Neverchosen

I think it is not a weapon but a hand throttle on a vehicle like a motor bike but from a strange birds eye angle: Not saying its Squats but I sure do hope it is!

To attempt to move things slightly back on topic had all of the Necron and Space Marine stuff been revealed at this point relative to the release of Indomitus? I am wondering if they are waiting for the next big event to reveal the rest of the SCE and hopefully Kruelboyz models.

Sooo Spikes? Every time I see Space Marines Fighting Chaos Space Marines I think of this scene: Tying this back to AoS I am so happy that Stormcast and Chaos Warriors derive design elements from different historical sources creating some actual visual variety in the game. In other words I am happy that we have Angelic Bronze Age Warriors fighting Demonic Viking Knights.

I mean Black Templar are part of the Space Marine range aren't they? Have people not been able to play Black Templars since fourth edition? Isn't this more like if Stormcast: Astral Templars or Stormcast: Hallowed Knights got a book? Bretonnia or Tomb Kings getting a new book would be more like Squats getting a new codex.

I have told all my 40k playing friends that I would 100 percent play a Dark Mechanicus army no questions asked. Even if I hated the models I would just paint up some admech and kitbash them with my S2D bits (although I think I will take a cue from your post and also look at some Necromunda gangs). Then I would toss in a big Chaos Knight to get me to 2000 points. 😇 But back to AOS I feel we will get a reveal later today. I am hoping for something Kruelboyz related but I am not holding my breath. We have had mixed messages on wether we have seen the whole range but we do know that there is some Stormcast yet to be revealed. So I feel it is a toss up regarding Kruelboyz. 😨

No complaints from me on these models they are fantastic. I also think with the right skills the Jagerkin would make a great AOS model as well but would involve a lot more conversion skills depending on the lore and technology available to your army. I feel like replacing the helmet, rifle, base ammo box, and potentially replace the arm or make it a little more steam punk. Honestly, I think that together the would make a nice alternative to the ven Densts... but why anyone would not take the best duo in AOS is beyond me.

@JackStreicher I will always be impressed with your works. We often have very similar tastes in armies but your skills go far beyond my own. For my own part, I have been planing on going with either a green and brown scheme with iron/steel armour harkening back to some of my favourite folk heroes and pop culture figures such as Robin Hood and Link... or as an aged bronze with a heavy patina as though they are ancient warriors from antiquity.

I know it will likely never happen but I am hoping for them to build on the Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth and Hobgrots with a new unit. I personally would love a unit of regular sized Troggoth riders mounted by Hobgrots. I think it would nicely tie together some of the more disparate elements of the faction while also keeping in the themes and aesthetic established. We would get a second unit of Hobgrots, further evidence of Troggoths as beasts of burden for the faction, and potentially a intermediate species between the Sloggoth and Mirebrute Troggoth. If this happened then the lesser Gnashtooth riders could be Orruks, allowing people to build a mixed Kruelboyz army with monsters and goblins or a more Orruk heavy list.

As much as I have a love for 80s toy aesthetics I would love a hollowknight styled army of undefined creatures with hardened carapaces. I think it would allow a lot of really interesting aesthetic choices as some people may use metallics or bone and treat the carapaces as being overlaid armaments, while others can chose to paint it as organic living material treating it as part of the Silent people themselves: I suppose that is true about sectaurs but they do seem a little less ambiguously bug people wearing medieval bug armour: Although I imagine that the designers will develop something truly unique from either. Recent criticism of the company aside, the designers at Games Workshop are insanely talented and are the main reason we are all here and Age of Sigmar has let them run wild in terms of imaginative design. But no matter case I do love this idea of anthropomorphized insect warriors as opposed to the more alien look of Tyranids or Zerg. I do hope they can find a method to incorporate some additional limbs even if they are largely vestigial. Of course I will leave the say to @Grim Beasties our resident Entomology expert on the subject.

Sons of Behemat will be a pamphlet but Stormcast will make War and Peace seem like a light read... It is a strange place for Games Workshop that showcases why putting so many eggs into certain baskets like Stormcast and Space Marines makes their battletomes and codices really imbalanced in terms of content. I do think that the possible positive is that smaller ranges like Idoneth, Sons of Behemat and Harlequins can possibly get more lore in their books and hopefully draw more people to the smaller ranges for the additional lore... although more support will result in more units... which means less lore in the future... 😵

I think for 'new factions' this edition Silent People are the only ones that seem like they will not be an expansion on a preexisting faction: Umbraneth can be an expansion of Daughters of Khaine Kurnothi Aelves can be an expansion of Sylvaneth Grotbag Scuttlers and Gitmobs can be an expansion of Gloomspite Chaos Dwarves can be an expansion of Slaves to Darkness Dispossesed can be an ingredient in the rumoured Duardin Soup I do not suspect that all of the armies I listed will be part of an expansion or soup, but rather that I think that they all make as much sense as expansions as stand alone factions. Oddly enough, I feel like Grotbag Scutlers and Gitmob might be most likely to stand alone as a combined secondary Goblin faction. Silent People on the other hand feel largely uniquely. Other than a superficial relationship to other anthropomorphic animalistic factions an Insectoid race seems pretty unique to the setting and hard to place within any of the other factions.

I hope we get some Grotbag Scuttlers into the mix.

I mean currently all the demon princes already share a kit with even less customization, so I do not see it as much of an issue personally... plus there would likely be additional items but they would share essentially a core body frame. Like a more refined version of the Chaos Spawn. However, that ended up not being the case so we can now hopefully get Demon princes that are more in line with the aesthetic of their respective marks.

I was honestly expecting Be'Lakor to be released as an alt build for a new DP kit. I was assuming it would have a different head for each of the four major chaos gods and then an undivided/Be'Lakor head to round things out. What we got was admittedly way more epic but also way to expensive... one day though!

Reading comprehension another of the skills I sorely lack. Either way the idea of facing off against dragon themed Stormcast hosts is really exciting. I have started a small Stormcast army and I will make sure to include some dragon element but sadly a pure dragon force is just outside of my budget.

Coldone knights make for a good dragon themed mount. Essentially you can make a very fluffy list with Black Dragons, Corsairs, and Coldone Riders with a Hydra/Kharybdis to round it out. Just make sure to have the Corsair cloaks match the dragon/cold one colours schemes to better tie your infantry in with the rest of your force.

More info on building an all drake army. Seems like Hammers of Sigmar get Drakes as battleline by default that is pretty cool. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/08/12/build-all-dragon-armies-and-other-fierce-forces-with-the-new-stormcast-eternals-battletome/

Personally I do not mind at all it is even more reason for me to skip it entirely and save some money for actual models and better streaming services.

I think that Kragnos actually looks really cool alongside Ogors and particularly BCR which is a shame because they are also the Destruction faction he has had the least interaction with so far. 😥

@GothmaugI love that this makes charging a unit of mounted knights into a dragon a better trade off than sending in a horde.

In all its hammer wielding glory:

I wonder if these two represent the future standard for ancient named dragons in terms of stats and rules. I feel like the breath attack and tail attack could be standard for all future named dragons with their special rules tying more to Krondys' spell casting and Karzai's fire of vengance: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/08/10/magic-and-mayhem-the-dragon-princes-rules-make-them-a-ruinous-tag-team-in-battle/ So many dragons!

Clearly it is a new Legolas model:

I think you are right which is why earlier on I argued I would rather a unit of smaller troggoth riders preferably with hobgrots as an alternative to traditional cavalry. @Warboss Gorbolg It is strange I keep looking for some good visual comparisons between Kruel Boyz and Ironjawz but I am having a lot of difficulty. I personally prefer the more creepy and realistic approach to Orruks with this release than the cartoony and often homogenous aesthetic of the more typical GW orruk design. But honestly I am having difficulty finding an image of them next to one another to determine how well they scale and if they look good with a shared aesthetic. This is the best image thus far and the Ironjawz are separated by the Bonesplitterz and in that garish yellow scheme. It almost feels like an intentional move in terms of their marketing to separate the two in most images but they also are really tying them together in terms of lore.

I agree with everything you said here. Although I have talked to my friends about how if they ever wanted to split a dualbox with Space Marines or Adepta Sororitas, I might make a heretical chapter using my S2D bits and run them as either Chaos or Imperium on a whim. But I feel I will get harassed by obnoxious Heresy jokes everywhere I go outside of my friend group. 😔 But I love the point you make about the open narrative nature of Slaves to Darkness. It is a fantastic faction and the heavy armour opens my mind to more possibilities rather than restrict imagination in the way we see in 40k. I have often had my chaos warriors fulfill the role of pretty much any possible fantasy race in tabletop RPGs and in my mind within their ranks stand orcs, beasts of chaos, elves, dwarves and mutant monstrosities. I painted my Chaos Warriors armour in red, as I imagine that they are trying to emulate the demons that they worship and they view all mutations as gifts. So much like their faith in these dark deities, their armour unites them. But this same narrative openness applies to so many of the new factions. Stormcast are heroes that transcend upon death and can come from any background or race in the mortal realms and also make use of heavy armour that can allow an open interpretation of who is in anyone's army. For my new Stormcast force it is founded by the soldiers of my Chaos army that did not succumb to the call of the dark gods and the later people who resisted their unholy crusade. Once again in my mind they are every bit as diverse as my Chaos army. But this is also why I am excited by every rumoured unit and faction in AOS as I look forward to seeing how people will reimagine it to fit their own narrative. The Ossiarch's had a bit of a mixed response upon their reveal but the second people started painting them as metallic skeletons or charred bones with internal flames people got really into them. The monotony of Fyreslayers becomes less of an issue when they are painted as frost or flame elementals. Imagination makes the hobby better and I am happy that AOS players are less likely to just paint and build models according to the box art.