BaylorCorvette

After I googled "vrykolakas" and looked at Google images, I can def see some of the Soulblight Gravelord units looking like this.

I definitely think GW is going to take the vamps in some unique direction since that is clearly what they have been doing with "new army" releases, as to protect their IP. So some sort of werewolf / vampire hybrid would not surprise me. We can kind of see that with their zombies. It's an assumption since nothing has been confirmed, but it looks like from context clues from the new WH Quest and the silhouette of a model that looks like a zombie tree that perhaps these zombies will have a unique twist to them, other than what we currently have for zombies.

I don't think so, but I'm concerned it could be in the Lumineth Zoo lol

I agree that this new WHQ will give us a glance at what the Soulblight Gravelords "normal units" may look like. I mean WHQ sounds like it is a RPG with the new Soulblight faction as the "bad guys." I am also hopeful that the Soulblight Underworlds warband is a sign of possibly non Hero Vampires in the army. Perhaps that flying guy (Ennias Curse Born) as a unit that functions somewhat similarly to Vargheist, of the four in the Crimson Court he looks the least like a Hero. Also, I don't know how soon after a Warband is released that they post their AoS warscrolls online, I've never paid that close of attention. But the AoS Warscrolls for both the Dread Pageant & Myaris Purifiers have already been posted. So I under if they are going to withhold the "Aos Stats" from the Crimson Court until Soulblight Gravelords are released or closer to their release? If not, then it will give us a good idea of what SBG will look like, at least the Vampire Lord Heroes.

Yeah I tend to agree with this. The fact that the leak all but guarantees that the Vamp Lord is in its packaging with the new faction name "Soulblight Gravelords" makes me optimistic. However, it is obvious that COVID has really shifted the release schedule of things. I'm sure GW plans on keeping the order in which they release things the same, but I wonder if they will start to double up on releasing certain products that were not originally planned to be released together. For instance, the new Daughters of Khaine BT reveal was kind of random and they said it will be released the same time as the Slaanesh BT. I realize that Morathi is playing a HUGE part in the Broken Realms so I can see the argument that is why they are getting a new BT, however I just assumed that BR: Morathi was DoK's big thing right now and I personally wasn't expecting a new BT for them. So I wonder if due to COVID they are doubling up on some releases. If 3.0 was originally supposed to be here this summer, they may want certain releases out by or before that time. Alternatively they could just push back 3.0 release as well. We are seeing this on a smaller scale with Warhammer Underworlds, they pushed back the first four warbands a month and then are doing a two warband release in May. Granted this is smaller scale than big AoS stuff but could possibly be a hint at how they may try and "catch up" on releases.

Would be a shame if some Vampires showed up and drained all those knife ears of their blood.

ugh, as someone with absolutely no interest in LRL but a Vampire / Soulblight obsessed player and being teased with that Gravelords leak last week, it hurts my heart seeing all of this LRL stuff, lol. BUT I am happy for my fellow Aelf collectors.

I could buy that. Especially since the 40k FAQ was more substantial. But then again it is possibly a case of 40k just being more popular and demanding more attention.

Yup. For me personally i have played like 3-4 AoS games since March 2020. However the single player rules that they published early / mid last year interested me and it snow balled into writing an entirely custom RPG game that is kind of an AoS / D&D Hybrid. Fast forward and a few buddies and myself are about 110+ hours in to the campaign which I am DM'ing for and my Word document with all the narrative and background that I've prepared is currently sitting at over 160 pages. I think I've assembled and painted over 40 unique models. Mostly GW but some 3D printed stuff specifically for this game. Most of which I would have never bought had I not started this game. I'm a LoN & Khorne player. However, I've bought various "creatures" and a few Underworlds Warbands that I'm using for this game.

I'm just super hype'd about Vampires. I've wanted some great Vampire models for so long and then to use them in a competitive army. While I have a decent Legion of Blood list, it is only so competitive in today's meta and as a result at the start of COVID I put together my Vampire Khorne army. The Underworlds Warband has definitely wetted my apatite for more Vampires and I cannot wait to get those models. Plus the "leak" of the Soulblight Gravelords has given me hope that a new Vamp faction is in the works, be it a LoN update or a proper Soulblight faction. I am certainly curious to see where BR: Teclis goes, since he is going after Nagash, I wonder if that is going to set the stage for these new Vampires? I have to assume it will. Needless to say I cannot wait to see what 2021 has in store for AoS!

I think we may have a much clearer picture once BR: Teclis is released as it relates to the future of LoN / Vampires.

I share the same thoughts. The fact that the leaked photo actually shows the packaging as "Soulblight Gravelords" it would seem that these models (or at least that leaked Vampire Lord) would be releasing sooner rather than later. If it was just the single Vampire Lord, why would they change the name instead of just calling it "Vampire Lord Legions of Nagash." Obviously releases and timing have changed a lot over the last year due to COVID. I just think it is strange that they would have these models packaged and ready and then not release anything for many months. However, if it is in fact a supply chain problem I can buy into that since Slaanesh and new LRL stuff needs to go out too.

Yeah same. I figured an artistic take on chainrasps.

so BR: Morathi was announced Aug 22 and then was released Nov 14 I think. I hope this doesn't mean BR: Teclis isn't coming out until like April..

Honestly that would be amazing

There is a ton of hype for Vampires, I've been waiting for proper Vamps since I started playing AoS and I know I'm not the only one. If they want to make the new Soulblight Gravelords the new LoN, I would be fine with that, so long as it is a proper book that is thought out and not just minor warscroll updates. Keeping Skeletons and Zombies and Dire Wolves as chaff/minions would be good. However I'd like to see new Blood Knights, Vampire Foot Soldiers, Vampire foot Archers, Gargoyles (although that might be too much like Vargheists) and obviously keep the Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon. Making the Coven Throne and Bloodseeker Palanquin much more useful would be great as well. Basically the ability to run it as a horde army (skeletons, dire wolves, zombies, etc) or an elite army (all vamps) would be what I would want in an "updated LoN book." The other thing I want to see is this book obviously be competitive in the meta. I do not think they are going to be crazy spell casters, no should the really. However vampires have always (in my mind) been extremely fast and mobile. So I would like to see Vampire units get abilities like Mist Form in LoN's Soulblight section, where they can retreat and still charge. Also, I think demonstrating their agility they should get easy access to minuses to being hit. Finally, and I think this would go a long ways in the current meta, is to rework the Bat Swarm warscroll. Instead of the bats needing to be close to the enemy for the debuff to hit, I think they should generate the aura around themselves, so any friendly Soulblight Gravelord units wholly within X inches are -1 to be hit with missile weapons or they could do something like if a bat swarm is closer to the enemy than another target, then the bat swarms must be shot at instead or a way to dump wounds onto the bat swarm. This would allow Soulblight to be competitive with all the shooting in AoS. One last thing, there is sooo much Mortal Wounds in AoS, especially with recent armies and Vampires are undead right? So making them have a mortal wound shrug would make sense lore wise and also help make them competitive, Obviously they will have a Deathless Minions shrug like they do in LoN. But maybe make it 6+ against wounds and 5+ against Mortal Wounds? Not really sure.

My dream vampire faction would be Vampire foot soldiers, Vampire archers, new Blood Knights, Gargoyle type of flying beast, keep the Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon but update the warscroll a little bit and give it mount traits, update the Coven Throne's warscroll and then some other really cool center piece model. I think foot soldiers / archers like those from Underworld: Rise of Lycans would be nice

I'd almost bet money on the warband having some sort of creature. It would allow the unit to have more models without taking away from the "elite" status of vampires. So I figure 2-3 vamps and then 1-2 creatures of some sort.

Agreed. Proper bad@ss female vamp warrior. Looks like she means business!

I have been waiting for vampires for so long. I am so hyped right now. I am really glad they kept with the Aristocracy theme. Armor is simple but looks great. Saturday cannot come soon enough!

Agreed. That article is all Lumineth and then "oh btw here's a Vampire."

Just as I finish my Vampire Khorne army, new Vamps appear to be just around the corner. Perfect timing!

As a Legion of Blood, Soulblight & Khorne player, I've wanted to make use of some sort of ranged units and/or deepstrike / mobile gimmick unit. A Vampire army as you described would fit both those which is exactly what I would want. So I certainly hope you're right.

oh wow that does look eerily similar lol.

Based on this picture, here is what I am hoping for: -Awesome Sword -Pistol in belt -Wings folded behind back -Better not be knife ears