Neverchosen

Haha, I do not think it will be a permeant death but rather an embarrassing banishment. I feel like Be'Lakor will realistically outlast Archaon and will become a minor Chaos God... but I think it will continue to be a rocky road and never actually happen directly in the narrative but exist in prophesies and such. Oh cool thanks for that, unfortunately we do not know if the Legions of the first prince will remain the same as it is now. I feel like it could take the Despoilers Rules and include 1/4 demon units. I would like if the rules stayed as they are though as it gives AoS a full demon faction Eternus' lore fits so well with my AOS project and he feels like a must grab tbh. But I also like to construct my own lore so he will likely be my general and use Eternus rules but likely remain within my own little meta narrative.

As all Undivided Chaos should be! Chaos should have some nuance and subtly, they should strive to show why people follow these Gods and the Faustian bargains that result in a fall. How a tragic figure riddled with disease finds acceptance with the followers of Nurgle, a general in dire fortune turns to Khorne in a moment of rage and weakness, Tzeentch preying on an academic researching a method to improving society, who now wishes to overthrow society and how a romantic artist may fall to the sway and temptations of Slaanesh while struggling to complete their masterpiece. However, someone who worships all of the Gods should lack any nuance as they clearly just wants to rock out and wear 5 ton armour and chill out with demons all day while looking like the literal epitome of Warhammer! This applies to Beasts of Chaos but they don't need to cosplay with horned helmets. The true followers of Chaos requires a certain aesthetic and that aesthetic is Spikes and classic Warhammer Eavy Metal! Of course any classic Eavy Metal painter should know that there is only one way to base these soldiers the ultimate embodiments of Chaos, Madness and Disorder. With the juxtaposition of a Goblin Green base on a freshly mowed lawn of green flock:

In light of the recent narrative revelations, I want to revisit one aspect of the leaks namely the Damned Legions. When the index was first revealed many people just assumed the listed legions would be lore information and the Legions proper would likely be a smaller list towards the end. I personally suspected that they would each be a standalone legion and I wrote something to that effect when we first got the information. But I think the emphasis on Be'Lakor makes it seem even more likely that each will be a distinct and separate subfaction. I am going to list the Damned Legions and my personal guess as to how they relate to the current Damned Legions. If you think these will shake out a little differently than my guess, so please post your own theories and note that I imagine the rules being very different than their current form: Archaon The Everchosen - Hosts of the Everchosen Be'Lakor, the Dark Master - Despoilers? Legion of the First Prince? Champions of the Chaos Tribes - Ravagers Masters of the Dark Arts - Cabalists Wrought in Iron and Hatred - Knights of the Empty Throne? The Ogroids Unleashed - New Subfaction. The Lost and Damned - Idolators? Despoilers? Warbands of the Eightpoints - Idolators? As stated earlier, I highly doubt these will be a 1/1 match. Particularly as I feel certain legions that currently exist such as Hosts of the Everchosen and Knights of the Empty Throne could be consolidated rules-wise. Namely if Archaon is or isn't present in a list could effect the rules of the Varanguard. Alternatively, I feel like Idolators might get split across the Lost and Damned (priests and chariots) and Warbands of the Eightpoints (Cultists). Either way this is the part of the new release that excites me the most. It is possible that the Belakor Legion covers the rules for the Legions of the First Prince, in which case the Lost and Damned might be Despoilers? I still hope we get Rally the Tribes for Ravagers. Not because it was great competitively, but because it was my favourite summoning mechanic in AOS. Different Chaos Champions calling forth their own cultists just seems to feel right. I also liked tossing in a Gaunt Summoner to bring in some Furries. I just like the idea that with the wave of chaos there were secret cultists laying in wait and demonic summonings occurring from a twisted sorcerer. I love crafting my army to fit within the rules and lore of certain subfactions and these seem very flavour-able and fun. With there being 8 having each one tie into a realm also seems like a fun idea. I will have them hail from the Eightpoints and then have a subfaction dedicated to taking each of the realms! I do wonder/worry that Archaon, Be'Lakor, and Eternus will be locked within their respective legions? I think that we can all agree that Be'Lakor will be fairly successful in this rebellion, but that there is only one possible ending for these dark machinations:

No faction smybol but there are some pyramids that have a nice Seraphon feel and also the hint of a Khorne icon on the map that gets cut off as it zooms in.

I don't see the complaints, Demon gladiators clad in demonic themed armour is literally why I lobe chaos and warhammer. But the idea of Be'lakor flamming the fans of discord is literally all I wanted narratively as well. As I dip my toes into 40k chaos the more I realize the places I can build proxies between systems and I feel like having Be'lakor function as my general and false god in both systems seems to me to be the way forward... Also mutants and monsters haha

Now these fit my army like a glove! Might need to grab some... I wish these were in the new Warcry box as it would have made it an easy pick up

I still feel like Seraphon will make a huge splash this edition! I think that they will be saved for the end much like Lumineth Realm Lords were in the last edition. My theory is that Beasts of Chaos will be revealed as something like the big Bad with a return of Morghur and the Orruks will actually be key to holding them off and then Kroak and his Mage posse will cast a deus ex Machina spell bringing us into the edition into 4th! The new artwork is pretty slick: Actually I keep wondering if they will set up a Chaos entity to be to a villain of sorts for each realm? Archaon = 8 Points, Be'Lakor = Chamon, Morghur = Ghur?

I am going to take from @EccentricCircle's lead and pick for each GA. I want to emphasize the theme of different forms of worship and expansion of the mortal realms as seen in the previous sets. I will do three for each Alliance because I am that indecisive: Order: COS - Valaya's Valkyries a group of Duardin women on pegasus ponies embracing a side of the norse influence of Dwarves often overlooked. Disposed but in lore will work alongside any Duardin and can provide a bonus ward save based on Duardin Keyword, Seraphon - Oxyotl's Hunters a group of Chamelon skinks that prowls the Eight points and have returned to Ghur to retrieve their lost artifacts. IDK - Abyssal Kin a group of casteless from the deepest depths that have begun to take on more nightmarish forms. Death: SBGL - Mortal thralls a bunch of deranged humans that worship death. I have pitched the idea of a witch based faction based on puritan aesthetics but I would also be happy to see that here. A bunch of fanatics that have become the antithesis of Which Hunters. FEC - Questing Cavaliers a mixture of bizzare ghouls using the spines of horses as deranged hobby horses or decaying rabid horses with corpse riders impaled onto them... I mean a return of the gallant knights errant from Brettonia and the Empire of Old! OBR - Bone abominates the test subjects for Bone Shapers left at the outskirts of society to band together and try and prove themselves to one day be completed and taken into the service of Nagash or mulched into dust by enemies. Something akin to a sentient chaos spawn striving for normalcy Destruction: OWC - Kruel Raiders on Gnashteeth, nomads of the Kruelboys that trade between swamps and communicate between warclans. Outsiders that they will join in on war raids in hopes of capturing spoils of war! OMT - Maneaters, literally the concept of warcry showing the realms before the mortal realms existed. Gloomspite Gitz - Spider Riders like Maneaters another pretty obvious pick that would make people intensely happy! Chaos (I will skip Slaves to Darkness despite them clearly needing more Warcry Warbands): BoC - As much as I want all the Mono God Beasts represented I feel like this is Centigors time to shine! They have a unique vibe that always felt like a culture within the beasts of chaos and could absolutely use a plastic update! Skaven - Micelords, hideous rats that work like the Gobbapalooza who see themselves as sophisticated and civilized leaders but are actually conniving effete self proclaimed leaders that wear fineries stolen in the night. Legions of the First Prince - Kind of a cheat, but if I can throw out the idea of a plastic Ruinstorm Daemon Brutes style kit I will.

I do not need Red Harvest, I do not need Red Harvest, I do not need Red Harvest... 😖 https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/07/18/put-pedal-to-the-metal-aboard-the-rugged-leagues-of-votann-sagitaur-atv/ I do not need Leagues of Votann, I do not need Leagues of Votann... 😣

I like the idea of having a set map for each realm with the borders of the map cutting off the edges with the constant promise that there is more beyond the map to encourage those of us wishing to develop our settings that opportunity. It is an easy win-win in terms of design and lore. The promise of strange far off hinterlands were even the Gods may have never visited but also areas that are not immediately focused on in terms of game and lore. Maybe a character or two can arrive from across some dread sea and reveal that they have only heard tell of the brutish cult of Sigmar from traders.

Funny part is that as great as that joke is, they absolutely would have stood out way more if they were the Aelves fighting alongside Orruks, or the Duardin marching alongside Gargants. 😞

I always felt like Idoneth and Fyreslayers would have been good fits. Fyreslayers in particular could represent a civilized take on destruction. Grimnir could have been the Athena to Gorkamorka's Aries.

I really like @KingBrodd's idea of skin changers or were-people as a destruction faction representing human worshippers for Destruction. That way you have humans and do not need to worry about boring regular human models.

Every time I remember that thing was once Dorghar

I feel like that Kragnos was the beginning of diversifying the Destruction faiths. Gorka Morka is the supreme god of the pantheon and the other gods will represent other forms of disaster. I can see a blizzard, volcano and famine god for the Mawtribes. A calamity god for Orruks. Maybe a god of drought and a god of storms?

I might have made that up in my head but I have this vague recollection of them responding to the chat in the live feed saying something along the lines of the upcoming release focusing on humans but that does not mean you wouldn't be able to use the other units? But I might be misremembering.

It is interesting as they both emphasized the focus on humans going forward with cities but if I remember they were pretty quick to imply that the Aelves and Duardin were still likely to be present without committing to it. It makes me think they might be the side getting an upgrade sprue... although if I had to guess I would say that the Aelves will get paired down to a single subfaction... my guess would be the remenants of the high elves namely the Phoniex Guard and Shadow Warriors but maybe with an upgrade sprue to make them feel less like part of WHFB.

So I am trying not to look into any of the posts and I am going to add my own guesses based entirely off of my own hopes. I will post a faction, a unit, and terrain based on maps and symbols. None of this is based on anything other than my own hopes and if i had to guess I think that these will actually be paired and release similarly to Killteam with an upgraded unit and a completely new/remade unit. So if that is the case at least half my terrain picks will be wrong and of course so will most of my units. Dread Fang's Tower - I think that this is going to be a new Soul Blight unit. I am going to say with the theme of Warcry being focused on expanding the idea of what the mortal realms looks like I will guess these will be mortal thralls... somewhere between a zombie and free guild unit. The terrain will be a creepy tower some small scatter terrain and with a rule update for simple siege mechanics. Kraktoof Gulch - It is going to be Orruk Warclans and I think we will see a new Kruelboyz unit. Gnashtoof riders which we have been clambering for since the reveal of the hero unit. The terrain will be based around mangroves with some rules around difficult terrain and water. Skinslough Fen - Clearly Nurgle. It is obviously going to be Rotmire Creed... but for more fun lets say it is an update for Pestigors! Terrain again obviously the gnarlwood but lets say a more diseased variant with a theme of infectious lands! Spinecrawler Webs - Gloomspite Spiderfang... It is finally happening and they will include a Scuttleboss and therefore gloomspite will overtake Slaves to Darkness as the best line. The terrian will be rocky and covered with webs... like Shelobs lair. Great Stinkhorn - Gloomspite Gitz again! Return of the Sourbreath Troggoth lead by a Troggoth Hag! Fungal forrest with rules for growth as it pops up along the battlefield effecting strategies. Tainted Wound - S2D Horns of Hashut or Legionaries... ruins and rules for heroes featuring the Marshal! Ven Talax's Path - No clue... lets say Ossiarchs. Finally getting those archers and living the Tomb King dream of firing bones from a bow? Terrain come on we need more cool skeletal structure terrain! Rules for tax returns paid in bones Wyrdlights - Obviously Disciples of Tzeentch. Lets get our Kairic cavalry! Clearly cool mutating lands with rules for mutations forcing models into becoming chaos spawn! Eaterpits - Gnoblar Ogor Mawtribes! New Maneaters with a spin of accessories from accross the mortal realms. Terrain will be ship docks and the introduction of something that will lead towards naval skirmish play. Bonus - The pyramids are for a Seraphon release that will wrap up the edition of Warcry with Oxyotl and a band of chamelon skink specialists! Those are my poor attempts at guesses and I am excited that I will be wrong and we instead that we will get more Slaves to Darkness units!

Amazonian bloodbowl terrain piece

I think of it as proof that Games Workshop have determined on using Chaos Dwarves, but are building to them slowly. I honestly think that the success or failure of squats will be a large determining factor on if they want to invest on a dwarven faction of an older army that had struggled in the past but with a dedicated and loyal following. I can see it going three ways: First chaos dwarves get a full release and continued support. Second chaos dwarves get a small release like Fyreslayers, Harelequins or Daughters of Khaine and get slowly built up with minor releases. Third and final option they become a subfaction for S2D with a hero an optional battleline and a Hellcannon.

And with that my heart shreds into a million pieces as the dream of plastic Ruinstorm Daemon Brutes being released with this codex shatter... HH you are my last hope! Of course I expect people to use the new Ogroids to fill that niche within 30k.

Just wanted to add as it ties to AOS in the loosest possible way but this art makes me want to build a pure demon army. Although this might be the most sensible solution in terms of building my Chaos Knights into a full 40k faction while sticking primarily to AoS:

This is going to make a fun model for DoK and Seraphon.

Overall: Some fantastic reveals but I doubt I will grab anything personally. The sculpts just keep getting better and better from GW and I am surprised at how much I would love to paint everything revealed. Warcry: This is a fantastic set! I think that I lean towards the swamp folk despite my love of Hashut. The terrain is especially fantastic! I am also excited to hear it is not a full reworking of the rules as I love Warcry. I do not know if I will dip in on this set though as sadly the terrain does not suit the setting of my own armies… but it is a very tempting box. I only have so much in terms of budget and I am still trying to decide between Chosen and Ogroids for my Slaves to Darkness. Still I am thinking about it and I am also leaning towards expanding my Chaos Knight box with Deathguard so the Nurgle swamp folk might find some extra use... Necromunda: Okay I have always been interested in this system but Vehicles make it a million times more compelling! All I can say for this machine is DOPE! Underworlds: Thinking of adding some Witch Hunters to my SCE. It would be thematic and fun but also I typically do not love regular humans in fantasy… but they also have some doggos, so I think I can make an exception! BloodBowl: The Amazonians are neat, might be good for some customization but by Blood Bowl Standards feel a little plain/underwhelming… I guess they are fine but I wanted something more outrageous even within their own theme. I do hope some people add them into a seraph army as allies. Killteam: Just like Warcry absolutely love the reveal but do not know if I will be grabbing it. Tau are my favourite army in terms of Lore and Kroot are the best part of Tau that aren’t mechs! The Imperial Navy are amazing I would make an army of them with an emphasis on Fighter Squads.. but I am not interested in Astra Militarum and I feel that is where these models will default. But maybe I can get them and chaosify them a little and theme them as Chaos Cultists and as the pilots of my Chaos Knights? Still a cool set that I likely will skip out on. I do like that they hinted at something more with the floors… is this going to connect to a Space Hulk game?

I keep thinking Warcry would be such an amazing setting to reintroduce Oxyotl and a retinue of Chameleon Skinks and maybe a Kroxigor!