction until now. Still though, in the long run they need more units, without a doubt. This is just a band-aid at best. They might be hanging on to a hero model or something they haven't shown yet, though.

Yeah, I also wish the Golem thing was a unit. I don't think it's going to be an ordinary spell though, that thing is huge. Whatever it does will probably be pretty unique.

Hoo, that's a lot to take in! Scattered thoughts: The new Slaanesh models are gorgeous, and I say that as someone with absolutely no interest in the faction. Gloomspite vs Sylvaneth battlebox? so random... KO Warband is amazing, can't wait to pick that up. Warcry having rules for non-Chaos factions may get me to pick up at least the core set for terrain. Especially because Deepkin are one of the 9 factions, so I'm ready to go. Fyreslayer update! Looks super cool, but mixed feelings. It sounds like the giant lava monster is a spell, which is kinda disappointing. At the same time I don't think we've ever had a spell nearly as huge and elaborate as that thing, so I imagine it's special in some way... Also, talk of a Magmadroth heavy build, probably along the lines of Gristlegore. I'm guessing they'll introduce un-mounted Magmadroths as a conditional battleline unit, which would be...interesting. I still really want more unit choices, but what they've added looks really cool, love the monster and terrain piece and look forward to seeing the book previews.

There's additional pictures showing Fyreslayers as part of the presentation, it's definitely for them.

That Magma Golem looks sick, I'm a happy Fyreslayer fan. I can't really make much out from the pictures, I think that's the only new unit though. Still, a big old monster to fill up points with should make it easier to put together a Fyreslayer army that isn't pure horde, especially if they buff the Magmadroths to be worth using again.

I would say it was this weeks Rumor Engine with the very Aelven looking rune/horn that got that particular ball rolling.

I won't say I'm surprised, because I was leaning towards Dark Oath being a late release, after Warcry and what not, and Slaanesh was the other suspected big release for the year. Still, more Chaos...hopefully it does mean some kind of Aelf release this year.

Had to google it, but Runemasters and Runesmiters are apparently both considered Zharrgrim Priests in Fyreslayer lore. Not to say it couldn't be a new unit, but I do think those two will get the Priest keyword in any update regardless.

There will be salt no matter what they announce, that's just the way of things. I personally am a guy who invested into Order and Ogres, so I haven't had an announcement go my way since last summer. If they announce one armybook for something I own, it'll be the most exciting conference to me in ages. If they announce yet another Chaos or Death armybook instead, it won't be any different for me than the last like 6 conferences were.

If we're just joining Fyreslayers and Dispossessed together though, it's even less interesting. I've said it before, but they have basically the same roster already. Vulkites=Ironbreakers, Auric Hearthguard=Irondrakes, ect. Keep in mind, I am a man that already owns Fyreslayers and KO. A combined dwarf book just gives me the option to pretty much ditch Fyreslayers (because RIP those guys if they don't get new units) and buy Dispossessed instead. Which I don't want to do because I already own Fyreslayers and it's pretty much the same thing mechanically. So a combined Dwarf book just does nothing for me except downgrade one or two of my armies into subfactions. It's not great. I think most of the hype for a combined book is coming from Dispossessed players looking to piggy-back their way into an official armybook, which I totally get but I still think it's a mistake. That said, I am also on the lookout for any announcements related to Seraphon, Hysh Aelves, or Ogres, so I feel like I'm playing with a strong deck this time around...hopefully.

I don't like the mixed battletome for Fyreslayers because it doesn't do anything to fix the problem with Fyreslayers. They need new units that build on their unique themes to make them a more interesting and varied force. As mentioned some sort of Avatar unit as a centerpiece, a new mid size unit like Golems or Salamander Cav and they're set. Mixing Fyreslayers, Dispossessed, and KO isn't like Gloomspite Gits where each subgroup has a unique identity, (IE Moonclan brings the mass infantry, squigs, and fanatics, Spiderfang brings the cav and big spider monsters, and Troggoths bring the big boyz) You end up with something more like: Fyreslayers bring the slow, tanky infantry hordes, backed up by Dispossessed with their slow tanky infantry hordes, and KO with their slow, squishy ranged infantry hordes+airships) It's just not that interesting. Plus they'd have no legal allies left except Stormcasts.

Fyreslayer hype is real.

I suppose with a lot of the outstanding rumor engine images solved via Chaos Marines, it's probably about time to start seeing Aelvish rumor engines. I'd love to see Orion again, but his traditional horn design is much more rustic looking, while that horn looks metal and studded with gems, doesn't really fit Orion or the wanderer's aesthetic as we know it. Though Orion coming back is not implausible, The Sylvaneth BT makes Kurnoth very canon still. Bringing Wanderers and Sylvaneth back together is also a plausible move, I don't feel either faction has much room to expand their range as separate entities, but combined I could even be tempted into picking up another army I don't need.

Given the timing, I expect Adepticon will be Forbidden Power+the next armybook and not much else for AoS. Maybe more information on Warcry or a new battlebox at most. Until then, probably nothing except rumor engines.

Different factions have different problems, it's not wise to put them all in the same box, and I don't think GW is planning that either. First, lets look at recent updates. Beastmen are a large but older range that no one honestly thought would get an armybook before it happened. Terrain, endless spells and a book were enough to re-invigorate interest. Skaven are also an old, but very large range. They got a new hero, terrain, and endless spells and are doing quite well, in part because a lot of people have just been sitting on their skaven models waiting for a book that made them worth putting on the table. FEC are a small faction cobbled together out of a handful of old Vampire Fantasy kits. They got a new hero, terrain, and spells and have also taken off recently. Khorne is a medium sized faction with a slightly dated armybook. They got a new book, terrain, spells, and a couple of new models, both a Plastic Skulltaker and some new kits from Wrath and Rapture. Seraphon are also a large, mostly dated model range with an ancient battletome. While new models would be nice, a new book+endless spells ect is by far the most important thing for them them. Kharadron are a brand new army with great models. New models are always nice but by far they just need a re-write of their terrible armybook. Beastclaw would benefit from some plastic models to replace their awful resin choices, but mostly they need a new armybook. Ironjawz are an army with little variation that manages to shoulder on mostly because of the fantastic character of their models, and their simple and fun playstyle. Still people tend to move on due to limited choices. A new armybook would be helpful, but not as much as new models, IMO. Fyreslayers are an army brand new to AoS that was basically a flop. Their armybook is old but not especially bad for it's time, their alliegence abilities are pretty good. Their warcrolls are solid, and the army itself is more mid-tier than low-tier. No one plays them because they are boring and have no variation, either in playstyle or in visuals. Even in this forum the Fyreslayer discussion thread died shortly after the release of 2.0. Good luck finding anyone talking about Fyreslayers anywhere on the internet, because there is nothing to discuss. Wanderers, Dispossessed, and Gutbusters all have more discussion and probably more players, and they don't even have an armybook. A new armybook won't fix the problem with Fyreslayers, their issues run much deeper than just rules. Without new models how many people are even going to care enough to buy endless spells for them?

Yeah, the argument can be made that Fyreslayers have the most limited unit roster in the entire game for an actual armybook army. I love their aesthetic up to a point, but the fact is you have two unit kits with 5 poses each, and the only way to fill out an entire army is to build and paint a million of them. Their "elite" unit choices aren't even really elite, you're just paying slightly more for basically the same number of naked dwarves on the field. Ironjawz and Bonespitterz aren't that much better off, but at least they have Calvary units, and brutes/hardboyz aren't practically the same model. For Fyreslayers, whether or not they gain any actual unit variety is probably going to be the primary thing that determines if they have any future as an army. I love the guys, and even I can't be bothered to do more than paint up a small force and hope they get updated this year. For Ogres, I think it's a foregone conclusion is that Gutbusters will roll up Gutbusters, Firebellies, Maneaters, and Aleguzzlers. It makes complete sense and it's already how they are organized on the store. Whether or not they end up taking in Beastclaw Raiders is harder to say, there's a strong argument to be made either way, and even as a person who likes both Ogor armies I'm torn about it. I kinda just want Beastclaw to keep embracing their own theme and give Gutbusters their own mounted units if necessary.

STD/Darkoath this summer seems about right to me, especially with Warcry coming about that time. Slaanesh I have no idea, but we just got two back to back Chaos updates with Skaven and Khorne, and the announcement of Warcry for the summer, ect. I don't think even GW would quadruple down on Chaos so hard that we'll get Slaanesh next. Late 2019 still strikes me as more likely. In the meantime, even if they aren't major releases there are still a ton of non-chaos battletomes that need to be updated to 2nd edition, and I expect the trend of getting a new two army battlebox nearly every month will continue over the course of the year.

I'm feeling really Chaos saturated right now... If Warcry really is Chaos only, I guess I'm not playing it.

I do like the Firebelly, I had a really bad experience putting mine together so I'm biased against him. I just want a plastic replacement, honestly. The Tyrant/Butcher kits are just rough. Lots of gaps, clunky details, and don't get me started on the cauldron chains/hooks. That kit especially just doesn't work in Finecast IMO. It's not surprising to me that most people seem to just convert both heroes from the basic Ogor kits instead.

All of the Gutbuster/Firebelly heroes are Finecast, actually. They're not really amazing sculpts either, and there isn't a huge range of them, (Tyrant, Butcher, Butcher with Cauldron, Firebelly) so it's the one thing I would not be surprised to see squatted entirely. At the very least, there's room for Hero models that aren't just slightly larger infantry. The other big pile of Finecast comes from the Maneaters, which include two re-purposed Old World Heroes, no bets on whether those get replaced, left as is, or just tossed. IIRC, the Gutbuster description on the website makes no mention of ManEaters, so hard to say one way or the other what their future will be.

Agreed, I'm a little wary also because frankly, I'm not a huge fan of the Butcher aesthetic and wouldn't want it to take over the faction. I like pretty much all the other Ogor models including Beastclaw but Butchers are...eh.

Depending on how ambitious GW gets with doing Gutbusters, I could see them replacing/eliminating a huge swathe of characters. One of the big downsides of Gutbusters currently is that literally all the heroes are finecast, including the Firebelly Caster, the Gorger, and all the Man-eater models. So new plastic equivalents for Tyrants, Butchers, Firebellies and some sort of customizable Maneater kit strike me as low-hanging fruit. And if they're doing that much 1-2 new unit kits also seems reasonable. But what plastic kits they do have for basic Ogors/Grots/artillery still hold up reasonably well. I don't think it's likely that any of them get removed, much less all of them.

Ah, ok. Really just looks like a Morsaar Guard who's been dismounted. I wouldn't turn up my nose at Akhellian infantry but I don't think the picture means anything. In any case, I'm happy for Khorne being anounced, just because I can hope again that the next armybook announcement is something vaguely interesting to me. Not getting the old hopes up too high though, I'm rooting for Seraphon/Fyreslayers/KO/Beastclaw/Gutbusters/Light Aelves, in no particular order, but there's no telling how much more Chaos get announced before the next Order or Destruction release.

I'm honestly not sure where you are seeing this.

Eh, I'd say "many" is stretching the truth quite a bit. I saw very few people stridently against or doubting a combined Skaven book, and Gloomspite was speculated to be a combined book well before it was announced. The only really surprise there was the Spiderfang, which wasn't that much of a stretch and still predicted by many people. A combined Dwarf tome just sounds like a cop-out, honestly. Fyreslayers and Kharadron are brand new armies with awesome models and very divergent concepts, not scattered remnants of old model ranges dying to be swept under the umbrella of much older models and less defined lore. It would also totally fail to address the actual needs of both armies. Fyreslayers need new models and more fleshed out lore almost more than they need a new battletome, Kharadron have a great model range and lore, and just need a complete book re-write. Also, a generic Dwarf hold terrain piece for Fyreslayer and Kharadron armies? And presumably equally generic endless spell equivalents for both instead of cool fire effects for Fyreslayers and high tech machines for KO? Meh. I won't say it's impossible, but I do think it's unlikely, and as someone who collects both Fyreslayers and KO savagely disappointing if true.