sandlemad

I actually think it's all that similar to the Cauldron of Blood statue. That one was clearly an elf with a prominent Khainite rune and had a slightly more angular, abstract style, unlike this dude. Not impossible - some sort of DoK terrain would be a handy one to bring in for the next DoK battletome, whenever that might be - but I think we should be cautious about confidently assigning it to a particular faction because the concept is seemingly similar to something they already have. My gut says Slaanesh because of the emphasis on the marble effect, which is all over their recent releases, but then it's big and Slaanesh already has a centrepiece release coming (Sigvald) and a terrain piece. Malerion's Shadow-elves isn't impossible either but difficult to assign when we have zero real knowledge about the angle GW will take with them, if they'll even be a new faction, or how closely they'll be tied to DoK.

That's surely Slaanesh... something. Classical stylings, submissive pose, focus on sense organs (here blocked off). More terrain? Eventual base for 40k Fulgrim?

I do think they're on that track already for WHU (and definitely for AoS), given Shadespire and Nightvault were both £40, and Beastgrave was £45 at launch only a year ago(!) before going up to £50. I suspect it's more than the price increase times didn't align rather than that GW is taking a considered approach. Wouldn't be surprised to see Direchasm climb to £55 by autumn 2021. Overall though that's still roughly within the "entry premium boardgame" price band for folks who aren't already into GW stuff. What's probably more meaningful is the increase in warband cost by nearly a third since Nightvault.

Huh, I was under the impression that Direchasm was going to go up in price from Beastgrave but it hasn't. Good.

Predominantly rules but the core book does get across a lot of atmosphere and character through, e.g. each faction’s campaign has a story running through it with details of each battle, like the Kharadron seeking a downed ship or the DoK hunting a renegade. Gives a good feel for the harshness of the Bloodwind Spoil.

Also how good is that 'The Price of Treason' short story? At the risk of crowing a little, it's cool to see the obvious angle of embittered Anvilgardian loyalists setting themselves against the new power of Har Kuron being taken up by the studio. Hell yeah. That's more than enough for anyone with an Anvilgard army to build on.

Well cool. That's guaranteed Soulblight for WHU so. While I agree that there's no guarantee that this means a Soulblight AoS army is on the cards, we have seen quite a few obviously vampire swords. WHU warbands since Nightvault tend to be pretty heterogenous in terms of their equipment and a vampire warband would probably be fairly low on numbers, so I think one or more of those swords could still be for AoS or another non-WHU kit. Kixi Taka looks cool.

Bog-standard might be a bit much. Nighthaunt aren’t radical but they do develop the gothic ghost angle with stuff like the cruel & unusual Sisyphus-style punishment aspect and GW-specific visual cues like the briars/roses. So there’s a sliding scale to my mind and even where GW’s doing a ‘safer’ new thing they’re still anxious to put their own stamp on it. I’d agree though that there’s more to this than copyright protection. You can go back to the WD designer’s notes for 6th edition ogre kingdoms, before all the copyright/lawsuit stuff, and see the emphasis the designers were putting on these being Warhammer ogres, unique to GW and distinct from other fantasy universes. GW push their brand as much as a unique selling point as out of concern for copyright.

Cool, I can see the connection. Part of Syll'Esske's background is that they're idolised by those who want synchronisation between the mortal and the daemonic. Wouldn't be surprised if they get some rule boosting Twinsouls, or maybe a battalion.

GW's always looking to put their own angle on fantasy archetypes and there's many worse takes than swole beach bully vampires that slap people on the back and call them brother. (Sophisticated vampires wearing opera gloves to battle could also be ok) Looking at this, the pommel and hilt are vaguely similar to some of the swords we've seen. Not a million miles from the 'perfume bottle' style pommel from one of the earlier ones. Interesting as well to think about what gets shown and what doesn't. From what I can tell almost nothing we saw yesterday was previewed in the rumour engine pics, if we discount those done deliberately as previews of the preview in the week leading up.

That's my point though, I don't want "Marauders but Nurgle" because there's already Marauders with the mark of Nurgle and because then it would be just a box-ticking exercise for the faction. I would like something conceptually distinct, something weird and unique to Nurgle like these hypothetical death's head grenadiers. Also yes, Nurgle's received a lot of attention (a lot more in 40k, mind) but they still only have two mortal units. I've not got anything in particular against armoured Tzeentch dude and get the precedent in concept art/background but like... make them more than can be represented by regular old chosen/chaos warriors with additional curly stuff on their armour, you know? Skullreapers have their daemonic swords and tally thing, Wrathmongers have less armour and unique hammer-flails, Twinsouls are half-daemon and have exotic weapons. For theoretical armoured Tzeentch dudes, what's their shtick? Maybe they ride on discs, or can cast spells, or have flaming weapons, or fight with staves and swords, or have a Forsaken-style dual build option. That sort of thing, that's more conceptually interesting to my mind.

I think Ossiarchs are almost a guarantee for WHU. They're a high profile new faction and important in the background, GW's been pushing them pretty hard. They have less thematic and mechanical crossover with the Sepulchral Guard than e.g. the S1 ironjaw ardboys and the S3 brutes. There's also a preview or two that is clearly an Ossiarch axe, has the right cartouche and all.

I'd rather the approach taken was not to make each god's mortal faction a clone of 'normal' StD but with a red/blue/pink/green gloss. There's always going to be overlap but for the sake of playing differently I'd prefer them to deviate from the idea that each god must have a marauder-equivalent, a warrior-equivalent, a chosen-equivalent... I think it's good that e.g. Tzeentch has weird flying magic archers and Slaanesh has elite daemon-riding light cavalry, or that Slaangors look to be small units of big guys compared to slightly horde-ier Tzaangors. If that means that not every god has everything - where are Khorne's flyers or light cavalry? Where are Tzeentch's heavy armoured infantry? - that's ok, there's still marked chaos warriors and other StD to draw upon. That being said, I would like Nurgle to have a mortal unit that isn't Blightkings or flying Blightkings. Doesn't have to be Nurgle marauders though, maybe some sort of skirmishers or grenade-slinging dudes, twirling bolas made of toxin-filled human heads... Something weird and unique. (I do realise that reducing units to X-equivalents can be reductive in how they operate in an army. Kairic Acolytes work pretty differently to Bloodreavers in terms of their warscroll and what battalions you use them in, even if we call them both marauder-equivalents.)

The Twinsoul heads are kind of growing on me. I can see the intent, the broadening and smoothing out of the face making something quite inhuman. It doesn't always land but even where it's funny looking, like this dude, it has a certain creepy, sweaty, giggling, psychopathic charm. Looks like someone who'd cut himself while staring at you, grinning, before going for the kill.

Oh that’s a chaos dwarf, not a Chaos Dwarf. Look how small his hat is.

There's a lot of plausibly vampire stuff left but there's also this! Could still be 40k eldar or maybe even Idoneth but it does look rather Slaaneshi and doesn't feature on any of the models previewed today. Similar in form to the katar-style weapon wielded by one of the Twinsouls but looks to be made of bone or chitin or something. Honestly if they just replicate the old lord on boobworm in plastic, maybe fiddle with proportions a little, it'd be a slam dunk. That model was exquisite. On a non-Slaaneshi note, what do we think about the prospect of the chaos warriors WHU warband coming out close to Direchasm? Wouldn't mind that as a christmas present.

I do hope we get Slaangors and lighter troops. These are great but having something besides Slaaneshi versions of heavily armoured elite infantry, something that makes them distinct from the other godsworn, would be nice. Thinking here of Tzeentch's Skyfires for example. The Slaangor we've seen seems to be closer in size to a minotaur/ogre/'big guy' multiwound model than e.g. Tzaangors. That does make them more than just a Slaanesh gloss on Bestigors.

The Twinsouls have a good Dynasty Warriors feel, each with their own oddball weapons. They're cool but the Painbringers are just incredible, a standout release. I guess they're trying to lean away a little from the "sex and pain and only sex and pain" aspect? I mourn for the loss of Sigvald's thighs though. Good catch. Correct me if I'm wrong but this blurry chap on the left is similar to but seems to have a different paintjob to the Direchasm Slaangor. I think? A pale face, some extra gold. Probably different. And that blurry whatever on the right, well.

IT'S YA BOI, SIGVALD

These are great. Rugged, low fantasy, extra swords, this is that good oldschool Hordes of Chaos look. EDIT: lol, Eddie just said exactly that.

It really is just lovely. Being in plastic has really helped it since the metal version.

The wizard on the right could still be Slaanesh, wouldn't be the first to have asymmetric horns and it's a little less antler-like than many. The hole in the coat/cloak might hint at Nurgle though.

Honestly to my mind four new plastic kits for Slaanesh mortals wouldn’t count as ‘very small’ and would be enough to make them more diverse than, say, Nurgle mortals. Or Ironjawz or Fyreslayers. Hoping’s good but I’d almost reduce that to Sigvald and a box or two along with the Direchasm models. I’d be reluctant to speak confidently about potential new unit types based on what’s present in the WHU warband, as much as they usually hew fairly close to regular AoS troop types, it’s not always the case when it’s a “new” faction. Very little of the Darkoath warband found its way into StD for example. Not saying we won’t have archers, spearmen and Slaangors but just that tempering expectations would be good, if that’s not throwing cold water even before the party’s started.

I am still unconvinced that this rumour engine could be anything other than a vampire. There's too much blood iconography and too much in its design that ties it tightly to the existing vampire range. A full Soulblight army for AoS is still possible but at the very least we'll see something for WHU, Warcry, or this speculative new WHQ. Something vampiric is all but guaranteed. Vampirates are looking like more of a reach.

Hell yeah, Sigvald, lord of the rockin' thighs! Great character. His novel was fun, largely because he can be written with such wild-eyed narcissism, and that speech he gives in Total War is brilliant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skFKNudZuWM I'll admit I liked the idea of a Sigvald whose death in the World-That-Was left him with a scar and a hysterical monomaniacal goal of restoring his former beauty (fantastic blog running with that idea below) but this should still be cool. Between this likely Sigvald, Ssyl'Esske, Shalaxi Helbane and the Masque, Slaanesh is doing pretty well when it comes to interesting special characters. Interestingly based on the sword outline on the left, it matches neither of the swords with elaborate guards we've seen already, meaning they're still in play to be something else.