sandlemad

Just from glimpses of the fighter cards in the video. The champion and slaangor get the choice of healing or taking damage each attack action. The former is solid and the latter is apparently tied to their inspire conditions. Decent stats too. The Lumineth seem to have some sort of aetherquartz tokens mechanic tied to the mage that gives them rerolls. I'm a little concerned about these new Primacy and Hunger mechanics being added. The Hunter/Quarry stuff is obviously staying and clearly they needed to justify adding something new for a new season but could wind up as a bit of cruft. Extra rules for extra rules' sake, maybe.

Those new Slaanesh models are exquisite. So many good details, from the scarification and mismatched boots of the champion to the eerie little masks of the grunts. The peacock feather-fletched arrows. The matching shoulderpads. The matching discs with their god's emblem on the right of their chest, classic Slaaneshi asymmetry. The similarities between the champion's spear and the grunt's glaive, with their ridged concave spear-butts and corkscrew hafts. The teeth on the bottom of the champion's shield matching the teeth on the bottom of his armour. The Lumineth by comparison are just ok. I like base scenery in general and don't put much credit in the idea that they pin down the model to specific battlefield positions or whatever but having them all stand on their own individual sets of rocks with individual bonsai trees... eh. The mage is cool, I like his mildly silly esoteric stance even if his facial expression is odd and vacant. The stoneguard looks appropriately stoic and has a good variation on the poses you get with the regular AoS models. The archer's pose is weird, like she's standing on her tiptoes atop the rocks. Doesn't really work. Either something bracing after the shot, something solid, or a Namarti-style running and jumping pose would be better. The swordswoman isn't great. No flow to the stance, just sort of staring into space, chunky details on the banner and bannerpole. They're a mixed bag. Ruleswise... The Slaanesh crew look strong. Damn.

Hmm, going left to right: chap with the big fan-collar, the owl and the staff with rings is the Lumienth WHU leader Slaaneshi archer for WHU Blood Bowl referee holding up yellow/red card in their left hand, right arm has a feathered helm in the crook of the elbow Slaaneshi leader for WHU

FW have updated the warscroll for the Bonegrinder (now called the Bonegrinder Mega-Gargant) to bring it in line with the other SoB units: https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/qoNOUvdzwe7R46S3.pdf It's essentially a fourth mega-gargant variant now. Has the Gatebreaker's missile attack, a stronger stomp, and an eating attack that seems to be a more reliable if more limited version of the Kraken-eater's 'stuff in net' attack. There's also a Bonegrinder mercenary available to Destruction forces that offers a bravery boost to ork units.

Hinterlands and Warcry are surprisingly different, with Warcry being a pretty weird little game that tries a lot of new stuff for GW. It's its own beast and not everything lands but I have to give kudos to Sam James for not resting on his laurels. Hinterlands was considerably better than GW's own Skirmish ruleset but fair play, he went and pushed for something new for Warcry.

There is absolutely no way GW is going to reduce prices on their range. Flatline them for a year, maybe, or keep new releases floating around the current price point, possibly. After all they already produce almost everything in-house. There's no reason to think they'll pass whatever savings they're making onto the customer. I don't think it's exactly a lie though? The idea that recent price increases have been a reluctant thing on the part of GW because they had to pay for a new factory in Nottingham or because there's other externalities, that's more of a speculative GW fan/apologist argument than something the company's ever stated. Only time I can recall any explicit acknowledgement of a reason was when they tied a price rise to the global cost of metals, which sort of led to finecast, and of course the prices never went down again.

I would have thought so but I'm struggling to get this exact feather to match up with any of the BB imperial nobles we've seen previewed. This feather had a nearly 90 degree twist and looks like it's adjacent to... maybe a sleeve? Doesn't match any of the dudes we've seen. I could imagine it being from an alternate build of this guy below, where he's holding his helmet in the crook of his arm instead of lifting the ball: But the feather looks a bit different, a bit less detailed than the ones on the BB models. Could be he painting style but it certainly doesn't match any feathers we've seen so far. Not sure about this one. The Lumineth archer from the Direchasm cover has feathers in their helmet but if they're anything like the regular kit, those feathers will be a lot smaller and less extravagant than this one.

That sounds a bit optimistic, I don't see anything there that isn't reflected in the current range. Not to say further models are impossible down the line in a few years but nothing's jumping out from this article.

This seems to be the case to me. GW has reintroduced more cost-effective and low buy-in options like Warcry/Kill Team/etc as well as Start Collecting boxes and ETB stuff specifically to address a clear failing during the Kirby years, that there was no real option to engage with any part hobby (besides some limited modelling and painting) without dropping a grand or more at the outset. They want new blood. The caveat though is that parallel to that we've also seen an increase in prices for kits and options outside those consciously lower cost options. It's obviously a way of making the hobby more approachable; AoS is affordable if you play Nighthaunt or Stormcast or stick to these kits but beyond that you're still going to pay £36.50 for five elves or what have you, and god help you if you want an army of giants. I would say that GW's introduction of more affordable options lets them roll up their sleeves and really double down on gouging the whales at the same time as providing a wider range of buy-in points. I think HollowHills is right that GW has a heightened awareness of these big spenders and is increasingly mining that seam, just not to the exclusion of other options. And that's the strategy, right? They're pretty open about it. Bring people into the GW ecosystem with an SC box or a few ETB kits and then hit them hard with everything else. Or use their Kill Team/Warcry warband as the jumping off point for a much larger and more expensive 40k/AoS army. The idea isn't just to appeal to folks who'll immediately throw themselves at the new hotness to the tune of three figures* but start folks out at a low price point and build them up into either whales or at least consumers who'll spend a lot more in general. * I'd count a sizeable chunk of tournament players as fitting that description, even if their value to GW is probably more as a marketing tool or visible sign of games being played/discussed.

I mean they are a greedy company. Always have been, always will be. All the 'New GW' stuff is an image exercise and tactics meant to make the company more money. Whatever about their image, they're not your mate and WHC ultimately is reducible to just another marketing tool. If they make stuff that can be considered interesting content - and I'd consider stuff like the Regimental Standard or highlighting hobbyist's cool armies to be that - is cool but it's entirely incidental to the purpose of the WHC site. I don't think you're unreasonable or being unfair to WHC but you're off the mark in expecting it to be anything other than advertising with a thin veil of winking jokiness to it. The 'community' label is a little irritating, I'll admit, as it's purely a top down sort of thing, an arm of GW itself, but it's best to simply take that as simply a brand and deliberate attempt to enclose the perception of 'the community' to what GW wants it to be. That the guys behind it work hard is... well, fine, good for them. Some of them are fine hobbyists themselves. All their efforts still amount to a glossy marketing tool and still should be thought of in the same way as you'd think of an ad on a bus shelter. Not particularly deserving of praise or respect outside of a shrug and a 'that's nice'.

I don't think we have to go so far as to say that this is a baby Silent Person or something. Just that there's a strong insect theme associated with them - masks, architecture and the Beastgrave setting - and that this fits. I'd also be a little suspicious of the idea that that dude in the artwork is necessarily a Silent Person but then it's unlikely that it's going to really be cleared up anyway. Agreed though that there's no reason to take any of this as a suggestion of a new insectoid faction for main AoS anymore than the Katophranes suggested a new undead faction. Nezzhill's suggestion, that this is one of the 3d bits of terrain to accompany Direchasm, seems likely. Baby ur-grubs or awoken Silent People guard-beasts or fossilised monster eggs or something. Seems extra-likely given that the Beastgrave -> Direchasm arc seems to mimic the Shadespire -> Nightvault arc: here's a creepy setting for S1, oh no, you have delved too greedily and too deep, something terrible has awoken for S2.

Thinking of the chameleon skink, there's also no guarantee that they'll show off a warband just because they've previewed a model from it. The bat squig that comes with Mollog's Mob was one of the first Nightvault models previewed and I think they were something like the fifth or sixth warband released.

Yeah, that's a slam dunk alright, it's Direchasm. The Warcry shadow elves have some studs but they're smaller and diamond-shaped. Given the resemblance to the Lord of Pain's studded leather and the similarity between that recurve bow and the one wielded by the archer on the Direchasm cover, that's part of the Slaaneshi warband. This mohawked archer is something of a refresh to the old chaos thug archer which appeared originally in metal and then in plastic for the Battlemasters game. A design so good they did it twice. Or three times. Or even four, the Darkoath WHU warband has a similar archer.

Yeah, 'Gridion' is definitely Blood Bowl and 'Glory' is what makes it a giveaway for Direchasm. Also Direchasm's out in roughly two months at the latest and the previous WHU starter boxes had long since been previewed by this stage. Wouldn't be surprised if we saw another warband as well, that's the sort of thing they did before. We've seen a chameleon skink member of the lizardmen warband, might see his mates. It's hard to say beyond that. The name suggests that Warcry and WHU will be the centrepieces but around the same time last year they previewed Slaves to Darkness, some Psychic Awakening stuff and a handful of Sisters of Battle, so there's probably still scope for some AoS/40k stuff. Would love to see what's next for Adeptus Titanicus as well as unlike Necromunda, we don't have much confirmation of what's coming next besides a book and best guesses. It also seems plausible that whatever we do see for AoS or even 40k would be another vague teaser, like a video mentioning blood and the children of the night with a few cuts between vampire-related rumour engines we've seen already.

Flayed ones and some of the variant crypteks, at least. And then there’s a bunch of marine stuff still to go, sword veterans and characters and bits of Indomitus. Hopefully after that we’ll see whatever’s next for AoS. Kind of but they’re also a throwback to the 3rd edition wraiths, which were much closer to this ‘floaty necron with a tail’ design than what they became in 5th ed, insectoid canoptek constricts. RE: Gridiron: a full view of Direchasm seems pretty likely.

The 360 views make a solid case that despite the similar leg posing, the three variants really do wind up looking quite distinct in terms of overall pose. It's particularly clear with the kraken-eater vs the other two because of the twist in his torso but it's pretty noticeable where the eye is drawn. I actually like the aesthetic a lot. Hill giant isn't entirely wrong but that they're sort of lumpy, wrinkly, pot-bellied dudes with huge feet and long arms makes for a pretty distinctive and Quentin Blake-esque form unlike the musclemen you get elsewhere, and a form that's to my mind more interesting than civilised Greek titans or similar. But the price is still dreadful.

The chap that thought up the 'behe-mat' pun is probably getting a promotion for saving the day.

No one has an onus to buy into a force though. If an army doesn't sell, that's on GW, not their competitors or customers. Tomb Kings infamously didn't sell because they went for multiple editions with poor core models, minimal army book support and glaringly weak rules. GW threw up their hands and discontinued them but that wasn't on the players, the company half-assed it for years and was rewarded with declining sales. You can't trust them to make the right decision, with or without competition. Also lets not act like GW is helpless here. Look at the Blood of the Phoenix box. Finally GW puts out new plastic aspect warriors but at a serious premium and bundled with older kits. Folks don't buy it because of that. If GW's interpretation of that is "oh well, no point investing in xenos, better release more space marines", then I'm going to be hard pressed to blame competitors or the consumer for what the company does.

I rather like the distinction between Stompers, Breakers and Takers, that idea of broad kinds of factions rather than specific e.g. Stormhosts or Lodges. Worked well for StD with their Ravagers/Despoilers/Cabalists, should work well here. Gives a bit more conceptual room for Your Dudes. It also emphasises how central the mega-gargants are to the faction. Rather than a mix, the background and the rules seem to be conceptualised much more as your Big Lad, maybe his Just As Big Mate, and then all the smaller gargants that he can bully into doing his bidding who then take on his style and preferences. Kind of a fun approach, makes it about big eccentric personalities rather than sub-groups and blends of cultures (e.g. here's a Megaboss and his ironclad boys but also he has this Bonesplitters shaman and his savage orcs following them around too). Also those Fierce Loathing options are a good laugh.

On the specifics on manufacturing costs and upkeep and such, yes, but we do know that GW makes a very tidy profit despite all that and has done for a few years now. Their investor statement from only two months ago explicitly said that 2020 has been "the best year in Games Workshop's history, so far", even with covid's disruption. It's when we see stuff like the chart below (credit to N1SB on B&C for his excellent work) showing them doing extremely alright that price increases rankle a bit. They're under no obligation to pass any of this on to the customer of course, they're not our friends and by design they're meant to get as much of their customers' cash as they think they can, but still. I get what you mean about not wanting to speculate into the nitty gritty but equally I think we should be cautious when talking about their retail presence and their studio and their artists as though these are some sort of burden that GW has to endure (or as a noble charitable enterprise, as it was framed in the other thread) rather than part of the reason why they do well. Their retail presence and the size of the studio has varied over the years and prices have only gone in one direction.

That's really unfortunate and if I were in similar circumstances I honestly would have been driven out entirely.

I brought it up in the other thread but it also reflects the capital D Discourse: discussion on TGA, other forums and social media is pretty overwhelmingly focused on listbuilding, competitive gaming of various levels, and matched play battles between large armies, with a lot less attention paid to 'how do you actually get to 2000pts' or 'the existence of other games/modes of play'. I'm sympathetic to the idea that this is simply because it's easy to talk for page after page about this sort of thing, theorycrafting combos and such, mind, I just don't get the impression that it necessarily reflects the majority of games actually being played. So it's kind of a perception issue when we talk about entry point. GW encourages it on the one hand with its AoS/40k rules while still offering alternatives through those skirmish games but a lot of the baseline assumptions among a lot of hobbyists about what is considered affordable still reflects that atmosphere where a $500+ investment is just taken for granted. Also RE: Necromunda and rules online, it's worth bearing in mind that that online compilation approach was itself a frustrated response to GW/SG's byzantine and seriously unfriendly way of releasing and updating their Necromunda rules. Seriously, as bad as it is now, it's miles better than the slap-dash money-grubbing approach taken early on in N17's life cycle. The compilation was made by and for a small community that had kept the game alive for years without any support, and met a genuine need. Regardless of how you feel about it, it was a popular player aid because it filled a need.

Yeah, this is disappointing. Such an easy thing to do and they whuffed it. The chap in the Gatebreaker's right hand is clearly something of an updated Johann and that could be meant as an easter egg, like a point there about how the regular giants could never catch him but watch out, these new big giants don't mess about. But still, the fleeing chap was a fan-favourite even before he was co-opted as 'Johann' in the marketing and then the comic. A fun and useful bit. Real missed opportunity.

The Cypher Lords definitely fit Tzeentch narratively. You're absolutely right about how their background is pretty similar to that of the Arcanites, and their vaguely Egyptian aesthetic is one that's popular with Tzeentch stuff in general. In fact, I suspect their masks are meant to be at least a bit similar to that of Doctor Fate, just like the Thousand Sons are thought to be. That said, don't dismiss the other warbands entirely! As you say none of them are meant to be devoted to particular gods but there's definite angles you can take that would make them work as part of a force of Arcanites. Corvus Cabal: Tzeentch's association with birds; watchfulness and knowledge; obsession with taking treasures/trinkets becomes seizing magical artefacts Iron Golems: something to do with the change of metal from ore to molten stuff to armour; crafting and enchanting magical weapons; the patience of ritual; the fires of the forge changing all things Untamed Beasts: a shamanistic approach, changing from man to beast through devouring; merging souls; reading portents and signs in the winds as they track their prey Spire Tyrants: same as any chaos warrior really but maybe focusing on Tzeentch as the god of chance and luck and fate, very important in the arena Splintered Fang: alchemy and magic; some of the same cultish stuff as the Cypher Lords but more martial Unmade: they're all mad, aren't they? Fallen philosophers. They want to inflict suffering and that's maybe a bit more obviously Slaaneshi but consider that they're also desperate to defy Nagash, so set their beliefs about life/mutability/change against those of death/unchanging/staticness, gets more Tzeentchian. Also their island kingdom was called Tzlid, which sounds appropriate. Scions of the Flame: Tzeentch and fire go very well together! In practice the visual aesthetics of these warbands aren't as obviously Tzeentchian as those of the Cypher Lords but the right colour scheme could make it work. Silvery-blue armour on the Iron Golems/Spire Tyrants/Splintered Fang, twisty blue tattoos on the Untamed Beasts/Corvus Cabal, that sort of thing. Cypher Lords definitely fit Arcanites but you could certainly make the others work too.

Direchasm's out in December but it's not clear when we'll see more details about the core box and other warbands. We knew everything about the Beastgrave kit by August 2019 and had seen the first new warband for it by mid-September 2019, so clearly a different approach is being taken, whether because of covid or not. Maybe once we're over this first hump of 40k releases we'll get some more news. Previously GW's done a preview in November for Blood and Glory so they might take that opportunity to do something online.